Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 8, 2001 Page: 4 of 22
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Polk County Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Livingston Municipal Library.
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EDITORIAL
PAGE 4A
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
THURSDAY, MARCH 8,2881
Letters to the editor
State Capital Highlights
A heart warming event
To the editor:
On Tuesday night, March 6, in
the Livingston High School gym, a
very “special” event took place.
Approximately 100 people gathered
to watch the second annual basket-
ball game between the Polk County
Peace Officers Association and the
Polk County "Go-Getters” Special
Olympic Basketball Team.
The Peace Officers Association
took care of all the preparation. It
was an act of love and it showed.
To the players, to the players’
families, to the coach, to the won-
derful referees, to the high school
administration for use of the gym,
to all the volunteers, to Mrs. Van-
noy and her class for the “special”
posters, to the maintenance men,
and to all who attended and cheered,
we thank you for such a “special”
time. I’m sure you already know
how much it meant to the Special
Olympians. For all of you who
missed it, “Better luck next year!”
We are truly blessed to live in a
place where our peace officers have
such big hearts. Will we sleep bet-
ter at night knowing you’re on the
job? YOU BETCHA!!! May God
bless you and keep you safe.
Rick and Beth Straily
Special Olympic Basket-
ball coaches
Route 8 Box 687
Livingston
Turn down the noise
To the editor:
What’s with all the noise they
call music today? Too bad these
kids don’t remember before rock and
roll started. Back then there was
smooth music. Dull to the new
generation, no doubt.
Have you been to a club of any
kind lately? I tried going to a
church once at Huntsville. The
preacher’s father invited me. I
thought, “OK, I’ll try it.” Just
made it in the door and there were
those instruments. Talking was
practically impossible. The service
tadn’t even started. “Well,” I said,
“sorry, I’m out of here."
“Why?” asked the man.
‘Too loud for me.”
“Put cotton in youc ears,” he
suggested.
“Forget it,” I said, and left.
Parents, wonder why your kids
aren’t listening to you? They
probably can’t hear you! And,
teachers, look for more note-
passing in school; the kids are get-
tin’ so deaf from the jam noise they
have to communicate by passing
notes.
Well anyway, parents, you have
an obligation to protect your chil-
dren from not only alopiu^ and
drugs, but also NOISE.
Robert Stuart
Route l8 Box 405
Livingston
Parents should set example
To the editor:
I am writing in reference tp --*
situation jtbat is taking place within
OnalasKk.TirSt tjT< many people
are judging a certain situation with-
out knowing anything about the
people involved and only by infor-
mation that they have received sec-
ond hand. You can’t judge some-
one’s actions if you did not even
witness the incident. It doesn’t mat-
ter to me what people think, it’s
just a reminder of how political and
cliquish Onalaska is. I have lived
here for 25 years and have not been
in the “cliques,” not because I
couldn’t but because I don’t believe
in it nor do I want to be a part of it.
The parents of children are teaching
such bad sportsmanship to their
children as well as bad attitudes and
it reminds me why my child doesn’t
participate in the sports in this
town. Why can’t children play ani
have fun?
For those of you who weren’t at
the basketball game on Saturday
[Feb. 24] in Onalaska, I guess
you’ve heard one side of the story.
For those of you who were, you
think you know what happened, but
you truly don’t because all you
know is what you heard. And for a
parent to make a remark that her
child will knock the — out of an-
other child is very WRONG. What
is this teaching our children? You
know, there was a referee in charge
of the game who saw the touching,
hitting, etc. that was going on. Is
he not the one to make the call? If
you want to ref a game. I’m sure
that it could be arranged, that is, if
you would take time to leant the
rules. And, no, pinching is not
allowed if a child doss it, but it
didn’t happen -- touching (checking)
is! So, since you all think that you
know so much- ao you
-------- • ‘
w
out,' you
would know that my child is a very
well behaved child who has never
been in any trouble, in school or
out, never been out of the way with
another child, never had as much as
a disagreement with another child,
much less done anything to inten-
tionally hurt another child. She’s,
very easy to get alortg with, but
you all wouldn’t know that.
The problem that caused such an
uproar could have been handled in a
different manner. If the parent had a
problem and would have come to
me in a civilized manner, the situa-
tion could have probably been re-
solved easily, but that didn’t hap-
pen.
So believe what you want, but I
know that many of you, away from
your crowd that you have to stick
with, know the truth. Those of you
who truly know my child, know
within your heart what the truth is.
It bothers me that you choose to
spread untruthful rumors instead of
speaking what you know about her,
but it’s not like it matters. I truly
pity those of you who haye nothing
better to do with their life than talk
about others. The truth is the truth,
regardless of who says what, and it
will all come out in the wash. God
knows, he was there, and that’s all
that matters. What goes around,
comes around. So be it!
, M. Kellar
P.O. Box 1382
Onalaska
Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise encourages readers to submit letters ex-
pressing 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. v.
