Country singer Crystal Sands of Frankston accepts the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the 7th annual Texas Music Awards ceremony held Sunday, April 26 at the Palestine Civic Center.

Dave Wheaton of KBHT of Grapeland accepts an award at the 7th annual Texas Music Awards ceremony held Sunday, April 26 at the Palestine Civic Center.

Michael Martin Murphey performs "Cherokee Fiddle" at the concert following the Texas Music Awards Sunday at the Palestine Civic Center. In the video below, he plays "What's Forever For."

Michael Martin Murphey's reunion with Cosmic Cowboy band members including Bob Livingston, Herb Steiner, Gary P. Nunn and others. They are performing "Geronimo's Cadillac."

Just push play to read the transcript from the live blog of the Texas Music Awards.

Legendary cowboy singer Michael Martin Murphey will host the 7th Annual Texas Music Awards on Sunday, April 26 at the Palestine Civic Center.

The festivities will start at noon Sunday as the nominees arrive on the red carpet. The awards show will start at 2 p.m. Following the awards show about 6 p.m., Murphey will present a concert.

The Palestine Herald-Press will be there Sunday (April 26) when the Texas Music Awards nominees show up on the red carpet at the Palestine Civic Center.

As the show starts at 2 p.m., I will live blog the event right here on this blog. By using CoverItLive software, it will stream the live blog right here. Those who are on this blog during the live blog event can even add real-time comments. You will know who wins each award as it happens.

If you miss the live blog, no problem. You can replay the live blog after the event whenever you want.

—— Cheril Vernon, Palestine Herald-Press Community Editor

Here are some videos I took at the Anderson County Youth Livestock Show at the auction Thursday at the Anderson County Youth Livestock Expo Center. (Read the auction story)

——— Cheril Vernon, Palestine Herald-Press Community Editor

Maybe you've heard of Twitter and maybe you haven't. Well, the Herald-Press now posts links to stories and other newspaper-related "Tweets" on the Palestine-Herald Twitter account.

I know I get asked a lot about Twitter so I wanted to put in a video that explains how it works in simple terms.

You can get Twitter updates on your phone, which is nice for those who like it, or you can login to Twitter to see what the people you are following are doing.

There are so many interesting people on Twitter that if you try it, you will love it.

Something to get you started: Check out Twellow to find people on Twitter with similar interests

If you start following someone you don't like, you can always "unfollow" them.

Twitter is great for a large diversity of people: Those who just want to "Twitter" about their day; Businesses that want to highlight their products or news; Newspapers, TV stations or blogs that want to "Tweet" about their newest online stories, videos or blog posts, etc. There are truly endless possibilities of how to use Twitter personally and professionally.

One of the people I follow on my personal Twitter account is editorial cartoonist Daryl Cagle. I don't know him personally and will never get the opportunity to meet him in person. But it's interesting to see how he comes up with the ideas for the editorial cartoons and to see his perspective on the newspaper industry. He's not even one of editorial cartoonists we use, but it's still interesting to watch his progress.



Want more Twitter tips? Email me at community@palestineherald.com or visit this great Twitter resource.

——— Cheril Vernon, Community Editor, the newspaper's own Social Media expert (because that's what I enjoy!)

Want to check the local news out on your phone?

Check out the new Palestine Herald-Press mobile website: http://palestineherald.com/mobile

This video taken in June 2008 by Roseann Rogers with KPRC Houston's "What's the Buzz?" is full of good information and history of the Texas State Railroad.

The historic railroad offers steam and diesel excursions that travel through the scenic piney woods of East Texas. Board at either the Palestine or Rusk Depots on the weekends for a 50-mile roundtrip excursion. Special train related events for the whole family are also held throughout the year.

Visit the TSRR online at www.TexasStateRR.com or call 1-888-987-2461 for reservations or information.

More than 100 community residents gathered at the former site of Banks Elementary School on Saturday for the 6th Annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by Express Car Wash and Detail. Event coordinator Thomas Reeves views this as an opportunity for the entire community to come together and make it a special family day. Before beginning the festivities, children listened attentively as the purpose of the celebration was explained to them. In addition to traditional activities, there were games, prizes, and food for everyone. Along with Reeves, local citizens and the Knights of Pythias provided sponsorship.

Here are some more photos:

This is Story Elementary School fifth grader Jessica King's winning entry in the Texas Adopt-a-Beach Poster Contest.

Read Saturday's Our Town story for more details and to see a photo of Jessica with her principal and art teacher!

You can view all of the 40 winning posters (out of 5,100 entries) at www.texasadoptabeach.org (click on children’s art contest). Jessica's artwork was one of three posters from East Texas.

In case you were wondering about the progress of the rebuilding of Little Mexico since the fire on March 25, you can now keep updated with the Little Mexico blog — which promises to post pictures and information to keep its fans informed.

I don't think Billy Bob Thornton liked his introduction. Obviously, it ticks him off if people refer to his acting/directing career as his first love when he's being interviewed for his music.

His band members cover for him for a while, but eventually Thorton decides to have his say. It's worth watching the whole clip because it gets stranger and stranger.

I mean, like the interviewer says, does Billy Bob Thornton really think people are going to interview him without mentioning his career on the silver screen?

Did you take your kids or grandkids to the YMCA's Extravaganza (Easter egg hunt) on Saturday? Or to the CASA 5K?

If you took photos and want to share them, send them to community@palestineherald.com

Also, if you have video of any local event (or photo) send them to the email address above or give us the link to the video and we can post it on the Herald-Press Blog or put the photos on the Herald-Press Photo Gallery.

This video was taken at BARC, The Humane Society's Critter Family Fun Day March 28 in Palestine. The dog takes a little while to get warmed up, but once he goes, he really GOES. He really is a Disco Dog!

Here are two more videos from the Critter Family Fun Day in Palestine on Saturday, March 28, a fund-raiser for BARC, The Humane Society.

In the video above, parents and kids competed with each other on the agility course made for dogs! The agility course was sponsored by CM Streek Agility Training Center Inc. of Frankston. In most cases, the kid beat the parent! I didn't get all of them on video, but let me tell you, they were hilarious!


Below is Pam Smith with her dog Domino going through the agility course:

Be sure to check out the videos in the post below (dogs freestyle dancing — the danciing dogs are too adorable!)

— POSTED by Cheril Vernon, Community Editor