Copperas Cove Leader-Press (Copperas Cove, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 22, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 17, 2013 Page: 4 of 12
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omptroller
reports state
revenue
amount
AUSTIN - Texas will have some $98.9 billion in
general revenue for state budget makers to work with in
the 2014-2015 biennium, according to Texas Comptroller
Susan Combs’ revenue estimate.
Combs delivered the esti-
mate to Gov. Rick Perry, Lt.
Gov. David Dewhurst, House
Speaker Joe Straus and every
member of the state House and
Senate on Dec. 12.
“This available revenue,”
Combs said, “supports general
revenue spending of $96.31 bil-
lion for the 2014-2015 biennium
... producing an expected rev-
enue balance of $2.58 billion.”
Turning to the economy to
help explain the surfeit of rev-
enue, she added, “Texas has re-
covered 100 percent of the jobs
lost in the recession and has
added 597,000 beyond the pre-
vious peak in August 2008.”
Gov. Perry welcomed
Combs’ official estimate, saying,
“Texas government budgets like Texas families, limiting
spending and saving hard-earned dollars. As a result,
Comptroller Susan Combs estimates our current 2014-
2015 budget will end with a positive balance of nearly
$2.6 billion. What’s most remarkable is we’ve done this
while passing $1.4 billion in tax cuts, and we’ve made his-
toric investments in water and, if voters approve, roads.”
Secretary of State resigns
Texas Secretary of State John Steen on Dec. 13 an-
nounced he would step down next month to return to his
private law practice and continue managing his family’s
investments.
Appointed by Gov. Perry in November 2012, Steen,
Texas’ 108th secretary of state serves as the state’s chief
election officer. Duties of the office include the storage
and preservation of official and business and commercial
records required by law to filed, publication of govern-
ment rules and regulations, the commissioning of notaries
public, the keeping of the state seal and attestation to the
governor’s signature on official documents. The secretary
of state also serves as senior advisor and liaison to the
governor for Texas Border and Mexican Affairs and serves
as chief international protocol officer for Texas.
Water case clears hurdle
The U.S. solicitor general’s office on Dec. 10 said the
State of Texas has provided enough legal evidence to
move forward with its water compact dispute case against
the state of New Mexico before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, Texas filed its original action claim
against New Mexico asserting damages to Texas from
New Mexico’s diversions of project water below Elephant
Butte that have harmed Texas’ allocation as set forth in the
Rio Grande Project and the 1938 Rio Grande Compact.A
Texas, New Mexico and Colorado each filed briefs on
the case.A The U.S. Supreme Court asked the U.S. Solici-
tor General to weigh in on the case before deciding to take
the action. A
Chairman Bryan W. Shaw of the Texas Commission
on Enviromnental Quality commented, saying, “While
Texas is loath to sue our New Mexico neighbor, river
compacts are law, Texas rightfully depends on water ap-
portioned under the law, and the compacts must be en-
forced.”
SCOTUS hears air case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 10 heard oral argu-
ments in EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, a case con-
testing the federal agency’s cross-state air pollution rule
that would require Texas and 27 other states to reduce
power plant emissions that cross state lines.
Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smither-
man said the rule “threatens the viability of the Texas lig-
nite mining industry, jobs and severely hampers economic
growth. If the rule is implemented, many Texas coal-fired
power plants may be forced to limit or shut down opera-
tions.”
A decision by the high court is expected by June
2014.
Travis DA keeps job
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg
was not forced to resign, pursuant to a Dec. 11 ruling by
visiting Judge David Peeples of San Antonio on a petition
to seeking to remove her from office.
Lehmberg, who also serves as the chief enforcer of
the state’s ethics laws on upper-tier officeholders, was ar-
rested and jailed last April for driving while intoxicated.
Her behavior following her arrest was recorded and wide-
ly publicized.
Following the civil court hearing, Lehmberg said, “I
deeply regret my actions on April 12 and have taken full
responsibility. I am committed to carrying out my respon-
sibilities as district attorney and to continue serving the
voters of Travis County.”
UT football coach resigns
Mack Brown, head football coach for The University
of Texas, gave his farewell press conference on Dec. 15,
after 16 years at the helm. Brown’s salary is an estimated
$5.4 million, making him one of the three highest-paid
college football coaches in the nation.
Ed Sterling
Capital
Highlights
Want To Write?
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letters to the editor.
Letters may be edited for style and grammar,
and must be signed and include a phone num-
ber for verification.
Send your letter to Letter to the Editor, Cop-
peras Cove Leader-Press, PO. Box 370, Cop-
peras Cove, Texas 76522, or drop it by 2210
East Highway 190, Suite 1, Copperas Cove.
Letters may also be e-mailed to
news@coveleaderpress.com
“WHAT MAf£S X<ti THINK W dM/IFfttfP W A/liNiM m<ze?"
A kiss from heaven
Back in April; a Rhode
Island couple along with
their eight-year-old son vis-
ited the Vatican for Easter
Mass. Their son, Dominic,
has cerebral palsy.
The family was spend-
ing the spring semester in
Italy, where Dominic's fa-
ther was teaching at a col-
lege.
The three of them wait-
ed with the other thousands
of pilgrims to get a closer
look at Pope Francis.
Then, the unexpected
happened. When the Pope
passed by where they
stood, he stopped his vehi-
cle, and instructed his helpers
to bring Dominic closer to
him.
