Gainesville Daily Register (Gainesville, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 141, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 18, 2020 Page: 4 of 12
twelve pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
4 - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020
GAINESVILLE DAILY REGISTER
Opinion
EDITORIAL BOARD: Lisa Chappell, publisher; Sarah Einselen, editor
TODAY'S EDITORIAL CARTOON
..
YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Have something to say about
what's happening in the news?
Say it with a letter to the editor.
NATIONAL/STATE
President
Donald Trump
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
Washington, D.C. 20500
www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Vice President
Mike Pence
Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C.
20501
vice_president@whitehouse.gov
Email your letter to editor@gainesvilleregister.com. All letters are subject to editing for clarity and length. One letter per writer will be published in the
same week. All letters must contain a physical address and daytime phone number. Only names and hometown will be published.
Sunshine Week 2020: It's your right to know
Every year, the news industry comes together to celebrate the importance of access to public information during
Sunshine Week, an initiative led by the News Leaders Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The 15th annual Sunshine Week is March 15-21 this year. It was launched in 2005 as a national initiative to promote a
dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.
The week is scheduled each year around the anniversary of James Madison's birth on March 16,1751. Madison,
the father of our federal Constitution, wrote that "consent of the governed" requires that the people be able to "arm
themselves with the power which knowledge gives." Every citizen in our participatory democracy has an inherent right to
access to government meetings and public records, and an open and accessible government is vital to establishing and
maintaining the people's trust and confidence in their government and in the government's ability to effectively serve its
citizens.
FIRST AMENDMENT: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
LOCAL
Cooke County Judge
Jason Brinkley
Cooke County Courthouse, Gainesville,TX,
76240
940-668-5435
jason.brinkley@co.cooke.tx.us
Gainesville Mayor
Jim Goldsworthy
Gainesville City Hall, 200 S. Rusk,
Gainesville, TX 76240
940-665-7777
SUNSHINE WEEK,
MK. PRESIDENT.
IDA[VI5EYcUNoTTols«K
DIRECTLY AT IT.
512-463-2000
http://gov.texas.gov
State Senator
Pat Fallon
P.O. Box 12068, Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711
940-898-0331
State Representative
Drew Springer
P.O. Box 2910, Austin,TX 78769
512-463-0526, Gainesville: 940-580-1770
www.house.state.tx.us/members/
; 3
/ 3bs;-„3|2i
/ W.NWENT
ANPOF0J
\ GOVERNMENT
if
An Uber driver told me this. On one
of my last Uber rides for a while, I
suspect. He is Muslim and seemed
to have some real peace about him
as he drove me to Catholic Mass, the
same day that Mass cancellations i
became a thing here in the United
States. I knew it was happening in
Rome, but, gosh, it sure did seem to
happen here quick.
I read one testimony from a Christian American
woman in Wuhan, who reflected on her time in
quarantine at the 48-day mark. She, her family and
her neighbors have experienced community like
never before. They know each other better, make
room for each other with more sensitivity.
I also keep thinking about a man named Patrick
who gave me a hug outside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
not too long ago. I can’t help but wonder what is
happening to Patrick today. He had talked to me
about maybe going to see folks at Catholic Charities,
but he told me how he prefers sleeping on the
street rather than a homeless shelter. He told me
about the beautiful sleeping bag someone had given
him as a gift — “it really keeps you warm!” — that
was stolen at one of the shelters. It’s colder, but
generally safer on the streets, he’s concluded. Every
time I hear people talk about staying home and self-
quarantining, I think of Patrick. How does Patrick
take care of himself in these circumstances? Now
that many of our lives are being upended, might we
care to think a bit more about the likes of Patrick?
Might we pray and find out what we might do to
help support services that make sure people like
Patrick aren’t overlooked in a health crisis?
People like Patrick make a real impression on me
because, despite their challenges and the cold brutal
reality of their lives, they have a spirit of gratitude
and goodness about them. Patrick seems to have
hope. I obviously don’t know his whole story and all
its complications, but there seems a simplicity about
him, of the kind we could all afford to rediscover.
Another conversation I had as everything was
starting to shut down was with an 80-year-old man
named Dennis. He told me about his adult son,
Michael, who had a good job but eventually lost it
because of Crohn’s disease. Dennis told me that
while he is applying for government assistance,
there’s nothing yet. But government assistance isn’t
what Dennis wants for his son; Dennis wants him
to know he is loved. “I’m not going to get a job at
my age and my skills anywhere,” he says. And so,
he drives for Uber. “And I can’t stop,” he tells me. “I
don’t know what I’m going to do if everything really
shuts down.”
