Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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SENATE PASSES BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL (MAJOR VICTORY FOR BIDEN) The Senate voted to approve a roughly $1 trillion bill to revamp the nation’s infrastructure on Tuesday, delivering a bipartisan breakthrough on legislation that includes key portion of President Biden’s domestic agenda. The final vote was 69 to 30, with 19 Republicans and 30 Democrats voting yes. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the final vote. The bipartisan bill represents the first part of...
Jonah 2:1 "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly…" This world dishes up some very interesting stuff. Don't misunderstand me, I love life and having a heart created by the Lord in His saving grace, I am always learning how to negotiate all of those interesting problems the devil, or the world throws at me or something of my own doing. As much as we find sweet times in daily life from time to time, so do we encounter problematic ones. Every now and t...
THE PANDEMIC OF UNVACCINATED When the pandemic hit the United States we prayed for an answer, otherwise millions of Americans would die. God answered our prayers. In record time two vaccines hit the market. Before enough people could get vaccinated over 600,000 people had died from COVID-19. Now a more contagious virus has hit. Delta Variant, 100 times more infectious than COVID-19 is spreading throughout the country. Fortunately the God-sent vaccines are also effective for Delta. Hospitals all over the country are filling...
“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life,” said John Wooden, college basketball coach. My daughter, Jessica, was fortunate to have a coach who changed her all too brief life. Coach Frank gave her a second chance to actually play softball and more importantly believed in her. She carried the lessons she learned with her, such as not giving up and hard work pays off for the remainder of her life. Jessica will forever be 21 years old since gallstones too...
The 2021 Olympic Games have begun in Tokyo, Japan. Over the next few weeks, we will all get to watch and enjoy the very best the United States has to offer compete on a global scale. I'll be watching and cheering on our Olympic athletes, particularly the 40 athletes who are from Texas. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Grandmother of Juneteenth Opal Lee honored in Senate Last week, Fort Worth activist Opal Lee was recognized in the Texas Senate with a...
IT’S GOING TO GET WORSE—FAR WORSE I have real concern about what the Delta Variant, blending with COVID-19, will look like come mid to late September and possibly spiking in October. Last week our reporter Dave Rodgers wrote about the first Delta case in the county being in Vidor. We are getting little to no information about how rapid that first case has spread. We don’t have information as to how many virus cases are now spreading through the county. We know that hospi...
Even though many House members and some State Senators are still in Washington, D.C. to break quorum, special session continues in Austin. The State Senate has enough members at the Capitol to continue working on important legislation we've been called to address. Though these measures cannot be finally passed until the House has a quorum, the Senate's work continues. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Elections bill passes the Senate The Texas Senate passed...
On July 4, 1845 the Convention of 1845 was called to meet in Austin to consider the joint resolution of the US Congress proposing to annex the Republic of Texas. By a vote of 55 to 1, the delegates formally accepted the annexation offer from the US Congress. Texas was formally admitted to the United States later that year on December 29. Here are five things happening around your state: • Agenda for special session called by Governor Abbott released This week, Governor Abbott released eleven agenda items for the L...
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD Billionaire Richard Branson has hurled the world into a new orbit. Aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, he brought Astro-Tourism a step closer to commercial space travel. He beat out richer rival Jeff Bezos. Branson, age 71, and five crew members from his Virgin Galactic space tourism company, reached an altitude of 53.5 miles over the New Mexico desert, experiencing four minutes of weightlessness, witnessed the curvature of the earth, then glided...
JEWEL OF THE GULF COAST TURNS 51 Bridge City incorporated 51-years ago, on July 7, 1970. I think it’s important to examine what brought a mostly knitted community to come together and a few years later become a city. The community, up until 1965, was clannish and some of the old timers were KKK sympathizers. My young bride and I arrived in 1955. It was some time before we were accepted. Everything changed after 1965, the year that ushered in the Worster era. Bridge City played...
BFD OBAMACARE HERE TO STAY In 2016, Donald Trump ran on a platform to do away with the Affordable Care Act promising “On day one we will repeal and replace ObamaCare with something better.” The Trump administration did neither. Four years went by and when Trump ran for re-election he still didn’t have a health care plan. Instead they appealed to the Supreme Court that ruled republican states and the U.S. Justice Department didn’t have standing to bring the suit in the first pl...
FATHER’S DAY HOW DO YOU REMEMBER DAD Come Sunday we will celebrate Father’s Day. Not all of us have the same memories about our childhood and good ole dad. For many of us, then and for many youngsters today, there is not a live-in dad at home. The late poet Pearl Burgess wrote a great poem we are publishing in this issue detailing an ideal relationship with dad but it is just the opposite of the childhood some live. It reminds me of the war years when my classmates’ milit...
