News

The cause of an explosion at the Graham Water Treatment Plant is currently under investigation by the city of Graham. The city is working on mitigation and repair of a sodium hypochlorite storage tank at the plant.

The city has filed a preliminary claim for damages with its insurer, Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool (TMLIRP). A TMLIRP claims investigator has visited the site of the incident, but no cause of the rupture has been determined.

The city of Graham is pursuing a grant in 2025 through the Texas Department of Transportation for a proposed sidewalk project, which includes paths from South Street to Walmart Drive and various other streets.

After being approved by the Transportation Improvements Committee during their meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24, the item was forwarded to Graham City Council for approval. Council met Thursday, Nov. 9 and gave the approval to consider the project during future budget planning.

A book that has been the topic of some heated discussion at recent library meetings will be reshelved after this week’s vote of the board.

The Library of Graham Advisory Board voted 5-2 in favor of keeping “We Need to Talk About Vaginas: An IMPORTANT Book About Vulvas, Periods, Puberty and Sex!” The book will soon be relocated to a yet to be determined area of the library.

The book, authored by Dr. Allison K. Rodgers, is a non-fiction, illustrated book that shares information on sensitive topics such as anatomy, sex, periods, consent and more.

The nonprofit organization 2INgage met with local and area representatives last week during a roundtable discussion devoted to foster parents.

The organization meets the needs of Texas children and families by providing case management, foster care placement and support services in a 30-county area, including Young County.

Voting ended Tuesday with a 19% overall turnout in Young County. A total of 13 of 14 constitutional amendments proposed on the November ballot were approved by voters statewide as well as a $33 million bond measure locally for Olney Hamilton Hospital District.

With the exception of proposition 13, which proposed an increase to the age of retirement for state justices and judges, all other constitutional amendments were passed statewide.

Four Graham High School FFA students punched their ticket to the area competition after advancing this week in the district Leadership Development Events (LDE) in Springtown.

The students participated Monday, Nov. 6 in 10 different events in the district competition. According to FFA rules, students cannot take part in more than two events so some students overlapped.

Six local junior high teams are preparing to compete in the event of the season, when each sets up shop on the square with sales of hot chocolate and various other goodies in support of area nonprofits.

Since 2016, the Graham Chamber of Commerce Hot Chocolicious program has raised over $30,000 for area nonprofit organizations.

The program has student teams organize a hot chocolate business, build a stand and display their products for sale alongside the chamber’s annual Christmas stroll and lighted parade which will be held Thursday, Nov. 30.

Following an explosion at the Graham Water Treatment Plant last week, the city of Graham is working on mitigation and repair of a tank which ruptured.

Following the explosion Thursday, Nov. 2, the city issued emergency water use restrictions which requested all residents restrict to non-essential water usage until further notice.

In cooperation with local and national agencies, the Young County Sheriff’s Office recently hosted animal cruelty training.

The training was put on Thursday, Nov. 2 by representatives of The Humane Society of the United States in their law enforcement training division. The training came about after Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock was in contact with one of the trainers at a sheriff’s conference in June.

The Graham Noon Lions Club showed its support for the city police department recently with a donation to one of its K9 officers.

Members of the Lions Club presented a lifesaving vest to Wolf, one of the dogs with GPD, and his handler, Sergeant Hailey Calcote, during their meeting Wednesday, Nov. 1.

Calcote previously visited the club on multiple occasions to speak as part of the program. During one of her visits, she spoke about one of the other department’s dogs and the lifesaving vest it used.