Lewisville Texan Journal is selling special edition custom-designed T-shirts commemorating our fair city's largest landmark: Mount Lewisville. In vintage postcard style, the graphic offers greetings from Mount Lewisville, where skiers are navigating garbage pile moguls on the way down the slope.

ERCOT anticipates sufficient generation resources for upcoming fall and winter

Sept. 4, 2012, AUSTIN, TX – A new Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) released today by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) anticipates that there will be enough power available to serve consumer needs within the ERCOT grid during the upcoming fall.

“Although there is always the possibility that extreme weather conditions or an unusual number of generation outages could create unforeseen conditions, we expect to have enough power available to serve a range of scenarios,” said Warren Lasher, ERCOT’s director of System Planning.

- Read Erin Floyd's latest Lewisville weather forecasts here.
- Weatherbug weather station, Creekside Elementary School, Lewisville, TX
- Follow us on Twitter for updates.

The Lewisville Texan Journal is an all-volunteer effort, but even though we don't pay our writers, we do have expenses to bring this service to the community.

Among the things we have to pay for:
- Website Hosting
- Domain Name Renewal
- Syndicated Cartoons
- Syndicated Columns
- Image Rights
- Service Fees for Online Services
- Video and Photographic Equipment and Accessories
- Public Information Fees
- Investigative and Information Service Fees
- Office Supplies
- Subscriptions to Periodicals
- Advertising

Ads and sponsorships cover a good chunk of our yearly expenses, and generous donors kick in the rest. But we would like to be able to offer more to the community. And we refuse to plaster the page with annoying ads and pop-ups that get in the way or make it hard to read.

We don't like to ask for money, and certainly welcome everyone to keep reading even if you can't chip in.

If you would like to offer some financial support we appreciate donations through PayPal. Just click the button and donate any amount:

I saw this ad yesterday on Facebook, and was sickened by the idea that a judicial candidate would stoop to this:


Willett is a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court, which is the highest civil court in Texas.

The Judicial Code of Conduct seeks to preserve the integrity of the justice system in Texas by holding judges and justices to a higher standard of conduct and impartiality.

From the Judicial Code of Conduct, Canon 5:

CANON 5
Refraining From Inappropriate Political Activity

(1) A judge or judicial candidate shall not:
(i) make pledges or promises of conduct in office regarding pending or impending cases, specific classes of cases, specific classes of litigants, or specific propositions of law that would suggest to a reasonable person that the judge is predisposed to a probable decision in cases within the scope of the pledge;

Martha's Big Adventure — Happy Leap Year

By Martha Randolph Carr

Leap year is upon us and according to 800 year old lore dating back to St. Patrick the time is ripe for anyone hoping for more love or money.

To all the dreamers out there, get ready because your day fast approaches. Get some rest, dust off your plans and start talking up your new idea. The cosmos are on your side, and in this instance, it only happens once every four years.

After a Great Recession that has dragged on for almost four years the desire to finally hope for more and grow our lives a little probably includes just about all of us..

The one day stuck on the end of the month, February 29th, which makes this a leap year, is also thought to be particularly good for making money and finding love. Children who are born on this day are also thought to have a shot at a more abundant life. It's all good.

Over the past few months, the Lewisville Texan Journal has focused on transitioning into a forum with multiple writers, and varying expertise and points of view. In addition, we've started carrying syndicated columns from select writers.

This post is to introduce them.

Parker County District Judge Trey Loftin (R) ordered a homeowner whose water well was contaminated with methane to pay Range Resources $4.2 million for exercising their first amendment right to video tape the methane burning out of a water hose attached to the well head's vent.

Yet another tough-talking Republican with a gay scandal. The staunch anti-immigration sheriff turned out to have a Mexican national as a lover, whom he threatened to have deported if he revealed their relationship.

