Welcome to TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com, frequently referred to as just ‘Twenty Peaceful Minutes’ and more often as ‘20PM’. The name of the site is a reference to Forney’s long-time slogan, “Forney, twenty peaceful minutes east of Downtown Dallas.”

20PM, which launched in September 2006, began as a blog covering news, development and rumors in the fast-growing Dallas suburb of Forney. In November of the same year, the Forney discussion forum was launched here on 20PM. By mid-2007, the forum had eclipsed the blog as the most frequently visited section of 20PM.

I feel it’s important for anyone reading news in any form or format to know who wrote what they are reading so they can form their own opinion about the author’s credibility, potential for bias, etc. So, let me introduce myself. My name is Josh and I reside in one of the larger developments in the Forney area. What I post on 20PM is from my own research and my own opinions – while I do accept advertising on 20PM, advertisers do not receive any special treatment in articles. Honesty and integrity are important to me, so I invite you to read the Ethics & Standards here on Twenty Peaceful Mintues.

When I launched 20PM, I was the sole administrator, maintainer and contributor to the site. While I continue to administer and maintain the site myself, on the 2nd anniversary of the site’s launch, in September 2008, I began recruiting volunteers to serve as correspondents and contributors to the site. So, while you’ll continue to see my name on a majority of the news articles published here on Twenty Peaceful Minutes, you will start to see other names in bylines throughout the site. These correspondents have also agreed to adhere to the same Ethics and Standards here on the site.

I setup 20PM because back in 2006 I was hearing rumors from throughout the community about what retailers, builders and restaurants might be coming to Forney soon. At the time, outside of the Forney Bits-O-News website that posted (and still, as of October 2008, does post) the details of many of the major meetings in Forney quite regularly, there wasn’t anywhere on the Internet that discussed what businesses were opening up, what was going on in Forney or even major news events in Forney.

I would like to remind everyone that the messages I post on the Forney discussion forum as well as the stories I post here on the site are my responsibility just as content posted by others is their own responsibility. I am strongly opposed to censorship and I feel that the free exchange of ideas between a diverse group of individuals – regardless of their race, religion, sex, popularity or any other factor – is an amazing thing. I will not censor or otherwise interfere with any individual who choses to post in the Forney discussion forum as long as a basic set of rules are adhered to. Yes, this does mean that people with unpopular or even abrasive opinions will be able to share those opinions freely with anyone who is interested in reading them. However, a world where everyone has the same opinion or only the popular, politically correct opinions are allowed to be expressed is a truly scary thought and I will not create that type of environment here on 20PM.