There are people truly struggling on a good day,
financially, trying to fulfill their obligations and
have some semblance of a healthy life with healthy
relationships. Will this time of coronavirus help us
see each other and help each other? This is a time
that should change us. Our lives may not be what we
thought they were. Our sense of security may have
been completely unfounded. If we are Christians, do
we really trust in God alone, or have those just been
words we have occasionally said in rote prayer?
For how much of our lives have we heard the
saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”?
That seems crass at a time with such a dangerous
virus spreading and taking lives. But during this
religious season of Lent, at the time of the change in
the seasons, too, this virus that is changing the way
we live for months can also give us new life.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute,
editor-at-large of National Review magazine and author of the new book
"A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living." She is also
chair of Cardinal Dolan's pro-life commission in New York. Reach her at
klopez@nationalreview.com.
U.S. Senator Texas Governor
John Cornyn Greg Abbott
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510 P.O. Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711
Main: 202-224-2934, Fax: 202-228-2856
www.co rnyn .senate.gov
U.S. Senator
Ted Cruz
404 Russell, Washington, D.C. 20510
Main: 202-224-5922, Fax: 202-228-3398
www.cruz.senate.gov
U.S. Representative
Mac M. Thornberry
2525 Kell Blvd., Wichita Falls,TX, 76308
Main: 202-225-3706, Fax: 202-225-3486
thornberry.house.gov
I
Jim Zachary
Working for your right to know
When you attend local city, county or school
board meetings, ask questions and hold elected
representatives accountable, you are not minding their
business, you are minding your own business.
When you make a public records request, you
are not asking local records custodians to give you
something that just belongs to them or the office
where they work. You are simply asking for your
own documents.
The Bill of Rights, specifically the First
Amendment which guarantees the freedom of
speech and the freedom of press, is not intended
. to protect the media per se. Rather, the founders
built a hedge of protection around the media
■ because the media guards and fights for the
' public’s right to know.
According to a Brookings Institution report,
more than 2,000 newspapers across the country ceased
publication in the last 15 years or so. The shuttering of
newspapers presents a very real and present danger
to our most basic freedoms. That’s why communities
should support their local newspapers, through
subscriptions and advertising, now more than ever
before.
Journalists keep an eye on government, shine the
light on its actions, fight the good fight for access to
documents and meetings, champion transparency and
defend the First Amendment because of a core belief
in your basic, fundamental rights — principally, your
right to know.
Jim Zachary is deputy national editor for CNHI, parent company of the
Gainesville Daily Register, and president of the Georgia First Amendment
Foundation. Reach him atjzachary@cnhi.com.
It’s always your right to know
The media is most definitely not your enemy.
Far from being the enemy of the people, day in and
day out we take our role as the Fourth Estate seriously
and work hard to protect your right to know, making
public records requests and attending public meetings
to keep you informed.
Why?
Because we believe all the business
government does, whether in open public
meetings or behind closed doors, is your
business.
We believe every last penny government
spends is your money.
We believe it is your right to know every
transaction, every decision, every expenditure
and every deliberation of your government.
Whether talking about the White House, the
statehouse or the county courthouse, all the
documents held in government halls belong to
the people, and all the business conducted by our
governors is public business.
We believe our government — your government
can only be of, by and for the people when it is out in
front of the people.
Primary to our Republic is the understanding that
we are the government and the government is us.
The only powers held by federal, state or local
government are the powers we give.
So, whether it is Congress, the state’s General
Assembly, county commission, city council or the
board of education, it is your right to know all of the
people’s business.
Putting things
in perspective
“You know what people are missing as they hoard
toilet paper and hand sanitizer? They are missing
that our lives are gifts. We are blessed to ever be
here in the first place. Everything we have in life is
a blessing. Our families. Our homes. Our jobs. You
may think you earned it all, but none of it would
be without a loving God who created you and the
world.
A
Kathryn Lopez
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Einselen, Sarah. Gainesville Daily Register (Gainesville, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 141, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 18, 2020, newspaper, March 18, 2020; Gainesville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1324662/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Cooke County Library.