By LOU ANTONELLIManaging Editor

All the rain during the summer and fall led to a bumper crop at the Boy Scout Titus County Model Garden, which is located

on property at the edge of downtown owned by the County Jail.

Master Gardener and scout leader Dave Wall said he anticipates a final harvest of approximately 45,000 vegetables before

the first frost.“Any way you cut it,

that’s a lot of vegetables!” he said.

The scouts of Troop 101 have been responsible for planting, weeding and mowing the 140x90 garden,

which is on a lot across Johnson Street from the back of the jail.

The garden was planted starting May 1 by the scouts. Their efforts have yielded bushels which are

Lady Tigers inlast home game

See Page 11A

Brown winsFootball Fever

Harts Bluffboard to meet

Get Out theVote rally set

JailRoundup

© 2014 Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune

See Obituaries page 3A

• Helen Ruth Decker• Michael Frank Roesler

Hospital target of Ebola hoax

Dispute leadsto halt on weighstation repairs

Sports

Local News

Obituaries

Claudia Brown of Mount Pleasant won last week’s Football Fever, going 9-2 to win $50. Coming in second and winning $25 was David Parker, also of our fair city, with an 8-3 record. In third and winning $10 was yet another Mount Pleasant resident, Steve Eaves.

The Harts Bluff school board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the administration building to consider a number of largely routine items. Superintendent Lyle DuBus said the agenda lists appointing a new board member to fill a vacancy, which likely will not occur. The search committee is still trying to find a willing and suitable replacement.

Other items include realigning the board, holding a public hearing

First Glance

By ANNETTE WHITE Tribune Staff Writer

Titus Regional Medical Center received several phone calls, texts, and emails about a patient diagnosed with Ebola on Tuesday morning because of an online hoax.

“I started receiving these calls and emails around mid-morning,” Shannon Norfleet, director of community relations and education, said. “tThey were sending me screen shots of this story and it had a picture of our hospital. It listed the name

of a patient that had been diagnosed with Ebola.”

Norfleet said she quickly released a statement to local public information officers, news media, and the police department.

“I wanted to make sure to get the truth out there and I hoped that if I could send it to local media they can help squash the rumors,” Norfleet said.

Norfleet said the entire story is false. She said it’s important for people to check their sources before sharing posts, because a hoax can be costly and

Standing in the Pumpkin PatchJack and Charlie Kimball, ages 5 and 4 respectively, stand in the pumpkin patch at Trinity Baptist Church Tuesday. Jack and Charlie the sons of Brian and Heather Kimball. Brian Kimball is the youth minister at Trinity. The pumpkin patch is open each day behind the church through next week.

Dave Wall was gathering up bags of vegetables at the garden earlier this week.

Gary Borders/Daily Tribune

Lou Antonelli/Daily Tribune

Daily TribuneMount Pleasant, Texas Www.Dailytribune.net 140th Year, No.209 1 Section, 12 Pages Wednesday, October 22, 2014 75¢

See Garden, Pg. 3A

See Dispute Pg. 3A

Council approves drainage project

Bumper crop at the Scout garden

Online story widely disseminated

on the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, approving sanding and painting of the a gym floor and resurfacing a playground.

All meetings are open to the public.

The Titus County Democratic Party will be holding a Get Out the Vote rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the bell tower at Madison and West 1st Street downtown.

Hot dogs and drinks will be served. Early in-person will be going on at the elections office across the street.

Have lunch and then go vote!

By LOU ANTONELLIManaging Editor

The Mount Pleasant City Council Monday night signed off on a drainage reconstruction project that cost over $145,000 along Old Paris Road.

The project was unusual, noted City Manager Mike Ahrens, because the city’s easement is between two pieces of private property.

The city usually owns drainage right-of-ways along roadways.

“This was an unusual circumstance,” Ahrens said. “This isn’t common for a city.”

Kris Aylor with KSA Engineers of Longview reported on the completion of the project, which repaired severe erosion that had threatened to undermine the foundation of an adjacent apartment building.

Ahrens agreed the owners of the apartment building were concerned with the depth of the erosion and asked the city to look into it a year ago.

“They were concerned they were falling off there,” he said.

The drainage easement gathers runoff that ultimately comes from the

high school and junior high school and takes it under Old Paris Road.

Ahrens said there’s no indication why the city in the 1970s designed that particular drainage easement, but it channeled vast amounts of runoff during rainstorms.

“It was kind of amazing,” he said.

Aylor said the concrete apron that started the easement only served to speed up the water so that it created a deep ravine. He presented before-and-after photos of the site to council members.

The work was complicated

by a lack pf accurate utility maps.

“It was somewhat of a treasure hunt,” he said.

For example, they found a sewer line, but not where it was supposed to be, he said.

He commended the work done by the East Texas Bridge Company, which completely restored and repaired the 350 foot length of the right-of-way that runs between the apartments and a hair stylist salon.

