News

Two Downtown Mesquite nominees have been named finalists in the Texas Downtown President’s Awards program. Mesquite BBQ is a finalist for Best Downtown Business and Front Street Station is in the running for the Best Economic Game Changer award.

STAR Transit will transition Mesquite’s Route 201 (COMPASS) bus to on-demand service Oct. 1, giving passengers greater flexibility in traveling throughout the area. Additionally, the service area will be expanded to travel to places previously not covered.

Juanita Franklin was driving through the East Texas town of Gun Barrel City a couple of years ago when she saw a new sign down the road from the Christian Life Center food pantry where she volunteers. It promised something she desperately needed: “Healthcare Access for All!”

Honorable Don R. Willett was Present for Event

District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley announced Tuesday September 20th, a Kaufman County jury has sentenced BRIAN ALLAN KOHLER, 48, to 80 years in the Texas penitentiary. After a three-day trial before Honorable Judge Casey Blair in the 86th District Court of Kaufman County, a jury found Kohler guilty of Sexual Assault of Child Enhanced and sentenced Kohler to 80 years.

As a part of the continued effort to improve district safety and security, Forney ISD uses the Secured Mobility Authorized Ridership Technology (SMART) tag system for all students who ride the bus to and from school. Each bus is outfitted with a Samsung tablet equipped with a Radio Frequency Identification reader, mobile connectivity, and Global Positioning System. Similar to systems used in public transportation, students place their campussupplied SMART tag ID badges on the tablet’s sensor when loading and unloading their bus. Only the student’s name and associated barcode will be printed on the ID badge. No information is stored on the badge.

I had the opportunity last week to unofficially adopt a grant from a teacher I know very well to provide headphones for her classes. Of course, being extra like I am, the headphones came in four colors and glowed in the dark. I delivered them to her on Wednesday, and they opened them on Thursday and tagged them and flattened the boxes for the recycle bin. She said, first off, they were so excited to receive them, and then by having them open and tag them, they became invested in the ownership of these headphones. What an authentic way to capture these students’ hearts!

As the days become shorter and the weather cools down, a new crop of allergy symptoms can arise, turning the autumn season into one marked by sneezing, scratchy throats and itchy eyes. Medications can alleviate such symptoms, but allergy sufferers may want to investigate some natural ways to beat allergies.

Fatigue and exhaustion are often discussed in terms that characterize the physical effects that they have on the body. However, mental fatigue can be just as draining as physical exhaustion, even if its symptoms are not as evident as achy muscles or tired feet.

I receive a lot of emails, but I can’t answer them all. People have suggested I use auto-generated email responses designed to robotically thank people for messaging. But I don’t like this idea. Too impersonal.

Confession: I was a cheerleader back in the day. It was a fun time for me. Really fun. And that’s all it was. Fun. Well, that and I got to meet some cute wrestlers.

The powerhouse pop vocal trio, DIVAS-3, will be performing a wide range of favorite hits by the most famous female icons in music entertainment history in a live concert at at the Terrell ISD Jamie Foxx Performing Arts Center at 7:30 pm on Thursday, October 6, 2022. This is the second performance in the 2022-2023 E! Terrell Entertainment Series of community concerts.

Failure to Plan: Is it Planning to Fail?