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The following is part eight of an eight-part series based on the U.S. Army Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. The reader should discover that these tenets carry over to all facets of life and are not limited to military service.
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The Texas House passed a bill promising $17 billion in tax relief, a measure that is at odds with the Senate’s tax break plan, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The House bill would lower by half a home’s cap on appraisal increases. It passed overwhelmingly, 141-9. However, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, said that body will not approve it, preferring its plan to raise property exemptions from $40,000 to $70,000.
In a press conference held Thursday, Patrick reiterated his opposition, saying appraisal caps do not have much effect on property tax bills.
“So let me be very clear, I’ve said before this session, I’ve said it at the beginning of session, I’ve said recently, you don't negotiate on bad math,” Patrick said.
House Speaker Dade Phelan took a less confrontational stand.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Navasota is growing. Try finding a parking space at the post office, the hair salon or at one of our fine shops and restaurants downtown. Heck, I may have to park 3-4 blocks away just to pick up my check at The Examiner! The groups of strangers with that questioning gaze stopping mid stroll on Washington Avenue are another giveaway.
A decade ago, as a relatively new resident regrouping after my husband’s death, a trip downtown was a form of therapy for me, not in the shopping sense but in the social sense, because I was likely to run into one of the new acquaintances I had made. I also committed to learning about my new home and to volunteering for something to bring meaning to my life again. In fact, I was the first person to sign up for the inaugural Navasota Citizen’s University class! A proud NCU Class of ’13 graduate, I think this strategy has worked well for me!
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Continuing the Bookman family history in Grimes County and Trinity University we find that Jesse Bookman’s two children, Pickens Butler and Mattie J., both attended Trinity University at its original location of Tehaucana, Texas. The University was founded there in 1869 and relocated to Waxahachie in 1902, before making a final home at San Antonio.
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For those who don’t follow the “other” March Madness - the Texas Legislature - I thought I’d give you a primer and an update on some of the things happening in Austin. For those who REALLY don’t follow politics or forgot what they learned in government and civics classes, this is the season when state senators and representatives go to Austin to file and vote on bills on behalf of their constituents. It’s also the time when we voters can be vocal about how we want those bills to go.
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Back in the day, when you wanted to know something, you reached for an encyclopedia. My favorite reference book, however, was a medical dictionary belonging to my in-laws. Not a visit to Louise, Texas, passed that I didn’t pull that book out of the bookcase to look up some disease. My father-in-law, who seemed really old at the time in his late 50s, would caution me that I’d certainly find something to be sick with if I kept reading that book! Fast forward 50 years, I’m older than he was then but the internet has fueled the compulsion to self-diagnose even more.
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The following is part six of an eight-part series based on the U.S. Army Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. The reader should discover that these tenets carry over to all facets of life and are not limited to military service.
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The death of a Leander High School graduate from a fentanyl overdose has prompted state Rep. Terry Wilson, R-Georgetown, to file a bill that would require 10 hours of education annually concerning the dangers of the drug to students in sixth grade and up, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Tucker Roe, 19, bought what he thought was a Percocet pill on Instagram, according to his mother, Stefanie Turner. It turned out to be laced with a deadly amount of fentanyl, a powerful opioid responsible for more than 5,000 deaths in Texas last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.