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Communities in Texas will be healthier and more engaged with their natural surroundings thanks to grants awarded through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP). This opportunity will create 10 grant partnerships, totaling $290,000, supporting community-based conservation and outdoor recreation activities throughout the State.

According to the National Autism Association, autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability that affects the normal development of the brain in various areas. Those areas include social interaction, communication skills and cognitive function. Autism generally appears before a child reaches his or her third birthday, and the NAA notes it is diagnosed four times as often in boys than it is in girls. Roughly 40 percent of children with autism do not speak, but parents whose children speak between the ages of 12 and 18 months should know that such youngsters can still ultimately be diagnosed with autism. In such instances, the NAA notes that children lose the words they previously learned. Incidences of autism appear to be on the rise, though the reasons for that remain unclear. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of autism had risen to one in every 59 children by 2018. That’s twice as great as the rate in 2004, when the CDC reported one in 125 children were diagnosed with autism.

The COVID-19 pandemic permanently evolved our definition of “home,” inspiring us to reconsider how we use and live in our spaces. For many, it’s no longer just the place where we relax and regroup at the end of the day – it’s also an office, daycare, eatery, gym or classroom.

The above words by Ronnie Spector succinctly sum up the life of her former husband and producer of some of her great “hit music” with “wit, passion, and intelligence,” as so many of his former associates would, and still will, submit as “gospel,” when remembering PHIL SPECTOR. Ronnie also said, “I still smile whenever I hear the music we made together, and always will. The music will be forever.”

My husband and I had a 3 am epiphany recently. We are those people. You know the ones who baby talk their pets, the ones who refer to their puppies as 24 months old instead of two years, the ones who spend more on a pet’s hair and food and supplements than their own? Yep. That is us. We are they. But, the way we came to this realization was quite comical. See, we were completely asleep in the early hours before dawn. That’s a miracle in itself, because in order for me to actually sleep, the following things must occur: 3 fans must be whirring (1 ceiling fan and 2 nightstand fans), a meditation story about a man who canoes down a river and finds an alien hologram must be playing (the meditation story is only a half hour long, but we have the dreamy music set to 10 hours), and I must have the perfect pillow to body ratio of 2 head pillows/1 upper body pillow/1 lower body pillow – aka the pillow fort. 20 milligrams of melatonin and a 16 oz glass of water don’t hurt, either. But, on the night in question, all the stars were aligned and we were both blissfully asleep. Then, it happened. There was a thrashing ruckus-y, wrestle-y, monster noise. My eyes popped open. I froze. Just dreams about holograms and aliens, I thought. Then, it happened again. As my husband rustled (oh, dear, he hears it, too) I immediately went to my internal threat meter. Is it a serial killer? They usually target unaccompanied women. Could it be a kidnapper? No, a decent kidnapper would know we weren’t ransom worthy. How about a dognapper? That only happens to dalmatians and Lady Gaga. It was time to turn on the lights. But 1st, about my bed…

A minister once asked GOD why it was so hard to follow Him and so easy to follow Satan and the world. GOD answered and said it is because Satan has many ways but I have only one way. That must be the cause for many people to hate GOD. Many think GOD would take everything away from them and turn them into zombies. Nothing could be further from the truth. When GOD forgives a person of their sins and gives the gift of the Holy Spirit is when life really starts. Many exciting things happen and it becomes a joy to go to Church and have fellowship with other Christians. The activities of the Churches are fun for the kids and a pleasure for the adults. Studying the Bible in the classes and learning about what it means to serve GOD is not dull by any means.

Easter Week is an exciting time for Christians across the globe. Easter Week begins with Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday, and during the week, Christians commemorate the Last Supper on Holy Thursday and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. Come Holy Saturday, it may seem as though there’s little left for Christians to do besides prepare for Easter Sunday Mass the following day. However, some churches hold Easter Vigil services on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. During these vigils, some of which may last several hours, priests will light what is known as a Paschal candle. This candle is several feet tall and within it are several rings of incense, which are intended to symbolize the wounds Christ suffered on the day of his crucifixion. Once the Paschal candle is lit, the priest proceeds to the front of the church, periodically stopping to light various smaller candles. By the time the priest reaches the front of the church, it is illuminated with what Christians believe is the light of Christ. But the Paschal candle’s work does not end on Holy Saturday, as priests will then use the same candle throughout the year during baptisms and funerals.

First graders at four Forney ISD elementary schools were recently given free ‘prevent tooth decay’ kits through the Fantastic Teeth Fan Club. Members of Brooklyn and Prairieville Masonic Lodges gathered to assemble and deliver more than 560 dental hygiene kits to the children at Blackburn Elementary, Clayborn Elementary, Crosby Elementary, and Lewis Elementary schools.

District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley announced Friday March 12th the conviction of Taylor Blake Craft, 26, for Trafficking of Persons: Continuous, a firstdegree felony offense, and Possession of Child Pornography, a third-degree felony offense. On May 31, 2019, a grand jury indicted Craft with Possession of Child Pornography and on December 13, 2019, a grand jury indicted Craft with Trafficking of Persons: Continuous. On March 11, 2021, after reaching a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office, Craft pled guilty to both offenses before the Honorable Judge Casey Blair in the 86th District Court of Kaufman County.

“So the story is that the religious leaders were planning to kill Jesus, but when the day came, nobody could find Jesus,” says Eli 10.

Last week the single remaining member of the board of the Texas Public Utility Commission was grilled by members of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee, including a rare appearance by the Lt. Governor, over billions in overcharges an independent watchdog said were assessed to power companies during the February winter storm. Arthur D’Andrea was the only commissioner left on the PUC after former chair DeAnn Walker and commissioner Shelley Botkin both resigned in the wake of the power crisis that left 4.5 million Texans without power, some for days. This week, both the Lt. Governor and 28 of the 31 members of the Texas Senate signed a letter asking D’Andrea to reverse these overcharges, which have left at least one public utility in bankruptcy. D’Andrea told the committee Thursday that he doesn’t have the power to do that, nor did he believe setting the price as high as it could go was a mistake. That didn’t sit well with lawmakers.

Spay Neuter Network is distributing up to 1,000 pet treats and 500 pet toys for its 4th Annual Easter “Bone” Hunt fundraiser.

District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley announced Friday March 12th the conviction of David Monroe Smitherman, 53, for criminal solicitation of a minor, a second-degree felony offense, and unlawful restraint of a child less than 17 years of age, a state jail felony offense. On August 14, 2020, a grand jury indicted Smitherman for both offenses. On March 2, 2021, following a two-day trial before the Honorable Judge Shelton T.W. Gibbs IV in the 422nd District Court of Kaufman County, a jury found Smitherman guilty.