The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 1990 Page: 4 of 28
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Opinion
PAGE 4-A
'
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1990, ALBANY, TEXAS 76430
THE ALBANY NEWS
The Albany News
Since 1875
Oldest journalistic venture west of the Brazos
Editor/Publisher
Donnie A. Lucas
Managing Editor
Melinda L. Lucas
Composition
Betty Balliew
Advertising
Letha Key
Moran Correspondent
Audrey Brooks
Office Assistant
Betty Law
Office Assistant
Jana McCoy
editorial
23 riujli,there caw* wise mm from,
east Jerusalem,
Hi* east, anb m come to worship him.
Jttatthtfu z: \-2s
At this special time of year,
our thanks and best wishes
go to everyone in the community.
'S311
policy
THE ALBANY NEWS
lUSIfi 012400) in published weekly for £14 per year for
BubtM'iiptloris within Sltaikelford County. 816 per year
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Main. Albanv. Texan 76430. Second-class postage paid
ut Albany. Texas POSTMASTER: Send .lddress changes
to THE ALHANY NEWS. I'O l)ox 278 Albany. Ttxas
76430
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AFFILIATIONS
1990 MEMBER: Texas Press Association,
West Texas Press Association.
ponderings by pat
By Put Lidit Jones
Part Two: Christmas Stockings
Stockings continued to play a major
role in our family Christmas tradition,
although fruit, nuts and candy had
been discontinued by request. They
were replaced by gadgety things like
yo-yos that glowed in the dark, bags of
gold "coins" that were actually
chocolates, and gag gifts. Coins
escalated into bills. Everything took
more thought and planning.
When Van was a freshman at Rice
University, he brought his roommate
home with him to spend Christmas. It
was the "roomie's" first Christmas; he
was Jewish. He was fascinated by
everything, and we found ourselves ex-
plaining traditions that we had taken
for granted before.
I didn't even think of extra stockings
that year until sometime during the
early evening on Christmas Eve. The
stores were already closed, so I had a
problem; Darrold must have a stocking.
Improvision is one of my long suits, so
it wasn't long before I had the dog's
stocking in hand, and was carefully
picking out the stitches that spelled
out NIGEL.
I hurriedly embroidered DARROLD
in red on the stocking. My Yorkie Nigel
wouldn't mind receiving his treats in a
sack rather than a sock.
All went well. Darrold loved hanging
his stocking alongside Van's, Patti's
and K.C.'s, and then finding it filled the
next morning. That is, all went well un-
til little brother K.C., bursting with the
secret, simply could not resist telling
our guest about his stocking's former
owner. To Darrold's credit, he took in-
heriting the dog's stocking so well that
when he left, he took the sock with him.
A few years later when we were a
family of adults, we changed the stock-
ing routine a bit. We drew names at
Thanksgiving, and who had whose
name was a deep dark secret.
It was great fun, and we enjoyed it
immensely. The stocking contents
were hilarious, and most of us shopped
for our gifts all year long. Piper, K.C.,
Patti and Van did far more clever en-
joyable stockings than I did, and / did
better than the family patriarch.
A.V. never really got With the stock-
ing exchange. It was not that his
choices were not good; on the contrary,
his gifts were generally the best ones.
It was just that rarely did he select
anything that fit into a stocking. The
recipient might find his or her stocking
empty with a great gift lying on the
hearth below. That's how I received a
luggage cart one year, and some of the
others, sporting goods equipment.
Now the stocking tradition will
undergo another metamorphosis. With
three young children who get stock-
ings filled by Santa, and our family
split into three different households,
we will drop the adult stocking ex-
change. It was fun while it lasted; now
we move on.
And after all, that's what tradition's
all about — to slide up or down and ad-
just as the family's size and situations
change.
This year, we share Jay Hardaway
with his father and other grandmother,
Nina. His mother and stepfather, Patti
and Jess Holloway, will be with Jess'
three daughters, Caprice, Dorcas, and
Rachel, part of the time. Piper's
mother, Barbara, and sisters, Leslie
and Beverly, will join the Albany part
of the family this year.
Van is gone from us, so we won't en-
joy the singing of Silver Bells and Pat-
ti's and Van's own special rendition of
Rudolph the Rea-nosed Reindeer, as
we have in past years. Time will help.
