Opinion

CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS A judge with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Texas Education Agency can release its 2023 A-F school accountability ratings, the Houston Chronicle reported. The ruling overturned a district judge’s injunction after more than 120 school districts sued to stop TEA from releasing the ratings.

CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS Lawmakers in the Texas Senate are considering a measure that would require home insurers to get approval from regulators before increasing rates more than 10%, the Houston Chronicle reported. The bill, sponsored by state Sen.

To say that Texas this year had an above-average quail season would be an understatement, by my predictions. From the Rolling Plains to South Texas, all reports from fellow quail chasers have been nothing but a decade high.

The world was changed forever on April 4, 1975. (Don’t get a swelled head if that happens to be your date of birth.

Across these weeks of the Season known as Lent among Christian community the weekly FROM THE PULPIT column has followed Jesus toward Jerusalem and His date with destiny there: the symbol for that destiny is the Cross. After Resurrection Sunday our date with destiny begins and it is symbolized by the Empty Tomb. Although this week’s moment in the journey toward Jerusalem follows, according to the Lukan witness, Jesus’ third prediction of the Cross, the story of Zacchaeus is all about experiencing the gift of the Empty Tomb: Salvation.

My wife’s sister and her husband have for years both worked third shift (a.k.a. “the graveyard shift”), and they seem to be in good company.

The Texas Senate last week passed a bill to allow school districts to set aside time for inschool prayer and gave initial approval to requiring all schools to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

Texas farmers are voicing growing concerns about tariffs being enacted by President Trump adversely affecting their ability to sell agricultural goods overseas, the Houston Chronicle reported. Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said the tariffs could be especially tough on younger farmers.

GUEST COLUMNIST Besides the omnipresence of cellphones (“those little machines”), my mother’s greatest frustration in her final years was the sluggishness of the antiques market. Yes, back in my mother’s heyday as a flea marketeer, “the sky is the limit” was the motto for prices on vintage furniture, quilts, butter churns, Gramophone cylinder-record players, hand-cranked wall telephones, Buck Rogers ray guns and other treasures with a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store vibe.

Critics say a state House bill proposing $7.5 billion in new funding for public education doesn’t go far enough, The Dallas Morning News reported. House Bill 2 would raise the per-student allotment by $220, to $6,360 a year. It would also invest $750 million in teacher pay and $450 million in teacher training.