September is Life Insurance Awareness Month and the perfect time to consider whether you have adequate coverage to protect your loved ones. While no one likes to think about what would happen if they weren’t around, doing so is an act of love.

Life insurance is fundamentally about protecting your loved ones should something happen to you. If you pass away, your family will not only face the challenges of grief and loss, but they could also find themselves financially strapped. Life insurance can help provide them with financial security in the event you no longer can.

Who needs life insurance. You’re a good candidate if you have a spouse or partner who depends on your income or if there are children or other loved ones whom you support.

Insurance protection can also be a solution if you have outstanding debts like a mortgage, credit cards or a car loan, or if you simply don’t want to burden your loved ones with your final expenses.

Insurance through work. While many people have life insurance through their employers, this coverage may not be enough for you, depending on your situation.

Among employers who offer group life insurance, only 2% offer more than two times the employee’s annual salary — essentially just two years of income — according to the Guardian’s 2023 Workplace Benefits Study.

And remember that it’s only good as long as you’re employed there. With all this in mind, many people purchase individual insurance as a supplement to their workplace coverage.

How much: You might hear that you need life insurance equal to about seven to 10 times your pretax annual salary. That’s not a bad “ballpark” figure, but not everyone is playing in the same ballpark.

To get a true sense of how much of a death benefit is right for you, use the “L-I-F-E” guide to calculate your needs:

• L, Liabilities: Will your family need to pay off a mortgage, credit cards, car loan or other debt?

• I, Income: Will your family need to replace your income for a period of years?

• F, Final expenses: Do you have the resources to cover funeral and burial expenses?

• E, Education needs: Do you need to put children through a private school or college?

You can choose between two basic types of life insurance: term and permanent. As its name suggests, term insurance is designed to provide coverage for a designated period, such as 10, 15 or 20 years. In general, term insurance is quite affordable for most people, especially when they buy policies as young adults.

On the other hand, permanent insurance, such as whole life or universal life, is usually considerably more expensive because in addition to providing a death benefit, your premiums build cash value.

In choosing between term and permanent insurance, you’ll want to evaluate several issues, such as how long you think you’ll need coverage and how much annual premium you can afford to pay.

Life insurance needs can change over time, so it’s important to review your coverage every three to five years or after major life events like marriage or birth of a child. Consider working with a financial adviser who can look at your complete financial situation and help you choose a policy that truly fits your family’s needs.

Taking action sooner rather than later could be one of the most important gifts you give your loved ones.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

When I moved from Utah to Vermont in 1982, the newly elected mayor of the city of Burlington openly called himself a socialist. His name was Bernard Sanders. Vermont itself had been governed by Republicans for more than a century, and Sanders did not seem like a serious public official.

He had never held a real job; he was an “activist.” Many of us laughed him off, thinking he would just go away on his own. After all, there is no place on earth where socialism actually works.

Sanders became known as Bernie, and changed his affiliation to “independent,” although he caucuses with Democrats and nearly won the Democrat presidential nomination in 2016 with 13 million votes. And he still hasn’t gone away.

British icon Winston Churchill said, “Socialism is a political religion whose God is the State and whose priests are the bureaucrats ... it is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal distribution of misery.”

British leader Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

Our great Republican president Ronald Reagan said, “ Socialism only works in two places: heaven, where they don’t need it, and hell, where they already have it.”

Yet, the American people are faced once again by a loud minority of activists who want socialism in the United States. Republicans won’t abide with it and will storm the polls to prevent it.

Let’s get specific. Across America this year, multiple Democrat candidates have won their party’s primary election by campaigning on platform planks from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). And not just in the whacko big cities on both coasts; a candidate named Abdul El-Sayed won the Democrat nomination for United States Senate from Michigan.

The DSA platform includes these planks: single payer healthcare (“ Medicare for All”), Green New Deal, universal rent control, free college education, government or social ownership of major corporations, a new U.S. Constitution, abolish the Senate, restructure or replace the presidency and the Supreme Court, defund the police and abolish prison systems, eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and open the borders.

Wow. During the fall campaign, Republican candidates will be asking their opponents where they stand on these crazy planks. As future president John Adams said in 1770, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

Of course, Adams could not have envisioned that modern America would have audio and video recording devices, conveniently at the touch of a button on our mobile phones. It enables voters to hold candidates accountable for their own words.

The Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate from Texas, James Talarico, will need to explain to voters why he said, “Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six.”

He also said, “God is non-binary.”

When he was a state legislator, he argued against legislation that would have set a restriction limiting Texas girls’ sports to female participants. This widely popu lar leg i s lat ion passed, thanks to our Republican legislature and was signed into law by Governor Abbott. But Talarico needs to explain his opposition to this simple, common-sense law.

In 2021, he said, “Radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country.” He should explain himself to the 1.5 million of my fellow Texas veterans, many of whom are white men, and who have borne arms to protect our country, not threaten it.

On a podcast in 2023, he said, “ Christianity is just another word for causing trouble.” Most of my fellow Christians are offended by that statement.

These woke positions and weird ideas are totally out of step with Texas voters. With the Nov. 3 general election less than three months away, Republicans need to get fired up for this campaign.

And when early voting and Election Day arrive, do what Kendall County Republican voters are known for – cast a ballot for every candidate with an “R” next to their name, from top to bottom.

Scott S. Kramer is former chairman of the Kendall County Republican Party.

Union loyalists from Kendall, Kerr and Gillespie counties fought Confederate forces. It has also been called a massacre because when the confederates caught up with the fleeing Unionists, there was no demand for surrender, but a surprise attack in the wee hours.

The wounded captives could have easily followed terms of warfare and been taken to Fort Clark in nearby Brackettville. But the confederates instead shot each in the back of the head.

On Feb. 23, 1861, three-quarters of the voters in Texas backed secession from the Union. In March 1861, Texas seceded from the Union, and the new Confederate government declared the office of governor vacant because then-Gov. Sam Houston refused to take an oath of allegiance.

Many Germans from Kendall, Kerr and Gillespie agreed with Houston. The Germans had formed a Loyal Union League earlier, a militia organized to protect these counties from Indian raids and Confederate actions.

The Germans faced violent reprisals from Texan confederates. The Enactment of a Conscript Act of April 1862 required military service for men 18 to 35. Martial law was declared May 30, 1862, requiring oaths of loyalty to the confederacy.

Unionists and Germans increased plans to attempt to leave the state. On Aug. 1, 1862, 68 men — mostly Germans, with five Americans and one Mexican — set out to go to Mexico. The Union Loyal League members converged in Kerr County near the headwaters of the Guadalupe River under the leadership of Fritz Tegner.

On Aug. 9, 19862, 94 confederates led by Lt. C.D. McRae caught up with the slow-moving group. The Unionists believed a proclamation gave them 30 days to leave the state, explaining why they took their time traveling. Sadly, extensive research has found no such proclamation; they could have made it safely in four days.

Tragically, leadership was not concerned. They camped without choosing a defensive position or posting a strong guard. A number of men, some 28-30, became uneasy and headed back to the Hill Country along a different route. Henry Schwethelm argued with those in charge but stayed.

Adolph Zoeller left and headed to Mexico, sensing something wasn’t right, eventually getting to New Orleans and becoming a lieutenant in the First Regiment of Texas Calvary Volunteers.

No one that stayed thought that by morning many of them would be lying dead where they had slept. About 4 a.m., situated on the east bank of the river, the confederates attacked; two guards were shot, and the battle was on.

The Unionists’ muzzle loaders were a poor match against breech-loading guns. Many of the Unionists ran out of ammunition by sunrise. The decision was made: Every man for himself.

They ran, but many more were shot when they tried to cross a nearby clearing. Many hid along water holes at the river with harrowing tales of survival.

Back on the battlefield, those that were wounded, nine by most accounts, were shot in the back of the head. It was later noted in Confederate reports that there were no survivors because of the “remarkable good marksmanship” of the soldiers.

Not all survivors went home. Heinrich Schwethelm, Jacob Kusenberger and Carl Graf made it across the Rio Grande and traveled to Mexico to Monterrey, some 900 miles afoot, then to Vera Cruz and on to New Orleans by water, where they enlisted.

In the meantime, the confederates put out word that anyone who tried to come bury the dead would also be shot.

In August 1865, after the war, a party traveled to the Nueces battleground. They gathered the bleached bones of the dead and brought them to Comfort, where on Aug. 19 they were interned in a mass grave. A monument was erected and dedicated the following year, Aug. 10, 1866.

Inscribed in the limestone on this monument is “TREU der UNION” (Loyal to the Union). On the four sides are 18 names of those killed at the battle/massacre, nine captured in subsequent weeks and murdered, and eight killed at the Rio Grande on Oct. 18, 1862, in another attempt to get to the union.

The battle site is partially on a private ranch looking east from the corner of Route 674 and Cedar Creek Road, between Rocksprings and Brackettville; or, in the future, possibly accessed on the newly acquired Silver Lake State Park.

Mark your calendar for next year’s 165th commemoration on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2027, for a full day of events in Comfort.

Of the more than 9,000 campuses in the 2025-26 school year, 24% earned an A; 34% earned a B; 23% earned a C; 10% earned a D; and 4% earned an F. Some schools did not receive grades. About one in four schools saw their grades improve, while about the same number of campuses saw a drop.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath praised the ratings, noting the hundreds of campuses in high-poverty communities that earned an A.

“We are teaching them handwriting. They are memorizing the timetables. They are thinking through more and more advanced math problems. All children can learn and achieve,” Morath said.

The grades are based on three main metrics: how students perform on the state exam and meet other collegeand career-readiness benchmarks; improvement on state tests over time; and how well schools educate underserved students.

How vouchers stack up thus far 

As Texas gears up for the first year of its school voucher program, The Dallas Morning News reported more than 27,000 students have returned their school vouchers. More than two-thirds were previously enrolled in public schools.

Although over 122,000 students have been awarded vouchers, critics say using them can be challenging. Private schools can deny admission, charge more in tuition than the voucher covers or be located too far away.

“Just because you got an award does not mean you have a seat in a private school,” said Dee Carney, director of the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency. “They have to pick you.”

The program offers $10,474 to families to offset private education costs. Special-needs students can receive up to $30,000, while homeschooled students can get $2,000.

Native American groups sue to block Big Bend construction 

A nonprofit group that aims to protect Native American historical sites filed suit in federal court to block the Trump administration’s border security construction in Big Bend National Park, the Houston Chronicle reported. The suit claims the Department of Homeland Security does not have authority under federal law to build in national parks and seeks an injunction to stop construction and demolition work.

Construction equipment arrived at the park a few weeks ago to build new patrol roads and vehicle barriers, sparking strong opposition from park supporters and area residents. More than 40 Texas state House members, both Democrats and Republicans, have signed a letter asking Gov. Greg Abbott to halt demolition and construction in Big Bend.

“We support securing our border and recognize our duty to protect Texans. However, it is essential that border security policy be pursued in a manner that is effective, fiscally responsible and respectful of the communities and landscapes we are sworn to protect,” the letter read.

New secretary of state opposes suit seeking closed primaries 

Texas’ new secretary of state says he agrees with his predecessor in opposing a lawsuit seeking to restrict Republican primaries to voters registered with the party, but predicts the issue will be settled in the next legislative session, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Newly appointed Secretary of State Robert Howden recently filed an answer as to whether the state’s official position had changed. He recently succeeded Jane Nelson in that position.

The Texas GOP filed suit last year against the Secretary of State’s Office, arguing that only registered Republicans should be allowed to vote in that party’s primaries. Texans are not required to register with a specific political party, so they can vote in either party’s primary.

The party unsuccessfully tried to close the party’s primary system during last year’s legislative session, then filed the suit when that attempt failed.

Court rules for mail ballot ID requirements 

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated limits on mail-in voting enacted in 2021 that a lower court ruled violated portions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The decision by the three-judge panel was unanimous.

