News

The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $21.2 million in federal grant funding to the State of Texas for crisis response programs, including mental health courts, drug courts, Veterans’ Courts, and Assisted Out Patient Treatment (AOT) programs, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced on Feb. 15. The grant was awarded to Governor Greg Abbott’s Public Safety Office to support state and local crisis intervention programs, including the expansion of behavioral health crisis response initiatives and specialized court-based programs to address risk factors that lead to violence, Sen. Cornyn said. The program was established following the May 24, 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, he said. Jack and Young Counties and the City of Olney are working together to come up with a joint program to address mental health needs in the region. County and city officials meet on Feb. 22 with state lawmakers in Austin on Feb. 22, and again on March 2-3 in Decatur with the Texas Department of Health and Human Services for a workshop to develop local mental health programs.

The City Council and the Olney Independent School District Board of Trustee races will each see challenges to incumbents, and the City Council will place a ballot measure that reclassifies the Olney Industrial Development Corporation before voters in the May 6 municipal elections. The deadline for registering for the ballot was Feb. 17. Teri Wipperman, a former City Councilmember who has worked as a billing clerk for the City of Olney since 2003, has filed to run for one of the three at-large City Council positions, according to City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon. She joins a field that includes incumbents Brad Simmons, Chuck Stennett and Harrison Wellman. Voters also will decide on Places 6 and 7 on the OISD Board of Trustees. A.J. Johnson and Colson Ballard filed to run for the OISD Board of Trustees, Board Chairman Jake Bailey said. Place 6 is held by incumbent Board Vice President Kyle Hinson and Place 7 is held by Craig Mahler, both of whom are running for re-election. The Olney Hamilton Hospital will cancel its election because no candidates appeared to challenge incumbents Dale Lovett, Lonnie Rue, David Lund and Dr. Jeremy Johnson, who are running for re-election.

BY GINA KEATING