Clint Cooper

A business owner's right to make a business decision based on personal beliefs is a difficult line to walk today.

Saturday is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the shortest day of the year and the official arrival of astronomical winter. At 3:20 am Texas time, the solstice begins winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. That means each day will get longer and brighter until the end of June. It is a good time to make sure your air conditioner is off.

Thursday afternoon at 2:01, a Paris Officer was dispatched to the Adult Probation Office in the 4300 block of Bonham Street to serve a warrant on 57-year-old Douglas Wayne Speir of Bogata. The officer took Speir into custody for Felony Probation Violation-Motion to Revoke-Driving While Intoxicated three or more and was transported and booked into the Paris Jail.

If U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary-designee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has his way about removing fluoride for the country's water systems, residents in Soddy-Daisy can say they were ahead of the curve.

It became official last week that Honey Grove Head Football Coach Shane Fletcher is moving to the next level. They named him the new offensive lineman coach at his alma mater, Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant. Fletcher has been with the Warriors for the last three years with a 31-7 record, which included three straight trips to the playoffs. Before that, he spent 17 years at Leonard, where he was the winningest coach in school history.

Several days in a row, earthquakes have hit parts of the ArkLaTex. A 3.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded just after 3:00 am on Sunday, December 22, roughly three miles west-northwest of Mooringsport. According to the USGS website, the five most recent earthquakes occurred in this area within four days.

A 14-year-old boy was killed in a hit-and-run on Lake Forest and Highland Drive in McKinney on Saturday evening. A dark-colored, four-door sedan left the scene after the incident. There could be damage on the passenger's side. A second vehicle stopped at the scene to help the teen. McKinney Fire Department officials performed life-saving measures and transported him to the hospital, where he died.

California's Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Friday that deputies responded to an early morning family disturbance call. They found a woman outside a home who told deputies that her husband, Andrey Demskiy, 28, assaulted her and her mother. Deputies forced their way into the house in northern Sacramento County and found Demskiy with the boy. They took him into custody but found a “severed child's head” in the bedroom with Demskiy.

Bonham ISD is facing a civil rights complaint after Black and Latino students and former employees claimed the district failed to address continued racial harassment and abuse from other students. The Civil Rights groups filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice in February, included two students, and alleged the district intentionally discriminates against Black students and students with disabilities by “perpetuating a racially hostile environment and a hostile educational environment based on disability. Since then, five more students have come forward with their own experiences and claim harassment would often occur in front of teachers and other staff without intervention.

Last Thursday, December 19, Greenville Police arrested Dalton Anthony Marcum, 29, of Campbell, who was wanted for Murder by the Delta County Sheriff's Office. Marcum was located and taken into custody without incident. His bond is $750,000, and he is in the Hunt County Detention Center.