News

It's almost carnival time in Pittsburg! Workers from Hip Hop Amusements of Gilmer are in downtown Pittsburg today setting up carnival rides for this year's Pioneer Days festival. This year's carnival will open Thursday with arm bands for sale both Thursday and Friday.

2015 Sports Posters are available free of charge for any business owner in Camp County at The Pittsburg Gazette. Show your support for the pirates with these beautiful color posters featuring photos and schedules for all fall teams. Businesses in the city limits can have a poster delivered to them by calling the office at (903) 856-6629.

The homecoming game for the Pittsburg Pirates will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11 at Pirate Stadium. The 2015 Pirate Homecoming Court is from left to right on the front row, freshman Ali Lankford, sophomore Daisy Portillo, junior Cali Butler, junior Tatyana Smith, sophomore Sydney Waldrep and freshman Marisol Kennedy. Back row from left to right are senior Ana Salinas, senior Abbi Florey, senior Elizabeth Vega and senior Samantha Hammonds.

The Pittsburg Gazette met with the 2015 Homecoming Court to ask how they felt about being nominated to represent their school and their individual classes and what they like to do in their spare time. Here are a few of their answers.

Senior Nominees are Abbi Florey, Samantha Hammonds, Ana Salinas and Elizabeth Vega.

Abbi Florey - Extracurricular activities: Varsity cheerleader, varsity cross country, varsity track. - Quote: “It’s an honor that my senior class nominated me.”

Law enforcement officers in Camp County joined with LEOs all over the State of Texas as they paused for a moment of silence Friday, Sept. 4 at exactly 11 a.m. in honor of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth.

Deputy Goforth was shot in the back this week while gassing up his patrol car. Shannon J. Miles, the man accused in the shooting, is in custody in Harris County.

Funeral services for Deputy Goforth began at 11 a.m. and were expected to be one of the biggest for a fallen officer in the Houston area.

Camp County and Pittsburg officers parked their vehicles in a cross in the Smith Furniture parking lot, with doors open as they stood silently beside their vehicles. At exactly 11 a.m., a radio call came in stating that all officers should turn on their emergency lights and the station would maintain one minute of silence.

The new owners of the old house at 212 Mount Pleasant St. have moved it to the country. Elvie Carpenter and his wife, Billie-Jo, bought the house in 2010 and have been working on a remodel ever since.

The house was built in 1901 and has been sitting on the lot next to the east-west railroad track until now. After they bought the house, Mr. Carpenter completely redid the exterior and interior of the old house.

“My wife so wanted the house,” Mr. Carpenter said, “so we took on the project to save it.”

Mr. Carpenter’s family has been in the Pittsburg area for at least 100 years and so has Mrs. Carpenter’s family, whose maiden name was Greer. The Carpenters were graduates of Pittsburg schools and high school sweethearts. They now have four children.

The house was rather run down when the Carpenters purchased it.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, or a collector by his age.

Dustin Ellis may only be 25 years old, but he has an antique soul. One quick trip through his home or a simple conversation will prove how much this young man wants to save antique phonographs, recordings and memorabilia.

Mr. Ellis serves as curator of The Edison Phonograph Museum, located in Hoover’s Jewelry at 213 N. Madison in Mount Pleasant, which is comprised of private collections from Mr. Ellis, David Hoover of Hoover’s Jewelry and Scott Glover with the Mid America Flight Museum. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and closed Sunday.

Mr. Ellis, who is a police officer in Mount Pleasant, has a private collection of more than 20 antique phonographs at his home in Pittsburg.

New paint, bright landscaping and a fresh façade can do wonders to the exterior of a business and when business is booming, so is the economy.

The Pittsburg Economic Development Corporation has helped many business owners in Pittsburg spruce up the exteriors of their buildings by awarding incentives made possible through local sales tax.

The EDC funds the Main Street program, and grants for exterior improvements are available for Main Street businesses. Incentives through the EDC board, however, are available to any Pittsburg business owners.

Amanda McCellon, Pittsburg’s community development coordinator, said Pittsburg’s EDC has already funded parts of the former Pittsburg Police Station, now known as the Wallace building downtown. The building was purchased by attorney James W. Wallace who turned the building into his law office, as well as adding additional office space for renters.

The Pittsburg Gazette would like to welcome Ellis Knox to the reporting staff. Mr. Knox has lived on Lake Bob Sandlin since he retired as a direct contractor to the Central Intelligence Agency in December of 2006.

Mr. Knox was born in Corrigan, Texas and graduated from the Livingston Independent School District in Livingston, Texas. He attend Texas A&M University for two years and later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management from National Louis University in Mclean, Virginia.

He is a professional photographer by trade and owned a studio in Livingston before moving to Northern Virginia in 1989 where he worked for the CIA.

Pittsburg Gazette editor Tori Lyle said she’s happy to have Mr. Knox on board.

“Ellis is a skilled photographer with an eye for detail and a capable writer,” she said. “I can’t wait for the people of Pittsburg to see what he can do.”

The burn ban for Camp County was lifted Wednesday, Sept. 9. The drought index for Texas is still high, however, so those who choose to burn should watch fires and take proper precautions while burning. Always have a water hose nearby and don't burn on windy days.

From left, Pittsburg’s Lieutenant Westley Kizer and Thunderbird Fire Chief Don Mays observe Thunderbird volunteer fireman Jerry Goforth and Pittsburg volunteer fireman Bobby Brown hose down a woods fire that is believed to have started in the Thunderbird community after an early morning rain storm Tuesday, Aug. 25.