By Seth Dowdle
The Plano East Panthers picked up their second victory of 2026, matching their win total from last season with a dominant 48-15 triumph over Rock Hill on Friday night at Tom Kimbrough Stadium.
Plano East was led by Treyce Seldon, who finished with 204 total yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Josh Gordon threw for 177 yards with four touchdown passes.
Seldon’s biggest contribution came late in the second quarter after Rock Hill cut Plano East’s lead to 20-15. With less than a minute remaining in the half, Seldon broke free to set up a touchdown catch on the following play, giving the Panthers a two-score advantage entering halftime.
Plano East carried that momentum into the second half. Seldon scored again on a 40-yard run during the team’s opening possession of the third quarter, helping put the game out of reach.
The Panthers will face South Grand Prairie next week in their final nondistrict contest.
Read the full story in the September 10th edition. Stay informed — subscribe to Murphy Monitor.
Family stories, Revolutionary-era fashion and Wylie history came together Saturday, Aug. 29, as the Wylie Historical Society celebrated the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary with its America 250 BBQ Luncheon.
Wylie Historical Society Treasurer Alexis Tapp welcomed guests to the event, which included the posting of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 442, the national anthem, a costume contest, raffle and silent auction. Col. W.D. Wylie, portrayed by Eugene Hauptmann, led the pledge and later offered a prayer.
The luncheon’s keynote speaker, author Tracy Lawson, explored how family lore, letters and journals can become the foundation for books, while Jen Thompson and Beth Klimek of the DFW Costumers Guild brought another piece of the past to life with a demonstration of late-18th-century women’s fashion.
Read the full story in the September 3rd edition. Stay informed — subscribe to Murphy Monitor.
]]>Wylie ISD’s newest career and technical education facility will carry the name of a longtime community leader whose ties to the district and its agricultural programs span more than three decades.
Trustees announced Monday, Aug. 17, that the new facility at the F.O. Birmingham Agriculture Center will be named the Marvin Fuller Career & Technical Education Center in honor of Albert Marvin Fuller Jr.
The name was recommended by the district’s Board Naming Committee in recognition of Fuller’s decades of service to Wylie in education, agriculture, business and economic development.
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]]>You wouldn’t know it from the thermometer, but the calendar says fall begins later this month — and so do a plethora of crowd-pleasing annual events.
Based on the astronomical Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere is Tuesday, Sept. 22.
But the 2026 H-E-B | Central Market Plano Balloon Festival takes to the sky the weekend before, running from Thursday, Sept. 17, through Sunday, Sept. 20, at Oak Point Park. 2801 E. Spring Creek Parkway in East Plano.
This marks the 47th year of ballooning in Plano and Collin County and the event features balloons, food vendors, crafts made by local artisans, the Central Market Kids Fun Zone, entertainment on the FOX4 Main Stage, RE/MAX of Texas skydiving exhibitions and nightly fireworks.
Tickets are available for purchase onsite with adult tickets priced at $10 and $5 for kids 3-12 and seniors 65 and older.
Kids under 36 inches tall are admitted for free, as are all current and retired military with valid ID.
The festival is cashless, with all sales made via credit or debit card or Apple Pay.
The following weekend, the State Fair of Texas kicks off Friday, Sept. 25, and will run through Sunday, Oct. 18, in historic Fair Park in Dallas.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. but 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and this year’s theme is “Stars, Stripes and Howdies.”
Children aged 2 and under are admitted free while tickets for kids 3 through 12 are $10. All admissions are $10 after 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Adult admissions (ages 13–59) are $15 Monday–Thursday and $25 Friday–Sunday. Seniors aged 60-up are admitted for $13 Monday–Wednesday, $7 Thursdays and $20 Friday–Sunday.
Parking in official State Fair lots is $25 but DART’s Green Line serves the Fair and provides free parking in park-and-ride lots.
Celebrating 16 years of fun, Murphy’s free Maize Days Cornival is from noon until after the fireworks show at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 3, in Central Park, 550 N. Murphy Road.
