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On April 10th, Congressman Lance Gooden demanded answers from NYC Mayor Eric Adams on his Immediate Response Card program. This program directly incentivizes illegal immigration by offering up to $350 per week to illegal immigrants in New York City in the form of debit cards, totaling $53 million in taxpayer funds, with a significant portion allegedly being federal tax dollars.

Woollybear caterpillar makes its seasonal journey

“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero.” - Mr. Rogers Opportunities to help a child cross our paths every day, and choosing to act on them elevates our lives in so very many ways. One of the personal benefits to serving on the Forney Education Foundation Board of Directors is being given that opportunity to help every child in Forney ISD. The tradition of the Foundation has always been to help the students in Forney ISD, starting 20 years ago with an idea from founder George Brown. After he shared it with the other founding members, they came together and literally put their money together to form the basis of FEF.

Jenny Weems has been named Executive Director of The Door Life and Pregnancy Resource Center in Forney, the board of directors announced Feb. 26.

The Terrell Chamber of Commerce/CVB announces Angie Cooper’s appointment as President and CEO, effective immediately. Angie, with the Chamber since 2012, has risen through ranks from Membership Services to Vice President of Operations. Her finance degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and graduation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute of Management in 2023, alongside her profound impact on membership growth and community engagement, underline her qualifications for this leadership role.

I read, somewhere, that you have a 50/50 chance of rooting a persimmon tree by placing a blooming persimmon cutting in water. While the odds are acceptable to me, after all - what is the harm if one happens to come across a blooming persimmon twig - the source is vague, at best. See, my brain hums with scraps of poetry and madness. I didn’t write that. Virginia Wolfe did. At least, that’s what I read. Within the randomness of these thoughts lies both a great social dilemma and, hopefully, an interesting topic of discussion. What do we consider fact and from whence do today’s facts come?

The Rural Law Enforcement Salary Assistance Grant Program, a significant initiative born out of the collaborative efforts of State Representative Keith Bell and bipartisan support of the Texas Legislature through the passage of Senate Bill 22, has allocated a substantial $330 million for salary and equipment grants to be awarded in 2024 and 2025. A formal letter from Glenn Hegar, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, notified Representative Bell on March 26, 2024, that the two local law enforcement agencies from Kaufman County that applied will be awarded a grant with issuance coming this quarter. “I commend the work of Sheriff Bryan Beavers, District Attorney Erleigh Wiley, and the many men and women who tirelessly work alongside them to ensure the safety of Kaufman County’s residents. This grant program provides additional support to our law enforcement agencies to bolster their efforts and assist in rural officer recruitment,” said Representative Keith Bell.

The Internal Revenue Service reports that the deadline to file a 2023 tax return is Monday, April 15, 2024. The vast majority of taxpayers will have no issue filing by the deadline, but some may not be able to file on time. In such instances, taxpayers can apply for an extension of time to file.

Medical school is never far from the minds of students who aspire to be doctors. The Princeton Review says that medical school takes four years to complete, after which individuals will also spend three to eight years in residency. When all is said and done, an individual who entered college at 18 may not become a doctor until he or she is 29, if not older.

Pickleball is an American original. The popularity of pickleball has risen sharply in recent years, and a recent report from the Association of Pickleball Professionals indicated more than 36 million people played the sport across the United States in 2022. But pickleball is much older than its recent participation boom suggests. According to USA Pickleball, the sport is the brainchild of U.S. congressman Joel Pritchard and businessman Bill Bell. In 1965, Prichard and Bell arrived at the former’s home on Bainbridge Island in Washington to find their families lounging around. Pritchard’s property had an old badminton court, but no equipment. So the players improvised, using ping pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. The net, initially around 60 inches high, was lowered once the players realized how well the ball bounced on the asphalt playing surface. The following weekend Pritchard introduced the game to another friend, Barney McCallum, and the two men and Bell soon created rules for the game that is now known as pickleball.

Forney Independent School District recently announced the District’s 2023-2024 Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year. The announcement was made at the Forney Education Foundation’s Teacher of the Year Banquet on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Forney ISD Superintendent Dr. Justin Terry, Forney ISD Board Vice President Chad Johnson, and Board Members Hanna Bateman, Becky Dobbs and Dr. Michael Idemudia announced the winners at the event.

When my husband died three years ago one of the first thoughts I had was, “I’m not going to be a widow.”

Caregivers come from all walks of life. Doctors and nurses may be the frontline medical providers people encounter most frequently, but there are plenty of others who do their part to maintain the well-being of individuals, including home health aides.