Opinion

“Weep no more my lady, Oh, weep no more today. We will sing one song, For My Old Kentucky Home, For My Old Kentucky Home, far away.” — “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Collins Foster, known as “the father of American music.”

Alpine, I got hacked last week I have spent the last 10 days getting new personal and business bank accounts and all that entails: debit card-checks-on line banking, etc, getting my computer operational again and getting my life back together. Let me tell you that is not an easy project.

In spite of all the opposition to it, Dollar General has managed to get approval to build another store in Alpine. The most recent one is located in a residential neighborhood on the Fort Davis highway.

I’ve recently noticed a few State Flags being displayed with “Proud Democrat” printed on them. I couldn’t help but wonder what was it that makes these folks so proud. Might it be an elimination of U.S. energy independence causing high gas prices? What about the selling off of U.S. Strategic Oil Supply to Chinese Communist? Could it be the uninhibited printing of money that’s causing record inflation. In case these harmful energy and fiscal policies aren’t the reasons for their deadly sin of pride I’ve searched elsewhere. 1000 babies are killed every day by Planned Parenthood while child castrations and mastectomies are performed under pretense of sex changes. Joseph Mengele would have been proud of that. There are men who pretend to be women while acting out in degrading female stereotypes who are shown more respect than actual women. There are guys pretending to be gals in sports who often defeat and sometimes injure the smaller females. Are they proud of those depravities? Then there’s the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” agendas that are divisive, unequal, and exclusive, and let us not forget the wide-open U.S. borders. Are those reasons to be proud? Maybe I’m being too harsh. These might be folks who may sometimes use the phrase “Proud as a Rooster” not realizing roosters eliminate their offspring, have relations with their mothers, and scratch around in their own crap all day long. James R. Le Blanc Fort Davis, Texas

“I tried to raise my children with patience, honesty and good manners, but they still ended up being like me.” — Author unknown but the concept understood Sharing child-rearing experience is a generational responsibility. We owe the next generation fair warning.

Sul Ross State University has launched a new microsite to communicate our goals and strategies through 2027. It’s available to view at www.sulross.

“You put your left foot in, you put your right foot in, you let your left foot out, and you jerk the car about.” — The Hokie Pokey stick shift driving school song Renewed my driver’s license a few weeks ago. Quite a few changes since I got my first license.

After reading Alpine ISD Superintendent Michelle Rinehart’s opinion on state education funding, and her call for transparency, I wanted to know what the district spends per student. Not finding financial information in the ISD website, transparency??? I looked elsewhere. According to an outfit out of New York City called Public School Review the Alpine ISD spends about $16,100 per student across its three campuses, above state average. I also found the district is well above state average in what matters most, student academic achievement. Way to go! Ms. Rinehart is worried about taxpayer dollars following students rather than funding legacy institutions. A well enough performing District like Alpine has little to fear about parents seeking better options elsewhere. But what her opinion ignores are the tens of thousands of students trapped in lousy districts across Texas with no hope. It’s these students the Texas legislature is seeking to help. It’s time Texans let dollars follow students so that we may have an educated population.

Right now, the Texas legislature is spending a disproportionate amount of time fighting over something that isn’t good for Texas and doesn’t align with Texan values: vouchers. Vouchers are publicly- funded entitlements that divert taxpayer funds to private or home schools without any accountability or transparency.

Our deepest appreciation On behalf of Jerry Johnson and his family, we would like to express our appreciation for the love and support the community of Alpine has shown. Thank you to the American Legion Post 79 in honoring Jerry’s military career at the memorial services at Elm Grove Cemetery.