The work socks, the red velvet chil-
dren's stockings have given way to
stunning works of needlepoint art. Our
Patti did stockings for her dad and me.
A.V.'s has oil rigs and Texas flora and
fauna on it. Mine boasts a beautifully
decorated tree with lots of gift-
wrapped packages underneath. There
is even Little Orphan Annie with San-
dy under the tree.
During Van's last days, he took great
interest in the Christmas stocking his
sister was needlepointing for him. She
put in the last stitch while he watched
as she sat with him in the hospital. It is
a snow-covered tree in the forest with
one beautiful red bird perched in its
branches. Van was very pleased with it
even though he knew, as all of us did,
that it would never be used.
So things change, and we do too. But
Christmas comes, and the joy of the
season and its jnessage never, nqyer
let us down. v*r ^
May your Christmas be a time of !
great love and liope for the most holy
of our celebrations.
pmr Ntwu
CVtR\STMA5
■EVtl
state capital highlights
letters to the editor
Town of Albany,
The soldiers of Operation Desert
Shield '90 would like to ask for anyone
willing to send mail to them. The age
requirements are from first grade upl
They just want to write to someone
who cares about what they're doing
over herel
I volunteered to write to Albany
because I have family there. I am the
son of June Hawkins, and the brother
of Joe and Richard Malaer.
I hope that you will at least consider
printing this letter for those who
would like to write. The address is TM-
F 3/43 ADA, Operation Desert Shield,
APO, New York, NY 09852.
Thank you,
Jerry D. Malaer
Sgt. U.S. Army
Dear Editor:
I always enjoy reading Audrey
Brooks' "Baling Wire and Memories."
Her December 6 column touched my
heart. Each time I make the drive
home by the "Big Dam" she mentioned,
I too feel sad that so much has changed.
I've heard stories from Mother and
Daddy about trips they made to Cisco
Dam and park by Model T when the old
zoo was there. Though things had
changed when I was growing up, family
picnics or class parties were events
always enjoyed. There were a lot of
things to do at the park. And though
some things do change that we wish
could just stay and always be, as Mrs.
Brooks stated, one that remains are
those beautiful oak trees.
Being a tree lover and the oak being
my favorite, this is one of the things I
miss most about home. It is amazing
how a few miles can make such a dif-
ference. As you go south and east into
Eastland County you see more trees.
Native pecan, cottonwood, cedar and
fruit orchards mixed in other trees and
those beautiful oaks.
They are something to behold each
season, always standing strong, always
there, comforting almost like a friend. I
remember swinging high as I could in
my homemade swing in the old China
berry tree trying to reach the tops of
the oak trees in the woods nearby. I
would close my eyes and swing high
dreaming of other places. But this
place, these trees —there is no other
place like it. It's beautiful —it's homel
Glenda Steddum
By Lyndell Williams
The current storm at the Texas
Capitol picked up intensity last week.
As Gov.-elect Ann Richards pre-
pared to take the reins of state govern-
ment, the status quo is cracking from
the House chamber to the courtrooms
to the University of Texas tower:
•Word spread through Capitol halls
that more subpoenas would be handed
down in a grand jury probe of legisla-
tor-lobbyist coziness;
•Embattled House Speaker Gib
Lewis, the chief target of the probe,
filed suit to stop the district attorney
from "spoon-feeding" grand jurors;
•A state district judge ruled that the
Texas sodomy law, which outlaws
homosexual acts, was unconstitutional;
and
•Richards was expected to appoint
the first black ever, Rep. Zan Homes of
Dallas, as a regent of the University of
Texas System.
Lewis Fires Back
Speaker Lewis filed a lawsuit tu
force prosecutors to make public all
secret subpoenas issued in the probe
and to lift the order preventing wit-
nesses from discussing the investiga-
tion. .
Lewis said District Attorney Ronnie
Earle is "spoon-feeding jurors and
abusing their power."
"The speaker of the House is a ver,
powerful person and he knows who the
witnesses will be. That will have a chill-
ing effect on those witnesses," Earle
responded.
The grand jury is looking at whether
Lewis acted improperly when he took a
free luxury vacation to Mexico in 1987
with members of a San Antonio law
firm which later paid a share of his
delinquent tax bill.
Of the six women, including a topless
dancer, who accompanied them, two
reportedly have been subpoenaed and
one testified last week.
