Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 17, 2015 Page: 4 of 20
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PAGE 4
ELGIN COURIER - ELGIN, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17,2015
Letters
1119111 11
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to the
S1CH<
Editor
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Cousin B not a condescending racist
I
I
Session done, bills set to become laws
etters from read-
ers serve three
^useful purposes:
Neil Stone
Elgin
area commissioners
courts and community
leaders, I filed this bill
to protect those who
serve on groundwater
conservation districts
from being sued in
their personal capacity
for board actions.
Every county in Dis-
trict 17 is served in
some capacity by a
groundwater conserva-
tion district. These en-
tities play a vital role
in stewarding our most
precious natural re-
source. Each is led by
a group of volunteer
board members who
give of their time to
serve their community.
Unfortunately, some
board members have
become the target of
personal lawsuits by
those who disagree
with a board decision.
This unfairly puts
their personal assets
at risk and imperils
the ability of local
communities to effec-
tively manage their
groundwater. House
Bill 3163 offers board
members the personal
protection they de-
serve, discourages liti-
gation as a means to
resolve disagreements,
and protects the local
control of groundwa-
ter. Having passed the
House, it now moves to
the Senate for consid-
eration.
Amy Miller
Elgin
The Elgin Courier is published weekly by Blacklands Publications,
Inc. at 105 North Main, Elgin, Bastrop County, Texas 78621. Established
in 1890. Periodical postage paid at Elgin, Texas, 78621. SUBSCRIP-
TION RATES: $41.00 per year in Bastrop County; $44.00 per year out-
side Bastrop County; $49.00 per year outside Texas. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to ELGIN COURIER, P.O. BOX 631, ELGIN,
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Send e-mails to elgincourier@elgincourier.com or publisher@elgin-
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ad copy deadline is Fridays at 5 p.m. Letters to Editor deadline is Fridays
at noon.
The Elgin Courier Letters to the Editor column is an open forum offering op-
portunities to the public to comment on issues of interest or concern to the com-
munity. They should refrain from making personal attacks on the individuals, and
comments which in the opinion of the editors are potentially libelous or in bad
taste will not be printed. Letters should be brief, 300 words or less, if possible. We
solicit and encourage such comment. The deadline for Letters to the Editor is Fri-
day at noon. It is our policy not to print letters with political opinions, ideals or
views. Political messages must be paid for in advertisement form. All letters must
be signed and include the address of the author. The Courier will not withhold the
name of letter writers and anonymous letters will be discarded.
The House also took
important steps to pro-
tect and defend inno-
cent human life. The
House passed House
Bill 3994, which closes
loopholes that have al-
lowed minors to un-
dergo an abortion
without parental con-
sent. This gain follows
on the heels of House
Bill 416, which I joint
authored with four col-
leagues, to protect
women from forced
abortions and better
identify victims of
human sex trafficking
in Texas.
The House also
passed House Bill
3074, which protects
the lives and human
dignity of persons in
end-of-life situations
who require life sus-
taining medical treat-
ments. I was honored
to co-author this bill,
which carries broad
support from every
major pro-life organi-
zation in Texas.
Last week, I joined
several House col-
leagues in signing a
statement of support
to preserve the institu-
tion of marriage in
Texas as the union be-
tween one man and
one woman. More than
76 percent of Texas
voters voted to affirm
this traditional under-
standing in a 2005
In recent days, the
Texas House passed
several important
pieces of legislation.
This includes bills de-
signed to protect area
groundwater and de-
fend innocent human
life.
Late last week, the
full House passed
House Bill 3163. With
strong support from
Be
HLA
Fun camp
Dear Editor,
Summer brings
memories of lazy days
and some adventures
but what can we do as
parents to put a little
meat on the bone of
summer for our young
teens?
Too young for offi-
cial summer jobs and
too old for traditional
day camps or day
care? Invention Proj-
ect is a great, afford-
able opportunity to
entertain and engage
your sixth or seventh
grader.
It’s four days in July,
July 13 to 16, and its
only $55.
