Gainesville Daily Register (Gainesville, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 55, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 14, 2015 Page: 3 of 14
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Saturday, November 14, 2015 — 3A
Our View
Shop locally
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this Christmas
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season
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Steve Fischer
Some changes would improve
the death penalty process
Texas
Today in History
The Associated Press
Today is Saturday, Nov. 14, the
EDITORIAL LETTERS POLICY
BOBS
more time to enjoy the other aspects of the holiday sea-
son.
Shopping locally also helps keep our downtown areas
and Main Streets thriving and vibrant. It fills storefronts
with color and life.
When a new merchant buys or leases commercial
property they often remodel and renovate.
community.
When a huge chain store opens another outlet, it near-
ly always displaces a percentage of hometown merchants,
according to the American Independent Business
Alliance.
A study conducted by Dr. Kenneth Stone of Iowa State
University revealed when one well-known chain opened
it doors, 84 percent of its sales funneled dollars away
from local merchants.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establish-
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there-
of; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press; or the right of the people peaceably to assem-
ble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.”
— U.S. Constitution, Amendment I.
The Gainesville Daily Register encourages readers to express
their views. Viewpoints expressed in letters to the editor are those of
the writer and not the viewpoints of the Gainesville Daily Register.
Letters are limited to 400 words, about one page typed or two pages
hand written. Longer letters will be condensed. Frequent writers
should limit submissions to one letter per month. The Gainesville
Daily Register reserves the right to accept or reject letters based on
content and reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity in
order to conform to good taste, readability, the laws of libel and
space considerations. Writers may address local political issues but
specific candidate endorsements will not be published as a letter.
DIDN'T SEE
7W0NE
COMING.'
was the defendant’s location. The
state’s expert used cellphone “pings”
and tower locations to demonstrate that
Require regional mental health pan-
els.
When the mental state of the
pBBtr” 1 " 11
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Gainesville Daily Register
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Lisa Chappell, Publisher
Delania Trigg, Managing Editor
Evan Grice, Sports Editor
Bernice Trimble, Business Manager
Jack Bills, Audience Development Director
OPINIONS
■ Gainesville Daily Register ■
CATALINO
COPYRIGHT 2015
CREATORS.COM
J
There is little common ground percent of convictions overturned after
between those who favor the death DNA testing.
penalty and those who want to abolish
it.
Still, if we assume that only guilty
million penalty against inside-trader
Ivan F. Boesky and barred him from
working again in the securities industry.
In 1990, it was revealed that pop duo
Milli Vanilli (Rob Pilatus and Fabrice
Morvan) had done none of the singing
on their Grammy-winning debut album
"Girl You Know It's True."
Ten years ago: Two separate suicide
attackers rammed car bombs into vehi-
cles belonging to NATO-led peace-
keepers in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing a
German soldier and an Afghan child.
President George W. Bush hurled new
arguments against Iraq war critics as he
headed to Asia, accusing some
Democrats of "sending mixed signals
to our troops and the enemy." Alex
Rodriguez of the New York Yankees
won his second American League
Most Valuable Player award in three
seasons.
Five years ago: A 21-member Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
meeting in Yokohama, Japan, conclud-
ed with a unanimous pledge by mem-
bers to avoid raising more trade barriers
and to roll back those they may have
erected in the midst of crisis.
er USS Birmingham off Hampton
Roads, Virginia.
In 1915, African-American educa-
tor Booker T. Washington, 59, died in
Tuskegee, Alabama.
In 1925, the first group exhibition of
surrealistic paintings opened at the
Galerie Pierre in Paris.
In 1940, during World War II,
German planes destroyed most of the
English town of Coventry.
In 1944, Tommy Dorsey and his
orchestra recorded "Opus No. 1" for
RCA Victor.
In 1954, the president of Egypt,
Muhammad Naguib, was deposed by
the Revolutionary Command Council,
leaving Gamal Abdel Nasser fully in
charge as acting head of state.
In 1969, Apollo 12 blasted off for
the moon.
In 1970, a chartered Southern
Airways DC-9 crashed while trying to
land in West Virginia, killing all 75 peo-
ple on board, including the Marshall
University football team and its coach-
ing staff
In 1986, the Securities and
Exchange Commission imposed a $100
left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Nov. 14, 1965, the U.S. Army's
first major military operation of the
Vietnam War began with the start of the
five-day Battle of la Drang. (The fight-
ing between American troops and
North Vietnamese forces ended on
Nov. 18 with both sides claiming victo-
ry.)
On this date:
In 1851, Herman Melville's novel
"Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale" was first
published in the United States.
In 1889, inspired by the Jules Verne
novel "Around the World in Eighty
Days," New York World reporter
Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) set out
to make the trip in less time than the
fictional Phileas Fogg. (She completed
the journey in 72 days.)
