The Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in jobs added with 58,200 new positions in February, bringing the state to nearly 14 million total nonfarm jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. February also marked two full years of uninterrupted job growth in the state.

Distracted driving is on the rise in Texas, and Tx-DOT is urging all Texans to pay attention on the road. In an instant, Karin Zaltsman lost her teenaged daughter when a driver made the decision to take their eyes off the road to text while driving.

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Robert Case of Pittsburg and Morris McCutcheon of Winnsboro teamed up to win the Bass Champs North Division team event on April 1 at Cedar Creek. Case/McCutcheon topped 232 teams with a five-fish sack weighing 23.46. They earned $20,700 cash.

April 21-23 are the dates of the 2023 Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash. This year’s “amateur only” big bass event will pay back a guaranteed purse of $550,000 in cash and prizes, including five overall winners and nearly $251,000 in hourly payouts.

Outdoors Writer It was a historic evening for conservation and a grand night for quail as a record crowd recently packed the Armstrong Fieldhouse on the SMU campus in Dallas for the 17th Annual Parks Cities Quail Coalition Dinner and Auction. Auction bidders shattered the Park Cities fundraising record by raising $2.8 million for the organization’s mission called “Conservation’s Greatest Night.” “These funds will go a long way towards funding quail research across our region and supporting initiatives focused on getting kids involved in hunting and the outdoors,” said Jay Stine, executive director of the Quail Coalition.

Students at Vivian Fowler Elementary attended a very special career day on Friday, March 31, the first since April of 2019. The event was kicked off on Thursday, March 30, by Ladarrius “Luke” Craddock, a former Fowler student and current teacher and coach in MPISD. Craddock spoke to the students about their character, the choices that they make, and being an asset to your community. He told them they had the power to make things happen in their lives and shared his experience when recruiters came to visit him at the high school about playing football in college.

7th Grade Jayden Baker, Michelle Bautista, Maria Beltran Regalado, Samuel Carroll, Alexa Castaneda, Gabriel Castaneda, Homero Castillo De La Torre, Nathali Chavez, Emily Crabb, Viridiana Dominguez, Jaitaly Duran, Lincoln Dyke, Trisha Easley, Elizabeth Fernandez, Isabella Furnish, Ezequiel Galvez, Gisselle Garcia, Allyson Gardner, Blakely Garrett, Ja’Kelion Garrett, Nancy Gil, Rubi Gutierrez Rios, Leslie Hernandez, Mario Hernandez, Kennedy Jones, Ivette Lopez, Bradon Lowry, Jose Lucio, Tenley Marshall, Dahyana Martinez, Ivan Martinez, Jesus Mata III, Yolette Mata, Maisy Matthews, Ava McCrumby, Noah McMinn, Kiana Mickens, Zachary Newman, Jose Olivares, Yadira Perez Jacobo, Lynndsie Phan, Daxton Price, Angela Ramirez Moreno, Riley Rosewell, Valeria Vera Cortez, Aaron Waldrep, Evelyn Whisenhunt 8th Grade Camron Aguero, Adriel Bagsic, Dalia Balderas, Stephanie Barrientos, Carson Bell, Alondra Cano-Castro, Kaelyn Carrillo, Drew Cross, Ana Gonzalez, Ruben Gonzalez, Alexia Hawkins, Isaac Hernandez, Caydon Johnson, Conley Johnson, Jayden Loewen, Anna Lucio, Heidi Martinez, Makayla Mather, Jennifer Meeks, Allison Mendoza, Melany Morales, Daniel Olivares, Bowdrie Priefert, Cooper Rider, Christian Rojas, Nicole Salazar, Anna Beth Sellers, Denise Serrano, Jaden Shelley, Isaiah Shepherd, Mary Beth Snyder, Adan Torres, Sara Vanhoose, La’Nessa Watts, Sophia Wilabay, Maggie Wilson.