Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 19, 2005 Page: 4 of 22
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EDITORIAL
PAGE 4A
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
THURSDAY, MAY 19,2005
Y
Letters to the editor
Changing the rules
To the editor:
I learned two lessons in Ameri-
can civics when I was growing up;
we have a three part government
with a system of checks and bal-
• ances to prevent any one part of the
' government from being too power-
ful and the rights of the minority
■ are protected. Now, the system of
■ checks and balances and the rights
of the minority are under attack by
I radical Republicans seeking to
change Senate rules to give Repub-
' licans absolute power over judicial
nominations.
To bolster their position, radical
Some honest people
To the editor:
There are still some honest and
caring people out there. We were
lucky to be in Livingston when this
happened.
My husband and I went to eat
lunch at [a local restaurant] and
when we were sitting down to or-
der, one of the young ladies that
worked there asked my husband if
he had dropped his billfold and,
when he checked, he had. The
young lady said the owner found it
by our car and returned it to us.
So, there are still some honest
people in the world. Thank the
good Lord.
E. Sandera
Livingston
Discouragement downfall
'
To the editor:
With little expectation this will
reach the printing press, I write as
an incarcerated, first time, felon in
the Polk County Jail. I’ve been here
for 60 days and, fortunately, by
God’s good grace, I have been ca-
pable by the means of people like
Deacon Harlan Camp, to receive
the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus
Christ. To note what’s appalling is
this displaced judgment in Sun-
day’s (8th) paper by Mr. Stuart.
Apparently, you have shown the
county your own crutch, being to
point out the flaws of others. I
know I am a criminal, so noted by
the standards of society. Discour-
agement is one of the greater down-
falls of this country. Those who
would mock others due to their
own afflictions, is as repulsive as
that which is being mocked. Hate
not the sinner, yet despise the sin.
In my little time I’ve come to re-
alize the world is full of injustices,
hypocrisy, immorality, etc., enough
to make you want to give up. I’ve
been homeless, addicted, abused,
you name it. A lot of times, if we
would just focus more so on our-
selves rather than the calamities of
others, there wouldn’t be so much
of a problem. For example, why
does it take someone like myself
incarceration to learn the simple
pleasures of life? I’m very thankful
for a soda, candy bar, or to see the
sky on a sunny day.
Again, I know I’m a criminal,
misfit, felon; call me what you will.
My faith has saved me. May God
and the courts have mercy on me,
for my intentions are to change for
the better. I’m blessed with the
ability to be articulate and 1 want so
badly to spread my experiences to a
younger crowd who may be going
through such trials and tribulations
that I myself have already survived
and overcome. If given the oppor-
tunity, I plan on enrolling in a Bible
or ministry college to become a
youth minister, something I’ve
wanted to do since I first received
Christ in my heart some eight to 10
years ago.
In closing, I say that we should
never judge others on their afflic-
tions. If so appalling, help that per-
son like a true Christian would. The
Bible says treat others as we would
like to be treated, repay no evil for
evil. I pray for many people, and I
know punishment is due in my own
standings. That reality I accept. I
pray that these few words reach
someone and the response or reac-
tion is so profound it keeps them
out of such a place like this. I thank
you for this opportunity, and I pray
for all who may read this. May
Christ be with you. God bless you.
Shannon K. Phillips
Livingston
The 'eyes' have it?
To the editor:
I awoke one Sunday morning
opening my eyes to the beautiful
sunshine. I went stumbling down
the hallway with my eyes only half
open, the dog eyeing me as I
headed to the front door. After
opening the door, my eyes fell
upon the Enterprise. For years my
family has received the acclaimed
Polk County Enterprise, but for the
last year or so my eyes have de-
tected something unusual and fairly
consistent. On this morning that I
speak of, my eyes were roaming
the paper when they caught it...
