Steve's Soapbox: December 2006

Friday, December 22, 2006

Have yourself a Very "Tuna" Christmas !

Feliz Navidad

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Truly a ‘Feliz Navidad’ for Jose Feliciano
Singer releases Spanish language CD, has English album due in February

Updated: 4:55 p.m. MT Dec 15, 2006
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart.

Sound familiar?

Yes, that’s a line from Jose Feliciano’s song “Feliz Navidad,” a holiday fixture for 35 years. This year, it’s the most played holiday song on the radio, according to figures from Nielsen BDS-Arbitron.

But this winter means more to Feliciano than just the annual return of his classic, catchy tune. In December, he released a Spanish language duets CD called “Jose Feliciano y Amigos,” which features Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi and Alicia Villarreal, among others.

Feliciano, 61, also has an English-language CD set for release in February called “Soundtracks of My Life.” It includes original material from the artist who’s earned critical praise and six Grammys for his forays into several genres — pop, jazz, bolero and ranchero.

The Puerto Rican-born singer-guitarist is considered the first established Spanish-language artist to successfully cross over into American music with his Grammy-winning 1968 album “Feliciano!” Feliciano also garnered attention for his public performance of another song, “The Star Spangled Banner,” during the 1968 World Series. His stylized take of the national anthem stoked critics who said his personalized version was disrespectful and inappropriate.

In an Associated Press telephone interview, Feliciano, who is blind, touched on his newest endeavors and reflected on parts of his career that have brought both happiness and pain.

AP: You have tackled different types of musical genres. Is there a formula that you stuck with in pursuing each one?

Feliciano: The formula always was ... know what you’re doing. Like with anything I do, it has to be a music that I know really well. For example, in February I’m coming out with my first English album in quite a while ... It took me five years, really, to gather the material to do it.

AP: Are you proud of being the first “crossover” Latin artist?

Feliciano: I take pride in the fact that I was the first Hispanic artist to really crack the English market. I know Ritchie Valens in 1959 had “La Bamba” but to be totally Spanish — because, you know, Ritchie didn’t speak Spanish — but to be a total Latin artist like myself, to be out in a field where there weren’t any categories for Latinos ... I felt good that I was maybe — I didn’t know it at the time — but I felt good that I opened the door. And, you know, now everybody’s enjoying Latin music. Now they have the Latin Grammys. I’m kind of iffy on the Latin Grammys because I think we fought so hard, for example, to get the American side of the Grammys to open categories for us ... But I support the Latin Grammys in the sense I’m glad that we have them. I just hope that we don’t lose what we fought so hard to get.

AP: Looking back at the national anthem controversy, are you still surprised about the negative response to the performance?

Feliciano: It ruined my career for at least three years. Radio stations stopped playing my records. It’s been really a tough road for me. I’m hoping that my English album will break some ground and I’ll start getting airplay in English. Until “Chico and the Man” came along in ’73 you didn’t hear me on the radio (Feliciano wrote and sang the TV show’s theme song.) I was very, very fortunate that “Chico and the Man” was on TV, that helped me quite a bit. Of course, having the No. 1 Christmas song in the Spanish market, “Feliz Navidad,” doesn’t hurt either.

AP: What were some of the obstacles you faced in those three years?

Feliciano: I just noticed I didn’t hear myself on the radio very much like I did in the beginning of ’68, and the spring. It kind of hurt my feelings a little bit because I never intended to defame America by doing the anthem. If anything it was expressing how I felt and how much I love this country that I live in. When you’re a pioneer, it’s a tough thing ... I did it my way, with feeling, with soul.

AP: How many times have you performed it since?

Feliciano: Maybe three times. I really try not to do it often.

AP: Why do you think “Feliz Navidad” has had such longevity?

Feliciano: People just really like that song because it’s simple, it hits a certain core ... I did it both Spanish and English. It’s easy to remember and it appeals to both cultures, English and Spanish. People play it because it’s a happy song, it has a lot of energy.

AP: How do you feel about the fact that you are a hero to many blind people?

Feliciano: I do what I can. It’s not my main goal in life in that sense, but I do encourage people who are blind. And if my music encourages them to be independent and do things, I’m happy about that.

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16228902/

Sunday, December 17, 2006

What's being written........

Henry David Thoreau

"It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof."

-- Walden, 1854

Thoreau lived and wrote of an emblematic aspect of American individualism, a self-reflective celebration of individual responsibility. Alone in the woods, living "deliberately" and concerned only with "the essential facts of life," Thoreau sought to uncover himself by discovering everything around him.

He sought his own experiences, untainted by the influences, prejudices and "old ways of thinking" handed down by well-meaning elders. He reveled in the great "experiment of living," discovering facts and truths for himself.

In every culture, nation and religion, elders pass down the smoldering embers of passionate prejudices to the young. Each new generation of potential individuals then learns new means to fan the flames to perpetuate prejudice. Thoreau's words remind us that each individual has the power to experience the great "experiment of living" for oneself. Seizing this power promotes the type of self-learning that can extinguish the ancient intergenerational prejudices that now threaten us all.

-- Steve Stockdale, Fort Worth

"If...the machine of government...is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. ... Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."

-- Civil Disobedience, 1849

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience should be translated and disseminated to the world because the obligation to protest an unjust governmental law or action through the exercise of civil disobedience is a fundamental American value.

Our history has taught us that laws can be passed and wars waged that are unjust and contrary to the highest and best values of our people. At those times, it becomes the duty of the people to disobey such laws and resort to nonviolent direct action to effect positive change.

Those who protest official governmental policy, under any form of government, are often labeled unpatriotic and at times even traitors. The truth is that informed dissent is the highest form of service that a citizen can perform for the government. Sometime it is true that to stand up for one's country means to stand up to one's government.

-- the Rev. Bernard Kern, North Richland Hills

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/16255321.htm

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Astrid Hadad

Listen To la cuchilla

What is Brownwood's "State of Faith" ?

State of faith
From megachurches to tiny chapels, from Christians to Muslims, deep in the heart of Texas, a great connection from all walks can be found
By CECILE S. HOLMES
Religion News Service

If you go looking for faith in the Lone Star State, travel slowly or you might miss the turns that take you deep into the heart of Texas.
There you'll find religious diversity as wide and varied as a summer Texas sky. Such a world awaits readers of the book The Amazing Faith of Texas: Common Ground on Higher Ground (Idea City Press, $24.95).
The 155-page coffee-table book, which celebrates how all faiths bring people together, could be the antidote for those disillusioned by materialism, commercialism and religious backbiting.
The book is the brainchild of Roy M. Spence, an advertising veteran with a penchant for purposeful public-service ad campaigns and a reputation for success.
Spence is founder and president of GSD&M, an Austin-based advertising company whose client list is a veritable Who's Who of American business, including such companies as Wal-Mart and AT&T.
Spence's firm is known for groundbreaking work, including the "Don't Mess With Texas" anti-litter campaign from the mid-1980s.
When he set out on the project, Spence said, "I wanted to find out: Could we build some bridges and mend some fences among people who have different religious beliefs? And I wanted to find out: Was there common ground?"
For the answer, he turned to his friends, neighbors and colleagues across the vast expanse of Texas. Joining him in the quest were Mike Blair, his firm's executive vice president and creative director, who collected and edited the stories in the book, and Randal Ford, a young photographer who says he was ecstatic when hired for the project.
Spence traces the beginnings of the book to the dark days immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Stranded in Washington, D.C., he and others from his firm couldn't fly home, so they drove back, chatting most of the way.
Their discussions led to public-service TV ads on the theme "I'm an American," featuring people of diverse races and religions presenting a unified patriotic voice.
"At that moment in time, I felt the power of togetherness," Spence says. "It was a terrible time. But at the same time, you saw the power of one. I continued to reflect on that."
It took many months of traveling Texas, but the resulting book testifies to interfaith connection and community in an era marked by worldwide religious strife. "What unites us, not what divides us," Spence says.
The book sounds the same theme in word and image. It shows the faces of Texas religion: a cowboy pastor, a Roman Catholic nun, a Methodist advocate for people with AIDS, a Bahai entertainer, a Buddhist songwriter, a Mennonite peace activist, a Reform rabbi, a Sunni Muslim and many more.
"It was so inspiring and humbling to see all those people with different walks of faith," says Ford, the photographer. "They were all so kind and generous with their time.... If anything, it strengthened my faith."
The book also reveals the places of Texas faith: tiny storefront churches in big cities, weather-beaten crosses in barren brown fields, a temple tower set against a tree-shaded sky, a stained-glass Star of David, megachurches and tiny country-church steeples.
"God is too big to fit inside one religion," declares a quote from an unknown author on an opening page.
Minister Tim Cook of Austin's Church of Conscious Community, a Christian contemplative congregation, builds on that concept.
"The Apostle Paul called us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and we only really know that is happening in a community by how we feel and act toward each other," Cook says in the book.

Cecile S. Holmes is the former religion editor at the Houston Chronicle and now teaches journalism at the University of South Carolina.

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/16246712.htm

"Corporate Restaurant Executive's" will never get it ! "Heart and Soul" Restaurants cannot be bought and sold like a commodity !

We're going to miss our Grannies'
By Bud Kennedy
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
We can't go to Grannies' anymore.

That is, we can't go to the Two Grannies' restaurant in Glen Rose, where two Texas grandmothers served up hearty "granny hugs" and home cooking on the courthouse square.
For six years, the two self-described "widow ladies" have been working 14-hour weekend days dishing up skillet-fried chicken and grandmotherly charm.
But "Granny" Gloria Whitley has retired at 77, too tired to go it alone after co-"Granny" June Thomas retired because of illness.
The Grannies were lonely Granbury widows when they decided to open a restaurant and start hugging every customer.
They wound up on NBC's Today and in Texas Monthly magazine, not only for their cooking but also for their hands-on style.
Now, both Grannies are plumb hugged out.
"When you're older than dirt, it's hard to run a restaurant," Whitley said this week.
Officially, the name of the restaurant is Two Grannies' Down-Home Cooking. It's for sale, including the recipes, the handmade quilts that cover the walls, the piano where guests plunked out gospel songs -- everything but the grandmothers jokingly known as Glen Rose's "grabbin' Grannies."
A hug was not optional.
"My family is all huggers," Whitley explained. "When I see somebody, I just have to hug 'em.
"I hug 'em whether they like it or not. Some of these gripey old men don't like it. I do it anyway, just to ruffle their feathers."
Whitley had been considering retirement all year, then lost an older sister in October.
"I'm just worn out," she said.
Across the street at the Somervell County Courthouse, coordinator Linda Puckett said that residents had been worried but that they kept going back for chicken and dumplings or homemade pies.
"You could tell she was tired," Puckett said by phone. "She was always friendly. But some days, you could just see it in her eyes."
Puckett summed up the intrinsic appeal of Two Grannies': "It was just exactly like going to your grandma's house. It had everything -- the decor, the food. Those ladies are just precious."
When Today travel reporter Peter Greenberg visited in 2003, he braced himself for a huge Whitley hug.
She smiled sweetly.
"Why don't you come back down and bring your family?" she said.
In a town known for steaks and barbecue, Two Grannies' drew city folks needing a getaway and families needing a stop on the way to Glen Rose's outdoor Christian musical drama, The Promise.
Lunch cost $7. Dinner went for $11.
"Our goal was to make people feel like they were really at Granny's house," Whitley said.
The cafe was decorated like a 1930s kitchen. Even the plates and silverware were unmatched settings arranged on the table the way Whitley's mother, Anna Mae Sullivan, set the table at their family farm near Lipan.
Three younger cooks handled most of the kitchen work, and Whitley and Thomas handled the customers.
When the restaurant closed, Whitley was still making soups every Thursday and the pot roast every Saturday.
She and Thomas were sitting around Granbury one day in 1990, bored and complaining about restaurant food, when they decided to give up retirement and go into business.
Whitley had worked for 18 years in the front office of a Granbury hospital, then ran a senior citizens agency. Thomas, a friend from the Granbury Church of Christ, had run a dress shop.
"I had no idea what it was like being a waitress," Whitley said. "But we both lived alone. We had lost our spouses. I was bored. We said, 'Let's open a restaurant and serve the kind of food that we were raised on.'"
A friend suggested the hugs.
"At the senior citizens center, I always hugged everybody because some people never get a hug," she said.
She and Thomas made the hugs their trademark. Originally, no customer could be seated until each granny scored a big hug.
That's what we'll miss most.
Nobody hugs at Chili's.
"At most restaurants, you're lucky if they say 'Hi' or even 'Thank you,'" she said.
Once, a corporate restaurant executive pitched her about selling a franchise, saying, "You have something the world needs."
"I can't see it," Whitley said. "Where would you go to hire grannies?"
On a typical weekend night, the dining room was filled with the laughter of children, the sound of the rinky-tink piano and the voice of Jack Burnham leading singalongs of Amazing Grace or I'll Fly Away.
"That's a memory that I will always cherish," Whitley said. "That was the sound of happiness."
Dozens of children -- and adults -- who had lost their grandmothers asked Whitley to adopt them. She always did.
"There were kids who came every week," she said. "They wouldn't eat anywhere but Grannies'."
In six years, she saw some of them grow from toddlers nearly to teenagers.
She didn't get to tell them goodbye. After Thanksgiving weekend, she was just too tired to reopen the restaurant doors.
Now, she said, "I can't go anywhere without someone hollering out, 'Hi, Granny!'
"I smile and wave back. And I have absolutely no idea who they are."
They're just kids who miss their Grannies'.

