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Things we don’t like to talk about

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ClickItOrTicket

By Rhonda Oaks

I know what it’s like to brag on kids. I’ve bragged on my own just like you have. I have bragged on my grandchildren, just like you have. We brag when there is anyone to listen. Doesn’t matter who, a total stranger will work when it’s about your child or grandchild.

But there are a few things we won’t brag about. Heck, we will hardly talk about it in public. State statistics for 2022 were released this month, and the truth is, many teens are not buckling their seat belts. Many times, it results in a crash that leads to a fatality.

The annual Teen Click It Or Ticket safety campaign has traveled the state this month talking about the number of teenagers killed in Texas who weren’t wearing their seat belts and reminding them how important it can be.

Of the more than half-a-million car crashes in Texas in 2022, more than 100,000 involved teen drivers and passengers between the ages of 15-20. Of that number, 360 teens died, and of that number, 162 were not wearing seat belts. That number is equivalent to three fully loaded school buses.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers, and by closer, I mean closer to home.

In the nine-county Lufkin District in 2022, there were 13 motor vehicle traffic crashes in which unrestrained teen occupants sustained fatal or serious injuries. These crashes resulted in 7 fatalities and 13 serious injuries. Most of us know at least one teenager who has been involved in a crash or a heartbroken family who lost a child in a crash.

The responsibility really does fall on an entire community to help make sure our teens are buckled up. We all should help parents with the task of teaching a teen because we know it takes a village to get one raised to adulthood. Teachers, tell them it is the law and remind them to buckle up when that bell rings. Coaches, remind them when they leave practice. Pastor, remind them when they leave church, Employers, remind them when they leave work. We should all be reminding them.

I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I rushed to the hospital when my son was 17 and he totaled his vehicle in a crash. He was wearing a seat belt and suffered minor injuries. I know the feeling of wanting to scream in fear when I rushed to the scene of a crash where my youngest granddaughter and her mother were in their vehicle when it rolled four times after being hit by a driver who ran a red light. They were both wearing a seat belt.

I’ve told the story, how in the emergency room that day, my daughter-in-law opened her hospital gown to reveal the red, burned outline on her skin of a seat belt that worked. Buckling up saved both their lives.

We don’t like talking about losing our kids. Buckling a seat belt is the best protection any of us can choose when we get into a vehicle. In that split second before a crash, you will not have time to buckle up.

We teach our children many things because we want them to become mature, successful adults. Teaching them to wear a seat belt is as important as teaching them manners, how to eat with a fork and knife, how to study and excel in school, how to work, how to hit a ball or how to show respect.

Preparing teens for the future is a challenge and wearing a seat belt should be at the top of the list when they start driving. We want to it to become a life-long habit for them. I would much rather spend my time bragging and talking about the people I love to a total stranger than whispering condolences to someone at a funeral home who lost a child because they did not buckle up.

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Happy Leap Day

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HappyLeapYear

Mollie LaSalle
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Each year has 365 days, except for leap years, when an extra day is added to the calendar; that day is today, Feb. 29.

Simply stated, a leap year is known as a calendar correction, according to the Gregorian calendar, the standard for most of the world. Generally, leap years coincide with presidential election years. However, that has not always held true. Nineteen Hundred was a presidential election year, but not a leap year, as was Eighteen Hundred; but for the most part, leap years have been every four years that we elect a new president.

How and when did leap year start, and why? Roman emperor Julius Caesar created a year of confusion when he decided that 46 B.C. was going to be 445 days long instead of 365. Eventually, he made a 365.25-day year that added a leap day every fourth year. A leap day occurs during a leap year, which is a year containing an inserted period of time, specifically, Feb. 29. The next leap year will occur in 2028. The easiest way to remember

Earth’s orbit is the reason for leap years/days. It actually takes Earth 362.422 days to complete a full revolution around the sun. The 0.2422 days adds up; this fraction allows the seasons to line up. If this was forgotten, the seasons would shift; this would impact other aspects of life. That is why leap years exist; four 0.2422 days equal roughly one full day.

The idea of adding an extra day the calendar is not new, it has been around for years. Julius Caesar actually got the idea for an extra day from the Egyptians. By the third century BCE, the Egyptians followed a solar calendar that contained 365 days with a leap year every four years. When Caesar was making the Julian calendar, he took inspiration from the Egyptians and added an extra day to February every four years.

