The snow and ice may be gone, but left behind are busted water pipes, torn-up roads and more for Johnson County’s 150,000 residents. President Joe Biden on Saturday declared a major disaster in Texas and asked federal agencies to identify additional resources to address the suffering.

As in previous years, the essays submitted were top notch and narrowing the field to two from the 28 competing proved difficult, members of the Johnson County Republican Women’s Club said. When all was said and done, however, the JCRW’s Scholarship Committee chose Cleburne High School senior Garrison Brady and Runkle Christian Academy senior Grace Runkle as this year’s recipients of the Polly Guthrie Memorial Scholarship. Both will receive $2,500 scholarships.