Cypress Basin Hospice will begin Volunteer Training at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7 at the Cypress Basin Hospice office. Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer for the organization is encouraged to call the Cypress Basin Hospice office at 903-577-1510. The hospice office is located at 207 W. Morgan St. in Mount Pleasant.

An abandoned house and outbuilding were a total loss in the second of two structure fires reported on Saturday, March 21. One of several juveniles that was in the house made the fire report around 5:50 p.m.

Linda Osman was one of the 10 nurses who has been accepted into the LVN to RN program provided by Legacy of Learning and Jordan Health Services.

A medical benefit fund has been established for Robert Geerts at the Guaranty Bond Bank in Mount Vernon. Mr. Geerts had surgery for cancer of the bladder on Dec. 23, 2008 at East Texas Medical Center - Tyler. Since the operation, he has had numerous medical problems. For more information, see the April 2 edition of the Optic-Herald.

Assistant D. A. Samantha Crouch and attorney William Howard McDowell flank Elbis Torres during sentencing. Mr. Torres, the third and final person at the Whiteside home for the robbery, pled guilty Friday, March 24 to a reduced charge of murder, a first degree felony.