News

Speaker Master Gardener Donna Tyree .

The Sabine County Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting at the Feed Store on Tuesday, January 9th, and opened with a prayer and pledge to the flag. There were no new members for the month of December to recognize, but there are two open spots for Board Members and nominations are being accepted and hopefully will be voted upon in the February meeting. There was discussion on how to join the Sabine County Chamber of Commerce either as individual, non-profit, or business. Discussion also included how to invest in the Chamber with various contributor level options. The Chamber will be moving into its newly renovated office space in a couple of weeks, and the Chamber meeting room will be available to be rented for various parties, meetings, and activities.

Help keep your pet safe during the colder months by doing the following: Don't leave pets outdoors when the temperature drops. Outdoor pets use more energy to keep warm so they will need more food when it’s cold. Routinely check your pet's water dish to make certain the water is fresh and unfrozen.

As Texas State Parks’ yearlong birthday celebration winds down, we are looking back at the highlights from 2023. “It has been a truly amazing year for Texas State Parks,” said Rodney Franklin, Director of Texas State Parks.

WS F Jakobe Harris puts up the triple try against Chireno January 9 in Pineland. Both Tiger squads only saw one game last week on Tuesday January 9 vs.

With the extended cold temperatures, I thought I would give y’all a refresher or crash course on heat pump heating. In our normal East Texas winter climate an air source heat pump is an efficient way to heat our homes. With that being said, the extended sub freezing temperatures we are going to experience will cause your heat pump heating system to be inefficient. When a heat pump has to operate in temperatures below about 35 degrees, the outdoor unit will freeze up and the sensors inside of it will cause it to go into a defrost cycle. This defrost cycle will cause cold air blown inside your home so the auxiliary heat is turned on to counter act this cold air. In simple terms , you are running heat and air conditioning AT THE SAME TIME.This is a normal occurrence for a heat pump in low temperatures but This situation is not efficient for heating your home. When this happens, it is normal for the outdoor fan to quit running and you can see STEAM (NOT SMOKE) coming from the outdoor unit (THIS IS NORMAL OPERATION IN THIS SITUATION). Now to the part that will save you some headache. Go ahead and switch your thermostat over to emergency heat or auxiliary heat. This setting on your thermostat will disable the outdoor unit and make just the indoor heating elements heat your home. In the long run, your house will be more comfortable and the system will continue to cycle just like it would normally. Then you ask, how do I know if I have a heat pump? Does your outdoor unit run when you have the heat on? If YES, then you have a heat pump. In your thermostat there will be a mode setting for “em. Heat” or “aux. heat”. It should be something like OFF, COOL, HEAT, EM HEAT as you scroll through or look at the switches. EM HEAT is where you want to be. Stay warm, remember your pipes, plants, and pets.