News

County officials received a welcome bit of good news last week with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards removing the VZC Jail from its list of non-compliant facilities. The jail was placed on the non-compliant list after an inspection conducted in early February revealed multiple shortcomings, including failures to properly document medication distribution and not enough face-to-face observations for violent inmates housed at the facility.

Steven “Craig” Shelton, 61, pleaded guilty July 6 in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas to violating an arrestee’s civil rights by using excessive force against him. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston for the Eastern District of Texas, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno of the FBI Dallas Field Division made the announcement.

The number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Van Zandt County has remained steady over the summer months, with just 295 confirmed or probable cases reported during the most recent nine-week period between May 2 and June 30.

Maintenance crews are scheduled to begin base repair on FM 859 between IH 20 and US 80. A second crew will be rehabbing the south service road on IH 20 at mile marker 542. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Voters in rural areas across the country heavily rely on alternative ways to vote, including voting by mail and in-person early voting, and newly proposed state legislation would restrict their ability to cast a ballot, according to a new report by the nonpartisan election policy group Secure Democracy USA. The report, The Forgotten Voters: How Current Threats to Voting Hurt Rural Americans, found that nearly half of all rural voters in the United States voted by mail or voted early in-person in the 2020 election.

New opportunities and scenery are available to hunters this fall through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) drawn hunt permits program, now accepting applications for a shot at almost 10,000 permits in 62 hunt categories.

The 2022 Canton Varsity football season tickets are on sale for returning ticket holders now through July 16. Tickets can be purchased from the CISD Event Ticket Link on the homepage of the CISD website.

The City of Canton is hosting the 11 Annual Tailwind Regional Balloon Fest. This event will open to the public on Friday, July 8 at 4 p.m. and Saturday, July 9 at 4 p.m. and it will be held on the west side of the First Monday Trade Days grounds. The balloon festival will showcase upwards of 30 balloons. The balloon glow ceremony is scheduled at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday evening. The cost of admission is $10 per car, $20 for vans (8-15 people) and $50 for buses.

Canton celebrated Independence Day on Monday, July 4, by hosting the third annual hot dog, bike decoration and watermelon eating contests while also having a July 4th parade and then topped it all off with a fireworks show.

The 25 th Annual East Texas Baptist Campmeeting Revival is scheduled for July 11-15 at the Canton Civic Center in Canton. With an average nightly attendance of nearly 1,000 people, this Campmeeting Revival is one of the largest annual weeklong religious gatherings in East Texas.