The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 16, 1985 Page: 4 of 46
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Opinion
THE ALBANY NEWS
THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1985, ALBANY, TEXAS 76430
PAGE 4-A
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The Albany News
Since 1875
Oldest Journalistic venture west of the Brazos
Editor/Publisher
Donnie A. Lucas
Managing Editor
Melinda L. Lucas
Composition
Susan Sanders
Staff Reporter
Donna Barranger
Office Assistant
Tammi Halbert
Moran Correspondent
Audrey Brooks
editorial
Class of 1985
There's a challenging and exciting
world out there awaiting all of you
Albany High School graduating
seniors. You've completed a very
significant phase in your young lives
and now bigger and better experi-
ences lie ahead.
Whatever path each of you may ven
ture onto, remember that the friends
and neighbors in this community will
be behind you with continued sup
port.
We'll be rooting for you every step of
the way . . . because your future is
also ours.
Congratulations
& best wishes!
policy
THE ALBANY NEWS
PO Box 278
Albany. Texas 76430
Second clasa postage paid at Albany. Texas 76430
USPS publication number012400
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
RATES
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Albany & Moran $11.00
including tax, Texas addresses $13.00 in-
cluding tax. other U.S. addresses 615.00,
foreign addresses available upon application.
ADVERTISING: National rate $2.10 per
column inch, 15C per line. Local rate $1.75
per column inch. Notices & classified ads 10<t
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paid in advance.
AFFILIATIONS
1985 MEMBER: Texas Press Association,
West Texas Press Association.
All letters to the editor must be signed by the
author and include a complete address and
telephone number. Only the writer's name
and city will appear in print. The complete
address and telephone number will be kept
on file. Send letters to THE ALBANY NEWS.
PO Box 278. Albany TX 76430.
CORRECTIONS
Any erroneous reflection upon the character,
reputation or standing of any individual, firm
or corporation will be corrected when notifi-
cation in writing is given to the publisher
within 10 days after publication.
ponderings by pat
By Pat Lidia Jones
People Magazine is my favorite weekly
publication, right after the Albany
News. I subscribe to that magazine for
several of my favorite people.
That sounds very simple, and it was,
until December, when it was time to re-
new the subscriptions I had given as
Christmas gifts the year before.
I got several notes, thanking me, and
saying that they had had a notification
from People Magazine informing them
that they would be receiving it weekly
for another year.
Early in January, I received notice
that my own subscription to People
was expiring and, "Now is the time to
renew." Fine. I sent in my money.
Then the first signs that there was
trouble in paradise. One by one, I heard
from my kids, my sister, my cousin —
no People Magazine.
We contacted People's subscription
department. When I renewed my own
subscription, they had cancelled all my
gifts. They had credited all of it to me. I
would be getting five years of People
Magazine.
After a number of calls and letters,
all my folks started receiving the mag
azine again. Wonderful! All straight-
ened out.
But, no. That was the last People
Magazine that / received. More letters,
more calls. When the dust settled, they
informed me that all the magazines
they'd sent to me had been returned to
them by our post office.
Surely not, we thought, so we asked
for a double check on our address.
They didn't have me at all, but they
had cancelled: Mrs. A. Jones, Box 20,
Albany, Texas 76430.
That's not far off, since my box num
ber is 206. Nonetheless, we inquired at
our local post office. They'd sent no
magazines back. I didn't think they had
because in the past we've gotten mail
simply addressed "206, 76430."
Next I received a check for $40.66; no
explanation. I was sure it was not a
gift. By now, we knew our problem was
buried deep in the depths of a comput
er — the worse kind of terminal obliv-
ion. It reminded me of a story.
I remember reading of a man who
had been a member of a book of the-
month-type club. He wanted out of it,
so he wrote, asking that his member
ship be cancelled.
He received no response to his re-
quest; instead, each month, he contin
ued to receive books, and bills for
them. He didn't pay for the books, mail-
ing them back to the club instead. They
came back to him, plus others, plus the
bills for the books, plus threatening let-
ters about law suits for failure to pay.
And more books, and more books.
In desperation one day, he had an in
spired idea. He filled in the "change of
address" blank with the mailing ad
dress of the book club. He never re
ceived another piece of mail from them.
He said that when he had a bad day,
all he needed, to brighten his mood,
was to lean back, close his eyes, and
think that somewhere in New York
City, huge stacks of books, bills, and
threatening letters were piling up in
the book club's mail room. The thought
never failed to,"make his day." Just
the story makes my day.
