When you grow up in a Southern church, you learn how things are done. And how they’re not done. Some kids learn early. Some kids never get it. Bethel Missionary Baptist Church was a small, white frame structure. Like many churches of mid-20th Century America, it was...
This week the media is focusing on Sunshine Week. It is a time to celebrate a free press and what it means for you and your community to have access to public information. Several weeks ago, I read a letter that should be shared with every community. While the message...
Dear Rusty: Can or does the Social Security Administration occasionally make mistakes in determining the benefits due? I’m now 72 but I retired early at age 61 and knew that my benefits would be reduced. I’ve always wondered if my monthly benefit calculation was...
AUSTIN — As the worldwide threat of novel coronavirus increased, state agencies already were working together to ensure the health and safety of all Texans, Gov. Greg Abbott said Feb. 27. After a briefing from state and federal health officials on coronavirus...
Gov. Greg Abbott on Feb. 20 established a clemency application specifically for survivors of human trafficking or domestic violence. The application, crafted in coordination with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, includes a section that affords the applicant an...
Requirements in House Bill 3, the sweeping school finance law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2019, require the state to plan for long-term workforce development. On Feb. 13, Gov. Greg Abbott cited HB 3 in assigning the commissioners of three state agencies to...
Dear Rusty: My birth date is 1947. My wife is 1950. We both took our Social Security years ago at age 62 due to health concerns because we questioned if we would live to age 78 to equalize the extra payout if we would have waited to age 66. Taking early at 62 may have...
Whatever our political views, certainly we can agree we have the right to know how government is conducting business. How are taxpayer dollars spent? Who is influencing decisions? Access to information allows us to speak up and hold public officials accountable, while...
A person may be tired and weary of backing up and beginning anew after going into dead-end ways, but this is inevitable, unless a person gives up trying. The only way that you can live at all is by the habit of making new starts, adjusting to mistakes and changes. Age...
