Sports in Review PAGE 7 Journal-Cass County Citizens Sun Proudly Serving Atlanta, Linden, Queen City & Surrounding Cass County LOCAL NEWS. STAY CONNECTED VOLUME 145 NUMBER 01 FACEBOOK.COM/JOURNAL-SUN YOUR WAY. CASSCOUNTYNOW.COM WEDNESDAY January 6 2021 $1 1 SECTION, 16 PAGES Local hero 1 saves trucker. Demolition 2 continues. Pandemic 1 2 3 3 strikes. Downed trees 4 stop train. Tornado over 5 lake. Car show 4 5 6 downtown. Dashcams WILSON 7 installed. Suspect in Magic of 8 Christmas. murder held in 6 7 8 Cass County Jail By Lacy Gross A year of hardships Kristopher Allen Fate Wilson, known as “Flip”, was arrested Monday, Dec. 28, and At the beginning of last year many of us thought 2020 was COVID, on the other hand, did affect our community in a booked into the Cass County Jail for alleged- going to be a special year. variety of ways, many restaurants and businesses had to shut ly robbing and killing an east Texas man in Instead of becoming famous for prosperity and growth, 2020 down, some temporary others permanently. Hours and opera- Bowie County. became infamous for all sorts of crazy things including a na- tions are still being affected by the pandemic. According to a witness, the victim, 27-year- tional pandemic, the death of Kobe Bryant, social unrest over At the end of the year in 2020, we did see vaccines that were old Aaron Porier, was fatally shot when con- the killing of George Floyd, various earthquakes and natural beginning to be approved and administered. Sales tax for our fronted by two men who showed up at his disasters and other newsworthy items. local communities continued to remain strong even amid the home unannounced and robbed him of his Here locally we didn’t experience the riots and looting that Corona Virus. Many businesses figured out how to adapt and marijuana. happened to other communities in response to the Black Lives change. Some of our local manufactures began to build things The Bowie County Sheriff’s Office said the Matter movement. like facemasks to help assist in the COVID efforts. homicide took place about 7:46 p.m. at a resi- We did have people here that hosted peaceful protests over We, here at the newspaper, were forced to combine the Citi- dence in the 100 block of Forest Circle in Tex- social injustice. Some of the area businesses did close down zens Journal and the Cass County Sun because of the challenges arkana, Tex. during the protests but the events remained peaceful. The two men then took cellphones belong- See YEAR page 6 ing to the victim and the witness and left in a blue, two-door car with a black bumper, the Bowie County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office reports. When deputies arrived, the witness was ad- Bars and restaurants take ministering first aid to the victim. An autopsy has been ordered. another hit in Cass County Wilson has been charged with capital mur- der and is being transported to the Bowie By Lacy Gross County Jail. The Joint Operations Center for Bowie and Cass counties an- Bowie County Sherriff’s arrested Brandon nounced late Sunday, Jan. 3, that bars must close, and restaurants L Parkman, Jr. 18, Sunday, Dec. 30. Parkman operate at 50 percent capacity due to the area exceeding the 15 was turned in by his mother. percent threshold of capacity in area hospitals. Parkman also faces a charge of capital mur- Bowie County Judge Bobby Howell and Cass County Judge der. Becky Wilbanks received notification Saturday, Jan. 2, from Dr. Authorities urge anyone with any informa- John Hellerstedt, Commissioner of Texas Department of State tion about the homicide to call Investigator COVID-19 Update Health Services, notifying them that COVID-19 hospitalizations Chris Allison at 903-628-6821. See BARS page 2 Commissioners approve tax abatement for paper mill By Lacy Gross The Cass County Commissioners’ Court convened in a special ses- sion Wednesday, Dec. 30, to approve an economic development agree- ment 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 mil- lion. The county has agreed to a 100 percent ad valorem tax abatement for a term of 10 years with stipulations in place that ensure compli- ance. These include a base number of full-time employees and access granted to county employees for the purpose of inspecting the project’s progress. GPI will pay a “PILOT” payment in lieu of ad valorem taxes in the amount of $321,500 every year for the term of the contract--$3.215 million over a 10-year period. Graphic Packaging International, LLC in