John Mark Dempsey

Lori Cope, the director of CASA, the Court-Appointed Special Advocates of Hunt County, says the action of the state legislature in approving an additional $500 million for Child Protective Services will be very he

On today's Blacklands Cafe, outtakes with three of our regulars, Hunt County Historical Commission chairman Carol Taylor, discussing the somewhat mixed reaction to the entry of the U.S. into World War I, 100 years ago; Texas A&M-Commerce economics professor and interim dean of business Dr. Dale Funderburk, commenting on the importance of transportation to the ranking of Texas as the no.1 state for business by CEO magazine; and A&M-Commerce associate professor of counseling Dr.

Commerce ISD superintendent Charlie Alderman says the results of the state legislative session were not good for public schools.  He says the legislature has reduced direct state funding to public schools by $1.2 billion, in hopes that rising home values will increase local property-tax revenues and offset the cut.

Bonham Mayor Roy Floyd reflects on news that Bonham is no. 217 on the list of the top 250 towns in Texas to buy a home, according to analysis provided by LendEDU.  Caddo Mills is no. 156, Greenville is no. 221 and Leonard is no. 249.  The study reviewed data on 1,000 Texas towns and based the rankings on three criteria: the median income to home value ratio; a five-year population forecast; and a five-year income forecast.

Texas A&M-Commerce student C.J. Davidson has published a novel, "A Daughter's Curse," which she says was inspired by her own difficult childhood and she hopes will be an inspiration to other young people who are the victims of domestic violence.  

Herald-Banner movie reviewer Alice Reese says the new "Pirates of the Caribbean: Deadmen Tell No Tales" is better than the last couple of movies in the five-part series.  Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom return and Alice says it would be a fitting end to the series, but she doubts that will be the case.

The director of the Texas A&M-Commerce Planetarium, Dr. Kent Montgomery, considers an article in Astronomy magazine on the efforts to send people to Mars.  NASA plans to land a crew on Mars in 2030 and the private company Space X even sooner, in 2024.  In fact, six companies are designing prototypes of habitats for living on Mars that are scheduled for completion next year.  Dr.

Lauren Corbell, the city editor of the Paris News, reviews the recent success of the city of Paris' $10 million bond election and the failure of the North Lamar ISD's $44.9 million bond proposal.  The city will spend most of the bond funds to rebuild 18 city streets, while also making improvements to parks.  North Lamar had proposed to rebuild Higgins Elementary and Bailey Intermediate School, but for the second time in two years, voters rejected the plan.  Now, 26 portable buildings will be installed to serve about 200 students.

Carol Taylor, the chairman of the Hunt County Historical Commission, says the organization is asking citizens to share stories of their family members' service in World War I.  The commission meets at 7 p.m. Thursday (May 25) at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum and everyone is welcome.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entering World War I.

Sulphur Springs community development director Tory Niewiadomski says the planner behind the revitalization of downtown Sulphur Springs, Ian Lockwood of Toole Design, will return to the city this week to help the city plan further improvements.  A welcome dinner takes place from 5:30-7:30 tonight (Monday, May 22) at the Hopkins County Civic Center.  On Tuesday, Lockwood will meet with community organizations before an open session with the public from 4-7 p.m. at City Hall.  He'll give a preliminary report on his findings at 7 p.m.

Texas A&M-Commerce economics professor and the interim dean of the College of Business Dr. Dale Funderburk considers a recent survey of CEO Magazine readers that ranks Texas as the no.

Our wellness commentator Velvete Womack considers the benefits of sleep.  While experts recommend that most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per day,  Velvete says those hours do not necessarily need to be in one continuous stretch.  And she offers some surprising sleep aids, including plunging your feet in ice water.

Rick Miller with the Center for Applied Leadership reflects on an article in the Harvard Business Review, "Why Leadership Development Isn't Developing Leaders."  Rick says leadership development must be experiential, involving students in activities that require them to work together.

Texas A&M-Commerce associate professor of counseling Dr. LaVelle Hendricks is leading a group of A&M-Commerce students on a retreat to Hacienda Santa Clara Study and Research Center near San Miguel, Mexico, a facility affiliated with Texas A&M.  While there, the students will study the drug laws and drug-abuse treatment policies of Mexico.

Carol Taylor, the chairman of the Hunt County Historical Commission, describes the reaction of Hunt County citizens to the the declaration of war that brought the U.S. into World War I in the spring of 1917.  A crowd of 5,000 gathered to hear Gov. James Ferguson speak at the old Hunt County Courthouse and to show support for the war, as a giant U.S. flag was raised.