I used to have a local phone number using this service "Sideline" that was free and allowed me to txt and phone call for hobby purposes.

It just changed to a paid service, so I am looking for an alternate.  

Any suggestions?

You can also "text" people through Google Voice while using your laptop keypad, fooling everyone into thinking that you are a super fast texter.

absolutely the way to go...I had the Sideline app mess up and call someone in my personal contacts once ON IT'S OWN accord...I would never recommend it, lol...