The Light and Champion (Center, Tex.), Vol. 138, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, January 16, 2015 Page: 4 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Center Light and Champion and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Fannie Brown Booth Memorial Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
4AI Fi
The Light
I
a
I
i j
j
j
Columnist
Curtain rises on “Ma” Ferguson’s second act
Texas history
Historian
See LOOKING BACK Page 5A
Wire JLiglit anb (flfymipton
See ‘MA’ Page 7A
Department of corrections — A toy or a real gun
A toy or a real gun, Local
officers: it’s hard to tell
Leon Aldridge.......
Leah Dolan..........
Ronny Samford....
Amanda Buie.......
Cheryl Gilcrease..
Cindy Barrett........
Susan Watkins.....
Darrell Martinez...
Tim Boyd.............
Courtney Basham
The Light and Champion is a registered
Texas trademark owned by
Center Light and Champion Publishing, LLC.
Member Texas Press Association, National Press
Association. Printed on recycled paper
with soy-based ink.
........Interim Publisher
.......Managing Editor
............Sports Writer
.............Bookkeeping
Advertising Manager
................Advertising
..................Classifieds
Pressman Supervisor
..................Pressman
................Composing
Editors note: The front-page story
about distinguishing toy guns from
real guns (“A toy or a real gun, Local
officers: it’s hard to tell”) published in
Tuesday’s edition was printed with
the last few paragraphs missing. The
final portion of the story was sup-
posed to have appeared on page 2A,
but was inadvertently left out.
The last two paragraphs of the sto-
ry are printed below as they appeared
on page one, along with the conclud-
ing portion that failed to print.
We apologize for the inconve-
nience to readers, and to Sheriff Wil-
lis Blackwell and Police Chief Jim
Albers, who contributed to the story.
Chris
Watlington
Bartee
Haile
USPS no. 165360 -Est. 1877
- Published Tuesdays and Fridays by Center Light and Champion,
LLC., at 137 San Augustine Street, Center, Texas.
- Telephone (936) 598-3377.
- Second Class Postage paid at Center, TX 75935.
- POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Light and Champion,
137 San Augustine, Center, TX 75935.
- Email address: dbuie@lightandchampion.com
© 2015 All Rights Reserved www.lightandchampion.com
i .
20 Years Ago
The Light and Champion
Week of Jan. 17,1995 editions
• CISD trustees were interviewing architects for
improvements at the junior high school, and heard
reports on “store front” style doors that were recently
installed at the Center Elementary campus. • Shelby
County received $312,261 from national forests
receipts. The money is earmarked by the state for
schools and highways and comes from leases and
royalties paid by energy companies for drilling on
Forest Service land. Shelby County had 59,037 acres
in national forest land. • Center ISD received an
accredited status from the Texas Education Agency
with all campuses receiving a school accountabil-
ity rating of acceptable. • Mrs. Jean Hughes of
Joaquin was the winner of a quilt drawing held at Pine
Grove Nursing Center. Cora Lowe and the Jackson
Baptist Church Ladies Quilting Bee crafted the quilt.
Proceeds benefitted the Pine Grove activity depart-
ment.
30 Years Ago
The East Texas Light
Week of Jan. 15, 1985 editions
• CHS graduate and former Center resident,
Karren Kirkley was appointed county attorney by
the commissioner’s court after O.H. Polley did not
seek re-election and no other candidate announced
for the office. She was the first woman to occupy the
office of county judge in Shelby County. • Health
Occupations students from Center High School
observed at Shelby General Hospital. Attending were
Sharon Bailey, Deborah Dellinger, Corine Arnold,
Angela Covington, Tawania Martin, Tracy Luman,
and Donna McDonald. They were pictured with
Administrator Carey Blanchard. • County commis-
sioners met again with Shelby General Hospital Carey
Blanchard about building a clinic for the hospital.
Blanchard told commissioners, “The county has two
hospitals. Only one is going to survive.” • Ricky
Blount’s Hair Design in Joaquin was planning their
annual Cut-A-Thon to benefit the March of Dimes. •
Claudine Buckner was the winner of a three-minute
shopping spree at Safeway in Center. She was pic-
tured with store manager Ken Schur after getting
$178 worth of groceries in her shopping cart. • The
seven financial institutions in Shelby County reported
an increase in deposits from $187.7 million in 1983
CHAMPION PRINTING
• Web Press Printing
• Newspapers • Advertising,
• Tabloid Sections • Broadsheet
P.O. Box 1077 7 205 Austin St.« Center
..
