The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 26, 1989 Page: 4 of 22
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Opinion
PAGE 4 T"
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1989, ALBANY, TEXAS 76430
THE ALBANY NEWS
The Albany News
Since 1875
Oldest journalistic venture west of the Brazos
Editor/Publisher
Donnie A. Lucas
Managing Editor
Melinda L. Lucas
Staff Reporter & Composition Carol Lackey
Composition
Betty Balliew
Moran Correspondent
Audrey Brooks
Office Assistant
Betty Law
Office Assistant
Susan Winegeart
editorial
Social events
Tickets are currently on sale for two
musical productions that will be performed
locally during the first week of February.
The Albany High School and Junior High
choirs will be presenting two performances
of "The Wizard of Oz" on February 3 and 4
at the school's auditorium.
Members of the choirs, under the direc-
tion of Sandy Mayes, have worked very hard
preparing the musical, which will include
elaborate sets and costumes.
It is certainly an ambitious undertaking
for the local choir students, but one they
have proven during the past two years that
they can handle very professionally.
Tickets are available for either perfor-
mance, as well as the "dinner theater" on
Saturday night, from any choir member.
On the following Wednesday, Febraury 8,
the Old Jail Art Center will again be spon-
soring a performance by the Texas Opera
Theater.
This year, the lccal art center is bringing
to town TOT's production of "America
Sings," an evening of great American music.
Anyone who loves good music should not
miss this opportunity.
This will be TOT's fifth year to bring one
of their musicals or operas to Albany. Unlike
some of the classical operas performed in
the past, this year's presentation will be a
collection of American music written during
l he past 200 years of our country's history.
Tickets for "America Sings" are available
at the art center, and can be reserved by
railing 762-2269.
Both productions will provide local
citizens with the opportunity for two great
evenings of entertainment.
Happy birthday
An Albany institution will be celebrating
his 90th birthday next Wednesday, Febru-
ary 1, and the whole community is invited to
celebrate with him.
Watt R. Matthews, a quiet and gentle man
who has done so much for Albany and
Shackelford County, will be honored on his
birthday with a party that any and everyone
is invited to attend.
Happy birthday, Watt, and thank you for
the countless and selfless deeds you have
done for our community.
Bueno!
policy
ponderings by pat
THE ALBANY NEWS
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to THE ALBANY NEWS, PO Box 278, Albany. Texas
76430,
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AFFILIATIONS
1989 MEMBER: Texas Press Association,
West Texas Press Association.
By Pat Lidia Jones
Have you ever been an expert on
anything?
The dictionary defines "expert" as
"one who has acquired special skill in
or knowledge of a particular subject
through professional training or prac-
tical experience."
I've also heard it said that it's
anyone from out-of-town who declares
himself to be an expert.
A.V. has an uncle who is a story
teller. No matter what the subject is,
Uncle Dick can relate a joke or a story
pertaining to it. One I remember quite
well went like this:
A city slicker had brought charges of
libel against this country fellow, and
the case had gone to court. It seemed
that the country fellow had called the
city slicker a SOB. The country man
didn't deny he'd called the other man
that; he simply maintained that what
he said was a fact.
On the morning of the second day of
the trial, all eyes were drawn to the
first witness. He was dressed in snowy
white from his boots to the top of the
western hat he held in his hand. He was
a tall and handsome man, and was by
and far the most imposing gentleman
in the courtroom.
The country fellow's lawyer stepped
forward and determined the man's
name and other facts regarding him.
The entire crowd in the room listened
in hushed silence.
Finally finished with the prelim-
inaries, the country lawyer asked his
witness to relate why he was there.
"I'm an expert on SOBs."
The city fellow's lawyer just went
crazy with objections, which the
curious judge overruled.
The country boy's lawyer said,
"Look around this courtroom and tell
me what you see."
The handsome man, dressed all in
white, rose from his chair on the
witness stand and looked around the
room. Suddenly his eyes locked on the
city slicker, and in a loud and sure voice
the expert proclaimed as he pointed,
"There's a SOB if I ever saw one."
"The defense rests."
So you can see that one can be an ex-
pert on many diverse things. I know a
little bit about a lot of things, but I
have nothing about which I'd consider
myself an expert.
But like Uncle Dick, I do have a
story.
I was seated on the front row at an
estate sale in Abilene.
The ad in the paper mentioned old
quilts. I collect quilts, so I'd gotten
there early to unfold and study the
quilts to determine if I wanted one or
more to come and live with me.