Readers should keep their letters brief snd to the point. Each letter
should contain no more than 650 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 caippaign issues
During election campaigns, we will not allow reference to specific local
Letters may be submitted in person; mailed to "Letters to the editor,
Polk County Enterprise, P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, TX 77351; sent to
the Enterprise by fax to (409) 327-7156 or sent e-mail to
< polknews01ivingston.net> _
Deadline for letters is 5 p m Tuesday for Thursday's newspaper and 5
£J
Ode to driver
To the editor:
For all the great NASCAR fans |
in and around Polk County:
Now the one and only Dale Eam-
hart is dead. We all loved him and I
know that he is and will always be
the best.... R.I.P., Mr. Earnhart, |
you’re a very respected man.
D- Didn’t take no crap from other |
drivers
A- Always first at the finish line
L- Left others in the dust
E- Enough guts to get out there
and pursue his dream
E- Each time he got on that track ]
he kicked some a$$
A- Admired by everyone
R- Remembered as the man who
will go down in history
N- Never gave up
H- Heaven is where he is now
A- An amazing man with the
best job in the world
R- Respected by everyone even
though he left them in his dust
T- The best NASCAR racer there
will ever be.
Martha Oliver
5784 Lake Livingston
Estates
Livingston
Texans set sights on space
Compiled by
MIKE COX
Texas Press Association
AUSTIN -- In the 19th century,
many Texas communities looked
to the railroads for economic life.
Today, some Texans have set their
sights on outer space.
A group called the Texas Space-
port Alliance is working to con-
vince the Legislature to appropri-
ate $3.1 million for the upcoming
biennium as a preliminary step
toward development of a Lone Star
spaceport.
Three areas of the state, the up-
per Gulf Coast, Pecos County and
South Texas, hope a spaceport
could eventually be developed in
their region.
The Texas Aerospace Commis-
sion selected these three possible
sites from a field of 14 locations.
The commission would use the
requested appropriation to assist
the three spaceport authorities in
environment impact and engineer-
ing studies and in developing a
business plan.
The estimate is that a spaceport
in Texas would create 7,000 direct
and indirect jobs -- a potential $1
billion economic impact only
slightly less powerful than a crash-
ing asteroid.
No one is likely to start a
countdown to blastoff any time
soon, however.
Before it becomes commonplace
to launch vehicles into space from
diverse locations across the coun-
try, a new RLV must be devel-
oped. That’s aerospace talk for a
reusable launch vehicle that would
replace the space shuttle currently
used by NASA.
Once such a vehicle is flight
worthy, plenty of work will await
it. Though the U.S. manufactures
three-fourths of all satellites, it
launches only 14 percent of them.
The rest of the launches are from
Russia, China and France.
The Texas alliance says some
1,700 satellites will be placed in
orbit through 2007. If the state
gets a commercial spaceport, it
could enjoy a fair amount of that
business.
Also being sought this session
is passage of legislation creating a
trust fund to contain future appro-
priations and grants for actual in-
frastructure.
Beyond that, there are even more
steps in the spaceport launch se-
quence - federal support and land-
ing a commercial entity with the
bucks to buy, maintain and launch
the reusable spacecraft.
Meanwhile, back on earth
Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff has formed
an exploratory committee to look1
into the possibility of him run-
ning for a full term in office.
One of those named to the*
committee was Jan Bullock,
widow of two-term Lt. Gov. Bob'
Bullock.
Two Democrats are looking at a
run for their party’s gubernatorial
nomination, Laredo businessman
Tony Sanchez and former Univer-
sity of Texas football star Marty
Akin.
On the Republican side, it’s in-
cumbent Rick Perry and the possi-
bility of a run by U.S. Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchinson.
The prime Republican contend-
ers for the lieutenant governor
nomination are Comptroller Carol
Keeton Rylander and Land Com-
missioner David Dewhurst. The
primaries are still more than a year
away, but 2002 promises to be an
interesting year for Texas politics.
Teen driving among issues
When you
can’t see
eye-to-eye
with the IRS
get an ear
By STATE SEN. TODD
STAPLES
Fifty-three days into the 140-day
session of the 77th Texas Legisla-
ture many important decisions have
been made and many more are
around the comer.
Many of you have visited the
Capitol over the past two months
to voice your views on the different
issues legislators are considering. I
cannot stress the importance of
your involvement in the political
dents who travel directly to and
from school. It is my hope that by
allowing young drivers an addi-
tional six months of supervised
driving and restricting driving
within those hours that have proven
most deadly, lives will be saved.
Special hearings
The Senate Committee on Educa-
tion, of which I am a member, be-
gan holding special hearings this
week for the explicit purpose of
developing a health insurance pro-
gram for public school teachers and
Fact is, most federal tax returns
go through without a hitch. Any
problems are generally solved
with a call or letter to the IRS.
But if you do run into a
tougher problem, you have
process, As a legislator. I depend on ^
laws wtllaS^y'our fami^°P°*W* cf state cmpi0yees, do not re-
Any given session of the legisla-
powerful help.
Now the Taxpayer Advocate
Service is here to help taxpayers
who can't resolve an ongoing
tax issue through the usual IRS
channels. Or those who face
significant hardship unless relief
is granted.
Your personal Taxpayer
Advocate can review the situa-
tion from a fresh point of
view—yours. The same person
works with you until the issue is
resolved quickly and fairly.
