Capital Highlights

Fort Hood renamed after Korean, Vietnam war hero It’s official. Fort Hood, named for a high-ranking Confederate officer in the Civil War, has been renamed Fort Cavazos, in honor of native Texan Richard E. Cavazos, the country’s first Hispanic four-star general.

Capital Highlights

Clock ticking on moving bills The clock is ticking on getting bills out of the House and to the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned last week in a story in the AustinAmerican-Statesman.

Why Turkey's May 14 Election Really Matters

by Austin Bay Turkey's May 14, 2023, national elections are critical, foremost for Turkish citizens. Their democracy is at stake. But that isn't the only reason Turkish and European media call next week's vote the most important in 100 years.

Letters

To the Editor: Editor: Great letter by Joe Randolph and we agree completely. Many of our major oil companies have left town or have downsized. Our dryland farmers are facing their third year of drought with little or no chance of harvest again this year.

Moochers and Looters

There's a socialist wave in Latin America. Mexico, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil recently elected leftists. These politicians at least distance themselves from thugs like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, but all propose socialism-lite policies giving government more control over more people.

Capital Highlights

House OKs $4.5 billion for teacher pay raises The Texas House last Thursday passed two education- related bills, one that allocates $4.5 billion for teacher pay raises and another to increase the annual per-student base funding from $6,160 to $6,300 – a 2.3% increase.

Marxian Education

Some schools are ditching traditional grading. Instead, they use 'labor-based grading,' an idea promoted by Arizona State University professor Asao Inoue. Labor-based grading means basing grades more on effort than the quality of work.

Capital Highlights

Senate, House begin budget reconciliation process The Texas Senate unanimously approved a $308 billion two-year budget last week, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The next step is to reconcile that budget with one passed earlier by the Texas House.

The Idle American

It would be daunting for researchers half his age, but it didn’t stop Dr. Ray Van Cleef from reconnecting with his baseball players from six decades ago. The longtime Texas community college administrator couldn’t resist trying. Late in 2022, the search began.

Letters

To the Editor: Letter to the Editor: There has been a lot of chatter over the past few weeks about the proposed school bonds, and I have tried, as admonished by school officials, to be “informed” before voting.