PHOTO: Malakoff resident in Austin

ClintMalakoff resident Clint Stutts (far right) stands in the Texas Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 8, before the 83rd Legislative Session convened. He is joined by friends from Ellis and Tarrant counties, most of whom are involved with a bill Stutts helped write to nullify the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Daily Brief: Tuesday, Jan. 8

It is Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 … the first day of the 83rd Texas Legislative Session.

Not a whole lot expected to happen today other than lawmakers taking the oath of office and some paperwork.

Later today, we will have a story about a bill filed by State Rep. Jim Pitts regarding the use of cellphones while driving around schools.

Today also marks the first meeting of Henderson County Commissioners’ Court.

I went by there this morning but, as one official said, the agenda was “long and laborious” so I didn’t stay. I did get an interview with the County Judge and couple of the commissioners regarding their take on the upcoming Legislative Session. That story will be posted later today or early tomorrow.

Now that we’ve got THAT out of the way, we can move on to the important news. Local high school sports returns in full swing tonight.

It is also registration day at Trinity Valley Community College. This is from the TVCC Facebook Page. 

It’s registration day at The Valley! Welcome new students and those of you coming back for another semester. It’s going to be great to see all of you on campus today. If you have any questions you need answered, please remember you can ask them here and we’ll do our best to help you out. Here’s a link to the schedule finder if you’re needing your registration time. Just type in Spring 2013 and it will bring up the info. Have a wonderful day Valley family!

Check it out here.

 

AISD faveOne of the important area Facebook pages is the one for Athens ISD. 

Here is my favorite photo posted over there this week.

Ending on a down note today. It has been announced that My Favorite Things in Malakoff will be closing. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me. Jessica Crye and her mother have been a wonderful addition to the Malakoff downtown and their absence will surely be felt.

We’ll miss you.

Sweet Assurance sings at PSUMC

Sweet Assurance. (Courtesy Photo)
Sweet Assurance. (Courtesy Photo)

Those who attended Fellowship Night at Payne Springs United Methodist were entertained Jan. 2nd by “Sweet Assurance,” a quintet from the First Baptist Church Malakoff. Their voices were perfect harmony, pleasing to everyone. Singers included: Barbara Monroe, Kay Downey, Dottie Crye, Adabeth Routt, and Kathy Clardy. The public is invited to every Fellowship Night. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Daily Brief: Monday, Jan. 7

State Sen. Robert Nichols speaks with a staff member in this file photo. (Courtesy Photo)
State Sen. Robert Nichols speaks with a staff member in this file photo. (Courtesy Photo)

Welcome back to school for administrators, teachers and students. Hope you all had a great holiday.

The rest of us need to be very careful this week as kids and buses return to the roads for the first time in nearly a month.

The 83rd Texas Legislature will convene tomorrow and will play a big role in the news over the next few months.

In Henderson County, we have three lawmakers representing us in Austin. State Sen. Robert Nichols,

State Rep. Lance Gooden, and State Rep. Jim Pitts.

While Gooden represents most of the county, Pitts portions around Cedar Creek Lake during redistricting.

Gas prices are still rising:

Average retail gasoline prices in Texas have risen 5.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.16/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 13,114 gas outlets in Texas. This compares with the national average that has not moved in the last week to $3.26/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com. Including the change in gas prices in Texas during the past week, prices yesterday were 4.2 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 6.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has decreased 9.3 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 6.8 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

The Malakoff Athletic Booster Club will be holding a meeting 6 p.m. tonight in the coaches office to discuss the upcoming powerlifting meet.

In just a few years, Malakoff has made this meet one of the best in East Texas. If you are in Malakoff, think about helping out. If you are not in Malakoff, think about attending.

For those who heard my anguished cries Friday on our Facebook Page, you know that our website was deleted in an industrial accident. I believe there were explosions and fire and mayhem involved. (Actually, we managed to copy over the database files, thereby erasing the site.)

We are back up and running and will continue to tweak the site of the next few months to try and bring you the best completely free news site in the county.

One of the modules lost was the one that emailed the Daily Brief to those who registered. I have not rebuilt that module yet, but will be working on it this week. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Have a great day and remember, ALWAYS backup your files.