He presented the final payment for the $146,455 project for approval by the council, which approved it.

Email: lou@dailytribune.net

By LOU ANTONELLIManaging Editor

Plans for making repairs to the DPS weigh stations that flank I-30 in Winfield are up in the air after the county, the contractor and the DPS disagreed about what is to be done.

While the weigh stations are used by the DPS, they are owned by the county.

Titus Commissioners in September agreed to shell out $5,500 for one of the most disagreeable repair jobs in recent memory.

Architect Chris Basham reported to commissioners at their Sept. 8 meeting that an overlooked metal cap on walls of the weigh stations had created an unpleasant rodent problem.

In July, as the court was hearing budget requests for the next fiscal year from the local DPS contingent, they were made aware of the

problem.Basham said metal

buildings are supposed to have a cap at the top of the walls, but they were left off the two small buildings.

“There are no closures on the walls. That piece is missing, so they (rats) are getting above the ceiling and going down into the walls,” he said at the time.

The problem became acute over the summer because of the odor.

“The rats are dying in the walls,” Basham said. “It’s created a bad smell.”

The county awarded a bid of $5,500 to Stansell Construction to do the repairs.

County Judge Brian Lee said no work has been done because when Justin Stansell arrived to do the repairs earlier tis month, it became apparent there was not a meeting of the minds on

The Titus County jail had 91 inmates Tuesday morning 16 females and 75 males. There were eight arrests in the previous 24 hours, one for insurance fraud, one for child support, one for failure to attend school, one for hindering a secured creditor, one drug-related charge, one for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one for theft, and one for driving while license invalid.

dangerous. “This hoax, any hoax for

that matter, takes time away from the caregivers,” Norfleet said. “They need to be focused on the patients and not spending their day trying to calm everyone down.”

Norfleet said there are several red flags that readers can look for to check the accuracy of an online story.

“First of all, we will never release a patient’s private information. The story that was circulating listed a woman’s name, Sarah I

think, and that is a huge flag. Our number one priority is protecting patient privacy,” Norfleet said.

Norfleet also said by visiting the website listed on the story, a reader can quickly dismiss a story.

“If you type in the website listed as the source for the story, it clearly states on the website that it is a website for creating hoax stories,” Norfleet said.

Norfleet said she would also like to remind residents that the hospital has taken

many steps to prepare for an Ebola diagnosis, including raising community awareness, training and retraining their staff on managing infectious diseases and protective gear, and educating all personnel on the steps to take should a possible Ebola patient come into their facility.

“We’ve gone through an intensive effort to share our knowledge, not just with our staff, but the entire community. We’ve also been on daily conference calls with the Texas Health Department,” Norfleet said.

Norfleet also encouraged residents to educate themselves on the signs and symptoms of Ebola.

“There are several symptoms that are similar to a lot of other diseases,” Norfleet said. “People need to remember that they have to have that positive travel history or known contact with a confirmed Ebola patient to be at risk.”

A complete list of symptoms can be found at www.titusregional.com.

Email: awhite@dailytribune.net.

Lady Tigersface MarshallSee Page 10A

Shelter friendsto meet

Indigent grantbeing sought

JailRoundup

Football pickswinners

Fest budgetis amended

© 2014 Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune

See Obituaries page 3A

•Kenneth James MorganPaul Noble Walls

‘Tweet’ leads to lockdown

County movinginto remodeledannex Friday

Sports

Local News

Obituaries

The Titus County Shelter Friends will have a meeting at Herschel’s at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16. Members, please plan to attend, as they will be discussing upcoming events. If you would like to be a member of an organization that is making a difference in the lives of the animals of the area, please attend the meeting.

Titus County Commissioners Tuesday approved submitting an annual grant application to the state to be reimbursed for expenditures made for indigent criminal defense.

County Judge Brian Lee said the county has been fortunate with its past applications, and this year received approximately $40,000.

The Titus County jail had 91 inmates Tuesday morning, 14 females and 77 males. There was one arrest in the previous 24 hours for driving while license invalid.

Dale Hunnicut was the winner of this week’s Football Fever with a 9-2 record, winning $50 in the process. Taking second and $25 was Daniel Randa. In third was Chuck Ham.

Franklin County Commissioners Monday amended the budget for the annual Wine in the Pines Festival. Willie Bane, a member of the hotel/motel tax advisory committee – which contributes to the event – said the group is required to itemize how the money is used, and they are changing ho the money for the next festival will be allocated.

He said they wanted to shuffle how the money will be used for advertising to promote the event.

“We want to change the

First Glance

MPHS Homecoming CourtMPISD contributed photo

Contributed photo

The members of the 2014 MPHS Homecoming Court are, from left, Claudia Zapata, Madai Ruiz, Lupita Barraza, Maria Gaona and Catherine Zarcone. The Homecoming Queen will be announced during Pregame at the MPHS Tigers vs. Pine Tree Pirates game Friday Night. Pregame begins at 7 p.m.

