Seize the moment: At 50-year mark, celebrate and strengthen the Public Information Act

With trust in government waning, a Texas law can help keep a closer watch on public officials. Even citizens who continue to have faith in government can use this law to stay better informed. How is taxpayer money spent? What’s happening behind the scenes as government decisions are made?

Check your Mirrors

The elements have smiled on us the past week. Chances are you looked outside and smiled back. This weather brings out the best in my snooze button. The cooler temps and rains have given us a brief reprieve from the hot, dry summer that overcooked our yards, farms, and ranches.

Faces & Places

“What is Man? Man is a noisome bacillus whom Our Heavenly Father created because he was disappointed in the monkey.” ~ Mark Twain Is it just me, or do we all feel stuck in a Far Side Snow Globe and can’t get out? It’s crowded and loud, and nothing makes sense.

School voucher schemes damage public schools and defy constitutional prohibitions

A historic cornerstone of American independence, freedom and opportunity is universal public education in public schools open to all children regardless of social class, religion, ethnicity, gender or origin country. The great majority of Texas children attend public schools.

Paxton trial completes first week

The first week of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Senate ended with his former lead law enforcement officer testifying an Austin developer alleged to have bribed Paxton constructed a “conspiracy theory” that federal officials altered a search warrant for his...

Crazy about the guayabera shirt

You’ve probably seen the guayabera shirt. It’s worn untucked and has either two or four pockets and vertical stripes of pleats front and back. It’s made of cotton, linen or silk and is popular in warm climates. We certainly qualify for that distinction in Texas this year.

Perspective vs. Priorities

Publisher/editor Laurie Brown — whom I admire a great deal — imparted one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received as an editor. She said to never editorialize something on page two that you didn’t cover on page one.

2 Cents Worth

Hurrah it's sprinkling in Aspermont, Texas, look when you never get any rain, it just goes west of you or east of you we are thankful for a sprinkle!!!! Maybe Joe's turnips will come up now he's been babying them and so far they are not coming up for him so maybe the sprinkles will help.

'Gather ye rosebuds…'

Poetry. Yep, I am writing about it again because of 100 minutes spent in Wal-Mart with my granddaughter. But before I get to that, here’s a poetry story from just last week that made me want to pen a limerick. There was a darn man from the South Who let mean things ooze from his mouth.

The Meaning of Education

I’m writing this after the first day of school at Stamford ISD. It is also the first day (or near to it) for many other communities in my readership. I have previously written that the first day of school is a New Year’s Day of sorts in a community.