Top stories of 2021
Commissioners approve tax abatement for paper mill
The Cass County Commissioners’ Court convened in a special session Wednesday, Dec. 30, to approve an economic development agreement for tax abatement with Graphic Packaging International, LLC (GPI) after more than two years of negotiations. GPI has agreed to modernize and improve its facility in Cass County to increase capacity and reduce its environmental impact by creating a “state-of-the-art solid bleached sulfate (SBS) facility with increased capacity.”
The total estimated cost of improvements to the property is $174 million. The county has agreed to a 100 percent ad valorem tax abatement for a term of 10 years with stipulations in place that ensure compliance.
New Queen City Super
The Queen City ISD School Board held a special called meeting Thursday night. All members were present when Superintendent Dr. Charlotte Williams read her official voluntary retirement agreement, a formality which was unanimously accepted, to be effective January 31, 2021.
Dr. Williams previously announced her wish to retire and stayed long enough to help the board find a suitable replacement. She will continue to make herself available as needed to ensure a smooth transition. After a brief closed session, the board formally hired Darrian Dover as the new superintendent of schools.
Cass County Fitness
Eric and Meagan Lummus purchase fitness facility from Christus and reopen the facility after a long layoff due to COVID.
Open Hearts
Six years after the doors closed for good, the vacant hospital at 404 Kaufman in Lin den is finally getting a facelift. A joint ven ture of Open Hearts Children and Family Services and Calabri Health LLC will result in a residential facility for foster care chil dren, as well as a boost to the town econom ic base.
“Open Hearts has facilities in the DFW area, and Calabri has facilities in the North west Louisiana area. they’re the primary op erating partners that are going in together on this,” said Christophe Trahan, director of Linden Economic Development Corpora tion. “ Calabri purchased the hospital from Christus Health who acquired it when they bought Good Shepherd Medical Systems in 2014.”
The facility will be the only one of it’s kind in Public Health Services Region 4, which encompasses the following counties: An derson, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Del ta, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hopkins, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Panola, Rains, Red River, Rusk, Smith, Titus, Up shur, Van Zandt, and Wood.
COVID Reports
There were several Covid updates through out the year that effected Cass County residents including bars and Restaurants reopening with maximum capacity, mask mandates, school closures and vaccines.
String of ATM Robberies
There were several ATM robberies in the region. One such robbery included over $50k stolen from a Linden ATM The Linden Police Department reported that “on
Snowpocalypse ’21 hits Cass County
Sometime before midnight on Valentine’s Day, the community was surprised to see a quick accumulation of snow throughout Cass County. The surprise turned to anxiety when the snow continued to fall. People who got out in the unusual weather began to see items like bread and milk fly off the shelves. Cars around the area began to be stranded or towed after they became stuck in the snow. By the time the storm had ended many of our area stores closed down, and the grocery stores shelves were almost bare, with items like milk and water being completely gone. As of Feb. 22, some of the businesses were still down due to stock issues or damage done to property. The snowfall reached nearly two feet!
Man charged with church burglaries faces new indictments
Jonathan Calvin Hamilton, 33, of Linden faces a number of new charges following his arrest for possession of a controlled substance on Jan. 14, including failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, possession of child pornography, and sexual performance of a child. He already faced charges for vandalizing and burglarizing local churches.
Buzbee represents lawsuit against Houston QB Watson
Tony Buzbee, originally from the Cass County area, is representing several women in a sexual assault case against Houston Texan’s starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. According to Buzbee’s Facebook page, Buzbee announced that there are currently 14 women who have come forward.
April Fools Celebrated March 31
The Journal-Sun celebrated April Fools Day a day early with its second April Fools paper featuring a fake story about Travis Ransom going to follow his dream of being a punk rocker (Yes there were people in the community that were unnecessarily concerned for him).
Man saves drowning woman when automobile plunged into Wright Patman
Two people plunged into Wright Patman on April 4. Dustin Roach jumped into the lake and saved the woman passenger.
Dr. Bo Price Dies Unexpectedly
An Atlanta physician passed away suddenly last Thursday, April 29, at CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital in Atlanta. Funeral services were held Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Atlanta, for Dr. Irwin “Bo” Price, 36, of Atlanta.
Charles Brooks Edwin Charged with Felony Child Abuse
Charles Brooks Edwin, Jr., 29, of Atlanta, was taken into custody Monday, May 3, at 3:38 p.m. by Dallas County Sheriffs and charged with Injury to Child/Elderly/Disabled with Intent to cause Severe Bodily Injury and Serious Mental Deficiency or Impairment. This is a first-degree felony under Texas Penal Code 22.04, punishable by a maximum sentence of 99 years or life in prison and/or a maximum fine of $10,000.