¥
.4/
11
Which is why I was consider-
ing naming the article “As I Was
Saying.”
But then Aunt Virginia pointed
out that Mike Belgard also has a
column in this self-same publica-
tion, and the name of his column is
“Just Saying.” Aunt Virginia pointed
out that it might be confusing to
have “As I Was Saying” and “Just
Saying” in the same newspaper.
And I agree, especially when you
consider that no one really “says” anything in a news-
paper. It’s pretty much a print medium—people write
things in a paper. They don’t say them. So having two
columnists both claiming to be “saying” things would
probably confuse the most discerning of readers.
But as I was saying, for that reason, I will not be us-
ing “As I Was Saying” as the name of this column.
“Off the Cuff’ however is a pretty accurate descrip-
tion of the article. I hardly ever plan what I’m going to
write. I just kind of write it “off the cuff.’
Of course, that doesn’t make much sense either,
does it? Who says or writes anything off one’s cuff?
See NAME Page %A
mary. Out of 950,000 ballots, Ma won
by a mere handful - 3,800.
Sterling cried foul claiming Farm-
er Jim stole the election in East Texas,
his traditional stronghold. Vowing to
take the fight to the Democratic state
convention at Lubbock, the million-
aire openly hinted he would not hesi-
tate to use the Texas Rangers to pack
the meeting to insure his nomination.
The threat brought caravans of
the Ferguson faithful from the Piney
Woods to the Panhandle. As Ma’s teenaged daughter
later recalled, “Hotel lobbies fairly bristled with ten-gal-
lon hats, high-heeled boots and six-shooters.” Never-
theless, the tense convention came off without a hitch,
and Miriam was officially proclaimed the Democratic
nominee for governor.
Following the routine rout of the sacrificial Republi-
can, the Fergusons returned to the governor’s mansion
after an eight-year absence. A sore loser to the bitter
end, Sterling broke with tradition by boycotting the in-
auguration in January 1933.
Miriam made it clear to Jim from the beginning that
this time she intended to be her own woman. Inter-
rupting her mate’s enthusiastic pitch on behalf of an old
crony seeking an appointment, she said firmly, “He may
have all the qualifications in the world, but he drinks
liquor and runs around with wild women, and I’ll not
have him in my official family.”
Compared to her original rowdy reign, Ma’s second
act was downright subdued. The generous pardon pol-
icy, which had raised such a ruckus in the 1920’s, was
resumed but not at the same controversial rate of 100
convicts per day. She sponsored the bill that reinstated
pari-mutuel horse racing, a politically dangerous move
under normal circumstances but one that hard-pressed
taxpayers applauded.
Even Jim seemed to be on his best behavior. Aside
from occasional broadsides at his legion of enemies, he
kept his nose clean and steered clear of scandal.
However, long before the polls opened in 1934, the
Fergusons had decided against a reelection run. Wor-
life and death decision.
Schools and law enforcement of-
ficers across the country educate
children and the general public
about the dangers of handling guns
and handling guns improperly. Of-
ficers are trained that every gun is
a real gun regardless of appearance
until an officer has control of the
weapon and can verify it is real or
fake.
“We do not know if a gun is real
or fake when we see it. It does not
matter if the barrel is painted bright
colors,” said Blackwell. “These pic-
tures of fake guns should tell par-
ents and guardians everything they
need to know about why officers are
trained that all guns are real, and
all guns are loaded, until proven
otherwise.”
"t.
Viewpoint
www.lightandchainpion.coin
Remember when...
Eight years after her election as
the first female governor in American This week in
history, Miriam A Ferguson returned
for a second-term encore on Jan. 17,
1933.
Following the impeachment and
permanent banishment from public
office of husband Jim in 1917, “Ma” M
Ferguson stepped forward to defend
the family’s tarnished honor. She
waged a successful campaign for the ——
statehouse seven years later but lost
a 1926 reelection bid to challenger Dan Moody.
The Fergusons were anxious to return the compli-
ment, especially after Moody masterminded repeal of
the Amnesty Bill which restored Jim’s political rights
and erased the impeachment proceedings from the sen-
ate records.
However, to deny a sitting governor the virtually
automatic second term was a long shot at best, so the
husband-and-wife team chose to wait until 1930 when
they would not face an incumbent.
Texans were, as usual, up to their ears in gubernato-
rial aspirants with no fewer than 11 vying for the Demo-
cratic nomination. The only candidate capable of giving
Miriam a good fight was Ross Sterling, the Houston oil-
man who opened stump speeches with, “Folks, here’s
your big fat boy from Buffalo Bayou!”