Parking is free in Tom Kimbrough Stadium just to the north of the park and no shuttle will be available. VIP parking is $10 at the City Hall complex.
Vendors accept cash but VIP parking and ride wristbands will require a credit or debit card. Wristbands are $15 before the event and $20 on the day of the festival.
Entertainment will be on the Methodist Richardson Medical Center Main Stage and the CoServ Community Stage. The Maize Midway will have games and rides, and the Primrose Playground will be available for younger tots. Other attractions include inflatables, farm games and cornhole competition.
Dogs are allowed but must be leashed at all times.
November brings cooler temperatures and the Murphy Family Campout from 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, to 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Central Park pond.
Campsites for up to five campers are available for $50, with registration only for Murphy residents until Wednesday, Sept. 30. Non-residents may then sign up until Oct. 15.
The event includes dinner, breakfast, s’mores, a movie and a variety of games.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, Murphy celebrates Christmas in the Park, a free event from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the City Hall complex.
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]]>The Texas Department of Transportation is proposing a $230 million expansion of FM 3286 and FM 546 across Lavon Lake, a project that would replace the existing two-lane bridge and widen nearly five miles of roadway between Lucas and the Princeton area.
But construction remains years away and no money has been identified to build it.
TxDOT presented the proposal Tuesday, Aug. 25, during an open house at Southfork Ranch in Parker.
The project covers approximately 4.71 miles, extending from FM 1378 in Lucas east along FM 3286, also known as East Lucas Road, across Lake Lavon and continuing on FM 546 to FM 982 leading into Princeton.
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]]>By David Wolman
Plano East senior libero Dakota Huynh started learning the game of volleyball earlier than most players.
When she was 3 years old, Huynh made underhanded throws to her father, David, mother, Snow, and her older sister, Trinity.
Dakota had plenty of volleyball experience to lean on during her early years, including David, a former volleyball player who competed for recreation league teams and in several Asian league tournaments. He is currently the head coach for the Dallas Skyline Juniors 15 Royal David club team. Meanwhile, Trinity logged more than 3,000 career digs at Plano Senior and Parish Episcopal before graduating in 2022.
One of Dakota’s biggest mentors was Ruth Nelson. Nelson amassed an overall record of 557-230 as head coach at George Williams College, the University of Houston, Louisiana State University and the University of Iowa.
Nelson began coaching Dakota when Dakota was four and a half years old, and Nelson continues to watch Dakota play while providing her with valuable feedback after matches to help improve her knowledge of the game.
“Ruth is a great coach,” David said. “She loves what she’s doing and does a great job of teaching the basic fundamentals. She still supports her. She conversated with Dakota for a while at the Allen tournament. She is a very good mentor. She loves passion the Dakota has, and she has the same passion for Dakota. They have connected well for the game of volleyball.”
Read the full story in the Sept. 3, 2026, edition of the Murphy Monitor. Stay informed — subscribe to Murphy Monitor.
By John Moore | TheCountryWriter.com
Moms used to be more versatile. If you were in the back seat of the Buick, they could discipline you from the driver’s seat and never swerve or knock the ashes off their Marlboro Red.
My mom never smoked, so it’s possible that without a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth, she was even more effective. At barely over five feet tall, she could reach over the front seat of her Electra 225 Limited and get to my sister or me, regardless of where we wiggled to in the back seat. There was no escaping. And we knew it.
Jim and Mary, in 1962.
In Ashdown, Arkansas, everyone’s mom was the same. And I’m certain that they either had ESP or a secret mom network. Because they all knew not only what their kids were doing, they knew what every other mom’s kids were doing.
If we acted up anywhere in public, mom had no problem solving that issue right then and there. If we were acting up and our mom wasn’t around, mom somehow knew what we’d done.
(Arriving home)
Mom: “So, how was your trip to the Piggly Wiggly?”
My sister and me in unison: “Fine.”
Mom: “Any problems?”
My sister and me in unison: “No, ma’am.”
Mom: “So, you two weren’t arguing about Lucky Charms on the cereal aisle?”
Me: “How did you know?”
