oland Garza was startled when he noticed rustling on a wall décor cross made of sticks. “Rat?” Then, he heard, “cheep. cheep.” A few days earlier they’d opened the doors for fresh air. “Was it tiny with a long tail?” I asked. “Yes, and brown.” Ahhhh, a curious wren. Roland turned out lights, closed ...

or many of my friends the arrival of November signals the start of the deer and wild turkey season. For me, it’s onion planting time. While Baker and Oliver hone their hunting skills over at the ranch in Brackettville over in Kinney County, I’m in my backyard planting this season’s crop. I am often ...

oAnn Sadler couldn’t help but smile as she and about 25 others completed a bungee cord exercise at the Onion Creek Senior Citizens activity center. Sure, the workout itself was strenuous at times. But for Sadler, the exercise she and many others came to take in was well worth it. Such is the goal of...

magine going to the grocery store and walking past a woman on the sidewalk casually scrolling through her Facebook feed outside the market. One may not have realized they had just witnessed the face of hunger. No, that woman may never appear in a somber commercial on hunger where young children in t...

Hays County offers many volunteering options throughout the area to those who wish to give back to their community. Whether it’s donating food, helping to make sure a child is fed and protected or finding a forever home for our four-legged friends, residents in Hays County will find no shortage of o...

Above: (L-r) Parent Liaison Eva Pedraza-Ibbara, Mrs. Jerry McCormick and Alejandra Villa Martinez stand in front of an Honoring Altar of the Dead for Dr. T. C. McCormick and various relatives of McCormick Middle School families. The Day of the Dead altar was set up by students during the Day of the ...

ays High National Honor Society (NHS) members donated more than 300 new pillows as part of the “Pillows of Peace” project, which is held in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The 352 new pillows, as well as173 sets of new pillow cases, collected by the Hays NHS will be heading for the...

Accountability and student progress across multiple grade levels is the focus for Hays CISD leaders after they unanimously approved a Targeted Improvement Plan forHemphill Elementary Oct. 23. The trustees’ move was done via a 7-0 vote and comes after Hemphill was listed as “Improvement Required” by ...

By Jeff Barton ne of the towering figures of the civil rights era in Hays County has died. Ofelia Trinidad Vasquez Philo, an advocate for poor families, a pioneer in women’s rights, and a leading advocate for Mexican-American rights and culture, died Nov. 1 in San Marcos. She was 84. Philo went to w...

oncerned over Texas’ increasingly cozy relationship with the British, the U.S. Secretary of State informed the Lone Star minister on Nov. 10, 1843 that Washington was ready to reopen annexation talks. Instead of telling Abel P. Upshur that it was about time, Isaac Van Zandt played it cool by simply ...