Ma Ferguson beat the businessman by 72,000 votes
in the initial primary, but her 29 percent fell far short of
the required majority. In the hard-fought runoff, Ster-
ling profited from the post-impeachment unpopular-
ity of his opponent’s spouse and pulled off a stunning
upset.
By the time the next election rolled around, Texas
was shuddering from the aftershocks of the Crash of
’29. Like Herbert Hoover, his White House counter-
part, Gov. Sterling caught more than his fair share of
criticism for the state’s economic woes. With their ad-
versary on the ropes, the Fergusons moved in for the
kill. Ma surged ahead by a phenomenal 100,000 votes in
the 1932 rematch but again failed to put Sterling away
in the first round.
The gutsy incumbent refused to throw in the towel
and roared back for a photo finish in the second pri-
From the Tuesday, January
13 edition of the Light and
Champion
When citizens are divided in as-
sessing the blame for shootings as
the fault of allowing personal gun
ownership, or the person shooting
the gun, an easy answer will always
be difficult.
“However,” said Blackwell, “talk-
ing about gun safety to children is
still very important.”
“They are making these toys
look very realistic,” said Center
Police Chief Jim Albers, “Which is
probably a huge selling point for
them, but it is extremely difficult to
tell them from the real thing in an
emergency situation where an offi-
cer may only get seconds to make a
A
W
1/
7® *
tireless labor, animal sacrifice, and
sticky-note-messages, I have decid-
ed on the new name of my column:
Off the Cuff. (Cue stage band and
balloon drop.)
I was seriously considering “As I
Was Saying.” As was pointed out by
a confused reader, I sometimes get
off track, chasing rabbits and killing
squirrels, and it takes me awhile to
get back on point.
Wait, is the saying “chasing rabbits” or “killing rab-
bits?” And do you say “killing squirrels” or “chasing”
them? I get those two mixed up a lot.
I actually prefer “chasing” rabbits because it seems
more descriptive. When I get off track, it seems more
appropriate to say I’m chasing a small elusive mammal
rather than to say I’m killing that mammal. But I figure
it doesn’t matter much what I think—the saying is what
the saying is, I guess.
But as I was saying, when I finally get back to my
point, I often have to preface that return with the
phrase “As I Was Saying.”
I T n
L
X *
* r*
.....
■W”
looking latli
The Champion • The East Texas Light • The Light and Champion
10 Years Ago
The Light and Champion
Week of Jan. 18, 2005 editions
• City Manager Chad Nehring said plans for
the city streetscape to renovate downtown side-
walks are under review by the Texas Department of
Transportation and approval was expected in time to
begin construction in early spring. • Center was tak-
ing steps to establish a city planning and zoning com-
mission to regulate development and land use in the
city limits. • Sammy Dance was elected vice presi-
dent of the Sabine River Authority board. • County
Judge Dock Watson said the county was seeking input
on the ground water district issue. Public meetings
were scheduled after he Texas Legislature passed
requirements for water districts to prevent unreason-
able removal or contamination of Texas groundwater.
• Center Mayor Pro Tern Frances Oates signed
a proclamation declaring January as school board
appreciation month, and ISD Superintendent Kelly
Rogers presented certificates of appreciation at the
board’s monthly meeting to board members Mary
Lynn Tinkle, Jim Sawyer, Dr. Florencio Singson, Dr.
Dixon Golden, John Tomlin, Ortega Cartwright and
Bob Reeves.
. j
? I
1,
i
' ' ; ......:
W.y.v.v.-,. ..
File photo / The Light and Champion
This photo dated January 1996 reads: About 100 people marched down Martin Luther King Drive in Center Monday to celebrate the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
across the nation. The march began at the old Boles Feed store and continued down King Drive until it reached Mt. Zion C.M.E. Church, which sponsored the event. There
was a program after the march.
Two things: we have a new name
After months of surveys, dis-
cussions, Congressional filibuster, Off the Cuff
k 1 L
I
In
fl 'W >
& *
*
1 : ■
.......
........ T:
J"" 7 ,
a * j
f .u
I, 5
■
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View 10 places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Dolan, Leah. The Light and Champion (Center, Tex.), Vol. 138, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, January 16, 2015, newspaper, January 16, 2015; Center, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1279119/m1/4/?q=hamilton+county: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Fannie Brown Booth Memorial Library.