News

May 7, 2022 was the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby, the “fastest two minutes in horse racing.” This year the winner was Rich Strike, a horse with the second-longest odds-to-win in Derby history. There is always excitement when we can watch a Cinderella story unfold and this race was no exception.

After national recruitment and a thorough interview process, the City of Forney is excited to announce the hiring of Carrie White as the next Chief of Police for the Forney Police Department. Chief White will be leaving her position as Assistant Chief of Police for the North Richland Hills Police Department and is expected to join the Forney Police Department in June.

Local citizens came out to the polls last Saturday, May 7, to wrap up the Joint Election for the City of Forney and Forney Independent School District.

“One of the decisions was what kind of ice cream I wanted, strawberry or vanilla,” says Christen, 11. “That is a hard decision for me. I really don’t know how God showed me the sign, but I picked strawberry.”

Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday he is moving another $500 million to fund Operation Lone Star, his border security initiative at the Texas-Mexico border. The move comes three weeks after state military officials said the multibillion-dollar operation was in need of an infusion of cash to keep it afloat through the end of the fiscal year.

Omega Hawkins, who retired as STAR Transit’s Executive Director in 2019, is the organization’s new Primary Place 1 board member.

Back a half-century ago, my uncle gave me some great advice:

If you want to provide educational opportunities for your children or grandchildren, you may want to consider investing in a 529 plan. In recent years, this plan has gotten more flexible, and potentially more powerful, than ever.

The Layden Senior Citizens Center of Forney welcomes you at 101 Main Street in City Hall, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mother’s Day is traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday in May since it became an official national holiday in 1914. The example our mothers give us on how to be caring, giving adults is truly invaluable. They show us that being present and active in children’s lives creates better humans. And in that same way, teachers often become surrogate mothers (and dads) for their students since teachers are with them anywhere from 7-9 hours a day. No single event demonstrated better how competent and caring the teachers in Forney ISD were than the Spring of 2020 when schools had to close due to COVID protocols. And did they rise to the occasion! Helping parents become classroom competent and still teaching--going straight from in classroom to virtual teaching in basically a week. And the support staff stepped up to keep the students fed by creating daily availability of breakfast and lunch.

Summer is a season for recreation. Warm weather beckons people outdoors every day and during every season, but a quick glance outside your living room window in June, July and August will illustrate just how much people cherish any chance to spend time in nature when the mercury rises. So how are people spending their time outdoors? According to a recent report from the Outdoor Foundation that studied participation in various sports and activities, the most popular outdoor activity in the United States is running. The Outdoor Foundation report indicated that more than 61 million U.S. residents did some recreational running in 2019. To put that in perspective, 61 million people represents roughly 19 percent of the American population ages six and up. Fishing was the second most popular outdoor recreational activity among adults in the U.S., attracting more than 50 million participants. Outdoor recreation also is popular in Canada, where winter-dominant sports like skiing, snowboarding and hockey aren’t the only ways to enjoy the great outdoors. For example, the Trans Canada Trail, a recreational trail that connects every province and territory in Canada, attracts cyclists, joggers and hikers throughout the warm weather seasons.

When my middle son was a toddler, he had a thing about food texture. In the family video vault, that place where VHS tapes go to die, there’s film footage of him sitting at the bar in a random rent house somewhere. He’s probably 3. He swears we had stuffed his mouth to capacity with green beans, French style, to be exact. He doesn’t know. He was 3. Ask me, the mom who was there. At most, there were 3 green beans hanging from his mouth. Also, there was lots of slobber and tears. See, he didn’t care for green beans or green anything or, really, any foods at all. Any edible substance placed into his mouth would result in a full, catastrophic melt down of epic proportions. He began dropping weight. The pediatrician became concerned. “Let’s try and get this guy to eat, shall we?” I cried all the way home. How dare that self-absorbed doctor dare to look at me and assume the problem was my lack of trying! So, I tried harder, hence the green bean episode. Finally, I caved. Fine, let the kid eat the only thing he’s willing to eat. Enter Peter Pan creamy peanut butter. That’s all he consumed until he turned 12. I am not kidding. If we were at a family wedding with a delicious buffet of barbeque and mashed potatoes and Czech delicacies like klobase and strudel and apricot kolaches (those sausage things at the doughnut store are pigs in a blanket, not kolaches, FYI), out of my mom purse would appear 2 slices of white bread and a jar of peanut butter. Relatives began gifting him with the industrial cans from Sam’s Club, as a joke. But, the real story was a mom win. I supplemented his 2-ingredient diet with Slim- Fast. I mean, there are nutrients in there. There was no Ensure back then. There were no calorie dense protein powders. It was the 90s. Eventually, he turned 12 and ate a hamburger at a friend’s house. I cried because I wasn’t there to witness the miracle. At least there were no more sightings of a kid who lived off of diet drinks and peanut butter. It was magic, though, that formula. That’s what mommas do. We make magic.

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” -- Norman Vincent Peale