Mom: “Scotty’s mom told me.”
Me: “How did she know? They’re on vacation in Cleveland.”
Mom: “Don’t backtalk me.”
Moms always knew things they shouldn’t have known. And back then, we didn’t have a telephone. Also, there were no CB radios and certainly no cellphones.
This level of ninja is what made moms the most feared entity on the planet.
Sure, we loved our dads, but moms were really the ones who engineered, implemented, and oversaw our upbringing. Dads were only brought in as backup.
Mom: “What have I told you two about arguing in public?”
My sister and me in unison: “Not to do it.”
Mom: “And what did I say would happen the next time you did it?”
My sister and me in unison: “That you’d tell dad.”
Mom: “So, that’s what I’m going to do.”
The only thing worse than dinner not being on the table and Huntley/Brinkley’s nightly news report not being on the TV when dad walked in the door at 5:30, was dad not being able to partake of either because he had to deal with us.
“Do you want to know what your children did today?” was not what our dad wanted to hear ever, and he certainly didn’t want to hear it when he had worked hard all day and was ready to eat and unwind.
So, my sister and I learned how to get out of a dad encounter. I was the one who had seen and learned the art of negotiation from my dad haggling at yard sales, estate sales, and flea markets. If both parties wanted something, you simply had to come up with the best deal for each to walk away happy.
If I offered for my sister and me to clean the house every day for a week, mom might consider not telling dad when we had gone astray. If we had argued in the grocery store, then cleaning the house daily for a week might keep her from telling dad what we had done. But if one of us had also thrown a punch and it was witnessed, then it was going to take more than cleaning to get out of that.
Mom: “Scotty’s mom said you grabbed the Lucky Charms from your sister and then hit her on the arm.”
Me: “It was just a tap.”
Mom: “Your dad’s going to tap you when he gets home.”
Me: “May I go to Cleveland?”
A car wash and vacuuming the Buick might have to be included as well. We’d do just about anything to make sure that dad was not going to be involved.
It was one thing if we acted up in the grocery store, but acting up in church was the worst offense possible. If you got caught talking or acting up during church, mom didn’t even bother to involve dad. She’d grab the closest piece of skin on you and drag you down the aisle and out the door.
And every person in there knew what was coming your way.
I’m not sure how the preacher ever stayed on topic when some kid was begging as he or she was being removed from the building. The best one was the kid whose mom was taking him out and just before the door closed yelled, “Y’all pray for me!”
And that’s what every kid today needs. An attentive mother who cares that their child learns responsibility, and prayer. It shows for anyone who had both.
Especially if their best friend’s mom was in Cleveland.
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]]>By David Wolman
For as many wins as the Plano East volleyball team has totaled during a challenging non-district schedule, head coach Sarah Perez said that there have been adverse moments that the team has had to work through.
Through that adversity, one of the only few things that she wanted to see her team improve on was finishing matches.
Tuesday’s home match against another tough opponent, Wylie, ranked No. 6 in this week’s Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 6A state poll, provided Plano East with another test in how it was going to respond to adversity.
The Lady Panthers accepted the challenge.
After a strong start, Plano East was forced to climb out of a two sets to one deficit. But the Lady Panthers responded by winning the final two sets, capped off by a dominant showing in the final set to earn a 25-21, 24-26, 16-25, 25-22, 15-8 win.
“It’s been a learning preseason,” Perez said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, and holes to climb out of. But tonight, they put all the pieces together. We have been talking the last couple of weeks about how to finish and take ownership and play as a team and play their role. Tonight, they showed that they believed in themselves.”
Plano East (18-6) has played in two of the same preseason tournaments as Wylie (20-4) — Allen Texas Open and Volleypalooza — but didn’t play each other until Tuesday.
The wait proved to be worth it.
Both teams played a relentless style of defense, which included several long rallies, numerous blocks and all-out efforts to dig the ball.
Plano East’s front row was tasked with attempting to limit the production of a skilled group of hitters for Wylie, a roster that includes Lamar University commit Julia Hudgins, Grambling pledge Aubrey DeGrate, Arizona State commit Paloma Smith and Old Dominion commit Keelyn Green.
