Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 8, 2020 Page: 4 of 14
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PAGE 4A
ELGIN COURIER - ELGIN, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 8, 2020
Opinion
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Affiliations:
TA
Abbott, Patrick react after
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
K-
shooting incident at church
2-
J
Who represents me?
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Capital
Highlights
Jerry Kraft
Manor, Texas
The FISA Court is an
insult to the U.S.
The FISA Court failed! It rub-
ber-stamped every request to spy
on our president and his whole ad-
ministration. Under our tradition
of the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights, the FISA Court is null and
void! All pleas and convictions and
destroyed lives based upon this
court’s grants must be thrown out.
I do not mean that these actions
equate the FISA Court failure with
Nazis. However, if not reversed by
our voters, this could be an evil be-
ginning. I have served and fought
for our country. I believe and trust
in our flag and founding docu-
ments. I am unashamedly voting
out, in the coming presidential
election, all of the people who we
all know are responsible for this
attack on our constitutional rights.
Flu season hits hard
In its weekly update on
Jan. 2, the Texas Depart-
ment of State Health Ser-
vices encouraged “everyone
to get vaccinated now.”
The most recent flu sur-
veillance report shows
widespread flu activity in
Z02
-2
MEMBER
2020
%D\
-b
I GIVE
UP/
million, up 18.3% from De-
cember 2018.
105 North Main St.
P.O. Box 631
Elgin, TX 78621
Texas and high levels of in-
fluenza-like illness. There
have been eight pediatric
flu-related deaths reported
in the 2019-2020 flu season.
Influenza is a contagious
respiratory illness caused
by one of a number of re-
lated viruses. The flu vac-
cine is made up of strains
similar to ones likely to be
circulating in North Amer-
ica, and vaccination is espe-
cially important for people
with chronic health condi-
tions and weaker immune
systems and their caregiv-
ers, the DSHS said.
Additional information
about influenza and ways
to stop the spread of the flu
virus can be found online at
texasflu.org.
Ag chief hosts show
Texas Agriculture Com-
missioner Sid Miller in
mid-December announced
he would host a new weekly
television show to premiere
on the RFD-TV network.
The first show is set to air
on Jan. 21.
The show, Texas Agricul-
ture Matters, will spotlight
Texas agriculture for 52
million viewers nationwide,
according to Miller’s of-
fice. The show is produced
by RFD-TV in agreement
with the Texas Department
of Agriculture and recorded
at the RFD-TV/The Cow-
boy Channel studio in the
Fort Worth Stockyards,
with Miller hosting in his
capacity as Texas agricul-
ture commissioner and re-
ceiving no compensation
for his participation.
/0
o/
Tara Heine
REPORTER
ELGIN SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUPERINTENDENT -
Dr. Jodi Duron
512-281-3434
Gail Schobey
OFFICE MANAGER
ar@elgincourier.com
Dock Jackson
REPORTER
E
Jim Beaver
PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING
publisher@elgincourier.com
Board of Trustees:
• President Byron Mitchell,
Dis. 1
• Vice President Beth Walter-
scheidt, Dis. 3
• Parliamentarian Angie Ed-
mon, Dis. 4
• Geno Chavarria, Dis. 2
• J.D. Harkins, Dis. 5
• Juanita Valarie Neidig, Dis. 6
• David Glass, Dis. 7
BASTROP COUNTY
COUNTY JUDGE-Paul Pape
512-332-7201
SHERIFF - Maurice Cook
512-549-5100
COUNTY COURT AT LAW -
Judge Benton Eskew
512-581-4277
CITY OF ELGIN
MAYOR - Chris Cannon
512-516-0813
CITY MANAGER - Tom Mattis
512-281-5724
POLICE CHIEF-Patrick South
512-285-5757
FIRE CHIEF - Randy Reyna
512-281-4025
In the trials of the Nazis in Ger-
many for the Holocaust, after all
of the evil-doers were tried and
punished, when the world sought
the roots of the evil, German
court judges were brought to trial.
Before the Nazis came to power,
Germany was a republic with law
support for human rights. The
judges being tried were respected
jurists who had wide reputations
for fairness and wisdom. However,
these judges were coerced by the
Nazis into granting them warrants
to spy on, take property of, and
eventually arrest and destroy their
victims. These august judges never
turned down a warrant request of
the Nazis.
Does this sound currently famil-
iar?
After all of the excuses that
we are currently hearing and
e}
yo,
Ron Ramirez
SPORTS EDITOR, CIRCULATION
ronram512@yahoo.com
COMMISSIONERS:
• Mel Hamner (Pct.l)
512-332-7295
• Clara Beckett (Pct.2)
512-360-2764
• Mark Meuth (Pct.3)
512-303-6800
• Donna Snowden (Pct.4)
512-332-7267
Elgin City Council:
• Mary Penson (Ward 1)
512-281-4158
• Jessica Bega (Ward 1)
512-653-1900
• Juan Gonzalez (Ward 2)
512-285-6499
• Susie Arreaga (Ward 2)
512-750-8178
• Daniel Lopez (Ward 3)
512-281-5724
• Brad Jones (Ward 3)
512-922-6418
• Sue Brashar (Ward 4)
512-689-5692
• Forest Dennis (Ward 4)
512-483-1818
Heather Ott
ADVERTISING SALES/N.I.E. DIRECTOR
ads@elgincourier.com
Justices Of The Peace:
• Cindy Allen (Pct.l)
512-581-4258
• Raymah Davis (Pct.2)
512-581-7112
• Katherine Hanna (Pct.3)
512-332-7288
• Larry Dunne (Pct.4)
512-581-7162
Ed
STERLING
Julianne Hodges
REPORTER
julianne.hodges@elgincourier.com
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debating, our FISA Court (Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court)
has turned down only one war-
rant request by our government
enforcement out of about four
thousand warrant requests!
