Opinion

“We cuss Congress, and we joke about ‘em, but they are all good fellows at heart. And if they wasn’t in Congress, why, they would be doing something else against us that might be even worse.” — Will Rogers (1879-1935), vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator.

In our ongoing efforts to clear a backlog of old (some 20-plus years) traffic citations and debt claim cases, we’ve achieved some major milestones that should greatly enhance our ability to process those cases.

The first of the Army Topographical Engineers surveying for a road through the Davis Mountains were Lieutenants Wiliam H.C. Whiting and William F. Smith (1849), both serving under Colonel Joseph E. Johnston, senior engineer in Texas. Whiting graduated first in the West Point Class of 1845, and Smith fourth.

“Don’t you wish you could take a single childhood memory and blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever?” ― Sarah Addison Allen, author of Lost Lake. “I get sleepy riding in cars,” a friend admitted as we embarked on a road trip a couple of weeks ago.

“Oh, well, a-bless my soul, but what’s wrong with me? I’m itchin’ like a man on a fuzzy tree My friends say I’m actin’ wild as a bug I’m in love … I’m all shook up.” — 1956 Song lyrics by Otis Blackwell Someday, I want to be a column writer. When I grow up.

Working in education is an act of service, plain and simple. It’s one of the most evident things you’ll notice when you walk the halls of any Alpine ISD campus. From the daycare, all the way through to the high school. Teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, administrators, maintenance, and everybody in between all have the same resolve and purpose; to serve the students.

You, the People, should have a voice in how your tax dollars are managed, and in 245 Texas counties, you do. Every four years, you elect someone you trust to manage the county’s funds. If they perform poorly, you fire them at the ballot box.

Sul Ross State University’s campus here in Alpine is beginning to see the successful results of a yearlong marketing campaign aimed at increasing enrollment. The majority of our increase this fall is in our graduate school, the target of the campaign – proof that our efforts are working.

Every morning I drive over “Big Hill” south of town. I’m constantly amazed at the beauty of our county. Sure, places like Jackson, Wyoming, and Moab, Utah are beautiful. But I’ll put our slice of God’s country right up there with the best of them. And when you add in Big Bend National Park ...

Youth Development programs have experienced a paradigm shift over the past several decades. Where many of these programs formally placed a large focus on the treatment and prevention of negative behaviors, now many youth development organizations place a greater emphasis on instilling life and leadership skills as a part of a more robust positive youth development approach. As the largest youth development organization in Texas, reaching over 500,000 youth annually, Texas 4H has also expanded its programming areas to provide opportunities for our growing youth population, however, the organization continues to rely on its foundational elements that lie within program areas such as livestock projects. When you mention 4H to someone unfamiliar with the organization, there is a strong possibility that youth livestock projects are one of the first things that will come to their mind. Why not Robotics, Public Speaking, Performing Arts, Photography, Consumer Education, or any of the other multitudes of project options? The reason for this is that the organization has relied on livestock projects as the backbone of the organization for decades. This is in large part due to the life skills development that can be attributed to participation in livestock exhibitions.