Yesterday, A.V. said, "Pat, I need to
have a serious talk with you." All my
indescretions, past, present, and fu-
ture, flashed through my mind.
"Serious?" 1 quavered.
"Yes, Pat, I know you want these
people to receive your favorite maga
zine because you like it so much, but I
think you need to approach things a dif-
ferent way."
I was so relieved, I would have
agreed to anything.
Come Christmas 1985, I'll be sending
a check, a blank People Magazine sub
scription form, and a note, saying, "If
you want to subscribe to this magazine
go for it. But I don't want to hear about
it. Love and Merry Christmas."
state capital highlights
By Lyndell Williams
The Legislature moved one step clos
er to dodging a tax bullet last week
when the Senate approved a $36.8 bil-
lion budget similar to a House version
already passed.
Like the House budget bill, the Sen
ate bill does not require a tax increase
to balance the budget.
But it does raise several state fees
by $220 million, which is $100 million
more than fees raised by the House,
and it provides no across-the-board pay
increase for state employees.
After the House rejected the Senate
bill, a conference committee was
named of senators Grant Jones, Ed
Howard, Ray Farabee, John Traeger
and Kent Caperton, and representa-
tives Jim Rudd, Jim McWilliams,
Frank Madia, Bill Hollowell, and Mike
Toomey. All are Democrats except
Toomey, a Republican.
The Legislature must act to raise
tuition at state colleges and universi-
ties as well as the state user fees in or
der to avoid raising taxes.
Water Plan Passed
Both chambers gave final approval
to the Texas Water Plan compromise
package, a proposed constitutional
amendment, that will sell $980 million
in water development bonds ^uifl $200
million in agricultural water conserva-
tion bonds. II
Voters will decide in November
whether to allow the sale to finance va-
rious water projects statewide, jnclud
ing reservoir construction, flood con-
trol, water recycling, sewage and
drainage, subsidence control and soil
and water conservation.
"White Oil" Feud
The Senate postponed, and may have
killed, a bill deciding the multi-million-
dollar fate of "white oil," or oil pro-
duced from refrigeration of natural gas
by independent oil producers.
Texas Press Association
The independents want to keep the
natural gas as a by product of their oil
wells, but major oil companies main
tain their mineral rights allow them to
be paid for the by-product.
Texas Comptroller Bob Bullock has
warned the Legislature that recent
regulatory rulings could result in a tax
loss of $100 million annually to the
state.
The controversy is heightened by
the involvement of former Democratic
Congressman Kent Hance, who has
formally switched parties for a proba
ble governor's race, and former Demo-
cratic House Speaker Bill Clayton, who
is rumored to be considering the same
move.
Hance lobbys for the independents,
Clayton for the majors. And some Sen-
ate Democrats are not in the mood to
aid either one.
Loef tier's Hat, Too
Immediately following Hance's
crossover, U.S. Representative Tom
Loeffler, R Hunt, threw his hat in the
ring, too, by naming a campaign trea-
surer.
While Hance was openly recruited
by another party defector, U.S. Sena-
tor Phil Gramm, in an effort to induce
more conservative Democrats to
switch parties, Loeffler was encour-
aged by former Governor Bill Clem-
ents to enter the race.
Safe-Deposit Sale
Texas Treasurer Ann Richards last
weekend held a public sale of un-
claimed safe-deposit box property
which included hundreds of rare coins,
antique jewelry, and pocket watches.
The 11,000-plus items became state
property after being unclaimed for sev-
en years, but this was the first state
auction of such.
letters to the editor
Dear Editor,
I hope I may use this means of ex-
pressing appreciation to two individu-
als in your town.
Last Thursday night on our way to
Abilene for our daughter's graduation
from Abilene Christian University, we
had car trouble. We made it to Allsups
and had called our daughter to come
get us, thinking we would leave the car
there and come back the next morning
to get it repaired.
A customer, whose first name was
Janet, realized our difficulty and caned
a mechanic she knew. He was there
shortly and took us to his shop where
necessary repairs were done.
So — because of Janet and the gen-
tleman from Anderson's Muffler Shop
we were only a couple hours late get
ting to Abilene.
We really appreciate this willing-
ness to helpl
Carole and A1 Postelwait
Enid, Oklahoma
HOW,WN WiT
m APVIS0R IS
E.RUUTTON
ANPWUEN
E.P.UUTT0N
TALKS
up & down the street
By Elsa Turner
It's 5:00 a.m. as I write this, and chil-
ly. You can't help noticing it when the
temperature takes a plunge from 66 to
47 degrees at this time of day. The rain
was a great blessing even though some
may have had a little too much, and
some may have had hail damage.
