Opinion

Remembering Sam Rayburn

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From the Editors Desk Soon after I became a reporter for the Herald Democrat in Sherman in 2004, I realized I was in Sam Rayburn’s old district. I vaguely remembered how he had gotten baptized at an old age.

Texas House approves budget of $302 billion

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Capital Highlights The Texas House approved a $302 billion budget last week that included an amendment prohibiting the use of state money on private school tuition — a major setback to Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to establish a school voucher system.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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Voters of Hardin County, I recently became aware that the voter registration folks in Hardin are reluctant to clean up the files for registered voters because it would require a lot of work. Soo… that shouldn’t matter.

Texas House approves $302 billion budget

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The Texas House approved a $302 billion budget last week that included an amendment prohibiting the use of state money on private school tuition — a major setback to Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to establish a school voucher system. The Austin American-Statesman reported that more than 20 Republicans joined nearly all House Democrats to pass the amendment, while 11 lawmakers voted present.

Remembering former President George W. Bush

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From the Editors Desk In 1987, while his father was vice president, George W. Bush had come to Texas from Washington with his father and President Reagan to attend a rodeo in Mesquite.

Texas leads nation in jobs in February

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Capital Highlights The Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in jobs added with 58,200 new positions in February, bringing the state to nearly 14 million total nonfarm jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. February also marked two full years of uninterrupted job growth in the state.

Remembering James Baker III

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by Dan Eakin In the late 1970s I was in the office of Joe Murray, editor of the Lufkin Daily News who had gone out on an errand, when a man whom I later came to know as James Baker III walked into the office and introduced himself to me. I think he thought I was the editor and I don’t think I told him different, at least not right away.

Remembering Jimmy Carter (part four)

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by Dan Eakin Jimmy Carter’s family reported earlier this month that he would no longer be in a hospital but that he would live out his last days on earth with Hospice care at home. His family said he is still alert at age 98 and able to carry on conversations with family members.

Texas Senate passes tax cut package

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TheTexasSenatelastweek unanimously approved a $16.5 billion package to lower property taxes and inject billions of dollars into public schools. As reported by the Texas Tribune, the three separate bills require the state to send at least $5.38 billion to public schools while at the same time raising the state’s homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000, with an additional $20,000 exemption for homeowners 65 and older.

Bill would require fentanyl education

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The death of a Leander High School graduate from a fentanyl overdose has prompted state Rep. Terry Wilson, R-Georgetown, to file a bill that would require 10 hours of education annually concerning the dangers of the drug to students in sixth grade and up, the Austin American-Statesman reported.