Seeks damages and civil penalties for worst environmental disaster in U.S. history

Home Hospice of Grayson, Cooke, and Fannin Counties is shedding light on a topic that many avoid -- communicating your wishes for end-of-life care. Home Hospice is hosting a workshop called The Great Conversation designed to help the community learn how to start the conversation with loved ones and tackle a difficult subject.

When you are at the Fannin County Courthouse Square, take a moment to enjoy the new landscaping, plants, and tree beds. In coordination with Fannin County Commissioners Court, the Fannin Bois d’Arc Master Naturalist Chapter took on the refresh of the courthouse grounds.

As May winds down and the end of school approaches, the Creative Arts Center is gearing up for Summer Camp activities. The Kidz Krew Variety Show on Friday, May 24 at 6:00 p.m. is the final activity for the performing arts group this school year. This Variety Show and Dinner promises to be a fun-filled evening and reservations are required since seating is limited. Tickets are $15 for ages 7 and up and include the show and dinner. Tickets for ages 6 and under are $6.

Sheila Ann Large, 41, of Cartwright, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on May 15, 2013 by 59th District Court, Judge Rayburn Nall after being convicted by a jury of Possession of Methamphetamine, 4 Grams to 200 Grams. The sentence was recommended by the jury after they had convicted Large of the crime after a three-day trial.

1980 – 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage. In 1980, a major volcanic eruption occurred at Mount St. Helens, a volcano located in Washington, in the United States. The eruption (which was a VEI 5 event) was the only significant one to occur in the contiguous 48 US states since the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California. The eruption was preceded by a two-month series of earthquakes and steam-venting episodes, caused by an injection of magma at shallow depth below the volcano that created a huge bulge and a fracture system on Mount St. Helens' north slope. Prior to the eruption, USGS scientists convinced local authorities to close Mount St. Helens to the general public and to maintain the closure in spite of pressure to re-open it; their work saved thousands of lives. An earthquake at 8:32:17 a.m. PDT (UTC−7) on Sunday, May 18, 1980, caused the entire weakened north face to slide away, suddenly exposing the partly molten, gas- and steam-rich rock in the volcano to lower pressure. The rock responded by exploding a hot mix of lava and pulverized older rock toward Spirit Lake so fast that it overtook the avalanching north face. An eruption column rose 80,000 feet into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 U.S. states. At the same time, snow, ice and several entire glaciers on the volcano melted, forming a series of large lahars (volcanic mudslides) that reached as far as the Columbia River, nearly 50 miles to the southwest. Less severe outbursts continued into the next day only to be followed by other large but not as destructive eruptions later in 1980. Fifty-seven people (including innkeeper Harry R. Truman, photographer Reid Blackburn and geologist David A. Johnston) perished. Hundreds of square miles were reduced to wasteland causing over a billion U.S. dollars in damage ($2.74 billion in 2011 dollars), thousands of game animals killed, and Mount St. Helens was left with a crater on its north side. At the time of the eruption, the summit of the volcano was owned by the Burlington Northern Railroad, but afterward the land passed to the United States Forest Service. The area was later preserved, as it was, in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.