News

The voter registration deadline is less than two weeks away for the November election which will have 14 constitutional amendments as well as a bond measure for the Olney Hamilton Hospital District.

The deadline to register to vote in the election will be Tuesday, Oct. 10. Early voting will be held Monday, Oct. 23 through Friday, Nov. 3. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail will be Friday, Oct. 27.

Election day will be held Tuesday, Nov. 7. In Young County, no local political subdivisions will have general elections for candidates.

Graham Area United Way kicked off its fundraising campaign at the end of last week, setting a goal of $100,000 to benefit seven local agencies within Young County.

The organization announced Friday, Sept. 22 that it has already raised $42,558.58, or 43% of the $100,000 goal. The amount was raised through the advanced gifts of $20,429, pacesetters funding of $12,499.34 and Graham ISD employee funding of $9,630.24.

This month Graham ISD joined other school districts across Texas in a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency which alleges TEA Commissioner of Education Mike Morath is unlawfully lowering the A-F Accountability Ratings for 2022-2023.

The lawsuit alleges that districts will be graded on a new scale that was not provided to districts at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year instead of the measure, methods and procedures which were adopted Aug. 11, 2022.

The Texas Music Office and Visit Graham are hosting a public Music Friendly Texas Community Workshop next week, which is the first step in the process for Graham to be certified as a Music Friendly Texas Community.

The Music Friendly Community Program was created in 2016 to provide Texas communities with a network to foster music industry development and show local interest to industry professionals for attracting and developing the music industry.

Songs filled the air Sunday at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Graham as the congregation hosted a 100th year celebration for the church during their service.

A contract for construction of a $6.15 million water line from the city sewer treatment plant to the planned Plug Power hydrogen facility was approved last week by the Graham City Council to be negotiated by City Manager Eric Garretty.

The council authorized the city manager Thursday, Sept. 14 to negotiate and conclude a contract for construction of the water line with Acadia Services, LLC in an amount not to exceed $6,150,000 based on a recommendation from the city’s contracted engineering firm Kimley-Horn.

The Graham City Council approved various safety measures for Oak, Montgomery and East Streets to assist traffic concerns around Graham Regional Medical Center and Open Door Christian School.

The city of Graham Transportation Improvements Committee met last month to discuss the installation of traffic control measures for Open Door Christian School, including temporary gates on Oak Street. Research for feasibility of other safety measures was recommended for city council approval.

The Graham City Council approved a bid last week from R. Morales Concrete for citywide curb and gutter repair projects. Over 2,000 linear feet of curb improvements and repairs will be included within the projects.

The council approved the bid of $82,028 from R. Morales Concrete during its meeting Thursday, Sept. 14. The bids were accepted until Friday, Aug. 25. The accepted bid includes the removal, disposal and repair of 2,264 linear feet of curb.

Allen Lee Dixon pleaded guilty Monday to two felony charges of indecency with a child by sexual contact. As part of a plea agreement, he was arrested and sentenced to 180 days in the Young County Jail and 10 years deferred adjudication community supervision.

The charges stem from allegations made against Dixon while he was operating Brothers Smokehouse, a former restaurant in Graham which he co-owned. The offenses took place around May 1, 2020 and Nov. 1, 2021, with victims under the age of 18.

At nearly nine months old, Everleigh Deck, who was diagnosed with biliary atresia, is fighting for her life and requires a donor to provide a liver transplant.

Taylor and Tyson Deck welcomed Everleigh into the world in December. Two months later, Everleigh became jaundiced and she was eventually diagnosed with biliary atresia.

She was born without a gallbladder or bile ducts, but it was something doctors were unable to discover in a newborn.