Commerce Mayor Wyman Williams says the Commerce City Council this week approved another Neighborhood Empowerment Zone, this one on Hickory Street, providing a tax break for the construction of new mutli-family housing units. Several such zones have been approved in the city for residential and commercial building projects. The mayor says the City Council has approved the second and final reading of ordiances declaring no parking along the Hwy. 24 east service road from Culver Street to the

Sarah Latham, Rains County Agrilife Extension Agent, says Texas A&M Agrilife is conducting a survey of Texans views on a wide range of subjects. "Texas Speaks" is available on the Rains County Agrilife Facebook page and at this link . Sarah also says Agrilife is receiving a lot of questions about possible damage to trees caused by the recent severe winter weather, but she says about the only thing to do is wait for spring to see how the trees rebound. Also, Sarah says March is National

Dr. Nick Patras, director of the Texas A&M-Commerce Counseling Center , says he has seen a great psychological cost from the coronavirus pandemic over the past year, but he says people are more resilient than they they think they are, and he's optimistic that we'll soon arrive at a "new normal"?

Dr. Karri McCreary, co-owner of the Greenville Animal Hospital , contemplates March as "Pet Poison Awareness Month." Karri says xylitol, a chemical contained in chewing gum, is extremely poisonous for dogs, and lillies, a popular spring and Easter plant, is very hazardous to cats. We also discuss the advisability of pet health insurance , including the online pet-health-insurance company Pawp .

Hunt County Master Gardener Wayne Bowman says long-range forecasts he has seen say that we're unlikely to see temperatures under 40 degrees for many days, which would put us past the average last freeze date of March 20. Wayne says the snow that fell during the extreme cold weather in mid-February actually was a good thing for plants and gardeners, providing a layer of insulation against the temperatures that fell below 0.

Our Sulphur Springs correspondent, Emily Glass, comments on her appointment to the Sulphur River Basin Board of Directors . Emily is the former mayor of Sulphur Springs and co-owner of the Venue at two-nineteen in downtown Sulphur Springs. Also, Butch Burney has been named the new Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce president, succeeding Lezley Brown. Burney will take the position in April. Finally, Emily discusses the annual Hopkins County Health Gala , which will be a virtual event Saturday,

Pud Kearns of Housewarmers of Greenville says a new dog park has opened at Arnold Park at 2300 Jones St. (north of Park Street or east of Johnson Street). The Park Street Historical Association has funded the new park. A dog park already exists at Graham Park in north Greenville. Pud says the city of Greenville is offering Code Red Warnings to be delivered to cell phones during severe weather.

Hank Pickering of Wolfe City, a supporter of the Northeast Texas Trail, says the NETT had a record number of users in 2020, at least in nearby Lamar County, possibly because people were looking for places to get outside during the coronavirus pandemic. Trail usage with electronic counters in Lamar county for 2020 came to 163,555. 2019 was 130,324. Hank says the NETT is still in the process of seeking status as a state park.

Dr. Dale Funderburk, Northeast Texas economist, says he expects Texas will continue to be a magnet for industry after the power failures caused by the historic winter storm in February. He says industry will not base their decisions on a "1oo-year event."

Steve Killian, superintendent of Cooper Lake State Park , says he expects large numbers of visitors during spring break, the weeks of March 8 and March 15. He says it necessary to make reservations for overnight stays. Steve says the park has recently become an official Texas Parks and Wildlife weighing station for record-setting fish. And Steve says the park will be opening its equestrian trails for mountains biking.