This is my apartment at 11:30 p.m. Friday night. Within minutes, everything I owned, save a few shirts, jeans and some pairs of dress pants, were completely destroyed. I’m going to write more about it in this weeks Messenger, but I have had this constant thought rolling in my head over the past few days: I have to start completely over. Everything that comprised my old life, 23 years of memories, is gone.

What does that mean for me? Is this another life? What will I make of it?

ALCOHOL — Next May, there will be a vote to allow alcohol to be sold within Newark. The rational behind that is to increase sales tax for the city. I don’t see how this isn’t a great idea, and why every city doesn’t at least sell beer and wine. Chances are, if your city doesn’t sell alcohol, there is somewhere nearby where you can go, buy beer and bring it back to your city. Since the police aren’t stopping people from doing that, why not allow it in your city?

2009 DALLAS COWBOYS — Last month I saw that Las Vegas had the Cowboys at the third-best odds to get to the Super Bowl from the NFC this year. That absolutely blows my mind. The loss of Felix Jones hurt the Cowboys last year, but not that much. Not having T.O. is going to be an absolute crushing blow…there isn’t a sane person out there that thinks Roy Williams can hack it as a No. 1 receiver. Playing in the NFC East…the Plowboys are a ten-win team at best.

THE GYM — There was a guy today in Fit-N-Wise working out in a cut-off Affliction T-shirt. Outstanding. Left me absolutely speechless.

NEWARK — Long time Newark city secretary Sherry Edgemon will be retiring in December after more thank 31 years. Congrats Sherry! Newark…good luck.

The perilous on-ramp at U.S. 287 south and Farm Road 51 in Decatur has always been a tough place to navigate. Coming up that ramp, you can’t see a single thing coming down the highway as you try and merge at 40 mph until the 6-foot entrance road ends. I can’t tell you how many times I have come to the top of that hill with a huge 18-wheeler occupying the space I need to merge onto. I drive a Toyota Solara, a semi would bat me away like a fly. At least U.S. 287 is two lanes, so if someone coming down the highway sees a vehicle suddenly shoot up the FM 51 on-ramp, he can move into the left lane to allow room to merge.

Or at least U.S. 287 WAS two lanes.

Today I was coming back to U.S. 287 from the hospital. After stopping at the red light at FM 51 and the access road, I went up the hill to merge onto U.S. 287. When I got to the top, there was a 18-wheeler passing the on ramp at 60 mph. He could not move over because for some reason the left lane is closed. There are ZERO signs on the on ramp alerting mergers of this fact. I had to swerve off the highway onto the shoulder and come to a complete stop to avoid being crushed.

I am not sure how long the left lane is going to be closed, or why is it closed, but it is dangerous and someone is going to get hurt.

TxDOT, how about working a little harder to ensure the safety of your state’s drivers?

EDIT: An e-mail to the TxDOT office in Decatur resulted in the following explanation:

US 81 and FM 51 work began this week.  We expect to have the detour installed by next week to switch traffic. … TxDOT’s contractor will be repairing a beam that was hit at that location.  Traffic will have to be switched from the northbound lanes to soutbound lanes around the FM 51 Bridge Structure and back to the northbound lanes.  That means that during this time the southbound lanes of US 81 (particularly at the bridge) will be reduced to one lane in each direction.  This work is scheduled to take place over the weekend of August 14-16th.

It came out a few days ago that former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez and current Red Sox David Ortiz were among those that tested positive in 2003 for performance enhancing drugs, the same year the Red Sox went on their magical run to break the 100-year curse of Babe Ruth.

Professional sports are going to be what they are, and just because athletes may or may not have done steroids doesn’t mean we are going to stop going to games or watching them on television. However, what kind of message does that send to young kids that want to grow up and be pro baseball players?

I did a story this week on a kid in Rhome, Cade Garner, who is one of the best pitchers I have every seen, and he is only 13. He told me he wants to play professional baseball one day, possibly for the Red Sox. Not that he would ever do steroids, but what can he possibly think, looking at his idols right now in the sport he loves, watching them break rules and put things into their bodies that can kill them?

Baseball needs to end this steroid controversy now, not because its “cheating,” because honestly, most everyone is doing it, so the playing field is pretty level. Baseball needs to take care of this now because in ten years, when kids like Cade are old enough to play pro ball, you want them to play clean and honest. Someone within baseball needs to step up and publicly chastise the MLB and its players, because they are role models and are shaping the minds of our future stars

Come on baseball, someone think about your future instead of your present.

I saw this (man in car gets hit by a train) on the Dallas Morning News Web site today, and when ever these headlines pop up, it makes me wonder: How in God’s name does this happen?

