Columns/Opinions

Whether you’re a parent, an educator, a business owner or a policy maker, each of us has a vested interest in the success of the students in our community. 
They represent the future of our state, and the impact of the education they receive today will have a positive ripple effect for generations.
And, what happens here locally impacts our community and our state. We are testaments to that. Both of us are proud graduates of Atlanta High School and were members of the “Big Bad Band from Rabbitland.” 
We were also privileged to take Mrs. Tomberlain’s speech class in high school. The experience performing in front of others – in class and on the field – helped shape us as individuals and as professionals, giving us confidence that has echoed throughout our lives. 

Here in America we have a holiday each month throughout the year.
I believe Super Bowl Sunday can be pegged as one since more wings are eaten on that day than most any other.
To me no holidays hold a candle to Thanksgiving and Christmas simply because those are two holidays that bring families together .Some may look forward to these holidays because of the food aspect, but family will be the top reason why people love and enjoy the holiday season.
Hold on to those times if you are lucky to have them because there might come a day when you don’t see your family unless someone passes away.
Take my family for instance. When I was younger my entire family met at one place for Christmas and one place for Thanksgiving.
My great-grandmother on my dad’s side lived in Center where we spent Christmas, and my great-grandmother on my mom’s side lived in Linden where we would gather for Thanksgiving.

What is “genealogy? 
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term as “the study of family history” or “the history of a particular family showing how the different members of the family are related to each other”.  
 The Internet has opened a portal to family history for researchers by providing a multitude of websites to assist in their research.  The Mormon Church (LDS or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) provides many sources for research and is one of the free genealogy sites on the internet.  The LDS website “Familysearch.org” and others like “genealogy.com” and “my heritage.com” are popular and provide a great start for your research endeavors.
The Cass County Genealogical Society library, on the second floor of the Atlanta Public Library, is a great source of local, hands-on information.  

In these violent times that try men’s souls there are also opportunities that make us feel good.
Now this article is not about food but some mouth-watering delicacy does come to mind. Not long ago I almost passed by a little nondescript building in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas that housed the Low Gap Café. I put on the brakes and had one of the best meals ever with frog legs and shrimp. This story is sort of like that good eating event only better.
As she is the reason for most of my god meals so is my wife the causer for this feel good story. Jeanette is a quilter and has been for more than half a century. She has produced a ton of quilts and enjoyed every minute of it. A year or so ago she decided to make some quilts that would go to our Wounded Warriors. As an old retired soldier I thought it was a super idea and all I had to do was give her encouragement.

Calling Christians to love your neighbor by voting
Dear editor,
Solomon said, “Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” 
Could it be the blame for the triumph of evil in America is not the blatant wicked, but rather apathetic Christians? When we should be providing the cool-water of life-giving leadership, do we, like a polluted well . . . stink?
Four years ago, enough Christians failed to vote and re-elected Obama. 
Our national debt has soared. 
The family has been attacked by redefining marriage. The innocence of children is under assault in school bathrooms. Terror has grown as radical Islam infiltrates our shores while lawlessness is encouraged in attacks on our police and patriotism. Yet again many Christians may not vote.

TC referendum: More socialization, less freedom
Dear editor,
In my opinion, there are many obvious reasons to vote no to the Texarkana College (TC) Referendum such as the money is not guaranteed to be used in Cass County, but will go into the TC “general fund” and the fact that the referendum actually does not guarantee a campus will be built in Cass County. 
However, I would like to highlight some slightly less obvious, but just as important, reasons why this referendum is fundamentally unsound.
The TC referendum is a classic example of the ever growing socialization of our great institutions, as the lines between the public and private sectors become blurred. 
The resulting inevitable unintended consequences, however obvious they may be, will be downplayed or ignored, despite the fact more harm will result than any positive outcome.

I can’t believe Election Day is almost here. 
I imagine you are as ready for this election to be over as I am! I must say, though, that I have enjoyed meeting so many new people during the Texarkana College annexation process, and I have made many new friends. 
Yes, there have been some tense moments during some of my presentations, but I have grown to respect some of those who are adamantly against joining the TC district. We may disagree on this issue, but we can all agree that East Texas is a great place to live.

By Bobby Horn Jr.
Ben Franklin once observed, “In this world nothing can be said to be cer­tain, except death and taxes.” With all due respect to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania, but I would add one more to that certainty- politics. Af­ter all you can’t talk taxes (or money) with­out talking politics. 
This November elec­tion cycle the big­gest issue is not which megalomaniac gets to live in the White House but how our property taxes will be impacted by two lo­cal referendums. 
Voters will get to de­cide whether or not Linden-Kildare CISD is allowed to issue $7.9 million in bonds “for the construction, acquisition, renovation and equipment of school buildings in the dis­trict and the purchase of technology” (their words). If approved the school district would have to raise property taxes to pay off the bonds. 

As I listened to whether there is a  need for welders and other trades and a workforce training school to be located here at last week’s public hearing concerning Texarkana College’s proposed annexation, I was suddenly reminded of an interview I did four years ago with John Ratzenberger.
The actor, best known for portraying Cliff Clavin on the long-running TV series Cheers and for being the go-to voice actor for all Pixar movies, is a huge proponent of bringing awareness to the fact that this country is facing some serious skilled labor shortages. That’s because the median age of workers in many manufacturing jobs is creeping higher and higher.

It’s time for the violence to stop.
The senseless targeting and killing of police officers has to stop. 
We are beginning to look like a third-world country when killing innocent law enforcement personnel in the name of political or social justice becomes commonplace.
None of the police officers who have been killed recently in Dallas or Baton Rouge had anything to do with any of the cases where a police officer was involved in a highly publicized shooting while responding to a call or attempting to make an arrest. Controversial videotapes of several incidents  are the catalyst for much of the violence directed toward police officers.