April 2025

Here’s something that can make us miserable if we let it: too many decisions! Social scientist Barry Schwartz says Americans are becoming less happy because we’re allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by too many choices. His groundbreaking idea, originally published in his 2004 book The Paradox of Choice, has been echoed by recent studies.

CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS A judge with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Texas Education Agency can release its 2023 A-F school accountability ratings, the Houston Chronicle reported. The ruling overturned a district judge’s injunction after more than 120 school districts sued to stop TEA from releasing the ratings.

Dear Editor, A couple of huge wind projects are applying for property tax exemptions from the hospital district and the county. The 2 projects posted in this paper total about 1.7 billion dollars.

He had been gone for over a year. We knew the country but not the exact location. Packing our suitcases we went to Seattle and got on a ship. If possible, he would meet us when we got off the ship. Mother saw him first and oh how excited we were. We disembarked and went straight to meet him. What a day and we were never separated from our dad again. That event reminds me of something in the Bible. Many people sought out Jesus before He was crucified for many different reasons and very few went away disappointed. Some of those that were disappointed were like one of the thieves on a cross next to Jesus. A proud, arrogant, guilty, criminal about to die and he hurled insults at Jesus and did not get help, (Luke 23:39, Psalm 14:4&5). The other acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God and asked for Mercy and received Help, (Luke 23:40-43). There were many that sought and got help from Jesus because they realized He was from God or that He was God, The Messiah, (John 14:7). “Seek and find, call upon ask” are what we are encouraged to do. (Genesis 4:26, Psalms 50:15&16, 86:5&7, 91:15) are a few places in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, (Luke 11:9, Hebrews 11:6, Romans 10:12&13, Matthew 6:33). Have we called upon Jesus and how did we call?

A Sports story in last week’s paper mentioned that Evelyn Rosenbaum won the 7th grade girl 100M Hurdles, however Landon Bernal won that honor, while Evelyn won the 300M hurdles. Congratulations to both athletes. We are sorry for the mistake and appreciate the correction.

Last week’s column closed with the greeting that met Jesus as he came down and then up the eastern approach to Jerusalem on the first day of the week that Christians have come to name Palm Sunday, “Jesus, save us.”

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GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil, I saw this Texas mountain laurel growing at a local business. It had these very unusual fan-shaped growths that appeared to be part of the plant.

Editor’s note: It is important to note that an arrest should not be considered evidence of guilt, all defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The following list is provided by the Pecos County Sheriff’s Department.

The Fort Stockton Panther and Prowler Track & Field teams showed resilience and grit as they hosted the 3-4A District Track Meet from April 2-4. The home crowd at Panther Stadium was treated to two days of high-energy performances, with both varsity and junior varsity athletes turning in strong showings on the track and in the field.