At least 11 people have died in Texas, nearly half of them children, after Winter Storm Fern swept the state last week, the Texas Standard reported. Among those killed were three young brothers who fell through ice on a private pond near Bonham. In the Dallas suburb of Frisco, two teens died after an accident involving their sled while it was pulled by a vehicle.

The electricity grid covering most of Texas held up as of Monday during the latest winter storm, although localized power outages were reported in deep East Texas and far West Texas. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas dashboard indicated demand was running comfortably below available capacity.

The information below was found on Madison County Historical Commission’s webpage, https://www.madisonchc.com, and then after scrolling, at the Trial and Tears Series. Most came from various Houston Post specials from the dates given.

There are a couple of rules I live by in this profession. Rule #1Be nice, until its time not to be nice. This is a paraphrase of a line from the 1989 Patrick Swayze/ Sam Elliot film, “Road House.” It is a very simple philosophy, but yet I believe those words are the key to all human interaction. If we were kind and considerate of one another there would be far fewer times where we would need “…to not be nice.”

The last day to register to vote for the March 3 primary is Feb. 2, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. Early voting runs from Feb. 17 through Feb. 27, with Feb. 20 being the deadline for applying for a mail ballot. Prospective voters can visit the votetexas.gov website to find out if they are registered, discern their polling places, learn what is on the ballot and find other information.

I encourage history buffs to check out Madison County Historical Commission’s webpage, located at https://www.madisonchc. com. It was my source for the following stories but it also offers much more!

The first debate in the state’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is Jan. 24 in Georgetown, The Dallas Morning News reported. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas and state Rep. James Talarico of Round Rock are vying for the nomination.

Over the past couple of decades, we have witnessed an increase in acts of defiance directed at law enforcement officers (LEOs). I suspect the root of this is found in people being exasperated and at their wits end with the many problems with our government’s actions or inactions.

A spate of new laws took effect Jan. 1, The Dallas Morning News reported.

CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS The Legislature made a host of major decisions in 2025, as The Dallas Morning News reported. Here are the highlights: • Homeowners received a break on their property taxes after approving a proposed constitutional amendment in November.