As an independent arm of
the IRS, the Taxpayer Advocate
Service acts to protect taxpayer
rights and ensure fair treatment.
To find out if you qualify for
a personal Taxpayer Advocate,
phone toll-free 1-877-777-4778.
ture almost 6,000 bills are intro-
duced. It seems everyone has a
grand idea of how to make life bet-
ter with a new law. Nine times out
of 10, what makes life better for
some makes life worse for others.
As senator for 17 counties through-
out East Texas, I do my best to
watch each piece of proposed legis-
lation to determine how it will af-
fect the lives of the families I repre-
sent.
The following are several issues
that have received attention over the
A M
istasist
I he Internal Revenue Service
m
Hcrlinu ii> pul \ernce lirsi
KffTK IIKIUHT SIMM
Thanks to MDA roaaarch, the future
looks brighter than aver.
1-000-872-1717
Muscular Dystrophy Association
www.mdausa.org
past month.
Graduated licenses
Regardless of how one feels
about placing more restrictions on
driving privileges for young Tex-
ans, it is hard to ignore the fact that
car crashes are the number one kil-
ler of teens in Texas. More than
320 Texas teens, ages 15 through
18, died in motor vehicle crashes
and another 40,324 were injured in
1998. It is impossible to find a
high school or community that has
not been struck by the tragedy of
death or serious injury. Often these
crashes involve alcohol and often
they are the result of mere inexperi-
ence. The crash involvement rate
for teens is more than double that
for all other Texas drivers. More
than 40 percent of teens' fatal
crashes occur at night, even though
night driving accounts for only 20
percent of their driving time.
As a representative of rural East
Texas, I am extremely bothered by
the fact that crash rates for teen
drivers in rural areas are higher than
in urban areas. By the same token, I
recognize that teens in rural Texas
are often strapped with responsibili-
ties that are foreign to urban teens.
Taking care of duties at the family
ranch or farm and driving longer
distances to and from school func-.
tions often increases risk for rural
teens.
I support adding an “intermediate
license” phase which would last no
longer than six months before a
teen is granted full driving privi-
leges. During the short six-month
period, the teen would be restricted
from driving after 11 p.m. and be-
fore 5 a.m. unless the teen is ac-
companied by someone 21 years of
age or older, or traveling between
home and work. Additionally, I am
working with the author of this
legislation to add an education ex-
emption that would exempt stu-
state employees,
ceive state health insurance like
other state employees. Rural school
districts have been hit hardest by
the rising cost of health insurance
at a time when Texas is experienc-
ing a severe teacher shortage.
SB 127, which I authored and in-
troduced, is one of many insurance
plans being considered by the Edu-
cation Committee. It is imperative
that the legislature solve this prob-
lem if we expect to recruit and re-
tain quality teachers who are being
lured into the private sector by
more attractive benefit packages. I
encourage anyone who has an inter-
est in teacher and public school
employee health insurance to testify
before the Senate Education Com-
mittee. Hie Education Committee
will meet every Monday at 10 a.m.
at the Capitol.
Money, or lack of it
The mood is much different this
session of the legislature. Unlike
1999, when the state had a $6 bil-
lion surplus, legislators are being
forced to search hard for state dollars
that may not exist. While our
economy continues to grow, state
revenues have leveled off with
“basic needs” continuing to in-
crease. Members of the Senate Fi-
nance Committee and the House
Appropriations Committee are
working diligently to prioritize
spending and create alternative
methods of financing many of
Texas’ needs. The big three: educa-
tion, transportation and public
safety, must be funded before any
other proposals are considered. Let
us not forget that education includes
teacher health insurance, transporta-
tion Includes'f?nding”a way fo tdd
to the largest transportation system
in the country, and public safety
includes retaining state employees
like TDCJ correctional officers by
paying competitive salaries. This is
no easy task and in the end every-
one will receive less than desired. In
Texas, unlike Washington, we do
not allow deficit spending. In lean
times we must cut fat where we can
and address the true “basic needs” of
Texans.
March, April and May lie ahead
as the c|ock ticks on the 77th Ses-
sion. Currently, 3,442 bills have
been introduced in both the House
and Senate. Many more will fol-
low. In addition, April Fools Day
will bring with it the official cen-
sus numbers that legislators will
use to redraw house, senate and
congressional districts throughout
the state. In an effort not to be
fooled, legislators will scramble and
congressmen will visit as each
elected official’s fate rests in the
hands of this session of the legisla-
ture. Stay tuned for updates and
information regarding redistricting.
enteMise
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 936-327-4357
(USPS 437-340)
WEBSITE: WWW. EastTexasNews.Com
E-MAILS: polknews9livingston.net - etexnews9samlink.com
Texas 77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3,1987. Entered as
Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston, Tx.
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county, $24.00 per yoor out of stale. Published semi-weekly, Sunday end Thursday at 100
Calhoun in Livingston. Texas by the Polk County Publishing Co.
Any erroneous reflection upon the character, standing or reputation of any person, firm or
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 8, 2001, newspaper, March 8, 2001; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819933/m1/4/?q=%22Texas+Press+Association%22: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.