The new requirements included asking those who vote by mail to provide identification or a Social Security number, or risk having their ballots rejected. The judges echoed President Donald Trump’s claim of widespread election fraud in their ruling.

“It has long been established that mail-in ballots are prone to fraud,” Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in the opinion. “That is why voting by mail jeopardizes election integrity and democracy itself.”

Several advocacy groups had sued to block the provisions, saying they further complicated voting and locked out people with disabilities from the voting process.

ERCOT error left Texas grid with fewer power reserves 

An undetected error led the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to buy billions of watts less in reserve power for seven months than its plans called for, The Dallas Morning News reported. Despite that, the Texas grid has held up so far under record demand, even as ERCOT bought 3.7 gigawatts less in reserves. That is enough electricity to power as many as 3 million homes.

The reserves fell short because an employee responsible for modeling how much backup power was needed switched jobs, according to a regulatory filing. ERCOT has responded by adding a second reviewer to verify the modeling.

Independent market grid monitor Potomac Economics used the mistake to point out that ERCOT has been overpaying for reserves since the deadly 2021 winter freeze.

“The ERCOT proposal goes too far and will result in significant excess cost with no added reliability benefit,” the monitors wrote.

Migrant children held for months at detention center

Federal figures show many migrant children at the detention center in Dilley, south of San Antonio, have been held for 100 days or longer, the Texas Standard reported, far exceeding the 20-day legal limit.

For example, a teen who emigrated from Iran was arrested in Los Angeles with his family and sent to the center and has been there for more than 123 days. In an affidavit, he said he and other detainees share rooms with cockroaches, spiders and mosquitoes.

“We have been put through hell for the past four months, and our physical and mental health have deteriorated in ways that might not be reversible for years,” Maryam Tahmasebi, his mother, wrote.

At least 60 children have been held in Dilley for more than 100 days, according to an analysis of federal government data.

“The facility is in perpetual violation of the law,” said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.

College costs can seem daunting. In addition to tuition, you’ll need to account for housing and food, books and supplies, transportation and other expenses. The average annual budget at an in-state public university runs around $30,990 today, and a private school is $65,470, according to the College Board. While most families won’t pay a college’s list price, you’ll still want to start saving as early as possible to be ready when your child is.

Lay the foundation early. You don’t have to wait until you have the perfect set of plans to start building. There are specific accounts designed to save for education, and some do not require a minimum opening deposit. Setting up automatic recurring contributions, even modest ones, lets you build steadily over time without requiring constant attention.

As your child ages, look for ways to redirect expenses you no longer have towards the build. For example, daycare costs, which can exceed $1,000 a month, can be shifted into a college savings account once your child enters school. Tax refunds and annual bonuses make excellent additional contributions. And others can pitch in – instead of birthday or holiday toys, ask grandparents or relatives to contribute directly to a college savings account.

Know the size of the house you’re building.

Families saving for community college followed by two years at a public university might target around $65,000. Those aiming for four years at a public school are looking at roughly $100,000. Whatever the goal, plan for education inflation of about 4% annually, which can roughly double costs over 18 years.

You don’t have to source all the building materials yourself. Scholarships, grants, student loans and income from part-time work are all legitimate ways to help finish the structure.

Don’t let one project consume the whole budget.

One risk for parents is pouring so much into the college fund that the retirement fund goes neglected. Remember, loans and grants exist for college, but not for retirement. Striking the right balance may mean targeting a more affordable school, planning to cover only a portion of costs or adjusting retirement timelines slightly.

Choose the right building materials. For many families, a 529 plan is the right foundation. Earnings grow tax-free, distributions are federally tax-free when used for qualified education expenses, and many states offer additional income tax deductions for contributions. Even better, anyone – such as grandparents or friends – can contribute.

Additionally, qualified expenses for a 529 plan go beyond tuition and cover books, computers, internet access, room and board, and more. Vocational and trade schools often qualify, too, opening the door to careers in skilled trades, healthcare and technology.

No contractor builds alone. A knowledgeable financial advisor can help you draw up a realistic blueprint and make sure the college project doesn’t crowd out the rest of your financial future. The earlier you break ground on that conversation, the stronger the structure will be.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

Edward Jones, Member SIPC

This elected official oversees the General Land Office (GLO). Established in 1836, it’s the oldest state agency in Texas. The main role of the TLC is to oversee Texas’ 13 million acres of public lands, using the revenue streams from these lands to invest in the Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF).

The GLO contributes over $1 billion annually to the PSF, which funds K-12 public education in Texas. At $60 billion, the PSF is the largest educational endowment in the US, yet Texas ranks near the bottom of the list in per-pupil education funding. While the fund has more than tripled over the last 30 years, the inflation-adjusted contribution to public schools by the fund has remained the same.

The GLO’s contributions to the PSF reduce the burden on individuals’ contributions to public education through property taxes. Democrats believe that we must improve the performance of the PSF and increase the amount we distribute to K-12 education. Democrats also believe that the private school voucher scam, passed in the 2025 Texas Legislature, is an unnecessary drain on public school financing and should be abolished.

The majority of the revenue from those PSF lands is from oil and gas leases. But the lack of diversification in energy production will eventually lower revenue for public schools over time. Currently, only a small percentage of revenue created on GLO-managed lands is from renewable energy. Democrats will expand that energy portfolio to secure a source of stable, long-term funding for the GLO’s contribution to the PSF. This expansion would include wind, solar, geothermal, kinetic wave energy, and offshore wind.

The GLO also oversees leasing millions of acres of state lands for farming, grazing, hunting, timber production and recreational purposes. The land is the cornerstone of Texas’ vibrant and functioning ecosystem. It filters air and water pollutants, minimizes the impact of increasing natural disasters through flood mitigation, and provides wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and economic benefits.

Democrats will work to ensure the GLO is responsibly managing public lands while minimizing the impact of natural disasters and combating climate change through sustainable agricultural and wildlife management practices.

The GLO can also have a profound impact on CO2 emissions. Texas emits more carbon than any other state. We see the effects of climate change every day: extreme heat, drought, more wildfires, unpredictable weather patterns and increased hurricanes and tornadoes. The communities most impacted by the current Land Commissioner’s denial of climate change are the ones who can least afford it.

The GLO is also responsible for distributing federal disaster relief funds. No agency has harmed Houston residents more in the past 9 years than the GLO.

In August of 2017, Harvey devastated Houston and Harris County, dropping 60 inches of rain, killing nearly 70 people, and causing $125 billion in damages. The city asked for $1.3 billion in flood aid and disaster relief, but very little of those funds have ever been distributed.

Democrats will make sure that the GLO will equitably help families across Texas, not play politics with billions of dollars in desperately needed mitigation and relief funds.

Democrats will prioritize Texans’ lives and livelihoods and establish a plan to put emergency federal funds to work in a matter of months — not years — after a natural disaster. Democrats will work with the communities impacted and federal partners to prepare for natural disasters ensuring we are funded, staffed, and ready for whatever disaster is to come.

The office is also responsible for overseeing the Veterans Land Board, investing in coastal resiliency, and overseeing the management and restoration of the Alamo.

The last day to register to vote in the November election is Oct. 5. Texas does not have online voter registration; voters will need to fill out a form and mail it to the Kendall County Elections Office.

For details on statewide offices or to register to vote, call our office at 830-3311243 or visit www.kcdems.us Laura Bray is the former Chair of the Kendall County Democratic Party.

Editor, There’s a Willie Nelson song with lyrics that begin, “My heroes have always been cowboys...” Even though I watched cowboys on television every single day when I ran home from elementary school, (Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger) my heroes have always been teachers.

Until middle school, I didn’t even realize that teachers existed on the same plane as the rest of us. I imagined them living apart – like monks. I thought they lived in a private enclave, with stores to shop where they didn’t have to rub shoulders with us commoners, spending their hours away from the classroom in quiet contemplation and serious study.

It never occurred to me that they were like “the rest of us.” One tragic day, my mother refuted my misconception, much to my shock and disillusionment.

As the 2026-27 school year begins, I started thinking about all the valuable lessons I learned from my teachers, trying to figure out which ones served me best throughout my life. There are so many.

But silly as it sounds, what comes to mind is quite ordinary. It stands out because I use it every day: Vocabulary.

My fifth-grade teacher began the school year by handing out a list of 300 vocabulary words we would be required to know the definitions for by the end of the year. On a weekly basis, we were assigned a list of words to look up in the dictionary, write down their definitions and prepare to be tested every Friday.

This was too much like my real life, when I asked either of my parents to clue me in on the meaning of a word I had read. Their response was always the same, “Go look it up in the dictionary.” Truth be told, I came to kind of hate Mr. Webster.

It’d be so easy to just tell me the answer, but no-o-o-o. I now understand that when you look something up and/or write it down, guess what – you remember it.

As my fifth-grade school year concluded, against my will and better judgment, I had learned the definitions of all 300 vocabulary words. Not only has that knowledge served me well every day of my life, but now that I’m ancient and my sister sent me a LARGE TYPE, (because her eyesight is bad and she thinks mine is, too) gift subscription to Reader’s Digest, the first thing I do is flip to the vocabulary section at the back of the magazine and affirm that I am 10 for 10 for every single word. Every single month. Without exception. Of course, the words are all pretty lame, even for 5th graders.

To all the teachers out there, “Thank You.” Your job is much harder than it was when I was in school – when my teachers left the building at the same time as their students.

You put in countless extra hours after the last bell rings that nobody realizes, except your family. You are faced with stresses my teachers could not have even imagined. You are grossly underpaid, grossly undervalued and grossly underappreciated.

In spite of that, you show up every day and you teach anyway.

Why? Because you love kids and you love learning, and you want to pass that gift of knowledge on to your students. You did that for me. And regardless of what Mama said, I still think you are on a plane above the rest of us.

In fact, I still think you walk on water.

Welcome back to the most noble profession of them all — teaching.

Mary Ellen Walls is a Sisterdale resident.

A Texas appeals court upheld a handgun ban at the State Fair of Texas, rejecting the state’s claim that the city of Dallas unlawfully allowed a private operator to prohibit guns on city-owned property, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The 15th Court of Appeals affirmed a Dallas County judge’s dismissal of a case originally filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and three gun owners. It rejected the state’s argument that the restriction on cities banning guns doesn’t automatically apply to private tenants operating on public property. The ban will remain in place unless the Texas Supreme Court intervenes.

“The decision to prohibit firearms on the fairgrounds is the correct decision to protect the safety of our patrons,” said Karissa Condoianis, a State Fair of Texas spokeswoman. This will be the third year the ban will be in place.

SpaceX, Tesla make new Grimes County plant official

What CEO Elon Musk says will be the world’s largest computer-chip manufacturing plant is planned for Grimes County, east of College Station, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The Navasota Examiner has also carried coverage of the issue.

In a joint announcement last week, Space X and Tesla unveiled an initial $16.8 billion investment in a plant called Terafab. It is expected to employ at least 3,000 people.

Many of those jobs are expected to go to residents of Grimes and neighboring Brazos counties.

“We’re now embarking on the most epic chip-building effort,” Musk, CEO of both companies, said in a statement. “The Terafab is bringing cutting-edge manufacturing to America, creating thousands of high-paying jobs in the Lone Star State and enabling us to produce AI chips at scale for use on Earth and in space.”

Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed last week that the project is receiving a $30 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant from the state. Grimes County has previously approved a property tax waiver in exchange for annual payments of $20 million.

The plant would eventually span 100 million square feet.

Report: Talarico voted Using parents’ address

Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico voted in five elections using his parents’ address after buying a nearby home for himself, according to The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, a practice that may have violated state voting laws.

The revelation comes weeks after Talarico accused Paxton, his GOP opponent, of voting from his estranged wife’s address despite not having lived there for two years.

