Columns/Opinions

A Hendersonville, Tenn. man was charged with 18 counts of theft after scamming multiple victims in Blanco, Texas and across the United States by selling electronic cattle ear tags and not delivering the product to the victims.

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Ranger Mike Barr led the investigation. TSCRA Special Ranger Wayne Goodman and Hendersonville, Tenn. Sheriff’s Department Det. Sgt. Jim Vaughn assisted.

According to Barr, the suspect, Timothy Michael Evans, 50, made up a company called “Cattle Traxx” and used a website and social media to fraudulently sell electronic ear tags to a victim in Blanco, Texas. The victim said he never received the ear tags he purchased and Evans continuously made excuses for the delay in delivering the product.

Dear Editor:

I was hoping you would allow me to share some interesting facts about some events that happened in 1836 in the State of Texas. Are you aware that the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2nd of 1836? March 2nd also happens to be San Houston's birthday.

The Declaration of November 7, 1835, passed by the Consultation announced that the Texan war against Mexico principally intended to restore the Mexican Constitution of 1824, violate actions of President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and to achieve separate Mexican statehood for Texas. The members of the Consultation had hoped to attract popular support for the Texan cause from the other Mexican states.

by The Richland Springs Report 

I’ve decided that I am not very good at the waiting game. I’m sure there are many who can identify with that sentiment.

I keep thinking that patience will come with age, but it just isn’t happening. My friend Jessica is waiting for test results that should have been in over a week ago, but she is doomed to wait until someone has a mercy on her and delivers the good news. My granddaughter went to a UIL art competition on Saturday. It was an all-day event that went well for her. She was the highest in her division, but then she was told that the judges would decide which works of art would go to state. The decision could come as early as Saturday evening, but at the latest Monday. So now she is doomed to wait impatiently for the verdict. I am not patient with that, even though I understand judgments need to be taken carefully. It is just not one of my strengths.

By Dr. Don Newbury 

Education at a Gallop… 

They’re mere “blips” on the screen of educational innovation, now in a handful of major cities. Their name sounds like a house number, and youngsters therein are challenged to “dig deep” as a core of teachers--largely volunteers--help children 6-18 express themselves through--of all things--writing.

These store front centers (for want of a better word) are attention-grabbers, front to back. “826,” after all, isn’t a usual name. The first was San Francisco’s 826 Valencia St. It opened in 2002. If passers-by aren’t “grabbed” by the numbers, small letters on the sign help. It reads: “independent pirate supply store.”

After all, there aren’t many such Yellow Page listings there, or any place else….

By Cathy Ledbetter

Beyond the Pink Hat

CTwo weeks ago I wrote about feminism, equal rights, the pink hat marches, and bra burnings. I pointed out that many, many things have changed for the better for women in this country in terms of having equal legal and economic rights and opportunities to men. There are still areas that need improvement, but overall, it is a different world than it was in the sixties and seventies when I was growing up. I mentioned the need for our society to change the way it thinks and feels about some things and said that I have a few ideas of things we can change.

By Sue Ransom

Cold and damp have been temporarily replaced with warm and sunny. Hopefully cold will return before all the fruit trees start to bloom.The last rains greened up several grassy areas on the farm, but we are in need of another good soaking rain. I really dislike the cold, but I like fruit more, so bring back the cold.

I want to encourage parents of the youth and church members to attend the Valentine’s Day dinner at the First Baptist Church. There is no cost and the youth will be serving the adults. The kids have done this for several years now and it is a fun evening for all. It also teaches them to be servants.

So parents of local kids, come on over Thursday evening the 9th. I hear the youth service at Shiloh was a blessing to all who attended. It is always wonderful to see our youth step up to do what is right. Way to go youth. Come on out this Thursday. No reservations are needed; just show up.

by Sue Ransom 

I guess we galloped through January and here we are half way through winter. I do love Texas winters. Just about the time I start thinking about moving farther south, the warm comes back. I barely have time to get depressed before I can be happy again. I love my birth country of Canada, but I don’t miss the winters. For a brief moment as I was watching the luge competition, I thought how nice it would be to go skiing. Then reality hit me and I purged my mind of that thought. I’ve had the pleasure of skiing twice in Colorado and once in Vermont. All three times took me weeks to recover from my injuries. I have fond memories of those trips and the people who skied with me, but I shall hold on to the memories and avoid the pain. Cowardly, I know. I am going to go zip lining when we go to Costa Rica. That is truly exhilarating.

For the past several years, we have been growing a few non-native cacti in cactus beds inside our fence. A number of them are commonly called spineless or blind prickly pear. Surprisingly, this year, just after the first hard freeze we had, I noticed that a number of the branches on some of them had broken off at the attachment points. So after a few days when it had warmed up, I went out and loaded up the broken-off pieces into a large garden cart and hauled them off to a couple of places in the pasture 50 yards or so from our house.

Then yesterday I could see from my window a deer in the vicinity of one of the piles and it was soon joined by a couple of other deer. So this morning I went out and found that the majority of both piles of spineless prickly pear were gone. The few pieces that were left showed obvious signs of being browsed by the deer.

By Jo Price 

The weather man was right for a change, because we did get some weather Sunday night around 8 o’clock, The thunder started and the lightening was fierce for a short time and the rain came down in sheets leaving about 1 inches in a short time. There was some run off so the tanks did catch some water. No reports of damage from wind or rain have been reported around the Bend. The electricity flickered but stayed on .Other parts of Texas were not so lucky as some damage from high winds was reported in some counties and electric was off because of fallen trees.

Larry Max and Donna Hensley of Midland spent the weekend visiting his sister Jo Price and her family. Larry did some fishing and lots of visiting and eating took place. Sunday everyone celebrated Haley Price’s birthday.