Opinion

JOHN KENNEDY SET OUT to put humans on the moon. Lyndon Johnson wanted a Great Society.

WHEN THE STATEWIDE rejection rate of ballots by mail is 12.4 percent, up from 1 percent in the 2020 election, there is something seriously wrong with our democracy. Just under 25,000 or one in eight vote-by-mail ballots were not counted in the primary election. This is the direct result of the anti-voter bill SB 1 pushed through the Texas Legislature and signed by the governor. It is appalling that our legislators choose to avoid their responsibility to the voters of Texas by not examining this high vote-by-mail rejection rate in the interim charges.

IN A FIELD NOTES column published on April 7, featuring a group interview with Canadian’s volunteer firefighters following the March wildfires, I incorrectly attributed two comments to Juan Guillen that were actually made by Chris Ford. When asked how many hours they had each been working, Ford said, “Tuesday morning, at 5:30, I went to work. I got back around noon, and got in a truck. We messed up some brakes and got back here about 10 pm. I looked for another truck and jumped on the front of it.” Ford concluded that he had worked 41 sleepless hours. I was contacted immediately following publication of that column by Juan Guillen, who wanted us to know that those were Ford’s words. When we contacted Ford to apologize, and to promise we would publish a correction, he assured us it was not necessary. When we ran into Guillen Monday evening at the baseball field, he assured us it was. Sorry, Chris. We’re going with the big guy. Thank you both for your grace and understanding. — LEB

The current Texas Constitution was written in 1876 and has been amended over 500 times. Compare that to the United States Constitution, which has only 27 amendments.

THANK YOU so much for the coverage of the recent fires. I can only imagine the duty you feel cover the countless stories you encounter, and the desire to find the viewpoints of everyone involved. From my eyes, the stories and announcements are deeply felt and appreciated.