They were all nice, but I especially
liked the one on the bottom of the
stack. It had an interesting design and
fine tiny stitches.
I settled myself and waited. Soon the
auctioneer's helpers held up the first
quilt. Bidding was slow, and I quickly
realized that the quilt was going to go
for $10.1 bid $15, and soon the bidding
was lively. My rarely roused Type A
competitive blood had risen, and I got
the quilt for $50, a bargain I thought.
Almost the same thing happened
with the second quilt, and I claimed it
for $65.1 hate an auction pig, so I decid-
ed that I wouldn't bid on the third quilt
no matter how low the bids were. I got
up and went to the concession stand
and got a Dr. Pepper. I sipped on it and
watched a woman at the back of the
crowd get the third quilt for $10.
Here came the fourth quilt, the one
I'd had my eye on from the beginning. I
kept my mouth shut, and the bidding
was low and slow. When I made my
first bid, it seemed like everyone came
to life, and when it was done, I had the
fourth quilt for a bit over $100 — still a
wonderful buy, in my opinion.
I was sitting there admiring my pur-
chases, when a woman appeared in
front of me. She held the third quilt in
her arms.
"I'd like for you to tell me what's
wrong with this quilt," she said.
I was surprised at her question.
"Not one thing that I know of."
"Well, you didn't bid on it, and you
did on all the others."
I tried to explain why, but she wasn't
having any part of it.
"They said at the back that you are a
quilt expert, and I know you are, and I
want you to tell me what's wrong with
this quilt."
It was obvious that I was not going
to be able to convince her, so assuming
my best "expert" air, I carefully
opened her quilt. I pointed out a few
worn spots, a rust spot or two, and an
edge that needed careful repair. I said,
"You got a real bargain. This quilt is
wort^i four times what you paid." .,
Shfe patted the quilt when we had
folded it, looked at me with ap-
preciative eyes, and walked away
satisfied.
Hey, maybe it's not bad, being an ex-
pert, especially when my quilt expert
buddies aren't around to laugh
themselves silly.
watching Washington
By Senator Lloyd Bentsen
It was a great day for our state and
for our country when Texas was
chosen as the site of the Superconduct-
ing Super Collider-the largest scien-
tific research machine that has ever
been proposed.
The Department of Energy wants to
build the SSC in Waxahachie, about 30
miles south of Dallas, and I want to see
us move ahead quickly on getting it
built. In these budget-cutting days,
though, we're in for some hard work to
make sure this project gets its fair
share of the federal dollar.
The SSC will put the United States
on the cutting edge of high-energy
physics, and while the economic poten-
tial of the project can only be guessed
at today, it is bound to be enormous.
Certainly, construction of the SSC
alone will create thousands of high-
paying jobs in Texas over the next few
years.
It will be the world's largest "atom-
smasher," a high-tech magnetic race-
way where scientists will ram, sub-
atomic particles into each other at
nearly the speed of light. Earlier,\fork
with this type of research led to ,such
discoveries as the high-power tubes
used for broadcasting and such revolu-
tionary medical devices as CAT scan-
ners.
The SSC will be a clean, environmen-
tally safe research center, and it will
attract the world's best scientists to
work on expanding the frontiers of
human knowledge and understanding.
The SSC also is expensive —an esti-
TEXAS WAR ON DRUGS
The cocaine use by teenagers has risen 400
percent in the last 10 years, representing
over two million children.
(Information provide by Texans War on Drugs)
TASK FORCE ON
DRUG & ALCOHOL ABUSE
state capital highlights
mated $4.4 billion, spread out over
eight years, for construction. Texans
have agreed to commit $1 billion of our
money to the project, and we must
shoot for adequate federal SSC funding
this year to get construction under-
way, since delay could threaten our na-
tional commitment to the project.
With federal deficit-cutting a top
priority, it will take a lot of work to
secure funding for the SSC in Washing-
ton. Even when six other states were
still in the running for the project, we
had to fight some funding battles. Now
that Texas has been chosen, we can an-
ticipate reduced support from states
no longer in the running.
But we must remind skeptics that
our country can't afford not to build
the SSC.
Just, as we make room in the budget
for critical national defense programs
and for meeting basic human needs, we
also must provide for basic research to
maintain American leadership in
science and technology into the 21st
Century. Such leadership is essential
for our economic growth, our industrial
competitiveness and our national se-
curity. The SSC is a key element in a
comprehensive program for scientific
excellence.
It's important for Texas, and the
people of our state have pledged major
financial support.
