• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Cass County Citizens Rabbs beat Mineola Journal-Sun Page 6 Proudly Serving Atlanta, Linden, Queen City & Surrounding Cass County LOCAL NEWS. STAY CONNECTED VOLUME 145 NUMBER 09 FACEBOOK.COM/JOURNAL-SUN YOUR WAY. CASSCOUNTYNOW.COM WEDNESDAY March 3 2021 $1 1 SECTION, 16 PAGES Man charged with church burglaries faces new indictments By Sydni Goza tives determined he had been staying a number of nights Jonathan Calvin Hamilton, 33, of Linden faces a num- at the home of his girlfriend and failed to report those ber of new charges following his arrest for possession overnight stays to sex offender registration officials, put- of a controlled substance on Jan. 14, including failure ting him in violation of the law. to comply with sex offender registration requirements, After a search warrant resulted in the confiscation of possession of child pornography, and sexual perfor- Hamilton’s cell phone at the time of arrest, Officer Randy mance of a child. Kennedy was able to convince Hamilton to provide the The new development comes after Hamilton’s ini- access code for the cell phone in an interview conduct- tial arrest in Hughes Springs for possession of meth- ed at Cass County Jail on Jan. 22. Hamilton confessed amphetamine, where Officer Jimmy Simpler noticed to committing the burglaries of nine different churches Hamilton’s tattoos resembled those seen on the suspect within the Cass County area between December 2020 of the Hughes Springs church burglary in surveillance and January 2021 with a juvenile teen. footage provided by the church. A search of Hamilton’s Hamilton warned Kennedy that he would find nude car revealed that he was also in possession of a pry bar, photos on the confiscated cell phone of his 16-year-old a flashlight, and a black and silver ball cap which were step-daughter. A forensic analysis of Hamilton’s phone seen used by the suspect in the surveillance footage. was conducted a few days later, where investigators Hamilton was taken into custody and housed at the Cass found text messages and SnapChat messages between County Detention Center. Hamilton and his step-daughter that were sexual in Upon further investigation, it was discovered that nature, connecting Hamilton to the indictment against Hamilton has been a convicted sex offender since 2011 him of possession of child pornography and sexual per- and was sentenced to five years in TDC for sexual as- formance of a child. sault of a child. Hamilton is required to register as a sex Investigators believe that Hamilton violated his sex offender for life on a yearly basis and has been doing offender registration requirements by failing to report so at Linden Police Department since his release from he was staying at the home of his girlfriend and by fail- Jonathan Calvin Hamilton TDC in 2016. Hamilton allegedly reported that he was ing to notify of social media accounts he held. living at his mother’s home in Linden. However, detec- He is being held at Cass County Jail. Officials urge community to fill out iSTAT survey By Shawn Larson ans are urged to fill out the Texas Division On Feb. 14, the Federal Government de- of Emergency Management’s State of Texas clared the state of Texas a national emergency, Assessment Tool (iSTAT) to help the state EM-3554-TX allowing government authori- identify damages across Texas and help emer- ties to apply for Federal aid. gency management officials gain an under- On February 19, the white house declared standing of damages that occurred during the a Major Disaster Declaration, DR-4586-TX. recent winter weather.” On the whitehouse.gov website, “President Like Abbott, Atlanta Police and Fire Chief Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major di- Robin Betts, also the Emergency Management saster exists in the State of Texas and ordered Coordinator for Cass County, also encourages federal assistance to supplement state and Cass County’s residents to fill out the iSTAT local recovery efforts in the areas affected by so that “our community can receive the feder- severe winter storms beginning on February al funding so many in our county are needing 11, 2021, and continuing.” right now.” In the initial disaster declaration individual According to the Federal Emergency Man- assistance was made available to 77 Counties. agement Agencies website, “FEMA provides That number has gone up a few different times financial benefits to eligible applicants who and now sits at 126 counties that are available are not insured or underinsured, but those for Individual Assistance (Assistance to indi- benefits occur after an insurance settlement. viduals and households). Disaster assistance