Opinion

During the last four years, communities along the southern border have been ground zero for illegal immigration. Stretching over 800 miles of the Rio Grande, my congressional district includes places like Eagle Pass, Del Rio, and El Paso. These places have all been ravaged by the Biden administration’s “America Last” agenda, which has led to the worst border crisis in our nation’s history. It has also empowered transnational criminals like never before.

“You can have whatever you want if you believe in yourself and keep your feet firmly planted on the ground.” ― A. J.

We are now in the season of Advent. This past Sunday, we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent. Traditionally, the theme for the First Sunday of Advent is Hope. As we look forward to the second Sunday of Advent, the theme for the week is traditionally Peace. Some of us may be shaking our heads, grunting, or raising our eyebrows in disbelief at that single word — Peace.

The City of Alpine Building Services department has been busy in the last six months. We have been working on updating the outdated zoning ordinance to meet and match the requirements of the adopted 2021 International Building codes. We started off with basic definitions, marrying the requirements in the international zoning codes. Many of the ordinances have not been updated since the late 1970s or 1990s. The ongoing pressing question we hear the most from our growing community is, “ How do we encourage more affordable housing in Alpine?”

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” ― Anonymous “Lifelong member of the church of Christ, serving as song leader most of those years.” I wrote that last week, one of many notes on one of many yellow tablets cluttering my desk. While struggling to come up with a reasonable forward for my book, I’ve resolved to finish it soon—the forward or the book, maybe both.

As I announced in this column in January, Sul Ross State University purchased two downtown buildings—Porter’s Grocery and TransPecos Bank, both located on 5th Street. As is often the case when bureaucracy is involved, it took a while to close on the properties and ultimately decide how each would be utilized.

“Sooner or later, everything old is new again.” ― Stephen King, American author known for horror novels. When I was much younger, I often marveled at the things my grandparents must have seen in their lifetime.

The Brewster County Tourism Council, better known as Visit Big Bend, has just completed another exciting year exhibiting in the GoTexan building at the great State Fair of Texas! Each year, thousands of potential visitors to the Big Bend Region come through the building and visit our booth to get information and travel tips on vacationing in this beautiful part of the Lonestar State.

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“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t… pays it.” — Albert Einstein It’s your shining moment on the big television game show.