Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 24, 2011 Page: 3 of 96
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Murray and Mary Judson
Co-Publishers
Mary Judson Copyright ©2009 Port Aransas South Jetty • All Rights Reserved
Editor
Phone (361) 749-5131 E-mail; southjetty@centurytel.net
Port Aransas South Jetty
PINION
Dave McNeely
Consent form
a deterrent
The form a female must
sign before getting an abortion
is almost by itself enough to
stop her.
As part of his continuing ef-
fort to deter women from hav-
ing abortions, Republican state
Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston
got the Texas Senate to agree
to require sonograms be per-
formed, and can be shown to
the pregnant woman.
The bill requires women to have a sonogram at
least two hours in advance of an abortion, and be
able to see it or sign a form that at least they had
the chance.
The idea is that if women see they are carrying
a living being, they’ll change their minds about
terminating their pregnancies.
Under usual Senate procedures, Patrick needed a
two-thirds vote to bring the bill up, and got exactly
that. Of the 31 senators, 21 voted aye, 10 nay.
That was 21 of the 31 senators voting aye, and
10 voting nay.
The aye votes included three Hispanic Democrats
- Eddie Lucio of Brownsville, Carlos Uresti of
San Antonio, and Judith Zaffirini of Laredo. Some
Hispanic legislators, of Catholic heritage, oppose
abortion on religious grounds.
The other nine Democrats - including Hispanics
Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa of McAllen, Jose Rodriguez
of El Paso, Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio
and Mario Gallegos of Houston - voted against
the measure.
Gallegos said while he is against abortion, he
doesn’t feel the Legislature should put restrictions on
a woman regarding “how to govern her body.”
The lone Republican who voted nay was maverick
Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, who has given
indications he won’t seek re-election in 2012. He
said he’d gotten way more contacts from constituents
opposing the bill than favoring it.
“I am a hairy-legged male who will never be
pregnant myself,” Wentworth said. “I am voting
for my district.”
If the bill contains the same language after the
House gets through with it as it did when it left the
Senate, and it gets gubernatorial approval - very
likely, since Gov. Rick Perry declared it an emer-
gency - here is the bill’s instruction:
“(B)efore receiving a sonogram under Subdivi-
sion (4)(A) and before the abortion is performed the
pregnant woman completes and certifies with her
signature an election form that states as follows:
ABORTION AND SONOGRAM ELECTION
1) The information and printed materials de-
scribed by Sections 171.012(a)( 1 )-(3), Texas Health
and Safety Code, have been provided and explained
to me.
2) I understand the nature and consequences of
an abortion.
3) I understand that I have a right to view the
sonogram images. 1 elect_to view_not to
view the sonogram images.
4) I understand that I have a right to hear the heart
auscultation. I elect_to hear_not to hear
the heart auscultation.
5) Explanation of the sonogram images (check
one of the following):
_Because I am pregnant as a result of a sexual
assault, incest, or other violation of the Texas Penal
Code that has been reported to law enforcement
authorities or that has not been reported because I
reasonably believe that doing so would put me at risk
of retaliation resulting in serious bodily injury.
_Because I am a minor and obtaining an abor-
tion in accordance with judicial bypass procedures
under Chapter 33, Texas Family Code.
_Because my fetus has an irreversible medi-
cal condition or abnormality, as identified by reli-
able diagnostic procedures and documented in my
medical file.
I am making this election of my own free will and
without coercion.
SIGNATURE and DATE
“Auscultation,” in case you were wondering, is
the process of listening to the body’s sounds. In this
case, it refers to the embryo’s heartbeat.
Patrick said the bill is necessary to underline the
importance of the decision a pregnant woman is
making. “I want her to have the right to say, ‘Wow,
that’s my baby,”’ Patrick said.
Van de Putte argued forcefully and without suc-
cess to change the bill. She charged that anti-abortion
activists seem eager to support the fetus until it is
out of the womb, but not afterward.
“It’s our responsibility to protect that child once
the child is bom, too,” and not drastically cut the
budgets for things like pre-kindergarten and vac-
cinations, she said.
“We seem to worship what we cannot see,” Van
de Putte said. “But as soon as that baby is bom, oh
no, government doesn’t want to be intrusive.”
Whitmire told Patrick, “What you’re doing is
making a very tough decision more painful, scarring
women in some instances.”
“If those aborted souls were in the gallery right
now,” Patrick asked Whitmire, “what would you
say to them?”
“Just because I represent a pro-choice view does
not mean that I’m pro-abortion, Whitmire said. It
means as a father of two daughters, I want them to
control their own bodies and make their own intel-
ligent and rational decisions.”
