Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 161, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Page: 3 of 16
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Clferokeeaif Herald ■ thecherokeean.com
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
3A
EDITORIAL BOARD
Whitehead Enterprises Inc.
publisher
MARIE WHITEHEAD
editor
TERRIE W. GONZALEZ
managing editor
FAST I °rward
Another decade? Count me in
Those "census people"
are at it again. It
seems like only yes-
terday that they were
counting us. You know
you're getting old when the
decades seem to fly by as
fast as a summer vacation.
Why should you care
whether you are counted or
not?
The primary purpose of
the census is to reapportion
the 435 seats in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
More than 1,000 people
per day are moving to
Texas, and we've had a
slight growth spurt — to put
it mildly. Based on current
project ions. Texas could
gain an additional four
seats in Congress after the
census is complete. That
would get us up to 36 seats,
which means a greater voice
in Washington, D.C.
Besides determining the
number of congressmen, the
census is also used as the
basis for dispersing more:
than $400 billion in federal
funds annually.
The data collected by cen-
sus takers are used by busi-
nesses that are considering
a relocation; by highway
t'J
TERRIE GONZALEZ
heraid@mediac1r.com
and city planners; and by
a host of others who look
at population trends before
making decisions.
Census forms were mailed
out last week, and we have
received a number of press
releases and e-mails to urge
everyone to take 10 minutes
and complete the form.
The officials stress that
the information is absolute-
ly confidential and no one
can be personally identified.
They take this issue so seri-
ously that the penalty for
violating the confidentiality
is a $250,000 fine and up to
five years in prison.
The entire form consists
of just 10 simple questions.
There's even a toll-free help-
line if you need assistance.
Call (866) 872-6868.
The 10 questions asked
today are not that differ-
ent from the first form that
early Americans filled out
in 1790. Thomas Jefferson
was the first director of the
precursor to the Census
Bureau. James Madison
developed five of the six
questions.
Sadly, as of last week,
Texas' participation rate
was only 47 percent — lag-
ging the U.S. average of
54 percent. In Cherokee
County, we're really slack-
ing off — only 46 percent of
us have filled out our forms.
In 2000, Cherokee County
had a 61 percent participa-
tion rate.
If you fill out your form
and mail it in, it costs the
government 44 cents to pay
the postage. If you don't
mail it and the census bu-
reau sends someone to your
house, it costs about $57 for
a house call. Taxpayers will
save $1.5 billion if we all
use the mail. That's not bad
for 10 minutes' work.
Another decade? Count
Q | bctor
Ode to the Easter e
First and foremost, I
hope everyone had
a very happy Easter
Sunday.
Whenever I think of Eas-
ter, I usually end up think-
ing about Easter eggs and
candy, I don't have to tell you
about candy. It's dehcious.
You know it, I know it, end
of story.
It seems, however, that
I have to do a httle per-
suasion when it comes to
Easter eggs. I won't name
any names, but a coworker thought I was
insane for loving them.
The "incredible, edible egg" is a divisive
issue. Some people won't touch boiled eggs.
For the longest time, I only liked boded
eggs. Easter eggs? I was all oyer them.
Deviled eggs? Absolutely.
Anything else was out. I could never re-
ally explain why.
Easter Sunday for httle Q would be
highlighted by the hunt for eggs outside
my home church. Kids that I'd never seen
at. the church would come for the egg hunt,
which would begin and end in a matter of
three minutes.
We'd peer out the windows during service
to see where the adults hid the eggs and,
when we got outside, go straight to those
spots. If you got there first, you got the egg.
When I'd get home with my "egg-cellent"
haul (I promise that may be my only egg
related pun), I wouldn't eat them right
away. I'd put them in the fridge and wait a
few hours.
QUINTEN BOYD
chreporter@mediactr.com
Once the eggs got good
and cool, I'd take them out
and try to crack the shell,
decorated with colors that
didn't exist in real life. I
made sure I got every bit of
shell off of the egg because
I hated (and still hate)
the feehng of chewing on
eggshell.
When it was good and
ready to go, I'd get a dash of
salt and enjoy the spods of
my Easter egg hunt.
Eyen as I've gotten older,
I'll bod eggs just for me and enjoy them
from time to time. It's not like I want them
all the time, but when I have them, it re-
minds me of all those Easters when I was
a httle boy. It reminds me of my younger
days and I admit that it makes me smde.