They get to do hands
on work all week in-
venting a product and
bringing it to market.
A good time of sum-
mer for an air condi-
tioned break, too.
Invention Project is
held at Elgin Middle
School and is spon-
sored by Elgin ISD
and the City of Elgin.
Call 1-800-968-4332
today or email
amiller@ci.elgin.tx.us.
Don't miss out on a
great opportunity to
give your child some-
thing to do this sum-
mer.
Constitutional Amend-
ment. We also continue
to work on important
legislation designed to
protect the religious
liberty and conscience
of Texas citizens and
pastors.
Finally, I am pleased
to report that the
House has passed
House Bill 2840, which
I authored to guaran-
tee the right of mili-
tary personnel and
families to vote a full
ballot when deployed
or stationed abroad. In
the coming weeks, the
House will continue to
work through several
important bills. If you
have questions for me
about these, or any
other legislation,
please feel free to
reach our office at
(512) 463-0682 or
John.Cyrier@house.sta
te.tx.us.
Rep. John Cyrier is
serving his first term as
State Representative for
District 17, which in-
cludes Bastrop, Cald-
well, Gonzales, Karnes,
and Lee Counties.
ELGIN COURIER
(U.S.P.S. 172-740)
Not right
Dear Editor,
I keep hearing about
Jade Helm 15 and
have recently read sev-
eral articles about it.
On one side are
those that are afraid
and condemn it and
on the other side are
those that support it.
What doesn’t seem
right to me are some
of the arguments on
both sides.
Those against it are
worried about martial
law, a dictatorship
emerging, lose of free-
doms, etc. Common
sense dictates that
should any of that
occur, it would throw
this country into civil
war. Most of the sol-
diers will refuse to
harm fellow Ameri-
cans and the civilian
population would
eventually prevail.
Those that support it
tell us that it’s an exer-
cise to train our troops
to blend in in foreign
countries. That, too, is
absurd. Even if you
know the language,
customs, and dress ap-
propriately, no matter
how well you practice
it, you still will be in-
stantly spotted as an
American.
My questions are:
Why is this being
done in what they call
‘Hostile States?’
Why aren’t we doing
these exercised along
our borders?
Are the agencies that
are in charge of Jade
Helm 15 being truth-
ful and forthcoming?
Obviously, it’s going
to happen. You have to
make up your mind as
to the position you
take in being for or
against it and why.
Of course, we can ex-
pect some incident to
happen between mili-
tary and civilians.
Let’s just hope that no
one gets hurt.
DAN KLEINER - PUBLISHER
PATTY FINNEY - MANAGING EDITOR
MARIE OTT - AD DIRECTOR
HEATHER ROMINE - BOOKKEEPER/CLASSIFIEDS
DAVID K. PHILLIPS - COLUMNIST
The
State
Rep
Texas Rep.
John
Cyrier
STATE OF
TEXAS
GOVERNOR
Greg Abbott
800-843-5789
LT. GOVERNOR
Dan Patrick
512-463-0001
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Ken Paxton
512-463-2100
U.S. SENATORS
John Cornyn
713-572-3337
Ted Cruz
713-653-3456
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Michael McCaul
202-225-2401
STATE SENATOR
Kirk Watson
512-463-0114
STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
John Cyrier
512-463-0682
BASTROP
COUNTY
COUNTY JUDGE
Paul Pape
512-332-7201
SHERIFF
Terry Pickering
512-549-5100
COUNTY COURT
Judge Benton Eskew
512-581-4277
JUSTICES OF THE
PEACE
Donna Van Gilder (Pct.1)
512-581-4258
Raymah Davis (Pct.2)
512-581-7112
Katherine Hanna (Pct.3)
512-332-7288
Larry Dunne (Pct.4)
512-581-7162
COMMISSIONERS
William Pina (Pct.1)
512-581-4001
Clara Beckett (Pct.2)
512-360-2764
John Klaus (Pct.3)
512-303-6800
Bubba Snowden (Pct.4)
512-332-7267
CITY OF
ELGIN
MAYOR
Marc Holm
512-788-6110
CITY MANAGER
Kerry Lacy
512-281-5724
POLICE CHIEF
Chris Bratton
512-285-5757
FIRE CHIEF
Randy Reyna
512-281-4025
CITY COUNCIL
Chris Cannon (Mayor
Pro-Tem, Ward 3)
512-217-1283
Mary Penson (Ward 1)
512-281-4158
Jessica Bega (Ward 1)
512-653-1900
Edward Maldonado
(Ward 2)
512-297-4258
Juan Gonzalez (Ward 2)
512-285-6499
Craig Fromme (Ward 3)
512-567-5702
Keith Joesel (Ward 4)
512-281-3182
Sue Brashar (Ward 4)
512-689-5692
ELGIN SCHOOL
DISTRICT
SUPERINTENDENT
Dr. Jodi Duron
512-281-3434
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
-22015
COOL! PAID
OFF N COLLEGE LOANS!
