By Brad Kellar

Greenville – Charges have been dismissed against a Rains County man in connection to a 2007 armed holdup in Commerce.

44-year-old Melroy Lynn Anderson, of Emory, was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday on the indictment which included two counts of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Anderson had pleaded not guilty.

Reports from the Hunt County District Attorney's Office indicated the alleged victim did not wish to pursue the case.

By Brent Lyday

Commerce – Texas A&M University-Commerce was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation to participate in a university-wide effort to improve teacher preparation in Texas schools. A&M-Commerce will participate with six other Texas universities in preparing a plan to implement findings of Sid Richardson report.

By Scott Harvey

Sulphur Springs – Preliminary TAKS figures show Sulphur Springs High School could improve its accountability rating to acceptable or higher.

The Texas Education Agency won't release district ratings until July 30.

A presentation to board members this week by Campus Intervention Team officials indicated the possible rating change. The board acknowledged the initial data is neither complete nor comprehensive, but likely will show at least a small change.

By Brent Lyday

Commerce – Students from Cooper and Commerce Independent School District are in the midst of the Maximizing Motivation, Targeting Technology (M2T2) summer camp at Texas A&M University-Commerce. The camp is an innovative program targeting technology to motivate students to pursue careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) workforce.

Luke speaks once again with Larry Large about fishing at Lake Fork.

Outdoors with Luke Clayton 6-16-10

Luke speaks once again with Larry Large about fishing at Lake Fork.

By Kevin Jefferies

Sulphur Springs – www.easttexasdailynews.com reports the new Highway-11 extension at Sulphur Springs between Highways-19 and 154 will open to the public before the end of the month. Signal lights will flash red for a week before being placed in normal operation. The new road will remain closed until June 29.

By Kevin Jefferies

Mt. Pleasant – Seven individuals have been arrested by a federal task force for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas.

On May 6 a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the individuals with conspiring with one another to distribute, and distributing, at least 50 but less than 150 kilograms of cocaine.

By Kevin Jefferies

Commerce – The City of Commerce sales tax revenue is down 24% over this time last year. Interim City Manager Marc Clayton reported to the city council in regular session last night that an audit correction for a tax-paying entity in Commerce showed $22,000 in sales tax had been overpaid and tax rolls would be adjusted accordingly, which could mean as much as a $47,000 deficit by the end of the year.

By Kevin Jefferies

Paris – The Lamar County Sheriff's Department is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct between a female Chisum High School teacher and several male students, according to the Paris News.

Sheriff B.J. McCoy said potential victims were being interviewed in the case and the department hoped to hand the case to the District Attorney next week.

Chisum Superintendent Diane Stegall confirmed a female teacher had been dismissed from the school district Thursday as a result of the allegations.

By Kevin Jefferies

Greenville, Commerce – Parts of Hunt County have been serving as the backdrop for an independent film with several local residents serving key roles and positions for the production. Wolfe City native Mike Mullins serves as the executive producer and director of photography for the movie "Technically Crazy". So far, filming has occurred at several locations in Greenville and also in parts of Wolfe City and at Binnion Hall in Commerce, with more filming planned in other parts of Hunt County.