December 2023

Dear Neil: A friend has sage plants in her native plant landscape in Wichita Falls. Big sections of several of them are dying out – have been for some time. They have been watered fairly well, both from rain and irrigation. What might cause them to be dying in parts?

It is important to note that an arrest should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

*Keyone Tyreece Boyd, DOB 2/25/2000, offense date 5/24/2022 (CR-24883, Possession of Marijuana) Defendant has entered into a 12-month pretrial intervention program with a $500.00 fee. *Jonathan Davila Cabello, DOB 10/16/2003, offense date 8/1/2021 (CR-24636, Resisting Arrest Search or Transport) Defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served four (4) days in the county jail; $0.00 General Fine; $0.00 Mandatory Fines; $0.00 Restitution; $0.00 Court Costs; $0.00 Reimbursement Fees.

Blue Wave competed Saturday in the Odessa Permian Invitational and once again brought home some hardware. The girls had an amazing showing and placed third place overall; the 200 Medley Relay placed fourth; Sprint 200 Free relay placed fourth, and the 400 Free relay placed sixth.

Fort Stockton’s Panther varsity basketball team competed this past weekend at the Lamesa Tournament and were faced with some adversity. The Panthers tied Stanton 45-45 and lost to Lamesa 68-47. The Panthers also took on Perryton and Sweetwater, but those scores were not reported.

Fort Stockton High School’s 9-2 season and bi-district playoff appearance netter the Panthers several District 1-4A Div. 2 honors last week. The honors were announced Nov. 28 following a Monahans loss in the third round of the playoffs.

Amaya Urias scored 17 points and Thiara Wislar 14 to lead the Fort Stockton Prowlers to a 51-41 win over Big Spring on Tuesday night, improving their record to 8-4 after a 2-2 showing last weekend in Ozona.

We are in the season of Advent— the season when we remember the coming of Christ. In this column for the month of December, we will be reflecting on different aspects of Mary who played a prominent role in the Christmas Story.

The WWII Mark XIV torpedo was the US submarine’s main fleet torpedo and thousands were produced. It was designed in the 1930’s and wasn”t until many misses that the reliability was questioned. It looked good but in combat it failed many times. Eventually it was discovered that it had some design faults and all built were faulty. And as one stated, “The only reliable feature of the torpedo was it’s unreliability”. Many US Submariners lost their lives to that faulty torpedo. Eventually the war department corrected those design faults. That torpedo reminds me of something in the Bible. When God created man it was a unique design but there was one way it could go astray. God gave man the freedom to choose, (Genesis 2:15-17). He could either obey God or disobey. Adam and Eve had a beautiful life but believed a lie and ended up disobeying God, (Genesis 3:10-18, 23). Since that time all descendants of Adam and Eve are born with the inherent nature to disobey, (Romans 3:23). That flaw has led all mankind to be separated from God, (Romans 6:23, John 3:17-20). But God loves us and developed a plan to fix the problem, (1Peter 3:18, Titus 3:5). God’s fix it plan was the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, (John 3:16 Romans 5:1-21). As we celebrate and enjoy this Holiday season let us remember the reason for the season.

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case that could decide whether medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban are written clearly enough to protect pregnant women who face serious health risks, the Austin American-Statesman reported.