Latest News
Sometimes change is inevitable, especially in a growing school district such as Wylie. Students attending Dodd Elementary School will attend Smith Elementary beginning in the 2022-23 school year. The board approved the rezoning Dodd Elementary, as well as a slew of...
Filings opened last week for candidates seeking nominations in the March 1, 2022, political primaries and remain open for two more weeks. The first day to file was Nov. 13 and the final day is Dec. 13. Candidates for county-level offices sign up with county political...
Murphy City Council held several public hearings, authorized an agreement with the Texas Council of Governments for aerial photography services and extended the mayor’s Declaration of Local Disaster ordinance in the Nov. 16 regular meeting. The first public hearing...
The Plano East Panthers basketball teams swept the Sachse Mustangs in pre-Thanksgiving action Tuesday. The girls tipped things off with a 60-44 win over the Lady Mustangs in the afternoon. A 36-14 first-half advantage buoyed the Lady Panthers. Sachse responded,...
The long-awaited week of giving and community prayer known as Christian Care Week is now underway. The annual event, now in its 34th year, kicked off with a fundraising luncheon hosted by the Wylie Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 11:30 a.m. at Collin College...
Sports
The Plano East Panthers basketball teams swept the Sachse Mustangs in pre-Thanksgiving action Tuesday. The girls tipped things off with a 60-44 win over the Lady Mustangs in the afternoon. A 36-14 first-half advantage buoyed the Lady Panthers. Sachse responded,...
Last season was a difficult one for Plano East basketball for a number of reasons. Facing COVID restrictions, a young roster with just one senior and some of the best teams and players in the area, the Panthers finished 5-9 in District 6-6A. That included a five-game...
Murphy — Marcus traveled to Murphy determined to clinch a district championship. Plano East (1-6, 2-8) gave the Marauders (6-1, 8-2) all they could in the first half, but ultimately lost 46-13 on senior night. In a surprise twist, Ismail Mahdi took...
With all of the challenges at hand, Plano East’s season is coming to an end. The Panthers (1-5, 2-7) end the regular season and its 2021 against Marcus (5-1, 7-2). The Marauders are currently in a three-way record tie with a lot to play for in the season’s final week....
The odds are stacked against the Plano East Panthers. Plano East (1-4, 2-6) still has an outside chance to reach the playoffs, but needs a lot to go in its favor. That starts with this Friday against Coppell (2-3, 3-5). The Cowboys are one of the few teams ahead...
Education
Wylie High and Wylie East theater students continue to work on their first productions of the year, with East getting a head start as they are producing “Anastasia: The Musical.” Rehearsals began in July on the production. WHS students are performing “Epic...
Wylie ISD parents wishing to have their children receive instruction online may apply for a spot in the district’s newly formed Virtual Learning Academy. The Wylie ISD board approved a temporary virtual learning option Aug. 31 during a special meeting. VLA is...
Whitt Elementary School fourth-grade math teacher Madison Shattuck missed the conventional rhythms of classroom instruction last year. “Excited is mainly what I am,” she said about the return to normal classroom teaching this year, when teachers will have classes in...
Tim Shelby left his work in retail – a national grocery chain and two pharmacy stores – to enter the teaching ranks. But while new teachers in Wylie ISD fall normally in the Millennial and Generation Z demographic, Shelby, at 63, is easily a generation removed. For...
There’s still no such thing as a free lunch, even if students don’t have to pony up any money at the cafeteria this year. The United States Department of Agriculture has issued extended waivers that will allow schools to offer free meals – breakfast and lunch – to all...
Life & Style
If you’re the parents/guardians of elementary school-age children, the Monitor is collecting Letters to Santa again this year. The letters will be printed in the December 23 edition of The Murphy Monitor. Please print out the attached document, have your child write...
Walking into Kaiser Center for the Performing Arts for the first time, patrons might find it hard to believe it was once the site of the former home décor store, Tuesday Morning. Aisles of kitchen gadgets, shower curtains and pet beds have now been replaced with a...
Home gardener Catherine “Cathi” Banks has learned by trial and error how to get the most from the raised bed gardens that have lined her backyard in Murphy for the last six years. In fact, Banks’ has not only had good luck with her gardening adventure, she...
After a few years of growing the typical Texas flowers; pansies in the winter, impatiens in the summer in the normal front flowerbeds, homeowner Kori Hendrix realized she wanted more variety and more gardens at her Wylie home. There was ample opportunity to make...
Students and families faced many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to remote learning and shortened school days, forced students to adapt to virtual school on the fly as parents adjusted to working from home full-time and managing their children’s...
Opinion
No matter how hard we try, we really can’t avoid one another. We live in a world where what takes place somewhere else on the globe has a very good chance of affecting us, along with many others. The pandemic, of course, is a useful – if sobering – example. A virus...
The COVID-19 pandemic has produced too many tragedies to tally, but here is one that does not get talked about enough: It has worsened conditions that leave children and youth especially vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation, a human trafficking crime. Human...
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas leaders are rolling up their sleeves to get the COVID-19 vaccine and to encourage the public to follow suit. “I will never ask any Texan to do something that I’m not willing to do myself,” Abbott said before getting vaccinated at a...
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is battling back against seven top aides who accuse him of bribery and abuse of office. The aides delivered the accusations in a letter to the agency’s human resources director. The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV obtained and...
In a year of fighting a global pandemic, historic protests for racial equality, and the rapidly approaching presidential election, America needs journalists to bring them critical reporting. The events of this year have led to significant increases in traffic to news...
