Opinion

Write a comment

By Tony Farkas

It’s always a banner day when I can link wonderful lyrics by The Who to the current mess that we have in Washington, D.C.

Those words come from the song “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which was an anthem for a generation that was fighting the establishment.

If you’ve been following the news, then you’ve seen the donnybrook going on to appoint a successor to Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House.

Kevin McCarthy, a rare bird of a Republican congressman from California, bent arms, horse-traded and cajoled his way after what might be a record number of votes — 15 — into the third most powerful position in the United States government.

(I say third since the succession of power goes from president to vice president to speaker.)

In order to secure this lofty position, he made beaucoup promises, including investigations of China, changing the makeup of the Rules Committee and even creating a rule that allows one member — one — to call for a vote to remove a sitting speaker, something akin to votes of no confidence in British Parliament.

The concession came from some of the Republican Party hardliners who were less than enthusiastic about McCarthy’s leadership, which was evident by the number of votes it took. So essentially, radicalists in the GOP are pulling the strings and forcing the hand of the leaders, much like the extremist Democrats were making Pelosi dance their dance.

So, there’s the connection.

There was a lot of talk about spending caps and limiting the power of the House leadership, which sets the tempo, makes committee appointments and decides what bills get preference or even introduced. Not once, though, was there discussion on the various and long-standing problems facing this country, all of which could lead to disaster and even collapse.

For instance, there’s still a $20 trillion debt that the country is making interest-only payments on; there’s a free-for-all on the southern border that is straining state coffers in order to take care of millions of immigrants; a Social Security system that mostly is paper IOUs; thousands of homeless people; veterans not being taken care of as promised; inflation that is straining families and their ability to provide; overregulation by unelected officials that puts just about every American citizen in violation of the law whether they know it or not; and so much more.

Yet instead, we focused on the immediate, caring more about the social climate than the law.

My feeling is that this was more about power than about good government, which is scary. I’ve always heard, and fully believe, that power corrupts, and anyone who seeks out power is probably the one that really shouldn’t have it.

I’ll make a prediction here: the mess that Washington is will really not change, only the player pieces.

Lyrics from another great band, Rush, are appropriate here: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,” which means “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Write a comment

Have you ever thought about the importance of community journalism, specifically, local newspapers? I’m sure at one time or another you’ve seen a family Bible filled with yellowed newspaper clippings of long-ago births, wedding announcements and obituaries of loved ones. Or maybe someone’s scrapbook full of newspaper clippings reflecting various accomplishments?

I first began reading newspapers as a child, beginning with the “Weekly Reader” in elementary school. It was an educational classroom magazine designed for children and I was always thrilled when I saw Mrs. Fitch or Mrs. Squyres or Mrs. Walker getting ready to distribute them to the class. I regularly consumed both of our local newspapers as a child. And yes, believe it or not, we did have two local newspapers at one time – the Polk County Enterprise and the East Texas Eye. Over time, the Eye ceased publication but I continued to read the Enterprise, even subscribing to it while I was off at college.

To this day, I still have a very old, tattered newspaper clipping from when I was in the local newspaper for being named “Sophomore of the Year” by the local Kiwanis Club. And I have numerous clippings in scrapbooks from the musicals we put on every spring when I was active in the high school choir.

A story I remember fondly is one my husband shared with me back when we were dating. I don’t really remember the context of the conversation, but I remember him telling me about a headline that accompanied a sports story that had run in the local newspaper years ago that said “Love, Rogers, Wooten score for Livingston.” His eyes lit up and his smile broadened as he told me about scoring a touchdown during a freshman football game. It was exciting for him that he’d scored a touchdown and it was a really big deal to him that not only had he been written about, but that he’d been named in the headline.

Years later, remembering that story, I went to The Portal to Texas History, “a gateway to rare, historical, and primary source materials from or about Texas,” located at texashistory.unt.edu. After doing what I call “backwards math” to determine what year he would have been a high school freshman, I started scrolling through the newspapers from the fall of 1981. And sure enough, there at the top of page 2B in the Sept. 13, 1981 issue of the Polk County Enterprise was an article written by former Sports Editor Van Thomas with a headline that read, “Love, Rogers, Wooten score for Livingston.” The article went on to report that “Fullback Kevin Wooten had two carries for 12 yards and one touchdown” in a game that the Livingston freshmen team played, and won, against the Dayton Broncos in Bronco Stadium. I printed it, framed it, wrapped it and gave it to him one year for Christmas.