Random works of art turn up in libraries. (Very cool)

Wow - in Austin, don't get caught babysitting while white. Cops there overreacted in a pretty big way to a white grandfather walking his black granddaughter home. Someone called the police and reported a kidnapping. Unfortunately, they didn't use a lot of discretion in investigating the complaint. Be sure to read the followups, because they're instructive in how people recall things under intense stress. When 6 police cars roll up on you, snatch away your grand daughter, and roughly cuff you, will you remember that the officer's hand hovered over his taser, or will you remember that he pulled it on you? Maybe the real suspicion here was babysitting while male?

Santorum leads the pack among Texas Republicans.

Dallas Morning News says Rick Perry has been phoning it in since returning to Texas after his failed Presidential campaign.

More squatters kicked out of a $380,000 Flower Mound home.

No idea if this is real or not, but these Japanese scrolls are pretty amusing.

Local volunteers are helping to monitor water quality in creeks and streams. Here is how you could become involved. You can also join the Lewisville Texan Journal clean stream team for Keep Lewisville Beautiful, and join us the next time we do a creek cleanup.

Well, it's been nice getting all of this rain, even though it made for a miserable soggy day yesterday. Lewisville Lake rose by about 3.5 inches, reaching an elevation of 521.06 feet - still about a foot low. That puts the lake at 95% full.

Denton County Transportation Authority will be holding some public meetings to go over its community survey results regarding transportation in Denton County. The meetings will be held in Denton, Highland Village, and Lewisville. The meeting for Lewisville is March 8th, 6:30 p.m. in Lewisville City Council chambers.

Mark your calendars now for some roller derby action: Saturday, February 25th, at 6:00 p.m in Denton. This event will be a double-header, with women's teams the Hickory Street Hooligans against Muertas Locas. Men's team, the Dallas deception will also have a bout. Tickets are $12 for general admission, kids 12 and under are free, and veterans have a discounted ticket price of $8. Lewisville Texan Journal will be on-hand to produce the video of the bout. For tickets and more information click here.

Are you on Facebook? We'd love for you to "like" the Lewisville Texan Journal page and share it with your friends. We post links there just about every time we make a post here. We're also on Twitter.

Lewisville City Council meets Monday afternoon in workshop session to wrap up their annual retreat (videos here, here, and here) from earlier this month, and give city staff direction on items such as a possible restaurant smoking ban. Workshop is at 4:00 p.m., and regular meeting is at 7:00 p.m. There doesn't appear to be anything controversial on the docket for the main meeting.

A study mentioned in Science Daily makes that case that everyone benefits from quality public schools - not just parents with kids in the system. We don't think they needed a study to show that. It's obvious to most, and those who reject it wouldn't be convinced by any studies.

Do you like dogs? Like al fresco dining? Join other dog lovers on the patio at Tierney's for "Yappy Hour", February 26th.

Did you hear about the train derailment Friday in Arlington? I was concerned when I saw how many tank cars were involved. Luckly, it turns out the derailed tanks were holding corn syrup. Now that's what I call a sticky situation.

Happy Valentines day from the Lewisville Texan Journal. We meant to get you a card, but things just got busy. Check out these instead: 100 Odd Valentines day cards.

Lewisville will have its own Amazing Race this April.

A Lewisville family found their house surrounded by the SWAT team after a prank caller told police there was a shooting.

Lewisville woman gets probation and deferred adjudication after stealing $96,350 worth of jewelry.

University of North Texas has a new mission and vision, along with "Four Bold Goals".

The City of Lewisville is getting sued in Federal court for $146,000 in damages from an accident in May of 2010 where a city vehicle was struck by a train. The City Attorney's office had not yet seen the suit and had no comment Tuesday. This is supposedly the video from the immediate aftermath.

The Lewisville Police Department will participate in a warrant round up beginning February 25th. More than 250 jurisdictions across Texas will participate in what is believed to be the largest joint operation of its type. The list of outstanding warrants for the city of Lewisville is here. People with warrants outstanding are urged to contact the court to dispose of their cases voluntarily, rather than risk arrest at home or work. The City of Lewisville Municipal Court can be contacted at (972) 219-5022.


Lewisville's Economic Development and Planning Department is inviting the public to attend a workshop to discuss community needs on Saturday, February 18th at City Hall.