Talarico has taken advantage of a state law that allows some public officials to redact personal information, such as home addresses. The news organizations pieced together the information from unredacted records provided by the Talarico campaign.

Texas law requires that residents register to vote where they live. The Talarico campaign declined to answer questions about his residency and voting history, saying “right-wing actors” have made threats about trying to locate the candidate and his family.

Talarico’s house is in the same county as his parents’ home. Both residences are located in the same state House district he represents, but in different jurisdictions for some local elections, according to The Tribune.

Wildfire danger increasing as conditions turn dry

August is typically the peak month for wildfires in Texas. The Texas A&M Forest Service expects wildfire potential to increase due to dry vegetation, particularly in the Panhandle and North Texas.

The state is deploying numerous wildfire response resources as a result, including the state’s mutual-aid system and assistance from a number of state agencies.

There were two active wildfires as of Sunday. The 200-acre Round Up fire west of Amarillo was zero percent contained at that time.

The service recently acquired three multimission aircraft, adding to its first dedicated, state-managed wildfire aviation fleet. It previously had acquired two wildfire suppression helicopters.

“Every wildfire is different, which is why a diverse aviation fleet is so important,” said Texas A&M Forest Service Fire Chief Jared Karns. “Having multiple aircraft types available, including multimission aircraft platforms that can serve a variety of roles, allows us to respond effectively to the unique demands of each incident.”

Salmonella cases linked to jalapeños 

The popular jalapeño pepper has been linked to 345 cases of salmonella illness in 27 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The San Antonio Express-News reported three cases in Texas, stemming from peppers imported from Sinaloa, Mexico.

No deaths have been reported nationwide, but 36 people have been hospitalized, according to the CDC. Nearly all of the cases were reported by people after eating at a Mexican-style chain restaurant.

Two affected chains, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba, said they had taken steps to remove potentially contaminated peppers.

Talarico unveils his ‘affordability agenda’

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico last week unveiled an “affordability agenda” that would help Texans buy homes, cancel medical debt, raise the minimum wage and expand the child tax credit, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“The top 1% put the American Dream behind a paywall,” Talarico told about 1,300 people at an Arlington rally. “For too many of our neighbors, for too many Texans, the American Dream has become an American Nightmare.”

Talarico also touted the endorsements of former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a Republican, and Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, a self-described independent.

“He’s the most corrupt politician that Texas has ever seen,” Whitley said of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee.

Paxton has faced numerous ethical and legal challenges during his time in office. He has denied wrongdoing and was acquitted by the Texas Senate in his impeachment trial.

At the Arlington rally, Talarico blamed both parties for economic policies that he said benefit the wealthy at the expense of working families.

“Republicans and some Democrats sold the false Gospel of trickle-down economics,” he said. “Trickle-down economics isn’t a theory. It’s a theft.”

Distracted driving puts school children at risk

As the school year begins, the Texas Department of Transportation is urging drivers to pay special attention in school zones. More than 3,200 traffic crashes in school zones involved school buses last year. Distracted driving and speeding were the most common contributing factors in these crashes.

“School zones can be chaotic places, with people in a rush and children not always watching for cars while they hop on and off buses or in and out of cars. Drivers can become impatient or distracted, which leads to mistakes,” TxDOT said in a news release.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.

The commission’s recommendation to the City Council back in 2021 that the city adopt a Unified Development Code (UDC) is but one example of this.

The new UDC was the first major project undertaken to implement the updated 2018 Boerne Master Plan and, for the first time in the city’s history, combined various city ordinances relating to development into a single document. This single document has served our community well during these past 5 years and will continue to serve as a roadmap for responsible growth in the years ahead.

Another example of the commission’s values- based approach to planning and zoning is the new Buc-ee’s development. About this time last year, the commission tabled a proposed re-zoning related to this project for several months to give the City Council and Bucee’s more time to agree upon needed changes to the project to minimize the impact on local traffic and to maximize certain aesthetics — such as a reduction in sign height, light pollution, and the number of gas pumps and the addition of more landscaping and screening adjacent to nearby neighborhoods, such as Menger Springs.

During the time that the commission tabled the Buc-ee’s zoning matter, the company agreed to a number of significant concessions and changes to the project, resulting in a much better and more sensible development for our community.

In addition, during the past six years, the commission recommended that City Council approve only those zoning changes which were compatible with responsible growth. Although perhaps not as high-profile as the adoption of a new UDC, the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommended approval of only two new large residential developments — one offfour lane Highway 46 on the east end of town, and one off the I-10 access road on the west side of town — during the past six years was a profound departure from previous practice.

In both instances, the commission was satisfied that these developments were not only consistent with the City’s 2018 Master Plan but also that, located along major thoroughfares, these developments did not pose traffic safety or congestion concerns.

Mitigating traffic and road congestion, as well as management of the growth and density of Boerne through proper land use and planning, are two issues that routinely rank as the most important issues for citizens when completing the city’s annual Community Survey.

While the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council have done a good job with the latter issue, increased traffic and road congestion will be an ongoing challenge as county areas outside city limits continue to grow and develop.

As growth in the county along Highway 46 east of town continues unabated, the intersection of Herff, Esser and River Road/ Highway 46, which already ranks as the #1 congested intersection in Boerne, will only become more congested. During the recent rains, the flooding along Cibolo Creek completely closed this intersection, cutting off the eastern part of the city and county from emergency and other services.

The City Council in the near future will need to improve the Herff, Esser and River Road/Highway 46 intersection to accommodate increased traffic flow and to raise the intersection the 10 or more feet it will take to lift it out of the flood plain so that rain events like we had last month do not close it to all traffic.

It also will be incumbent upon city leaders to identify and implement a viable alternate east-west connector between Highway 46 East and Main Street/I-10 before commencing construction of the needed improvements, which construction undoubtedly will make navigating this congested intersection even more difficult for a time.

Given the quality of Boerne’s public schools, its vibrant Main Street and small-town feel, and proximity to a large metro area and job generator, population growth is inevitable — how we as a community manage that growth, however, is entirely up to us.

Tim Bannwolf served as chairman of the Boerne Planning and Zoning Commission from June 2020 through May 2026 and has lived in Boerne with his family since April 2017.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised city-owned groceries with high-quality fresh produce guaranteed to be 30% lower than private stores. Chicago tried this, where seven government groceries, despite receiving millions in taxpayer subsidies, all went out of business within two years.

Mamdani wants to “de-commodify” housing, removing housing from the private market and treating it as a public good. He plans to hire city inspectors to monitor tenant complaints about landlords and, if they so choose, force owners to sell to Mamdani approved non- profits for little compensation.

There’s nothing democratic about either initiative but rather reflect Marxist ideology. Yet many Democrats are enamored with the privileged Mamdani, raised by wealthy parents, educated at expensive private schools, who has never had a real job.

New York Comptroller Mark Levine blasted the city’s rent laws for fueling high housing costs. “We just have a shortage of homes. Yet in rent stabilized buildings, we have tens of thousands of vacant units because the laws make it too difficult for landlords to rent them. Government has so many rules and regulations” grumbled Levine.

Communists don’t understand the basic concept of supply and demand – as supplies increase, prices decline. Leftists enact policies, environmental or otherwise, that limit supply then complain when rents rise.

Democrat Socialists of America advocate defunding the Defense Department, abolishing police and jails. Are these Commies unaware of massive crime increases in cities that defunded police? Do they care?

Democrat presidential aspirant Rep Ro Khanna advocates eliminating all foreign aid to Israel, including defensive weapons like the Iron Dome. The Marxist faction of the Democratic Party has long supported this, almost succeeding in 2021.

Without Iron Dome, Israel would respond with devastating force to even the threat of a missile launch. If Hamas had limited its October 2023 attack to 5,000 rockets and not murdered over 1,200 Israelis, Gaza would have likely escaped much of the destruction that followed.

New York Democrats just nominated radical Darializa Avila Chevalier to Congress. She posted on social media that she uses the American flag as a napkin to wipe her dirty hands. This is both disgusting and traitorous.

You would think the celebration of our nation’s 250th founding would be completely bipartisan. Sadly, it wasn’t.

According to a Reuters poll, 64% of Republicans planned to celebrate July 4th with flags or bunting, vs. only 27% of Democrats. An NBC news survey found that just 29% of self- described Democr a ts co n s i d ered themselves to be extremely or very proud to be American, compared to 85% of Democrats 25 years ago. Conversely, 90% of Republicans consider themselves extremely or very proud to be Americans.

Thankfully, State Sen. Donna Campbell (R- New Braunfels) sponsored Texas Senate Bill 24, signed into law in 2025, mandating K-12 social studies curricula include instruction on communist regimes, their history, and their contrast with U.S. democratic principles.

Students will learn communism’s barbaric history drenched in blood and reeking of human suffering, totaling over 100 million deaths worldwide in the 20th century due to its gulags, killing fields, planned famines, death camps and purges.

Contrasting our Declaration of Independence with The Communist Manifesto, journalist Don Feder wrote, “One liberates, the other enslaves. One points the way toward a new day for humanity, the other toward a dark night of collectivism.”

Feder wrote, “ Our Founders took America from a colonial backwater to world dominance, producing an endless stream of inventions that has shaped the modern world and eased the burden of humanity. America rebuilt the economies of its enemies following World War II. Our constitution serves as a model of representative government for emerging nations.”

Repackaged in America as democratic socialism, communism is making alarming inroads. As many as a dozen Communists will enter Congress in 2027, all elected as Democrats.

Great patriots like John F. Kennedy and Harry Truman must be turning over in their graves as to what’s happening in their party.

Republicans will defend our nation’s principles and fight for our freedoms and way of life against all threats, both foreign and domestic. That is our sacred responsibility.

Boerne resident Rich Senna is a member of the Republican Party

Effective July 31, products containing cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC and THCP are banned in Texas, following a years-long legal fight over state hemp regulations, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The Texas Supreme Court on May 1 upheld the authority of the Texas Department of State Health Services to adopt rules that in effect ban those THC products.

The Texas Hemp Business Council warned businesses on July 15 to prepare for the change.

“Businesses should evaluate their inventory and prepare to remove or sell through products containing more than trace amounts of delta-8, delta-10, delta-6, THCP and other cannabinoids that fall within the reinstated definition before the July 31 effective date,” the council said.

Texas consumers are now largely limited to ingestible and topical hemp products made with compliant delta-9 THC. Gummies, edibles and beverages containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight remain legal.

Cyclosporiasis mostly in two regions

Nearly three-fourths of cyclosporiasis cases detected in Texas have been confined to two regions, The Dallas Morning News reported.

The Texas Department of State Health Services provided numbers for each of the state’s eight public health regions. Most cases this year, from the beginning of May until late July, have been reported in two regions: Region 11 and Region 6/5S:

• Region 11 includes Corpus Christi and the southernmost part of Texas. Of the 106 lab-confirmed cases statewide, 48 were reported from that region — or 45%.

• Region 6/5S includes Houston and Harris County, and an additional 29 cases were reported in that region.

Together, the two regions account for roughly 73% of the state’s cases.

The diarrhea-inducing parasite has hit other states hard. Michigan, for example, has reported thousands of cases. Texas thus far has seen cyclosporiasis cases at about the same level as in the past few years.

Paxton: Will debate Talarico 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said last week he will debate state Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, in the state’s U.S. Senate race, though no date has been set, The Texas Tribune reported.

Talarico, the Democratic nominee, said he had accepted invitations from Texas media groups for three debates. The Paxton campaign confirmed it had received the same debate invitations and said the attorney general plans to debate but did not commit to specific dates.

“Of course, we are going to debate James Talarico, and we look forward to engaging with potential debate hosts,” Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux said in a statement.

Talarico has agreed to televised debates on Sept. 22 in the Rio Grande Valley; Oct. 6 in Dallas; and Oct. 13 in Austin.

Maddux said the Paxton campaign was “close to terms with one outlet now and expect an announcement to be forthcoming shortly.”