Bud Kennedy's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. 817-390-7538 bud@budkennedy.com

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/columnists/bud_kennedy/16255677.htm

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Gary Gary quite contrary how does your "Brownwood Big Box" Garden grow ?

Monday December 11, 2006

Hearing set for landscape rules

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood City Council members will hold a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that would set out landscaping requirements for commercial property in Brownwood.
The ordinance would apply to new or expanded office or retail uses, the council’s agenda packet states.
The council will not consider approving the ordinance, but Mayor Bert Massey may appoint a committee to review it, according to the council’s agenda.
The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended adoption of the landscape requirements on Nov. 16 by a 4-1 vote.
City staff has worked with Keep Brownwood Beautiful and the Planning and Zoning Commission to get the ordinance in acceptable legal form, the agenda packet states. The proposed ordinance is based on one adopted by the City of Midland. Several developers and contractors have been given a copy of the proposed ordinance.
The purpose, according to the agenda packet, includes:
Promote a positive image for the City of Brownwood
Protect property values
Promote water conservation
Encourage planting and preservation of trees and vegetation
Increase ground permeability, retard water runoff and control erosion
Abate noise, glare, dust and heat.
Developer Gary Davis of Austin, who has had numerous projects in Brownwood, wrote a letter, included in the council’s agenda packet, expressing opposition. His primary concern is “the added cost and what that might do to future development,” the agenda packet states.
“It is not our intent to convey a message that we are against a development or project having landscaping,” Davis’ letter states. “We just feel that the decision on how much and what types should be left up to the property owner or developer.”
The packet contains letters from the Brownwood Garden Culture Club and Jimmy and Ann Jones, who own several properties in Brownwood, in support of the ordinance.
“ … We are all gardeners, striving to be good stewards of the land,” Brownwood Garden Culture Club President Martha McDaniel stated in a letter in the council’s agenda packet. The letter states that the ordinance would tell developers “we are proud of the city’s appearance and we want them to help us to continue to make Brownwood an esthetically pleasing place to work, play and conduct business.”

The council meets at 9 a.m. at City Hall, 501 Center.
source: source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/11/news/news01.txt
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Developers slam Brownwood landscape ordinance
By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
December 13, 2006

BROWNWOOD - A proposed landscape ordinance, intended to make Brownwood greener, drew harsh criticism from local developers during a City Council public hearing Tuesday.
The proposed ordinance, which took two years to write, is based on one used in Midland.
It calls for including landscaping plans when applying for building or paving permits for new office or retail development and for renovation or expansion projects on existing office or retail space.
Brownwood builder Paul Waldrop said under the proposed ordinance, landscaping at his Commerce Square redevelopment project could jump from $82,000 to more than $250,000.
''I'm in favor of landscaping and beautifying, but this ordinance would be a detriment to growth,'' Waldrop said.
''Cost is a big issue here.''
Daniel Graham of Keep Brownwood Beautiful said the city has lost ''a lot of trees'' due to recent highway renovations and retail development.
''When you think of Brownwood, vast parking lots come to mind,'' said Graham referring to recent retail development in the Commerce Street area.
Al Faetche, a retired builder and chairman of the Buildings and Standards Commission, called the proposed ordinance impractical.
''We should encourage developers to do whatever they can do to bring in business,'' Faetche said.
KBB member Steve Puckett said the ordinance would guard against flooding and would discourage falling property values and vandalism.
''We have the right to demand that those who come into this area to make their fortune respect this and assist us in our long-range goals of building an attractive, inviting city,'' Puckett said.
No action was taken Tuesday. Mayor Bert Massey said a committee will be appointed in January to meet with KBB to reach a compromise.
Requirements of Brownwood's proposed ordinance
10 percent of a parking area be landscaped
Irrigation systems installed for landscaping
Trees on frontage streets
One tree for every 15 spaces in parking lots
A $2,000 fine for violations

Landscaping ordinance in Abilene

The city of Abilene is in the process of developing a landscaping ordinance that could require businesses to set aside a certain percentage of their property for grass, trees and shrubs. The Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a proposed draft ordinance in July, but tabled the issue. The city's staff is in the process of assembling a committee to review the proposed landscaping requirements. The issue must be approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Abilene City Council.
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_5210084,00.html
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Wednesday December 13, 2006
News

Council studies commercial landscape proposal

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood City Council members, business representatives and citizens agreed Tuesday with Keep Brownwood Beautiful: attractive, esthetic landscaping at businesses is desirable and the city needs more of it.
But a KBB-proposed ordinance that would set out landscaping requirements for commercial property in Brownwood is too costly and would curtail development, opponents said. The requirements pertain to issues including irrigation, parking lot trees and street front trees.
The proposed ordinance would apply to new or expanded office or retail uses. The landscaping is a quality-of-life issue that would add an estimated 3 percent to 9 percent to the cost of development, but would attract more business, KBB members said.
The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended adoption in a 4-1 vote on Nov. 16.
Council members did not take formal action on the ordinance Tuesday, but Mayor Bert Massey said he wants to name a committee from the council to examine landscaping issues and bring a recommendation to the council. He said he will formalize the committee at the next council meeting.
KBB board member Daniel Graham told council members the ordinance has “minimal and modest landscape requirements.”
“Brownwood could be a garden city,” Graham said. “We are blessed by Lake Brownwood and built on a flood plain, yet many areas are dull and drab, lacking shade, color or any sign of nature.
“Vast parking lots come to mind. Now really, who here does not want a shady spot in the parking lot?”
Graham said trees and landscaping improve property values, create windbreaks and reduce storm runoff. “They even encourage shoppers to spend more,” Graham said.
He said Brownwood does have a landscaping ordinance, but it is brief and applies only to industrial property. KBB worked for two years to develop an ordinance based on one approved in Midland, Graham said.
“ ... The underlying issue is not so much how much it will cost to do it, which is not a lot. But what will it cost not to do it? What are our community values in terms of quality of life and who will decide how those values affect our local landscaping? Will it be out-of-town developers, national franchise chains and big business, or will it be the citizens of this community?”
Graham was accompanied by Steve Puckett of Steves’ Market and Deli, who said landscaping has benefitted the Chandler Street business and helps draw customers.
But Paul Waldrop of Waldrop Construction, while saying he favors landscaping, said he opposes KBB’s proposal. He said the requirements would increase the $82,000 landscaping budget for the Commerce Square renovation project more than three-fold.
Waldrop is the general contractor on the $2 million project. “Cost is a big issue with this ordinance that’s proposed,” he said.
Waldrop said there would be a couple of ways to meet the proposed landscaping requirements. One way would be to set aside 10 percent of the paved area for landscaping. That would amount to about an acre, which is worth about $600,000.
“Obviously we’re not willing to do that,” Waldrop said.
The other way, Waldrop said, would be to spread out the landscaping in the form of landscaping islands, plant 56 new trees and plant 4,600 square feet of grass. That landscaping, including the curb-and-gutter work, would cost $259,000, Waldrop said.
Waldrop said any landscaping ordinance should cap the cost at 3 percent of the permit. Without a cap, he said, the proposed requirements “will definitely impair development.”
He said it would be difficult to craft an ordinance that fits projects ranging from a small office building to large projects such as the Commerce Square renovation or Home Depot.
Developer Gary Davis of Austin, a principal of the partnership that owns Commerce Square, expressed opposition to the proposed requirements in a letter to City Attorney and Interim City Manager Pat Chesser.
“ ... It is our opinion that the detrimental affect to the City of Brownwood for new development and redevelopment of existing property will be significant,” Davis wrote. “It would certainly cause us to re-examine and most likely curtail our activities in Brownwood in the future.”
Jim Merriman of Lydick-Hooks Roofing said the proposed requirements would make it more difficult for his company to follow through with expansion plans. “The number of trees (required) for street frontage is absurd,” Merriman said.
He said KBB should have talked with small business owners and come up with an ordinance that doesn’t impede economic growth.
Council member Charles Lockwood said he favors “some kind of ordinance. It’s better than what we have now.” But Lockwood
said he wasn’t sure he could support KBB’s proposal.
Council member Darrell Haynes said the city is trying to recruit business, and asked how that can succeed if new requirements are imposed. He said it could be a difference-maker in whether a business chooses to come to Brownwood.
Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Fair asked Graham if KBB would be willing to negotiate on some of the proposed requirements.
“We are always willing to engage, to talk things over,” Graham said. “I just want to say, in all fairness, this has already occurred substantially in the second draft.”
Graham said a first draft of the ordinance, which never went before the council, had been much more stringent.
“Obviously we need something,” Fair said, adding he doesn’t want to see the issue die.
Laura Terhune, executive director of the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce, said ordinances related to landscaping and signs don’t have to be deal-breakers. She said compromises can be worked out.
Terhune said she was speaking “as a new resident of the city” and not on behalf of any organization or the chamber, but rather on behalf of herself. She said Granbury, where she previously lived, had passed “significant ordinances” related to landscaping, signs and historic preservation.
Businesses might “gripe and complain” about such ordinances “but if it’s a smart business decision, they will come,” she said.
Craig Seger of Lake Brownwood, who said he works in Brownwood and is affiliated with KBB, said increased costs “are a part of life.”
“Everyone wants a nice place to live,” Graham said. “No one wants to live in a drab, hot, ugly place and I’m not saying Brownwood is that overall, but I’m saying we could improve on what we have. We could improve our quality of life by this landscape ordinance.
“ ... What we are doing is affirming our community values, our quality-of-life standards.”
Massey, in announcing his intent to appoint a committee, said, “I didn’t hear anyone say we’re opposed to landscaping. We’re dealing with the question of how stringent it will be. Beautification is an important item in this community.”
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/13/news/news01.txt
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Note from Steve Harris, If KBB's goal is to get "Big Box Developers" and their partners to plant more trees and install other landscape around their Brownwood projects, they'll need to speak in terms that motivate such folk ( it's the $$$$$$$'s stupid ! ). Find a way to FORCE the taxpayers ( via Brownwood City Council, Mayor, City Manager, etc. ) to subsidize the trees and you'll get the " Big Box Corporate Developers " to cooperate ! Tax Payer Subsidize's is what motivates these " Big Time Developers " ! Also, they could not do it without their well placed political allies !

Is there a Big Box Swindle going on in Brownwood ? If so, who all is involved in bringing this to Brownwood's front door ?

The Big Boxing of Brownwood Texas ?

All "Living Lies Destroying Lives" is Local !

Pastor admits he's gay, resigns
10:36 PM CST on Monday, December 11, 2006

Associated Press
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – The founding pastor of a second Colorado church has resigned over gay sex allegations, just weeks after the evangelical community was shaken by the scandal surrounding megachurch leader Ted Haggard.

Mr. Haggard, a gay-marriage opponent, admitted to unspecified "sexual immorality" when he resigned last month as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A male prostitute had said he had had sex with Mr. Haggard for three years.

On Sunday, Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel in this Denver suburb, told his evangelical congregation in a videotaped message that he had had sexual relations with other men and was stepping down.

Dave Palmer, associate pastor of Grace Chapel, told The Denver Post that Mr. Barnes confessed to him after the church received a call last week.

The church elders accepted Mr. Barnes' resignation on Thursday.

