By DANNY MINTON On March 1, 2009, Corey Smith drowned along with two friends, Marquis Cooper and Will Bleakly. The three men and Nick Schuyler were on a fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico when it overturned while they tried to pull up an anchor that had gotten stuck. Smith and Cooper were both NFL football players. Schuyler would
Read morePenny Biddy, co-pastor of Brook Hollow Christian Church will be honored at a come-and-go reception Saturday, May 7, at the church, which is located at 4606 S. 14th Street in the Woodhaven Shopping Center. Hours are 10 a.m.-noon. Biddy recently earned master of divinity degree and a master of arts degree in ancient and Oriental Christianity from Abilene Christian University.
Read moreHoward Payne UniversityNews Release The grand opening of Howard Payne University’s Newbury Family Welcome Center is set for Thursday, May 5, featuring self-guided tours from 1:30 to 3 p.m. and a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. The public is invited and no R.S.V.P. is required. The nearly 8,000-square-foot facility will serve as an inviting “front door” to HPU’s campus and
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The next thing we know is that three out of five New York doctors agree that watching television may be hazardous to our health. This isn’t exactly “breaking news” until one stares reality in the face, convinced that it isn’t easy these days to find 60 percent of persons in any group–professional or otherwise–who
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By JIM NICHOLS His given name was Leroy, although everyone called him Roy (except for his children and grandchildren). Roy was a bus driver eventually, although he worked his way through other jobs. One of his early positions was as a door-to-door salesperson for the Fuller Brush Company. That sentence sets the period for his life and this story. Roy
Read moreBy STEVEN T. MOORE American teens sticky beachbeneath their toesgossip laughdrink beerseagulls scream jump and singit’s springtimesun sparklingthis afternoon faraway a young girl wearing yellow lies frozennext to a halfeaten buildingthe grass is graytrees have losttheir leaves a lone arm dangles down the streeta leg leans against wooden fence, a hand rests nearby charred boy still on bike no screaming train in sight vacant homes hollow schools blinking streetlights no birds at allmoon and starshave gone silent Dr.
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK In February 2020 Spirit of Abilene ran an article I wrote entitled “Like a Box of Chocolates.” The title alludes to the movie “Forest Gump,” but the piece focuses on the randomness and serendipity of life. In the article I referred to a television series entitled “This Is Us” on CBS. That series is now in its
Read morePew Research CenterNews release The United States celebrates National Day of Prayer May 5, a day Congress set aside in 1952 for Americans “to turn to God in prayer and meditation.” Pew Research Center surveys indicate that the frequency of prayer among Americans has declined in recent years. Fewer than half of U.S. adults (45%) say they pray on a daily basis, according
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By LORETTA FULTON At least two organizations will host live National Day of Prayer services on Thursday. 1-Kingdom, an organization of local civic leaders and ministers, and the Abilene Interfaith Council, which has members from various faith traditions, will host services that are open to the public. 1-Kingdom is sponsoring several prayer opportunities throughout the day, all at Festival Gardens
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