The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 9, 2012 Page: 3 of 28
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
THURSDAY 9 AUGUST 2D 1 2
State Capital
Highlights
By td Sterling
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATM
Cruz beats Dewhurst in primary runoff
AUSTIN — Voting in party primaries May 29 and
runoff elections July 31 set the Nov. 6 general election
ballot for Texas voters. Texas had 13,065,425 resi-
dents who qualified to vote in the primaries and run-
offs. Republican turnout statewide was 8.5 percent of
the total while the Democratic turnout was 1.8 per-
cent, according to tabulations posted by the Secretary
of State’s Elections Division last week.
Republican Ted Cruz of Houston and Democrat
Paul Sadler of Henderson will face off for the U.S.
Senate seat to be vacated at the end of the year by Kay
Bailey Hutchison of Dallas. Hutchison, who has held
the Senate seat for more than 19 years, was state trea-
surer when she won the election to fill the unexpired
term of Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who resigned the Senate
seat after he was appointed U.S. treasurer by then-
President Bill Clinton. Hutchison went on to win three
consecutive six-year Senate terms.
Three broadcast debates and waves of televised
campaign advertising raised the profile of Cruz’s pri-
mary bout with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. On May 29
Dewhurst got nearly 45 percent of the vote and Cruz,
34 percent, in a field of nine candidates. Had either
candidate garnered 50 percent or more, a runoff would
have been unnecessary. Both the primary and the
runoff were watched nationally and made headlines.
Much was made over Cruz’s never having been elected
to a public office and running successfully against the
widely known Dewhurst, who was cast as the “estab-
lishment candidate.”
In the Democratic runoff, Sadler, with 63 percent
of the vote, topped his opponent Grady Yarbrough’s 37
percent.
Picking here from the list of runoff winners was
state Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, who will face
former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, in the
race for retiring Congressman Ron Paul’s Congres-
sional Dist. 14 that includes Brazoria, Galveston and
Jefferson counties.
State Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, won the run-
off against former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, and
will face Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Francisco
Canseco whose enormous Cong. Dist. 23 runs from
San Antonio to El Paso.
Also notably, incumbent state Sen. JeffWentworth,
R-San Antonio, lost his runoff with Donna Campbell
for Sen. Dist. 25, which includes part of Bexar and Tra-
vis counties and Comal, Guadalupe, Hays and Kendall
counties. And, incumbent state Rep. Chuck Hopson,
R-Jacksonville, lost his runoff with Travis Clardy for
Rep. Dist. 11, which includes Rusk, Cherokee and Na-
cogdoches counties.
For more statewide and county election results, go
to sos.state.tx.us.
LETTERS
Appreciation for
local heroes
WE HAVE ALWAYS loved Canadian over the
years because that is where my daddy grew up
as a young boy. Canadian is where we would
go on Sundays to rope and ride steers when
we were kids. My grandparents were married
and later buried there along with numerous
family members. Some of my favorite friends
and second cousins live there. People in Cana-
dian have always been friendly, neighborly,
and caring—much loved country folks.
In the past couple of weeks we were re-
minded of how wonderful the people truly
are to someone in need. On July 25, 2012, we
blew a heater hose on our pickup and lost all
the water. We were pulling a 25-foot trailer
about five miles outside of Canadian on Perry-
ton highway when the pickup went to flashing
all kinds of overheating signals and then just
died. Immediately, my husband pulled out his
All State Roadside Service card and called the
800 number. That was when real frustration
set in with him in 103-degree temperatures
and some woman on the other end of the line
that was oblivious to what a country road and
miles from anywhere means. About that time
I flagged down a pickup that came around be-
hind us. Praise the Lord, it was Scott Evans,
someone we had known in the past. He took
Dave to town to find help and left me on the
phone with the roadside service agent—still
oblivious to our situation.
After continued repetition of the same in-
formation without any results, I finally asked
for any local numbers of anyone who might
could assist us as it was fast approaching 5 pm
closing time. Finally, she gave me the number
for the Pit Stop and Tire. A prompt call was
answered by Keith Horn who said he would
bring us water and coolant but wasn’t a mech-
anic. He was concerned about my well being
in the extreme heat stranded by the highway.
However, he did know Jim Leathermanwho is
a mechanic. I called Jim and he assured me he
could be there within the hour.
