The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 2005 Page: 3 of 32
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hemphill County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hemphill County Library.
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
THURSDAY 3 MARCH 2005
State Capital
Highlights
By Mike Cox
TmspmsssssomrwH
AUSTIN—If the prospect of legalized casino gambling in
Texas amounted to a poker game, no one's shuffled the cards
yet, but the seal's been broken on a new deck and the ante's
on the table.
That happened February 24 when a Republican house
member and a Democratic senator filed legislation calling for
a vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow up to a
dozencasinos in Texas.
As many as seven casinos could be located in major metro-
politan areas, two on the coast and three wherever they had
the best opportunity of improving the community's economy.
Measures filed by Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth and
Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston will need a two-thirds vote in
both chambers and the governor's signature, but if that hap-
pens, Texans will get to vote on Nov. 8 to create a Texas Gam-
ing Commission that would license and regulate casinos.
Even if voters approve a constitutional amendment, final
authority to open a casino would rest on a local option elec-
tion.
In announcing their resolutions, the two lawmakers said
casino gambling would bring insome $2.1 billionayear for the
state and another $730 millionfor local governments. Neither
legislator offered odds, but both said they think they have a
shot at getting the amendment on the ballot.
Rep. Kino Flores (D-Mission) earlier filed a bill that would
allow 24 casinos in the state, still contingent on approval of a
constitutional amendment.
End of line for Railroad Commission?
The Texas Railroad Commission had its start in 1891
during the administration of Gov. James Hogg. One hundred
fourteen years later, a name change could be coming down
the track.
Rep. Corbin Van Arsalde (R-Houston) has filed House
Joint Resolution 42, a measure thatwould put a constitutional
amendment on the ballot to rename the regulatory agency the
Texas Energy Commission. Rep. Buddy West (R-Odessa)
has filed a similar piece of legislation, House Bill 1078.
The two lawmakers would like to see the agency renamed
because it doesn't have much at all to do with railroads these
days. It did when it was created, but oil and gas regulation
long ago eclipsed the RRC's role with railroads.
Traffic program hits red light
Garland city officials say using cameras at intersections
to discourage drivers from running red lights has resulted
in a 20 percent decrease in the dangerous offense.
But the House on February 24 passed on first reading
House Bill 1347, a measure by Rep. Gary Elkins (R-Hous-
ton) that would make the red light enforcement tool illegal
in Texas.
Elkins argues that the presence of the cameras, which
photograph the license plates of vehicles going through an
intersection after a light has changed, increases rear-end
crashes and has more to do with municipal revenue-genera-
tion than safety.
The House member from Garland, fellow Republican
Joe Driver, says using the cameras lowers the number of
collisions and saves lives.
The House will have to vote on the bill one more time
before it goes to the Senate.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Whose job is it?
UNACCEPTABLE TRASH IS COVERING
our highway right of ways. This is caused by
trashy people who apparently feel they are
not responsible for their actions. Much of this
trash comes from the back ends of pick-ups
that people consider an open-topped dump-
ster. The balance comes from vehicle win-
dows. Let's not make excuses for our Texas
pride.
A mattress, for the last couple of weeks,
has adorned the edge of the scenic Canadian
Valley view on the east side of Highway 60f
83. Rubber chunks from tires, boxes, bottles,
cans and paper goods create a varied assort-
ment of discards. Broken glass from bottles
cuts wildlife and seems to stay on the; scene
forever. Why would we do this to our environ-
ment?
Granted, we are blessed with Buddy King,
BP, Sampson, Canadian Rotary Club, and
some other groups and individuals who will
bend at the waist to clean up. We need to illu-
minate trash and take this problem seriously
as it reflects on us all.
CAROLINE CORNETT
P.S. I will pickup the mattress next week if it
is still there.
EDITOR'S NOTE: We've heard a number of
complaints about the growing amount of
litter on our roadways recently, and have
observed the problem firsthand with increas-
ing alarm.
Following Caroline Comett's visit to The
Record office Tuesday, we called Mark Dor-
ris at the local TxDOT office to ask who was
responsible for clearing trash from along our
highways. Dorris said there is no money in
his local budget for trash pickup, but that his
crews are happy to pick up large objects when
notified of the need. He also said TxDOT is
grateful for any help they receive from vol-
unteer organisations that get in the Adopt-A-
Highway and Texas Trash-Off programs.
Dorris agreed to provide us with more in-
formation about both of these programs. Fol-
lowing our phone call with him, we were con-
tacted by TxDOT's new Public Information
Officer Paul Brown, who reiterated Dorris'
offer, and agreed to a telephone interview
next week on the subject.
We will follow up with more information
about roadside litter removal, and will at-
tempt to draw greater attention to the prob-
lem and to possible solutions in future is-
sues of The Record. We will also encourage
local and area law enforcement agencies to
become more aggressive in issuing citations
for highway littering, and hope our readers
will do the same.
But the bottom line—and we all should
carefully heed it—is that we are
each responsible for the mess we
make and for the disregard for
our environment that we exhibit,
and by example, teach others. At
a point where we are pleading
with TxDOT to honor and pre-
serve the beauty of our roadivays
by not removing the beautiful
old-growth trees that shade them,
we must also demonstrate our
own willingness to preserve that
natural beauty by cleaning up
the considerable mess we seem
only too willing to leave behind.
—LEB
r.&m&
u.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 2005, newspaper, March 3, 2005; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220670/m1/3/?q=%22Places+-+United+States+-+Texas+-+Hemphill+County+-+Canadian%22: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.