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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham Junior High School Principal Sam Perry is closing the book on six years with Graham ISD and starting a new chapter at Eustace ISD where he will serve as assistant superintendent.

Perry closing out six years with GISD

At the end of next week, Graham Junior High School Principal Sam Perry will say goodbye to Graham and move onto his next journey as assistant superintendent of Eustace ISD.

Brandi Dyer, who served as the former assistant superintendent for Eustace ISD, was approved as the new superintendent of the district in February. 

Dyer had been in contact with Perry before heading the district and pushed him to apply for the position.

(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Texas Music Office held a certification ceremony for the Graham to become a Music Friendly Texas Community at Crawfish and Cannons held Saturday, April 12. Shown from left to right are Zach Balch, Gini Mascorro, Amanda Dulany and Brendan Weatherman.

Graham designated Music Friendly Texas Certified Community

The city of Graham joined over 75 cities statewide after being certified by the Texas Music Office as a Music Friendly Texas Certified Community.

The Music Friendly Texas (MFT) program promotes music economic development and job creation in Texas cities and communities.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced the designation Tuesday, April 8 and a certification ceremony was held Saturday, April 12 alongside Visit Graham’s Crawfish and Cannons event at Fort Belknap.

(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Texas Department of Transportation Graham Area Engineer Zach Husen speaks with the Transportation Improvements Committee for the city of Graham during their meeting Thursday, April 3.

City examines five years of crash data

The Graham Transportation Improvements Committee analyzed five years of crash data from within the city of Graham to better service the area's needs.

TxDOT Graham Area Engineer Zach Husen spoke to the city committee Thursday, April 3 regarding five years of data from the state organization.

“You'll see very clearly that our top three contributing factors to crashes are intersection related crashes, distracted driving related and speed related. ...That's what is listed as either the factor, or the contributing factor to the crash,” Husen said.

(CHRIS SISK | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) A wallet that was caught in Possum Kingdom Lake belonging to Martin Oswald. Chris Sisk led a fishing guide service last month where the group caught the wallet. Fisk turned to social media to seek more information.

Over 25-year-old wallet caught in PK Lake returns to wife of owner

A wife was reconnected with her late husband after an unexpected catch from a guided fishing service on Possum Kingdom Lake in March brought up his over 25-year-old wallet.

Chris Sisk, who runs the fishing guide service Krazy Fins, had a group on PK Lake for a fishing trip Sunday, March 23. When the group stopped at a location on the lake about 25-feet deep, they made the discovery of a lifetime.

(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER)

City provides housing update

Multiple development projects are underway or under consideration within Graham as the city continues to fill a growing need for area housing.

City Manager Eric Garretty and Code Enforcement Officer B.J. Cook spoke Tuesday, April 8 with the Graham Economic Improvement Corporation regarding housing initiatives in the city.

Cook said a total of 21 houses are under construction in the city including some on Westwood Drive, Normandy Drive, Rodgers Drive, Kentucky Street and in the Pitcock addition on Crawford Street, Medora Street and Lindy Street. 

(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Texas Department of Transportation Graham Area Engineer Zach Husen speaks with the Transportation Improvements Committee for the city of Graham during their meeting Thursday, April 3.

TxDOT, city continue work on safety projects for Hwy. 16

The Texas Department of Transportation is closing in on a finalized report for a potential traffic signal at the Montgomery Road and Hwy. 16 intersection in Graham, along with other recommendations on Hwy. 16.

TxDOT contracted the work on the intersection to the engineering firm Garver who were tasked with analyzing that section from a traffic safety perspective and to make a recommendation. 

(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Early voting in the upcoming May election will begin Tuesday, April 22 and run through Tuesday, April 29. Early voting locations are the Young County Annex in Graham and First Baptist Church in Newcastle.

Early voting upcoming for May election

A little under two weeks remain until early voting begins for the upcoming May local elections in Graham and Newcastle. 

The city of Graham, Graham ISD and Newcastle ISD will have contested elections upcoming in May after candidates filed for open seats on the city council and district board of trustees.

The last day to register to vote in the election was Thursday, April 3. To check your registration status, visit votetexas.gov, or contact the Young County elections office at 940-521-9483. 

(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Students of Open Door Christian School and Stem Director Claire Meschkat walk a weather balloon to a launch site at Graham Municipal Airport in 2021. Another launch is planned for May at the airport.

ODCS students go out of this world for STEM project

If you were to hear that students at a school were going to launch a weather balloon 100,000 feet into the atmosphere in a project guided by a former Boeing aerospace engineer, one would expect this to be a project at a college or university. 

However, that’s exactly the kind of boundary breaking project students at Open Door Christian School are in the midst of partaking in. 

This is an experiment that even the organizer, ODCS STEM Director Claire Meschkat, finds to be incredible. 

(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER)

Olney man arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child

An Olney Police Department investigation led to the arrest last week of Garner Castro for the alleged charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Castro, 45, of Olney, was arrested Friday, March 28 on the first-degree felony charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child and was booked into the Young County Jail. The charge stemmed from an incident which occurred in the summer of 2020, when the victim was 13 years old.

According to the probable cause affidavit, an OPD detective was notified in March of an outcry made by an Olney High School student. 

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