At one point, Van de Putte asked Patrick, “What
happens if a woman gets up and refuses to listen?
“Nothing happens,” Patrick replied. “I can’t con-
trol a woman tuning her doctor out. It’s probably a
15-second explanation.”
*******
The exact language of SB 16 can be found on the
Legislature’s website at:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/bill-
text/pdf/SB00016E.pdf#navpanes=0. The form the
pregnant woman must sign begins on page 4.
Longtime Texas political columnist Dave McNeely,
who retired from the Austin American-Statesman in
2004, writes a weekly column on Texas politics. With
longtime Dallas journalist Jim Henderson, McNeely
is the author of “Bob Bullock: God Bless Texas.
Contact him at davetncneelvlll @email.coni or
(512) 458-2963.
I MIK£TOW%2N? **«
Member:
South Texas Press Association
Texas Gulf Coast Press Association
Texas Press Association
_____National Newspaper Association
Thursday, February 24,2011 3A
Cal Thomas
Thanks for listening; now let’s pass bond issue
The city council deserves our thanks for listening
to the voices of the community and changing its
vote accordingly.
The intention of the council was to save taxpay-
ers money by going with a less ambitious and less
expensive option to rebuild 11th Street.
What the council learned, once the available
options were made public, is that their constituents
want the job to be done right, especially since
the difference in the cost, if figured on a weekly
or monthly basis, is less than it would cost the
average person for soft drinks, beer, bad wine or
cigarettes.
A couple of other interesting points were made
during last Thursday’s council meeting that may
have played a role in the change of heart.
One, made by Councilman John Price who led
the charge to go with the more comprehensive plan,
the recent proliferation of golf carts will be better
served on 11th Street by opting“Tor rebuilding the
entire length of the street.
The other, made by Coun-
cilman Keith Donley, who was
right behind Price in opting
for the $6.4 million option,
is that if you’re going to fix
11th Street, Access Road 1A
is where the fix should start.
In the first option approved,
the majority of improvements
would taper off at Royal Palm
Drive to Access Road 1A - exactly the reverse of
what is logical, according to Donley.
Now that the council has listened, it is our job to
approve the bond issue when it comes before us on
the ballot in May.
Between now and then, if you’re on the fence
about this issue, or if you think you would vote
against it, please talk to a council member or the
city manager and present your questions of objec-
tions. Get the answers that will enable you to cast
a well-informed vote.
Mayor Keith McMullin, who supported the low-
er-priced option primarily because of his concern
for taxpayers’ pocketbooks and apprehension that
voters would not go for the more expensive option,
said he hopes he is proven wrong and will support
the bond issue being put before voters.
Let’s make the mayor’s wish come true and ap-
prove that bond package.
If the city is going to take my tax dollars and put
them to work, I want them to do the job right.
I appreciate the council for listening and respond-
ing to the citizens. I’ll do my part to prove to them
they did the right thing, and to prove the mayor
wrong (and I mean that in the very kindest way).
Mary Henkel Judson is editor and co-
publisher of the South Jetty. Contact her at
soutliietry@centurytel.net. (361) 749-5131 or
P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.
I CTTCDC TA TLiC P* AITAD
LcTTcRS TU Trie E.UI IUH
Listening is not reading
I am writing in response to the article written by
Pamela Voyles (Education notes, South Jetty, Feb.
17) regarding the introduction of audio books and
e-readers into the PAISD library resources.
Plainly stated, allowing students to listen to audio
versions of a book does not constitute reading; it
is listening. If students don’t learn to read in high
school literature class, where do they learn to actu-
ally read? This undermines the cognitive develop-
ment of students in critical ways. The audio lessens
the visual investment in the material and detracts
from the concentration required for acquiring new
reading skills. The students are not learning to visu-
ally recognize new vocabulary and are less likely
to use those words in their own compositions. This
extends to the visual recognition of spelling, gram-
mar, sentence and paragraph structure and the vari-
ous typographic nuances of printed material such as
the representations of dialogue and quoted material.
For thorough comprehension of a difficult passage,
rereading a sentence or a paragraph or looking up a
definition is often required, and the student is less
likely to do this if they are tied to the continuous
stream of the audio.
Additionally, I question any supposed increase
in sustainability given the carbon footprint of an e-
book that needs to be periodically replaced versus
a book that can be in circulation for decades. Given
the obsolescence replacement rate of the technology,
how many e-books must be purchased to make it a
Filing
Continued from Page 1A-
cost effective educational tool? Audio books should
be relegated to recreational reading and use by the
visually impaired. I advise that the PAISD library
not capitulate its primary function of teaching young
people to read by refocusing on reading printed
material as the best way to encourage the reading
and writing skills that our young people will need
as they grow into a literate work force.