On the videotape, which The Post was allowed to view, Mr. Barnes told church members: "I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy. ... I can't tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away."

Mr. Barnes, 54, led Grace Chapel for 28 years. He and his wife have two adult children.

Mr. Palmer said in a written statement, "While we cannot condone what he has done, we continue to support and love Paul."

source: www.dallasnews.com

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Was Brownwood nearly bankrupt six months ago ?

Saturday December 9, 2006
News
City looking for ways to trim current budget
By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood City Council members want to know if the city’s $27.4 million budget can shrink.
Finance Director Walter Middleton said he will begin working next week on some “budget scrubbing” at the request of Interim City Manager Pat Chesser.
Any cuts won’t affect employee salaries or benefits, Middleton said. He said no specific amounts by which to reduce the budget have been mentioned.
Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Fair said council members discussed with Chesser the idea of finding budget cuts when they appointed him interim city manager on Nov. 28.
Fair said the city administration typically brings requests to the council for budget amendments. “Frequently those are to spend additional revenue, not reduce it,” Fair said. “The council has instructed the city manager to begin the process of looking at the budget and determine if there are places to save money.
“This was certainly one of the first jobs that we handed to (Chesser),” Fair said. “I don’t think that there’s a target. ... I personally believe that there are things that can be cut.”
Middleton said he believes the city administration can find areas to cut. He said he and Chesser will go over proposed cuts with department heads and present a proposal to the council, probably in mid-January.
Middleton said any reductions the council approves will be “deobligated” but will stay in the budget until budget amendments are approved late in the fiscal year. “We just won’t spend it,” Middleton said.
Middleton said in a Dec. 6 e-mail to Chesser that the city has 21 days of operating funds if only “unrestricted funds,” or the money in the city’s operating fund, are considered.
The city would have an additional 15 days in operating funds if the council placed money that is currently in two funds with other designations into the operating fund, Middleton said.
The city is also owed reimbursements from the Texas Water Development Board for water improvement projects, and those reimbursements would add another 17 days in operating funds, Middleton said. “The total of all of that is 53 days,” Middleton said in the email.
“We certainly don’t have as much cash in reserve as we had five years ago, but we’re in pretty good shape,” Chesser said. “Financially we’re fine. We always can do better and that’s what this council wants to do.
“We’re not bankrupt. We’re nowhere near bankrupt. We’re in better condition than we were six months ago.”

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/09/news/news03.txt

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

QUOTE: Applicable to Brownwood Texas As Well !

"There was enough desperate history in that little town in one summer to make a whole library of dime novels" ~Elizabeth Custer

source: http://www.haysusa.com/html/frontier_history.html

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Dateline Brownwood: All Recalls are Local !

Recall of entire city council brewing in Brownwood
By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
December 5, 2006

A group of Brownwood residents plans to file a recall petition today to oust the five city council members and longtime Mayor Bert Massey.
Joe Cooksey, leading the group for the recall petition, said it will include Massey along with Councilmen Dave Fair, Ed McMillian, Darrell Haynes, Charles Lockwood and Grady Chastain.
''I view this as an opportunity for the citizens of this town to give city government a formal indication of whether we have confidence in them or not,'' Cooksey said.
The petition charges the council and mayor with general fiscal irresponsibility, irresponsible decisions regarding industrial annexation and failure to conduct city government in an open manner with regard to the resignation last week of City Manager Kevin Carruth.
It was unclear late Monday if Brownwood has ever had a recall election for municipal officials. If the filing for the recall election is done today, it would come one week after Brownwood residents and employees packed into City Hall to express support for Carruth before he resigned. Pat Chesser is serving as interim city manager.
Massey called the petition ludicrous. He pointed out that the city has renegotiated 15-year agreements with all 20 companies in the industrial park that sits outside of the city instead of going ahead with plans to annex the park. The businesses make payments to Brownwood for city services instead of paying property taxes. None of the businesses supported being annexed.
''It would have been fiscally irresponsible on the part of the city council not to look at the prospect of annexing the industrial district,'' Massey said.
Massey also said the council maintains strict compliance with the open meetings laws of the state.
''It should be emphasized that City Manager Kevin Carruth resigned - he was not terminated by action of the council,'' Massey said.
Besides Cooksey, the Brownwood residents leading the charge for the recall election are James H. King Jr., Ralph and Jocelyn Smith, and William C. Jerden.
According to Brownwood's city charter, a recall petition must be filed with the city secretary by five registered voters in Brownwood who will be considered the ''recall committee.'' The city secretary, Jan Kaase, then will draw up a petition that must be signed within 30 days by 400 people who are registered to vote in Brownwood.
If the filing for the recall petition is done today, the committee will have until Jan. 5 to present the 400 signatures to the council. The city secretary then must verify that all 400 signatures are from registered voters. Once that is done, the council and mayor have five days to either resign or call a recall election.
Cooksey believes he will be able to get the required 400 signatures.
''It is the general consensus we will have the signatures in no time,'' Cooksey said. ''This is a time for celebration because we are going to exercise our right to challenge what has gone on at city hall.''

EDITED BY: BRIEN MURPHY; COPY EDITED BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN; HEADLINE BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_5190798,00.html
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Wednesday December 6, 2006
News

City council recall petitions sought

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

A Brownwood resident is spearheading an effort to force a recall election for Mayor Bert Massey and the entire city council.
Joe Cooksey, who is leading the effort, said the controversy surrounding the resignation of ousted City Manager Kevin Carruth is “the straw that broke that camel’s back” in seeking a recall.
The effort, though, was stalled late Tuesday afternoon on a technicality. Cooksey said City Attorney and Interim City Manager Pat Chesser won’t accept an affidavit with five signatures seeking a petition for a recall election because only Cooksey’s signature was notarized.
According to the city charter, five qualified voters must sign an affidavit that specifies grounds for removal. Those five would be known as the “recall committee,” and a petition with the signatures of at least 400 registered city voters would then force a recall election, the charter states.
Cooksey said he has received legal advice saying the affidavit is sufficient with only one notarized signature. Cooksey swore, with his notarized signature on the affidavit, that each of the other four signatures is that of “the person it purports to be.”
Chesser said all of the signatures must be notarized, or sworn to, on an affidavit. “I just want five people to swear under oath,” Chesser said.
The affidavit, also signed by James King Jr., Ralph and Jocelyn Smith and William Jerden, states that Massey and councilmen Dave Fair, Ed McMillian, Grady Chastain, Darrell Haynes and Charles Lockwood should be recalled “for making irresponsible decisions regarding industrial annexation, general fiscal irresponsibility and failure to conduct city government in an open manner.”
Cooksey said he was unwilling to simply have the other four signatures notarized because he believes he is in the right and it’s a matter of “principle.”
Council members voted Nov. 28 to accept Carruth’s resignation effective Dec. 15 and approved, in a 3-2 vote, a six-month severance. Carruth has said Mayor Bert Massey and Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Fair told him after a Nov. 14 performance evaluation that the council sought his resignation. The Bulletin has requested a copy of that evaluation, but was told no document dealing with it exists.
Carruth declined to comment Tuesday on the recall effort.
Cooksey said, “I think of it as a vote of confidence — either we vote you up or we vote you down.” He said a recall of Massey and the council would create an opportunity for “new blood to take this city in a different direction.”
Cooksey said the council was required by the open meetings law to come back into open session after evaluating Carruth in a closed session on Nov. 14 and take a public vote on seeking Carruth’s resignation.
Massey, Chesser and council members disagreed.
“They discussed it and took no action, and went and told (Carruth) their feelings,” Chesser said. “No action was taken other than telling him the results of the evaluation. Nothing illegal happened in that meeting.”
Massey said, “there was no vote taken in the closed session. (Council members are) allowed to state their opinions in a closed session. If they state their opinions, it doesn’t take a genius to know what the vote would be.”
Cooksey said he supports the severance package Carruth is receiving, but said the council showed “fiscal irresponsibility” in matters related to Carruth — the $15,000 the council paid to Waters Consulting of Dallas in the search for a city manager, and the severance package of nearly $71,000 in salary and benefits.
Massey and some council members said the severance was aimed at helping Carruth and his family land on their feet.
Council member Grady Chastain, referring to paying the consulting firm, said, “That’s the chance you always run with a consulting firm,” council member Grady Chastain said. “There’s always a chance ... you can get bit.”
Massey said council members, like anyone else, “do the best they can in the circumstances in which they find themselves. (The council) followed reasonable procedures to find a city manager. It didn’t work.”
Cooksey said some people “have issues with the way the city handled” the recent issue of what had been the potential annexation of industries in the Brownwood Industrial Park.
Massey, noting that the industries ultimately signed new PILOT — Payment in Lieu of Taxes — agreements, said the issue was resolved “as well as anybody could hope or expect.”

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/06/news/news01.txt
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Wednesday December 6, 2006
News

McMillian won’t run for new term

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey was philosophical. City council member Ed McMillian was mad — mad enough that he won’t seek re-election when his term on the council expires in May.
Those were among the reactions from the mayor and three city council members when asked to comment on a possible petition seeking the recall of Massey and the entire council — all of whom said the council did nothing wrong in matters related to Kevin Carruth’s resignation as city manager.
“I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve ever done as a councilman or as mayor of Brownwood,” Massey said.
“I say it’s crap,” McMillian said of the potential recall.
McMillian said he’d been leaning toward not running for another term before the Carruth controversy erupted, but hadn’t decided for sure.
“This has sure made my mind up,” McMillian said. “There is not one ounce of doubt in me now. At the end of eight years I will bow out and I will let the ignorant remain ignorant.
“The recall is the Kevin issue. That’s all this is about. ... I’m a little upset. As a matter of fact I’m madder than hell. ... Let’s quote Clint Eastwood: ‘Go ahead and make my day,’ and you can quote me on that. Make my day.”
McMillian said the non-disparagement clause prevents council members from revealing specifics of the reasons they sought Carruth’s resignation. He said if Carruth would “release” the clause, “maybe (Bulletin publisher) Bob Brincefield would quit reporting the ‘Enquirer’-type journalism.”
He was referring to recent columns by Brincefield that were critical of the council’s handling of the Carruth matter.
“I’ve raised some questions,” Brincefield said. “I haven’t made accusations about anybody.” He reiterated one of the points of a column in which he asked if the council may have violated the state’s open meetings law because it did not take a public vote on Carruth’s resignation.
“I don’t think that’s ‘National Enquirer’ tactics,” Brincefield said.
Massey said voters have “a perfect right to initiate the recall process, if that’s what they want to do. If you’re unhappy with city government, go sign the petition.”
Massey said if voters like gains in the community in areas such as industry, retail and infrastructure, “then don’t sign the petition.
“ ... I would hope that those who believe the council and I have really tried to do the best we could for the community will rally around us.”
Council members have declined to say why they sought Carruth’s resignation, citing a non-disparagement clause in Carruth’s exit agreement. Massey has said the council wanted to avoid airing any displeasure it had with Carruth’s performance as city manager in public.
“It was for Kevin’s benefit that the council chose not to air their concerns with Kevin in a public forum,” Massey said.
Massey said, though, that he was surprised that Carruth had expressed surprise that the council wanted his resignation. “I think he’d had conversations” with council members who had expressed concerns about Carruth’s performance as city manager, Massey said.
“All I’m willing to say is that it didn’t work out,” he said.
Councilman Grady Chastain said the council is “taking a beating” over Carruth’s resignation but “we’re not free to speak on that. ... We didn’t try to hurt (Carruth). We tried to be nice and we turned around and got bit.
“We had addressed some problems. The mayor had worked with him. He didn’t get a raw deal.”
Councilman Dave Fair said, “Frankly, I was looking for a job that would give me heartburn and sleepless nights when I found this one.”
He said he wishes petitioners could serve on the council “and see what it’s like to run a city and make the hard decisions. It’s basically a volunteer position where there’s little thanks and heartache and headaches over decisions you have to make.”
He said he thinks there is “a silent majority of people in the community that understands that decisions have to be made.
“ ... Most of us were born and raised in this community. We work here. We have friends here. I don’t believe our citizens are going to judge all the good things that have been done for this community based on an emotion-charged issue.”

