- Over this past weekend, the Commerce High School Roaring Tiger Band won first place at a regional competition. The Mesquite Marching Festival last Saturday featured high school bands from around North and Northeast Texas. Commerce won the Class 3A Division of competition, thanks to strong performances in the musical, visual, design, and percussion categories.
- Northeast Texas remains in drought, but milder temperatures and a chance for rain later this week could help the region continue to recover from a scorching late summer drought. Data released late last week show Northeast Texas still in moderate to extreme drought. The Texas A&M Forest Service has downgraded the risk of wildfire in the region to moderate. Hunt County has lifted its ban on outdoor burning, as have some other counties around the region. However, burn bans do remain in place in some counties. As of this afternoon, bans on outdoor burning remain in effect in Franklin, Fannin, Collin, and Rockwall counties.