Memorial Day falls Monday, May 27, and is meant to commemorate Americans who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Originally known as Decoration Day, it was intended to encourage use of lovely spring flowers on military casualties’ graves across the nation. A few of our local losses from various wars appear below.

Texas House Democrats are urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to increase public school funding, while Abbott is criticizing them for opposing legislation last year that tied increased funding to his pet project — school vouchers. The Austin American- Statesman reported the Democrats sent a letter, written by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, calling for a 30-day special session focused on both increasing per-student funding and investing more in school safety.

As East Texas residents return to clean up their homes and businesses after extensive flooding earlier this month, the Texas Department of State Health Services urged residents and business owners to exercise caution. Among the recommendations:

Many current local Farris family members and more trace back to Andrew Jackson Farris (1827-1883). Born in Tennessee, he joined the military at the age of 20 and fought in the Mexican War. Less than a year later, he was mustered out and received 160 acres (about twice the area of a large shopping mall) of land for his service.

April was a busy month for tornadoes across the United States with 373 recorded, bringing the total for the year to 549, the Austin American- Statesman reported. That is nearly double the average at this point in the year, the National Weather Service says.

On Saturday, May 4, Madison County Historical Commission hosted a well-attended dedication ceremony for the new Texas historical marker recognizing Daniel Larrison, one of our earliest settlers. The marker stands on the south side of Highway 21 in the Larrison Creek bottom between Madisonville and Midway. Because of traffic, the dedication was held in the Midway Church of Christ Annex.

Years ago, Madisonville had more businesses that sold clothing. Anyone needing new duds could choose among places at which to buy.

The growth of industrial- scale users of power could strain the Texas power grid, ERCOT’s chief announced last week. The Dallas Morning News reported Pablo Vegas, the agency’s CEO, said bitcoin miners and artificial intelligence data centers going in across the state, as well as industrial growth in the Permian Basin, could create the need for a massive buildup of power transmission lines in the future.

Early voting began Monday, April 22 for municipal, school board and various bond elections. It ends on April 30 with Saturday, May 4 being election day. What is on the ballot depends on where you live.

Walker’s Pharmacy, at 112 West Main, is a pleasant memory for many folks but it didn’t start as Walker’s. Pete Norwood (1879-1946) was first to do business there, starting around 1917 with a candy kitchen and adding the first ice cream factory in this area.