Council members Darrell Haynes and Charles Lockwood could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/06/news/news02.txt
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Wednesday December 6, 2006
Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

Lesson: Keep your own counsel in workplace

To the editor:

I have always taught my children to keep their own counsel in a work place. Which in some ways reminds me of a bowl of Piranha fish. I taught them that what they say and do, can and will be used against them. I wish someone had taught Kevin Carruth that lesson. Then he would not have been so naive in his new surrounding.
He is a trusting kind of fellow. I heard that he had initially asked for a severance clause in his contract, but he was assured that in a friendly place like Brownwood he did not need to worry about such a thing. He could comfortably settle in and expect to see his children grow up here. And he trusted them.
I don’t know what happened to Kevin but I care about it. He has been wounded beyond measure. Just a little honesty and openness could have spared him pain. I am disgusted with the arrogance of the people who, after buttering him up, so carelessly and heartlessly banished him. Keeping the reason inside “The Clique.” Let’s have term limits, so folks won’t get too big for their britches. This stinks to high heaven, and will leave a black mark on Brownwood City Council for a long time.
I don’t suppose it would be “Good ol’ boys politics” going on down there. Was Kevin set up to fail?
I suppose $70,000 makes the council feel better, but it doesn’t help the Carruth family recover from such shabby treatment, and it won’t go far in relocating.

Lila Cathey

Brownwood

http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/06/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter01.txt
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Thursday December 7, 2006
News

Petitions for recall issued

By Steve Nash — Brownwood Bulletin

Brownwood resident Joe Cooksey, who is helping an organize an effort to force a recall election of Brownwood’s mayor and the entire city council, picked up recall petitions at City Hall Wednesday.
“We’re at a planning stage of when and where” the petitions will be made available for signatures, Cooksey said.
Cooksey’s effort to obtain the petitions was stalled Tuesday when he turned in an affidavit to City Hall that bore signatures of five voters — the number required for obtaining the petitions. Only Cooksey’s signature was notarized and City Attorney and Interim City Manager Pat Chesser told Cooksey all of the signatures were required to be notarized.
Cooksey said he turned in another affidavit Wednesday with five notarized signatures. James King Jr., Wayland Yancy, William Jerden and Leona Jerden also signed the affidavit.
Cooksey said he has six packets of petitions — one packet each for Mayor Bert Massey and councilmen Dave Fair, Ed McMillian, Grady Chastain, Darrell Haynes and Charles Lockwood. Four hundred signatures from registered city voters are required to force a recall election, according to the city charter.
The affidavit states the reasons for the recall are “for making irresponsible decisions regarding industrial annexation, general fiscal irresponsibility and failure to conduct city government in an open manner.”
“What really spurred all of this is the secrecy involved” in the resignation earlier this month of ousted City Manager Kevin Carruth, Cooksey said.
“The public has a legitimate interest in knowing why and (the council has) failed to tell us.”
Massey and council members have said they treated Carruth fairly in giving him a six-month severance package. Massey and council members have made general statements about the council’s unhappiness with Carruth as city manager but have said they won’t give specifics because they don’t want to harm him and because of a non-disparagement clause in Carruth’s exit agreement.
Massey and council members, commenting earlier on the recall effort, have said they hope voters will remember the progress over the past decades in industry, retail and infrastructure.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/07/news/news01.txt
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Thursday December 7, 2006
Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

Keep things above the table

To the editor:

I read Freda Day’s letter about the dismissal of Mr. Carruth.
I agree with her that the residents and taxpayers should never be barred from knowing what the city council is doing in closed-door meetings.
We are voters and taxpayers, so what is so bad that the city council made it a big secret? What else are they covering up that they want to keep a secret?
Maybe the residents and taxpayers need them to be checked out. It is likely they have dirty laundry and is not for the citizens’ “need to know.”
Freda was correct that they are elected officials and they want total control.
I think the citizens of Brownwood should have a good housecleaning. Begin with the mayor, city council and anyone else who thinks they are God and want to control everything.
Citizens should never be put in the dark behind closed doors, which Freda brought out. and I believe she hit the nail on the head.
If our city council has nothing to hide, then they should keep things above the table and explain them.
Mr. Carruth got a bad deal without a reason.
As a citizen and taxpayer, I thought this is a free country with freedom to speak, but our town thinks if you don’t like it, well, the city council rules.
Thank you, Freda, for your letter. People who read it got a wake-up call. May God bless you and your family.
Thank you, Mr. Carruth. You got a bad deal. But as they say, if you don’t like it, leave. May God bless you and your family.

Patricia Guill

Brownwood
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/07/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter01.txt
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Brownwood recall committee to begin collecting signatures to oust mayor, council
By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
December 7, 2006

BROWNWOOD - Brownwood's city secretary Wednesday accepted a request to have a recall election for Brownwood's mayor and five city councilmen.
City Secretary Jan Kaase accepted the paperwork a day after Pat Chesser, the city attorney who is serving as interim city manager, rejected the initial application Tuesday.
Chesser asked that affidavits for each of the six officials who could be recalled be submitted instead of putting all six on one affidavit.
Now, Joe Cooksey, a Brownwood contractor, and a five-member recall committee need to collect 400 signatures of registered Brownwood voters within 30 days. Each person who signs the petition must sign six different affidavits - one each to ask for a recall election for Mayor Burt Massey and five City Council members.
Cooksey's group launched the recall effort about a week after Brownwood City Manager Kevin Carruth resigned.
Once the petition signatures are collected, they will be given back to the city. The City Council and mayor could have five days to either resign, or call for a recall election.
Cooksey said he is planning an event that would allow Brownwood voters to sign all six petitions at the same time. He has not yet selected a time or date.
Brownwood would be the second city in the state to recall its entire city council and mayor according to the Texas Municipal League. In May, a recall election for the council members and mayor in Cibolo failed at the polls.
The Brownwood petition charges the council and mayor with general fiscal irresponsibility, making irresponsible decisions regarding industrial annexation and failing to conduct city government in an open manner with regard to Carruth's resignation last week.

EDITED BY: BRIEN MURPHY; Copy editor: K.M. Whitmire
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_5196182,00.html
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Petition aims to recall Brownwood officials
Some citizens seek answers; others feel action may negatively impact city

By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
December 8, 2006

The possible recall of the mayor and all five council members is the talk of the town in Brownwood.
Whether they favor or oppose the action, people are speaking out about the movement to oust six elected officials.
A five-member group successfully filed a recall petition Wednesday and will soon have petitions ready to sign. The recall committee has until Jan. 6 to get 400 signatures each for the mayor and five councilmen - a total of 2,400 signatures.
Mayor Bert Massey and Councilmen Dave Fair, Ed McMillian, Darrell Haynes, Charles Lockwood and Grady Chastain stand to lose their elected positions.
Cliff Karnes, a 21-year-old social studies major from Howard Payne University, believes the council and the mayor are trying to ''cover something up'' with regard to the recent resignation of City Manager Kevin Carruth.
''It just seems so odd that they would be adamant about not revealing what caused them to force him to resign,'' Karnes said. ''If there is nothing wrong, then why do they keep refusing to say why?''
Longtime Brownwood insurance man Hilton Painter, 85, a member of the local civic group the Brownwood Mafia, called the mayor and council ''old friends.''
''I'm neutral on this, but what harm could be done to allow the voters to take a look at this?'' Painter said.
Austin developer Gary Davis called the recall effort a ''disincentive for economic development and business recruitment.'' He said that while he is not a citizen, he and his company have invested over $48 million in Brownwood since 1992.
''The recall effort sends the wrong signal and that goes beyond the local community,'' Davis said. ''If the citizens are dissatisfied with local government, then they should vote to change city government in May during the general election.''
Councilmen Ed McMillian, Charles Lockwood, and Grady Chastain will be up for election in May.
The recall committee, led by local contractor Joe Cooksey, charges the council and mayor with general fiscal irresponsibility, irresponsible decision-making regarding industrial annexation, and failure to conduct city government in an open manner with regard to the city manager's resignation.
''We will have no problem getting signatures,'' Cooksey said. ''I think we can get them all in one day - people are fed up.''

EDITED BY: LORETTA FULTON; HEADLINE WRITTEN BY: JEFF SCHNICK
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_5198854,00.html
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Friday December 8, 2006

Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

Support for Brownwood’s mayor, city council

To the editor,
I was very disturbed to learn that there is an effort underway to force a recall election for our mayor and the entire city council. I have known all of these men for many years and they have been honorable, honest, and forthright in their service to this community.
It is a real privilege to have a mayor like Bert Massey who represents our city in such a special way and who has no other agenda other than to make Brownwood a better place. To have a council made up of five very independent individuals who vote their conscience each week is the very essence of good city government.
I may not always agree with everything they do, but through the years I have seen first hand how they have stood for what they believe to be right and best for our whole city. A recall election would dishonor each of them personally and disparage their many years of faithful service.
I did not know Kevin Carruth well, but I liked him and he seemed to be a very fine man. The only thing that concerned me were his comments in the Brownwood Bulletin regarding the industries in the annexation issue. It was unfortunate that Kevin did not work out to the satisfaction of the mayor and the council that hired him and worked daily alongside him.
We need to remember, however, that we elected the mayor and the council to represent us in the management of our city, and they, better than anyone else, were in position to evaluate the performance of our city manager.
Often times, when one is terminated, we hear such things as, “it wasn’t handled well,” or “it should have been put off ‘til after Christmas,” or “it should have been done in open session.”
I think the council went to great lengths to make the termination as painless as possible and are to be commended for acting decisively and not putting it off. By discussing such personnel matters in executive session, and agreeing to a non-disparagement clause in Carruth’s exit agreement, the council bent over backward to not embarrass or hurt anyone.
Everyone will not agree with me that the Mayor and Council acted responsibly and in our best interest, but I hope you will agree that a recall election is not the way to address your displeasure. If you are unhappy with the present administration, then stand for election yourself, encourage others to run for office, and be sure that you vote.
You probably know that often times it is a thankless job that does put a strain on the best of individuals and current misguided talk of a recall election will certainly not add to the appeal of the office
I, for one, offer my support, encouragement and appreciation to our mayor and council for doing a difficult job.

Leonard Underwood
Brownwood
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/08/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter01.txt
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Friday December 8, 2006