Let me briefly review the FISA
Court history and purpose. Sev-
eral years ago, our Patriot Act was
passed. The act recognized that the
war on terrorism was being fought
everywhere and could involve
U.S. citizens. Sometimes, foreign
conspiracies could willingly or not
encroach on our citizens. Also,
our conventional warrant sys-
tem, which preserved the citizens’
rights, could not be used since it
would reveal our plans against the
enemy. Thus, the FISA Court, an
essentially secret court, was set up
to grant necessary warrants but
to safeguard the rights of our in-
volved citizens. This was a sacred
trust because we all understand
that freedom dies in secrecy.
ELGIN COURIER
(U.S.P.S. 172-740)
2
Out of county
One year ................. $44
Out of state
One year ................. $49
4
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Revenue total is higher
Texas Comptroller Glenn
Hegar on Jan. 3 reported
that state sales tax revenue
totaled $3.01 billion in the
month of December, 4.8%
more than the amount re-
ported for December 2018.
“Growth in state sales tax
revenue was led by receipts
from the construction, in-
formation services and
The Elgin Courier is
published weekly
by Blacklands
Publications, Inc.
at 105 North Main,
Elgin, Bastrop County,
TX 78621. Established
in 1890. Periodical
postage paid at Elgin,
Texas, 78621. Any
erroneous reflection
upon character,
standing, or reputation
of any individual, firm
or organization that
may appear in the
columns of this paper
will be corrected if
brought to the attention
of the publisher.
We do not hold
ourselves responsible
for the views of our
correspondents.
© 2019 Elgin Courier.
All rights reserved.
Material may not be reproduced
without written permission.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick released
statements following a
deadly shooting on Dec. 29
at West Freeway Church of
Christ in White Settlement,
a city of 16,000 people on
the west side of Fort Worth.
Two church members
were killed in the shoot-
ing, which occurred during
Sunday services. A possible
motive for the shooting is
under investigation.
The shooter was shot and
killed at the scene by a
member of the congrega-
tion who is a member of the
church’s volunteer security
detail and is a firearms in-
structor.
“Places of worship are
meant to be sacred and I
am grateful for the church
members who acted quickly
to take down the shooter
and help prevent further
loss of life,” Abbott said.
Patrick said the Texas De-
partment of Public Safety is
leading the investigation in
cooperation with the White
Settlement Police Depart-
ment, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the
Tarrant County Sheriff’s
Office.
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OPINION POLICY
The Elgin Courier Letters to the Editor column is an open
forum offering opportunities to the public to comment on
issues of interest or concern to the community. 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 Friday at noon. It is our
policy not to print letters with political opinions, ideals
or views after early voting begins. All letters must be
signed and include the address and phone number of
the author. The Courier will not withhold the name of
letter writers and anonymous letters will be discarded.
Send e-mails to publisher@elgincourier.com. Website
is www.elgincourier.com. Call 512-285-3333. News and
ad copy deadline is Friday at 5 p.m. Letters to Editor
deadline is Friday at noon.
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST
Award Winner
—===s 2018 ===s
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“ r
restaurant sectors,” Hegar
said in a news release.
“While revenue growth
was slightly buoyed by col-
lections from remote sell-
ers and online marketplace
providers, collections from
retail trade were depressed
due to significantly fewer
Christmas shopping days
in November this year com-
pared to the previous year.”
The majority of December
sales tax revenue is based
on sales made in November
and remitted to the agency
in December. Total sales
tax revenue for the three
months ending in Decem-
ber 2019 was up 6.0% com-
pared to the same period a
year ago.
Sales tax is the largest
source of state funding for
the state budget, account-
ing for 57% of all tax col-
lections, according to the
comptroller’s office.
In December 2019, Texas
collected the following
revenue from other major
taxes:
Motor vehicle sales and
rentals, $427.3 million, up
7.9% from December 2018;
Motor fuel, $310.7 mil-
lion, down 1.1% from De-
cember 2018;
Natural gas production,
$114.0 million, down 33.8%
from December 2018; and
Oil production, $362.5
Toll hike takes effect
The Texas Department
of Transportation’s annual
toll rate increase took effect
Jan. 1.
According to TxDOT, the
biggest increase will be felt
by drivers who still pay by
mail, as the surcharge for
those transactions will in-
crease to 50% of the base
rate paid by all toll users.
Motorists with a TxTag
account will experience
an even larger compara-
tive discount on tolls - a
discount of 33% compared
to Pay By Mail rates, the
agency said in a late-De-
cember news release.
The 50 percent surcharge
for Pay By Mail transac-
tions helps defray the rising
administrative costs asso-
ciated with these mailed
payments, such as viewing
license plate images, gener-
ating and mailing invoices
and processing payments.
Raising the surcharge to
50% also brings TxDOT
Pay By Mail rates in line
with other toll authorities
in Austin and Dallas and
across the country, and
further incentivizes having
a TxTag account.
— P
•___ a
Subscription
Rates
Payable in advance
In County
One year ..................$41
J.
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Phone:512-285-3333
Fax:512-285-9406
publisher@elgincourier.com
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Hodges, Julianne. Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 8, 2020, newspaper, January 8, 2020; Elgin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1555534/m1/4/?q=Houston+County+Times+: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Elgin Public Library.