Columns & Editorials

Congratulations to Sasha Pizana for being named the Forney ISD Central Administration Paraprofessional of the Year for the 2019-2020 school year! Ms. Pizana is the receptionist for the Central Administration building and the voice of Forney ISD!

This year marks the 10th year for Historic Mesquite, Inc.’s (HMI) annual Mesquite Meander. Each year, HMI creates a historical stroll through Mesquite Cemetery with actors from the Mesquite Community Theater. Originally planned in May, it was rescheduled to October and will highlight favorite performances from years past alongside new biographical sketches from Mesquite’s history.

Today, the Mesquite Police Department announced they are joining forces with 7-Eleven in their 25th Anniversary of Operation Chill to make a positive connection with kids by passing out free Slurpee drink coupons to reward children they see performing good deeds, positive activities or random acts of kindness.

I was having a “why?” discussion the other day with another semi-smart, semi-knowledgeable person about why the name, “Minute Maid,” developed. The answer she supplied was that it was “quick to make,” as in “it only takes a minute!”

During my career as an outdoors writer, I have worked with hundreds of fishing and hunting guides while on story assignments and worked as a guide myself for everything from ducks to bear. Many of my close friends are guides. I have the greatest respect for those that make their living exposing others to their facet of the outdoors, whether that be catching stripers on Lake Texoma or hunting elk in the high country.

According to one Forney history source, Flook’s Forney Country, “…..except for the few families touched by the casualties of warfare, life continued much as before.”

If you’ve recently become a widow or widower, you’re obviously dealing with an enormous emotional burden, and coping with your grief can seem like a full-time struggle. Unfortunately, the business of life must go on – and the financial moves you make at this time can have a big impact on your life.

Parental involvement in education has always been the foundation of student success and achievement. Without parental input, teachers are less likely to reach optimal outcomes in the classroom. Our mid-COVID return to instruction has presented students and educators with unprecedented experiences and challenges that portend to disrupt education service provision in and out of the classroom. Now more than ever, parents must be front and center in their children’s education.

Links of the food supply chain, especially the meat supply, are regaining strength after periods of uncertainty during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, once again instilling consumer confidence, according to Texas A&M AgriLife experts.

Watermelons provide cooling, juicy refreshment during the warm days of summer. But while they’re most associated with summer, watermelons can typically be found in grocery stores year-round. Watermelons are members of the cucurbitaceae family, which includes other gourds, such as pumpkin, squash and cucumber. Watermelons can be considered a fruit or a vegetable. In some areas of the world, watermelons are considered a fruit used primarily in snacks and desserts. In Russia, watermelon rind is pickled, while some Asian countries stirfry or stew watermelons. To quench one’s curiosity about watermelons, the following are six facts about this beloved food, courtesy of The Watermelon Board.

Why are Christians so often defeated when trying to do something that might be used to serve the Lord? First I think we jump up and make our own plan for the project. Very often we don’t want to wait on the Lord or accept His plan for the work. Sometimes we think GOD is too slow to get the job started. Any one of those actions is a mistake because when we wait on the Lord, a blessing comes with job and the work will be the very best we can do.

Dear Aunt B readers,

I originated from some hardscrabble, ragtag, farming, barbering, honky tonkying, rough knuckled sons of guns, and that’s just my feminine heritage. There were no genteel manners, dowry chests, or office jobs bestowed upon my ancestors. There was no family money, no vast expanses of land, and no palatial summer homes. I have uncles nicknamed after farm animals and insects. That would be Goat & Spider, respectively. My Gramps played the fiddle at all the local watering holes each night, while his flat tops and baby bottom shaves were known far and wide during the day. My other grandfather had a 3rd grade education, hunted squirrels for food, and operated a bulldozer with enough accuracy to catch the eyes of the original Hunt Brothers. Long before either of my parents were twinkles in anyone’s eye, my maternal great and great great grandfathers both died after the flatbed truck carrying that season’s cotton was struck by a train near Seagoville. ‘Twas a rough life for all the Stilwells, Hitts, Pickards, and Davises. And, while we’re used to hearing gun slinging, moonshining, tobacco chewing, rabble rousing tales of the menfolk, I thought I’d switch it up today. Because, who runs this sucker? Girls, Beyonce. It’s all about the girls.