“Onalaska eyes ordinance.” Now,
this may not seem strange or odd to
another reader’s eyes, but to my
eye, I have come to see that almost
every week, if not in Sunday’s pa-
per it will be in Thursday’s paper,
someone “eyes” something. I
charge you, dear reader, as your
eyes search the next newspaper you
receive, to ask yourself, “What
does my eye see is being eyed this
week?”
Katherine Coburn
Livingston
Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise encourages readers to submit letters expressing
their views and opinions. The letters will be published in the Enterprise’s
“Letters to the editor” column on Thursday or Sunday.
The letters may be written on any subject or issue of general interest. Letters
must be accompanied by a name and mailing address and will be subject to
editing for grammar, punctuation, spelling and length. Letters must include a
telephone number for verification. We will not publish the telephone number.
Readers should keep their letters brief and to the point. Each letter should
contain no more than 6S0 words. Letters exceeding that length will be subject
to editing or withheld from publication.
Letters will also be subject to editing for libelous statements and
commercialism.
This column is not meant as a forum for political candidates, although we
welcome comments from the public concerning campaign issues. During
election campaigns, we will not allow reference to specific local candidates.
Letters may be submined in person; mailed to “Leners to the editor," Polk
County Enterprise, P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, TX 77351; sent to the
Enterprise by fax to (936) 327-7156 or sent via e-mail to
polknesrs@livingston.net.
Deadline for letters is 5 p.m. Tuesday for Thursday's newspaper and noon
Friday for Sunday’s newspaper._
Rush to alternatives
Republicans are threatening, in-
timidating and demonizing Ameri-
can judges. Some of their support-
ers have even threatened physical
violence against judges. This must
stop. It is un-American, it is im-
moral.
Please urge your Senators to vote
against the 'nuclear option' chang-
ing the rules of the Senate. We
must protect the American system
which has served us well for 200
years.
Carolyn and Jack Salmon
Livingston
To the editor:
Your report that breast cancer
patients can reduce their risk of
recurrence by adopting low-fat
diets comes as no surprise.
This study of 2,437 middle-aged
breast cancer patients found that
those who reduced fat consumption
after undergoing standard treatment
for early breast cancer enjoyed a 24
percent reduction in their risk of
recurrence. In some cases, the risk
fell by 42 percent. The federally
funded Women's Intervention Nu-
trition Study was performed at the
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in
Los Angeles.
A number of past studies have
found a strong association between
consumption of meat and other
animal fats and elevated risk of
breast, colon, and other forms of
cancer, which kill nearly 555,000
Americans annually. A Danish
study of 117,000 women in last
October's New England Journal of
Medicine implicated milk con-
sumption. Two years ago, the Jour-
nal of the National Cancer Institute
and the British Lancet reported that
consumption of animal fat raised
the risk of breast cancer among
women, but vegetable fats did not.
The breast cancer study provides
women one more incentive to join
the rush to meat and dairy alterna-
tives now widely available in su-
permarket frozen foods and pro-
duce sections.
Marianne Chalmers
Livingston
Shouldn't be umpire
To the editor:
Many parents were extremely
upset by the events that occurred at
our daughters' Little League soft-
ball game. Our children play in the
8 and under division, which made
the matter all the more alarming.
During the beginning of the
game, it seems our coach was en-
couraging one of the girls after he
pitched and then she hit the ball
and was running to first base. Isn’t
that what a coach is supposed to
do? Apparently, the umpire felt that
due to where he was standing on
the field, his encouragement was a
violation of the rules. The young
man then confronted our coach
somewhat rudely to inform him
that he was not permitted to speak
to the girls.at all. Our coach had
previously llisen told specifically
that although coaching from the
field was not allowed, encourage-
ment certainly was. He therefore
told the umpire this and said he was
going to get a board member to
address the issue. He proceeded to
walk off the field in the direction of
several board members to get their
ruling. All of this occurred without
drawing the attention of too many
onlookers. It was then that the
young umpire behaved inexcusa-
bly. He stepped to the fence inside
the field, directly in front of the
parents/crowd and began YELL-
ING angrily at our coach, “Coach,
you get back on this field right
now!!!” He repeated yelling the
same thing several times. We were
stunned! Even people from sur-
rounding fields were staring in dis-
belief. No one even knew what had
happened to cause the problem.
