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A friend of mine was taking a trip recently, to Paris, no less. Alex, my friend, had this odd premonition moments before his flight was supposed to take off. He suddenly saw something in his mind, with extreme and frightening clarity. “This plane is going to crash,” he blurted out, as the last of the passengers, weary from the long security screenings, stumbled onto the plane. Both Alex and his traveling friends, who were attempting to calm him down as his anxiety skyrocketed, were asked to leave the plane. That’s my nice way of saying all seven of them were escorted off. As they were being rather forcefully directed to those rooms beyond the TSA screening areas, the ones we all hope we never see, the airport was shaken severely as the plane Alex & company had just left exploded upon takeoff, becoming nothing more than a giant fireball in the sky. Astonishingly, Alex’s vision had allowed them to cheat death. But, soon, Alex tells me, things weren’t so peachy in the land of miracles. See, one by one, my friend’s other friends began to experience an extreme rash of horrifying accidents. It seems that the grim reaper does not suffer the premonitions of fools lightly. Sometimes, things are just meant to happen. Okay, I don’t have a friend named Alex. If you’re a scary movie aficionado, you probably caught on to the innuendo in the first sentence or two. This is the plot from one of 2000’s top grossing movies. “Final Destination” earned over $112 million dollars worldwide and spawned 5 sequels, the most recent of which is due to be released in 2022. It is also the theme of my Christmas season this year. Things just did not go according to plan in the weirdest ways. Just wait until you hear what happened.

Who wants to go to Heaven? I have never met a person who does not want to go to Heaven when their life is over. Jesus said that many are called but few are chosen. My own thoughts about that are, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. I think that means that the whole is actually called, but who are the few that are chosen? A crude example could be that when 100 people hear the gospel preached and only 5 believe the message and accept Jesus as their personal savior, those are the ones who are chosen. It has been said before that the gospel can be summed up into one word and that word is “guilty”. The bible says that there is not a single person on earth that does not commit sin and there is not a single thing that humans can do to get rid of their sins. The sins that unsaved people commit are in their soul. The Bible says that the soul that sins will die. The problem is that even when a lost person dies, that is not enough to pay the sin debt. When a lost person goes into hell the fire burns inside in the soul where the sin is. The fire does not burn up the person but burns for eternity. Jesus said that is where the soul does not die and the fire is not quenched. By human standard there are many “good” people who will not accept Jesus or listen to the gospel. They are the ones who will cry and gnash their teeth when GOD pronounces their final judgment.

Before we look at what my friends had to say about hope, consider this newspaper ad: “Hope chest: Brand new, half price, long story.”

As more people test positive for COVID-19 and hospitalizations climb amid a new wave of coronavirus cases fueled by the omicron variant, Gov. Greg Abbott asked the federal government Friday to open additional testing sites in some of the state’s most populous counties and send new shipments of monoclonal antibody treatments.

The City of Forney is seeking organizations interested in participating in the city’s court ordered community service program. In some circumstances, community service is offered to satisfy court-ordered fines, costs, and fees if residents are unable to pay due to financial hardship.

Many people do not realize that the Christmas song, ”The Twelve Days of Christmas” starts on Christmas Day and ends on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. The parable of the gifts bestowed upon the true love mirrors the gifts that the donors to the Forney Education Foundation bestow upon the district as a whole. The various items really reflect all the different areas that the district has put into motion with all of the career pathways that are available to the students in Forney. So in that spirit (and still on-time!) I offer you this:

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) is the latest local government entity to achieve specific debt transparency goals through the Comptroller’s Transparency Stars program. NTMWD received a Transparency Star in the area of debt obligations, which recognizes entities whose websites show visual and narrative detail on outstanding debt, tax-supported debt obligations, historical bond elections and more.

Thanks to impressive nutritional content, oatmeal is the unsung hero of the pantry. While it might not garner the glory of coldbusting chicken soup or sore throat-conquering tea with honey, oatmeal can help people overcome common illnesses like stomach bugs. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that women consume between 21 and 25 grams of fiber each day and advises men to consume between 30 and 38 grams of fiber each day. A single one-cup serving provides four grams of dietary fiber, and that doesn’t even include the additional fiber many people get when they add fruits and berries to their morning bowl of oatmeal. But it’s the fiber in the oats themselves that can be especially valuable for individuals who have digestive disorders or those want to prevent them. For example, experts with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health note that the insoluble fiber found in oats has been linked to a 40 percent lower risk for di

Equity in education is the action of providing students access to what they need to be successful academically. While equality reflects all students being treated the same and given access to the same or similar resources, equity is achieved when students have access to what they need individually. Efforts to ensure equity for all students is good policy and can improve student achievement at all levels. However, actions being taken by some school districts are being called equity, when they are actually lowered performance expectations.

Since 2012, the Game Warden Peace Officer’s Association has been working to relocate the memorial from the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens to the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. The life-size bronze figure of a Texas Game Warden stands to honor the wardens that lost their lives in the line of duty and serves as a reminder of the enduring legacy of the Texas Game Wardens.

The weeks following the Christmas holiday are often busy for retailers exchanging or refunding holiday gifts. As consumers interact with businesses, it is important to consider a few key facts regarding product returns or exchanges.

Midwestern State University Fall Honor Roll

To kick off 2022 and encourage people to enjoy the outdoors, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden offers $5 general admission for the entire month of January. Tickets need to be purchased online. Pre-purchased parking is $11. The Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden is closed for preventative maintenance January 2nd to February 19th.