To most mortals—mere or otherwise— the thought of jumping rope 30,660,000 times causes hair to stand on end, eyes to cross and regimens to crumble. Not so to a preacher man named Van Minter, whose morning routine is vital to each day.

State Capital Massive wildfires ignited by power lines Two wildfires that burned more than 1 million acres in the Panhandle were caused by downed power lines, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Juan Rodriguez, with the service, told the Texas Standard that its law enforcement investigators had concluded their probe into the source of the Smokehouse Creek and Windy Deuce fires.

We are among the dwindling few who still answer the doorbell when it chimes between sunup and sunset. (If we don’t hear it, we can rely 100% on our new rescue dog, Archie, to “bark” an alert.) Oh, it’s not quite that simple.

Every now and again, someone comes up with suggestions for addition to the list of what to do when there’s nothing to do. As often as not, such “yawn fodder” winds up to fill holes— gaping or otherwise—just before newspapers go to press.

Texas’ prime grilling season is only weeks away. I await in the shadow of a conundrum, not knowing whether to mark off calendar days with giddy anticipation or be “gloomed” like Charlie Brown stumbling away from another setback.

State Capital Federal judge appears skeptical of new border law A federal judge is expected to rule quickly on the constitutionality of a Texas law about to go into effect that institutes new state penalties for illegal border crossings. During a hearing last week, U.S.

Pitch made for new power plants Lt. Gov Dan Patrick joined with the world’s largest investment firm to pitch investors on building natural gas power plants in Texas at a summit held last week in Houston.

“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” Psalm 51:17 Well, today is the big day. The day when we give cards, flowers, stuffed animals, jewelry, or whatever we can think of to let those we love know how much we care for them.

State Capital TEA annual report just released The Texas Education Agency’s annual report was released last week. It indicates per-student funding in the 2021-2022 school year averaged $14,928 per student, up 42% since 2011.

In a perfect world, coaches, parents and participants would rightly refer to sports aspirants as “student athletes.” Today, however, this often is not the case. For many—in both high school and college—reference to “student athletes” is an oxymoron, as far apart as the east is from the west.