Special to the News-Times LUFKIN — You know that feeling of boredom behind the wheel. So bored that you just can’t help but pick up your phone. You look down at it, or read a text, right up to the moment your car is airborne at 70 miles per hour. During Distracted Driving Awareness Month, TxDOT is reminding everyone to stay focused behind the…

By Pooja SalhotraTexas Tribune The $30 per month Daisy Solis has saved off of her internet bill for the past two years stretched a long way. Those dollars covered new shoes for her three, growing children, dinners out at the Chick-fil-A that popped up in her town of Peñitas in South Texas, and part of a higher-than-usual electricity bill. Now,…

By Ari LazarusConsumer Education Specialist, FTC You’re looking to make some extra money and you get a text or email, or see an ad on social media: get paid to wrap your car and drive around. And the offers can sound good: $600-700 a week to drive around with an ad for some well-known company (usually an energy drink). Many times, these offers are…

By: Tom Purcell Get this:Men and women’s brainsare different. Using a powerful, first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence model, Stanford Medicine was able to determine with a 90% success rate whether or not an MRI scan of human brain activity was coming from a male brain or a female brain. “The findings, the investigators suggest, help to resolve…

Director Jay Don Reeve (left) and James Raines, first place winner at the 11th Annual Crappiefest this past weekend at Lake Fork. Photo by Luke Clayton By Luke ClaytonOutdoors writer The weather was picture perfect for the 11th annual Crappiefest held at Lake Fork and headquartered at the beautiful newly constructed Caney Point Recreational Area…

Logan Rice (left) and his dad Lawrance Rice with their drone hovering in the background, about to scout a distant field for wild hogs. Photo by Luke Clayton By Luke ClaytonOutdoors writer How many times have I been hunting and watched a hawk or buzzard overhead and wish that I too had the ability to observe the landscape from above rather than be…

AUSTIN – Katie Parker still gets nervous just crossing the street. Eight years ago, a careless driver plowed into her and her dog, Riley, while they were out for a jog. Parker was hit with such force that she was thrown more than 60 feet. Riley, a Great Dane, was killed on what was supposed to be a pleasant morning jog. “The crash changed my…

Violets are a Herald of Spring in Tyler County. Elton Gish from Lumberton took this stunning photo of a violet blooming on the Big Woods Nature Trail at Heritage Village. The Tyler County Art League Judge, who noted that it is a nice closeup with a blurry background, selected it as the February Photo-of-the-Month. All visitors enjoying the trail…

By Matthew R. March, MNRDPolk County Extension Agent Raising backyard chickens can be a fun and enjoyable experience. Most local producers raise chickens for egg production to provide their families and neighbors with home grown heart healthy nutritious eggs. We tend to take for granted that our laying hens will produce eggs and give little…

From TPWD AUSTIN — Texas recorded a new all-time low number of hunting-related accidents across the state, according to the 2023 Texas Hunting Accident Report. A new record low of 10 non-fatal hunting-related accidents and one fatality were reported in 2023. Texas’ highest record to date occurred in 1972 when the state saw 30 fatal hunting-related…

Zinnias Michael Miller/Texas A&M AgriLife A delicate butterfly alighting on a garden bloom is a tangible sign for many that spring has indeed arrived. A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist shared insights on how to draw these beautiful beneficial insects to your yard — not only in the spring but throughout the summer and fall. “The key…

Harvest quality and quantities for Texas citrus producers have been up this season after multiple years of weather-related setbacks. Challenges still remain, but the season has provided optimism to citrus growers. Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Sam Craft By Paul SchattenbergTexas A&MAgriLife ExtensionCommunications Specialist The Texas citrus crop…

By Emily Banks Wooteneditor@polkenterprise.com (Editor’s Note: This is the third of a multi-part series celebrating Black History Month by recognizing the service, contributions and achievements of some of Polk County’s finest.) Clyde McQueen (Aug. 24, 1926-May 13, 2020) was born in the Lily Island community near Camden, the firstborn of the union…

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A red rose bush growing by a wooden post at The Gardens at Texas A&M.Properly pruning rosebushes this month will result in more blooms in the spring. Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Brylee Williams AgriLife Extension gardening guide offers top tips for February By Blair FanninAgriLife Extension What should — or shouldn’t — Texas gardeners be doing…

Special to the Booster AUSTIN – A parent’s worst nightmare happens all too often in Texas as the number of unbuckled teen drivers and passengers killed in crashes is rising. TxDOT’s Teen Click It or Ticket campaign is urging all teens to buckle up—every seat, every ride. Vehicle crashes continue to be a leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers.…

Nitazenes, a drug that is up to 20 times more powerful than fentanyl, 50 times more powerful than heroin and 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is about to give the country major cause for concern. This class of medication was created over 60 years ago as a potential pain relief medication, according to the World Health Organization. Many…

Texas Crop and Weather Report Hay supplies may be better than last year, but they remain extremely tight as costs for winter feeding continue to mount for Texas ranchers, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. Hay production was better during the 2023 hay season, but back-to-back years of impacts from drought have left Texas…

By Elwood Watson Latchkey kids. Slackers. Caffeine lovers. Grunge. That’s how a lot of people have referred to Generation X, the 46 million Americans, like myself, who were born between 1965 and 1980. We were a generation that has been perennially pegged as cynical, self-indulgent, aimless, contrarian, and often peripheral when it comes to life…

Aloe Vera plant showing freeze damage following January hard freeze. By Greg GrantTexas A&M AgriLifeExtension Smith CountyHorticulture Agent Unfortunately, the last few years have brought us three rounds of major winter freeze damage and two rounds of summer heat and drought stress. Trying to determine the “cause of death” has become challenging.…

By Adam RussellTexas AgriLife Extension A hard freeze can make plants an ugly eyesore in a landscape or garden. But practice patience when it comes to freeze-damaged plants, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife expert. Michael Arnold, Ph.D., director of The Gardens at Texas A&M University and professor of landscape horticulture in the Department of…

In early January, TPWD received notice from the National Veterinary Service Laboratory in Ames, Iowa that a sample from a 14-month-old whitetail buck at the Kerr WMA submitted for CWD testing was “not confirmed.” The sample had previously been confirmed as “suspect positive” by two other labs. TPWD euthanized the facility’s entire research herd of…

Martha Mericle, Michel Blewitt, David Neyland, Pressley McWilliams, Clara Keath and Sawyer McWilliams won awards at the Jan. 11-13 ACHA Championship in Belton. By Tony Farkaseditor@trinityconews.com Martha Mericle’s passion for photography led to her second passion, and that paid off last week with an award from the American Cutting Horse…