News

The City of Cameron’s Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council continue their review and proposed updates to the city’s current zoning ordinance adopted in 1983.  

City manager Rhett Parker said taking a new look at the city’s almost 40-year-old zoning requirements allows the city to address concerns for protecting property values, retaining current residents and businesses, planning for future growth, updating zoning districts and improving code enforcement. He said the challenge for the city is how to adapt to future private and public needs in order to sustain viability and compete with other cities for new residents and businesses.

The City Council and Planning and Zoning will hold a workshop meeting on Monday, Feb. 25 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall to continue discussion about the proposed ordinances.

Parker and the city want to share the following with the community in order to give residents more understanding of the process.

A series of meeting will be held to collect community input on the hiring of a new superintendent on Feb. 20.

During a meeting Feb. 6 the board spoke with Texas Association of School Boards Executive Search Services about the schedule for hiring a new superintendent to replace Sapp, who will retire this summer.

TASB Executive Search Services was hired to facilitate the selection of the next superintendent.

As part of that process, TASB Executive Search Services will hold a series of three Community Involvement Sessions on Feb. 20.  

The first session will be held at 4 p.m. in the Yoe High School Cafeteria and is for current school district employees only. Two additional sessions will be held at 5 and 6 p.m. in the Yoe High School Cafeteria and are open to the public.  

The Cameron ISD School Board, along with TASB, invites all interested parties to attend one of these sessions and provide input on qualifications for a new superintendent.     

Two juveniles who escaped custody this morning have been caught. 

According to Milam County Sheriff Chris White, two juveniles, believed to be 16 and 17 years of age, were being transported to the Milam County Courthouse for hearings in District Court when they managed to undo their shackles and take off running once the transport vehicle stopped and the door was opened.

White said the two juveniles were quickly apprehended about six blocks away with the assistance of Cameron Police and Milam County deputies.

There was no danger to the public, though Cameron ISD sent out information that campuses were undergoing lock out procedures as a precaution. That lock out was lifted within a half hour.

Young Yoemen competed in the Pitch, Hit and Run contest during Opening Day at The Yards on Saturday. Several events were held including Meet the Yoemen, Futures Game between the seventh and eighth grade Yoemen and the annual Alumni Game. The Milam County Girl Scouts also made and flew kites with the children.

The National Weather Service will soon be in town for a free severe weather training session. 2018 brought a variety of severe weather; including hail up to three inches in diameter in the spring and summer months and flash flooding in the fall months. The 2019 severe weather season is not too far away, and the National Weather Service and local emergency management officials want you to be ready.

To get ready, you are invited to the most recent SKYWARN storm spotter class. The National Weather Service will be offering this free severe weather class on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 6-8 p.m. The program will be held at the Milam County Courthouse (changed from the Rockdale Volunteer Fire Department) and is held in partnership with Milam County Emergency Management.

Filing continues for the May 4 city and school elections. Four city council places and two school board positions are up for grabs.

The four places up for grabs on the city council are Place 1 held by Daniel Willie, Place 3 held by Kyle Deal, Place 5 held by Virgie Hardeman and At-Large held by Melissa Williams.

Kyle Deal has filed for re-election to Place 3.

Cameron ISD has two open spots on the CISD Board of Trustees. Those spots are currently held by Jason Dohnalik and Alan Patterson.

Patterson has filed to run for his spot.

The deadline to file for the May election is Feb. 15. Early voting begins in April. 

Anyone wishing to file for a City Council position can stop by City Hall at 100 South Houston Avenue and pick up information. Anyone wishing to file for CISD School Board can go by the Cameron ISD Administration Building at 304 E. 12th Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday to pick up the necessary paperwork.

Cameron will celebrates Opening Day 2019 at The Yards of Cameron Feb. 2.

The community is invited to bring family and friends for a great day of baseball, food and fun at The Yards of Cameron.

The day kicks off with the HT Fitness Challenge in the 44 Farms Market Pavilion at 8:30 a.m.

Then join the Yoemen on the C.H. Yoe High School Baseball field for the National Anthem and First Pitch Ceremony at 10 a.m. A Futures Game between the Junior High Yoemen will be held at 10:30 a.m. 

Pitch, Hit and Run for boys and girls ages 6 to 14 begins at 12 p.m. on the field. 

Yoe Alumni are invited to join the fun in the Alumni Game beginning at 1:30 p.m.

The Milam County Girls Scout Cameron Troop #9609 will host kite making and flying at 1:30 p.m.

For more information visit www.theyardsofcameron.com.

Ben Milam student Travis Stephens Jr. got the opportunity to be a cop for the day and ride along with Cameron Police Officer Amanda Duncan. Stephens got to ride in the patrol car and even perform a traffic stop. He was the winner of a drawing for the Ben Milam PTO.

Anyone interested in finding out more about where they came from will have a unique opportunity this February.

Cameron Junior High will host Family Research Nights every Wednesday night in February at the Cameron Junior High Library from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

“I am a long-time Ancestry.com member,” Cameron Junior High teacher Keri Harris said. “I love to do family research. I saw an ad for AncestryK12 on my Ancestry.com and applied.”

Cameron Junior High received a grant for the program which gives them access to Ancestryclassroom.com, fold3.com, and newspapers.com. The sites are available at the CJH IP address.  

Harris said they cannot be accessed away from the Junior High. 

“The difference in the paid Ancestry site and what we are using is the on-line family tree,” Harris said. “No data can be saved to Ancestry’s server.”  

Cameron ISD is now on the search for a new superintendent.

The CISD Board of Trustees accepted the retirement and resignation of Superintendent Allan Sapp during a special meeting Tuesday night.

They will now begin the search for a replacement. During the meeting they also hired the TASB Executive Search Service to begin the search. 

Sapp will retire from education after 34 years of service in August.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the confidence and support of Cameron ISD and the entire city of Cameron,” Sapp said. “Serving as the Cameron ISD superintendent the last four years has been a distinct honor.”

In a statement he also thanked all board members for their tremendous dedication to the education of the youth of Cameron.