Two relatively minor low magnitude earthquakes have struck the area between Nacogdoches and Center in the past two weeks. Nobody was hurt, and no major property damage has been reported, but a number of businesses and homes have minor to serious structural or interior damage.
Now people in that area are asking: "Does my homeowner's insurance cover this?" The short answer, sad to say, is no it doesn't.
The Texas Forest Service has estimated that last year's drought killed hundreds of millions of trees, but those are only educated guesses. Now the agency is launching a more scientific survey that will provide a much more accurate picture of the destruction the drought left behind.
Because of the wettest winter and spring in years, east Texas lakes are at last back to their normal levels in most areas. "Full Pond", as state hydrologists say. That means the fishing is better than it's been in years, and the State Parks and Wildlife Department is busy restocking the public lakes and waterways with all kinds of fish, including catfish. BIG catfish.
Officials recently released more than three dozen monster size blue catfish weighing 40 to 90 pounds into Lake Livingston, and they say there's no reason for concern about what the fish might to the fish populations or the ecosystems in the lake or downstream in the Trinity River.