The David Whiteman Band will be performing at Friday’s Hot Night Cool Music event.

By ANNETTE WHITE Tribune Staff Writer

PITTSBURG - Pittsburg ISD was placed on lockdown early Tuesday morning as the result of an online threat made toward the campus.

Pittsburg ISD Police

Department and Pittsburg Police Department were notified of a threatening message that had been made toward a Pittsburg School District campus on Twitter. According to Police Chief Richard Penn, steps were immediately taken to provide

for the safety of the Pittsburg ISD students.

Penn said the police department, the campus police and the FBI worked together to investigate the threat. It

was discovered that the actual message posted to Twitter originated from the Pittsburg, Calif., area. Simultaneously, threats were then made to the police department’s Facebook

page in Pittsburg, Texas. These threats were also discovered to have come from the same area in California.

The Pittsburg Police Department in Texas continued to work with the Pittsburg Police Department in California. Three suspects

were taken into custody by the Pittsburg Police Department in California.

Penn said there does not appear to be a local threat and that all departments involved are continuing the investigation.

Email: awhite@dailytribune.net

LOU ANTONELLIManaging Editor

The remodeling of the Titus County courthouse annex as a new home for the adult probation department is essentially done, and the offices will be moved in Friday.

Reporting at the county commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, architect Chris Basham he would be doing the punch list later that day.

“There’s nothing left but little details,” he said.

The HVAC system was installed Monday, and was to be tested Tuesday, he said. The numbers and name were also done Monday.

Among the details to be attended to in the next three days are finishing the ceilings and lights, installing the counter tops in the administrative area, installing cabinet doors, bathroom fixtures and glass in the administrative areas.

The county approved the project earlier in the

year, so all the court-related departments will be in one location that can be better secured. The county treasurer’s office will move to join the elections administration in the Ratliff Building at the corner of Madison and Alabama Streets.

Basham told commissioners the back entrance for the adult probation department also needs to be finished out.

Work began in the spring, but encountered delays along the way. The original opening day in August was ultimately pushed back two months.

While the building was gutted the HVAC units were vandalized by thieves seeking copper and required thousands of dollars in repairs.

There was also a delay in the delivery of the custom front doors.

The construction was done by D’Angelo Construction, a company formerly based in California that recently moved to Texas. The

The renovated offices at the courthouse annex, which will be the new home for the county’s adult probation department are almost complete.

Lou Antonelli/Daily Tribune

Hot Night, Cool Music on tap

Daily TribuneMount Pleasant, Texas Www.Dailytribune.net 140th Year, No. 204 1 Section, 10 Pages Wednesday, October 15, 2014 75¢

annex remodel is its first job here.

In a related action, the court approved taking $26,500 from the pre-trial intervention fund to pay for the new furniture required for the offices.

The county previously approved the purchase, but

County Judge Brian Lee said that in the process of looking for funding he learned the money could be used for the furniture.

County Auditor Carl Johnson said $29,000 has accumulated in the fund, made up of $500 fees collected from people in

the legal system who are participating pre-trial adjudication.

Lee said the money is earmarked for the court-related uses. Otherwise, the money for the furniture would come from the county’s general fund, he said.

Johnson also presented a budget amendment to reflect the change in the funding source.

In closing, Basham suggested the county might want to schedule an open house in the near future.

Email: lou@dailytribune.net

By ANNETTE WHITE Tribune Staff Writer

This year’s Hot Night, Cool Music series will host its final concert Friday evening in downtown Mount Pleasant on the north side of the square.

The show is scheduled to kick off at 9 pm immediately after the Mount Pleasant High School’s homecoming game.

“We called this the Homecoming Edition since it’s scheduled after the Mount Pleasant Tigers Homecoming game,” Jacob Hatfield, director of community services, said. “We also have many class reunions that will be

happening this weekend and we plan to help kick off the fun weekend.”

The event will feature the David Whiteman Band, promotions from local businesses, barbecue, and low-cost concessions.

The David Whiteman Band is based out of Dallas and is known for being a high-energy, 11-piece band led by David Whiteman. They cover a wide range of genres and songs including Top 40, R&B, Hip Hop, Latin, Dance, Country, Rock and many classics.

The event is free to the public. Low-cost concessions will be available and many of the

downtown businesses will be hosting promotions during the event.

The Main Street

Committee recommend that guests brings lawn chairs and blankets.

Email awhite@dailytribune.net.

methods,” Bane said.Franklin Commissioners

also approved allowing two employees in the county treasurer’s office to transfer sick time to a third employee who has used hers up.

They also approved renewing the contract for Dr, Jean Latortue to provide inmate care for the Franklin County jail for $1,000 a month.

No real threat at Pittsburg school