Hempstead County Quorum Court

The Hempstead County Quorum Court met at the Courthouse on Thursday (10-26).  After the invocation and the pledge of allegiance, the minutes from the previous meeting were approved.

Next on the agenda was an ordinance to create a separate solid waste dumpster fund. This would allow the county to have some discretion as to how money is spent and to direct the excesses to the highway department which has been desperately needed.

A motion was made to accept the ordinance which was seconded and passed.

The next ordinance was to name Highway 67 E and W in honor of Sargent Chad Rosenblum and 29 N and S in honor of Carlo Montel Robinson. Both died in military action.

The budget is still being worked on but should be finalized next week. There were unexpected costs with the jail main support beam.  This beam had cracked and sunk nearly 2 feet. The hope is to have prisoners back in the jail by Veteran’s Day.

Bonnie Raff talked about National Literacy Day on November 1st. The global illiteracy rates are high, 90% for males and 82% for females.  Many cultures do not allow women to seek education.  Raff said illiteracy costs the US $2.2 trillion a year in lost productivity. 34% of those with low literacy are foreign born. US citizens are slightly higher in reading and lower in math.  She noted if children are not reading at grade level by fourth grade, they are more likely to stay illiterate, enter the criminal justice system, and have poor health.

Raff talked about the Clinton DOGS (Dads of Great Students) Reading Program in which any male is welcome to participate. Many children have no parents to read to them.

The JP’s heard about the Veteran’s Parade set for November 10th at 4pm.  Sheriff Singleton encouraged people to attend the parade and support the troops. The parade has 62 entries so far.  On Veterans Day, November 11th, there will be a Lions’ fish fry with the veterans and families eating for free and tickets priced at $10 for non-veterans.   There will be two trailers provided to allow any veteran who wants to ride in the parade to do so on the 10th.  The Veterans Day program will be in front of the Old Courthouse at 11:00am. It was noted both the Hope High and Jr. High bands will participate in the parade.

The meeting then adjourned.