Opinion

Abilene Christian University’s stunning 53-52 win over the University of Texas at the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament is a great example of why the annual event is called “March Madness.”

It was ACU’s second trip to the “big dance,” and its first win in the biggest basketball upset since David bested Goliath. Abilene radio sportscaster Grant Boone mentioned, “Blessed are the poor” during the broadcast, pointing to UT’s $200 million athletic budget and ACU’s upwards of $20 million.

A Texas Senate committee on Friday passed an elections bill that would tighten the state’s voting rules by limiting extended early voting hours, requiring proof of disability to qualify for mail-in voting and prohibiting drive-thru voting. Senate Bill 7, sponsored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, is one of Gov. Gregg Abbott’s legislative priorities this session.

Spring has sprung ... or so they say. Around here, we aren’t worrying about a few weeds. After the ten days of zero-ish weather, we are just glad to see a little green. I joined many townspeople this afternoon when I ventured out to break a few limbs, scratch a few stems, and say a few prayers over the bushes and trees in my yard.

I intended to write a tribute to a longago university chancellor who handled problems with dignity, typically responding with a twinkle in his eye, warmth in his countenance and a droll wit.

Arthur D’Andrea, the chair and sole remaining member of the Public Utility Commission, resigned late last week at the request of Gov. Gregg Abbott. D’Andrea pledged to remain on the PUC until Abbott names a replacement. In the announcement Abbott said in part, “Texans deserve to have trust and confidence in the Public Utility Commission, and this action is one of many steps that will be taken to achieve that goal.”

I want to say a little prayer for the people who will be looking after all those boys who are going to be staying in the Dallas Convention Center while they are relocated to family members and foster care here in the United States. Most of them are between twelve and fifteen. Oh, my.

Show me someone who winces at the thought of hypodermic injections and chances are strong that such fears were birthed by some smart aleck kid who happens to be one or two school grades older.

I’ve persuaded myself to “man up”-- after all, it now seems that injections are a way of life until reaching the exit. (Not until I was age 50 or so could I manage to keep such fears under wraps, and sometimes not even perspire.)

The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.8% in January, down a tick from December’s 6.9% rate but double the record low of 3.4% in May 2019. It is unclear what effect the mid-February winter storm had on employment, when power outages swept the state and many roads were impassable. We’ll find out next month.