News

Young County is inviting the public to a town hall meeting next month regarding the Titus Low Carbon Ventures Tapaderos Solar and energy storage project.

The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Nov. 5 at the Eliasville Volunteer Fire Department at 5051 Hwy. 67 in South Bend. 

The county is currently in talks with Titus LCV regarding the Tapaderos Solar project, a 300 megawatt solar power facility nine miles west of Eliasville. If a county abatement is approved, the project has the potential to provide additional revenue to the county.

Following the November constitutional amendment election across the state, the candidate filing period for the primaries will open for those seeking a place on the Republican or Democratic ballot.

The first day to file will be Saturday, Nov. 8 to have a chance at being a party’s candidate in the upcoming general election. The filing deadline for primary candidates and independent candidates filing a declaration of intent is Monday, Dec. 8. 

After being presented with a potential playground project for a new park near Lincoln Street, the Graham Parks Department Board of Directors are considering a new direction for the park.

One of the top priorities for the parks board is to have a small park concept situated in the northern part of the city between Hwy. 380 N, Lincoln Street and Cherry Street.

The parks board met Wednesday, Oct. 8 and were presented a quote of $142,577.41 from Kraftsman Commercial Playgrounds & Water Parks for a playground concept for the park. 

Graham Fire Department and Olney Volunteer Fire Department were one of over 800 departments awarded funding through the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program with Texas A&M Forest Service.

TAMFS announced the grant award for the two departments during its Tuesday, Oct. 14 funding meeting. The local departments were awarded $300,000 each for water tender, which is a truck equipped with a water tank used in firefighting.

Early voting begins Monday across the state and in Young County for the November constitutional amendment election.

The only items on the upcoming election will be 17 constitutional amendment propositions, with no local and state offices on the Young County ballot.

Early voting in the election will run from Monday, Oct. 20 through Friday, Oct. 31. Voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 20-24 and Oct. 27-29. The final early voting period will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 30-31.

A Graham man died last week due to injuries sustained after being struck by a truck while crossing Hwy. 16.

First responders were dispatched around 7:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10 to 1919 Hwy. 16 S near Salt Creek Lodge for a single-vehicle wreck involving a pedestrian. 

Graham Police Department officers observed a Ram pickup truck stopped in the left northbound travel lane and a man in the roadway who was injured. 

The driver of the pickup was identified as Dr. Forrest (Nick) Burnham, of Graham, and the injured man was identified as Bobby Dooley, of Graham.

After local concerns were raised regarding a potential data center project located between FM 209 and FM 61, an informational meeting was held with those associated with the development which provided answers and additional questions.

A local group in opposition to the data center project, Concerned Citizens of Young County, hosted the meeting Thursday, Oct. 9 at Oak Street Baptist Church. 

Work on the Firemen’s Park trail project has begun with the project expected to be completed by mid-November.

The Graham City Council approved Finco Family Enterprises LCC in April to complete the work on the project which will widen, improve and add trails in Firemen’s Park. 

City Manager Eric Garretty and Jacob & Martin Project Manager Tristan King spoke on the project during a meeting Wednesday, Oct. 8 with the Graham Parks Department Board of Directors.

The city of Graham has laid out street projects it is planning on completing for the upcoming year and the estimated cost to complete those projects.

There are a total of 31 projects that are scheduled to be completed for fiscal year 2025-2026 at an estimated cost of $873,779. 

The Graham City Council was presented a list of proposed repaving projects during their meeting Thursday, Sept. 25. The list was reviewed by the city council before adoption at their next regular meeting Thursday, Oct. 9.

Graham ISD is developing a plan for the future of its facilities and has taken steps to obtain data and form a Facilities Planning Committee to assist in those efforts.

The GISD Board of Trustees met Wednesday, Oct. 8 and approved forming a 52-member committee appointed by the board and campus and district administrators to develop a five-year district Long-Range Facility Plan.

Part of the GISD Strategic Plan adopted in June 2025 was to create a Long-Range Facility Plan, with a facility study needed to evaluate the short and long-term needs of the district.