The Alvin Advertiser (Alvin, Tex.), Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 2019 Page: 4 of 15
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Editorial/Opinions
Columns
A
Even small media can make a big impact
DAVID RUPKALVIS - publisher@alvinsun.net
Finding owls everywhere we looked
The Alvin Advertsier
Letters to the Editor policy
55
Letters to the Editor
Unveiling my plan to reduce mass violence
by John Cornyn
Cornyn's
Tales
he also does not need the
assistance as he is covered by
the insurance he provides for his
family. He brought this up
was
told the EMS is financially in
DONNA HOPKINS - officemanager@alvinsun.net
STEPHEN COLLINS - sportseditor@alvinsun.net
JOSHUA TRUKSA - reporter@alvinsun.net
BRENDA GROVES - ads@alvinsun.net
KOBIE LEE - advertising@alvinsun.net
BETTY CRAWFORD - classifieds@alvinsun.net
LINDA KNIGHT - composing@alvinsun.net
SHERI SAENZ - circulation@alvinsun.net
The Alving N
Published on Sundays
POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to
The Alvin Sun
570 )ula Street, Alvin,Texas 77511
Periodicals Postage Paid at Alvin, TX
Periodical for Alvin Sun is #16340.
Permit for Alvin Advertiser is #54.
Olton Decuire
Alvin
The Postscript
by Carrie Classen
PAGE 4A, THE ALVIN ADVERTISER, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019
This page is recyclable A1
My Turn
by David Rupkalvis
t
570 Dula Street, Alvin, Texas 77511 • (281) 331-4421
This page contains opinions and comments. Editorials express The Alvin Advertiser viewpoints. Other items which appear
are expressions of those whose name appear, and may or may not reflect The Alvin Advertiser opinions. Comments on
subjects of general public interest from readers are accepted. All letters must be signed, home address and phone number
given and conform to published standards limiting in length to 500 words, be in good taste and good reason. Please, not
more than 500 words. All letters will be subject to editing in content and length. The use or republication of any material of
The Alvin Advertiser is strictly prohibited without the express consent of the management.
informative and hardy as she
hefted our luggage over the
cobblestone.
Peter and I have our travel
priorities well synched. First,
Peter made ice cubes because
we need more ice than any
European can imagine. We don’t
care. We like ice. Peter makes
ice cubes in small plastic cups
he brings along.
“Wonderful ice cubes!” Peter
remarks, every time he does
this.
Then we found the tourism
office (there actually was one!)
after we took a wrong turn and
asked directions at the gelato
shop. I did not have a gelato as it
was threatening to rain and no
one likes to eat gelato in the
rain. Plus, I had just polished off
an entire bag of cookies I bought
just to see if they were any good.
(They were.)
Then we went to the big
■■i AMEMBER
2019
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Alvin
^ADVERTISER
Published on Wednesdays
(It is an unusual arrangement.)
Outside I discovered two cats on
the roof who immediately made
it clear they were expecting a
handout. I rustled up some milk.
I am quite sure they will show
up tomorrow expecting bigger
things.
Of course, not everything
could go well. We failed to find
any kitchen towels—which now
constitutes an emergency. (A
person needs at least one minor
emergency just to keep sharp.)
We went to bed early. It started
to rain. There had not been much
rain, so everyone was grateful. I
was lying in bed when I saw it.
“Peter! Another owl!”
The church bells stop ringing
at 10 p.m. At least, I think they
do, as that is the last thing I
remember. “Six owls!” I said to
Peter, as the church bells rang.
“Umm,” Peter replied. I could
tell he was impressed.
What a crazy few years it has
been for Dennis Bonnen.
Bonnen went from a state
lawmaker in Angleton to the
most powerful legislator in the
state to announcing he would
not seek re-election in less than
two years.
Not even a movie would try
that as a script.
Yet it happened, and it serves
as a reminder the power and
responsibility that lies with the
media — and not just the major
media.
For those not paying attention,
Bonnen announced two weeks
ago he would not run for another
term in the state House at the
urging of many Republican
lawmakers. The pressure from
his own party came after an
audio recording between
Bonnen and a reporter was
released. In the reporting,
Bonnen asked the reporter to
sway public opinion with his
reporting. What was likely most
troubling to his fellow
Republicans is Bonnen asked
the reporter to write negative
stories about two Republicans
Bonnen apparently felt weren’t
conservative enough.
Even the Republicans Bonnen
Sandy Hook, Orlando, Las
Vegas, Sutherland Springs,
Santa Fe and, most recently - El
Paso and Midland-Odessa.
Across the nation, city names
have become trending hashtags
as acts of mass violence have
rocked communities and
claimed the lives of innocent
people.