Creeks and ravines poured water into
surface tanks and lakes, insuring a
good supply for the summer months.
Wrapped in my long robe and poncho
and slippers and very comfortable, I
am ready to describe to you the shape
of events this week as we go up and
down the street. From where I sit,
things look interesting. Boy, does this
coffee taste good!
About two hours from now, the So-
journers Class at my church will host a
breakfast for the graduating class of
AHS. The custom was initiated a num
ber of years ago by United Methodist
Women, and we are so proud that the
younghearted Sunday School class
wants to carry on. The Class of 1985,
AHS, numbers only 20 but as in many
things it's the quality that counts. May
they always stay as sweet as they are,
and may they go with God throughout
their lives. Amen.
Fred Tucker will provide the pro-
gram Wednesday at our church family
night supper. Fred is the young man
from South Africa who has been work-
ing at the Matthews Ranch for the past
several months, learning Watt's agri-
cultural habits. He had evidently gone
to church all his life, as that's what he
has done in our midst, and we will re-
gret his departure within the next few
weeks. He will be returning to his
home family ranch.
The Sidewalk Fair, scheduled for
Saturday, May 18, promises to be the
usual big bloomer. Fairs and festivals
in small towns are very popular now,
and we are glad that ours stands tall
and draws so many people. Remember
to put something into it and in so doing
you will get more out of it. See you on
the sidewalk, all day Saturday!
Drive out Cook Field road for a gor
geous sight of thistles blooming shoul-
der high; something you will never
forget. A friend of more than 50 years
had thistles at her wedding, great bou-
quets of them, on a May day in a season
such as this. Her attendants wore short
thistle-colored silk voile frocks and car-
ried single thistle blooms tied with
pink and purple ribbons. When you get
a lot of these flowers together, they
have a faint but very sweet perfume.
Being of Scotch descent, I do enjoy the
thistles. We have them every year, but
not often as gorgeous as they are now.
Alexene Garlitz tells me that June 2
is the date of the projected tour of Fort
Davis. In discussion I have made the
startling discovery that not everyone
around here knows about Fort Davis.
It was a citizen fort built during the
Civil War period for the corporate pro-
tection of folks living in this area at
that time. Located on the Clear Fork
River across the line in Stephens Coun-
ty, it was immortalized in the diaries of
Samuel P. Newcomb and Susan Rey-
nolds Newcomb who spent the early
years of their married life within the
fort. I think there were about 30 fami-
lies there, with many other people com
ing and going. It is a strange but very
interesting phase of our local history of
the frontier.
Community Calendar
MAY 16
MAY 17
MAY 17
MAY 18
MAY 19
MAY 20
MAY 21
MAY 22
MAY 23
Nutrition Program Meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Lions Club Luncheon - Longhorn. 12 noon
Mental Health Clinic - Depot, 1-4:30 pm
Spring Band Concert - AHS Auditorium, 7 pm
Chamber of Commerce Luncheon - Longhorn,
12 noon
Community Action Program - Depot, 10 am-3 pm
Junior-Senior Banquet - NSES Cafeteria, 7 pm
Fandangle Rehearsal - NSES, 8 pm
19 Tennis Tournament - AHS Tennis Courts
Sidewalk Fair - Downtown Albany, 9:30 am
Cystic Fibrosis Movin-on-a-thon - Courthouse, 10 am
All-Sports Banquet - NSES Cafeteria, 7:30 pm
Golf Scramble - Albany Golf Course, 1:30 pm
Baccalaureate - AHS Auditorium, 8 pm
Hospital Board - Board Room, 1 pm
Alpha Zeta Epsilon Meeting - Margie Tidwell's
home, 7 pm
Nutrition Program Meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Ladies Golf Assn. - Golf Course, 1:30 pm
AHS Graduation - AHS Auditorium, 8 pm
Nutrition Program Meal - Youth Center, 11:30
Kiwanis Luncheon - Ft. Griffin Gen. Mdse., 12 noon
Airport Opening - Albany Municipal Airport, 5 pm
West Central Texas Municipal Water District Board
Meeting - Abilene, 9 am
NSES Graduation - AHS Auditorium, 7 pm
am
fWPNational
£_jBanlt of Albany
MEMBER FDIC 9
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 16, 1985, newspaper, May 16, 1985; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth401603/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.