How will you better yourself and your ranch this year? Toward the end of last year, I was asked what I was thinking when I look at pasture land. I had never really thought about that, because so many things are going through my brain at once. So, I started making a list. It contains over 40 broad items and I add to it as I think of new things.

I am on the hunt for a few pieces of furniture, and the search has been eyeopening, feet-weary, hilarious, and mildly exasperating. At the top of my wish list is a small, compact recliner— one that does not resemble something my father sat in forty-five years ago.

To the editor: I hope the new hospital opens soon. I don’t know how much longer I can stay well.

To the editor: As I was watching yet another news broadcast from Minneapolis this evening, graphically showing the actions of anonymous, masked, and armed ICE and Border Patrol Agents, I recalled something that happened in 1962 when I was 11 or 12. My family was living in base housing in Germany due to my father’s military assignment, and an elderly German relative, first cousin to my grandmother, was visiting us.

To the editor: Mr. Dykes article titled “Ten Commandments” comparing the Ten Commandments to “parallel teachings in the Quran and Sunnah (the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow) misinforms and is dishonest.

Milton E. Zingelmann of Round Top filed his candidacy for Fayette County Sheriff to oppose T.J. (Jim) Flournoy, a former president of the Texas Sheriffs Association. In his announcement, Zingelmann said he was a native of La Grange and had 12½ years of law enforcement experience. Fayette County’s most heated political race was a five-man field for Precinct 3 commissioner, Flatonia. Longtime incumbent Eddie Zouzalik was not standing for reelection. Those seeking the job were: John J. Merecka, 54, of Flatonia; Edward T. Mica, 46, of Flatonia; Herbert H. Surman, 46, of Schulenburg; S.H. “Shep” Werlein, 50, of Elm Grove; and Alvin Holstein, 52, of Muldoon.

I just begun serving First Presbyterian of La Grange on July 1, 2025. I am still the new kid on the block but I have to say I am impressed by the people who are part of that congregation and by the people in La Grange in general. The faith, hope, and love I am finding here has moved me.

The first debate in the state’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is set for 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.

The search for George Sessions Perry, missing from his riverside home in Connecticut, entered its second month on Jan. 14, 1957 with no sign of the famous writer.

Some folks around here complain to me that they can’t grow carrots. That’s usually because they plant them at the wrong time of the year.