October 2023

Panthers get back to the business of winning

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Following last week’s loss in Monahans, the Fort Stockton Panthers bounced back with a 38-21 victory over the visiting Mountain View Lobos this past Friday. “I really liked the response they had from the loss last week following with a good week at practice,” said head coach Jeremy Hickman.
Panthers get back to the business of winning

From the Pulpit

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The month of October brings to mind that famous old Peanuts cartoon of Lucy and Charlie Brown. Lucy is holding the football, and she tells Charlie Brown to kick it. As Charlie Brown goes running up to kick the football, Lucy pulls it out of the way at the last minute. Charlie Brown then ends up on his back. The worst part of this is that Lucy plays the same trick on Charlie Brown year, after year, after year. I always felt so awful for Charlie Brown. I kept asking myself why he hadn’t learned that Lucy was going to trick him?
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Am I a Goldbrick?

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It was a term I heard my father frequently use. Over the years his job put him in charge of a large number of men and it was very important because it had to do with national security. Many times they would assign new men to be trained in that special field. Those particular jobs required teamwork and each person had to be very dedicated to do his part. I have seen my dad unofficially advise men at our home that they needed to consider moving or transferring to another group as this one was very intense and required a lot of dedication and commitment. A few transferred, others received a court martial for dereliction of duty. Those situations reminded me of something in the Bible. It is one thing to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior but totally another to live in a way that honors Him. Many start with Christ but quickly abandon or slowly drift away, (2 Timothy 4:10, Revelation 2:4&5). So many things can cause someone to depart from the Christian way. We are warned and told to watch out for this danger in the Christian life, (2 Peter 2:20-22, Matthew 5:13, 1Timothy 6:9&10). If we have drifted or abandoned there is hope, we can return. God is willing to accept us back if we repent and ask Him, (James 4:8-10, 1 John 1:9, Revelation 3:2&3, Malachi 3:7).
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Early voting now underway

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Early voting is now underway for the Nov. 7 general election. Voters will decide the fate of 14 proposed amendments, including measures to provide property tax relief and raise the homestead exemption to $100,000.
Early voting now underway

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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Dear Editor: A sign on a store in Fort Stockton says, “You can be a success if you believe in yourself!” Wrong! You can be a success if you believe in God! What are non-Christian humanists going to do on their deathbeds? Believe in themselves? The problem with the human race is everyone just believes in theirselves: Hamas, The Taliban ISIS, Iran, Putin, etc. just believe in theirselves.

Vera Ann Mitchell Strong

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Vera Ann Mitchell Strong passed away Oct. 16, 2023, in Fort Payne, Alabama. She was born March 23, 1943, in Fort Stockton, Texas. Her parents were B.E. Mitchell and Mary Elizabeth Oates.
Vera Ann was preceded in death by her parents; husband Raymond Strong; two sons, Mitchell and Tommy, and brother, J.B. Mitchell.
She is survived by daughters, Denise Henderson and Rae Ann Helms, both of Fort Payne, Alabama; sister Nancy Hammond of Fort Stockton, nine grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.

Strong

City hears police, street department updates

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The Fort Stockton City Council heard presentations from city staff at its Oct. 10 meeting, including an update from police chief Ernesto Valasquez and public works director Luis Guerra. Guerra updated the council on the progress of various paving projects across Fort Stockton.

“We paved 676,296 square feet,” Guerra said. “Materials used was the equivalent of 6.7 miles. We used 1,696 tons of aggregate, 34,012 gallons of paving oil, 1,862 tons of base material.”

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