Opinion

Recent victories in the Texas House of Representatives underscore the noticeable impact of grassroots advocacy efforts in thwarting detrimental changes to the educational system.

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case that could decide whether medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban are written clearly enough to protect pregnant women who face serious health risks, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The WWII Mark XIV torpedo was the US submarine’s main fleet torpedo and thousands were produced. It was designed in the 1930’s and wasn”t until many misses that the reliability was questioned. It looked good but in combat it failed many times.

We are in the season of Advent— the season when we remember the coming of Christ. In this column for the month of December, we will be reflecting on different aspects of Mary who played a prominent role in the Christmas Story.

Dear Neil: A friend has sage plants in her native plant landscape in Wichita Falls. Big sections of several of them are dying out – have been for some time. They have been watered fairly well, both from rain and irrigation. What might cause them to be dying in parts?

As time runs out next week on the fourth special session, Gov. Greg Abbott said he will continue to fight for school choice, despite the Texas House once again decisively rejecting it when 21 Republicans largely from rural districts joined Democrats in stripping it from a $7.6 billion education...

To my Fellow Texans in the Hill Country, West Texas and South Texas: Serving the past five terms as your Representative in the Texas House has been a high honor. During this time, I have logged more than 127,000 driving miles representing a district nearly the size of the State of West Virginia.

Christmas is a season of travel. Many of us pack up the family vehicle and drive across the country to visit relatives. Others use the holiday to find the sun and reenergize on vacation. Those of us who stay put may still have our lives disrupted by an invasion of guests or relatives.

We spent the Holidays with our family hanging out together and fishing. I had a great time! That trip reminds me of a fishing trip I went on years ago. Standing on a riverbank where the water was shallow and kinda muddy where we saw other fishermen nearby but they were not catching much.

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: I have a bed of red spider lilies that are currently full of leaves. Would it be ok to divide them now? If not, when is the best time? They are growing actively now through early spring.