Opinion

Many avid hunters are already planning for deer season, which begins Oct. 2 for bowhunters and Nov. 7 for general firearms season. Landowners who participate in special management programs within Texas Parks and Wildlife Department can begin harvesting deer Oct. 2 with a firearm, as well.

It appears since the new city council and the new city manager were installed, there have been a handful of critics saying the new officials are failing in operating the city. There was a recall effort on myself and Councilman Martin Sandate that failed. To this date those who signed the recall petition have not once asked us for our side of what we’re being accused of. There are two sides to every story.

This week Texans, Americans, and all those who love freedom throughout the world will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Already we are bombarded with remembrances, the replay of minute-by-minute telecasts from that day, and the more scientific analysis of what happened to explain the horrific destruction of the World Trade Center towers.

Medical fitness Masking is for raccoons and bank robbers, not children. Let’s talk fitness.

The school year has started at Alpine ISD, and I want to take a moment to thank our parents and community for entrusting us to serve your children. It is refreshing to have the students back in class and participating in activities. We appreciate the support you have shown the Lady Bucks and Bucks in the past few weeks.

As I watched the Afghanistan debacle unfold it brought back memories of another time. A time when the U.S. government and the American media lied to the American people for years as young soldiers were killed and maimed, both physically and mentally. The Afghanistan desertion is a repeat of the Vietnam disgrace.

We wish to thank all of our family and friends for your thoughts, prayers, and acts of kindness during our time of sorrow due to the loss of our wonderful mother, Frances P. Jimenez. We also want to thank all those who helped to make Mom’s funeral service so uplifting. Among those, Fr. Pablo Matta for leading the Mass and his heartfelt sermon, the Spanish choir for providing the inspiring music, our dear Tia Olga for leading us in the Rosary, all who served as pallbearers, all who sent the beautiful flowers, and last but not least we wish to thank our cousin Cecelia for hosting many of the out of town family members.

History is repeating itself. A key year in the Carter White House was 1979. The POTUS, believing his push for human rights gave him moral authority and worldwide respect, chided the Shah of Iran for abuses. Ayatollah Khomeini exploited that, deposed the Shah, and became the first to turn a modern state into an Islamic state. The Taliban is doing the same thing to Afghanistan. The old Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and it was Carter who formulated the not so covert policy that would feed the mujahideen weapons and money matched by Saudi Arabia for next 10 years.

The Environmental Services Department has been hard at work on the rain gardens project at Kokernot Park. The project consists of constructing rainwater catchment basins at two locations in the park to reduce flooding. The two rain gardens will be landscaped with water-efficient plants without tapping into the city’s aquifer for irrigation. These projects will not only enhance and improve the park’s natural areas, but also serve as training and educational modules for visitors, providing examples of water conservation rain gardens.

In 2019, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said that the first thing he did when he arrived at his office was to check the previous day’s border apprehension totals. Under 1,000 was, Johnson said, “a relatively good day,” and over 1,000 was “a relatively bad number” because that “overwhelms the system.”