Lynette
Sowell
My front
porch
He pulled the little boy into his
arms, kissed his cheek, whis-
pered something in his ear,
and gave him back to his
mother.
The video of this action
went viral online, and many
people interviewed his par-
ents to get their reaction to
being the focus of the Pope's
attention.
It was “a kiss from heav-
en,” his mother told reporters
at the time.
She said she felt the pres-
ence of God and called it “a
crescendo of love.”
Christmas is a time when
people talk about love, giving
and more. For Christians, it is
one of the most important dates
on the calendar.
Christians often talk about acting on
behalf of God and showing the world
how to love. Why not then, follow the
example of Francis and be a kiss of
heaven to those around us?
Choose someone, spontaneously,
stopping in the middle of our busy day
with the thousands of things claiming
our attention, and loving them.
No, I don't mean literally running up
to people, throwing our arms around
them and giving them a kiss. That could
land us in a bit of trouble, especially if
those individuals are strangers.
With our family and friends, it is
easy to extend some extra kindness and
love (well, mostly easy), because that's
what is expected of us. They know we'll
give them something, or do something
for them because we love them.
But what about showing love, and
being that kiss of heaven in an unexpect-
ed way, to a complete stranger? Even
better, for someone who can't repay us
and we will likely never see again.
Willie Nelson standing next to me
As I’ve mentioned be-
fore, I cut my teeth on
country music, both the
Nashville-Grand Ole Opry
type and “country” gospel
music. My mother loved
both. On Saturday nights
we’d tune the 3-foot-tall
Western Auto Truetone ra-
dio in to WSM in Nashville
for the Grand Ole Opry but
Sunday mornings brought
an 8 a.m. Dallas KRLD
broadcast of the original
Stamps Quartet.
Mother saw that the
latter was reinforced by
regular attendance at a little
one-room, wood frame coun-
try Missionary Baptist Church where,
unsurprisingly, we sang from “song
books” published by the Stamps Music
Publishing Company.
I can be pretty much musically
eclectic in that I loved the 1950s and 60s
rock and roll and learned to jitterbug to
Glenn Miller big band records. I’d drive
several miles today to hear the kind of
gospel music I grew up with, old tradi-
tional favorite songs.
Marching band music stirs me. Sym-
phonic music is tolerable, but I can’t
handle opera or at least I haven’t learned
to appreciate it.
But, I can take Willie Nelson music
just about anytime. I’ve mitigated my
feelings about Willie’s personal life
through the years because I’ve learned to
listen closely to words he writes when
composing songs and to his up-front,
take-me-as-I-am approach to life.
Willie lives for his music. I’ve never
known him to be rough and
rowdy nor to be particularly
critical of anyone. Willie’s
gentle, kind and friendly to a
fault. He’s truly a hillbilly
hippie of the “Peace, Broth-
er,” and “Live and let live”
genre.
From the early 1970s to
the early 1980s, I lived in
Conroe. Part of the experi-
ence there was watching the
development and growth of
The Woodlands, a “new
hometown” built in 5,000
acres by genius George
Mitchell. One of the attrac-
tions for this new hometown
was a spectacular golf course,
which was, of course, used to promote
The Woodlands.
Early in that process, an annual golf
tournament was played with a prominent
name sponsor — Darrell K. Royal, the
legendary University of Texas football
coach.
Royal was an unabashed country
music fan, particularly of Willie and they
were friends for many years and played
golf together.
So, when The Woodlands had the
Darrell K. Royal Celebrity Golf Tourna-
ment, one of the attractions was a coun-
try music show on Friday and Saturday
nights. For three years running, I man-
aged tickets to both nights of the country
music show.
Celebrity golfers who were country
music fans were also prominent at the
tournament. One of my all-time favorites
is James Gamer.
The first year that Willie played in
the tourney, he’d just begun to climb the
country music hit charts regularly. He
came on at his regularly appointed time
in the Friday night music show, did 30
minutes as had other acts and sat down.
Shortly after that, at a break in the mu-
sic, I availed myself of the opportunity
to visit the men’s room. As I stood there
at the long trough on the wall, who
should walk up beside me but Willie
himself and a cohort.
“They don’t like my music!” he
said, “I’m only gonna do 30 minutes.”
Well, I eased back out to the area
where the show was about to kick off
again, found a Woodlands official I knew
and related the statement from Willie.
A short time later, just around mid-
night, they called Willie back to the
stage and apparently assured him his
music was enjoyed and more of it was
certainly in order. Willie and his band
played non-stop for four hours. I loved
it.
I’ve managed to see Willie one other
time, although not quite as close up as a
Woodlands Country Club urinal.
Willie Nelson is a great songwriter
and a great entertainer. He’s one of the
best lead guitar players in country music
and you usually don’t find a vocalist
who plays his own lead guitar in country
bands.
Whenever Willie and his guitar Trig-
ger are playing music, wherever it is —
a concert, a jukebox, radio or guest TV
appearance — just let me know. I want
to listen.
Willis Webb is a retired community
newspaper editor-publisher of more than
50 years experience. He can be reached
email at wwebbl937@att.net.
Willis Webb
Webb’s
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Morris, David. Copperas Cove Leader-Press (Copperas Cove, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 22, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 17, 2013, newspaper, December 17, 2013; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth629779/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .