News

Approximately 90 campers attended the annual cheer camp on Saturday from Yoe Gym.  The camp had members from as young as pre-kindergarten all the way up to fifth grade.  After a day full of learning, performances were in order to wrap up the evening.  

“I thought the day went great,” said Yoe cheer sponsor Alma Cardona.  “The cheerleaders had fun and the littles one had fun, too.  We had a full day of activities for them with cheers, chants and a few games and crafts as well.  Overall, it was a great experience.”

Cardona also noted how she believes the high school girls are passing down invaluable experience to upcoming cheerleaders.  

“For the high school, a lot of them are returning cheerleaders and they know what is expected of them at the state competition,” said Cardona.  “They are already giving the heads up to the newer ones on how it is going to be and what we are going to work on up until January at the competition.”

The 2017 Milam and Burleson Counties Groundwater Summit will focus on groundwater availability models and desired future conditions.

The summit will be held Aug. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public with lunch provided. It will be held at the Caldwell Civic Center at 103 TX-21 in Caldwell.

Speakers from the Texas Water Development Board are set to give presentations over groundwater availability models and desired future conditions. 

Robert Mace, Deputy Executive Administrator of Texas Water Development Board, is scheduled to discuss groundwater availability models. Mace leads the agency’s Water Science & Conservation office, a department of 70 scientists, engineers and specialists dedicated to better understanding groundwater and surface water resources.

In his presentation, Mace will focus on providing a basic understanding of how these models work, why they are helpful and what their limitations are.

Milam Community Theater’s Williams Event Center shines this weekend with the spectacular opening of “Gypsy: A musical fable” a musical about the life and times of Gypsy Rose Lee. The show is based on the book by Arthur Laurents, with the memorable music of Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. “Gypsy” is considered by many to be the best musical of all time.

“Gypsy has been one of the most challenging productions undertaken by MCT, with many scene and location changes, and over 100 costumes in the show,” said MCT President Monica Schiller. “The ingenuity and creativity of everyone involved with this production is truly exciting. Plus, we’ve recently added tiered seating to give the audience a better view of the show. There will also be floor seating available for folks with limited mobility.”

Updated 4:44 p.m.

Both major water repairs have been made. Towers are currently being filled with water. Please conserve water over the next few hours to give our system time to catch up. 

Please remember all customers need to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions).

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.

In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

Milam County Sheriff’s deputies were made aware of mailboxes that had been smashed or destroyed along FM 2269 during the early morning hours on Monday.  

The investigation is ongoing, but it appears that almost 50 mailboxes were damaged or destroyed by vandals throughout Sunday night and early Monday morning. The affected mailboxes were reported or located throughout the areas north of Cameron along FM 2269 and several Milam County Roads including 143, 144, 145, 139, 223, 240 and 227. 

Cameron police also reported that several mailboxes on 22^nd Street were damaged during this criminal mischief spree. In most of the cases an object such as a metal pipe or bar was used to damage or destroy the mailboxes.   

The 7th Annual Milam County Brown Santa Golf Tournament fundraiser was held on July 15 at the Cameron Country Club.

Lt. John Mendoza said the tournament brought in around 100 golfers. The top attraction of the golf tournament was when a helicopter was use to drop golf balls onto a flagstick on the number one fairway. The ball closest to the hole won the raffle, which turned out to be Ben White of Cameron. 

First place went to the team of Judge John Youngblood, James Hudson, Mike Baca, David Kelly and Robert Hudson. Second place was to Gus Hollomon, Cameron Hollomon, Dustin Bailey, Jayce Rasberry and Kaden Kuzel. Third Place went to Josh Thweatt, Richie Thweatt, Pete Magre, Melanie Magre and Alexis Magre. 

Longest Drive went to Brian Hand. Closest to Pin went to Jayce Rasberry. Most Accurate went to Mark Stroud

Milam County Sheriff David Greene would like to thank all of the sponsors and volunteers who has made this a very successful tournament. 

Volunteers with Feeders of the Lambs serve sack lunches during the organization’s summer lunch program on July 13 at the Cameron Elementary School pavilion. The program will provide lunches through Aug. 25 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the pavilion and at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 200 North Travis, for children ages toddler through 12th grade.

The Cameron Thunder and Dirt Diamonds began play in the eight and under state tournament on Monday and Tuesday in Temple. The Lil’ Ladies of the T-ball division were also competing in the state tournament in Axtell.  We will have results in next week’s edition of sports.  

The lives of two Cameron residents were taken in accidents over the last week.

A fiery crash just outside of Buckholts early July 13 claimed the life of 24-year-old Sarah Patterson of Cameron and an accident outside of Rockdale on July 16 claimed the life of 68-year-old Daryl Howard of Cameron. 

Cameron Police, Buckholts Fire Department and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers responded about 4:47 a.m. Thursday, July 13, to the fiery one-vehicle wreck on state Highway 36 near County Road 111, just north of Buckholts. 

Police said one person was in the vehicle when it struck a guardrail, flipped, and then burst into flames. 

DPS troopers said the driver, Patterson, was pronounced dead at the scene. Arrangements are under the direction of  Patterson and Green-Patterson Funeral Home in Cameron.

By Lindsey Vaculin

General Manager

It’s back to the drawing board in the search for a new police chief for Cameron again.

Cameron City Manager Rhett Parker told city council that the city will once again begin accepting applications for the position during its meeting on July 17.

The council’s hiring committee had met with several candidates and council instructed Parker to negotiate a contract with a finalist during its June 28 meeting, but negotiations were not successful.

The search for a new police chief began in February after the City Council fired Randy Dixon, the former police chief. Parker said that the city wanted new leadership and direction for the Cameron Police Department.

The council also held a public hearing to receive comments regarding the 2016 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report during the meeting. No public comments were taken.