Op Ed: Letters To The Editor
City government in Brownwood

To the editor:
We often call those in city government, and many other city positions, civil servants. If you look up the definition of the word servant in Webster’s dictionary you will find “One who serves others.” Go even deeper and look up the word serve, and it will say:
“To be of use; to be favorable; to be worthy of reliance or trust; to hold an office; or discharge a duty or function.”
—Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary
To be of use, to be favorable, to hold an office — I think all of those adequately describe Brownwood’s own city government and city council. We as a community elected these folks to serve, to be representatives, to hold an office. In almost every position, these men and women serve for almost free. They give of themselves and of their time, freely for a community that they love and a system they believe in. Would any of its readers and the publisher at the Bulletin like to step up and fill their shoes? If at some point, the city constituents begin to question the manner in which these council members run their town, by all means, they have every right to question it. It is an open city government. But let’s be sure that we’re requesting open policies on both sides.
As to Mr. Carruth, I find it hard to believe that when you have a council asking for your resignation that you had no idea there were problems. Just because the council has not responded to Carruth’s, and the Bulletin’s for that matter, scathing and largely unfounded remarks, does not mean they are true. By and large, the city council has a long history of divided votes and a melting pot of personalities. Such an overwhelming desire for his resignation must be a sign of something. Do Kevin Carruth and his supporters really want the council to come forward with their reasons? It may be that slander in the local news media is not quite as much fun when the tables are turned. The Bulletin has made large headlines and editorials about the freedom of information act. I wonder if the nay-sayers about city council would be so willing to free the information if the council were to retaliate. Perhaps the council members are actually respecting the fact that some things are best left unsaid. Perhaps they’re protecting Carruth’s reputation. Or perhaps, they were just raised with a little more class than to be a small town gossip the minute someone gives you a platform.
Kevin Carruth received six months severance pay. In all honesty, the City of Brownwood has offered this man a very generous parting gift. They made every effort to part on civil terms and send Mr. Carruth and his family on their way to whatever life may bring for them next, adequately prepared and compensated. It is the Bulletin, and Kevin himself, who have brought the negative attention and discord to Brownwood. I absolutely believe that the people of this town have a right to an opinion and a voice. But how many of those people speaking up so loudly actually voted in the last city elections? And how many of them were present at an open city meeting where Mr. Carruth declined to hand out agendas to some of the community attendees? Several had to call his attention to make sure they received an agenda for a supposed “open” meeting. Mr. Carruth told other council members that he did not mean to skip any select group; that he was simply handing out agendas to “members and employees.” Funny, how one who once so openly opposed sharing information is now crying out for freedom of information since he feels that he has been wronged.
There are two sides to every story. The council has elected to remain neutral and try to protect a former employee’s reputation as he moves forward with his life. I feel certain, if you asked anyone on the city council or in city government, they would say that they wish the best for Kevin and his family, and malice or injustice was never their intent. Many of the people who serve our community in this capacity have over 20 years of service. You do not serve a community, a people, for that length of time without their best interests at heart. Let’s keep in mind that these are elected officials. If you, the people of Brownwood, have kept them in your service for this long there must be some honor, some intent, some quality that they once esteemed in our elected officials. Before you rush to the gallows and follow the crowd, consider the option that perhaps, the people you trusted for all these years may just know what they’re doing.
On a personal note, there are many who will say I only wrote this because my father is the mayor. In part, they might be right. I do take an interest in Brownwood politics because my father is so highly involved. I also have two close friends who live in the Metro-plex with me whose fathers are involved. You can bet our phones have been ringing. But if you’ll recall, a few years ago I wrote a piece about how Brownwood Feels Like Home. The Bulletin was kind enough to publish it and I am grateful. However, it is disappointing that the paper I grew up reading, the paper I still read online today, the paper that supported our cheerleading squad and local sports and clubs, the paper that published a picture of me when I was only 8 years old because I grew a record breaking sunflower, would so openly insult and attempt to discredit my father who has given over 20 years of service to this community. I remember a time when the Brownwood Bulletin strived to promote a sense of togetherness, a pride in their community, and was not just another piece of the press striving to find the dirt where there is none.
My grandmother was a single mother from the time that my dad was 7 years old and a proud member of this community. She and my grandfather are buried in Eastlawn cemetery. I remember driving around putting up signs for dad in the early 80s when he was first running for mayor. I was proud then, and I am proud now. My father graduated from Brownwood High School, as did I and both of my siblings. My parents moved back to Brownwood before any of us were born, more than 30 years ago, and immediately began getting involved in the hometown they loved. I can’t tell you how many late nights my dad put in serving this town. More than most people I’ve been affected, involved, and a first hand witness to the stress and trials of city government. I know more than anyone how my father’s heart belongs to this town, and how much it hurts him to witness all that has been stirred up in these times. It doesn’t matter to me what people say, but I want to come out and publicly say that I believe in our government, and I believe in our council, and it’s my right to say so. Don’t tell me that I don’t have a right to an opinion just because my father’s the mayor. Don’t tell me that I’m not a part of this community, that I don’t have a voice. This is my home, too. This is my town. This is my family. This is my city government.
And I tell you what — come next election — I stand behind every one of them.

Rachel Massey
Brownwood
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/08/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter02.txt
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Note From Steve Harris, Letter writer Rachel Massey obviously feels that the Bulletins 400 word maxium letter to the editor policy (as is published in the Bulletin daily see page 4 !) does not apply to her 1281 word letter. Rules and guidelines appear to apply only to the other folks who can voice their opinions within the established guidelines which gives everyone "equal" time and space ! Mayor Massey was a guest of KXYL 96.9FM this morning (following Brownwood's Big Box Developer Gary Davis) discussing the recall issue. Massey refused to take phone calls from listeners ! Appears to be a pattern of Elitism over the Brownwood airwaves and where the ink hits the paper ! Elitism, a learned behaviour ? Brownwood Texas: It's "our" home, it's "our" "Feel Like Home" family, it's "our" City Government, it's "our" voice. Maybe It's time for Brownwood to be more about the "our" and less about the "my" !
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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Has He Started Talking to the Walls ?

By Frank Rich
The New York Times

Sunday 03 December 2006

It turns out we've been reading the wrong Bob Woodward book to understand what's going on with President Bush. The text we should be consulting instead is "The Final Days," the Woodward-Bernstein account of Richard Nixon talking to the portraits on the White House walls while Watergate demolished his presidency. As Mr. Bush has ricocheted from Vietnam to Latvia to Jordan in recent weeks, we've witnessed the troubling behavior of a president who isn't merely in a state of denial but is completely untethered from reality. It's not that he can't handle the truth about Iraq. He doesn't know what the truth is.

The most startling example was his insistence that Al Qaeda is primarily responsible for the country's spiraling violence. Only a week before Mr. Bush said this, the American military spokesman on the scene, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, called Al Qaeda "extremely disorganized" in Iraq, adding that "I would question at this point how effective they are at all at the state level." Military intelligence estimates that Al Qaeda makes up only 2 percent to 3 percent of the enemy forces in Iraq, according to Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News. The bottom line: America has a commander in chief who can't even identify some 97 percent to 98 percent of the combatants in a war that has gone on longer than our involvement in World War II.

But that's not the half of it. Mr. Bush relentlessly refers to Iraq's "unity government" though it is not unified and can only nominally govern. (In Henry Kissinger's accurate recent formulation, Iraq is not even a nation "in the historic sense.") After that pseudo-government's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, brushed him off in Amman, the president nonetheless declared him "the right guy for Iraq" the morning after. This came only a day after The Times's revelation of a secret memo by Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, judging Mr. Maliki either "ignorant of what is going on" in his own country or disingenuous or insufficiently capable of running a government. Not that it matters what Mr. Hadley writes when his boss is impervious to facts.

In truth the president is so out of it he wasn't even meeting with the right guy. No one doubts that the most powerful political leader in Iraq is the anti-American, pro-Hezbollah cleric Moktada al-Sadr, without whom Mr. Maliki would be on the scrap heap next to his short-lived predecessors, Ayad Allawi and Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Mr. Sadr's militia is far more powerful than the official Iraqi army that we've been helping to "stand up" at hideous cost all these years. If we're not going to take him out, as John McCain proposed this month, we might as well deal with him directly rather than with Mr. Maliki, his puppet. But our president shows few signs of recognizing Mr. Sadr's existence.

In his classic study, "The Great War and Modern Memory," Paul Fussell wrote of how World War I shattered and remade literature, for only a new language of irony could convey the trauma and waste. Under the auspices of Mr. Bush, the Iraq war is having a comparable, if different, linguistic impact: the more he loses his hold on reality, the more language is severed from its meaning altogether.

When the president persists in talking about staying until "the mission is complete" even though there is no definable military mission, let alone one that can be completed, he is indulging in pure absurdity. The same goes for his talk of "victory," another concept robbed of any definition when the prime minister we are trying to prop up is allied with Mr. Sadr, a man who wants Americans dead and has many scalps to prove it. The newest hollowed-out Bush word to mask the endgame in Iraq is "phase," as if the increasing violence were as transitional as the growing pains of a surly teenager. "Phase" is meant to drown out all the unsettling debate about two words the president doesn't want to hear, "civil war."

When news organizations, politicians and bloggers had their own civil war about the proper usage of that designation last week, it was highly instructive - but about America, not Iraq. The intensity of the squabble showed the corrosive effect the president's subversion of language has had on our larger culture. Iraq arguably passed beyond civil war months ago into what might more accurately be termed ethnic cleansing or chaos. That we were fighting over "civil war" at this late date was a reminder that wittingly or not, we have all taken to following Mr. Bush's lead in retreating from English as we once knew it.

It's been a familiar pattern for the news media, politicians and the public alike in the Bush era. It took us far too long to acknowledge that the "abuses" at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere might be more accurately called torture. And that the "manipulation" of prewar intelligence might be more accurately called lying. Next up is "pullback," the Iraq Study Group's reported euphemism to stave off the word "retreat" (if not retreat itself).

In the case of "civil war," it fell to a morning television anchor, Matt Lauer, to officially bless the term before the "Today" show moved on to such regular fare as an update on the Olsen twins. That juxtaposition of Iraq and post-pubescent eroticism was only too accurate a gauge of how much the word "war" itself has been drained of its meaning in America after years of waging a war that required no shared sacrifice. Whatever you want to label what's happening in Iraq, it has never impeded our freedom to dote on the Olsen twins.

I have not been one to buy into the arguments that Mr. Bush is stupid or is the sum of his "Bushisms" or is, as feverish Internet speculation periodically has it, secretly drinking again. I still don't. But I have believed he is a cynic - that he could always distinguish between truth and fiction even as he and Karl Rove sold us their fictions. That's why, when the president said that "absolutely, we're winning" in Iraq before the midterms, I just figured it was more of the same: another expedient lie to further his partisan political ends.

But that election has come and gone, and Mr. Bush is more isolated from the real world than ever. That's scary. Neither he nor his party has anything to gain politically by pretending that Iraq is not in crisis. Yet Mr. Bush clings to his delusions with a near-rage - watch him seethe in his press conference with Mr. Maliki - that can't be explained away by sheer stubbornness or misguided principles or a pat psychological theory. Whatever the reason, he is slipping into the same zone as Woodrow Wilson did when refusing to face the rejection of the League of Nations, as a sleepless L.B.J. did when micromanaging bombing missions in Vietnam, as Ronald Reagan did when checking out during Iran-Contra. You can understand why Jim Webb, the Virginia senator-elect with a son in Iraq, was tempted to slug the president at a White House reception for newly elected members of Congress. Mr. Bush asked "How's your boy?" But when Mr. Webb replied, "I'd like to get them out of Iraq," the president refused to so much as acknowledge the subject. Maybe a timely slug would have woken him up.

Or at least sounded an alarm. Some two years ago, I wrote that Iraq was Vietnam on speed, a quagmire for the MTV generation. Those jump cuts are accelerating now. The illusion that America can control events on the ground is just that: an illusion. As the list of theoretical silver bullets for Iraq grows longer (and more theoretical) by the day - special envoy, embedded military advisers, partition, outreach to Iran and Syria, Holbrooke, international conference, NATO - urgent decisions have to be made by a chief executive who is in touch with reality (or such is the minimal job description). Otherwise the events in Iraq will make the Decider's decisions for him, as indeed they are doing already.

The joke, history may note, is that even as Mr. Bush deludes himself that he is bringing "democracy" to Iraq, he is flouting democracy at home. American voters could not have delivered a clearer mandate on the war than they did on Nov. 7, but apparently elections don't register at the White House unless the voters dip their fingers in purple ink. Mr. Bush seems to think that the only decision he had to make was replacing Donald Rumsfeld and the mission of changing course would be accomplished.

Tell that to the Americans in Anbar Province. Back in August the chief of intelligence for the Marines filed a secret report - uncovered by Thomas Ricks of The Washington Post - concluding that American troops "are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar." That finding was confirmed in an intelligence update last month. Yet American troops are still being tossed into that maw, and at least 90 have been killed there since Labor Day, including five marines, ages 19 to 24, around Thanksgiving.

Civil war ? Sectarian violence ? A phase ? This much is certain: The dead in Iraq don't give a damn what we call it.

source: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120306A.shtml

All Religion and Mafia is local !

Today's front page of the Brownwood Bulletin:

Photo of Roy Spence @ Hastings book signing w/ Brownwood Mafia members Mayor Bert Massey and Stuart Coleman

Mafia Induction for Spence

" Roy Spence Jr., center, was inducted into the Brownwood Mafia Saturday before he signed copies of his book, " The Amazing Faith of Texas, " at Hastings. With him are Stuart Coleman, left, and Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey."

Source: Brownwood Bulletin Sunday, December 3, 2006

Where does Brownwood Rank ?

