John Mark Dempsey

Texas A&M University-Commerce associate professor of counseling Dr. LaVelle Hendricks says one of the latest substance-abuse issues among young people is smoke caffeine, or smoking coffee.

Bert Cooper, the executive director of Community Seeds, based in Lone Oak, says the faith-based organization is offering a nurses' aides training program, certified by the state Division of Aging and Disability Services. 

The Hunt County United Way will sponsor a mammography screening opportunity Saturday, July 26 at its offices on Lee Street in downtown Greenville, United Way Executive Director Frances Dalbey says.  Hunt Regional Healthcare's Tubby Adkisson Mobile Mammography Unit will be at the United Way offices on that day.  Other upcoming opportunities for women to have breast-cancer screenings in the mobile unit will be Tuesday, June 24 at the PCA facility in Quinlan, and Wednesday, July 2 at the Commerce Wal

Recently installed Commerce Chamber of Commerce manager Paul Voss says CVS Pharmacy will soon begin construction of a new building near the intersection of Highway 24 and Culver Street in Commerce.  And Paul says two new restaurants will soon open in the Live Oak Street shopping center that's the home of Hibbett Sports and Dollar Tree, one in the former Mia Casita location, and  one in the current Chicken Express building, which will soon be vacant when Chicken Express moves into its new building.

Hunt County Master Gardener Dr. Stephanie Suesan Smith says young grasshoppers are starting to appear in Northeast Texas.  She recommends treating with Nolo bait.  And Stephanie says if you plant fall gardens from seed, it's time to get those plants started.

Cooper Review editor Cindy Roller says youth from Cooper churches are helping demolish abandoned buildings and painting playground equipment in the park.  And the Delta County Commissioners Court has approved changes to the Meal-A-Day program for elderly citizens after receiving complaints.  Plus, Cooper High School has a new principal, and the Delta County Sherriff's Office has received a surplus military Humvee.

  As we have admired the exceptional play of the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA playoffs, here’s a question for Dallas Cowboys fans:  Who is Peter Holt?  

I’m a casual basketball fan, so perhaps I’m less knowledgeable than many readers, but my guess is that relatively few outside of San Antonio can identify Peter Holt as the owner of the Spurs.   Breathes there the man or woman who hasn’t heard the name of the Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones? Perhaps there’s a lesson here.

Commerce Mayor Dr. John Ballotti says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering what is needed to prevent the South Sulphur River from causing floods in southeast Commerce.  The mayor says a new restaurant will open soon in the former Mi Casita location.  And he says, despite delays, the current street construction project is on target to be completed on schedule.

Pud Kearns of Housewarmers of Greenville discusses plans for the Lavender Festival at Savannah's Meadow between Greenville and Farmersville on Saturday.  And Pud introduces us to Wally Jeffers, the director of Hunt County Shared Ministries, or FISH, which distributed one million pounds of food in Hunt County last year.

The chairman of the Hunt County Historical Commission, Carol Taylor, says a sign commemorating the Bankhead Highway will be dedicated at the Corner Street Pub in downtown Greenville on Tuesday, June 17.  The Bankhead Highway was a transcontinental, federally funded road approved by Congress in 1916 that passed through Greenville, Commerce and other Northeast Texas towns, and parts of which still exist today.