Queen City has agreed to invest approximately $174 See COMMISSIONERS page 2 million over the next 10 years in exchange for tax abatement to Cass County. ‘New Year, New Me’ Obituaries JOURNAL-SUN JOURNAL-SUN $1.00 Each year, most of us make a list of things we want to improve Jackie Icenhower Nora Arrington 306 W. Main St • Atlanta, TX 75551 on or act on for the new year. Robert Buzbee Hours: M-Th 8:30-5; F 8:30-4 903 796 7133 [email protected] PAGE 3 PAGE 11 2 – Journal-Sun Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Getting rid of ‘hurts, habits and hang-ups’ in 2021 By Kate Stow John Baker was an alcoholic and staff member of Saddleback Church who began heal- When we think of “recovery” the image we conjure up is usually that of an alcoholic or ing through AA. He wanted a specifically Christian addiction recovery group, so with drug addict. We rarely give thought to all of the other things that one needs help recover- the support of Rick Warren, Celebrate Recovery began as a ministry of the church under ing from. In reality, we all have at least one thing that can be described as a hurt, a habit Baker’s leadership in 1991. John Baker continues to be the primary author of the programs’ or a hang-up. curriculum and materials. Atlanta business owner Randy Strawn has been sober for 21 years next month – and he Those materials use both the 12 steps developed by AA and a very similar set of eight is proud of that. And while Alcoholics Anony- sequential principles that are known as Je- mous has played a huge role in that, he recog- sus’ Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount nizes that he has other flaws and hurts that led (Matthew 5:1-10). These verses are said to be him to drink in the first place. Now he is work- the key to a happy Christian life. ing on those things with the help of a program The program focuses, not only on the hab- called “Celebrate Recovery.” its of alcoholism and addiction, but also deals “It’s a safe place to share our struggles. It’s with high anxiety, co-dependency, compulsive confidential. There is no judgment, no distrac- behaviors, sex addiction, financial dysfunc- tions,” Randy explained. “We aren’t trying to fix tion, and eating disorders. The large group anything – God does all the fixing. We are there gatherings break out into specific group meet- to support each other on the journey.” ings according to the needs of the group. They Randy is the Northeast Texas training coach even offer childcare but be sure to call ahead for the program and attends First Baptist to reserve a place. For more information, call Church on Moore’s Lane in Texarkana. Each 903-831-6000. Tuesday at 6 p.m. he attends the meetings in “We have several small specific groups,” the Fusion Center at the church, as he has for said Randy. “We even have a group for women the past eight years. He travels to churches in whose spouses are in prison.” Longview, Pittsburg, New Boston, Marshall Groups that currently meet at FBC-Moores and Texarkana to train ministry leaders. At his Lane are: Addiction recovery for both men and home church, he works under Ministry Leader women struggling with all kinds of addictions; Jennifer Eldridge. Addiction recovery for family members whose “When I joined the church it was just in time to help launch the program there with loved one is struggling with addiction, issues with codependency will be discussed; and Pastor Jeff Schreve and Chris Schroeder,” he said. “We started with about 30 people and Emotional healing for men and women who are struggling with negative and destructive over the course of eight years we grew to about 165 each week. COVID brought it down emotions from past hurt and/or abuse. to about 100 members.” The Landing is a faith-based recovery program for teens who are struggling with any Celebrate Recovery is one of the seven largest addiction recovery support group pro- form of addiction, eating disorder, life-threatening issues or family struggles. Many other grams, with over five million people participating in over 35,000 churches worldwide since topics are also addressed in this interactive program format. its beginning in 1991. The program got it’s start in Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in “We strive to cover whatever you are struggling with,” said Randy. “I deal with my alco- Lake Forest, California. Warren, who authored “The Purpose Driven Life” as well sa other holism and relationship issues that I’ve struggled with since way back.