Linden Sees Big Government Changes
With Christophe Trahan and Bob Swisher leaving the City of Linden decided to combine the roles. Some of the other changes included Clarence Burns retiring as mayor and Aldermen Michael Berry and Frank Lanier becoming city council members. Linden voted to make Lynn Reynolds the new mayor and the City hired new Linden City Manager/Economic Developer Lee Elliott. WAITR now delivers in Atlanta/Queen City area
WAITR food delivery service went live, playing middleman for restaurants and residents in the Atlanta and Queen City areas, which has been a huge benefit to local residents navigating through COVID.
Ransom Makes Headlines
Mayor Travis Ransom announced he would be leaving Mayor to run for County Judge. He first made headlines for returning from Afghanistan and receiving the Bronze Star.
Atlanta ISD Superintendent Sidney Harrist wins superintendent of the year
Region 8 Education Service Center announced Harris the superintendent of the year.
Bessie Coleman Fly-in is Saturday
On June 12 the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce had the honor of hosting the Bessie Coleman Fly-in at Hall-Miller Municipal Airport. The event was a natural fit since Atlanta, Texas can make the claim no other city can - we are the birthplace of Bessie Coleman, the first female African American, and Native American pilot to become internationally licensed to fly. June 15, 2021 will mark a century’s passing since Bessie earned her wings.
CSNT had $4M to help area families in Need
Community Services of Northeast Texas (CSNT) is a $10 million organization which operates in 19 counties and is aimed at helping Northeast Texas families lead improved, empowered, and self-reliant lives by applying available strategies. CSNT known in the area to fund Head Start, Vet Services Now and the Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP), along with other programs
SummerFest is back in 2021 and Makers Market Begins
SummerFest, Makers Market and other events resumed as the state opened back up from Covid.
Bobby Ray Denton Convicted of Arson
Bobby Ray Denton, 20, of Douglassville was sentenced to five years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on two counts of Arson and 10 years of Deferred Adjudication for Criminal Mischief >=$300,000 for his involvement in the 2019 downtown Atlanta fires.
Water Woes
Several residents of Atlanta were alarmed to discover discoloration in their tap water to varying degrees of severity depending on location. Many took to social media outlets like Facebook to voice their concerns on the matter of whether or not the water was safe to consume, with some insisting that the water was bad enough that they needed to purchase bottled water to use for drinking and cooking. The City of Atlanta and even the Journal-Sun’s tests concluded even though the water was discolored it was safe to drink.
Chamber/Journal-Sun Job Fair
In an effort to serve our community the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Journal-Sun are hosted a job fair at the Mattie Lanier Richey Center on August 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Judge Wilbanks officially announces retirement
On September 1, 2021, Becky Wilbanks officially announced her intention not to seek a third term as the Cass County Judge. According to an interview with the Journal-Sun this year she will be seeking entrepreneur ventures in the future. Community Helps with Hurricane Relief
Several other churches raised funds for Hurricane Ida. Atlanta GT Church left Texarkana on September 9 with four pallets of water and supplies to Louisiana in order to assist the Cajun Navy & Hope community church from the damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Loads of food, toilet paper, shoes, medical, cleaning and disinfectant supplies were unloaded by a team of people from the church.
Johnson leaves chamber for expanded role
On October 1, Miranda Johnson, the director of the Atlanta City Development Corporation and the current president of the Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce, sent a press release to the current chamber members that she would be stepping down from her role as the president of the Chamber and transitioning to the fulltime effort Atlanta City Development Executive Director.
Marvin Nichols fight isn’t over
Preserve Northeast Texas and other agencies continue their fight against the Marvin Nichols Reservoir
Cass County effected by redistricting
Typically, every 10 years the Texas Legislators redraw the district based on the census data and the political strategy by the party in power. This year the Republicans redrew the map leaving at least two groups of people frustrated. One group were the South Texas House Districts which represent among others Latino Democrats and on the other side the Texas rural communities which typically vote Republican. With the new redistricting, the Republicans hope to keep Texas in the hands of the Republicans in years to come.
For us in Cass County, it meant that starting in the next election we will be in a new district voting for new candidates. Until then the “current candidates will remain our representatives till then. With the redistricting State Rep Paddie retired.
New recycling/disposal site in Cass County
An innovator in the recycling, repurposing and disposal industry, ArkLaTex Tire Processing announces the opening of their facility in Linden, Texas. This strategic location allows customers to easily and legally dispose of tires at the end of their useful life. Arklatex Tire Processing, LP (ATP) has combined management and operations experience of over 75 years Additionally, they have over ten years of service with the
East Texas Council of Governments, Solid Waste Advisory Committee (ETCOG) as well as over ten years of hands-on ownership experience in the recycling, repurposing and disposal industry.