In 1910, Eugene B. Ely became the
first aviator to take off from a ship as
his Curtiss pusher rolled off a sloping
platform on the deck of the scout cruis-
-Ji
V
It's almost Christmas shopping season.
Many local shoppers will head to larger cities to make
their purchases bypassing our local retail stores and
shops.
That’s a shame.
Shopping locally helps support our community and
not just during the holidays.
Purchasing from our own merchants generates local
tax dollars which help our city and county pay for essen-
tial services. This is especially important at a time when
sales tax revenue is down from previous years.
Statewide sales tax revenue for October was $2.28 bil-
lion — down 5.4 percent compared to October 2014.
For Gainesville, net sales tax payments dropped a
staggering 37.49 percent from $829,854.64 in Oct. 2014
to $518,665.95 in Oct. 2015.
Much of the decrease can be attributed to worldwide
economic factors including a sharp drop in the price of
crude oil.
Shopping locally won’t bring back specific types of
industries and it won’t immediately fill our coffers but it
will help bring in revenue. It will also help keep local
people working and spending their money here in our penalty and those who want tQ abolish Younger offenders> those who have
community. it menta|
or emotional handicaps, those
There are other reasons to shop closer to home. Still, if we assume that only guilty “under the influence” or faced with law
A shopping trip into a larger city often includes traffic, people should be punished and that tax- enforcement pressure have all falsely
construction delays and parking hassles. Shoppers who payers want to save money, the system confessed. In the past, videotape would
stay in Cooke County can avoid long drives and have can improved. have been costly and cumbersome, but
Cost is always an issue. In 1992, smart phones, tablets and the like have
The Dallas Morning News calculated foreclosed any excuses.
that the cost of an average Texas execu-
tion was $2.3 million compared to
$750,000 for life imprisonment.
Since 1992, the costs of lawyers, accused is an issue, experts are hired by
extra time in jury selection, inmate both prosecution and defense. As most
housing and appeals have risen sub- capital murder cases involve indigents,
These business owners hire contractors to restore their stantially.
property. They consult local attorneys, architects, adver-
tisers and accountants to help launch and maintain their
businesses.
They hire employees from the local workforce and pay
taxes. These employees, in turn, spend their earnings
We had an attorney who rattled off
scientific terms and numbers that no
one understood, resulting in a costly,
hung jury and re-trial.
Other “science” such as hair
microscopy, bite mark analysis and
shoe print comparisons have all result-
ed in errors. Faulty analysis is behind
47 percent of wrongful convictions,
according to the Innocence Project.
Have a fair division of costs.
To “get away with (capital) murder”
in Texas, or at least not be executed,
commit your crime in an average or
small county.
A Texas Tribune study found more
than half (135) of Texas counties have
never executed anyone, and 60 percent
of the death sentences in the past five
years have originated from 2 percent of
our counties.
The state, not the county, needs to
pick up the tab.
Without more safeguards, innocent
people will inevitably be executed.
We can’t placate those with extreme
positions, but we can cut costs,
improve our justice system and
enhance our reputation as a state.
— Steve Fischer of Rockport has
been Willacy County district attorney, a
criminal lawyer and a professor of
criminology. Reprinted from the Fort
Worth Star Telegram.
taxpayers pay for both sides of the
Data reported by the Texas fight. Smaller counties often have no
Department of Criminal Justice show resident experts.
Tarrant County has had 38 offenders Regional, neutral panels nominated
executed since 1976, the fourth-most in by their peers could review the defen-
the state. dant’s interview and other evidence, yet
Dallas County ranks second with 55 only one would testify. While not total-
here. They pay rent. They buy cars. They help support the executed, while nearby Parker County ly dispositive of other experts, their
has had two and Denton County six. objective views would carry great cred-
Johnson and Hood Counties have not ibility.
fulfilled a death penalty sentence since Set national standards for scientific
1976. testing.
Some suggestions: I once defended a murder case in
Videotape all confessions. Many Corpus Christi in which the main issue
states and the U.S. Department of
Justice already require this, but not
Texas.
According to the Innocence Project, the defendant was in the wrong spot at
And when small businesses die, prices and selection false confessions were a factor in 25 the right time.
often become less competitive.
Unlike large chain stores, homegrown business own-
ers have a stake in the community. They’ve often invest-
ed heavily in their businesses. Some have sunk their life
savings into their store, office or restaurant.
They usually have some local ties to the community
and often serve on boards and do charitable work. Their
children attend our schools. They know their customers 318th day of 2015. There are 47 days
and neighbors.
They care about the welfare of the community because
it is in their best interest.
This Christmas season, give Gainesville and Cooke
County merchants some of your business.
There’s a good chance our local shops have things you
won’t find anywhere else.
— The Gainesville Daily Register.
I
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Trigg, Delania. Gainesville Daily Register (Gainesville, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 55, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 14, 2015, newspaper, November 14, 2015; Gainesville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1302173/m1/3/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Cooke County Library.