Hudgins, DeGrate, Smith and Green combined for 62 kills on the evening, but Plano East’s defense held Wylie to a .187 hitting percentage and forced 27 hitting errors.
In the first set, Wylie took an early 4-1 lead on DeGrate’s first of 18 kills. But Plano East’s defense continued to show a lot of fight. The Lady Panthers rallied and took a 15-8 lead on a Lady Pirates hitting error.
However, Wylie was just as determined. The Lady Pirates rallied, creating an 18-18 tie following a booming kill by Hudgins. But the Lady Panthers always had a response. Anna Lukas restored momentum for Plano East with a kill on the ensuing point, sparking a 7-4 Lady Panthers run to end the opening set.
In the second set, Plano East was one point away from taking a commanding two sets to none advantage in the best-of-five match. However, Wylie’s senior class ensured the Lady Pirates wouldn’t be swept on this night. A DeGrate kill tied the score at 24-24. Green put Wylie ahead with a kill on the next point, and a Plano East hitting error on the ensuing point notched the set win for the Lady Pirates.
“It was truly a point for point match,” Perez said. “Big blocks across the middle. I thought that we had some of the best blocking that we’ve had all preseason. Our blockers showed up. Our defense obviously is phenomenal. They communicate well and play well, and so does Wylie. It was truly an even match. I’m just so proud that we ended up coming out on top.”
Wylie carried that momentum into the third set where the Lady Pirates put forth their most dominant effort of the match. Perez was eager to see how her squad would counter that momentum, which the Lady Panthers did. Plano East broke a 22-22 tie in the fourth set on a kill from Leyna Anderson.
Then, it was all Lady Panthers in the deciding fifth set. A service ace and block by Luz Luna fueled a 5-0 start for Plano East, and it proved to be more than enough separation for the Lady Panthers.
“It was a very big lull in the third set,” Perez said. “They came out and took a set off mentally. They were able to take that and turn it around and come out stronger and come out with more energy and truly played as a team. They grabbed the momentum in the fourth set and took it into the fifth set.”
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By David Wolman
Plano East went 5-3 at Volleypalooza last weekend to finish 17th out of 66 teams.
The Lady Panthers didn’t need long to find their rhythm, earning wins in four of their first five matches. They cruised to a 25-17, 25-22 win over Coronado in their first match. After losing to Clear Springs 25-9, 21-25, 29-27 in its next match, Plano East bounced back with three straight victories – a 21-25, 25-18, 25-20 win over Eastlake, a 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 come-from-behind win against Harlan and a 25-14, 25-19 triumph over San Antonio Johnson.
The Lady Panthers lost a hard-fought match to Antonian 25-23, 30-28 to begin play Saturday, then dropped a 25-16, 20-25, 25-19 decision to Lake Creek. However, Plano East finished the tournament on a positive note, cruising to a 25-12, 25-21 win over Jenks.
Sophomore Luz Luna contributed 10 kills and 12 assists in the win over Johnson and senior libero Dakota Huynh had 20 digs. Junior Jaiden Boutte accounted for five of Plano East’s 10 blocks against Eastlake.
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By David Wolman
(editor’s note: check out game photos here — https://csmediatexas.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=6888587)
MESQUITE — Plano East sophomore running back Treyce Seldon finished with 186 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in less than three quarters of play during the Panthers’ 55-21 season-opening win over Mesquite Horn on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
The Panthers (1-0) built a commanding 27-0 lead with 4:13 left in the first quarter and never looked back in winning their first season opener since 2024.
After a 35-yard kickoff return by senior Braeden Quatch on the game’s opening play set up Plano East with excellent starting field position, Seldon ran for a 51-yard touchdown on the second offensive play of the contest for a quick 7-0 lead.
Junior Tyson Seldon caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Josh Gordon on the next Plano East possession for a 13-0 Panthers lead.
Gordon completed 14 of 15 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
Plano East’s lead grew to 27-0 after senior Jordan Stafford returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown.
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