News

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretched on, families had to adapt to changing situations. Quarantine proved challenging even for the most resilient people, and families sharing close quarters had to find ways to stay calm and comfortable under one roof.

Dogs love spending time outdoors. Dog owners with yards know that dogs benefit greatly from some exercise in the backyard. While that time might be great for dogs, it can take its toll on lawns.

Thought they might be most often associated with dogs, ticks can affect cats as well. According to Blue Cross for Pets, cats are most likely to encounter ticks if they live near areas with lots of deer and sheep or in regions where other wildlife, such as hedgehogs and rabbits, are present. While ticks are active throughout the year, cats are most likely to encounter them between spring and autumn. That’s due in part to the climate during these seasons, which tends to be warmer and therefore more inviting to cats, compelling them to spend more time outdoors than they do in winter. Ticks, which are eggshaped, are big enough to spot, so cat owners should conduct a careful examination of their cats’ fur each time they come into the house after spending time in the yard. Blue Cross for Pets notes that ticks feel like small bumps on a cat’s skin. Ticks are most likely to attach themselves to particular areas of a cat’s body. These areas include the head, neck, ears, and feet. Routine brushing, especially whenever cats come inside after time spent outdoors, can help cat owners spot and remove ticks from their cats. It’s important to recognize that indoor cats are not invulnerable to ticks, as other pets and humans can track ticks indoors. Periodic inspections and brushing of indoor cats’ can protect them from ticks and the diseases ticks carry.

Thick grass is often a hallmark of a healthy lawn. If grass begins to thin, homeowners may feel as though all the time and effort they spent tending to their lawns was for naught.

For the seventh straight year, Forney ISD has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.

There’s a certain day where the tequila runs like a river, the limes are fresh, and the salt rains down like a February snowmageddon. If you happen upon downtown Garland, expect to see bounce houses and colorful sidewalk markets, in non-Covid times, at least. Restaurant Dos Banderas does it up big, complete with Mariachi bands and flamenco dancers. Elsewhere, walk into any chain restaurant and prepare to be greeted by artificially green margaritas, specials on tacos, and a sombrero wearing hostess welcoming you in with a “Happy Cinco de Mayo.” It’s Mexican Independence Day, right? Umm, no. In fact, May 5th doesn’t even get a nod in Mexico, unless you wind up doing the limbo at an all-inclusive resort in Playa wearing a green, white, and red lei. What’s so important about Cinco de Mayo? Turns out, it’s a real messy situation that’s a little bit Austrian, a little bit French, with ample nobility laden family histrionics. But first, meet Max.

“We can learn that the gift of salvation is open to everyone in the universe,” says Elizabeth, 12. “Even though the woman was a Samaritan, Jesus said that if she had asked, he would have given her the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as living water.

Dear Aunt B Readers,

Tuesday, April 13, was a notable day for Kaufman County. Kaufman County Judge Hal Richards, led a ceremony that was attended by County officials and employees, as well as other area elected officials and citizens, to break ground on the County’s new Justice Center. This long-awaited project will bring muchneeded upgrades to the County’s judicial system.

Situated directly adjacent to the site of Rhodes Intermediate School and Jackson Middle School, which is currently under construction, Forney ISD’s new Aquatic Center will house an apparel shop and waiting area, 11 swim lanes in a 7-12- foot pool, 2 diving boards, 4 swim lanes in a 4-foot pool that can offer learn-to-swim programs for students, and the capacity to eventually offer water aerobics to the community. Through a valuable partnership, Metroplex Aquatics will manage and run the new facility at no cost to the district.

During the April 14, 2021 special meeting, Forney City Council approved an agreement for Interim City Manager Services with Strategic Government Resources to appoint Charles Daniels as the City’s interim City Manager. Charles Daniels has previously served as Forney’s interim City Manager in 2016. “I look forward to coming back to the City of Forney and working with staff while the City Council continues its search for a permanent city manager,” Daniels stated.

Actually, it was the Friday before the 1st Monday, and we left earlier than usual, arriving around 9:30—and people had already taken all the parking spots we have usually occupied the past many years. I thought that I could slip in next to the red pick-up truck down by the creek beside the Civic Center, but some new parking attendant motioned me back several rows closer to the entry road and “cut us no slack” when my wife asked if we could change spots! We knew we were in for a “crowd” like the standard first of April crowds prepandemic!

Bois d’Arc Lake, the first major reservoir in Texas in nearly 30 years, is now filling. The North Texas Municipal Water District (NT- MWD) began impounding, or capturing, water on the 16,641-acre lake last week.