| The Story | A zillion cattle egrets (big white birds) invade the land to the north of Walmart. They cannot be killed due to the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act which prohibits the killing of "all birds in North America except pigeons, house sparrows, starlings and upland game birds . . . ." |
| News worthiness (on a scale of 0 to 5) | ** |
| The Spin | So why does Congress have against the pigeon? Too many Mercedes being dirtied around the capitol? |
| The Story | The egrets even get a letter to the editor by Sue Jean Cocanougher. "So take the kids down and have a look - even a zoo won't have a sight such as this! Twilight is a good time because the whole colony will be there." |
| News worthiness | * |
| The Spin | Austin has its bats. Decatur has cattle egrets. . |
| The Story | The TEA releases its school rankings. |
| News worthiness | ** |
| The Spin | Every high school receives the highest ranking ("exemplary") with the exception of Boyd (the equivalent of a "C") and Slidell (a shocking "D"). Slidell's overall D ranking was "earned" by only 25 school districts in our very large state. |
| The Story | The cost of providing health care coverage to county employees is expected to rise to $2 million this year - a 30% increase. |
| News worthiness | *** |
| The Spin | Two million? What was the actual medical care bill that the insurance company had to pay last year? |
| The Story | DWI training takes place for Wise County law enforcement. Volunteers agree to get licquored up so that they can undergo field sobriety tests at the hands of law enforcement officers in training. |
| News worthiness | * |
| The Spin | "Come get drunk for free - the taxpayers are buying the first ten rounds." |
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| Number of new births announced in the Wise County Messenger |
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| Number of new births announced by parents with different surnames (or no father identified): |
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