Meanwhile, a new Fox polls shows Talarico with a slight lead, according to the Houston Chronicle. The poll shows him leading Paxton by three points, 51-48, boosted by strong leads among independent voters and other key constituencies.

Measles outbreak reported in Montgomery County 

The Texas Department of State Health Services issued a health alert after four cases of measles were reported in Montgomery County. All were members of the same family, were unvaccinated and became infected after a person with measles traveled to Texas from out of state.

Because measles is highly contagious, DSHS is warning that additional cases could occur among unvaccinated people in the area. The agency encouraged health care professionals and the public to remain vigilant to the signs and symptoms.

Measles is spread through coughing and sneezing. It can be caught by simply being near someone who is infected.

Voters wrongly flagged as potential noncitizens

Election officials across Texas should immediately reinstate some voters who were incorrectly flagged as possible noncitizens through a federal program, according to The Texas Tribune. Christina Adkins, the state elections director, told county officials in a phone call that Texas Department of Public Safety records have confirmed the citizenship of some of the 2,724 registered voters singled out as potential noncitizens.

The voters were flagged after the state checked its voter roll through a federal program called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, that is used to verify the citizenship of registered voters.

Former Secretary of State Jane Nelson sent a letter in April to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that raised concerns about the accuracy of the SAVE program, after county election officials found citizens wrongly labeled noncitizens.

Abbott plan calls for lower health insurance costs 

Gov. Greg Abbott last week revealed plans to lower health insurance costs and drug prices by making it cheaper for small businesses to offer insurance to their workers, the Houston Chronicle reported. He said state mandates have made it too expensive for many small businesses to offer health insurance for their employees.

Abbott called for legislation that would allow those businesses to offer plans that don’t meet all state mandates that exceed what is required by the federal government.

That generally would mean thinner coverage for employees.

“Small businesses want to provide their employees with healthcare insurance. It’s just good policy, it’s a good strategy, but also, it’s essential for them to be able to compete with other employers,” Abbott said at a campaign event.

The state leads the nation in uninsured people, with some 5 million Texans lacking health insurance.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park.

In acknowledgement of that reality and in an effort to spur action by our Texas State Legislature 89th session, I wrote a resolution that was included in our 2024 Texas Silver-Haired Legislature Legislative Report, “Expand Accountability and Resources for Remediation of Unplugged Oil Wells Contaminating Water Supplies.”

The TSHL 2024 Legislative Report was delivered to all statewide elected officials and all members of the Texas State House and Senate in October 2024.

State Rep. Charles Geren (R-Fort Worth) authored a House bill in that regard, and I testified before the Texas House Committee on Natural Resources on its behalf and was joined by many representatives in the oil and gas industry in support of that bill.

The Texas Oil and Gas Association also endorsed the bill, and did so on behalf of those industry association members who want to see those who are skirting their responsibility to be sanctioned and required to remediate such conditions.

Although there was no new legislation passed, the Legislature awarded $100 million in additional appropriations to the TRC to increase its capacity to implement provisions in this bill. Those funds are being invested during this current biennium and beyond to achieve an improved level of control, remediation, and sanction of those responsible for such environmental indiscretions. All older Texans wish them good luck.

Additionally, in conjunction with Mr. Henning’s further protestations, “We continue to see minor earthquakes in the oil patch due to oilfield wastewater injection,” I wrote a resolution which was adopted by our TSHL 21st session, which convened on the floor of the Texas House last May, “Require the TRC Toughen its Enforcement of Produced Wastewater Violations.”

This resolution seeks remediation and sanctions relating to inadequate storage of produced wastewater from reservoirs, injection wells, contaminating water supplies and “be it resolved that the 21st session of the TSHL recommends that the 90th session of the Texas Legislature mandate that parties responsible for leakage or overflow of produced water initiate immediate, comprehensive remediation of soils and affected water sources at their own expense; that the TRC should impose enhanced performance bond requirement to cover the potential cost of such produced wastewater remediation, escalating financial penalties and suspension of operating permits for “delinquent parties” demonstrating a pattern of such negligence; and that the penalties recovered be appropriated to RRC to increase field inspections and real-time pressure monitoring for injection wells in high-risk zones.”

I am hopeful of a receptive House and Senate sponsor for such a bill in 90th Texas Legislature convening in January. Stay tuned.

Water is one of two major priorities at the forefront of the 90th Legislature charges for 2027, tied inextricably to no. 2, data centers. Those of us in Kendall County are instinctively aware of groundwater issues, despite having a bit too much flow through town recently.

Older Texans are the fastest growing segment of the state’s population. Senate Concurrent Resolution 37, passed in 1985 by the Texas Senate, recognized that. They also acknowledged the increased need for the understanding and participation of Texas’ older citizens in helping develop state policies through the legislative process. TSHL is a “model legislative session” which enables older Texans to initiate and debate policies that affect their peers. The Senate and House concurrently support the work of a biennial Texas Silver-Haired Legislature.

Texas authorized, and supports, the development of the TSHL by providing the house chamber, Capitol facilities and staff. S.C.R. No. 37 requires that TSHL publish a biennial Legislative Report of recommendations to the Texas Legislature as a resource for the law-making process.

Since authorization of the TSHL, more than 275 laws have been directly influenced by TSHL recommendations. Our focus is to help older Texans lead healthier, safer, happier, and more independent lives.

The 2026 TSHL Legislative Report will be available to the public at www. tshl.org in early fall.

Edward L. Rogers is the deputy speaker pro tempore for the Texas Silver- Haired Legislature

PROGRESSIVE VIEWS

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of articles where Progressive View writers explain what various statewide offices do.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) is celebrating 135 years as the state’s oldest and first regulatory agency. In 1891, Gov. Jim Hogg saw an abusive railroad industry and pushed the Legislature to establish the RRC to provide oversight of rates and operations of railroads, terminals, and wharves.

Today the RRC no longer regulates railroads but has the critical role of providing oversight of the Texas oil and gas industry and related industries like pipelines.

Many have suggested a name change, but “Railroad Commission” remains the name, perhaps to confuse us. RRC has three commissioners that oversee a bureaucracy of over 1,000 folks. The commission issues permits for drilling, enforces industry regulations, works to prevent waste of natural resources, and should play a key role in environmental protection.

Commissioners are elected to six-year staggered terms and each make $141,000 per year. Jim Wright is the current chair. The other commissioners are Wayne Christian and Christy Craddick, all Republicans.

Commissioner Craddick is an attorney with an oil and gas industry practice. Christian gained fame in the music industry, and Wright was a professional bull rider. Wright lost his Republican Primary bid to Bo French, a TCU history major who is running against Democrat Jon Rosenthal, a University of Texas engineering graduate with oil and gas experience. Currently, Rosenthal is a member of the Texas House, representing District 135.

I began working in the east Texas oil fields in 1970. At that time, the RRC was the leading and most innovative energy regulatory agency in the world.

Today’s RRC has many issues. The commissioners receive an estimated 60% of their campaign funding from the industry they regulate, according to a study by the nonprofit consumer protection think tank, Commission Shift.

RRC is considered an “industry captive agency” with current regulations being far too lenient and often written by the industry it regulates.

A prime example of RRC failures is the 11,000 orphan wells that haven’t been properly abandoned and are often leaking, causing contamination of ground water. Orphan wells are non-producing wells where the owner is bankrupt or cannot be found.

Oil and gas companies pay fees meant to cover things like orphan wells, but those fees are totally inadequate. Currently, both state and federal money is used to plug orphan wells. This is outrageous because industry should pay the entire cost, not Texas taxpayers.

The Commission plays a role in ensuring that natural gas supply failures during freezes don’t crash our electric grid. Commissioners should make sure plants are winterized.

The RRC can also help keep power bills more reasonable by ensuring a natural gas utility’s cost recovery is reasonable and by keeping natural gas flaring to a minimum. Some progress has been made to reduce flaring, and hopefully the RRC will continue to pressure industry to sell all natural gas that is produced.

We continue to see minor earthquakes in the oil patch due to oilfield wastewater injection. These operations are usually done by smaller entities that often cut corners. The RRC needs to tighten regulations on these wells and their operators.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin) has strong words for oil and gas regulation in Texas: “The Texas Railroad Commission has repeatedly catered to the powerful and the polluters over public health and the people. It’s hard to believe the Environmental Protection Agency would even consider giving additional oversight authority to a state agency bought and sold by fossil fuel corporations.”

While I am a strong supporter of alternate energy and efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, I have deep affection for the Texas energy worker. They toil day and night in all types of weather and deserve our support and respect. They will be there to help Texas transition to new energy sources like geothermal.

The United States is now producing a record 13.9 million barrels of oil per day with Texas leading the way, producing 42% of that total. Let’s make sure the RRC protects us, not the industries they regulate. Time for folks to vote Democratic up and down the ballot.

To find out more about how to get involved with the Kendall County Democratic Party, visit www.kcdems.us.

Kevin Henning is a local Democrat.

Social Security is often one of the most important income sources in retirement. Yet widespread myths about how it works can lead to confusion, unnecessary worry and poor planning decisions. Here’s the truth behind five of the most common misconceptions.

Myth 1: Social Security is going broke. You’ve probably heard this one, but the full picture is more nuanced. According to the 2026 Social Security Board of Trustees Report, if Congress does nothing, the program would need to reduce benefits starting in 2032, paying roughly 78 cents for every dollar owed.

But that’s just one scenario. Congress could raise the combined payroll tax from 12.4% to 16.65%, which the trustees estimate would secure full benefits through 2100.

Other options include eliminating the earnings cap subject to payroll tax or adjusting retirement ages. Lawmakers have tools to address this.

Myth 2: Social Security will cover all your retirement needs. Think of Social Security as a financial foundation, not the full building. According to the Social Security Administration, benefits replace only about 40% of pre-retirement income for a median earner.

That means you’ll likely need to account for most of your retirement income yourself. Building a strong personal savings strategy now can help close that gap.

Myth 3: You lose benefits permanently if you keep working. Not true. Social Security does have an “earnings test” that can temporarily reduce benefits for people who claim early and keep working.

If your earnings exceed a set annual cap – which changes each year – Social Security will withhold a portion of your benefits. But once you reach full retirement age, the Social Security Administration adjusts your monthly check higher to repay those withheld amounts over time.

Myth 4: An ex-spouse’s benefits come out of your own. If you were married for at least 10 years and are currently unmarried, your former spouse may be eligible to collect on your earnings record, or you may be able to collect on theirs.

Divorced spouse benefits can be up to 50% of the other person’s full retirement benefit. But those payments don’t affect yours. Your monthly benefit is not reduced by anything paid to an ex-spouse or even a current spouse.

Myth 5: Social Security benefits are no longer taxed. Recent legislation caused some confusion here. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act did not eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits. If your combined income exceeds certain thresholds, you’ll still owe taxes on a portion of your benefits.

The law also created a temporary deduction, available through 2028, for people 65 and older. Eligible taxpayers can deduct $6,000 per qualifying filer if their modified adjusted gross income is $75,000 or less for singles or $150,000 for couples. The deduction phases out at $175,000 for singles and $250,000 for joint filers.

The more you understand Social Security, the more control you have over your retirement outcome. Grounding your decisions in facts rather than assumptions can make a meaningful difference in your longterm financial security.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser. Edward Jones, Member SIPC

During times of crisis, Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries serves as a central hub, uniting and equipping God’s people with not only resources but the opportunity to experience the love of Christ in a very difficult time.

HCDBM is currently supplying critical equipment, food, clothing, hygiene products and so much more while deploying volunteer teams through established partner organizations to serve affected areas in the name of Christ. The ministry is also providing case management and referrals while helping families who are displaced with appropriate supplies while in transition.

We need you. It’s all hands on deck. Lack of media attention has drastically affected the amount of resources that have come into the region. If we don’t step up, families may never recover from this disaster.