Our coach then got the attention
of a board member, and she came
back to the field gate with him to
meet the umpire and discuss the
problem. Our coach was kicked out
of the game. Our girls were very
confused, as were we. Several par-
ents walked to the dugout to make
sure their children were all right,
since we had all been so startled.
Apparently, things became even
more heated, and the board member
warned the parents who had ap-
proached the dugout to console
their children (although they were
only speaking directly to their chil-
dren) to leave the area or she was
going to call the police. It was all
just outrageous.
One parent from our team de-
cided to remove her child from the
game because of the umpire and
board member’s behavior. This put
our team at a disadvantage because
without that child, we did not have
enough players to continue the
game. That parent and many others
felt like the umpire needed to
apologize to the girls and the par-
ents. Aren’t our children supposed
to be learning good sportsmanship?
When our assistant coach talked
with the umpire, he explained that
if he would simply address our girls
and parents with an apology or
even a simple, “Hey, things got a
little out of hand, let’s play ball,”
that girl’s parents would allow her
to play, and therefore we could
continue. The arrogant umpire sim-
ply refused and then said that we
were apparently forfeiting, called
the game, and left!
Little girls age 8 and under were
punished for the arrogance of a
young man with a very big ego.
The girls were forced to forfeit and
therefore technically lose a game
they never even got to play.
NEVER in the many years we have
watched our girls play Little
League ball have we ever seen any-
thing like this. We have ALWAYS
seen the coaches of EVERY team
encourage all of the players. This
young man does not need to be
officiating with little girls, and
we’re not sure he should officiate
anywhere!
Jennifer Jones, Dawn and
Kenneth Dawson, Kimberly and
Tom Myers Jr., Serena and Joe
Casas, Tanda and Scott Paske,
Amy Blackmon, Harold Steagall,
Alvin Harris, Thomas Mangrum,
Carla Mangrum, April Brown
and Chris Fitz
Livingston
A FAIR act
To the editor:
Given the advancing age of our
surviving WW II veterans, time is
short for these particular victims of
asbestos-related illnesses. Veterans
who’ve been diagnosed with deadly
asbestos-related diseases such as
mesothelioma and lung cancer find
it almost impossible to get compen-
sation for their exposure under the
current system.
If veterans try to sue a company
that once supplied the material to
the government, they encounter a
line at the courthouse that takes
years to navigate - years that the
sickest veterans frankly don't have.
Today there are more than
500,000 asbestos cases in the courts
and more piling up everyday. Many
of these cases have been brought by
lawyers on behalf of people who
don't even have any symptoms of
asbestos-related illnesses.
Finally, some on Capitol Hill are
getting serious about fixing this
legal crisis that’s so harmful to
veterans.
The Judiciary Committee has be-
gun work on the Fairness in Asbes-
tos Injury Resolution Act, or the
FAIR Act.
This legislation would make sure
that veterans suffering from asbes-
tos-related illnesses finally get fair
and certain compensation.
If senators allow this opportunity
to pass, we may never again get
this close to a solution.
More veterans will die of asbes-
tos-related illness without getting
compensation.
We mustn’t allow this to happen.
As a veteran, I urge Senator
Comyn, a member of the Judiciary
Committee, to support this critical
legislation for veterans.
And I urge both Texas senators
to vote for the FAIR Act when it
comes to the Senate floor.
Buddl Harlan,
Past state commander
Texas Department of the Vet-
erans of Foreign Wars
Houston
State Capital Highlights
Big steps taken
By MIKE COX
Texas Press Association
AUSTIN — The proverbial meat
grinders are whirring as it gets to
be sausage-making time at the
Capitol with the Legislature mov-
ing toward adjournment on May 30
and not facing the prospect of a
special session to resolve the
school finance situation.
