News

Early voting for the March 1 primary elections got off to a brisk start Tuesday with almost 300 ballots cast.
According to County Clerk Barbara Vansa’s office, 298 ballots were cast on the first day of early voting, including 146 mail ballots. The county clerk’s office polling place had the most activity with 87 votes cast there Tuesday – 85 Republican ballots and 3 Democratic ballots. Other early voting polling places are located in Buckholts, Thorndale and Rockdale.
All Milam County races will be decided in the Republican primary. There are two contested county wide races and three contested precinct races.
Sheriff David Greene is challenged by former constable Herbie Vaughan. Greene is seeking his third four-year term as sheriff. Vaughan also challenged him in 2012.
There is no incumbent in the race for county tax assessor-collector. GOP candidates for that position are Sherry Mueck and Melanie Crook.

A local option liquor election to permit the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages including mixed beverages in the City of Cameron will be a ballot issue in a special election May 7.
The City Council called the election Tuesday night after City Secretary Amy Harris reported the petition issued in December had been returned and certified with 362 signatures, exceeding the required number of 307.
The Cameron Chamber of Commerce and local businesses filed the petition and gathered the signatures to seek the special election.
Chamber members Daniel Willie and Neal Bhakta said the measure would help attract more businesses, especially popular restaurant chains.

Saturday is the long-awaited opening day for The Yards of Cameron.
The day-long event is the first opportunity for residents in central Texas to see, tour and enjoy the $18 million project that is well on its way to completion.
Community leaders welcome residents, baseball fans and families to tour the complex, which is designed to serve youth and local businesses as well as introduce visitors to Cameron.
Activities on Feb. 20 include family fun and fitness in the morning, a Yoemen alumni baseball game, a sneak peak opening for 44 Farms Farmers Market, dedication ceremony and a college doubleheader. In addition, public tours of the facilities will be available throughout the day, as well as kite flying and drone demonstrations.
Saturday’s full schedule includes:
8 a.m. Yoemen Alumni Game
9 a.m. Family Fun & Fitness, Farmers Market
10 a.m. Guided Tour of The Yards
11 a.m.  Guided Tour of The Yards

By Curtis Chubb, Special to the Herald

Organizers report the fourth annual Mardi Gras Bash was a success with about 225 people attending to support the Chris Holcombe Memorial Scholarship fund.
The event held at George Simon Hall in Cameron raised more than $13,000 which will be used for college scholarships for Milam County students. The big ticket items whicah brought the most money in the live auction were a James Taylor autographed acoustic guitar bought by Tommy Standard and a prime rib dinner for 20 people purchased by Bill Torrey. A new event was a deck of cards gun raffle was added. Winners of the gun raffle were Mary Mowdy, Kevin Harmon and Carl Hughes. Over the past three years, $41,000 has donated for scholarships to current college students from Milam County.

Community leaders in Cameron will host Opening Day at The Yards of Cameron on Saturday, Feb. 20.
The day-long event is the first opportunity for residents in central Texas to see, tour and enjoy the $18 million project that is well on its way to completion.
Activities include Family Fun and Fitness in the morning, a Yoemen alumni baseball game, a sneak peak opening for 44 Farms Farmers Market, the official Yards dedication ceremony and a doubleheader between Temple College and Angelina College in the afternoon. In addition, public tours of the facilities will be available throughout the day, as well as kite flying and drone demonstrations.
Yoe alumni will scrimmage on Field No. 1 of The Yards at 9 a.m. on Opening Day, and Temple College will play Angelina College in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. 

For all the details, check out this week's print or digital edition of The Cameron Herald.

Temple ISD has announced publicly the four finalists for their head football coach and athletic director position - Cameron Yoe HC/AD Rick Rhoades, Galena Park North Shore HC Jon Kay, current Temple defensive coordinator Scott Stewart, and current Temple assistant head coach/strength and conditioning coordinator JD Berna.

Four people were arrested on drug charges Friday during an anti-drug trafficking operation Friday evening.
Cameron Police Chief Randy Dixon said after investigating illegal drug activity at a local residence, police obtained a warrant issued by District Judge John Youngblood on a house in the 700 block of North Scott.
“Members of the Cameron Police Department Strategic Response Unit along with the Texas Highway Patrol, served the warrant at approximately 7 p.m. last Friday (Jan. 29),” Dixon said in a written statement released today.
During the arrests, a large quantity of cocaine, marijuana, promethazine, ecstasy, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia were seized, Dixon said. Also seized were a car and cash.
Dixon said the following Cameron residents were arrested and taken to the Milam County Jail for arraignment:

The Yoemen baseball alumni game is returning, scheduled Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the new high school baseball field. The event is part of a full day of activities celebrating ‘opening day’ at Cameron’s new Eastside multiplex tourism event center and youth sports complex. The alumni game will be formatted with two alumni teams taking on each other in at least a seven-inning ball game. Each participant will receive a shirt along with food. The cost is $10 per player. For more information, alumni should contact Yoemen head coach John Broussard or Phillip Dohnalik. 

Milam County unemployment rate dipped to under 5 percent for the first time in more than five years while the state unemployment rate continued rising.
For the fourth consecutive month, the Texas unemployment rate rose in December to reach 4.7 percent, the Texas Workforce Commission reported last week.
The nationwide jobless rate for December held steady at 5 percent, according to the TWC statement. The Texas jobless rate was 4.6 percent in November.
According to the TWC report, Milam County’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent, the lowest rate reported in 2015 and the lowest reported in the past five years.
The TWC estimated the total Milam County labor force at 9,931 workers in December, with 490 currently looking for work.
TWC officials noted that even with the four-month rise, the state finished 2015 on a strong note in December, with employers adding 166,900 jobs over the year across a diverse range of industries.