By Chris Edwards School board meetings can be eye-opening events for anyone interested in how our children are educated, and you should be interested. Not only are those children our future, but you, the taxpayer, are a stakeholder in that process. Occasionally, some ideas and things said in those meetings can prove controversial. Hopefully, the scenario described below does not rise to that…

As the month of March winds down, so does Women’s History Month, the annual month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. Although strides have been made, there is still work to be done. I recently read an article about a New York City woman that went viral for tweeting about her fight for equal pay. The 25-year-old writer had seen a job listing…

By Tony Farkastony@polkcountypublishing.com As the father of a couple of precocious teens, I’m constantly bombarded with them interrupting my television/work/gaming/chill time with some video of something bizarre they found on TikTok. Once the 30-second or so video winds down, they cackle and run away, amazed at the humor and creativity of the nebbish that created it. Myself, I’m left pondering…

By Rep. Trent AshbyRepresenting District 9 This past week, we saw a flurry of visitors from House District 9 as they visited their Texas Capitol to see the legislative process in action. I was pleased to see constituents from Tyler and Houston counties, members from First Baptist Church Livingston, Angelina College, and large group from the Lufkin Association of Realtors. Additionally, I was…

By Tony Farkastony@polkcountypublishing.com Bread and circuses is a phrase most commonly associated with the Roman Empire, something that the nation’s leaders gave the masses which distracted them from what’s really going on, or what’s really important. So in this week’s installment of pathos designed to hide whatever house fire is happening, President Trump most likely will have been arrested…

By Horace McQueen The former mayor of Chester, Texas has entered the race for President of the United States. From reading the information supplied by Floyd Petri when he registered as a presidential candidate, his political platform makes sense—though he certainly knows his will be a losing deal. But at least maybe he can add some common sense to the campaign. Nestled in Tyler County not far…

By Chris Edwards and ChatGPT-4 ChatGPT’s latest iteration is an advanced language model developed by OpenAI that employs the GPT-3.5 architecture. This iteration has been trained on a vast amount of data to improve its natural language processing abilities, making it capable of understanding and generating more human-like responses. Additionally, it has been optimized for speed, allowing it to…

By Rep. Trent AshbyRepresenting District 9 The early return of warmer temperatures means spring is just around the corner. Driving back to East Texas each week from Austin, I can’t help but to admire the true natural beauty of our region. From the native flowers that dot the landscape to the dogwood blooms that are putting on a show, it’s a great time to be outdoors. It’s also county fair season…

There is a lot of hoopla coming from various places, spaces and faces proclaiming “this country’s more divided than it’s ever been.” It’s a strange statement when one considers what occurred between 1861 and 1865, but nonetheless, division is prevalent – and profitable – in the mass media sphere. One of the major political parties seems to want to tax and spend the country into oblivion while the…

Under legislation prioritized by House Speaker Dade Phelan, every Texas school would have an armed police officer, and aspiring teachers would receive extra support. The Dallas Morning News reported the bill would also provide $15,000 in annual funding for safety measures for each school in the state. Another bill would increase the annual allotment per student for safety measures from $10 to…

By Tony Farkastony@polkcountypublishing.com The extended daylight granted on Sunday has given all of us the opportunity to see the state of things, and in particular, at least for me, the state of my “brethren” in the national media. Recently, it’s been coming to light (see what I did there?) that all of the measures taken during the COVID crisis, which were perpetuated by our Clown Criers in the…

It’s time to spring forward! Daylight Saving Time began this weekend. I hope you remembered to set your clocks forward Saturday night. Here are five things happening around your state: Bill filing deadline Friday marked the end of the bill filing period for the 88th Legislature. No more general law bills can be filed. There are exceptions for local bills. After the deadline, the legislature and…

By Rep. Trent AshbyRepresenting District 9 The early return of warmer temperatures means Spring is just around the corner. Driving back to East Texas each week from Austin, I can’t help but to admire the true natural beauty of our region. From the native flowers that dot the landscape to the dogwood blooms that are putting on a show, it’s a great time to be outdoors. It’s also county fair season…

By Chris Edwardsnews@tylercountybooster.com Many years ago, that ever-present household tome TV Guide had a weekly section titled “Cheers and Jeers,” in which the staff issued, you guessed it, praise or mocking tones of derision, to movers and shakers in the entertainment industry. Now I do not know if TV Guide still exercises such a practice. Heck, I do not know if TV Guide even still exists in…

By Horace McQueen Saddling our taxpayers with tax abatements and other giveaways for new energy producing installations is being played out all over Texas. The common refrain from the fast-talkers is that if county commissioners, school board members and city councils don’t cooperate, the projects will end up somewhere else. So be it! And it’s not just tax abatements! Taking large farms out of…