Thomas Klepach
Port Aransas
Whale of an idea
In re: Letters to the editor, South Jetty, Feb. 17,
‘Possible exhibit’ from Richard Lamb of Fulton)
Having had more than an up close and per-
sonal experience with said beached whale, I, too,
have wondered why this poor, unfortunate animal
must spend eternity buried amongst the sand
dunes.
I wondered if any of the curious onlookers had
bothered to make a donation to the ARK (Animal
Rehabilitation Keep) so that the volunteers doing
the necropsy could have the proper equipment to
do a proper job - they certainly exhibited a morbid
curiosity, and seemed to be quite entertained by the
whole affair.
It must be very costly to determine the cause of
death of such a magnificent creature. The ARK, that
does this sort of thing, is mainly funded by donations
and staffed mostly by volunteers.
Perhaps Mr. Lamb might consider donating a
facility or underwriting a group to make this all
possible, and offer it to the public - or, rally the
troops and make a difference. After all, the whale
is not going anywhere.
Just a thought.
Rick Reichenbach
Harbor Island
A perfect storm
Saturday afternoon, my wife and did not check
signals as we exited our car to briefly shop.
Not knowing I left the keys on the console, she
locked her door and, thus, all doors.
But then began the following:
Calls to the lock-out services in Port Aransas,
Aransas Pass and Rockport all gave the same re-
corded message: Unable to respond to service calls
until Monday.”
Not a single lock-out service was available - all
were out of town!
The good people at Ace Hardware suggested a
Corpus Christi lock-out service. They came in 52
minutes. But... as the Port Aransas police told me,
“It is strange that all three lock-out services were
away for the weekend.”
Had the Corpus Christi lock-out service been
closed, one of our children in San Antonio would
have been chosen to bring to their frustrated and
chagrined parents the car keys.
We wonder, is there no way the lockout firms can
coordinate their long weekends away?
Louis and Kip Zbinden
San Antonio
Walker following
Coolidge, Reagan?
When three-fourths of the
Boston police department
went on strike in 1919, lead-
ing to broken shop windows
and looting, then-Massachu-
setts Gov. Calvin Coolidge
called out the state militia and
broke the strike. Coolidge
declared, “There is no right
to strike against the public
safety by anybody, anywhere,
any time.”
His courage propelled him to the vice presidency
and eventually to the presidency.
Fast forward to Aug. 3, 1981 when the Profes-
sional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO)
called a strike over better working conditions, better
pay and a 32-hour workweek. In doing so, the union
violated a law that banned strikes by government
unions. Ronald Reagan declared the PATCO strike
a “peril to national safety” and ordered them back
to work under terms of the Taft-Hartley Act of
1947. Only 1,300 of the nearly 13,000 controllers
returned to work. Subsequently, Reagan demanded
those remaining on strike to resume work within 48
hours, or forfeit their jobs. On Aug. 5, following the
PATCO workers’ refusal to return to work, Reagan
fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who
had ignored the order and banned them from federal
service for life. Pro-labor Democratic President Bill
Clinton rescinded this ban in 1993.
Now it’s the turn of Wisconsin Republican Gov.
Scott Walker. So far, the 43-year-old governor, in
office less than two months, has stood his ground
against schoolteachers who called in sick (nice
example for the kids) and other union members
- many of them bussed into Madison from outside
the state.
When the federal government runs out of money,
it can print and borrow more. When states run out
of money they must cut spending to balance their
budgets, or raise taxes.
The days of constant increases in pay and benefits
- including expanding pensions - are over, not only
in Wisconsin, but also in many other states.
One pro-union demonstrator in Madison carried
a sign: “This is what democracy looks like.” No,
the last election is what democracy looks like. Gov.
Walker and the new Republican state legislators ran
on platforms to reduce the state’s debt. They are
refreshingly living up to their promises. If voters
decide they don’t like their methods for getting out
of debt, they can vote Republicans out of office in
the next election.
“We won” and “elections have consequences,”
crowed President Obama as he and his once-solid
Democratic congressional majority pushed through
legislation that polls show most Americans oppose.
Republicans seem to be getting more support now in
their quest to force us to live within our means.
This is the Republican Party’s moment. More
Americans are coming to a “Prodigal Son” under-
standing of our financial predicament. In the biblical
account, a young man leaves his father’s house and
squanders his inheritance on riotous living. When
he runs out of money, the son finds himself in a hog
pen, eating pig food. It says, “He came to his senses.”
