News

Tyler Junior College will have its Spring 2024 commencement ceremonies Friday, May 10 and the ceremony times will be as follows: — 9 a.m. — School of Professional & Technical Programs and School of Skilled Trades & Continuing Studies —11:30 a.m. — School of Humanities, Communications & Fine Arts — 2 p.m. — School of Nursing & Health Sciences — 4:30 p.m. — School of Engineering, Mathematics & Sciences All four graduation ceremonies will take place at Wagstaff Gymnasium on the TJC central campus.

The Defense Health Agency announced that TRICARE has expanded the number of Texas counties in which TRICARE benefi ciaries may receive emergency prescription refills due to storm damage. DHA also extended the date from May 10, 2024, to May 12, 2024.

Governor Greg Abbott recently expanded the state’s disaster declaration to include 59 counties in at-risk areas for severe weather and flooding, with the updated disaster declaration covering 88 counties in total. Van Zandt County is now included in the updated list.

Van Zandt County Sheriff Joe Carter released information on a scam that is currently happening in VZC. “The Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of a scam circulating in VZC,” emphasized Carter.

A near standing room only crowd was in attendance May 2 for the 73rd Annual National Day of Prayer ceremony. The ceremony took place in the Van Zandt County Court at Law Courtroom inside the VZC Courthouse in Canton and was hosted by the Canton Ministerial Alliance.

Kayleigh Hammack of Canton, 7, the daughter of Ron and Ley Hammack, qualified as a State Finalist in the National American Miss Texas Pageant to be held June 13-15 at Sonesta Galleria in Houston. The pageant is held for girls ages 4-24 in six different age divisions.

There will be a seminar titled, ‘What’s Up in VZC?’ scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Members of the Republican Women of Van Zandt have been busy with elections and preparation for the upcoming state GOP convention as well as fundraising. At the April meeting, member Debbie Burden was honored with our ‘Girl Power’ award for the first quarter of 2024.

Finding connections, finding answers: Patti Huff Williams took her audience on a fascinating family research journey, with the GEDMatch DNA program as the roadmap during the April 27 Spring Genealogy Workshop of the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society.

Van Zandt Newspapers is putting out the call to all local photographers for the Summer 2024 Explore Magazine Photography Contest. Winning entries will be featured in Van Zandt Newspapers’ annual Explore Magazine with name credit.