This example, in and of itself, underscores the value of community journalism. The fact that a grown man could correctly recite verbatim a headline that had run in a newspaper several decades prior, is a testament to the power of community journalism.

Community journalism is locally-oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on small towns and communities, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news. If it does cover wider topics, it concentrates on the effect they have on local readers. Community newspapers tend to cover subjects larger news media do not, such as students on the honor roll at the local high school, school sports, crimes such as vandalism, zoning issues and other details of community life.

Providing news to the people is an ever-evolving endeavor, today more so than at any other time in our history with the numerous platforms available. My goal - in conjunction with our team - is to produce a product that not only has relevance for our community, but that serves our readers and advertisers in a first-class manner. However, to achieve this goal, we need your help.

The future of legal notices – those items toward the back of the paper that local, state and federal governments are required to publish to inform constituents of what they are doing – is under attack by lawmakers throughout the nation. Some government officials throughout the country are wanting to move notices from newspapers to government-run websites, where they most likely will not be easily found or seen. It’s akin to putting the fox in charge of the hen house.

From a business point of view, the notices, which cover everything from hearings on the county’s subdivision regulations to local restaurants seeking mixed beverage permits, are a vital stream of revenue for U.S. newspapers at a time when other traditional advertising revenue continues to decline. In some states, including Florida and Colorado, that revenue stream is under threat as politicians move to eliminate the requirement that legal notices be printed in newspapers of record.

Although the Texas Legislature convened Tuesday for its 88th session, state lawmakers were able to begin filing bills on Nov. 14. Several bills have already been filed that would threaten the future of legal notices in local newspapers.

Donnis Baggett, executive vice president of the Texas Press Association, explains it well.

“Our Founding Fathers understood that nothing was more important to successful self-government than a robust free press. Transparency and accountability weren’t political buzzwords back then, but those who crafted the framework of our republic made it clear that an unfettered press was the best watchdog for holding government accountable to its citizens.

“Your Texas Press Association works year-round to protect newspapers’ ability to perform that sacred duty. Much of our time is spent defending public notices in newspapers, which are under constant attack from government officials who’d prefer to provide their own oversight. We believe that public notices represent much more than a revenue source for newspapers; they’re important pillars of government transparency and a key element of newspapers’ identity. That said, we’ll also be engaged on other issues affecting government transparency and accountability.”

As your local newspaper editor, I respectfully ask you to please contact your legislators and urge them to keep legal notices where they belong – in local newspapers – so that their constituents may be well-informed citizens. Polk County is represented in the Texas Legislature by Sen. Robert Nichols and Rep. Trent Ashby. Nichols may be contacted toll-free at the state capitol at 800-959-8633 and Ashby may be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Write a comment

By Rep. Trent Ashby

As we say goodbye to 2022 and welcome 2023, my family and I want to wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year.

While most folks are winding down after the holidays, the energy has picked up around your State Capitol, as the 88th Legislative Session will officially begin on Tuesday, January 10. With that in mind, I’d like to remind you of some of the resources our offices provide to make sure that you remain the most important part of the process. Should you have any questions about a bill or want to voice your opinion on a proposal under consideration, our Capitol Office can be reached at (512) 463-0508. Our Capitol office can also help set up Capitol tours, reserve meeting rooms, or give recommendations on places of interest around Austin. Lastly, I invite you to visit your Capitol office which is located in room E2.806. It’s always a pleasure to have constituents in town while we’re hard at work in Austin, and I want to encourage you and your family to pay us a visit if you find yourself in Austin over the next 140 days -- our doors are always open!

With that, here’s an update from your State Capitol…

What to Watch For:

88th Legislative Session

Given the fast pace of session, keeping you informed about what’s going on at your State Capitol is a top priority for me. As such, the column will transition from a bi-weekly schedule to a weekly update to keep you up to speed with the best and most current information. With the start of the 88th Legislature upon us, perhaps it’s most appropriate to offer a primer on the basics of the Texas Legislature and highlight a number of key issues that legislators will aim to address.

The Texas Legislative Session begins in January of odd-numbered years and lasts 140 days. During this time, the Texas Legislature, comprised of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives, will consider policies on a myriad of issues and pass laws that seek to address the most pressing issues facing the state. And while there are many issues that need to be addressed, adopting a balanced biennial budget is the only act the Texas Constitution requires of the Legislature.