Feb. 29 is a rare birthdate; the odds of being born on this date are one-in-1,461. Many “leaplings” celebrate their birthdays either February 28, or March 1. Doris Day was a leap day baby, as was Alex Rocco, and Dennis Farina. Actor Antonio Sabato, Jr. and musician Saul Williams will celebrate today, both having only 13 actual Feb. 29 birthdates, they are both 52 today. Author and life coach Tony Robbins also celebrates today, having only 16 actual birthdates; he is 64. It is estimated that, around the globe, roughly five million people have this unique birthdate.

Happiest of birthdays to all the leap day babies everywhere.

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Pebble Beach benches celebrities

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278853

By Peter Funt

At a time when the presence of celebrities seems to overwhelm professional sports (Taylor Swift, I’m looking at you in your sparkly Travis Kelce jersey), it’s noteworthy that this year’s AT&T Pro-Am golf tournament will be, for the first time since Bing Crosby brought his “Clambake” to Pebble Beach, essentially celebrity-free.

Gone are the days when Bing was accompanied on the links by drinking buddy and comedian Phil Harris, who enjoyed telling onlookers he was the pro from “The Jack Daniels Country Club.” Or more recent antics from Bill Murray, who became the event’s course jester, often swiping a sip of a patron’s beer at green side.

For this year’s tournament, which begins Feb. 1, more serious golf and fewer shenanigans were needed to qualify as what the PGA Tour calls a “Signature Event.” There will be half as many players, no weekend cuts — and no high-handicap celebrities. Some 80 amateurs will remain in the field for the first two rounds — mostly high-paying donors to the tournament’s charities — plus an odd sprinkling of professional athletes from other sports, including football’s Tom Brady and baseball’s Buster Posey.

But there won’t be anything resembling comic Tom Smothers doing tricks with his yo-yo as he waited to tee off, or actor Jack Lemmon breaking hearts as he failed to get beyond the third round in over two dozen tries. “I would trade my two Oscars to make the cut and play Sunday at Pebble Beach,” Lemmon said.

I have mixed feelings about this year’s changes, having played in the event three times. There was certainly nothing else like it in showbiz or sports: competing alongside a professional in a real Tour event, for cash prizes, before a nationwide TV audience. But in truth, the celebrity portion was merely a gimmick. We weren’t the best amateurs, only the most well-connected. I got in thanks to my friend and neighbor Clint Eastwood, an owner at Pebble Beach and a frequent participant in the old Pro-Am.

Most of the pros were gracious when we slowed them down with errant shots or, as was occasionally the case with Bill Murray, caused such a ruckus that it was hard to concentrate. Other pros, however, were irked and began skipping the event, which is why this year’s changes were made to lure them back.

For those of us who in other settings were reasonably comfortable standing in front of cameras and huge audiences, hitting a tee shot on the first hole at Pebble Beach was beyond terrifying. Warming up on the driving range one year, comic actor Ray Romano told me, “If I hit more than 14 lousy shots today, I’m dead.” I asked why. “I’ve only prepared 14 funny excuses,” he explained.

Honestly, I think most golf fans hope to see a pro hit a soaring 3-wood from 250 yards to within a few feet of the pin. But when a so-called celebrity swings, entertainment only happens if his shot is shanked miserably into the ocean.

In Bing Crosby’s day it was fun and games. In today’s high-stakes golf business there just isn’t room for both.

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Newspapers maintain viability in technological world

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FromEditorsDesk TonyBy Tony Farkas
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Recently, an area Chamber of Commerce, of which our newspapers have membership, hosted a lunch presentation, attended by a colleague, which I’m guessing is a regular occurrence.

On this particular day, the speaker, whose name I don’t know, spoke about newspapers and claimed that this particular brand of mass communication was ineffective.

This was during a week when the Polk County Sheriff’s and District Attorney’s offices praised the local and area media outlets, including the newspapers, for its assistance in getting the word out about a missing child.

The sheriff said the work done by all areas of the media was deeply appreciated.

So where’s the disconnect?

Sometimes daily, sometime less frequently, newspapers strive to keep the subscribers and perusers of our wares informed about the coverage area. That information includes stories about achievements, stories about legislative bodies and their doings, advertising and the accomplishments of the schools, be it sports or academic.

Newspapers put forth information about upcoming events, showcase slices of life in a community, and does it in a manner that has a long, probably infinite shelf life.

