News

The Texas State Comptroller’s Office delivered its latest monthly sales tax revenue report to local cities last week, reporting mixed results when comparing against collection totals against the same month from the previous year.

Staffing issues at the Van Zandt County Jail were updated by VZC Sheriff Joe Carter during the July 12 meeting of the VZC Commissioners Court. The regular meeting was moved to July 12 due to a potential quorum issue for the regularly scheduled July 19 meeting.

Average gasoline prices in Texas have risen 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.14/g July 17, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 13,114 stations in Texas. Prices in Texas are 5.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 85.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 0.1 cents in the last week and stands at $3.80 per gallon.

Brookshire Grocery Co. announced an agreement whereby Walgreens will acquire BGC’s 120 pharmacies in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, which includes pharmacy customer prescription files and related pharmacy inventory. The vast majority of these locations are being converted to Walgreens pharmacies that will operate inside of BGC’s stores.

The Canton Lions Club District 2-2X met July 12 at the Van Zandt Country Club with Lion Vice President Jonathan Helvey presiding. Lion Kenny Edwards introduced the speaker, Lion Chet Clayton, President, First State Bank of BenWheeler.

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A rain event will often soon be followed by an explosion in the mosquito population. A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert has information on the types of mosquitoes that may appear and tips on how to control or repel them.

A proposal to do a hand-counting of votes following the upcoming Nov. 7 General Election in Van Zandt County was tabled by the VZC Commissioners Court during its regular meeting July 5.

davidb@vanzandtnews.com Nine former members of the Van Zandt County Grand Jury were named to the 2023 Salary Grievance Committee following a 3-0 vote by the VZC Commissioners Court during its regular meeting July 5.

The University of Texas at Tyler offers free dementia and other brain-related screenings to the East Texas community through the UT Tyler Memory Assessment and Research Center. The UT Tyler MARC is dedicated to innovative scientific research and improving the lives of Tyler, Smith County and East Texas community members by providing neuropsychological screening and evaluation services to older adults with suspected or existing cognitive impairment.