Opinion

Lots of people have cast negative ballots, said tacky things and made disparaging gestures about the year 2020 in general. The unanimous verdict indicated that, as one West Texan put it, “Ain’t what we signed up for.”

A pessimist claims that if he attempted to cross an intersection--even if he looked every direction two or three times--his 2020 record of the “crossing” would be less than memorable. He said, “Likely I’d be wiped out by a helicopter, low-flying plane or drone.”

I was always a pretty-good girl. That is if you don’t check with my siblings. Until a few weeks ago, I would have qualified for the “best kid” award. Now I think things are beginning to catch up with me.

For most Texans, Election Day is a misnomer.

More Texans voted early this year than cast their ballots during all of the 2016 general election. Many more voted early than went to the polls on Election Day.

A record 9.7 million people, or 57% of registered voters, completed their civic duty during the extended early voting period of Oct. 13-30, or by mail, according to the Texas Secretary of State.

In 1898, most towns did not allow guns to be carried openly within the city limits. In order for the four Squyres men to travel to Breckenridge with their guns, they were sworn in as deputies by the sheriff at Cleburne. This allowed the four Squyres men to carry their guns on the train to Breckenridge. The Squyres men had also picked up a fifth Squyres man at Weatherford, who also was deputized by the sheriff in Weatherford.

If 2020 were a car, we would have had it back to the dealer fifteen times. We would have had to change out the tires, had to put a new air filter in every week, and had to have the transmission rebuilt. Of course, we would not have bought the maintenance agreement or the extended warranty. We hoped to save money because we’d never had a bad car before. Why waste the money?

Amazon delivered good economic news, announcing plans for a 700,000-squarefoot distribution center and warehouse in Waco.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials heralded the plan to bring up to 1,000 workers to Central Texas at a starting wage of $15 an hour. The online retailing giant previously announced other expansions in Texas, including Forney, Pflugerville and Richmond.

Two other companies also announced plans last week to move to the Lone Star State:

On Election Day of Nov. 8, 1898, there was a heated dispute between two warring groups in the northwestern part of Stephens County. It came to a climax on Election Day of 1898, when William Jefferson (Jeff) Squyres was killed along with Joe Rampy, the antagonist.

Apparently, bad feelings developed between the Squyres family members and that of John McCarty, who had been hired to manage the farm for the 67-year-old senior John Squyres. McCarty lived north of the Squyres farm with his brother, Roscoe McCarty.

Twenty years ago, there were people in our town who refused to give out candy on Halloween for religious reasons. Although I didn’t agree, it was their right to not participate, stay home, and turn off their porch light. Some of us, on the other side, bought even more candy that year, dressed up in wild costumes, and decorated our houses like cemeteries and haunted houses. We gave out candy by the hands-full … mainly because someone said we shouldn’t.

Texans receiving unemployment benefits will need to show an active effort to find a job starting Nov. 1.

The Texas Workforce Commission suspended the requirement in March as the pandemic started. More than 3.6 million have filed for unemployment relief since then, according to Texas Tribune research.