It also has a portability that things like laptops and cell phones don’t have, meaning you can take it with you anywhere and use it — the loo, the library, the park and even an airplane, where the information is readily available and isn’t bound by FAA rules since it doesn’t pose a threat to airplane electronics.

There’s more to it as well. A newspaper has a longevity that television, radio and even the internet don’t enjoy. I have given talks to groups about the newspaper business, and one of the opening questions I ask is for someone to recount to me the last radio ad they heard, or the last television ad they saw, or if anyone looks at the webpage drivel on sponsored copy and clickbait.

The internet, particularly the “free” places like Pinterest, Facebook and the like, have their uses (it’s one of the numerous methods we in the news business employ), but for the most part, unless you’re online at the time something is posted, or on a marathon scroll through a feed, chances are a specific piece of information is gone.

You can always pick up a newspaper again.

Then there’s sharing. If someone sends you a link to an article, you may or may not look into it, but chance are that piece has gone into the great ether in the sky. Newspapers benefit from what’s called readership — meaning that on average, 2.5 people read one newspaper. The math then becomes simple: deliver 1,000 copies of a newspaper and present your information to 2,500 people.

To say that newspapers have reached the end of their viability is ridiculous. They are an effective way to reach a large section of society, and particularly those in the communities in East Texas.

Try putting the picture of your star athlete on the refrigerator if it’s on an iPad. You’ll need a really strong magnet or a lot of duct tape.

Towny Farkas is publisher of the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The views expressed here avre his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

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New enemy at the gate a dangerous drug

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GregCapersSheriff

Fentanyl, an opioid that has been with us for many years in the United States. It’s a relatively newcomer in the field of deadly narcotics.

Fentanyl use has increased in Texas recently, and overdoses attributed to this synthetic drug have skyrocketed due to its strength compared to other less-potent opioids.

Fentanyl is prescribed to alleviate moderate to severe pain under a doctor’s care. It’s more potent than other opioids, such as morphine or oxycodone, so a small dose is effective relief of pain. However, its potency also makes fentanyl highly addictive, and people can become addicted after just one use.

In Texas the fentanyl crisis is taking a devastating toll, as overdoses have risen more than 70 percent in recent years. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported that opioids were responsible for upwards of 3,000 overdose deaths last year.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogues increase significantly from 2020 to 2022. The number of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2022 was more than 20 times the number in 2013.

Law enforcement has been cracking down on synthetic opioid trafficking within Texas, seizing nearly 400 million lethal doses of fentanyl. Additionally, the DEA has also stepped up efforts to prevent the influx of manufactured fentanyl into Texas, conducting multiple investigations and raids with cooperation and assistance of Texas the law enforcement community.

In Texas steps have been taken to combat the spread of fentanyl and support those suffering from addiction. In December 2022 Gov. Greg Abbott signed support for the legalization of fentanyl test strips which can detect if a drug contains fentanyl and thus help reduce the risk of overdose.

There appears to be bipartisan support for these measure in the Texas legislature as well.

Abbott has also advocated Narcan, a medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, be made available to the public, and through his efforts this life saving product is now available over the counter at most pharmacies.

With fentanyl drug overdoses on the rise, it’s critical to take action to keep yourself and your loved ones safe since substance use disorders can affect anyone regardless of age or socioeconomic status. It’s essential to be aware of the risks and take action to protect yourself. Steps include:

•Speak with your doctor about your risk of opioid use disorder.

•Educate yourself, and your family on the dangers of fentanyl.

•Be aware of the signs and symptoms of an overdose.

•Monitor prescriptions for opioids and other drugs that could contain fentanyl.

•Know how to recognize fentanyl overdose and seek help immediately.

•Keep Narcan on hand in case of an emergency.

•Seek treatment for a substance use disorder if necessary.

As the use of fentanyl continues to grow throughout Texas everyone needs to be aware of the dangers this powerful synthetic drug poses. If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to opioids contact Texas Health and Services at (888) 681-0927.

Texas State law requires that reports must include the following:

•The date of overdose

•Type of control substance used

•Sex and approximate age of victim

•Symptoms associated with the overdose

•Extent of treatment necessary

•Patient outcome

Call my office and we will assist you by referring you to the appropriate agencies for further assistance and treatment.

I hope you find this information helpful. Should you need additional information on this subject or any other subject, reach out to my office by calling my non-emergency number at (936) 653-4367 and ask the dispatcher for assistance.

Greg Capers is Sheriff of San Jacinto County.

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