This past year was a real challenge for beekeepers. We had 2 named hurricanes and a named winter storm that brought historic cold, ice and freeze damage. Our homes were damaged our yards were damaged and our citrus trees were frozen. Even the plant nurseries struggled to supply plants for our gardens and yards. The local honeybees were impacted just like us. Their homes were blown over, flooded or exposed to the elements. Many hives died, many had to find new homes in the worst time of year. Many just starved. Flowers were...
Judges 6 and 7 ...Where is Gideon' s army today? Like in Gideon's day when Israel had been delivered from sin and the world, they became lazy in faithfulness and began to blend into the world...so much that they became comfortable with it and it's ways, even giving attention to what the world thought important. Israel embraced the idols of the Amorites and the world society of the Midianites. God quit blessing Israel and they became impoverished and sunk to living in caves and...
SPECIAL LUNCH BUNCH GATHERING Next week, on June 16, the Wednesday Lunch Bunch will dine at Robert’s Restaurant, 12 noon. County Judge John Gothia and tax assessor-collector Karen Fisher will host all of the county mayors and their city managers. The county wide participation will allow everyone to interact with the civic leaders., break bread and get to meet the new mayors. It also will be a great opportunity for the citizens and county officials to share how they might be o...
With session over, there’s time to reflect on what happened toward the end of session and the new laws the legislature passed over the past 140 days. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Legislature adjourns Sine Die The 87th Legislative session has ended and this week both chambers adjourned Sine Die. In total, the House and Senate filed 7,025 bills combined. Of those, the House filed 4,834 bills and the Senate filed 2,191 bills. However, only 1,081 bills from...
DEMS WALK OUT TO BLOCK CONTROVERSIAL VOTING RIGHTS BILL Republican-dominated Texas Legislature, despite pleas nationwide, is closing out the legislative session with many of its conservative priorities heading to the governor’s desk. Lawmakers also approved the so-called “constitutional carry” bill allowing Texans to carry handguns in public without a permit. Texas House Democrats staged a dramatic exit from the state capitol last Sunday, blocking the passage of a contr...
The last week of session is coming to a close and the long nights have stretched into the early hours of the following mornings. We’re sprinting to the finish of an unusual session and passing consequential and substantial legislation. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Budget Conference Committee Report approved by Senate In one of the last steps the State budget needs for approval, the Senate passed the final version of the budget this week. This session’s budget appropriates $248.5 billion in All Funds fo...
Session is drawing to a close. This is the last week for Senate committees to realistically consider bills to vote out of committee. We have until May 26 to vote on any bill on the floor. After that, the Senate can only vote on Conference Committee Reports or concur with House amendments until we adjourn Sine Die on May 31. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Gulf Coast Protection District bill passes the House This week Senate Bill 1160 was voted off the Hous...
One hundred and thirty-three years ago this month, the present Texas Capitol was formally dedicated. On May 16, 1888, the dedication ceremony was held with a service, parade, and a celebration to mark its opening. Over 20,000 people attended the week of festivities. There were military displays, concerts, drill team competitions, and fireworks. Senator Temple Houston, Sam Houston’s youngest son, accepted the building on behalf of the state. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Texas launches mobile vaccine t...
TIME SLIPS AWAY Here we are already coming to May 19. A month ago we set this date for our next Wednesday Lunch Bunch gathering so mark your calendar for next week. We had planned to have a special guest but the Texas Legislature is still in session until May 29, then after a few days off, will go into special session. We will probably still have a surprise or two. Everyone is invited. We hope everyone has had at least one vaccine shot. If not, please get one. The Bunch will...
Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in...
At the end of this week, we’ll only have three weeks left in this year’s legislative session. These last three weeks are some of the most intense weeks, with long hours and lots of bills to read. A number of deadlines begin to crop up during this time. For example, May 26th is the last day for the Senate to consider all bills and joint resolutions, whether they originated in the House or Senate. We adjourn Sine Die, the last day of session, on May 31st. Here are five thi...
Last week, the House passed its version of the state budget for the next two years. It differs in some significant ways from the budget the Senate passed. In order to reconcile our differences, we’ll convene a conference committee with 5 members from each chamber to work out the details. I’m honored to once again serve as a conferee for the state budget. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Texas to gain two new congressional seats The US Census Bureau released...
VOTE LOCALLY IT'S IMPORTANT GET A SHOT-IT MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE It's come on another week. They sure seem to be flying by quicker than I recall when I was much younger. Health wise the past year has been a bitch. Thank God I got both COVID vaccines. I never feared anything as much as that virus. I knew the odds were against me if I caught it. Wednesday, about the time you'll be reading this, I will be getting a bone marrow test. Maybe than I'll get some answers about why I've...