This flood was different; it affected a wider geographical area than last year’s flood. Many who are affected do not have insurance to restore their homes because the areas that were flooded have not been at risk of flooding in the past. Its hard for the gravity of this event to reach us when our lives are back to normal, but there are hundreds and hundreds of displaced families. Each heartbreaking story is unique.

Stories like Gloria’s, who walked in two days ago.

Gloria’s home sustained several inches of floodwater, resulting in extensive damage. The flooring and drywall throughout the GUEST COMMENTARY

AGNES HUBBARD

COFOUNDER, CEO HILL COUNTRY DAILY BREAD MINISTRIES

residence will all need require removal and replacement.

Through tears, Gloria shared it was her birthday and that she is scheduled to undergo a biopsy to determine whether she has stomach cancer.

She reported that this follows a double mastectomy she underwent last year, adding to the significant physical and emotional challenges she is currently facing.

Gloria and her family of six are currently staying with a friend, temporarily. However, this arrangement is only expected to last a few more days. The family has been referred for temporary housing and Gloria’s family home was referred to one of the teams in the field to assess.

As we were loading her vehicle with food, clothing, hygiene supplies, household items and more, Gloria threw her arms around her case manager, Sandy, and began to cry, stating that she was so overwhelmed and she cannot cry in front of her children.

Sandy held her tight and let her know she can cry on her shoulder any time she needs to. They prayed together.

Gloria is now registered for on going support as she and her family navigate the difficult road ahead.

Thank you for your willingness to help the families in our community whose lives have been upended by the devastating flooding this month. We know that you could give anywhere, and we are grateful that you give through Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries.

The Midland Independent School District is suing Education Commissioner Mike Morath and other Texas leaders in another challenge to the state’s public school finance system, known as “Robin Hood,” according to The Texas Tribune.

Three legal challenges over the past three decades have failed, with Texas courts ruling the recapture system complies with the state constitution. Under recapture, wealthier school districts — such as Midland, with its considerable oil and gas holdings — send money to the state, which then distributes it to school districts with low property values.

In the case of Midland, the district sent $92 million back to the state in the 2024-25 school year, sixth highest in the state. The Austin Independent School District sent back the most money that year at $771 million.

“They’re setting the tax rate. We collect the taxes. We send it to the state,” Guinn, the Midland school board president, said last week. “Then we get blamed as a local district and local board member for taxes being high. It’s just a revolving door.”

School administrators have contended that state leaders have not adequately invested in traditional public-school campuses, opting instead to promote charter schools and to create a voucher program that uses public funding for private or homeschooling.

Breakaway buoys disrupt Rio Grande bridges

Hundreds of federal border buoys broke loose during recent flooding, disrupting traffic at international bridges, the Texas Standard reported.

The floating border barrier was installed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It consists of interconnected orange cylinders, each 4 feet high, 15 feet long and weighing about a ton apiece.

Officials in Eagle Pass temporarily stopped traffic on the city’s two international bridges over the Rio Grande. That city is also the location of about 2,000 feet of a separate floating barrier installed by Operation Lone Star in 2023. Those buoys did not break apart during the recent flooding.

“The state buoys remain intact where they were located initially and have not moved,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. “They’re being reinforced as we speak to make sure they’re not moved.”

Many of the federal buoys became lodged into the river, while others floated into Mexico, where some were reportedly recovered by residents and sold as scrap metal. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said in a statement that contractors were working to recover the remaining buoys.

State could overhaul university funding

Texas could roll out a new funding model for four-year colleges that allocates more money to schools with higher graduation and retention rates, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board presented the model to university representatives last week. It will propose the plan to lawmakers during next year’s legislative session.

Under current law, four-year colleges receive funding from the Legislature through a formula largely based on the number of courses offered and the number of students enrolled.

Since 1999, funding has also come from institutional enhancement funding, which is not formula-based and varies widely, from $56 to $5,734 per student. Some lawmakers have criticized enhancements as a “slush fund.”

Sarah Keyton, deputy commissioner of the higher education agency, said the new funding model would make university budgeting more predictable.

The new model, if adopted by lawmakers, rewards universities for progress toward a degree and diplomas awarded. It was created with input from university leaders across the state.

“This formula could really accelerate our progress towards the goals of the state education plan (to) get more students earning credentials of value and entering the workforce and driving our statewide economy forward,” Keyton said.

State takes action on data center growth, impact

At Gov. Greg Abbott’s direction, the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas have taken action to shield residential ratepayers from the costs of data center expansion sweeping across much of the state.

Those actions include:

• Requiring data centers to pay for transmission infrastructure and contribute to “meaningfully reducing” residential electric bills.

• Preventing large data centers from diverting existing power away from the ERCOT grid.

• Changing how data centers pay for the infrastructure needed to serve them.

• Developing stronger standards that data centers must meet before connecting to the grid.

A controversial data center project in Henderson County near Cedar Creek Reservoir has been pulled after the company said it couldn’t comply with Abbott’s standards, The Texas Tribune reported.

The site was expected to take 12 years to build and to consume 5 million gallons of lake water per day by its fifth year. It drew considerable opposition from residents because of the location’s proximity to a developed subdivision.

41 screwworm cases in Texas 

Forty-one cases of New World screwworm cases have been confirmed in Texas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Texas Standard reported, with one additional case in New Mexico.

The latest infestation was confirmed in a baby calf in western Starr County, the first detected case in the Rio Grande Valley.

The screwworm is the larval stage of a parasitic fly that feeds on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. Without treatment, infestation can be fatal. Federal and state officials are working to contain the outbreak, with several counties in South and West Texas under quarantine that limits movement of livestock.

1.6 million eggs recalled

Several brands of white and brown eggs sold in Texas are under a recall because they may be contaminated with salmonella, the Austin American-Statesman reported. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Midwest Poultry Services is voluntarily recalling nearly 1.6 million eggs.

The company announced the eggs were produced and distributed from Texas farms between June 6 and July 3, with sell-by or best-by dates between July 20 and Aug. 17. They were shipped to Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana and Brookshire Grocery stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi, as well as other smaller retail outlets.

The recalled eggs will have an identifying code number printed on the left or right sides of the carton in date-coding ink only. Only codes P-1950 or 0840962 with a Julian Date between 157 and 184 printed on the side of the carton are subject to recall.

As of July 24, the company has not identified any illnesses linked to the recalled eggs.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.

A Property risk assessment can help homeowners understand their wildfire risk, but awareness alone does not make a home safer. Risk is reduced only when that knowledge is translated into action.

That is the purpose of the Hill Country Fire Coalition of Texas’ new Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant Program. The program helps eligible Kendall County residents and neighborhoods that need financial or physical help completing wildfire mitigation work identified through a property risk assessment (PRA) A PRA is intended to educate and inform property owners about the wildfire risks specific to their homes and land. During the assessment, the homeowner walks the property with a trained mitigation specialist to identify vulnerabilities and better understand practical steps that can reduce those risks.

The assessment provides a roadmap, but the work must still be completed.

Removing combustible materials near a home, clearing vegetation from critical areas, addressing ember-entry points and completing other recommended improvements can significantly reduce the likelihood that a home will ignite during a wildfire.

Unfortunately, some property owners cannot afford the work or are physically unable to complete it themselves.

The Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant Program is designed to help bridge that gap, turning recommendations into meaningful improvements that can help protect lives, homes and first responders.

You must be a Kendall County resident, and the property must be in Kendall County. There are three ways to qualify:

• Individual Financial Assistance: For residents who meet the program’s financial eligibility requirements.

• Individual Physical Assistance: For residents who are physically unable to perform the recommended mitigation work.

• Neighborhood Assistance: For HOAs, POAs or organized neighborhoods without an association that can demonstrate financial need and lack sufficient resources to complete wildfire mitigation work identified through a community risk assessment.

There is no cost-share requirement for approved individual applicants. Neighborhood and community applicants are required to provide a cost share through in-kind services that help expand wildfire risk-reduction efforts throughout their respective neighborhood.

This approach allows participating communities to contribute directly to the program while extending its benefits to more residents.

The first step for every applicant is to complete a PRA through the Hill Country Fire Coalition. Once the assessment is complete, the applicant should:

• Obtain a Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant Program application by either making a request to the Mitigation Specialist during your PRA or by emailing info@hcfcoftx. com.

• Secure an estimate from a qualified contractor for the work identified in the PRA.

• Complete the application and include all required documentation.

• Submit the completed application to info@hcfcoftx. com by Aug. 21, 2026.

Wildfire mitigation is more than just protecting a single home. When one property owner reduces hazardous vegetation and improves the area immediately surrounding a structure, those efforts can also benefit neighboring properties and provide firefighters with a safer environment in which to work.

Kendall County’s wildfire risk will not be solved through education alone. Property owners must understand their risks, take reasonable steps to reduce them, and work together to create safer, more resilient neighborhoods.

The Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant Program is intended to help make that possible. According to Christie Wiley, director of the Coalition, “Ultimately, our goal is simple: reduce wildfire risk, protect lives and property, and make conditions safer for the first responders who will be there when our community needs them most.”

Don’t be fooled. Although the recent rainfall provides short-term relief, that moisture can evaporate quickly as temperatures rise, winds increase and dry conditions return. Today’s green grass can soon become tomorrow’s tinder, primed to burn.

To request a Property Risk Assessment or obtain a grant application, contact the Hill Country Fire Coalition of Texas at info@hcfcoftx.com.

The 2026 World Cup is over. The final whistle blew, the pitch has been cleared, and thousands of visitors from Europe and around the world headed home.

Many left with something they did not expect: a completely different view of the United States.

They came for soccer, the original football. What surprised them most was America itself.

Across host cities, European fans, especially younger ones, posted, talked and wrote about the same themes. The friendliness of ordinary Americans. The scale of the place. The energy. The food. The hospitality that felt genuine rather than performative.

More than a few said, in so many words, that the country they experienced was not the country they had been told to expect.

That gap matters more than you might think.

For years, large parts of European media and elite commentary have painted the United States in the darkest possible colors. Many younger visitors arrived carrying those assumptions.

They left talking about how clean the cities felt, how helpful strangers were, how big and open the country still is, and how ordinary people treated them with warmth.

Reality contradicted the narrative in the grandest way.

This happened in the year of America’s 250th birthday. That timing is not lost on me. While we celebrated two and a half centuries of the American experiment, the world got to walk around inside it. Many discovered that the experiment is still working better than the critics claim.

At the same time, the Democratic Socialists of America have been getting heavy media attention with their new “Workers Deserve More” platform. They are pushing for public control of major companies, free universal housing, healthcare, education and transportation, along with abolishing police and prisons. It is a clear vision of socialism offered as the answer to America’s problems.

The World Cup gave younger Europeans a chance to see both models side by side. They could experience the results of American capitalism — the abundance, the opportunity, and the sheer scale of what free enterprise has built — while at the same time hearing the socialist pitch at home. Many of them noticed the difference.

The country that produced the largest economy, the most innovation, and the highest standard of living in history is the same country some of their leaders want to remake along socialist lines.

As the Kendall County Republican Party chairman, I watch these moments closely. We spend a lot of time defending American principles at home: secure borders, economic opportunity, personal responsibility, and the freedom to build a good life.

It is encouraging when outsiders see those principles producing real results on the ground. Especially with what I have personally seen during extensive trips overseas.

The best advertisement for the United States has always been the United States. When people experience it firsthand, the propaganda loses almost all power. That is a lesson worth remembering as we head into the fall elections and the years beyond.

We should be proud of what visitors saw. We should also be cleareyed. The gap between the America that exists and the America that is described in certain media is wide. Closing that gap starts with telling the truth about our own country, its strengths, its flaws, and its unmatched capacity for renewal.

November will test whether we still believe in that capacity. The World Cup gave the world a glimpse of it. Our job is to keep living it and to make sure the next generation sees the real America, not the version they are being sold.

