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July 8 marked the 10th anniversary of my first Navasota City Council meeting! I know what you’re thinking…”If this lady is celebrating city council meeting attendance, she needs to get a life!” The truth of the matter is I did get a life, and all because I decided to go to that meeting!
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Texas House Democrats unveiled a $20.9 billion plan for property tax relief that drops tax rates, increases the homestead exemption, gives annual rebates to renters, and includes pay raises for teachers, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
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The other evening, my gentleman friend and I were discussing our country’s sad state of affairs with an acquaintance who is about 10 years younger than me. Trying to end the conversation on a positive note, he proposed that the one thing the three of us could be thankful for is that we grew up in some pretty good times. Looking back at my youth, I agree with him.
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Friends, as Americans we all know the words and the tune to our National Anthem, but what do we really know about the context in which it was written? Here’s a bit of insight. The War of 1812 was raging on our eastern seaboard and in June of 1814 the British had already burned the Capitol, the Treasury Building and the White House, not to mention dozens of other unspeakable atrocities.
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Months ago my husband and I sat at the bar at Rail & Rye to have some drinks. Our bartender, Braxton Carnes, who then lived in Montgomery, was easy to talk to and made us feel welcome. We always enjoy a good bartender who chats with us as they’re working. David and I are both talkers over a good drink, and most times bartenders seem to have a creative honesty about them that we really enjoy. During our conversation he mentioned several things that interested me, and I went home wanting to know MORE about his story.
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Texas’ power grid reported record electricity use early last week. Both the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are urging residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce electricity use as temperatures soar above100 degrees over much of the state. So far the grid, which administers 90% of the state’s power load, has been able to keep up with demand.
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claimed last week that Gov. Greg Abbott is sabotaging the Senate’s work because of their ongoing feud over which approach to property tax reform is best, The Dallas Morning News reported. Abbott vetoed three bills by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who has been Patrick’s point senator on increasing homestead exemptions in order to provide tax cuts. As of Friday afternoon, he had vetoed 31 bills.
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The Sandbar, over the last several years, has related several atrocious Indian massacres among our early Texas settlers, particularly in the 1830s. They included the wellknown Parker massacre in May of 1836 in which Cynthia Ann Parker was captured to become the mother of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker. There was also the massacre about 1837 that left the Gilleland children parentless.
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