City to spend $18,000 on new lights for ballfields

Leadership from Howe Youth Baseball has now initiated major renovations to each of the ballfields located on the west side of US 75 Past President Kent Akins and current President Scott Thurman have had big dreams of rejuvenating the two fields known as Hash Field (10U) and North Field (14U) Once known as BiCentennial Park due to its creation in 1976, the name has been lost, but the baseballs and gloves have remained true throughout the 39 years of existence

Last year, Howe Youth Baseball asked for help from the city for a project to fix the water drainage problems on North Field by constructing concrete backstops and dugouts That project was finished before the season started

This year, Thurman headed up an initiative to fix multiple problems with the lighting that would be beneficial to everyone He contacted Techline in Van Alstyne to have a study done on the lighting and the cost effectiveness of a full replacement project. The study showed that the fields currently have 126 Tungsten Halogen Quartz lights at 1500 watts each. The new upgrade will be a reduction in the number of lights from 126 to 60, but would be more lighting from the Standard Metal Halide (MH) lights to be installed Also the study by Techline showed that the lighting angles will be adjusted for maximum coverage The North Field will be the same level of lighting as a high school baseball field, whereas, Hash Field will be the exact amount needed for 10 and under play

The total upfront cost of the project

New officers on board for Howe PD

At Tuesday night's city council meeting, the council approved two new members to the Howe Police Department. HPD Chief Carl Hudman introduced new reserve officer Brandon Ozuna as well as part-time officer Keth A.

Milks continued on Page #3 oral review board, pistol qualification, background check and all other requirements

Milks also completed all of the necessary qualifications and fills the role of parttime officer left vacant by John Grant, who moved on to a full-time position with the Murphy PD continued on Page #4