By Tony Farkastony@polkcountypublishing.com I’m a pretty huge sci-fi fan, having watched all the Star Trek series, “Space: 1999,” all of the bionic peoples, “Twilight Zone,” “Night Gallery,” even “Doctor Who.” Far and away, though, my favorite series is “Babylon 5.” I won’t bore you with the synopsis (but check it out anyway), but there was a scene in one of the episodes that I will recount for…

By Danny Tyree I just heard about a local business losing a major customer over a trivial misunderstanding. Most of us hate change and maintain loyalty to a brand or retailer through thick and thin. True, this veers into creepiness in extreme cases, such as refusing to outgrow your old pediatrician. (“But I don’t trust anyone else with my ED issues, doc. Do you happen to have a lollipop and the…

By Rep. Trent AshbyRepresenting District 9 As we approach the 50-day mark of the 88th Legislative Session, legislators are putting the finishing touches on the bills they intend to file before bill filing deadline and the hallways are bustling with visitors from across the state. One of the highlights this week was welcoming sheriffs and Texas Game Wardens to the Capitol and recognizing them for…

By Horace McQueen Back thirty and forty years ago it seemed that local livestock auction markets were in most east Texas counties. Some counties boasted two markets. Well, that has changed leaving some livestock raisers miles and miles from a sale barn. In the past few weeks, another facility—Anderson County Livestock auction in Elkhart-- closed. In the 80’s and 90’s, Lufkin, Jacksonville and…

One month ago was the 20th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster – an event many of us will never forget. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on Feb. 1, 2003 as it reentered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was a Saturday morning and I was in the Enterprise office finishing up some work before we went to press with the Sunday paper.…

By Tony Farkas Mr. President: I realize that, while Vice President, you made it very clear to the Ukrainian government that you held their monetary aid was under your direct control, but must you now continue to exercise that control, particularly since all you can seem to do is “make it rain?” When did freedom become so important to you? As VP, you told the people of that country that you would…

By Chris Edwardsnews@tylercountybooster.com Recently, Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to, to quote a news release from his chief of staff, “receive treatment for clinical depression.” Fetterman, of course, does not represent me. I haven’t been anywhere near the Keystone State in many years, but in some ways, he does represent…

On Feb. 24, 1836, William B. Travis wrote his famous letter from the Alamo. He wrote the defenders would never “surrender or retreat” and ended with the iconic line “Victory or Death.” Here are five things happening around your state: Governor Abbottannounces emergency items Last week, Governor Greg Abbott gave his State of the State address. In that address, he listed his seven emergency items…

On Feb. 15, 1876, Texas adopted the Constitution of 1876. The document is the sixth constitution by which Texas has been governed since declaring independence from Mexico. Despite having been amended more than 230 times, it remains the basic law of Texas today. Here are five things happening around your state: Lt. Governor Patrick releases list of priority bills Earlier this week, Lt. Governor…

By Tony Farkastony@polkcountypublishing.com Wokeness gonna woke, and the media will work overtime to make sure that you know how the wokeness is the most beneficial and bestest thing ever in the whole wide world. To better illustrate this, there are two stories I’ve come across in the last few days that show the decline of society coupled with its insistence that these events are exactly good and…

By Trent Ashby Sen. Robert Nichols and I had the pleasure of welcoming friends and community leaders from back home for Lufkin/Angelina County Day at the Capitol. I look forward to this special day every session, as having familiar faces around the Capitol always lifts my spirits. It also serves as a powerful reminder of who I work for and the issues that are important to our region. I want to…

By Horace McQueen Finding the medications for restoring animal health is becoming a chore, according to Judy Jenkins who operates Star 23 farm near Oakwood. Judy was searching for some medications that will be more difficult to buy once June rolls around. A new law will require a veterinarian to either sell the product or write a prescription for the customer to obtain the product elsewhere. Judy…

By Richard LeeSenate correspondent AUSTIN — Members of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee on Tuesday asked pointed questions about the Public Utility Commission’s novel plan to increase market participation and incentivize the construction of new power generation in Texas. Following 2021’s near collapse of the state electric grid, the Legislature passed a number of reforms aimed at…

Super Bowl LVII was last weekend and, for the first time in history, both starting quarterbacks are from the great state of Texas. Whichever team you support, it was a win for the Lone Star State! Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Business and Commerce hearing on the electric grid This week the Senate Business and Commerce Committee met to discuss possible redesign of the…

by U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions This week, President Biden delivered his State of the Union address to Congress and the American people. Just as you may suspect, his speech was riddled with lies aimed at covering for his ineffectiveness and malpractice. Biden claimed our southern border is secure, but the truth is his ineptitude has created the most porous border in our nation’s history. Since the…