It is vital to our country. It's jobs for
the people of our state, and I'm work-
ing to see that the SSC receives the
funds needed to keep it on track and on
schedule.
By Lyndell Williams
The eyes of Texas looked north to
Washington, D.C. last week where the
state's political leadership gathered to
help President George Bush change
the White House guard
While there, Gov. 1 II Clements at-
tended the signing oi wnal documents
naming Waxahachie the site of the
world's largest atom smasher, the
superconducting supercollider.
Meanwhile, in Austin, legislators
conducted committee work and House
Speaker Gib Lewis said he hopes to
pass the budget bill early in the ses-
sion, a break from 11th hour practice.
Lewis is touted as a shoo-in for a
fifth term as speaker in 1991, since he
already has enough pledges to over-
come the standard 30-member turn-
over rate.
Barring some unforeseen political
upheaval, Lewis may well retain that
gavel unless Republicans create
enough turnover to elect a speaker
from their own party. They have 57
members now, and need 76, if votes fall
down party lines.
Hightower Irks Farm Bureau
Agriculture Commissioner Jim
Hightower, struggling to escape the
wound inflicted when the leader of the
state's largest farm group called for his
resignation, says he's talking to
Europe's Common Market officials
about a separate trade pact for Texas
beef.
Recently, Europe banned U.S. beef
imports fed with growth hormones.
When President Reagan retaliated
with U.S. tariffs, Hightower ripped the
president as insensitive to health
issues.
In turn, Texas Farm Bureau presi-
dent S.M. True called for Hightower to
resign, saying he'd done immeasurable
damage to the Texas beef market.
Bad Headlines?
Other cattle group leaders were
more restrained, but worried that
Hightower's desire for headlines could
cause the world to think American beef
is unsafe.
They also expressed skepticism
about Hightower's beef trade over-
tures to Europe even while the U.S.
prepares for what might be a trade
war.
True's tongue-lashing stung, coming
one week after Hightower reluctantly
gave up his planned run for the U.S.
Senate, and added to Capitol percep-
tion that the party-popular populist is
losing ground.
Could Feed Europe
But Hightower countered, saying
Texas alone might have enough hor-
mone-free beef to supply U.S. trade
quotas to Europe.
Hightower and the Farm Bureau
have long been enemies, anyway. His
top deputy, Mike Moeller, is a former
president of the arch rival Texas
Farmers Union, and there are quite a
few farmers who would prefer Moeller
over Hightower.
Insurance Collapse Seen
Attorney General Jim Mattox found
himself at odds with the State Board of
Insurance board after he criticized
their ineptness in face of what he
painted as a potential collapse of the in-
surance industry, similar to what he
said occurred in the lending industry.
Board members promptly responded
by saying Mattox didn't know what he
was talking about. Interest in the con-
flict soon faded when new campaign
reports showed Treasurer Ann Rich-
ards, his probable opponent in the 1990
governor's race, raised more money
than Mattox in the past six months,
$1.89 million to $1.16 million.
Mattox, the reports show, still has
more money in the bank, by about $3.25
million to $1 million.
The Mattov camp quickly questioned
whether ail of Richards' funds were
legal, contending that some donations
were made to her after the cut-off date
imposed by law.
Community Calendar
JAN. 26 Water district board meeting - Abilene, 9:30 am
Nutrition program meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Lions Club luncheon • Longhorn, 12 noon
City council meeting - City Hall, 6:30 pm
Stock Show meeting • Courthouse, 7 pm
Overeaters Anonymous meeting - Heritage, 7:30 pm
JAN. 27 Community action program - Depot, 10 am-3 pm
Chamber luncheon - Longhorn, 12 noon
JAN. 29 Alcoholics Anonymous - Heritage, 8 pm
JAN. 30 Bridge games - Jackson Warehouse, 1:30 pm
Narcotics Anonymous - Heritage, 8 pm
JAN. 31 Nutrition program meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Deadline to pay property taxes
FEB. 1 Clothing Ministry - First Baptist Church Annex,
10am-12 noon
Nutrition program meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Kiwanis Club luncheon - Ft. Griffin, 12 noon
Poultry & rabbit validation deadline
Alcoholics Anonymous - Heritage, 8 pm
FEB. 3-4 "Wizard of Oz" - AHS auditorium, 8 pm
FEB. 4 Southern District Pinewood Derby - Abilene
Westgate Towne Center
All District Band Concert - ACU's Cullen
Auditorium, 7 pm
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
[j . j Albany. Inn
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 26, 1989, newspaper, January 26, 1989; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth393394/m1/4/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.