“Nobody reads a newspaper anymore.” I hear that statement all the time. But then something interesting happens every year when our community newspapers launch the “Best of the Best” ballot. The only place to get it is inside the printed newspaper. It is not online, cannot be downloaded, and isn’t on social media. Yet every year we receive over 3,000 ballots hand-filled and delivered to our office. Sure, some ballots come from businesses campaigning to win their categories, bu

AUSTIN — The Texas Department of State Health Services has launched a $13 million statewide initiative aimed at expanding access to low-cost spay and neuter services for dogs and cats, marking one of the most significant coordinated efforts in recent years to address pet overpopulation across the state. The program, funded by the Texas Legislature, is structured as a two-year initiative designed to increase the availability of high-volume, low-cost sterilization services in b

PACK DECK — Any typical night at The Lodge Card Room in Round Rock, Texas. Texas has dozens of poker rooms as the game escalated in popularity when amateur Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003, proving anyone could hit the big time winning 2.5 million setting off the Poker boom that rages on today. Poker News | Robertson County News ROUND ROCK — A recent raid on The Lodge Card Club, one of the largest poker clubs in Texas, has ignited a renewed debate about

For months now, I’ve held off on writing this. But sometimes the community deserves to know what’s happening behind the scenes—especially when that community relies on accountability. Crossroads Nursing Home owes the newspaper $1,195 for advertising placed in 2025. Since July of that year, we have attempted to collect on the outstanding bill. While the amount itself is not enormous, the situation raises larger concerns. To be clear, this is not personal. I am not writing this

The main flow of oil for the middle east is now in the middle of a war zone. The modern conflict between the United States and Iran did not begin with missiles or airstrikes. It began with mistrust. In 1953, the CIA backed the overthrow of Iran’s elected prime minister, reinstalling the Shah and cementing decades of resentment among many Iranians. That resentment boiled over in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution. The U.S. Embassy hostage crisis severed diplomatic ties, and re

Mexican cartel leader killed by Mexican Military Is this the real war on drugs? It is no secret that Mexico and parts of South America remain primary sources of illegal narcotics flowing into the United States. In recent months, President Donald Trump has framed U.S. policy not as a traditional war on drugs but as a direct campaign against the cartels themselves. That shift in focus appears to have produced a dramatic and unprecedented result: Mexican forces struck at the ver