During this unsettling time, Mason County EMS is taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our crews, their families, and you, our valued citizens. We ask that if you are showing flu, cold, or stomach bug like symptoms to not call emergency services unless you feel it is an immediate emergency that requires immediate treatment by EMS personnel.
Doing so will help prevent exposure to our medical professionals as well as our equipment needed to provide services to those in need of immediate medical care. We ask that you take into consideration the season approaching and the increased risk of snake contact within our county.
In addition to observing directives given by health officials and our government leaders, we want you to feel confident that Mason County EMS and our local leaders are taking steps to ensure the safety of our community.
Sincerely,
Thain Martin Mason County EMS Director
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
From the Office of CITY OF MASON – JOHN PALACIO
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) have been closely working together with numerous state health agencies to provide the public with educational materials on how to stay safe with regard to COVID-19.
At this time, there is no vaccine to prevent COVID-19, however, there are precautionary measure that will help to minimize or even avoid the contraction of the coronavirus:
· Frequently wash hands with soap for a duration of at least 20 seconds;
· Cover mouth with a clean tissue or inside of elbow when coughing or sneezing;
· Avoid close contact with people who are sick;
· Stay home if flu-like symptoms are present, as well as, drink plenty of fluids;
· Visit local clinic as necessary.
For more information about the prevention and treatment programs, please visit the Center of Disease Control website – www.cdc.gov – or the Texas Department of State Health Services website – www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus .
It is critical that we AVOID panic! Please continue to check this website for local updates, should there be a need for Mason County and City of Mason to take further action.
CITY CORNER by Mayor Brent Hinckley
According to the calendar it is now officially Fall, and as we look forward in a couple of weeks, the polls will open for early voting here in Mason. Just a glance at the daily news or social media and it become abundantly clear that there is a great deal of concern and emotion involved in this election, and only occasionally is it really clear just what a particular candidate thinks about a specific topic other than the flaws of their opponent. It seems that many of the comments are negative, disparaging and aimed at convincing voters that one candidate is entirely right and another is completely wrong. After spending the past fifteen years closely involved in local government and the many challenges and opportunities here in Mason, I can positively say that very little is really black or white in decisions affecting the public. I have found that working in the gray areas of compromise is the only wise way to make changes and improvements in our community, and probably in our nation. Another great blessing in local politics here in Texas is that municipal elected officers are all non-partisan, as Mayor I am neither Republican nor Democrat and it is my hope that few people would be able to reasonably pigeon-hole me as anything other than deeply concerned to improve our community and leave it a better place for the future.
As I looked at the ballot printed in last week’s paper, my opinion is that there are good people and qualified candidates in every corner of this election, and our community will be well served however the final vote comes out after the polls close on November 3. It is my thought that every registered voter (and you can still register to vote in this election for another week) should carefully and prayerfully decide just who they believe in each position will best prepare us for the future and then get out and vote. Commissioner Sue Pledger has clearly set out the voting procedures in another article in this paper, and I would encourage everyone to make the effort to vote as soon as possible within the scheduled times, whether you choose to stand in line at the Courthouse, do curbside voting on the south side of the Courthouse square, or mail-in your vote. In our City and County elections every candidate is well qualified and capable of providing excellent leadership, and in the broader field of state and national candidates I consider myself first and foremost a Texan and an American and I intend to vote for the candidates that I feel will best serve my country. With wisdom and careful consideration I hope you too will vote for candidates that will provide the leadership and service we all need in these troubled times.
One final thought about the current political climate and the chaotic comments on the news and social media, I suggest a very careful editing of everything that you hear. I hope that we can all practice a true civility and hospitality when we discuss the challenges of this election and shy away from the harsh and cruel comments that become the “sound bites” of our common conversations. We all need to be well informed, but so much of the political comments are not informative, but just rely on harsh and harmful opinions that bear little information. We each must be wise and thoughtful as we make our decisions for this election, and rely on our own experience and character to guide us more than the voices of others. Finally I turn back to one of my very favorite guides in dealing with the details of my life, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” As we each deal with the issues of this election, I hope that you can set aside the many harmful and hurtful comments and be a source of calm and wisdom, and share those things that support the best that is in all of us. Together we are a community that can prepare a great future and continue to be the best hometown in Texas