Two big steps in that direction
came last week. In the early morn-
ing hours of May 11, the Senate
approved its version of House Bill
3, a measure that hikes business
and consumption taxes to make up
for a decrease in school property
levies.
The next day, the upper chamber
passed House Bill 2, a bill that
would put some $2.8 billion more
into education spending during the
upcoming biennium.
Part of the increased spending
would be for teacher pay raises,
while another aspect of the bill
would turn back the clock by re-
turning the school start day to its
traditional post-Labor Day time.
The Legislative Budget Board
has estimated that families earning
less than $100,000 a year collec-
tively would pay $1.1 billion a year
more in taxes under the Senate tax
plan, while higher income Texans
together would only pay some $431
million more.
While both the Senate and the
House now agree that there will be
no statewide property tax passed
this session (school property taxes
remain the province of local school
districts), much remains to be re-
solved before a final measure goes
to the governor.
Governor creates BRAC
group...
The news was mostly good for
Texas when the recommendations
of the federal Base Realignment
and Closure Commission were an-
nounced on Friday the 13th, but the
naval base at Ingleside was on the
hit list as well as the Red River
Army Depot and Lone Star Army
Ammunition Plant at Texarkana.
Shortly after the announcement
came out of Washington, Gov.
Rick Perry signed an executive
order creating a group he called the
BRAC Response Strike Force to
develop a plan of attack to con-
vince the U.S. Department of De-
fense that the targeted Texas bases
need to stay open.
DNA database catching
crooki...
The Department of Public
Safety’s DNA database — called
CODIS (for Combined DNA In-
dexing System) — last year solved
13 murders, 81 sexual assaults, 40
burglaries, six armed robberies,
four assaults and one kidnapping.
The DPS’ system got 183 “cold
hits” during 2004, a cold hit being
an unexpected match between the
profile of a submitted biological
sample and an unsolved case or a
hit that links several unsolved
crimes.
Guard leader retiring...
Maj. Gen. Wayne D. Marty,
Texas adjutant general, has an-
nounced his retirement effective
this summer.
Replacing Marty on June 11 as
commander of the 19,600 men and
women of the Texas National
Guard will be Brig. Gen. Charles
G. Rodriguez. The 51-year-old San
Antonio native will be the state’s
first Hispanic adjutant general.
Looking for a vacation idea?
With both the Legislature and the
school year winding down, it’s not
too early to start thinking about
getting out of town when the final
bell rings.
One possibility is Palo Duro
Canyon State Park, which recently
grew by 7,837 acres with the pur-
chase of an adjacent tract of both
historical and biological signifi-
cance. The state’s second-largest
park, Palo Duro now covers 26,200
acres near Amarillo.
For more information on the park
and to make camping reservations,
check the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department’s Web site at
www.tpwd.state.tx.us.
Polk County
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 936-327-4357
(USPS 437-340) fcJasJSSJ
WEBSITE: www.EastTexasNews.Corn
E-MAIL: polknews@livingston.net
Texas 77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1987. Entered as
Periodical Matter at the Post Office at Livingston, TX.
BarbaraWhne..........................
, Editor........................................................
.....Ext. 102
Emily Banks
VanThomas .....................
. News Editor..............................................
.....Ext. 103
Sports Editor....................................
. . Ext. 107
Greg Peak
Area News Editor ....................................
Ext 106
Vicki Coker........................
Living Section Editor ......................
.... Ext. I(M
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Special Fealure Editor.........................
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Gordon LeBarron
Photographer
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
Paul Holley..................................
Cameras/Plaleinaking .............................
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Pressman..................................................
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Mailroom/Circulnlion
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COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT
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Pressman
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Supervisor.............................................
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BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
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county: $24.00 per yeur out of stale. Published semi-weekly. Sunday and Thursday at 100
Calhoun in Livingston. Texas by the Polk County Publishing Co.
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 19, 2005, newspaper, May 19, 2005; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819922/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.