Budget-writing process begins in Senate committee

On Jan. 28 the main work of the Texas Legislature started when the state budget-writing Senate Finance Committee met at the Capitol.

We’re mean

One of my favorite books from childhood begins likethis: “It was a dull autumn day and Jill  Pole was crying behind the gym. She was crying because they had been bullying her.

Every single day

Why is it that the longer I live, the closer my birthdays come to each other? It was only last week, it seems, I was having my annual birthday dinner with my mom and my niece—we’re birthday triplets— and here it is. Time for another annual  dinner.

The return of the war hero

Clint Eastwood’s new movie, “American Sniper,” marks the return of the American war hero. Heroism on the battlefield had never gone away, of course, far from it (witness the Medal of  Honors awarded for acts of extraordinary valor in Iraq and  fghanistan).

A highway is born

By Lynette Sowell   My mother saved a copy of our newspaper from the day I was born. When I was a kid, I pulled it out of my baby scrapbook so I could see what was happening during that time.

Kodak Brownies to ‘smart phone’ cameras

By Willis Webb   Cameras have always been a puzzle to me. If it isn’t a “point-and-shoot,” my ability to discuss the photo capabilities of any of those instruments is extremely limited. After all, what can a guy do since he knows that when he says “mechanical,” he’s told you all he knows.

Beauty College

By Renae Brumbaugh   I woke up today and knew it was time. Actually, I woke up two weeks ago and knew it was time, but since procrastination is one of my spiritual gifts, I put it off until today, when I couldn’t find any more excuses. I had to get my hair done.

Europe’s problem with immigration

By Rich Lowry   The New York Times ran a front-page article after the Charlie Hebdo massacre on Europe’s “dangerous moment.” As terrorists rampaged through Paris, ultimately killing 17, what was the cause of this particular alarm? That anti-immigration parties in Europe might gain.

Stepping stones

By Lynette Sowell   When you’re a kid, one of the first disappointments you learn is that the world is not very impressed with anything big that happens in your little world. I think that’s true now more than ever. I still remember the “So?

Criteria we use to define a ‘Texiz cuss word’?

By Willis Webb   Cursing is not a flattering form of speech for the speaker and certainly not for any intended or even incidental target. Of course, in Texiz and much of the Old South, we don’t say “cursing,” we refer to the vile verbal bile as “cussin’.