T he Texas Legislature, conceived as a parttime body to meet every other year for 140 days, is now in its record fifth session (counting the regular session). When the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is included, legislators have been in Austin pretty much the entire year, as the Texas Tribune noted. While legislators are paid just $7,200 a year in salary, per diem payments – meant to cover their expenses while in Austin – have mounted. If the fourth special session goes a full 30 days, taxpayers will have spent $4.8 million keeping lawmakers in Austin.

The official policy of the Roman Empire from 112 - 313 AD was to persecute Christians who refused to honor the Roman pantheon of gods. The actual number of those killed has been long lost to history, but historians from that era reported that there were “countless numbers” and “myriads.” We believe that when the persecutions began the Christian population of the empire was perhaps 50,000.

I hated to see the hummingbirds go. I’m still putting out seed and keeping water in the birdbath. After that brief, early temp dip, I thought watering hanging baskets and planters was finished until spring. I was wrong. Still alive.

H ere are the facts: Hamas and other armed groups from Gaza carried out an unexpected attack against innocent Israeli civilians, firing barrages of rockets toward the southern and central part of the country.

Capital Highlights A s the clock ran down on the Legislature’s third special session, Texas House and Senate leaders exchanged barbs over Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice bill and border security proposals, the Austin American- Statesman reported.

L ast week we highlighted the contributions Constantine The Great’s mother Helena made to preserving the sites in Palestine that Christians consider historic and holy by building churches over them. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, who is a respected historian of the time, Helena’s preservations extended beyond the building sites and included collecting what are called holy relics.

G ov. Gregg Abbott and the Texas House are at loggerheads over which will come first – vouchers for parents to pay for private school tuition, or funneling more money to public schools, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Dear Editor, Congratulations to the Honorable Mike Johnson, the new House Speaker. Speaker Johnson is solidly for smaller government.

I suggested years ago that Zack stop watching the news because it upset him. He finally cut down considerably. Now I should follow my own advice. World events have spiked my blood pressure weekly since the horrible attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The atrocities perpetrated during the surprise attack on innocent civilians were horrific.

A sk almost anyone who Flavia Julia Helena was, and you will probably get a blank stare. But ask them if they have heard of Constantine The Great or the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and they will probably say, “Sure.” What is the connection? Known simply as Helena or Saint Helena, she was the mother of Constantine The Great, a Christian in a pagan family, and a Greek in a Roman world.