News

The segment featuring the Cameron Yoemen and the community that was shot in November is set to air on the NFL Network between 1:30 and 1:40 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5.

Producer Stephen Palgon said there will be a longer version online at some point this week, but he doesn’t now when yet.

Palgon and his crew were in Cameron Monday, Nov. 28, until Friday, Dec. 2, to capture footage for their special feature talking to community members and following the Yoemen on their journey through the State Playoffs.

This year’s Super Bowl will be played at NRG Stadium in Houston, so that is how the network decided it would be best to feature a team from Texas.  

“Since the Super Bowl is in Houston, we wanted to celebrate Texas high school football in the sense that what is going on in Houston sort of comes from the world of what happens here on Friday night,” said Palgon. 

Filing has started for the May 6 city and school elections. Four city council places and two school board positions are up for grabs.

According to City Secretary Amy Harris, three people have filed for places on the city ballot. Incumbents Melissa Williams, At-Large, and Robert Davis, Ward 3, have filed for their current places on the council. Daniel Willie has filed for Ward 1 on the council, currently held by Maurice Goza.

Places open on the council are Ward 1, Ward 3, Ward 5 and At-Large. Ward 5 is currently held by Vergie Hardeman.

Anyone wishing to run can stop by City Hall at 100 South Houston Avenue and pick up information.

As of press time no one had filed for any of the spots on the Cameron ISD Board of Trustees. Positions held by James Burks and Daniel Willie are up for election.

Chamber Honors

Cameron Chamber of Commerce is seeking community input on candidates for several awards presented at the annual banquet. You can submit your ideas for Volunteer of the Year, Organization of the Year, Citizen of the Year, and Business of the Year.  For more information, contact the Chamber of Commerce at (254) 697-4979. The 83rd Annual Chamber Banquet will be held on Monday, Feb. 27, at the Milam County Community Theater.  

Pre-K Family Night

Ben Milam Elementary Pre-K classes are having a Pre-K “Let it Snow” Family Night Jan. 26 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the BME cafeteria. There will be something warm for you to drink and something cold for you to play with. For more information, contact mgoodson@cameronisd.com.

Cameron Baseball Sign Ups

Students at Cameron Junior High receive groceries on Jan. 20 as part of CJH’s Culinary Arts Initiative. The school is piloting a grocery distribution program to promote healthy cooking for all of students and their families.  With high demand for the culinary arts class this year, Cameron Junior High is looking into ways to include more students in culinary education. The school periodically distributes free groceries to students to inspire culinary involvement and increase fresh, healthy food in our community.  These bags include fresh produce and recipes compiled by the Culinary Arts class. This initiative is a partnership between Cameron ISD and the Central Texas Food Bank. According to the Central Texas Food Bank, the distribution is open to the entire school of which 76 percent qualifies for free- or reduced- priced meals. The program is currently serving the 6th grade and distributes about 12 pounds of healthy food per child per distribution.

By Lindsey Vaculin

General Manager 

Cameron residents may want to slow down when driving through the city’s neighborhoods in the future.

The Cameron City Council passed a Street Sign resolution during its meeting Jan. 17 that will place additional stop signs and yield signs at several places mostly on Davis, Cleveland, Hoover and Wallace.

The resolution was crafted after with input from City Maintenance Director Craig Arnold, City Manager Rhett Parker and Chief of Police Randy Dixon.

The resolution states: “The City of Cameron has an inordinate amount of open intersections which present a hazard to our motoring public in terms of the possibility of accidents with no traffic control to prevent such. Open intersections tend to create an increase in accidents and thus to prevent such accidents and reduce the likelihood of injury, it is recommended these traffic control devices be established.”

By Lindsey Vaculin

General Manager

The Texas Education Agency released their work-in-progress school accountability ratings under the new A-F system on Friday and Cameron ISD’s ratings didn’t look so good.

Cameron ISD Superintendent Allan Sapp said these scores are not indicative of the district’s performance, saying that Cameron ISD actually met standard on all campuses last year. 

CISD received D ratings in Domain I - student achievement and Domain III - closing performance gaps and F ratings in Domain II - student progress and Domain IV - post-secondary readiness.

“These A-F grades are considered by TEA as ‘what if’ ratings,” Sapp said. “We will not make excuses for any low test scores from last year, but this paints an unfair picture of the students, staff and the community of Cameron.”

Sapp said CISD has great programs in place and everyone will continue to push for excellence in all areas. 

Cameron ISD has announced that Joe Oliver has been named principal of C. H. Yoe High School. 

The CISD School Board approved the hiring during its meeting Monday night.

Oliver comes with a vast array of experience in the educational field. He has a total of 29 years of administrative experience serving in the role of superintendent, high school principal and athletic director.

Oliver has served and is currently serving on several state level boards. Some of these include; the state legislative council, ethics committee of the THSCA and the alternative certification advisory board.

Oliver is no stranger to Cameron as he was the defensive coordinator of the 1981 state championship football team.

Cameron ISD will host a meet and greet to welcome Oliver this Wednesday, Jan. 11, in the high school cafeteria from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

A Milano woman is dead following a four-vehicle crash on US Highway 79 on Dec. 30.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the crash occurred at 6:15 p.m. on Dec. 30 killling 51-year-old Beverly Gunnels.
The vehicles involved were a 2014 GMC pickup, a 2005 Toyota pickup, a 2011 Ford Fusion sedan and a 2012 Chevrolet pickup.
The GMC was driven by Beverly Gunnels, 51, of Milano. She had three passengers, a 5-year-old and two 4-year-old children.
The Toyota was driven by Laura Durham, 25, of College Station. She was the only occupant of the Toyota.
The Ford was driven by Chelsie Tomlinson, 21, of College Station. She was the only occupant of the Ford.
The Chevrolet was driven by Brian Tomlinson, 23, of College Station. He was the only occupant of the Chevrolet. The Tomlinson’s are husband and wife.

An area company gave several children in Cameron a very merry Christmas last week. According to Cameron Police Chief Randy Dixon, the City of Cameron received a call Thursday, Dec. 22, saying that on Tuesday, Dec. 27, that Waste Management Inc., the city’s refuse collection agency, was going to bring eight new bicycles to the city for distribution to kids who did not have bikes. City Manager Rhett Parker asked the police department to handle the distribution. The bikes along with helmets were delivered to the department and officers Clay Domel and Chris Ashworth along with Dixon distributed the bikes by driving through several areas of town looking for kids playing without a bike. Ten kids were given bikes. Dixon said the kids were nothing but smiles and the department looked for kids and families who they believed were in need. He said the only regret was they wish they had 100 more to give away.

By Lindsey Vaculin

General Manager 

The Milam County Clerk’s Office will remain open during the lunch hour beginning in January.

The Milam County Commissioners approved the new hours, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., during its meeting on Dec. 26.

According to County Clerk Barbara Vansa the office will be open for the convenience of the public. The new hours will begin Jan. 3.

Commissioners also approved the purchase of two tractors, one front-end loader and two shredders for Precinct 2.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Donald Shuffield said the purchase is due to safety for his employees and to work on shredding and brush cutting.

“We had two close calls with the shredder almost turning over because of washouts and you couldn’t see it because of the grass,” he said. “I look at it as safety for these guys. The shredder has a wing that lays down.”