News

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens has partnered with Fishing’s Future and the George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund to provide convenient fishing education opportunities for families throughout Texas.

If you drove down South Bois D’Arc Street this weekend and passed the Forney ISD administration building, there’s a good chance you saw the giant box crate out front. It’s massive, and stamped prominently in vibrant green hues are the words, The OC.

It was a Friday night in June, the 7th of June, specifically. The year, even more specifically, was 1996. Twenty-five years later, I still remember it was a Friday. I’m not sure how this event popped onto my radar. I was rushing around through life with 3 kids: 10, 7, & 6. This would’ve been deep into our sports years, though June usually meant baseball was all but over. Still, school was out, and summer was in full swing. But there it was, a news story to top all news stories. I wasn’t even paying attention to the television, until I heard my then husband say, “Hey, look at this. I framed that house.” With my mom hypnosis broken, I abruptly stopped thinking about the dishes I was washing and the price of avocados and looked at the TV. The on-scene reporter was rapidly talking – murder blah blah, children blah blah, Darlie Routier blah blah, Rowlett blah blah. I think I may have dropped the plate I was drying. The world stopped spinning.

“We should get it because it is good, and it is God,” says Chandler, 8.

The beauty that is Spring lies in the promise of new growth seemingly occurring overnight; trees are leafing out, flowers are pushing up through the soil, bees and birds and butterflies are fluttering in the sunshine. And, even after the difficulties of this year, teachers and students are working hard to finish the school year in a strong fashion.

Congressman Lance Gooden (R-TX) and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have introduced the End Child Trafficking Now Act. The legislation requires DNA testing to confirm a familial relationship between an alien and accompanying minor during their petition for asylum in America.

Due to the February 12, 2021 disaster declaration by the governor, certain properties within Kaufman County may qualify for a temporary exemption under section 11.35 of the Texas Property Tax Code.

STAR Transit is providing free rides for persons with confirmed appointment to get the COVID 19 vaccine shots. The curb-to-curb service extends outside of the agency’s service area. Rides are available Monday – Friday, 6:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. For this purpose, STAR Transit is temporarily adding Saturday service from 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Reservations should be made at least one service day in advance and are based on vehicle availability.

“We are Easter people this day. The day of Resurrection is just beginning! He is risen! Alleluia!” “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!” These words, spoken joyfully by Reverend Shawn Deterding, and then echoed by the worshippers, opened the first Easter Sunrise Service of “Water of Life,” Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, Forney, Texas, on April 4, 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic may end up changing our lives in some significant ways. To cite one example, it’s likely we’ll see a lot more people continue to work remotely, now that they’ve seen the effectiveness of tools such as videoconferencing. Education, too, may be forever changed in some ways. Perhaps just as important, though, is how many people may now think more about the future – including how they invest.

This past week on one of those cool clear mornings, the urge to do a bit of campfire cooking hit me. I had fashioned a couple of ‘pot hangers’ from a dry cedar limb and another from a deer antler and was anxious to put my old cast iron Dutch kettles to work. My wife saw me rustling around the fire pit in front of my little cabin situated in the trees behind the house and asked what I was up to.

Even though we aren’t seeing many just yet, be patient, Texas bluebonnets and wildflowers will come. According to a Texas A&M AgriLife expert, the freeze likely had minimal effects on both the Texas bluebonnets and wildflowers.

Texas State Parks have begun a strategic and thoughtful process of expanding capacity statewide, tracking Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest reopening order, and allowing more Texans the opportunity to visit their favorite parks. Masks are strongly encouraged for park visitors, especially when indoors or in areas where it is difficult to socially distance. Also, restrictions affecting group sizes have been lifted.