Wisconsin residents and the nation are coming to our
senses in the face of massive public debt.
If Wisconsin’s Democratic legislators stop playing
political theater, come back to Madison from their
hiding places in Illinois and fulfill their responsi-
bilities as elected officials, perhaps a solution to the
standoff can be worked out.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Walker said
10,000 to 12,000 of the state’s nearly 300,000
government workers would likely lose their jobs if
changes weren’t made in benefit contributions paid
by union members. The unions have said they are
willing to make some concessions, but Walker has
rejected their offer as insufficient.
Democrats in Wisconsin may be overplaying
their hand, just as congressional Democrats may
be overplaying their hand with threats to shut down
the federal government if Republicans don’t see
things their way.
Standing firm and having the courage of one’s
convictions worked before. So far, Gov. Walker has
stood firm and explained what he is doing and why.
If he doesn’t cave, perhaps he might be the national
leader Republicans have been looking for, either
now or in the near future. It worked for Coolidge
and Reagan.
(Direct all MAIL for Cal Thomas to: Tribune
Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114,
Buffalo, N.Y. 14207. Readers may also e-mail Cal
Thomas at tmseditors@tribune.com.
(c) 2011 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
said he is still undecided about seeking another
term.
School board members’ terms are for three
years, and there is no limit on the number of terms
a member may serve.
Statements
Candidates are invited to submit statements to
the South Jetty announcing their candidacy. At the
time a candidate submits a statement, he/she is
asked to confirm his/her attendance at Candidates’
Night (see details later on in this story).
Statements should include the candidate’s quali-
fications and reasons for seeking office.
One statement per candidate, with a photo, will
be accepted, free of charge, through noon Tuesday,
March 15, for publication in the March 17 edition.
Weekly deadline is noon Tuesday. Statements sub-
mitted after noon on March 15 may be published
as paid advertising if the candidate chooses.
Candidates may submit photos of themselves
or have one taken at the South Jetty office, 141
W. Cotter.
Statements must be typewritten in upper and
lower case. Handwritten statements and those writ-
ten in all capital letters will not be accepted.
Candidates should limit statements to approxi-
mately 700 words.
E-mail statements to southjetty@centurytel.
net. Candidates without access to e-mail may mail
statements to the South Jetty at RO. Box 1117,
Port Aransas, TX 78373, or deliver them to the
newspaper office.
Candidates’ Night
The South Jetty will host the 38th annual Candi-
dates’ Night for candidates in contested races only
on Thursday, April 28.
Candidates must confirm participation in
Candidates’ Night at the time they submit their
statements for publication. Candidates who do
not submit statements must confirm attendance
at Candidates' Night no later than noon Tuesday,
March 15.
Those who do not confirm their participation
will not be included in the forum designed to
acquaint voters with the candidates’ positions on
specific issues.
The forum will be conducted in the city council
chamber at city hall beginning at 6 p.m. The public
is invited to attend in person or watch it on the local
public access television channel.
The forum is not a debate.
Details on the format of Candidates’ Night will
be announced at a later date.
Filing
Filing for positions will continue on weekdays
through March 15.
Prospective candidates for city council may pick
up applications for city council from Esther Arzola,
city secretary, at city hall, 710 W. Ave. A.
Those wishing to file for school board may
pick up applications from Penny Slingerland at
the Port Aransas ISD administration office, 100
Station St. Since the school offices will be closed
for Spring Break on the final two days of filing,
March 14 and 15, candidates for those positions
may file at city hall.
Voter registration
Residents who are not registered to vote and
want to vote in either of these elections have until
April 14 to register. Voter registration application
cards are available at city hall and the school
administration offices.
Voting
The early voting period is May 2-10. Election
Day is Saturday, May 14.
South Jetty
(946-020)
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY
Pays Periodicals Postage at
Port Aransas, Texas
POSTMASTER:
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South Jetty 141 W. Cotter/
P.O. Box 1117
Port Aransas, TX 78373
Deadline for
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Noon Tuesday
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MAILING ADDRESS REQUIRED.
Limit 300 words.
Letters to the editor should • contain a valid sig-
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telephone numbers where the writer may be
reached * names of persons writing letters will
not be withheld from publication • unsigned
letters will not be published *only one letter per
person per 30 days period • letters endorsing
or opposing political candidates are politi-
cal advertising and should be taken to the
advertising department • all letters are subject
to editing • letters of complaint about private
businesses will be forwarded to the business
and will not be published ♦ “thank you” letters
are classified advertising and should go to the
classified ad department
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Judson, Mary Henkel. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 24, 2011, newspaper, February 24, 2011; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth505955/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.