Columns & Opinions

Millions of Texans dealing with water supply issues

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Warmer temperatures over the weekend and continuing this week melted most of the snow from the state’s roadways and roofs. But Texans are still dealing with broken pipes that flooded homes and businesses, damaged municipal water systems, and continued power outages in scattered areas, mainly in East and Central Texas.

Severe cold spell

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I guess this is the chigger-killer cold spell I hoped for. Common wisdom holds that a certain number of consecutive days/nights of low temps go a long way toward limiting the successful hatching of millions of chigger eggs elsewhere. If this year’s chigger population takes a hit, I have to be honest and admit I’ll be a happy woman. We’re all God’s creatures, so I hope that gleefully applauding chigger genocide doesn’t make me a terrible person. After all, they make my life miserable every spring and summer until they burn away in the heat. So not only am I sitting here in three layers of clothing, enjoying the light snow as I write, but I’m counting on this being the gift that keeps on giving --- until August.

Snow, ice, single-digit temps blanket the state

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Texans from Lubbock to Longview shivered under single-digit temperatures as their week began, with snow and ice creating dangerous road conditions throughout the state. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all 254 Texas counties and urged residents to stay alert to changing weather conditions. The Texas Division of Emergency Management deployed resources from various state agencies to prepare roadways, assist motorists, remove downed trees and perform search-and-rescue operations if necessary.

State of the Union, as I see it

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I’m writing this after three days of a new presidential administration. My intention is to record some facts and numbers from December 2020 and January 2021--- for future reference--- to review in the months and years to come--- to help decide if these changes will have benefitted the American people and economy. Or not.

COVID-19 vaccine pace rises while statewide hospitalizations drop

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The number of people in Texas hospitalized with COVID-19 has declined more than 28 percent in the past month, according to the Texas Department of Health Services. As of Feb. 7, Texas hospitals were treating 9,957 COVID-19 patients, down from nearly 14,000 a month ago. The number of new cases in the past week was 123,239 — a 22 percent drop from the record high of 158,922 the week of Jan. 10, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Dare to break the ice

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Several days after the snow blanketed all slates possible in Central and North Texas, as if presaging a welcome clean start for 2021, I noticed that the front of Mrs. R’s house was still featuring some white patches stubbornly profiting from the prolonged shadows hanging from the north side of the house. On that count, I decided to stop by and visit.

Learning new skills

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When I obtain a new appliance or machine, I may stare at it a few weeks until I get up the nerve/courage--- and find the time- -- to even open the box. It seems a whole new skill set’s required for each additional purchase. Especially when they don’t include clear--- or any---instructions that can be viewed without a microscope. Intuitive these days, I’m apparently not.

Vaccine pace picks up slowly

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The rate of COVID-19 vaccine administration is slowly increasing in Texas as we enter the second full month of shots going into arms. The Texas Department of State Health Services last weekend reported that about 1.6 million Texans — overwhelmingly frontline health workers, people over 65 or those with chronic health conditions — have received the first dose. Just over 400,000 are fully vaccinated. The state has received 3.16 million doses so far; nearly half remain to be administered. Texas ranks near the bottom in per-capita doses administered when compared to other states, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Made in the USA

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What a year. We’ve all had ‘em. This has nothing to do with Corona virus! Every few years--- most recently more frequently--- we have a seemingly unending spate of breakdowns and failures of machinery and equipment. Sometimes this involves breakdowns of our own “physical plants”. So far, none mental. But would we know if we had them?