Opinion

“Dunn’s Law: Careful planning is no substitute for dumb luck.” ― Arthur Bloch, author of “Murphy’s Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong” In short order, I was back on the road. Listening to the ball game.

The City of Alpine and Keep Alpine Beautiful have held three clean-up events for the Great American Cleanup Season (GAC). The GAC is the nation’s most extensive community improvement program, taking place each spring, from March through May. Up to now, 186.36 lbs. of trash have been collected, and 31.71 acres and 4.24 Tx-DOT/City Miles have been cleaned up. As the GAC continues through May and is followed by the Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off campaign (April 1-31), the community will have multiple opportunities to participate and volunteer.

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” — John Lennon Nothing makes a writer feel his or her age quicker than reviewing their early works.

W Dear Senator I understand that the Office of Management and Budget, in the direction of DOGE, plans drastic cuts at NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Agency). This is an open letter to Senator Ted Cruz: “Senator Cruz, I live in Texas.

Texas version of DOGE heads to Abbott’s desk If signed, the first bill headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk would create the “Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office,” the Statesman reported.

W Thank You On March 7, I received a hip replacement at Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso. I was then transferred to the Swing Bed Unit of our Big Bend Regional Medical Center.

The past several weeks have brought much-needed moisture to the Big Bend Region of Texas. Snow in April is definitely a rare occurrence and something to be excited about, that is, unless you ran the risk of planting an early garden, in which case you might not be quite as thrilled. I have personally seen flurries on Cinco De Mayo west of Marfa before, so caution, along with a little bit of luck, is always needed when predicting the ideal time to get veggies in the ground in this part of the world. While the moisture is welcome and will undoubtedly provide a Spring green-up consisting primarily of puncturevine, woolly loco, and garboncillo, it really is just a drop in the bucket as far as the moisture that we hope to have in the coming months.

“Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.” — Lovelle Drachman, author Adventure was not on my mind after another day at the newspaper office almost 40 years ago. I was simply cruising the day’s mail, including the newest issue of Hemmings Motor News (aka “the car collector’s bible).

“Sometimes I think we are alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering.” — Arthur C. Clarke, (1917 – 2008) English science fiction writer

The Big Bend Rural Initiative for Success in Education (BB-RISE) is a groundbreaking partnership between Alpine ISD, Marfa ISD, and Marathon ISD, designed to expand Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities for students in the Big Bend region of Texas. This initiative aims to create an “innovation zone,” a Texas Education Agency designation that provides additional state funding to support CTE programs accessible to all three districts.