August was bookended by the
two recent shootings in Texas,
killing 22 people in El Paso and
seven in Midland-Odessa. The
immediate outpouring of support
was coupled with calls for action
to prevent these senseless acts in
the future.
The same happened nearly
two years ago in the wake of the
Sutherland Springs shooting.
We quickly learned the shooter
had a history of violence and a
conviction which should have
prevented him from purchasing
a firearm. But this information
was never uploaded to the
criminal background check
databases, and as a result he was
able to purchase four firearms.
Ten days after the Sutherland
Springs shooting, I introduced
the bipartisan Fix NICS Act,
now law, to fill the gaps in our
background check system. It’s
led to a roughly 400 percent
increase in record submissions
and distributed by paying to
mail it to people in the area.
This was in a very left-leaning
area of North Carolina, and the
reporter was a vocal
conservative. To call what he
produced a newspaper is
probably stretching the truth.
More often, it was his own
personal ran tings against the
Democrats.
And while I doubt he changed
many minds, he did have an
audience because he took his
own time to produce it and his
own money to share it.
So anyway, this guy spends
out his paper one week with a
story about how the congressman
representing the area was using
money being donated to a
nonprofit he opened to benefit
himself and his family and not
the children it was intended for.
When he first reported it, most
people just laughed it off —
more rantings from a mad man.
But someone in the know was
supported could see the problem
there — one step out of control
and they could easily be next.
For months Bonnen claimed
he said nothing wrong to the
reporter and even continued
those claims once the recording
was released. It was only when
his fellow lawmakers began to
complain that Bonnen changed
his tune.
This story reminded me about
the power of media, even small
media. While I don’t necessarily
agree with the way this reporter
got information and then held it
over the speaker’s head for
months, ultimately the truth was
on his side.
And the truth was more than
Bonnen could survive.
It also reminded me of another
story from years gone by. I wish
I could say my paper was
responsible, but it wasn’t.
Instead it was a rabble rouser
who produced what he called a
newspaper from his own garage
clearly feeding information
because week after week he
wrote about it. Often it was
repeating the same claims, but
there were stories with a little
more information.
And because he was insistent
on telling the story over and
over, eventually people began
paying attention. The
congressman — Frank Ballance
— denied it, but it wasn’t long
before other media organizations
like my paper, The Associated
Press and others began asking
questions.
Those questions led to a little
digging, formal requests for
information and eventually the
truth. The truth was this crazy
man working out of his garage
was right all the time. And the
truth was Frank Ballance was
abusing the system to benefit his
family and himself.
Ballance was eventually
forced to resign and pled guilty
to mail fraud and money
laundering and was sentenced to
jail time.
Most forget, but some of us
will remember that even the
little guy in the media can make
a difference even if the
politicians don’t believe it.
Letters Policy: Comments on subjects
of general public interest from readers are
accepted. All letters must be signed, include
a home address and phone number, conform
to published standards, be limited in length to
500 words (with some exceptions), and be in
good taste and good reason. All letters will be
subject to editing in content and length.
The use or republication of any material of
The Advertiser is strictly prohibited without
the express consent of the management.
Click here
to view
our website
=—7
Till next time,
Carrie
Carrie Classon’s memoir,
“Blue Yarn,” was released
earlier this year. Learn more at
CarrieClasson.com.
from federal agencies and
prevents violent criminals from
purchasing firearms illegally.
It’s time to once again pass
legislation to reduce mass
violence in our country.
Recently in the Senate, I
introduced the Restoring,
Enhancing, Strengthening, and
Promoting Our Nation’s Safety
Efforts- or RESPONSE - Act.
This bill will include a number
of provisions to prevent attacks
and make communities safer.
First, this legislation takes
aim at unlicensed firearms
dealers who are breaking the
law. The Midland-Odessa
shooter failed a background
check when he attempted to buy
a firearm from a licensed dealer,
but was still able to purchase his
weapon from someone who
appears to have been
manufacturing and selling guns
who never registered as a
firearms dealer. By not
registering, he was able to skirt
the background check
requirement and sell a weapon
First, I noticed the owl.
“Peter! Did you see the owl?!
Our last Airbnb in Spain had a
ceramic owl. So, when I found a
similar owl — in a similarly
inconvenient location — I took
it as a good omen.
“What owl?” my husband,
Peter, said.
Then I found four more owls,
bringing our tally up to five.
“Five owls! Now I know this
is going to be a good trip!”
“Huh,” Peter agreed.
(Sometimes Peter’s not as
effusive as I am.)
We are staying in Frigiliana, a
small town in the south of Spain.