I will admit that my distrust of non-
boded eggs all changed on a trip to San
Antonio to a Starbucks where my friend
Morgan worked. She introduced me to a
ham, egg and cheese sandwich they served
and, by the end of the weekend, I'd eaten
six of them. It was a big step in my new-
found egg respect.
Still, with all respect to scrambled,
sunny side up, poached and those circular
egg 'patties" that you see at McDonald's
or Burger King, the boded egg is king.
Whether devded, cut and added to tuna or
retrieyed from a neon colored shell, it's still
my favorite way to enjoy an egg.
If the younger version of me knew that,
he'd be "egg-cited,'
Sorry, I had to get one more pun in.
TAXING I thoughts
Need more time to file? Get an extension.
Are you scram-
bling to have
your federal tax
return completed
by the Aprd 15 dead-
line?
Maybe you're having
difficulty gathering all
the income records or
tracking down receipts
for tax-deductible
items. Or perhaps
you're missing some
other vital documenta-
tion. Don't panic. Give
yourself some extra time
by filing Form 4868 with
the IRS.
Doing so results in an
automatic filing exten-
sion of up to six months.
In other words, by
simply filing the exten-
sion request by April
15, 2010, you can take
untd October 15, 2010,
to wrap up your 2009
return. The IRS won't
eyen ask the reason for
the delay,
However, be aware
that the automatic ex-
tension is only an exten-
sion to file your tax re-
ANITA L. WOODLEE
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
turn, not an extension to
pay the tax that is due.
First, you must make a
reasonable estimate of
your income tax habdity
based on the informa-
tion you have. Then you
have to pay at least 90%
of your tax habdity by
the original Aprd 15
deadline. This includes
withholding payments,
estimated tax payments,
and any payment made
with Form 4868.
If you fail to pay
the full amount of the
required tax, you wdl be
assessed a late payment
penalty for each month
dating from the initial
due date to the pay-
ment date, In addition,
you will have to pay
interest based on the
regular interest rate
for tax underpayments.
But these extra charges
wdl be far less than the
amount you wdl owe
if you don't request an
extension and pay the
additional amount due,
Other special rules
apply if you are out of
the country on April 15
or you hve and work
abroad. Contact our of-
fice for assistance in ob-
taining a fifing extension
for your 2009 return.
pd. advertising
ANITA L. WOODLEE,
CPA, PC
CERTIFIED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTANT
111 Henderson • Rusk • 75785
Phone:903-683-1002
www.anitawoodleecpa.com
Visit our web site for new tax
tips and financial calculators
VZM&r—'
PUT mm I HOLD THE WHEEL
M10 AND 2 IFlWTmSARE
ET8W4?
Published weekly each
Wednesday by
WHITEHEAD
ENTERPRISES,
INC.
Texas' oldest continuously published
weekly newspaper, established as the
Cherokee Sentinel, Feb. 27,1850. Con-
solidation of The Cherokeean, The Alto
Herald and the Wells News & Views
CONTACT US:
Newspaper office located at;
618 N. Main in Rusk.
(903) 683-2257
FAX (903) 683-5104
(903) 586-7771 > Jacksonville
(903) 729-6889 • Palestine
(936) 858-4141 • Alto
Marie Whitehead
editor, advertising sales
(903) 683-2257 ext. 105
mwhitehead@mediactr.com
~H1
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Rates payable in advance:
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Outside Cherokee County $23/year
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Call (903) 683-2257
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Terrie Gonzalez
managing editor
(903) 683-2257 ext. 107
herald@mediactr.com
Robert Gonzalez
advertising sales
(903) 683-2257 ext. 102
rgonzalez@mediactr.com
Gloria Jennings
general news
(903) 683-2257 ext. 106
news@mediactr. com
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POSTMASTER:
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CHEROKEEAN HERALD
P.O. BOX 475 •
RUSK, TX 75785
Periodicals Postage Paid at
Rusk, Texas 75785
Quinten Boyd
general news
(903) 683-2257ext. 109
chreporter@mediactr.com
Earline Bailes
classifieds, subscriptions
(903) 683-2257 ext. 101
classifiedads@mediactr.com
Tara Crosby
advertising sales
(903) 683-2257 ext. 103
sales@mediactr.com
HIGH POINTS I*- El Camino Real
Folks along El Camino
Real are so clogged
up with yellow pol-
len they don't have
enough wind left in them to
complain about it anymore.
