AUSTIN - Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following the Texas Senate’s unanimous passage of Senate Bill 22, Assisting Rural Law Enforcement Funding – Increasing Pay and Needed Equipment, by Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster: “The Biden Administration’s failure to perform their constitutional duty to secure the southern border means that every county sheriff and prosecutor in Texas is a border sheriff or border prosecutor in addition to their normal duties to protect and serve their citizens. In many counties, elected sheriffs and their deputies are covering thousands of square miles of territory with little or no backup.

School Boards The Lumberton ISD Board of Trustees meet the first Thursday after the first Monday each month at 7 p.m. at the Administration Building, 121 South Main Street.

To kick off Artsfest, students’ artwork from all Silsbee schools and the First Baptist Academy will be on display at the Silsbee Public Library beginning Saturday, April 1 through Saturday, April 22 during regular library hours. Included in this gallery will be the creations by the Floral Design class at Silsbee High School.

Two Silsbee Tigers were named finalist for the 2023 Willie Ray Smith award. Drelon Miller is one of the four offensive nominees and Jayron Williams is one of the four defensive nominees.

The Sixth Annual Spring in the Big Thicket Festival in downtown Silsbee is now only about a month away, and vendors are signing up at the Silsbee Public Library to rent booth space for the big event. The event will be from 9 a.m.

The Hardin County Boys & Girls Club, located at 5000 7th Street in Silsbee, has been getting some great donations lately of which the club is most worthy, and a big fish fry set for Saturday night, April 1, will be a major fundraiser to help cover expenses for the summer. Last Friday, a bus load of boys and girls went to Hyundai of Silsbee where the club was presented a $5,000 donation from the dealership which has supported the club annually since it was first organized in 2010.

BY DAN EAKIN The Hardin County Commissioners Court Tuesday morning authorized the allocation of $6,669,791.62 of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funding for various county projects, with commissioner Chris Kirkandall adending the meeing virtually. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve using the funds for the projects.

The Silsbee Police Department has released the following information. Each individual named in this report is assumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Hardin County has had two fatal accidents in two days. On Monday morning of this week, a 52-yearold Warren man was killed when the vehicle he was driving hit a horse about seven miles north of Silsbee.

The Hardin County Sheriff ’s Department has released the following information. Each individual named in this report is assumed to be innocent until found guilty in a court of law.