The linked story on the DMN Web site is a bit more understandable, the man’s semi truck snagged on the safety gate next to the tracks and got stuck, but every so often, even in Wise County, we come across someone who was just straight up  involved in a train vs. car accident. It blows my mind every time

For scenarios’ sake, let’s say your car happens to run out of gas and comes to rest on the small plateau of a railroad crossing (unofficial Vegas odds, 1 bazillion:1). Let’s say, also, that it is late at night, very dark and no other cars and within earshot. Suddenly, you realize a train is coming! Not because it is baring down upon you, but because the safety arms come down and the red lights start to flash. You have plenty of time to move. So do so!

But let’s say the safety arms are broken, and the lights don’t flash. Because all trains are equipped with a single, blinding head light and a loud whistle, you are aware of its presence at least 30 seconds before it hits your car. In 30 seconds, even the drunkest human being should be able to exit a vehicle, and probably have time to pop it in neutral and give it that one small push to send the car off the tracks.

And normally, cars sit on tracks for minutes, if not hours, before a train comes. AND the train gates close with blinking red lights minutes before a train passes, so you have plenty of warning to get off the tracks.

I feel horrible every time someone is injured in an accident, even if it’s the result of idiocy, but I just don’t understand how accidents on train tracks occur.

Last week I interviewed Carter Riverside High School art teacher Mary Boswell, who lives in Decatur off of FM 51 south of town. The story is in this week’s edition of The Messenger (7/23), but what really stuck out in my mind about talking with Mary was how everything about her screamed “creativity” in the best way possible.

She has this wonderful smile and a wild stripe of hot pink in her silver hair (I don’t believe you can tell in the photograph in the paper), and just listening to her talk, I could tell how versed she was in such a wide array of styles and art theories. There were a few times during our interview when we both wandered off topic, talking about different art styles and ways of expressing creativity. Her knowledge extended light years beyond mine, and I often found myself struggling to understand what she was talking about, but the passion in her voice made me eager to ask her more questions, regardless of the topic.

Her house was covered with some really cool canvas art, most done by her students at Carter Riverside. They are hosting a gallery next Saturday starting at 6 p.m. at the Rose Marine Theater in Fort Worth, and I suggest you attend (even if you are a little run down from Reunion). They are going to be selling some really great art, some styles that are very different from what people traditionally think of as “art.”

It’s tough, as a journalist, to find stories every day that just rock you to the core or change your outlook on life. Many times, it is stories like Mary’s, ones that merely bring a smile to your face and force you to look at things from a different angle, that make for the most exciting read.

Mahalo.

I checked the weather for Wise County earlier this week and, lo and behold, weathermen were calling for a cool front to roll through around Thursday and stay for a while. Thank goodness! It has been so hot outside colors were starting to blur.

And then the “cold front” arrived. You know you have gotten into the teeth of a brutal Texas summer when “cool front” temperatures register in the mid-90s…and we are happy about it! Walking outside today (Friday) was like walking out into a crisp Colorado evening in comparison to what we have been experiencing lately.

It looks like we will get a few more days of “cooler” weather, and maybe a shower or two, and I, for one, am excited. Bring on the less-than-excruciatingly-hot temperatures for a while! Cheers to you, cold front, your two-digit temperatures are welcome here any time.

We here in the newsroom at The Messenger are going to start providing a glimpse behind the scenes of our stories, blogging about information and situations that weren’t necessarily applicable in our stories.

So many times we spend hours and hours interviewing and getting to know people around the county that many of our experiences with them don’t find their way into our stories, but would be wonderful features and tid bits that many of you would love to read about.

So start checking back here regularly for more information coming from me, Travis, and the rest of us, on all the stuff you didn’t get to see (or read, I suppose) in stories each week. Also, follow me on Twitter at TMEASLEY and don’t be afraid to friend me on Facebook!

Monday night, March 23, marked the 2009 Wise County Youth Fair Queens contest at the Decatur Civic Center, naming the 4-H, FFA and FCCLA Queens and runner-ups for this year’s Youth Fair. It was a fantastic competition and all the young women were very well-spoken, well-mannered and well-dressed. Each and every one of them deserved the crowns.

The 2009 winners were:

4-H Queen — Sydney Lawrence, Decatur 4-H

4-H Runner-Up — Jordann Warren, Alvord 4-H

FFA Queen — Jessica Heinze, Slidell FFA

FFA Runner-Up — Sierra Hardee, Boyd FFA

FCCLA Queen — Janie Foreman, Bridgeport FCCLA

FCCLA Runner-Up — Bridget Meyer, Paradise FCCLA

Congratulations to all the girls that competed!