Columns & Opinions

Abbott lays out seven top priorities

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Gov. Greg Abbott, in a State of the State address last Thursday, outlined his seven top priorities for the ongoing legislative session before an invitation-only audience at a manufacturing facility in San Marcos, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Those priorities include $4 billion for border security, property tax relief and more school choice for parents, which he called “education freedom.” He avoided use of the word “vouchers.’

Abbott issues disaster declaration, seeks fed’s help

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G ov. Greg Abbot has issued a disaster declaration for Texas counties affected by the early February ice storm and is seeking a federal declaration as well for areas in Southeast Texas affected by rare January tornadoes. The ice storm caused considerable damage to property and power outages in the affected areas. The declaration for ice-storm damaged counties includes Denton, Hays, Henderson, Milam, Smith, Travis and Williamson counties.

From coyotes to cowboys

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W e were happy to be included in a story in the Bosque River Run publication, a quarterly magazine published by this newspaper. I enjoy reading the stories about the people who call our county home. Everyone has an interesting story, some quite unique, and others certainly surprising. There are diverse talents and personalities in Central Texas.

Religiosity

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squashed. Passover (April 5-13) celebrates God’s sparing of the first-born sons of Hebrew slaves in Egypt.

Ice storm wreaks havoc across Texas

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R esidents in Central and Northeast Texas are still cleaning up after a winter storm last week snapped power lines and tree limbs, causing widespread power outages, canceled flights and damage to homes and vehicles.

Dogs, Cats, and Critters

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A Facebook friend of mine who’s in my weaving group posts a daily picture of her dog on her personal page. Sometimes “The Daily Harry” features both her dogs, although Harry’s more photogenic. His expressions crack me up, and are often disturbingly human. So are those of our own dogs, but I don’t photograph them daily.

Compensation to media outlets for content at issue in JCPA bill

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play it, bring in listeners and they sell advertising to those listeners. In the days before royalty agreements, those representing the songwriter and performer said that wasn’t fair, so they came up with a way to charge that radio station fees when they played the song that was the creation of someone else.

Religiosity

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Comparative Religions J udaism today is characterized by three major branches: Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative. The identity of each branch is basically defined by how strictly it adheres to traditional Jewish doctrine.

Who works for whom

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S omething that really annoys me lately: Each year, there are more “opportunities” for responsibility to be pushed off onto the consumer, client, or patient— i.e. me— to do the work of the entity, business, or person the consumer / client / patient is paying for goods or services.

Lawmakers push $15K teacher raises

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A group of House Democrats is proposing a $15,000 raise for the state’s teachers and a 25% raise for other state employees by using some of the state’s record budget surplus. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, announced the bill last week and was joined by Democratic legislators and teachers, the Austin American-Statesman reported.