may include financial as- According to a press release from Gover- sistance for temporary lodging and home re- nor Greg Abbott dated Feb. 25, “Additional pairs, low-interest loans to cover uninsured counties will continue to be re-requested as property losses, and other programs to help the State of Texas continues to receive infor- individuals and business owners recover from mation reported from individuals who have the effects of the disaster. FEMA can’t dupli- Heroes among us suffered damage from the winter storm. Tex- See FEMA page 14 Editor’s note: We normally don’t run letters to the editor on the front page, however, this one says a lot about the area we live in and the care our commu- nity has for one another. February 21, 2021, Sunday morning - I called the Atlanta, Texas Police Department and Danielle Bloodworth answered the phone. After pleasant- Atlanta hires David Plunk ries were exchanged, I asked if she knew anyone that I could call for assis- tance for the seniors in the neighborhood that needed water or just to make sure that they are okay. She said no, but asked if she could call me back after as new Athletic Director she checked around. Danielle called me back and said that she could not find anyone; however she didn’t stop there. She went above and beyond the call of duty. She went Atlanta ISD welcomes David Plunk as its new Athletic Director and Head Football Coach. on a mission, calling around town to all of the stores to see which stores had Coach Plunk has been a teacher and coach for twenty nine years. He began his career in Kil- water. She called me back again to let me know that she had found some gore ISD then moved to Elkhart ISD where he was the defensive coordinator. water at Wal-Mart and asked if the seniors may need anything else. I let her Coach Plunk then took over the defensive coordinator position at Grand Saline ISD and know that they may need some stew or some things so that they don’t have held that position for the next three years before moving on to Cooper ISD as the offensive to do any cooking and she said okay. coordinator. She was the first to give a donation towards helping the seniors of my Hallsville ISD later hired him as the AD neighborhood. Mary Heard, Officer Kelly Ryan, and Officer Marty Spriggs and head football coach from 2005 to 2016. also gave a donation. Not only did they give a donation, they also went to Coach Plunk comes to Atlanta from Den- Wal-Mart to shop for water, crackers, soup, and vienna sausages. While they ton Ryan High School where he has been the were on that mission, Carley who works at Wal-Mart also gave a donation. Safeties/Varsity Defensive Assistant Coach While the officers were out shopping, Danielle called me back again to since 2017. let me know that the officers were willing to deliver the items to each of the Coach Plunk and his family are making the seniors that I had on the list. move to Atlanta very soon as he is anxious to Now that is definitely above get to know the student-athletes. and beyond the call of duty. “We feel very fortunate to welcome David So to each and every one of Plunk as our new Athletic Director/ Head you who gave, whether it was Football Coach. Coach Plunk comes to us money, time, or just a prayer, highly recommended by everyone that has we pray God will forever worked with him. Of all our applicants for bless and protect you, your the position, Coach Plunk emerged during families, and the Atlanta Po- the interview process as the best fit for the lice Department. Atlanta Rabbits. We are very excited to see With sincere gratitude, what he will bring to the Atlanta ISD Athletic Patricia Demery Program.” -Sidney Harrist, Atlanta ISD Su- and Barbara Blalock perintendent. DEA TAKEBACK EVENT Obituaries JOURNAL-SUN JOURNAL-SUN $1.00 If you have extra, or old, prescription medications taking Dan Allen 306 W. Main St • Atlanta, TX 75551 up room in your cabinet ... Hours: M-Th 8:30-5; F 8:30-4 903 796 7133 [email protected] PAGE 3 PAGE 11 2 – Journal-Sun Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Pet Adoption Spotlight By Jamie Jeans This sweet kitty girl is full of nothing but love and affection. She is estimated to be about one year old, is current- ly not fixed, and is litter box trained. She is ready to find her purrfect forev- er home and head boop her way into your heart. Snuggles are not optional, they are mandatory with this precious gal when you make the right decision to adopt her from the Cass County Vet for a small fee starting at $30 which covers her well kitty check. So for the best addition to your family give them a call at (903) 796-4137 and give this lovely lady her furever home.

Load more

  16

Copy Link