Tolerant cities tend to prosper
By Mitchell Schnurman
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The Metroplex has plenty of technology and talent, but what about tolerance?
The question is worth asking, not only because it addresses the quality of life here but also because it says a lot about our economic prospects.
That's the theory of Richard Florida, a public-policy professor at George Mason University whose ideas have been adopted by cities nationwide. Florida documented a link between his "three T's" and the strength of a regional economy in his 2002 bestseller, The Rise of the Creative Class.
He argues that creative workers are the catalyst behind today's innovations and account for much of the growth in high-quality jobs. These workers include doctors, educators, engineers and artists, and they're attracted to communities -- not specific jobs or companies -- that are dynamic, authentic and open to all kinds of people.
Think Austin, San Francisco and Seattle. In those regions, great nightlife, culture and recreation also translate into higher pay and home values and exceptional job growth.
Dallas-Fort Worth scores pretty well in the rankings: 21st among almost 300 metropolitan areas. But its greatest weakness is in tolerance, where it's No. 63.
Think Farmers Branch will help on that front?
The suburban city north of Dallas recently passed a series of ordinances that target illegal immigrants, including designating English as the official language. The city's crackdown won't make a dent in the immigration problem that's vexing the nation, but it reinforces a terrible Texas stereotype -- that people who don't look like good ol' boys aren't welcome here.
Leaders of other North Texas cities have said they won't follow Farmers Branch, even as some residents urge them to do so. I wish they'd come out stronger, denounce the moves and use the controversy to push for greater tolerance and acceptance.
Immigration is one of the strengths of the Metroplex and most large cities. Without it, Dallas' population would have grown just 1.7 percent in the 1990s, rather than the 18 percent it recorded, according to a recent report by the Brookings Institution.
New York, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis would have lost population if not for immigration, the report says.
The creative-class idea of economic development goes beyond the issue of foreign-born residents. And its major theme -- that place matters -- is hardly new. Florence, Italy, for example, became a center of culture and creativity centuries ago by attracting artists.
But Florida's research challenged the New Economy notion that future workers would live all over, connected by technology and the Internet.
Certainly, more people can do that, but Florida concluded that creative workers want to live around others like them, clustered in super-regions where they can feed off one another's energy.
Forget about driving the economy by building stadiums and luring companies with big tax breaks. Florida says that cities should invest in their communities -- in bike paths, parks and rehabilitated neighborhoods.
It's those kinds of amenities, along with open attitudes, that attract the creative class. Florida defines that group as a broad cross-section of knowledge workers -- including scientists, architects, entertainers and designers -- that accounts for about 30 percent of the work force.
Become a home of choice for such people, and big companies will flock there. Those creative workers will also spawn a large share of successful startups.
Focusing on making your city a great place is an alternative way to think of economic development, especially in a state where the governor gives away loads of cash to lure corporate relocations. Texas has ranked No. 1 for the past two years in recruiting companies and expanding plants, which have helped keep the job machine running.
But median incomes have declined in the state at sharply higher rates than the nation as a whole.
Some of Florida's critics say he exaggerates the effect of an elite class and downplays the significance of low taxes, small government and limited regulation. Las Vegas, for instance, is a leader in job growth but a laggard on Florida's measure of technology, talent and tolerance.
His indexes are taken from an array of statistics that identify key traits:
The technology component is based on the number of patents and the concentration of technology industries.
Talent is a measure of workers in the creative-class groupings.
Tolerance considers four factors: the degree of racial integration, the number of foreign-born residents, the concentration of artists and entertainers, and the number of gay couples.
It was Florida's gay index that drew the most attention, and many question any connection with a strong economy.
But Florida and his co-researcher never "imply that gays literally cause high-tech growth," Florida wrote in a response to critics in 2004. "Rather, we see a strong and vibrant gay community as an indicator of a place that is open to many different kinds of people."
They compared the economies of the top 11 and bottom 11 regions in his creativity index, and leaders added jobs at twice the rate and four times the number of people.
Workers in the leading creative regions also averaged $5,000 more in pay and much faster wage growth.
"Given these trends," Florida wrote, "which city would you put your money on to be an economic powerhouse 50 years from now: Las Vegas, a region typically held up as a model of recent growth by my critics, which could easily go the way of Atlantic City after the 1920s, or San Francisco, which boasts Stanford, Berkeley and a long legacy of technological and cultural innovation?"
In the 1990s, Las Vegas ranked first in population growth and third in job growth, Florida says. But growth in per-capita income was 294th among 315 U.S. regions.
How does Fort Worth become more attractive to the creative class?
The big push into mass transit is a positive. The Trinity River Vision will create waterfront areas for the public, along with lots of recreation, housing and entertainment. And the downtown campus of Tarrant County College will bring a new diversity to the central business district.
We need to keep moving in these directions -- and inviting people from all over.

Mitchell Schnurman's column appears Sunday and Wednesday. 817-390-7821 schnurman@star-telegram.com

source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/16155497.htm

The way we do things in Brownwood !

Sunday December 3, 2006

Op Ed: Columnists

Manner in which Carruth’s departure handled the issue — Robert Brincefield

The considerable response the newspaper received this week to the developments causing Brownwood City Manager Kevin Carruth to tender his resignation all had one common thread. The comments have all focused on the way the situation was handled.

On one level there was the concern for Carruth personally, and for his family. Employee performance leading to a termination of services should never come as a surprise to an employee, especially a manager. Carruth said he was shocked when Mayor Bert Massey and Councilman Dave Fair came to his office to ask for his resignation. Nov. 14, when council entered executive session to evaluate the four managers, marked 11 months since his last evaluation. That one took place after Carruth’s first six months on the job.

Quint Studer, who was the speaker at last year’s Chamber of Commerce awards banquet, advocates more frequent employee reviews. He suggests evaluations as early as 30 days and frequently there after, in his “hardwiring for success” approach to motivating and engaging leaders. Of course, Studer is retained by organizations like Brownwood Regional Medical Center, an entity interested in building and developing organizational excellence. I am not sure that is the motivation we are witnessing at city hall.

There appears to be another concern that runs to a broader level. The letter writer in Thursday’s edition of the Bulletin captured the basis of the concern when she asked, “What in the world happened to open government?” It is a concern we share at the newspaper. On the Nov. 14 meeting agenda Number 13 was labeled executive session. Letter B. under item 13 stated “annual evaluations of the city attorney, city manager, city secretary and municipal judge.” Item 14 was — “action as a result of executive session.” The agenda clearly lists public reconvening, and open meetings law is very explicit that the council has to reconvene in a public meeting to take action. In this case, it required them to take a vote if they were going to ask for the resignation of one of the four managers. The council did not reconvene. Instead, Massey and Fair went to the city manager’s office. Carruth said they told him there were enough votes to fire him if he did not accept the offer to resign. How did they know? Was there a show of hands in executive session? Was there just a nodding of heads? If it was merely an around-the-room discussion someone had to be keeping score and tally the results. The law is clear — all of the above constitute a vote.

Did the city council violate the open meeting law? Well, yes and no. They probably did not violate the letter of the law because the point became moot when Carruth eventually resigned. However, by their actions did they violate the spirit of the law? You bet. There were enough attorneys in the room to ensure they kept it as mired in the gray area as possible.

The Bulletin had asked for the written summary of Carruth’s first evaluation and had to file a Freedom of Information request to get it. The law allows governmental entities 10 days to comply. The newspaper waited nine days and had to pay for the copy. There are three more FOI requests pending. However, the afternoon of the council meeting on Nov. 28, the Bulletin, and I’m sure the radio stations, received an unsolicited press release that said “council felt a change was needed at this time,” and “council did what it felt like was best for the community” and finally, “council is confident that Kevin will land on his feet.” Do those statements sound like there was a voluntary resignation? Do the statements sound arrogant and patronizing to you too?

To complete the city manager scenario, council voted to appoint Pat Chesser, City Attorney, as the interim city manager. One writer asked if the city charter allows for the city attorney to simultaneously serve as the city manager. It was a good question, but it also led into the realm of the letter of the law, and the spirit of it. The charter does not address the specific circumstance, either to allow or deny the practice. However, as the chief legal adviser of the council and all offices and departments of the city, the intent is the city attorney serves as the check and balance. Who will now fill that role?

The larger question to be asked — is this the way you want your city government to conduct business? Ultimately the type of government one has comes down to the citizens. Make no mistake, it does not go unnoticed by office holders how few registered voters go to the polls on Election Day.

Robert Brincefield is publisher of the Brownwood Bulletin. His column appears on Sunday. He may be reached by e-mail at bob.brincefield@brownwoodbulletin.com.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/03/op_ed/columnists/opinion08.txt
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Sunday December 3, 2006

Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

Elected officials need to answer the voters’ questions

To the editor:

Being a citizen and voting individual of Brownwood for over the past 30 years, I was quite disturbed reading the Brownwood Bulletin last evening regarding the City Manager’s (forced?) resignation and severance pay by the city council!

First and foremost... hire me, and ask for my resignation, as I would like $57,420 dollars for a half year with benefits, car allowance, and vacation, while doing nothing for the community. Is this why my property taxes were raised?

After reading Brownwood Bulletin Publisher Mr. Brincefield’s editorial in the paper last Sunday, I believe he “hit the nail on the head” when he was quoted “the city was looking for a scapegoat” on the annexation of industrial park property! I congratulate and commend you on your assessment on that one, Mr. Publisher!

The Bulletin also printed there was “just a general dissatisfaction in the management style, kind of broad statements like that” from the city council. Should we take a poll here in Brownwood, and ask the citizens and working individuals who like their boss, and if they like the management style they exhibit?

If nothing “immoral or unethical” as stated by Mayor Bert Massey was done by our city manager, who was hired by our “elected officials,” as citizens and voters of Brownwood, who do we need to ask to get our questions answered? It might be in the next election?

David Lindsay
Brownwood

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/03/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter01.txt

Rest in Peace Cpl Ledsome

Sunday December 3, 2006
News

Cpl. Ledsome remembered with fondness

By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin

When concerns were raised about the danger of being a Marine fighting in Iraq, Cpl. Craig Ledsome had an answer.
“Come what may,” was the Marine’s philosophy. Eight days ago, Cpl. Ledsome’s exacting definition of what that could mean came. He was killed Nov. 25, 2006, during combat operations in Al Anbar province in Iraq.
“That was the way he looked at it,” Mike Ledsome, Craig’s father, said on Friday. “That’s what he told Brad, his brother. ‘Come what may.’”
Cpl. Ledsome’s uncle, Brian Smith, wrote in a memoir that he had known Craig Ledsome all of his life.
“I remember him driving a golf ball straighter and further than a grown man before he could spell the word ‘golf’,” Smith said.
And Smith remembered and respected his nephew for his adherence for doing what was right.
“He put himself in a place few will ever know because he thought it was right,” Smith said.
“He gave himself to a cause that he believed in because he thought it was right.”
Saturday during a family visitation, friends and family recalled over and over Craig Ledsome as a boy growing up, his mischievous smile and affinity for fun. Pictures showed he and brother Brad, cousins and little sister Alex. His Brownwood letter jacket jogged memories of his outstanding varsity golf team days. There were family wedding pictures of Ledsome and his bride Megan, and pictures of Craig, Megan and their son, Caelub, now 2.
“One of the saddest parts of all of this is that Craig won’t live to be the wonderful father he would have been,” said Ledsome’s maternal grandmother, Joan Smith. “Caelub was a pure joy to him.”
Local services for the 2000 Brownwood High School graduate are set for 2 p.m. today at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church.
Davis-Morris Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements and funeral director Brandon Blaylock said Cpl. Ledsome will lie in repose in the funeral home chapel with Marines standing watch from 8 a.m. until noon today.
After the service at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church, Cpl. Ledsome’s body will be taken to Cook-Walden Funeral Home in Austin for a second service, and then burial.
The Military and Family Support Group members and others are asking citizens to “line the streets to show our love and support for the family” as the procession travels toward the Austin destination.
Debbie Morelock, organizing the path of honor for the procession, has asked any and all who are able to find a place along the route to stand by 3 p.m.
Supporters are also asked to bring flags or other patriotic posters or signs of support.
The route for the procession to leave for Austin will be from Coggin Avenue, to Austin Avenue, to Main (Highway 377 North), along Commerce and Early Boulevard to Highway 183 at the light in Early.
Morelock said other communities between Brownwood and Austin have been alerted and will also show support for those riding in the funeral procession.
“We will always love Craig and we will always miss him,” Brian Smith signed off on his memorial tribute.
“My son was a great patriot and a very honorable man,” said Mike Ledsome. “I’m 44 and I’ll never achieve the manhood my son did. He was a hero to me. He is a hero to this community. He is a hero for our country.”

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/03/news/news01.txt
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Monday December 4, 2006

News

Saying farewell to a hero

By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin

Craig Ledsome died a hero.

But at his funeral Sunday, U.S. Marine Cpl. Ledsome was remembered for the qualities that made him a hero.

“He was my best buddy,” said Dustin D’Amalfi, who became Ledsome’s friend several years ago when the two were both working at the Balcones Country Club in Austin. “Craig was loving, honest, charismatic, kind and outright hilarious. He was the funniest, bravest, kindest man I’ve ever known.