The State of Texas will enter the 88th Legislative Session with a significant surplus in revenue, which will play a major role in the upcoming session. As I’ve stated previously, the Legislature has the unique opportunity to use our budget surplus in a way that prioritizes taxpayers. Whether dedicating surplus funds to provide meaningful property tax relief, fully funding our public schools, or making strategic investments in infrastructure and technology, I believe the Legislature has an obligation to meet this moment of opportunity by crafting fiscal policy solutions that achieve the goal of prioritizing our fellow Texans while protecting and promoting future prosperity.

Aside from budget policy, other areas of focus will be addressing the teacher shortage, securing the border, increasing access to healthcare in rural areas, and generating economic development through the creation of meaningful jobs.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office if we can help you in any way. My district office may be reached at (936) 634-2762. Additionally, I welcome you to follow along on my Official Facebook Page, where I will post regular updates on what’s happening in your State Capitol and share information that could be useful to you and your family: https://www.facebook.com/RepTrentAshby/.

Write a comment

By Danny Tyree

“Time Enough at Last.”

The new year reminds me of that classic “Twilight Zone” episode starring Burgess Meredith as a put-upon bookworm.

(No, he wasn’t reading on the wing of an airplane! Get your episodes straight, with “The Twilight Zone Companion,” for Pete’s sake!)

True bibliophiles are all the same. Whether our preference is studying the rise and fall of empires or the rise and fall of heaving bosoms, we eagerly anticipate how many volumes we can absorb in the pristine, wide-open next 12 months.

The lucky few exceed their wildest expectations. The rest of us find one obstacle or another curtailing or demolishing our plans.

Some readers persevere and come up only a few chapters short when New Year’s Eve ends. Other poor wretches finish the year woefully short of even scaled-back goals. (“Maybe next year I’ll find out if Thing One and Thing Two get out of that box!”)

Sometimes kowtowing to political correctness is the cause of our failure. (“No, you’re not going to be reading anyone’s ‘Collected Works.’ Works implies a meritocracy! Down with systemic Dewey Decimal System!”)

Family obligations put reading on the back burner. Even if you’re full-blooded Cherokee, you’ll find relatives from “the old country” magically arriving unannounced to spend three weeks!

Sometimes totally unexpected family tragedies intervene. (“Who could have guessed that my ceiling-high stack of backup encyclopedias would somehow bury Grandpa alive? Say, I wonder if Guinness has a record for Most Harrowing Non-Coalmine Rescue Attempt?”)

Finite hours and competition from podcasts, streaming services and video games chip away at good intentions of curling up with a good book. (“Tonight’s true-crime podcast: it’s truly a crime what you’re doing to your poor spine as you curl up with…”)

Sometimes your enthusiasm wanes when you realize no one outside your book club cares about the milestones you pride yourself on. (“Dostoevsky? Tolstoy? Aren’t they the guys who invented pickleball? Grab a seat and I’ll tell you about the Volley from Hell…”)

Longer commutes, mandatory overtime and stressful promotions can all cut into precious reading time. Say goodbye to Louis L’Amour and John Clancy. Now all you have time to read is “100 Clients You Must Suck Up to Before You Find the Sweet Release of Death.”

Even good news such as grandchildren moving closer can be detrimental to your reading goals. (“Grandpa, why didn’t Stephen King autograph this first-edition book with ink that could withstand peanut butter and jelly?”)

Don’t get me started on social obligations and household chores. Sometimes you just can’t help going into Beastie Boys mode. You gotta fight for your right to paaaaage turn! (“Yes, I could use this pressure washer to clean the vinyl siding or…I could use it to hold you at bay while I finish these brain teasers.”)

Me? With the hope that springs eternal within the heaving or non-heaving human breast, I aspire to finish reading “The Roswell Legacy,” Garry Marshall’s “My Happy Days in Hollywood” and “The Grand Ole Opry: The Making of an American Icon” this year.

I hope that you can meet all your own reading goals this year. Maybe you’ll even order my second self-published book from Amazon. (Search “Danny Tyree Why.”) Hint hint.

“You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of Tyree being encouraged to hold onto his day job…”

-

Copyright 2023 Danny Tyree, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and visits to his Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.”