NOW,
WITH N LIFE.
bly to shorten what I
wrote.
When I shared verba-
tim Cousin B’s story, I
stopped short of her
very next paragraph,
thinking it would make
a long piece even
longer. That paragraph
begins: “An interesting
thing to me was that I
realized as an adult
many years later that I
am color-blind! I do not
remember if a person
is black or white. It
does not matter to me.
In fact, the last church
my husband pastored
before retiring had
about equal numbers
of black and white
(Someone else had to
count and tell me
this...)”
That church and their
home were in the his-
torically-black Ninth
Ward in New Orleans,
which Katrina
slammed hard. In that
pre-Katrina home, she
and her husband
taught Chinese immi-
grants English and
about Christianity -
over a meal and with
prayer.
Clearly, I did not do
justice to the depth of
this lady’s commit-
ment. Perhaps I should
have elaborated on my
statement about “...the
rural South in the 50’s
and 60’s.” Everyone
worked in the cotton
fields, blacks and
whites of all ages alike.
“B” is a petite person,
but as a child she
dragged that heavy
white bag slung over
her shoulder up and
down the rows along-
side the blacks, har-
vesting as much as 200
pounds of cotton a day.
Very modest housing
and equally less-than-
minimal wages for
blacks didn’t really
erase the scars of slav-
ery.
(1) They mean some-
one actually reads this
stuff; (2) they expect
factual accuracy from
us writers; and (3) they
can keep us humble.
I recently heard from
a reader in Elgin in re-
sponse to my piece on
S. Posa’s Cousin “B”
who felt called by God
to minister to some
poor and disenfran-
chised blacks in her
hometown in Missis-
sippi. The reader said:
“I’ll bet it didn’t in-
clude being a conde-
scending racist.” That
reader is exactly right.
Brevity is not my long
suit. In my blog, which
ran for two years, I was
able to prattle on with-
out concern about if
the article was too
long. When I am typ-
ing up a column for
this paper, when I get
to the middle of a sec-
ond page, the “length
governor” in my head
turns on, and I start
considering ways possi-
Opinion
m Email the Editor at elgincourier@elgincourier.com
The 1950’s in Missis-
sippi and Alabama
were a potentially
lethal time for blacks:
Emmett Till, 14 years
old, beaten and
drowned; Rosa Parks,
daring not to sit at the
back of the bus, etc.
etc. If you grew up
there, you know what
it was like. Today’s mi-
nority communities
stand on the shoulders
of those who lived and
suffered in the South
in the 50s and 60s.
I apologize foremost
to Cousin “B” for not
telling more of her
story, and to any
reader who inferred
that she is/was a “con-
descending racist.” If
the Baptists had a list
of candidates for saint-
hood, she would be at
the top of the list. So
thank you, readers, for
reading this column.
The “length governor”
in my head is joined by
my late mother’s voice
in my head: “What will
other people think?”
That’s humbling too.
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Finney, Patty. Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 17, 2015, newspaper, June 17, 2015; Elgin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1555288/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Elgin Public Library.