Grapeland News

Palestine Regional Medical Center * Chad and Kristin Steely of Elkhart announce the birth of a daughter, Katherine LeAnn, on May 13.

Some years ago I posted myself at the back fence of the Governor's Mansion on Lavaca Street so that I might be a silent, and therefore unobtrusive, witness to Jesus on a night when the State of Texas was scheduled to put to death a young man from my father's hometown of Grapeland.

A 59-year-old Grapeland man was arrested Thursday for allegedly fondling his 8-year-old granddaughter the previous day in Anderson County.

By Laura McWilliams Grapeland Messenger ELKHART - A cross marks the location where Brady E. Brooks lost his life in a motorcycle accident on April 3, 2006, while driving to work that morning.

Of the 23 counties that report to the Houston/Galveston National Weather Service, Houston County is the only one that does it with 14 local weather reports from the county.

The Houston County Commissioners Court, meeting in regular session Tuesday, authorized a contract with S. C. Maxwell Company of Crockett for foundation repairs to the Houston County Courthouse Annex.

Longtime resident and president of Prosperity Bank in Crockett, James Waldrop will retire on the last day of this month.

Emergency personnel from throughout the area were honored for their dedication and service to the community during the Houston County Crime Stoppers Banquet held on Tuesday night, May 12.

On Saturday, May 16, the public is invited to attend Tea in the Garden, an event to benefit Broadwater Academy's visiting author program.

The Houston County Youth Talent Showcase featuring the best performing arts talent from every school district in Houston County will be held on Saturday, May 16 at Crockett Civic Center at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children 18 and younger, and on sale now at the Piney Woods Fine Arts Association office.

One of the two people airlifted to ETMC Tyler after a head-on crash Saturday, April 25 on CR 2300 about 1.6 miles north of Grapeland died on Monday, April 27.

High winds caused significant damage around the Grapeland and Elkhart area, but luckily there was no one seriously injured.

Straight line winds created headaches in the southern and eastern part of Anderson County Sunday morning as a line of fast-moving thunderstorms swept through.

Shock and support. That was how area superintendents felt Wednesday afternoon after the University Interscholastic League made the decision to postpone or cancel all UIL athletic and academic events for the next two weeks because of the outbreak of the swine flu in Texas.

Three local school districts, and two cities will hold elections on Saturday, May 9 to fill various positions within their respective entities.

People from all over Texas descended upon Palestine for the 7th annual Texas Music Awards - filling up the Palestine Civic Center with cowboy boots, cowboy hats and high heels Sunday.

Sgt. Colby Wray was promoted to his present rank on Oct. 1, 2008. Wray, a native of Tyler, enlisted in the Army as an all-wheeled mechanic in 2006 after graduating from Robert E. Lee High School.

Herald/Catrina Rawson Amanda Eller, owner of Love Unleashed, holds her dog, Miss Audrey Hepburn, a Chihuahua, while working at her dog boarding facility last week in Killeen.

Services for Wynell M. Pettey, 80, of Whitehouse, will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2009, at 11 a.m. at First Assembly of God in Whitehouse with Pastor Michael Fleming, Pastor Katie Jean Dickey and Pastor Kent Pate officiating.

During a law enforcement career closing in on the 40-year mark, Joe Willis has viewed life through a number of lenses - from the inner city streets of Houston as a patrolman in one of the nation's largest cities-to-police chief of a small East Texas town such as Grapeland.