If all of this pollen is any
indication to the amount
of fruit and acorns we are
going to have this year,
there ought to be a bumper
crop of everything. We hope
and pray each year that the,
azaleas will still be in bloom
for our Easter pictures and
this year the azaleas were barley bloom-
ing on Easter. Enough about the weather,
I need to get on with telhng you what I
saw this week through my itchy red eyes
so you can read your four bits' worth of
news with your itchy red eyes.
An old friend from my younger days
passed away this past weekend. Tex
Hunter Whiteman was 54 years old when
he passed away on April 2. Hunter suf-
fered severe head injuries in a car acci-
dent about 30 years ago and never fully
recovered from it. He was a wild spirit
in his younger days when I knew him,
and we had some good laughs together. I
guess most of us who knew him have a
Hunter story to tell. I hope these stories
will help keep his memory alive among us.
I am sorry his hfe was cut so short by that
accident so many years ago. Please keep
his family and friends in your prayers as
they mourn his passing.
Qean Holcomb remains in the hospi-
tal in Tyler. Be is in bad shape and in
need of our prayers. Please keep his wife
Sandy and the rest of the family in your
prayers during this difficult time.
Freddy Wallace celebrated his 60th
birthday on April 5. He had his birthday
party on Saturday night at his farm while
the family was in for Easter. I was a little
kid in his wedding, and now he is almost
at retirement age. Happy birthday,
Freddy!
Freddy Johnson had a birthday on April
5, too, but he wasn't as old as his brother-
in-law Freddy Wallace. I gueSs it is pretty
easy to remember that the two Freddys in
Alma Wallace's family have birthdays on
the same day.
Verline Reed off FM 220 in the Cold
Springs Community called on Sunday to
let me know that her bluebonnet patch
was starting to bloom. Ms. Reid has been
letting me know about her bluebonnets
ever since I started writing this column.
It has been a favorite spot for people to
have their pictures made for many years
now. My wife even had the boys and me
rolhng around in that patch last year
getting our family pictures made. If you
do happen out that way for a picture,
please be careful not to stomp too many
of the delicate blooms so the flowers will
be saved for others to enjoy. A big thanks
to Ms. Reed for always being so gracious
with her bluebonnet patch.
Folks around Alto started out early
CHRIS DAVIS
elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
on Easter Sunday morn-
ing with sunrise services
starting around 6:30 a.m.
People in Alto were dressed
in their finery for regular
church services, and I saw
faces that I hadn't seen
since last Easter. The chil-
dren in church are usually a
little more active on Easter
with way too much sugar
from chocolate bunnies and
jelly beans coursing through
their little veins. EastSr is
a very special time in the
Christian faith and it does a lot to get us
revived and working harder for our goals.
I hope each of you had a pleasant and
happy Easter.
I don't ever see the little colored Easter
chicks or rabbits in the stores hke we
once saw around Easter time, I never got
to have one. but I always hked to look at
them in the stores. We have been trying
to get all of Creager's show chickens in
the deep freeze and that has been a pretty
major undertaking. Those chickens are so
big you can hardly fit one down into a big
food saver bag. It seems hke a lot of work
now, but when it comes time to make a
pot of chicken and dumplings it will all
be worthwhile. Maybe I'll spray some of
those big nine-pound show chickens down
with food coloring and let them loose in
the yard, so people will think I've been
raising Easter chicks.
On Saturday morning I got up bright
and early and planted four flats of toma-
toes in my garden. I think all the frosts
are over, and the httle shower we got on
Friday night made the ground just perfect
for planting. There is something about
getting those tomatoes in the ground that
makes me breathe a big sigh of rehef after
it is done. I think it goes back to the days
when my late neighbor Virgil Schochler
would ride me everyday to get our gardens
broken up and the planting done. After he
got up in his 90s, I had to plant and work
his and mine too.
He would beat on my door with is walk-
ing stick within 15 minutes after I got
home from work. He never ask me to
do anything — he would just say that his
garden was going to die if he didn't get
somebody to plow it. That meant for me
to get my clothes changed and get to work
in his garden.
When I finished the work in his, he
would ride his handicap scooter over to my
garden and make fun of everything I did,
while telling me how much better his stuff
looked than mine. Gardening sure isn't as
fun as it used to be when Virgil was ahve.
I've just about run out of stuff to tell
you for this week, so that means it is time
to draw this thing to a close,
Keep the news coming in and I'll put my
httle spin on it and get it spread around.
I'll see ya next week! And remember.
Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make
them all yourself.
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 161, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 7, 2010, newspaper, April 7, 2010; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152933/m1/3/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.