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Opinion

Kerrville's Schreiner

One of the tens of thousands Texans who fought hard, if in vain, for the Confederacy was Charles Armand Schreiner. Born in 1838 in the mountains of Alsace-Lorraine, France, he had come with his family to Texas in September 1852. The family settled in San Antonio, where his father soon died. Four years later, his mother died from a snakebite. Except for his siblings – three brothers and a sister -- he was on his own.

Hope for days to come

I don’t know who first said it; perhaps it was the late radio newsman Paul Harvey. Whatever, it wasn’t dissected by WikiLeaks, a come-along lately “source” that sounds like a product “do-it-your-selfers” might use to repair automobile radiators in the comfort of their very own garages.

Anyways, Harvey occasionally used the admonition to encourage his millions of listeners from sea to shining sea. “In times like these, it is important to remember there have always been times like these.”

Don't mess with Beth

There are times in our lives when nobody should mess with us. We’re from Texas and nobody messes with Texas. Furthermore, they should not mess with a former junior high teacher … who has heard it all … and knows within seconds when someone is telling the truth

Last month, I received a bill from Direct TV. I tried to call, but only got as far as the little voice which kept asking me how I wanted to pay. I didn’t want to pay at all. I wanted them to straighten out their business and stay out of my mailbox. 

Dak biggest football name since Doak?

Only fans longest of tooth, grayest of hair or baldness of pate could possibly remember a time when there was anyone to compare with the “Dak-to-Dak-to-Dak” wins posted by the Dallas Cowboys. A Texan named Doak Walker stirred similar acclaim in Dallas, beginning with high school exploits at Highland Park High School in the early 1940s, then at Southern Methodist University prior to his half-dozen years of pro stardom with the Detroit Lions. Back then, of course, it was “Doak/Doak/Doak.”

Oil and gas industry still hurting, but some optimism noted

Even though there are a few positive signs for the recovery of the oil and gas economy, the bleeding continues.

For 21 consecutive months – every month since November 2014 - the Texas Petro Index has declined all the way from a high of 313.5 to the current low of 150.5.

On the positive side, natural gas and crude oil prices have stabilized since the beginning of 2016, the drilling rig count has increased slightly, and employment had ceased declining.

Hunting traffic picks up in Post Oak

Here it is a lonely Sunday night as I begin my visit with you. The weather has the feel that fall is in the air and everything is quiet this evening along Post Oak road. There is no traffic which is unusual. I think I notice the quiet because this weekend there has been more traffic than usual most of the week. I think with 2127 closed part of the week more traffic has traveled Post Oak road. 

Shooting star

People who know how to make a bullet go exactly where they want it to can use that ability for good or bad. Either way, there can be money in.

“He is seldom heard of himself,” the Associated Press reported in 1927, “but twelve hundred times he has held the life of some screen star or featured player within the crook of his trigger finger.”

Gourmet delights in Dietland

For almost an hour tonight, I labored in the kitchen convincing myself that I had not lost the touch. I could still create a gourmet delight. It’s been over four months since I had bariatric surgery and since that time, I haven’t been very interested in eating much. My meals are small and concentrated on consuming a lot of protein. Don’t worry, I manage to get my nutritional requirements, but volume is not a big part of my “eating plan.”

A ranger named Joaquin

Had his life been a song, it would have been Big John. If a folk tale, Paul Bunyan. If a military hero, pick your favorite, and he’d have a lot of Joaquin Jackson in him.

And this veteran lawman charged with peace-keeping over a vast West Texas expanse bigger than some states was perhaps as colorful as Judge Roy Bean. (Bean, a Justice of the Peace with a courtroom in his saloon, is remembered for law “west of the Pecos.”)