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Main News / Editorial
Published 07/28/2010 - 12:15 p.m. CST

    President Ronald Reagan said: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Recently, Governor Rick Perry was trying to say something similar when he issued a statement regarding Texas’ legal action challenging the EPA’s takeover of Texas’ 16-year-old air permitting process. “This legal action is the next step in our ongoing commitment to fight back against the Obama Administration’s ever-widening effort to undermine our air quality initiatives and force a heavy-handed federal agenda on the people of Texas,” Perry said. He was reacting to the Environmental Protection Agency’s interference in Texas’s air-pollution permitting process, which the EPA says violates the U.S. Clean Air Act by letting plant owners obtain emissions permits covering entire facilities instead of requiring individual permits for each processing unit.
Published 07/22/2010 - 12:58 p.m. CST

During a 5-day law enforcement surge that wrapped up last Saturday night, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) National Gang Unit arrested 105 men and women during an operation targeting foreign-born gang members and their associates throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Other law enforcement agencies included, Dallas PD, Fort Worth PD, Arlington PD, Carrollton PD, Irving PD, Farmers Branch PD, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, Dallas DA’s office and the Texas Dept. of Public Safety. Items seized in the arrests included firearms, U.S. currency, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and hydrocodone.
Published 07/08/2010 - 1:11 p.m. CST

    Even though physical fitness in Texas schools has become an essential part of the curriculum, a recent study indicated that high school students are more out of shape than they were last year. The study showed a shortfall in certain benchmarks required to be in the healthy zone. Fitness tests on 2.9 million students in third grade and up made it clear that less than a third of the children in those grades were deemed physically fit after taking a battery of six tests measuring such areas as muscular strength, endurance and body composition.
Published 07/08/2010 - 1:07 p.m. CST

    Dirk Nowitzki, undoubtedly the best basketball player in Dallas Maverick’s history, recently became a free agent. That means he’s up for grabs to the team that offers him the best contract. That generally means the team that can provide the player with the fattest paycheck. However, that’s not the case with Nowitzki. The man who earned All-Star status 9 times has decided that home is where the heart is, and Dallas has been his home from the beginning of his hoops career. Hence, he has worked out a four-year $80 million deal; about $16 million less than he could have earned if he held out.
Published 06/24/2010 - 11:41 a.m. CST

    A recent proposal to the Lewisville School District would prohibit employees from criticizing the district or representing themselves as working for the district when using social networking sites such as Facebook. A second-grade teacher at a local elementary school referred to the proposal as a violation of her Constitutional right to free speech and may result in her filing of a lawsuit. However, lawsuits can affect both sides of the issue. A lawsuit filed by parents of a former student at the Episcopal School of Dallas refers to more than 3,800 e-mails, instant messages or pornographic texts sent between a teacher and their daughter.
Published 06/17/2010 - 11:28 a.m. CST

     According to the preliminary results of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), the Denton Independent School District (DISD) should attain the prestigious Recognized status from the Texas Education Agency on July 30. DISD Superintendent Ray Braswell gave well-deserved credit to the teachers and students.
Published 06/10/2010 - 12:30 p.m. CST

    Major kudos to Texas Governor Rick Perry for his commitment to ensure that veterans and their families have the resources they need to receive an education, get a job and return to civilian life after their deployments are over. Perry recently joined with the Texas Workforce Commissioner to announce a $3 million workforce development initiative, which seeks to maximize a returning veteran’s knowledge, skills and abilities for college credit and employment. The comprehensive strategy includes funds for demonstration grants in the three areas of the state with the highest veteran populations.
Published 05/27/2010 - 11:43 a.m. CST

     Last Friday, the Texas Board of Education approved controversial new standards for its social studies curriculum that could affect what students across the country study in their classes. The new standards require more focus on the Biblical and Christian traditions of the Founding Fathers and on the teaching of free market principles, including how government taxation and regulation can restrict private enterprise. In addition, the GOP dominated board wants to emphasize the achievements of Republican leaders, in particular former President Ronald Reagan and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The new curriculum also states that the system of the U.S. government be called a "Constitutional Republic" rather than a "Democratic society."
Published 05/27/2010 - 11:41 a.m. CST

    The new Flower Mound Council hit the ground running last week when Mayor Melissa Northern, at Thursday’s work session, directed town staff to put a few items relating to gas drilling on the agenda for the council’s June 7 meeting. One of the agenda items will the consideration of the ordinance submitted by the Flower Mound Cares Petition Association.
Published 07/08/2010 - 1:10 p.m. CST

    If you want to get into a heated debate, bring up the subject of cameras being used for traffic enforcement. Many drivers view them as just another way for cities to extract money from the public in order to finance government. Given the fact that Texas cities have collected more than $100 million in fines since a red-light camera law took effect in 2007, it would seem to be a good argument. Yet, city administrators insist that the cameras have cut accidents at intersections and saved lives.
Published 06/24/2010 - 11:42 a.m. CST

    The largest contractor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has reached a preliminary agreement to “soften confinement,” free of charge, at nine immigrant facilities, including three in Texas, covering more than 7,100 beds; a deal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials see as a precursor to changes elsewhere. As a result of the agreement, some asylum-seekers and immigrants awaiting deportation proceedings could soon be able to wear their own clothes, participate in movie and bingo nights, eat continental breakfasts and celebrate holidays with visiting family members.
Published 06/24/2010 - 11:40 a.m. CST

    There was a time when police officers on patrol would have to use the radio to call the dispatcher with a plate number on a car that appeared to be suspicious. Then they’d have to follow the car until the dispatcher put the plate number on the national computer system and wait for a response. Several years later, as technology improved, officers were equipped with computers in their patrol cars, enabling them to type plate numbers into the system and receive immediate responses that informed them of the status of the car that had caught their attention.
Published 06/10/2010 - 12:31 p.m. CST

    If you speak to anyone about the illegal immigration imbroglio you’ll get opinions that run from one extreme to another. Some say we should not have any borders; that the world belongs to everyone. Hence, people should be able to walk, ride or swim from one country to another without obstacles. On the other extreme there are those who say illegal entry is tantamount to an invasion of a sovereign nation. Hence, those who break into our country must be viewed as enemy combatants and should be shot.
Published 06/10/2010 - 12:29 p.m. CST

     Given all the attention paid to gas drilling in the Barnett Shale area of Flower Mound, one only needs to glance at a Denton County town only minutes away to get some idea of what happens when energy companies are not strictly regulated. There’s a family of four living in Dish, Texas that is just one example of the horror stories we hear across the country.
Published 05/27/2010 - 11:41 a.m. CST

    Meanwhile, this past Monday morning, in our neighboring city of Argyle, protesters opposing a gas company’s plans to build wastewater tanks and compressors in their neighborhood, temporarily blocked workers’ access to the site. A spokesperson for the Argyle-Bartonville Communities Alliance, the organization behind the protest, said they were there to protect the children because the proposed site is too close to homes.
Published 05/20/2010 - 1:45 p.m. CST

     Last week, Republic Property Group, which, in addition to their development of many other projects in Lantana, owns and manages the award winning, private, Jay and Carter Morrish designed golf course in Lantana, announced that it is beginning to make plans for the second phase of the Bandera neighborhood in the master planned community. The additional 120 lots will be sold to Highland homes for development, which will be built in 2 phases, each containing 60 lots. Access to the second phase of Bandera will be off of Lily Way.