Lewis hired Glenn Smith, campaign
manager of Richards' primary cam-
paign and a former Houston Post
reporter, as his spokesman.
Hannah Appointed
Richards, who has yet to comment on
the investigation, spotlighted the issue
by announcing former federal prosecu-
tor John Hannah as her secretary of
state.
The secretary of state's office keeps
reports on lobby gifts and donations to
lawmakers and on campaign and office-
holder expenditures.
Hannah, who helped rewrite ethics
laws as a '70s legislator, signaled he
will keep strict tabs on lawmakers
when he said, "Every public official has
an absolute duty to conduct them-
selves ethically at all times in their
public affairs."
Meanwhile, speculation was that
Richards will name her general elec-
tion campaign manager, Mary Beth
Rogers, as chief of staff, and Austin at-
torney Jane Hickie as appointments
secretary.
Mosbacher Resigns
Robert Mosbacher Jr., chairman of
the board that oversees the financially
troubled Texas Department of Human
Services, announced his resignation
from the panel.
Mosbacher, a Republican who lost
the lieutenant governor's rt\ce to Bob
Bullock, said he will leave the board
after its January 16 meeting.
He will probably assume a leader-
ship role in rebuilding the Texas Re-
publican Party, which took a beating in
last month's election.
Meanwhile, the comptroller's office
has found an extra $1.2 billion more for
this cycle to cover part of the welfare
deficit.
Other Highlights
•The Internal Revenue Service has
set December 27 for a public auction to
sell Willie Nelson's Austin-area proper-
ty to ensure payment of $16.7 million in
back taxes.
The property, which was seized by
the IRS late last month, includes
Nelson's Pedernales recording studio,
country club and golf course on 689
acres.
Texas business today
By Commissioner Mary Scott Nabers
Dear Commissioner Nabers: I work as
a driver for a local transit authority
and am represented by a union. Man-
agement for the transit authority fre-
quently requires drivers to report to
them outside of working hours for
counseling, discipline, or explanation
when customer complaints are re-
ceived. We are not paid for this time. Is
it legal for an employer to compel peo-
ple to report outside of working hours
without pay f I have been told that the
transit authority is a branch of state
government and is exempt from the
provisions of the Fair Labor Standards
Act. Do we as employees have any re-
course 1
-C.W.
Dear C.W.: I believe you have been
given wrong information. State, county
and municipal governments are all sub-
ject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. If
your union does not have a legal coun-
sel who can show you the authority for
your employer's actions, I would then
suggest that you file a complaint with
the Houston regional office of the U.S.
Department of Labor, Wage and Hour
Division. Their number is 713/760-1682.
Only the DOL can rule on whether your
employer's practice is legal under the
Fair Labor Standards Act.
Commissioner Mary Scott Nabers
represents all Texas employers. If you
have any questions you want ans-
wered, please write Commissioner
Nabers at Texas Business Today, 614
TEC Building, 16th and Congress, Aus-
tin, Texas 78778.
Community Calendar
DEC. 20
DEC. 21
DEC. 22
DEC. 23
DEC. 24
DEC. 25
DEC. 26
JAN. 1
JAN. 2
JAN. 5
)AN. 9
JAN. 11
JAN. 12
JAN. 14
Commissioners Court - Courthouse, 9 am
Nutrition program meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Lions Club luncheon - Cookshack, 12 noon
Christmas food boxes to be packed - Baptist Church,
1:30 pm
Delivery of Christmas baskets - Baptist Church, 8 am
Chamber of Commerce luncheon - Ft. Griffin, noon
Albany Adult Basketball League meeting
Early Albany News deadline - 4 pm
Christian musical program - Baptist Church, 7:30 pm
Bridge games - Jackson Warehouse, 1:30 pm
CHRISTMAS DAY
Kiwanis Club luncheon - Cookshack, 12 noon
NEW YEAR'S DAY
School classes resume - 7:55 am
Nutrition programmeal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
All-area band auditions
DAR meeting - Nadine Brewster's home
Immunization Clinic - Depot
All-region band concert r Abilene
Teacher workday
FIRST
NATIONAL
BANK
Albany I Brcckcnridge
MamtwCnO
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 1990, newspaper, December 20, 1990; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth394019/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.