Opinion

BLAME IT ON THE RAIN. Blame it on indifference.

I’LL BE BRIEF. The events exploding in the Middle East have shocked many of us and stirred up bitter memories for others of us.

I WAS SURPRISED to hear that the Chamber of Commerce is considering returning the Fall Foliage Festival Craft Show to the Canadian Elementary School rather than the downtown outdoor area. Did you know?

THREE YEARS AGO TONIGHT. Frankly, I don’t remember the ER folks affixing the EKG leads to my feet (I do remember them stuck to my chest), but that’s what my phone pic shows—the shot I made after several hours in Albuquerque’s Presbyterian Hospital ER on August 17, 2018.

Fifty-six years ago today, on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. The need for the law was explained in its full title: “An Act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, and for other purposes.”

Delta variant spurs huge increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations The number of Texans hospitalized with lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases is increasing faster than at any other point since the pandemic began in early 2020, due to the highly contagious delta variant. As of Sunday, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported 8,892 people were in Texas hospitals.

AUSTIN—Texas school districts must send nearly $3 billion in local taxpayer funding to the state by Sunday under the state’s school finance law—a record amount that puts a crushing burden on taxpayers throughout the state while taking needed dollars away from their local schools.

SCHOOL STARTS IN AUGUST, just as what could have been a return to normal has become the resurrection of the pandemic in the new guise of the delta variant. Texas back-to-school preparations once again include debate over in-person or virtual classes, over crowds at games and other big events, over masks and vaccinations.

THERE IS AN OLD ADAGE that the American people will always do the right thing—once all other options have been exhausted. This has never been more true than during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when a large segment of the population seemingly had a death wish in the way they responded.

Eight proposed amendments on November ballot The order has been drawn for eight proposed amendments to the much-amended Texas Constitution that will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.