For the Grayson County Historical Society's second meeting of the new year, February 10 at 6:30 p.m., we have invited Mr. Bert Garcia to give the program on Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped at the age of 9 by the Comanche Indians. In later life she married Chief Pete Nocona, bearing three children.

Asher Oaks, a nearly 27-acre community, will feature modern homes and neighborhood amenities, providing small-town living with regional connectivity; construction begins this month.

Feb. 7-14 marks the 14th Court Reporting & Captioning Week, sponsored by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers, and the Association’s Secretary-Treasurer Stacey M. Potenza, CRC, from Secretary-Treasurer McKinney, Texas, wants to share with you and the public more about this viable career choice that offers great benefits and does not require a four-year degree.

With an already suspect roof at the Fannin County Justice Center now leaking in multiple places and the project costing taxpayers twice as much as they were told, Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham tried to deflect from his budget-busting Justice Center project with yet another rage-filled rant about the condition of the 1888 Fannin County Courthouse during Tuesday's regular meeting Fannin County Commissioners Court.

This year, the global celebration of the Lunar New Year begins on Tuesday, Feb. 17, but Galleria Dallas is starting its celebration early with an art installation featuring nearly 250 enormous lanterns over the ice rink to celebrate the Year of the Horse – a symbol of vibrant energy and momentum. The beautiful lantern festival installation is up now and will stay through Feb. 28.

2019 – Pope Francis becomes the first Pope in history to visit and perform papal mass in the Arabian Peninsula during his visit to Abu Dhabi. Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a family of Italian origin, Bergoglio was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from a severe illness. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the 2013 papal conclave elected Bergoglio as pope on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his papacy, Francis was noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility, commitment to interreligious dialogue, and concern for the poor, migrants, and refugees. Concerning global governance, Francis was a critic of trickle-down economics, consumerism, and overdevelopment; he made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy. He viewed capital punishment as inadmissible in all cases, and committed the Catholic Church to its worldwide abolition. Francis criticized the rise of right-wing populism and anti-immigration politics, calling the protection of migrants a "duty of civilization."