Governor gives lawmakers his state budget priorities

On Feb. 17, Gov. Greg Abbott delivered his first  State of the State address during a joint session of the Texas House and Senate and released his recommendations for the two-year 2016-2017 state budget.

Hearing no

For more than 15 years, I’ve made my way through the fiction writing world and I’ve seen a lot of changes. I’ve heard yes a number of times from publishers, editors and agents. But there’s always that “no” that comes down the pike.

The Return of Evil

  Where is Chris Kyle when you need him? The late hero of the movie “American  Sniper” made no apology for killing as many members of al-Qaida in Iraq, the  precursor of ISIS, as he could get in his riflesights.

Dallas love triangle ended in murder

  On Feb. 23, 1942, the estranged wife of a Dallas newspaper columnist went on trial for the fatal shooting of  her husband’s not-so-secret lover.

Hidden treasures

Sometimes, you never know when you’re going to run across something special. I was walking across a hotel lobby one night, when I heard the music. Someone was playing piano in the second-floor lounge and the music drifted down to the first floor below.

Abbott joins other governors in urging against veto

Gov. Greg Abbott on Feb. 12 announced he had joined a coalition of 24 governors in signing and sending a letter to President Obama that urges the nation’s chief executive “to reconsider his threat” to veto legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

Oh, Brian

From the recent news about NBC anchor Brian Williams, it looks like many stories he’s told are now coming under  question, sort of likea big fish tale, in which every retelling of the fish it gets a little larger.

Not remembering: Symptom of CRS disease

Memory is a big deal as we age. Some of us in the septuagenarian generation can handle long term/ long ago remembrance, while others do well with short term recollection, things that happened in the recent past.

Behind the walls of Texas’ first mansion

by Bartee Hailie On Feb. 4, 1896, three days after her drunk of a husband threatened her with a butcher knife, Matilda Brown Sweeney moved back home to Ashton Villa where she would spend the rest of her life.

The Breaking Point

by Renae Brumbaugh I come from a long line of excellent cooks. Gifted, southern women who know how to make flaky dinner rolls from scratch, who know how to make chocolate pie with up-to-there meringue, who can create heavenly kitchen scents to bring the manliest soldier to his knees.