A Different Park

People want "public" rather than "private." Public is ... free, right? Wide open. Sharing. Available to everyone. All good things. "Private" is ... selfish, closed, for the rich. Clearly, public must be better. But then why do the words "public toilet" make me cringe?

Texas Press Association Capital Highlights

State lowers price cap for power providers The state’s Public Utility Commission last week lowered the maximum allowable wholesale price for electricity by almost half, from $9,000 per megawatt hour to $5,000.

Views From Panhandle Editors

After being at or near the top of Gary Blackerby’s Million Dollar NFL Football Pool most of the time, I am now ranked incredibly close to the bottom—or as I like to call it, dead center. Fact is, I have a 60.3 percent average this season, which is an F in my book.

Letter to the Editor

Memories from Dec. 7, 1941 I was a very happy 11- year-old on December 7, 1941. I was skating at a rink on South Main Street when I saw my Dad coming to pick me up 30 minutes early. I wasn’t happy to leave but he explained “We are at war and need to be home.” There were strange times ahead.

Sondheim: Writing the Notes of His Times

It was a very good death, the day after Thanksgiving dinner with friends. The musical composer and lyricist was 91, born in 1930. Ironically, Stephen Sondheim belongs to America's unsung generation. Lin-Manuel Miranda, author of "Hamilton," joined the outdoor throng of Broadway singer-mourners.

Back to Basketball Basics?...

The late James Naismith, an accomplished educator/ physician/minister/philosopher, also was an inventor. An 1891 collegian, he took seriously the assignment to “invent” an indoor game to replace “thumbtwiddling” on dreary, cold, snowy days when youngsters ventured outdoors only to fetch firewood.

Did you know?

Hobbies are important for many different reasons. While one of the main reasons to immerse oneself in a hobby is to have fun, the benefits do not stop there.

Katie Couric: I Needed To Be Girlfriend Next Door

Katie Couric's new bestselling memoir, "Going There," proves critics right. Shedding her skin as a sweet, smiling -- if shallow -- public figure, now she's the second coming of Katie Scarlett O'Hara, with threads, leather and beaux to boot.

With Will There Was a Way…

Oh, that the inimitable Will Rogers were alive today. The need for his disarming smile and positive spirit helped Americans survive the Great Depression. He’d go a long way today in bringing people together as mounting challenges blot out our better acts and kinder nature.