“He was a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, an athlete, teacher, role model, husband and father,” D’Amalfi said. “He was a Marine. And he was a hero.”

D’Amalfi remembered for the approximately 300 mourners filling Coggin Avenue Baptist Church for the full military service that the first time Ledsome ever saw the pretty blonde named Megan, he announced she was the girl he was going to marry.

“It was so fun to see two people so in love,” D’Amalfi said.

Then he recalled an even more joyous announcement, when Ledsome called and said “Dude, I’m going to be a daddy,” and the day of Caelub’s birth.

Ledsome was killed Nov. 25, 2006, during combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Family friend and service officiant Scottye Ratliff also hailed the man he’d known since he was a “burr-headed boy” as an American hero.

And to Ledsome’s brother and fellow Marine, Cpl. Brad Ledsome, Ratliff said, “Brad, you honor that with your life.”

Megan Ledsome, he said, had called her husband her Prince Charming.

“He was my very best friend,” Ratliff quoted the widow as saying.

And he explained, “Megan was the love of Craig’s life and Caelub was the light of his world.”

The “burr-headed boy” had been an all-American kid who loved to hunt, fish and be a kid, though he may have loved golf more than anything.

He was an outstanding golfer for Brownwood High School and had gone on to become the golf pro at Balcones Country Club.

He had grown up to be “a great patriot and a very honorable man ... who died doing something he believed was right,” Mike Ledsome, the Ledsomes’ father, said last week.

“When you saw Craig, all you saw was the smile on his face,” Ratliff said at the Sunday service.

The three times that smile was the happiest, Ratliff quoted Mike Ledsome as saying, was the day Craig married Megan; the day Caelub was born; and a slightly distant third, the day Craig beat Mike Ledsome at golf.

Ratliff also shared that Mike Ledsome had said his son always had a desire to fix things. D’Amalfi said Craig Ledsome wanted very much for the people he loved to love each other. In the week since his death, Ratliff said, the family separated through the years by divorce and quarreling had unified in their grief.

“Craig helped fix our family,” Ratliff said Mike Ledsome had said.

Ratliff concluded his eulogy with the quote family members said Craig Ledsome used so often.

“Come what may.”

“It meant, for Craig, ‘my life is in God’s hands. What happens, happens.’ He was at peace with that,” Ratliff said.

The hour-long service Sunday honoring Ledsome —who was born 25 years ago today and grew up in Brownwood, graduating with the Brownwood High School class of 2000 — was the first of two services.

From the church, Ledsome’s flag-draped casket was carried to Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Blvd. in Austin. The family will receive friends there from 5 to 7 p.m. today and services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Colonial Chapel of the funeral home. Burial will follow at Cook-Walden Forest Oaks Memorial Park in Austin.

Following the Sunday service, hundreds from the community lined the streets, waving flags and showing support. The hearse bearing Ledsome’s body and the procession of family members were escorted by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.

“The family is so very grateful for the outpouring of support this community has shown Cpl. Ledsome,” said Joyce Leidig with the Military and Family Support Group. “But Cpl. Ledsome deserves to be honored. He died serving our country. I am so proud so many have honored him as they have.”

Leidig said arrangements for fire departments and law enforcement personnel in all the communities from Brownwood to Lampasas had been made, and she said they would also honor the family and those in the procession as it passed through their locales.

Cpl. Craig Ledsome’s survivors include his wife and son, Megan and Caelub Ledsome; his parents, Tammy and Kevin Eoff of Early and Mike and Shawna Ledsome of Weatherford; brother, Cpl. Brad Ledsome of Okinawa, Japan; sister, Alex Ledsome of Ashland, Ore.; grandparents Richard and Joan Smith, Keith and Joann Ledsome, G.W. and Una May Eoff and Chris Webber and Debbie Crow.

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/04/news/news01.txt
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Fallen Marine
Hundreds turn out for memorial in Brownwood

By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
December 4, 2006

Cpl. Michael Craig Ledsome was described as loving, honest, charismatic and, most of all, a hero, during a memorial service in Brownwood Sunday.

More than 300 people attended the service at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church.

Ledsome, 24, of Austin was killed Saturday in Iraq during combat operations in Al Anbar province on Nov. 25. Today would have been his 25th birthday.

During the service his father, Mike Ledsome, read a poem to his son.

''If you listen with your heart, you'll hear ... all of my love around, so soft and clear...'' the elder Ledsome read.

He then thanked everyone at the funeral for coming, put down his son's Marine photo, and ran his hand across the flag draping the coffin.

During the service, Ledsome's best friend and co-worker, Dustin D'Amalfi of Austin, described him as a genuinely happy person who loved his wife Megan and son Caelub.

''They completed him,'' he said.

D'Amalfi, who worked with him at the Balcones Country Club in Austin, said Ledsome was the ''funniest, bravest and kindest man I've ever had the pleasure to meet.''

Scottye Ratliff, who officiated at the service, comforted Ledsome's parents Tammy and Kevin Eoff of Early and Mike and Shawna Ledsome of Weatherford.

''His mother (Tammy Eoff) said Craig never found anything bad to say about anyone,'' Ratliff said.

Ratliff also comforted his brother, Cpl. Brad Ledsome, 21, who was home on leave from Okinawa, Japan.

''Craig and Brad enlisted together because they believed in a purpose,'' Ratliff said. ''Life, community and country.''

Ratliff shared the fact that Ledsome had been injured several weeks ago, when the Humvee he was driving hit a land mine. After that, he said, Ledsome called his father Mike and told him he ''didn't feel like he would be coming home.''

Ledsome was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Pentagon said. He was deployed to Iraq four months ago.

Ledsome, was a 2000 graduate of Brownwood High School and played on the golf team. After graduation, he moved to Austin, where he worked in the pro shop at Balcones Country Club.

Ledsome leaves behind a wife, Megan, and their 2-year-old son, Caelub. He is also survived by his maternal grandparents Richard and Joan Smith of Early and his paternal grandparents Keith and Joanne Ledsome of Lake Brownwood.

The family of Lance Cpl. Mario Castillo, who was killed in June 2005, attended the service Sunday. Castillo's father, Guadalupe, wore a pin with a photo of his son and his dog tags during the service. Later, the family gathered at the corner of Austin Avenue and Lance Cpl. Mario A. Castillo Memorial Street, to wave as the funeral procession passed by.

The Castillo family was among the hundreds of people from Brownwood and Early who lined the streets Sunday afternoon to wave flags to honor Ledsome as family and friends proceeded on to Austin, where a second funeral will be held Tuesday as well as the burial.

Members of several veterans and Christian motorcycle organizations escorted the procession, holding large American flags.

Supporters were expected to line the streets in Zephyr and Goldthwaite as the family traveled through on the way to Austin.

Ratliff summed up the feelings of the family at the end of the service.

''The family has felt more love from family and community today, and they are thankful for that,'' Ratliffsaid.

Funeral Service

When: 10 a.m. Tuesday

Where: Colonial Chapel at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Blvd., Austin

For more information call: Cook-Walden at (512) 454-5611

Burial follows in Cook-Walden Forest Oaks Memorial Park, 6300 William Cannon West, Austin

Memorials to go to the Ledsome Memorial Fund - contributions can be made at any branch of Bank of America.

MEMORIALS
Memorials to go to the Ledsome Memorial Fund - contributions can be made at any branch of Bank of America.
EDITED BY: PATTI STEELE; COPY EDITED BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN; HEADLINE BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_obituaries/article/0,1874,ABIL_7967_5188670,00.html

"Come What May": The Song

listen & watch here

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"Come What May" Lyrics

Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
I want to vanish inside your kiss
Every day i'm loving you more than this
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time

Chorus:
Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
And there's no mountain too high
No river too wide
Sing out this song I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather
And stars may collide
But I love you until the end of time

Chorus

Oh, come what may, come what may
I will love you, I will love you
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Chorus

source: http://www.spynets.com/lyrics/lyrics_details.php?ID=169
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Saturday, December 02, 2006

George W. Bush: He's The Worst Ever

He's The Worst Ever
By Eric Foner
Sunday, December 3, 2006; Page B01

Ever since 1948, when Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger Sr. asked 55 historians to rank U.S. presidents on a scale from "great" to "failure," such polls have been a favorite pastime for those of us who study the American past.

Changes in presidential rankings reflect shifts in how we view history. When the first poll was taken, the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War was regarded as a time of corruption and misgovernment caused by granting black men the right to vote. As a result, President Andrew Johnson, a fervent white supremacist who opposed efforts to extend basic rights to former slaves, was rated "near great." Today, by contrast, scholars consider Reconstruction a flawed but noble attempt to build an interracial democracy from the ashes of slavery -- and Johnson a flat failure.

More often, however, the rankings display a remarkable year-to-year uniformity. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt always figure in the "great" category. Most presidents are ranked "average" or, to put it less charitably, mediocre. Johnson, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Richard M. Nixon occupy the bottom rung, and now President Bush is a leading contender to join them. A look at history, as well as Bush's policies, explains why.

At a time of national crisis, Pierce and Buchanan, who served in the eight years preceding the Civil War, and Johnson, who followed it, were simply not up to the job. Stubborn, narrow-minded, unwilling to listen to criticism or to consider alternatives to disastrous mistakes, they surrounded themselves with sycophants and shaped their policies to appeal to retrogressive political forces (in that era, pro-slavery and racist ideologues). Even after being repudiated in the midterm elections of 1854, 1858 and 1866, respectively, they ignored major currents of public opinion and clung to flawed policies. Bush's presidency certainly brings theirs to mind.

Harding and Coolidge are best remembered for the corruption of their years in office (1921-23 and 1923-29, respectively) and for channeling money and favors to big business. They slashed income and corporate taxes and supported employers' campaigns to eliminate unions. Members of their administrations received kickbacks and bribes from lobbyists and businessmen. "Never before, here or anywhere else," declared the Wall Street Journal, "has a government been so completely fused with business." The Journal could hardly have anticipated the even worse cronyism, corruption and pro-business bias of the Bush administration.

Despite some notable accomplishments in domestic and foreign policy, Nixon is mostly associated today with disdain for the Constitution and abuse of presidential power. Obsessed with secrecy and media leaks, he viewed every critic as a threat to national security and illegally spied on U.S. citizens. Nixon considered himself above the law.

Bush has taken this disdain for law even further. He has sought to strip people accused of crimes of rights that date as far back as the Magna Carta in Anglo-American jurisprudence: trial by impartial jury, access to lawyers and knowledge of evidence against them. In dozens of statements when signing legislation, he has asserted the right to ignore the parts of laws with which he disagrees. His administration has adopted policies regarding the treatment of prisoners of war that have disgraced the nation and alienated virtually the entire world. Usually, during wartime, the Supreme Court has refrained from passing judgment on presidential actions related to national defense. The court's unprecedented rebukes of Bush's policies on detainees indicate how far the administration has strayed from the rule of law.

One other president bears comparison to Bush: James K. Polk. Some historians admire him, in part because he made their job easier by keeping a detailed diary during his administration, which spanned the years of the Mexican-American War. But Polk should be remembered primarily for launching that unprovoked attack on Mexico and seizing one-third of its territory for the United States.

Lincoln, then a member of Congress from Illinois, condemned Polk for misleading Congress and the public about the cause of the war -- an alleged Mexican incursion into the United States. Accepting the president's right to attack another country "whenever he shall deem it necessary," Lincoln observed, would make it impossible to "fix any limit" to his power to make war. Today, one wishes that the country had heeded Lincoln's warning.