The rent was suspiciously cheap,
but the reviews were all good
except to say that the house was
on a road with stairs. There is a
good reason for this: the town
predates wheels. Roads with
stairs work perfectly fine if you
don’t drive on them.
We were dropped off as close
as possible, then faced the
challenge of dragging our
luggage up the stairs (which was
actually the road) to the little
blue door of our house. We met
our landlady who was both
for it. He informed me the EMS
in Alvin is not under the general
enforcement concerning acts of budget, so it is self-funded, if I
mass violence, hate crimes or remember that correctly. If not,
domestic terrorism. These he can let me know and I will
providers and platforms already correct that statement. He said
have this ability during he plans to “re-visit” the issue in
emergencies and to fight child a council workshop soon. He
abuse. This simply expands the would like to see the EMS under
scope of information they can the general fund and not attached
share. to the utility bill. In that way, the
to the shooter.
The RESPONSE Act creates
nationwide task forces to
investigate and prosecute those
who are illegally selling firearms
and those attempting to buy
firearms who provide false
statements as part of a
background check.
Second, this bill improves the
quality and availability of
mental health care. We must do
more to identify and support
vulnerable individuals who
could pose a danger to
themselves or others. We know
the majority of gun deaths are
suicides, and while mental
illness is not the prevailing
cause of mass violence,
enhanced mental health
resources are critical to saving
lives.
The RESPONSE Act expands
Assisted Outpatient Treatment
Programs, which provide
families of individuals with
mental illness an opportunity to
get treatment for their loved
ones in the community, rather
Still waiting for answers
regarding new ’taxes1
Dear Editor,
I recently submitted a letter
regarding the EMS charge
attached to our utility bills. I had
emailed the District A
councilman regarding this and
why he voted for the change. I
finally received a response, after
than an institution. It also several emails to him and the
includes measures to expand mayor and a couple of calls to
mental health crisis intervention the city secretary. It took seven
teams and improve cooperation days to receive the response. I
between mental health providers was contacted by phone. My
and law enforcement. first point is to acknowledge the
Third, the RESPONSE Act fact the discussion was great,
takes steps to increase the safety and I never felt he was in a hurry
of our students. I’ve heard from to end the discussion. He
countless parents who are answered all my questions, but
rightfully concerned about one. Why did it take so long to
sending their children to school receive a reply?
amid these attacks. That should He informed me that during
never happen. The RESPONSE the council workshops, they had
Act will make schools less discussed changing the voluntary
vulnerable through promoting fee to a mandatory, in my
best practices and internet safety opinion a tax. He was against as
policies to help schools better
identify and assess students
whose behavior indicates a
threat of violence.
Finally, it’s vital that law during the workshop and
enforcement have access to
information about potential bad shape and may leave Alvin,
threats - particularly those made He believes Alvin needs EMS
online. This legislation would here, one of the reasons he voted
encourage online platforms to
share information with law
mandatory “tax” would be
removed. My experience has
been when any type of “tax” is
imposed, it never goes away. I
informed him I would email him
in a couple of months to check
on the status. I ask him if he
would reply and he said yes.
What I did not ask him at the
time was, “knowing the EMS
was in trouble why was this
issue not taken up prior to having
to place the burden on taxes
payer?” This is kind of the same
issue with the utility
infrastructure, waiting until it is
almost too late to act.
To the utility rate hike. The
editor stated he was proud the
council took the action to raise
the rates. He said he knows they
do not like doing this. Maybe he
needs to read his article from
9/25/19, where it is stated the
rates have been raised the last
three years in a row. This year
they are raising it twice. It has
also been stated the infrastructure
problem has been “kicked down
the road” by previous
administrations. Our current
mayor is part of the past
administration. He was city
manager from 2002 to 2008. So
we should believe he will now
correct the issue he was a part
of.
I sent an email to city council
regarding this issue, as expected
I have not received a reply. Not
even from my rep. He said he
would reply.
grocery store which was not big
but had everything we needed.
They had a lot of vegetables and
a variety of beans, including
some I could not identify. So,
naturally, I bought them. It turns
out they were mammoth fava
beans with skin still on them.
Who knew fava beans had skin?
Who knew it had to be removed?
Peter made soup with the fava
beans. After the soup was
cooked, Peter fished the beans
out of the soup and skinned
them. This is not the
recommended order of
operations.
“It’s not that bad!” Peter said.
“It’s like shucking shrimp!”
(Peter is such a romantic.)
Then I went up to the
bathroom and opened the door
to the rooftop terrace. The
bathroom is upstairs, all by
itself, and the entrance to the
terrace is through the bathroom.
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The Alvin Advertiser (Alvin, Tex.), Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 2019, newspaper, November 6, 2019; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1251022/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Alvin Community College.