Let ’s make that happen.

Traften Werenskjold is chairman of the Kendall County Republican Party

One of the Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation’s (BKCEDC) core responsibilities is Business Retention & Expansion — supporting the businesses that have already chosen to invest in Kendall County.

What is Business Retention & Expansion?

Business Retention & Expansion focuses on helping existing businesses succeed. At BKCEDC, we regularly meet with business owners, managers and community leaders to learn what’s working, understand the challenges they’re facing, celebrate their successes, and identify opportunities where we can help.

No two visits are exactly alike because every business has different goals, opportunities and challenges. Sometimes we’re connecting a business with a resource. Other times we’re discussing future expansion plans or simply taking the time to listen.

Every conversation helps us better understand the needs of Kendall County’s business community.

Why Does It Matter?

Existing businesses are the backbone of our local economy.

They create jobs, invest in facilities, support local nonprofits and schools, sponsor community events, and provide the products and services that make Kendall County a great place to live and work.

While business recruitment often receives the most attention, many future jobs and investments will come from companies that are already here and continuing to grow.

Supporting those businesses helps create a stronger, more resilient local economy.

Building Stronger Relationships

Successful economic development depends on strong relationships.

Regular communication with local employers helps BKCEDC identify emerging trends, understand workforce and infrastructure needs, recognize opportunities for collaboration, and connect businesses with resources that support continued growth.

One way we strengthen those relationships is through our Business & Entrepreneur Spotlight video series. Visiting local businesses allows us to showcase the people behind Kendall County’s economy while highlighting the innovation, investment, and entrepreneurship taking place throughout our community.

Investing in Kendall County’s Future 

A strong economy isn’t built solely by attracting new businesses. It also depends on helping existing employers continue to grow and succeed.

Every business visit provides an opportunity to learn, strengthen relationships and gain a better understanding of the issues affecting our local business community.

Business Retention & Expansion is one of the many ways BKCEDC works to support the longterm success of Kendall County’s economy.

Becky Welch is operations manager for the Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corp.

In a news release, Abbott said the budget guidance “protects our historic investments in public education and teachers, delivers even more property-tax relief and makes the cost of living more manageable for Texas families through strict standards of efficiency and accountability from every state agency.”

The 90th legislative session begins in January.

Flooding batters Hill Country again

A massive amount of rain once again engulfed the Hill Country, causing widespread flooding in several counties including Uvalde, Kerr, Kendall and Gillespie. At least two fatalities were reported near Comfort and Uvalde.

More than 270 people were rescued. Damage was widespread from rains bringing as much as 25 inches to parts of Kerr County and 10 to 15 inches in other counties.

The death toll so far is much lower than the casualties from last summer’s flooding, which killed more than 130 statewide, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Officials and residents credit improved warning systems, including text alerts and flood sirens, and fewer people clustering on riverbanks, since it was not a holiday weekend — unlike the July 4, 2025, flood.

Law enforcement officials fanned out to campgrounds, hotels and recreational-vehicle parks as the floodwaters began to rise, though this time the flooding built up over a few days.

“We weren’t caught off guard by something nobody expected,” state Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, said at a news conference July 17. “We had a lot of critical, key people that were in the proper locations that were very instrumental in helping us. Residents were very aware of the possibility of what’s going to happen when that river floods.”

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a major disaster declaration seeking federal assistance for rebuilding efforts in 28 affected counties.

Mortgage delinquencies up among first-time homeowners 

First-time homeowners in Texas are increasingly failing to make their mortgage payments on time, the Houston Chronicle reported. Rising homeowner insurance costs are the primary culprit, according to data from the Federal Housing Administration.

Most FHA borrowers are firsttime homebuyers and typically have lower credit ratings and less money for a down payment, making them more vulnerable to rising monthly costs. Roughly 6% of FHA loans in Texas were at least 90 days past due, up from 3.7% a year earlier.

“This unfortunately positions Texas at the epicenter of the national affordability squeeze,” Scott Norman, CEO of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association, told state lawmakers in June.

Home insurance rates have increased by an average of 80% since 2020, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. Compounding the situation, homeowners with low credit scores are paying almost $3,000 more annually for home insurance than those with high credit scores.

Late payments on conventional mortgages have remained flat, with less than 1% of borrowers seriously behind on their payments.

Howden named Texas secretary of state

Gov. Greg Abbott has named Robert S. Howden to succeed Jane Nelson as Texas secretary of state, according to the Texas Standard. Nelson left office on July 17.

Howden has served as Abbott’s legislative director since September 2024. He will work as interim secretary until the legislative session begins in January, when he will need to be confirmed by the Texas Senate.

“His experience in the legislative process and extensive public service have prepared him to protect the integrity of Texas elections and represent our state with strength on the global stage,” Abbott said in announcing Howden’s appointment. The office’s primary responsibility is overseeing elections and voter rolls. It also oversees business filings, such as limited liability corporations and other entities.

Talarico holds fundraising edge over opponent Paxton 

With less than four months before the November general election, Democratic nominee James Talarico has vastly outraised his GOP rival Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race, the Chronicle reported.

The Austin-area state legislator ended June with a bank balance of $21.5 million, according to newly filed documents with the Federal Election Commission. After factoring in expenses, state Attorney General Paxton’s campaign was left with a balance of just $1.7 million.

Both candidates are heavily backed by super PACs. The Talarico-aligned political action committee has $21.6 million in the bank, including $10 million from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. The Paxton-aligned PAC, which spent heavily in his successful runoff against incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, was left with just $35,000 to start July.

Talarico hopes to break Texas Democrats’ 32-year losing streak in statewide elections. He has raised more than $68 million thus far, the most for any non-incumbent in a U.S. Senate race.

Abbott campaign paid $25K to rent elephant

Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection campaign paid $25,000 to rent Paige the elephant for the state GOP convention from an exhibitor that failed to register with Houston officials before bringing the elephant to the George R. Brown Convention Center, according to the Houston Chronicle.

A campaign finance report revealed the amount the campaign paid to East Texas Elephant Experience to parade the pachyderm at the June convention. The city’s regulatory division said it had no record the company registered as a licensed exhibitor at least 20 days before the event as required by city code.

Klayton Rutherford of PETA said the payment rewards an exotic animal entertainment industry that has come under criticism over its treatment of elephants.

“The amount of money that is involved in this industry is staggering,” Rutherford said. “The most prominent elected official in the state arranged this exhibit and it was done apparently in violation of the city’s ordinances and that’s alarming.”

The Abbott campaign declined to comment.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.

With our governor heading the charge, Texas plans to lead the nation in building data centers and the heavily polluting gas turbine power plants they require, according to a recent study by the Environmental Integrity Project.

The study states that these plants “plan to emit tons of greenhouse gases and air pollution.” The Texas Public Utilities Commission recently requested information from data center companies on how much water and energy they plan to use. But “at a legislative hearing in late June, legislators were told less than a third of the companies surveyed responded, according to the Texas Tribune.

Data centers are taking advantage of Texas’ weak regulatory structure to vastly expand their plans.

OpenAI’s Stargate is building a massive data center near Abilene. According to a story by Floodlight/Texas Tribune, “On paper, Stargate’s Abilene campus started out small, but through a permitting loophole identified by Floodlight, it was able to quietly construct massive power sources with little-to-no public notice.

“Dozens of Texas data centers have obtained these minor air permits — which avoid public scrutiny and extensive environmental. In several cases, data centers secured these permits before seeking massive expansions later on , deploying a ‘small first, big later’ strategy that watchdogs say limits public input and creates unstoppable momentum for their projects,” Floodlight wrote.

In a recent poll conducted by the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project, “a majority of Texans oppose the construction of data centers in their community, including nearly twothirds of Texans living in rural areas. Texas is poised to be the No. 1 market for data centers in the U.S., with the most planned projects of any state.”

These ever-more-frequent stories make me wonder if anyone at the state leadership level is looking at impacts to our wobbly power grid and already-scarce water supplies, leaving “communities competing for basic resources,” said State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio).

Residents are beginning to fight back against this headlong rush. Particularly in unincorporated areas with little to no zoning power, like rural Caldwell County, “ many projects are already moving forward, leaving residents worried that any guardrails put in place may come too late.”

Other rural counties such as Angelina (Lufkin) and Hood (Granbury) are also resisting the push.

Even transitional counties such as Hays (San Marcos) are beginning to resist.

In late June, Hays County “ suspended approvals for data centers and other large, water-intensive developments through the end of the year and joined the growing number of counties across the state asking lawmakers to give them more regulatory authority.”

State Republicans seem to be hearing the message from their core rural voters. In late June, the governor called for a ban on data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods.

But what does that mean, exactly, “rural Texas neighborhoods”? According to Politico, “Abbott received at least $1.6 million in campaign funds from tech executives” in 2025. More than a decade ago, the Texas Legislature approved huge tax breaks for data centers. Watch what our state leadership does — and who donates to their campaigns — not what they say.

“Data centers are here, and the issues they bring are a challenge we must meet, but it cannot come at Texans’ expense,” Martinez Fischer said. Enacting responsible oversight must be a priority when the next session of the Texas Legislature convenes in January.

It’s time to call your representatives — Rep. Ellen Troxclair, 512463-0490; Sen. Donna Campbell, 512-463-0125 — and demand that they “hit the brakes” on this reckless development until more guidelines are in place.

In our next column, we begin our series to familiarize you with the seven statewide offices on the November ballot. These columns will assist you in making an informed choice when you vote.

First up is railroad commissioner, and we’ll close, right before the election, with governor.

Visit our website at www.kcdems.us to learn how you can get involved in driving change.

Call our office at 830331-1243 or stop by at 216 E. Blanco, Suite 201 to say hello and learn more about our activities and activism.

Laura Bray is the former Chair of the Kendall County Democratic Party

One of the most significant risks investors face isn’t losing money in a market dip; it’s failing to reach their long-term financial goals.

Many people focus heavily on short-term losses in the stock market and try to protect their savings by investing conservatively or avoiding stocks altogether. But that runs the risk that their savings won’t grow enough to keep up with inflation or support future needs.

Understanding what investment risk really means helps you make smarter financial decisions, considering these three key aspects.

• Risk tolerance describes your emotional comfort with risk. If you want to pull your money out of the market during a downturn, that reveals something about your tolerance.

Many financial advisors use questionnaires to help clients understand how they might react in different market conditions.

• Risk capacity refers to how much risk you can afford to take. Your timeline matters. A 35-year-old saving for retirement has decades to ride out market swings. A retiree drawing income from their portfolio doesn’t have that same cushion.

• Required risk describes how much risk you may need to take to reach your financial goals. Higher returns generally come with higher risk, though higher risk does not guarantee higher returns. If you need strong growth to retire comfortably, you may need to accept more short-term volatility.

Sometimes these elements don’t line up. You might be uncomfortable with risk but need strong growth to meet your goals.

Balance and diversification matter. Finding the right balance matters more than you might think. A small difference in your annual rate of return, from 5% to 7% for instance, doesn’t just add up a little. It multiplies.

That’s the power of compounding — returns earning their own returns, year after year, building on an ever-growing base. Over 30 or 35 years, that can become significant.

You needn’t choose between playing it so safe your money barely keeps up with inflation and taking on more risk than you’re comfortable with. Instead, a balanced mix can fit your comfort level and still help grow your money over time.

The age factor. You’ll want to adjust your approach to risk as you get older. If retirement is years away, your portfolio may lean toward growth investments like stocks and stock mutual funds; you have time to absorb short-term losses and benefit from long-term gains. Lower risk investments like bonds still play a role because they can help smooth out changes in your portfolio’s value.

As you near retirement, your portfolio may shift toward a more even mix of stocks and bonds to limit exposure to large market swings. The goal is to protect what you’ve built while still generating enough growth to fund a retirement that could last decades.