Historians are loath to predict the future. It is impossible to say with certainty how Bush will be ranked in, say, 2050. But somehow, in his first six years in office he has managed to combine the lapses of leadership, misguided policies and abuse of power of his failed predecessors. I think there is no alternative but to rank him as the worst president in U.S. history.

efoner@aol.com
Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton professor of history at Columbia University.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101509.html

Animal Issues @ Brownwood's Front Door

Cockfighting school in Blanket closing

By Celinda Emison / emisonc@reporternews.com
December 2, 2006

Mike Ratliff, who has been teaching beginning cockfighting for more than 10 years in Blanket, says a recent announcement by the U.S. Humane Society about the closure of his school there will not keep him from practicing what he calls ''the sport of kings.''
On Thursday U.S. Humane Society advocates celebrated the closure of what they called the nation's last cockfighting school, dubbed the ''School for Beginning Cockers.'' The animal rights activists reported that more than 8,000 people have been taught how to train fighting roosters there over the years.
Cockfighting is a centuries-old activity that involves birds or roosters that have been trained to fight. Their legs are fitted with sharp weapons such as blades or gaffs - sometimes in place of a rooster's spur, a bony protrusion on its leg. Matches are usually fought to the death. Many cockfighting spectators gamble on the fights, and it is illegal in 48 states, including Texas.
''We don't have schools for drug running or organizing a prostitution ring, and we shouldn't have a school for cockfighting,'' said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, in a press release. ''It is a relief that this so-called school has closed, but we are still dealing with the 'graduates' of this program who are engaging in their criminal conduct throughout the country.''
Ratliff, 83, is retiring from running the school in Blanket, about 85 miles southeast of Abilene near the Brown County/Comanche County line. He finished his final two-week session Nov. 18. In each class, he had from 12 to 18 students and lamented that ''there is no one to take my place.''
Ratliff said he taught the basics of the care, breeding, feeding and culture of ''game fowl'' and did not refer to the school as a ''cockfighting school.''
''The attraction for me is helping beginners learn,'' Ratliff said.
Ratliff said he has between 400 and 500 fowl, including hens and roosters, on his property. However, he also said he has never engaged in cockfighting on his property in Brown County.
''Never in my life have I done that,'' Ratliff said. ''You know it is illegal in Texas, so if you want to do that, you have to travel and go where it is legal.''
Officials at sheriff's offices in Brown and Comanche counties said they had not heard of the school in Blanket.
Brown County Assistant District Attorney Perry Sims said there is no specific code prohibiting anyone from having such a school.
''As long as the animal is not being tortured, hurt or deprived of food,'' Sims said. ''There is no specific code against teaching cockfighting, but there may be other charges that could arise if they are engaging in criminal activity.''
Ratliff said he has been involved in the sport for 77 years - since he was introduced to fighting cocks when he was a child in Cross Plains.
''It fascinated me,'' he said.
Ratliff has taught and participated in cockfighting all over the world since 1968.
Washington lawmakers have introduced legislation prohibiting the practice nationwide. The federal Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act would establish felony penalties for trafficking (nationally or internationally) of any fighting animals.
''The U.S. Congress can further the ultimate demise of the illegal cockfighting industry by passing the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act before the end of the year,'' John Goodwin of the U.S. Humane Society said in a press release. ''Misdemeanor penalties are not a deterrent to a cockfighter, who can earn thousands of dollars in a single night.''
Ratliff said the sport will not go away.
''Cockfighters are here forever,'' Ratliff said. ''The only thing the Humane Society can do is kill the people and the chickens.''

EDITED BY: BRIEN MURPHY; COPY EDITED BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN; HEADLINE BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN

Cockfighting laws

In Texas, cockfighting is a state jail felony and can carry a state prison sentence of up to two years.
Cockfighting is illegal in 48 states. The two states where it is legal are Texas' neighbors: New Mexico and Louisiana. Since 1998, the number of states that provide felony penalties for cockfighting has risen from 17 to 33.
During the same period, three states where cockfighting was once legal adopted laws to ban the practice.

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_5185157,00.html
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HSU prof named as fellow at center for animal ethics
By Brian Bethel / bethelb@reporternews.com
December 2, 2006

More than two years ago, Susan Pigott, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Hardin-Simmons University, became a vegetarian.
The chicken she was making for dinner one night was the last straw.
''I thought: This is a dead animal, and I'm not going to do this anymore,'' she said.
Now, Pigott will have an opportunity to take her compassion for creatures a step further, having just been named one of the first six fellows of the new Oxford Center for Animal Ethics.
Pigott has plans to take a sabbatical to study in-depth the issue of animal ethics in a Christian context, an area with little work to this point from the perspective of Biblical scholarship, she said.
While her choice to become a vegetarian was not initially a theological issue, she said, she now hopes to bring a balanced voice to the fore on what the Bible says about animals and humanity's responsibility to them.
That will require much reading and consideration, she said. Pigott hopes to present the fruits of her research in the Center's journal publication.
Pigott still eats eggs and dairy products, although she plans to wean herself off of them, she said.
More than 40 theologians, out of 100 academics, have been named advisers to the center, which a press release calls ''the world's first academy dedicated to the enhancement of the ethical status of animals through academic publication, teaching and research.''
Academics worldwide from both the sciences and the humanities are eligible to become fellows of the center, which will act as an ''international, independent think tank for the advancement of progressive thought about animals.''
A new dominion
In the creation account given in the first chapter of Genesis, God is depicted as giving ''dominion'' to mankind over the earth, a statement that many interpret as meaning animals and the earth are here for our use, Pigott said.
''The usual interpretation is that we are superior beings and that God has ordained for us to utilize these things however we please,'' she said.
But Pigott said she believes there is not such wholesale liberty given to mankind.
''We are called to serve, rather than to use,'' she said.
There are, she admits, passages that are not as friendly to animal ethicists, from the ''willy-nilly'' use of animals as sacrifices in the Old Testament to the fact that Jesus apparently wasn't a vegetarian to Paul's discussions of food.
Pigott points, though, toward the potential for humans to create something akin to the ''peaceable kingdom'' of Christ on earth, with humanity and creation living in harmony.
''Christ taught us to not assume that that just because the world is imperfect we shouldn't strive for that goal,'' she said.
While some groups such as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sometimes rely on shock value to get the message of animal suffering across, Pigott hopes that the Oxford Center will help by presenting arguments on an intellectual and rational level.
''A lot of people don't think about where they get their meat, and they don't wonder how it got there,'' she said. ''They just pay for it. I was like that myself.''
Pigott said more dialogue, especially among Christians, was essential
''I think religious people of all faiths need to start thinking about and talking about this,'' she said. ''It's a very important social issue, well beyond just the question of 'do animals suffer?'''
The issue stretches into everything from environmentalism to world hunger, in addition to the question of animal suffering and the correctness - or incorrectness - of using animals for experimentation.
In a press release provided by the center, its first director, Oxford theologian the Rev. Andrew Linzey, said the support of such a large number of internationally recognized academics ''underlines just how important animals are as a moral issue.''
'There is a strong rational case for animals, which has been recognized over the centuries by academics and philosophers,'' he said. ''What is needed is for this rational case to be much better known and there are now signs that progressive thinking is becoming mainstream.''
Animals are now recognized as sentient beings in European law, and, in the United Kingdom the most comprehensive - and long overdue - overhaul of animal welfare legislation for almost a century is shortly to be enacted into law, Linzey said.
''We must strive to ensure animal issues are highlighted and rationally discussed throughout society,'' he said. ''We cannot change the world for animals without changing our ideas about them.''

EDITED BY: PATTI STEELE; COPY EDITED BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN; HEADLINE BY: BEVERLY BUTMAN

source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_ed_coll_univ/article/0,1874,ABIL_7950_5185165,00.html

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listen here

Friday, December 01, 2006

Go Big Eddie

Ed Schultz to move head-to-head with Limbaugh, Franken

John Byrne
Published: Thursday November 30, 2006

Update: Schultz announced his move to the noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time slot on today's program

Move over, Rush Limbaugh.

Ed Schultz, the nation’s largest progressive talk radio host, is moving head-to-head with Rush Limbaugh’s show sometime in December, industry insiders familiar with the deal tell RAW STORY. The move – which puts Schultz in the choice noon to 3 p.m. window – will also bring him face-to-face with Air America’s flagship talker, Al Franken.

Two radio insiders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the move. Both characterized the decision to move The Ed Schultz Show from drive-time to early afternoon as one intended to bolster a rapidly growing national audience.

The decision to move Schultz to noontime eastern could put another nail in the coffin of Air America, which filed for bankruptcy Oct. 13.

A 2006 survey by Talkers Magazine pegged the Fargo talker’s listenership at 2.25 million, tying Schultz at #10 among radio hosts nationwide. Air America’s Al Franken rated #12, with an audience of 1.5 million.

Limbaugh still dwarfs all liberal radio hosts in popularity, with an estimated audience of 13.5 million, according to the Talker’s survey, down from 14.75 million in 2005. Sean Hannity pulls in roughly 12.5 million listeners.

A spokesman for Schultz said he couldn’t comment on the report, but confirmed that a major announcement would be made on Thursday’s show.

Schultz is expected to announce the change on Thursday’s program.

The Ed Schultz show is owned by Product First, a company held by former Clear Channel executive Randy Michaels. Product First president Stuart Krane, erstwhile vice president of ABC, was among those who helped pivot Limbaugh onto the national stage.

Schultz’s chief competitor, Air America, has threaded rocky waters since its launch in 2004. Since its inception, the privately owned company has lost more than $40 million, including $13 million this year alone, according to the network’s bankruptcy filing. Schultz’s show, also privately held, has not disclosed profit figures.

source: http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Ed_Schultz_show_to_move_headtohead_1130.html

Brownwood Texas: It is what it is !

Friday December 1, 2006

Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

Citizens deserve to know more

To the editor:

After the recent elections, I read in the Brownwood Bulletin that Brown County was still a red county in a red state.

I took that statement to mean Brownwood is a Republican County under a Republication administration. After reading the story about Mr. Carruth’s resignation, I assume that the Brownwood City Council is trying to conduct their business under a cloak like our current administration.

The statements issued by Brownwood offficials seemed more like fuzzy word games used by sleazy lawyers. One official would not “elaborate” about the sketchy answers he was giving about “issues.” I guess he would not elaborate because his statements had absolutely no substance. Another head city official stated “I wasn’t in agreement with the agreement,” but would not elaborate. I have never seen such double-talk printed in the Bulletin. I’m sure these officials did not use fuzzy English or evasive answers when they were running for office.

Any person who loses any job deserves more than “broad statements” with no specifics about their performance and dismissal.

The citizens of Brownwood deserve to know what is going on at City Hall. It was the citizens who put them there.

Please don’t turn Brownwood into Washington, where recently it is considered treason to question our leaders.

Rosie Hake Trevino

Dallas

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/01/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter02.txt
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Friday December 1, 2006

Op Ed: Letters To The Editor

What’s going on behind closed doors?

To the editor:

I’ve read where Brownwood officials have accepted Kevin Carruth’s sudden resignation as Brownwood City Manager. After serving the City of Brownwood for the last 18 months, one has to question what would force “a young progressive city manager with a great temperament and loads of experience”* to tender his resignation after such a short amount of time in the trenches at Brownwood City Hall.

I recall Mr. Carruth was hired by a 4 to 1 city council vote and I also recall reading the following statement by Brownwood City Councilman Dave Fair regarding Mr. Carruth’s hiring in April of 2005:

“He’s going to be inheriting a family that is not dysfunctional ... a city that does not have major spots, blemishes or wrinkles. He’ll do the touchup paint and the trim and things like that, but he’s not inheriting an albatross.”*

What did Mr. Carruth inherit when he reported for duty in Brownwood?

Did he inherit a dysfunctional family with major spots, blemishes and wrinkles?

Was Mr. Carruth incapable of brushing on the touchup paint and taking care of the trim and things like that?

It would not surprise me in the least, if Mr. Carruth, “a young progressive city manager with a great temperament and loads of experience,”* had indeed inherited a Brownwood albatross (defined as something that hinders or handicaps) !

What’s going on behind closed doors at Brownwood City Hall?

Steve Harris

Brownwood

*Quotes by Brownwood City Council Member Dave Fair, source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2005/04/21/news/news02.txt

source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/12/01/op_ed/letters%20to%20the%20editor/letter01.txt
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Note from Steve, I agree with pretty much everything that Rosie's letter points out but I'm also of the opinion that this type of politics starts locally and advances it way to the County, State, and National level (trikcle up politics !). I believe the saying "All politics is local." ! Brownwood and Brown County is one of the Reddest of the Red areas of the State and the Nation. It's also "scary" here because of the large number of Red Republicans who "will do or say anything in the name of GOD" (not my quote, but my Republican Congressmans Chief of Staff observations and email to me ! I agree with him too ! ) This type of behaviour/tactics and keeping everything in the closet away from the light does not surprise me in the least. I am also not shocked that the same leaders open their sessions with prayer and are frequently publicly pontificating about GOD ! Maybe the Council members will have a change of heart and negotiate the clause away that prevents us all from getting to the truth. Don't hold your breath folks ! This is the face of Brownwood !

Steve's Soapbox