Dave and Scott finally returned and I told
them we had help coming. About that time Jim
called to say he was on his way. After a brief
conversation with my husband, he knew what
to bring and showed up promptly with some
cold drinking water, water for the pickup,
fixed the hose and got us back on the road.
He refused pay but told us to drive to town
and take time to eat before heading back to
Dumas. We did. So we want to say a blessed
big thank you to Scott Evans, Keith Horn,
Jim Leatherman and a nice man that I failed
to get his name. They literally saved us in the
extreme heat with their quick responses.
This past Friday, August 3,2012, we were
headed home from Enid, Oklahoma, with
three tons of feed on a flat bed trailer. As Dave
slowed down to turn into the parking lot of the
convenient store at Higgins, awheel fell off the
trailer. Thank the Lord, I still had the number
for The Pit Stop and Tire in Canadian. Dave
called Keith Horn. He couldn’t help us with
what we needed but referred Dave to someone
who could. After two service calls to Higgins,
Kerry Westbrook had us going again. But our
misfortune was not over yet. About ten miles
out of Miami, Dave slowed down to pull over
and check our load. As he slowed down, a trail-
er tire lost all the tread. In 103-degree temper-
ature on top of a hill, Dave proceeded to change
the flat putting our last spare on the ground.
There must have been upwards of 50 vehicles,
mostly gas field pickups, that flew past us, but
no helpers. Just as Dave finished screwing on
the last nut, a nice man in a black pickup turned
around and came back to assist us. Thanks to
him, although we failed to ask his name.
We were blessed each time by wonder-
ful people like Scott Evans, Keith Horn, Jim
Leatherman, Kerry Westbrook and two men
for whom I failed get a name. Thank you goes
out to each one of them. We were blessed by
their promptness and caring to assist us in
such extreme heat over 100 degrees. God bless
them!
DAVE AND VERNA SMITH, P.O. Box
217, Dumas, TX 79029,806.935.3397
Hwy 60/83/33
intersection
modifications
ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS I have taken
the Texas Department of Transportation to
task for bone-headed ideas. Therefore, I feel
that it is only fair that I give them credit for
doing something correctly. I refer, of course,
to changes at the deadly intersection of High-
ways 60/83/33 south of Canadian.
Over the last several weeks, TxDoT crews
have been modifying the access road between
US 83 North and US 83 South. The point of
this modification was to correct a “line of
sight” issue that had been identified as a pos-
sible contributing factor to several wrecks. As
originally constructed, a driver stopped on
the access road preparing to cross Highway
83 South (en route to Highway 60 West) often
lost sight of vehicles traveling on Highway 83
South. Because of the angle of approach, the
vehicle’s right doorpost sometimes blocked
the driver’s view to the right. I know it sounds
crazy, but I have personally observed this phe-
nomenon on numerous occasions.
By moving the western end of the access
road a few yards to the south, TxDoT has
changed the geometry of the intersection.
That seems to have eliminated the problem (at
least for me).
The jury is still out on how to stop drivers
from blowing through the stop sign on High-
way 33 West. Granted, it is much easier to
change bad geometry than it is to change bad
drivers. Regardless, the changes to date are
good. Thanks, TxDoT.
JOHN MCGARR
West
Texas Press
Association
MEMBERSHIPS
National Newspaper Association
Texas Press Association
West Texas Press Association
Panhandle Press Assnciatinn
Society of Professional
Journalists
International Society of Weekly
Newspaper Editors
OUR POLICY
LETTERS TD THE EDITDR
are always welcome, and will be
poblished if they are signed and
cannot be considered libelous.
We will nDt publish anonymous
letters under any circumstance.
All letters must be accompanied
by a phone numberfur
verification purposes.
Letters may be edited fur length.
Each letter shuuld be received
in uur office nu later than
Wednesday nuun fur publication
in that week's newspaper.
PLEASE DIRECT LETTERS TD:
The Canadian Recurd
P.D. Bux 898, Canadian, TX 79DI4
(806)323-5738 (Fax),
□r editur@canadianrecurd.cum
ALL E-MAILS ACKNOWLEDGED UPON RECEIPT
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 9, 2012, newspaper, August 9, 2012; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth649444/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.