Investing well isn’t about eliminating risk; it’s about taking the right amount of it. Too little risk can be just as damaging as too much. A financial advisor can help you find the balance that matches your comfort level, your financial situation and your long-term goals.

Investors should understand the risks involved with owning investments, including interest rate risk, credit risk and market risk. The value of investments fluctuates and investors can lose some or all of their principal.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser. Edward Jones, Member SIPC

“We can only blame ourselves for all the crime and violence today. We removed all the phone booths and now Superman has no place to change.” — Author unknown

Comfortably seated at a Nacogdoches restaurant a few years ago, my eyes absorbed the antiques and vintage signs adorning the old warehouse-turned-eatery.

I had dined there many times, before a brief detour in the Hill Country. That night, however, my casual scan locked onto one conspicuously familiar piece.

“What are the odds?” I murmured.

Fast forward to last week. A KLTV Channel 7 news report on an icon of times gone by reminded me of that night at the restaurant. According to the story, bewildered crowds in Gilmer were attracted to a sight that prompted calls from curious residents — many of whom confessed they had never seen anything like it.

The tall glass enclosure looked just big enough for a single person to stand inside where a crude, hard-wired telephone hung. Passing youngsters called it a donation box or a primitive ATM, before an older gentleman recognized it immediately.

“Pay phone,” he said. “That was once the only way to make a call away from home.”

Public pay phone booths shaped U.S. communication and culture for more than a century and were everywhere— airports, bus stops and train stations.

By the late 1950s, wood gave way to sleek glass-and-aluminum structures. In both forms, they were also once the lifeblood of journalism. Hollywood loved the trope of the frantic reporter rushing into a phone booth to dictate a scoop before the presses rolled.

The last time I played that live-action role was in 1997 in Washington, D.C. I was covering the U.S. Court hearing of “The City of Boerne v. Flores”— a legal battle over a church building permit and historic preservation which I had covered.

Arguments concluded, I snapped a few photos, then sprinted toward the nearest pay phone where I dictated the story to our editor back at the Boerne Star.

Thanks to the humble pay phone, our hometown weekly broke the news the same day as the major dailies.

By the mid-1990s, the U.S. boasted more than 2.6 million pay phones. Then came the communications revolution: Cellphones put a phone booth in everyone’s pocket. The death blow came with the 1996 Telecommunications Act removing subsidies, effectively “hanging up” on phone booths for good. Today, it’s estimated that fewer than 100,000 examples remain nationwide, fading like ghosts of an analog world.

Reminded last week of that night at the eatery, I turned to my dining companion and said, “See that old wooden phone booth over there? I had one exactly like it in the game room of a house I sold in Center back in 1990. Mine was a ‘stand-up’ model from 1937 with phone numbers scratched into the metal near the door.”

Jotting remnants I could recall of those numbers on a napkin, I then walked across the room. Reaching the folding glass door, I stepped inside. I recognized the familiar, bare, unshielded fan and light fixture.

I folded the door shut and looked above the casing. There it was. Stamped clearly in the data plate: 1937. Beneath it, still perfectly legible, were the phone numbers I recalled.

The old phone booth I once enjoyed had found its way into a restaurant some 15 years and 35 miles down the road from where I last saw it.

Murmuring again, “What are the odds?”

Contact Aldridge at leonaldridge@gmail.com. Other Aldridge columns are archived at leonaldridge. com.

Preliminary data indicates Texas home insurers earned a 22% profit on premiums collected last year, according to the Houston Chronicle.

It was the best year insurers have had in two decades and follows several years of double-digit rate increases and flat or slightly negative returns for insurers due to increased natural disasters.

Insurance rates rose statewide by an average of 4.3% last year, according to the Texas Department of Insurance, which was significantly lower than the rate increases of preceding years.

Homeowners were still paying about 80% more for home insurance in 2025 than they paid in 2020.

Texas Department of Insurance Commissioner Amanda Crawford said given the profits Texas insurers reaped last year, they should “strongly consider whether or not a rate decrease might be in order.”

However, insurers can change their rates without getting state approval.

Rates in Texas are among the highest in the country.

Paxton may have violated Texas election law

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who created a tip line for the public to report suspected voter fraud, may have violated the law by voting in six elections using an address where he has not lived for two years, The Texas Tribune reported.

The attorney general’s election guidance includes a warning that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records or to establish a residence for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election.”

It further states, “You must register to vote using the address where you reside.”

Paxton appears to have used an address where he didn’t live while voting, according to election records obtained by Pro Publica and The Texas Tribune. When his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce last year, she said Paxton had moved out of their Collin County home a year earlier, but Ken Paxton has continued to use that address when voting. He has been linked to a home in a gated community in neighboring Denton County since February.

Neither Ken Paxton nor Angela Paxton responded to requests for comment. Ken Paxton is the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate in the November general election.

Talarico far outpaces opponent in fundraising

State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, continues to dominate fundraising in the U.S. Senate race, raising $30 million in the second quarter, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, reported his strongest fundraising quarter so far, with his campaign saying most donations came after the attorney general ousted U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a late-May runoff.

“We are uniting Texans onto one team to change this broken, corrupt political system and bring down costs for working families,” Talarico said in a statement.

The Paxton campaign said its increased fundraising success reflects donor enthusiasm to “send a proven conservative fighter” to the U.S. Senate.

Appeals court rejects bid to revive Texas Dream Act

In a 2-1 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals rejected an appeal of a 2025 ruling that struck down the decades-old Texas Dream Act, which allowed Texas students without legal status to pay in-state college tuition, the Texas Standard reported.

Until the Texas Dream Act was overturned last summer, students without legal status qualified for in-state tuition if they lived in Texas for at least three years and graduated from a Texas high school or earned a GED diploma. About 57,000 students without legal status were enrolled in Texas colleges in 2022.

The appeals court decision means affected students will continue to pay out-of-state tuition rates at Texas public colleges and universities.

State launches Texas Classroom Commission

A new teacher-led initiative, aimed at “putting Texas educators at the center of shaping the future of public education,” was launched last week.

The Texas Classroom Commission will be led by Courtney Boswell MacDonald of Kerrville, a former teacher and chairwoman of the State Board for Educator Certification.

“The Texas Classroom Commission will bring together exemplary public-school educators to identify innovative solutions that help students succeed, improve the learning environment in classrooms and strengthen our schools,” Gov. Greg Abbott said.

The commission will consist of current and retired public school classroom teachers. It will deliver recommendations to the Legislature before the start of the 90th session in January.

Potentially strong El Niño likely coming this fall 

El Niño, one of the planet’s most powerful climate patterns, is quickly gaining strength and has an 81% chance of reaching historic levels this fall, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

That could mean cooler, wetter weather in Texas, according to meteorologist Mary Wasson.

During the last super El Niño event in 2015-2016, Central Texas experienced two of its largest floods. However, a strengthening El Niño typically reduces the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes creating an impact on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Above-normal rainfall is favored in West Texas this fall, with wetter conditions expanding statewide by December, Wasson wrote.

Texas’ ACA enrollment shrinks by 4% after tax credit expires 

The number of Texans who paid for their first month of Affordable Care Act coverage dropped 4%, The Texas Tribune reported. It was the state’s first year-over-year decline since 2019. The decrease comes after a pandemic-era subsidy of ACA premiums expired at the end of last year.

The enrollment decline was less steep in Texas than most other states, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The state’s ACA population fell from 3.42 million in 2025 to 3.28 million in 2026 after the tax credit expired and premiums rose.

“We saw record growth in ACA enrollment when there was an enhanced premium tax credit,” said Justin Lo, a senior researcher for national health policy group KFF. “This is the first time we’ve seen a decrease in enrollment.”

Project to carry Texas wine grapes into space

Researchers at Texas A&M AgriLife are getting ready to launch Texas wine grape seeds into space, the Texas Standard reported. The plants will be placed on TAMU-SPIRIT-1, an orbital research platform that will be flown above the International Space Station.

The grape seeds will orbit the Earth for six months before returning to be planted and examined.

Adrej Svyantek, an assistant professor and viticulture specialist at AgriLife, said the experiment could reveal what happens to the seeds when they are exposed to cosmic radiation. That could help guide which crops are grown aboard space platforms when long-term human occupation in space increases.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.

I saw a T-shirt with a portrait of George Washington, wearing sunglasses; the caption said, “It Ain’t Treason If You Win.”

Yes, those brave patriots were traitors against the strongest army in the world at that time. They laid it all on the line and won a victory that changed the course of history.

In December 1776, Thomas Paine honored those brave soldiers with powerful words: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

For this column, I’ll recognize some patriots from my own family; relatives and ancestors who answered the call in those dangerous times. God bless them all. I honor them for giving us a legacy which lives on after 250 years.

Capt. James Mallon Jr. was from Methuen, Massachusetts. He served in a local militia and was elected by his fellow soldiers to be their commander. He found his place in history on April 19, 1775, when he marched with his militiamen to answer the alarm from Lexington and Concord.

There, he witnessed the first shots fired in the American Revolutionary War. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel, where he commanded the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment until the end of the war.

Elizabeth Mallon Pattee was Capt. Mallon’s daughter. She was a 3-year-old when her father went off to war. She married Jonathan Pattee in 1795; he was the son of Seth Pattee Jr., from New Hampshire. Her father and father-in-law were both veterans of the Revolutionary War; like many women of that era, she also bore the sacrifices to win freedom.

Seth Pattee Jr. served as a corporal under Capt. Jeremiah Dow, and fought in the battle of Bemis Heights. He signed the Association Test of 1776. It was mandated by the New Hampshire Provincial Congress to determine if residents supported the patriot cause or were aligned with the British. It was used to solidify public commitment to the patriot cause before the Declaration of Independence was signed in July of 1776. In September 1777, Seth was paid five British pounds, equivalent to about six American dollars today.

Pvt. Ebenezer Terrell joined the Army at age 47. He was a defender of Fort Washington, where the patriots suffered a catastrophic defeat on Nov. 16, 1776. The Fort was in what is now New York City. Gen. George Washington witnessed the carnage from the opposite side of the Hudson River; observers said he wept at the sight. Pvt. Terrell was one of 3,000 Americans taken prisoner that day; he was one of only 800 to survive captivity.

One relative of mine went on to become famous. Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, referred to in English as Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian-born Army officer who played a leading role in reforming the Continental Army into a disciplined and professional fighting force.

He enlisted in the Prussian army at age 16, when it was considered the most professional and disciplined in Europe. He served in combat during the Seven Years War, rose to the rank of captain, and attended King Frederick’s elite school for young military officers.

In peacetime Europe, he sought some form of military work. He was enthralled by the American revolution and offered to serve without compensation.

Gen. Washington commissioned him a major general, and he served as Washington’s chief of staff and one of his most trusted advisors. He wrote the Army’s drill manual, which was used for decades afterward, and continues to influence modern U.S. Army manuals today.

After the war, the Baron was made an American citizen and granted a large estate in New York in reward for his service. He attended George Washington’s first presidential inauguration in 1789. In 1794, he died at his estate in Oneida County and was buried in a grove at what became the Steuben Memorial Historic Site. It is now part of the town of Steuben, New York.

The Baron is my namesake. Indeed, my middle name is Steuben.

Scott S. Kramer is former Chairman of the Kendall County Republi- Republican Party.

Do you have a parent or other elderly relative who may soon need a caregiver? If so, be diligent when selecting the right person for the job, because choosing the wrong one could lead to big financial problems.

You might find a close family member or friend to serve as caregiver; someone who is honest and trustworthy, with good judgment and strong money management skills. However, in many cases, people hiring caregivers just don’t know how they’ll perform until the caregivers have begun work.

A dishonest caregiver could steal valuables or cash from the person they have been paid to assist or incept their mail to obtain credit card numbers and other sensitive information to commit identity theft.

So, if you enlist a caregiver and begin having doubts about them, you’ll need to watch out for these warning signs of possible financial abuse:

• Efforts to prevent the individual receiving care from speaking to family members.

• Inquiries into the location of estate-planning documents, such as a will.

• Interest in brokerage and retirement accounts, possibly with the intent to change transfer-on-death designations.

• Withholding financial or medical information from the family.

• Missing jewelry or property.

• Requests to be a joint holder on bank or brokerage accounts, sometimes followed by large cash withdrawals paid to the caregiver.

• Request for legal authority, such as a financial power of attorney naming only the caregiver.

The last item — the request for financial power of attorney, or POA — is particularly concerning because of the scope of duties covered by this type of authority. That’s why it’s so important that all family members understand what a financial POA can and cannot do.

A general financial POA provides the agent with the authority to act on behalf of an individual’s finances, while a limited financial POA gives the agent the authority only for certain actions, such as paying bills, making withdrawals and opening or closing bank accounts.

A general financial POA and a limited financial POA both can be durable, which means they take effect once executed, or springing, which is contingent on a specific event, such as a physical illness, mental incapacity or even a hospitalization.

Unfortunately, some POA agents have abused their responsibility by stealing money, making unauthorized transactions and even attempting to change the beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or insurance policies owned by the people for whom they provide care.

These beneficiary designations can even supersede the instructions left in a will or living trust, and they can’t be changed by a financial POA.

If you suspect financial abuse by a caregiver, you can consider contacting your loved one’s financial advisor or attorney, if you know who it is. While they can’t share information with you, they can check for red flags and contact your loved one directly.

You also can get help from your state government. The National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) provides a listing of offices in each state at napsa-now.org/ help-in-your-area.

Finding a caregiver for a parent or other elderly relative can be emotionally difficult, but it doesn’t have to be financially draining. Get to know the caregiver if you can and watch for any red flags, so you can take comfort in knowing that your loved one’s finances are in good hands.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

Edward Jones, its employees and financial advisers cannot provide tax or legal advice.

Editor, I’ve watched the back-and-forth on the issue of bias in the coverage of the Boerne Star reporting and find myself laughing at the knee-jerk responses from Democrats you’ve published.

It’s as though none of them even bothered to read Art Humphries’ full article instigating the comments and are reacting to the first couple of paragraphs.

The Democrat responses published seem to profess that someone in the Republican Party is seeking to suppress news on Democrat and progressive socialist activity reporting by the Star. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What Art pointed out, justifiably from my view, is that small groups of radical Democrat and leftist agitators receive far more and lengthier coverage more frequently than Republican, conservative events, which are normally much larger in terms of participants.

Why should an activity that has, say, 100-200 participants be on the front page, much less be covered with numerous photos that appear to be designed to hide the actual number of participants of the event? That’s one of the main points of Art’s column. It remains valid, Democrat protestors notwithstanding.

The truth is — and I know the usual suspects will be outraged — that it is Republicans who are asking for balanced reporting, not Democrats. Their letters call for more coverage and, at a minimum, the status quo.

Reading any of the responses you’ve published, it is Democrats who are talking about censorship. This county is at least 75% conservative. Coverage of left-progressive events should, therefore, not dominate the front pages or the number of articles covered.

That’s all. Perhaps some analysis is in order.

— Charles Cvrk Boerne resident Editor’s Note: Official attendance at the Boerne Pride Walk mentioned by Art Humphries was 401 people.

H “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” — Yogi Berra

The Center Noon Lions Club annual banquet rolled out a couple of weeks ago and lived up to its reputation for fun, fellowship and reminding folks the local civic club knows exactly where it is going.

The official motto of Lions Clubs International is, “We Serve.”

Awards were made, new officers installed and, like the old-time columnists used to say about church socials, “A good time was had by all.”

My Lions Club journey began in Mount Pleasant in the early 1970s. Since then, the only place I’ve missed being a Lion was in Boerne.

In town just a few days, a dutiful member of the Boerne Lions was recruiting me.

“Sounds great,” I said. “Usual time — noon Thursdays?”

“We meet Wednesday nights,” he said.

“Oh, that’s sadly not going to work, I said. “I attend Bible study on Wednesday nights.”

The fellow looked at me with a pause.

“Are you Episcopalian?” he asked.

His question makes more sense considering Kendall County’s cultural breakdown — it is a region settled by mid-19th-century German “Freethinkers.” Stats state that 59% of the county population is Catholic. Southern Baptists come in second at 19% and other factions claim tiny slices of the pie at 17% or less.

So, Boerne was not to be my opportunity for earning a Lions Club “Perfect Attendance” pin. The first and only remains as the year I served as president in Center. But even that was close.

Ferociously working on my attendance record that year, the message arriving from the newspaper’s home office in Fort Payne, Alabama, posed a problem.

“Annual review time,” it read. “Your appointed time is next Wednesday afternoon,” which meant in Alabama and 600 miles from Thursday’s Lion’s Club meeting at Center’s Lake Country Inn.

“It’s all right,” a friend consoled me. “You can make up with another club.”

“Not the same,” I growled. “As Yogi Berra said, ‘It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.’” Huddling with a travel agent, we mapped out a method. Fly Wednesday morning from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, connecting in Memphis. Hop a rental car and blast down to Fort Payne just in time for my Wednesday afternoon corporate interrogation. On Thursday, race back to Chattanooga and reverse the entire crazy course putting me in Shreveport at 10:45 a.m.

That would work if there were no hiccups to collapse the house of cards.

I made the meeting. Done. Headlights cut through the darkness toward Chattanooga at 5 a.m. Thursday, guiding me to the city’s Metropolitan Airport.

The Memphis connection went down as smooth as an Elvis Presley love song, and I watched Interstate 20 pass underneath the jet before it kissed the tarmac at Shreveport.

The Buncombe Road shortcut from the airport put me between Shreveport and Carthage, and the Tenaha city limit sign was in my rearview mirror at 11:46 a.m.

I slammed into a parking spot at the Lake Country Inn at high noon and walked into the meeting cool as a cucumber.

Just in time, I picked up the gavel at the podium, rang the bell calling the meeting to order, and asked, “Lion Joe Fomby, will you return thanks for our meal?”

During the prayer, I offered my personal silent appreciation for a safe trip home.

Then I smiled, thinking about yet another piece of Berra wisdom: “Make a game plan and stick to it. Unless it’s not working.”

Mine worked. I wound up where I wanted to be. And that is the story of my only Lions Club perfect attendance pin.

Contact Aldridge at leonaldridge@ gmail.com. Other Aldridge columns are archived at leonaldridge.com.

Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for a ban on data center construction in rural neighborhoods, according to the Houston Chronicle. Opposition to the facilities is growing because they require large amounts of electricity and water and can be noisy.

The governor had previously touted Texas as “the epicenter of (artificial intelligence) development.”

A recent poll by the University of Texas at Austin found that 62% of rural Texans, who vote heavily Republican, support the measure, the paper noted. Seven counties — Hays, Caldwell, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Somervell and Van Zandt — have now called for either a special session or for the issue of regulating data center construction to be a top priority at the next regular legislative session in January.

At a campaign stop in East Texas, Abbott reiterated the restrictions he has called for, including that new centers need to “bring their own power, reuse their own water and do it in a way that reduces electricity costs for residents across our state.”

More than 480 “large” data centers have requested permission to connect to the ERCOT grid through 2032, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates most of the state’s power grid.

Most arrested by ICE in Texas have no criminal conviction 

A Houston Chronicle examination of immigrant arrest and detention data from February 2025 to February 2026 concludes that, despite President Donald Trump’s vow to deport the “worst of the criminals,” a plurality of those arrested in Texas did not have criminal convictions or pending charges.

Statistics from the Deportation Data Project, which uses the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain internal government immigration data, indicate during that period, more than 38,100 immigrants with clean records were arrested in Texas, compared with 30,670 arrests of people with criminal convictions and about 22,720 with pending charges.

The number of arrests in Texas nearly doubled between February 2025 and February 2026, with arrests of non-criminals more than quadrupling during that period. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has often touted its arrests and detentions of criminal immigrants without providing proof of what crimes have been committed, according to the Chronicle report.

“ICE’s use of detainers to imprison people without due process and, in many cases, without any charges pending or probable cause of any violation has raised serious constitutional concerns,” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a policy brief.

Abbott appoints Huffines as state comptroller

Proving the adage that politics make for strange bedfellows, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed the man who ran against him for governor just four years ago to be state comptroller for the rest of 2026. Don Huffines, a former state senator, defeated Kelly Hancock in the GOP primary for the position.

Abbott had appointed Hancock, a former state senator, to the post when Glen Hegar resigned to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.

The Texas Tribune reported that Hancock is stepping down, effective at the end of this month.

“Don Huffines brings the right mix of business experience and conservative principles to this vital office,” Abbott said in a statement announcing the appointment.

Huffines, a 68-year-old businessman from the Dallas area, faces state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, in the November general election. She blasted the appointment, saying Huffines “can’t win on his own.”

The comptroller is responsible for key financial duties, including collecting taxes, auditing state agency spending and administering the state’s new $1 billion school voucher program.

Report: ‘Cascading failures’ occurred at Camp Mystic 

One year after devastating floods in the Hill Country claimed 139 lives, including 25 campers and three staff members at Camp Mystic, a report commissioned by state lawmakers describes a “cascade of failures” at the camp on July 4 of last year.

The report was prepared by investigators Casey Garrett and Michael Massengale, a former appeals court judge. Massengale said there was no written evacuation plan, no training for camp staff to prepare for an evacuation, and no practice drills, according to the Texas Standard.

“There were warnings, including early flood alerts leading up to the flood, that should have put the leaders of Camp Mystic on alert to be watchful and prepared,” Massengale said. The only member of senior leadership who awakened was Dick Eastland, the main leader and patriarch of the family-owned camp. He died during the flood while trying to evacuate a cabin of girls.

The camp did not open this summer, and its owners recently filed for bankruptcy.

GOP to hold first national midterm convention in Dallas 

Calling it a “rally like none other,” President Donald Trump announced the Republican Party plans to hold its first national midterm convention in Dallas in hopes of energizing voters ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Organizers said the event will blend elements of a traditional political convention with a Trump-centered program. Questions remain about the details, but a date and place have been set — Sept. 9-10 inside the American Airlines Center.

“We’re very excited about Dallas. We’re excited to work with the people in Dallas. It’s going to be a phenomenal event,” said Joe Gruters, Republican National Committee chairman.

‘Invasion’: Boaters urged to ‘Clean, Drain and Dry’ 

Texans are taking to the water in droves, as they do every summer. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is urging boaters, paddlers and anglers to help protect the state’s lakes from aquatic invasive species.

“While we want everyone to have a great time, we also want to avoid giving harmful invasive species free rides to new lakes,” said Brian Van Zee of TPWD. The best way to do that, he added, is to take a few minutes to clean, drain and dry boats after every lake visit.

State law requires boaters to do so and to drain all onboard receptacles, such as bait buckets.

Two of the biggest threats to Texas lakes are zebra mussels and giant salvinia, both of which continue to spread to new areas, biologists said.

Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email gborders@texaspress.com.

Editor, Thank you so much for your recent coverage of Democratic events. I know the Star has received some pushback from local Republicans for that coverage.

It’s a journalist’s job to provide fair and balanced coverage to all their readers.

I understand there is more front-page coverage of Republican news and events, as a majority of the readers are Republican and in a conservative county.

I do not understand or agree that the minority, the Democratic party of Kendall County, gets no coverage. That’s why I am writing this. Thank you for getting the news and coverage out there albeit conservative or liberal.

I also appreciate your continuing support and publication of the everyother week “Progressive Views” column. Democrats are here in Boerne and Kendall County. We are growing in number, and we are not going anywhere.

We will continue to work hard to make our voices, opinions and activities heard and seen, in spite of the relentless efforts of the Republicans to silence us and our progress.

— Laurie Clark Boerne resident