Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 113, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 29, 2009 Page: 4 of 23
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Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
❖
Sweetwater
"w......ovvceivvctici i
Keporter
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
325/236-6677
Fax: 325/2354967
Website:
wwwsweetwaterreporter.com
E-mail addresses:
publisher@sweetwaterTeporter.com
business@sweetwaterTeporter.com
advertising@sweetwaterreporter.com
circulation@sweetwaterreporter.com
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com
composing@sweetwateneporter.com
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for expres-
sion of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except those labeled
“Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writers and not those of
the Swectu'ater Reporter.
Dear Editor:
Residents were not contacted by local officials.
Mayor Greg Wortham stated at the TCEQ public
hearing on Tuesday, March 3, that "they" considered
residents' concerns before going forward with their
plan to bring in one of the nation's largest coal-fired
power plants to Eskota.
To this very day, the following officials have never
contacted anyone in at least eight families who live and
farm in Eskota: the mayor, county judge, county com-
missioners, city manager, city commissioners, SEED
board members, the chamber of commerce or Tenaska
representatives. I was told that Tenaska stated that they
had talked with every resident of Eskota and we were
"all on board." That would be untrue.
This proposed plant is advertised and promoted at
the "Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center,” and is associ-
ated with Sweetwater because of taxes. The truth is, this
proposed coal-fired plant will not be located in
Sweetwater. It would be located downwind of the resi-
dents in Trent and Eskota depending on which way the
wind is blowing.
Even Sweetwater residents shouldn't be too thankful
for the 5-9 mile distance due to the strength of our
winds and the 13 known toxic contaminants that will be
released 24 hours a day for the next 50 years. We
should all at least read the list of "known" contaminants
at the County-City Library, including mercury, lead,
nickel and sulfur dioxide to name a few.
It is my understanding that neither officials or citi-
zens of Trent were contacted by anyone about this coal
plant until Mayor Leanna West attempted to contact
Tenaska. They did not return her calls. She then con-
tacted Representative Susan King regarding her con-
cerns for the residents and students at Trent. Mrs. King,
who is in favor of the plant, contacted Tenaska and told
them that they needed to be talking with Trent. Then,
and only then was a town meeting scheduled for Trent
officials with a Tenaska representative, Helen Manroe,
in January.
Other cities that had not been contacted include
Blackwell, Bronte, Hawley, Oak Creek residents, Roby,
and Rotan, to name a few. Most of these towns' water
supplies will be affected by this coal plant.
Patricia Broadwell
Roscoe
Letter to the Editor Policy
The Sweetwater Reporter welcomes Letters to the
Editor for possible publication in the newspaper. A let-
ter must be original, signed by the writer and bear the
address and phone number of the writer. Only the name
and the city will be published with the letter, but the
phone number and address are necessary for verifica-
tion or clarification of content.
The Sweetwater Reporter reserves the right to edit all
letters. If deemed derogatory, libelous, unclear or for
other reasons determined by the newspaper to be
unwise to print, it will not be used.
It is the feeling of the newspaper that an unsigned let-
ter has little meaning, and thus it will not publish
anonymous letters to the editor.
During elections, the Sweetwater Reporter will accept
Letters to the Editor discussing the issues or offering
endorsements. However, the deadline for letters during
elections will be two weeks prior to election day.
The publishing of Letters to the Editor are offered by
the newspaper to the community for expression of per-
sonal views on matters of concern. Residents are
encouraged to use the column in a constructive manner,
sharing their views on subjects of interest with the
newspaper’s readers.
POTPOURRI
Ben Franklin and self-improvement
The last few years have find, which in turn led to his
seen an increase in writings support of lending libraries,
and compilations based on Unlike the image in text-
the lives of the founders of books, Franklin was an ath-
lisa
Peterson
lete. Swimming was
his sport of choice,
something which
raised eyebrows
while he was over-
seas as an ambas-
sador and which
landed him in the
Swimming Hall of
Fame! All of these
quirks were sympto-
matic of his actual
passion - a lifelong
interest in self
i m p ro vement.
While the ideas of
self examination
our nation. Whether
due to the ease with
which research can
be conducted, or a
renewed interest it is
hard to say; the
results, thought, are
very interesting.
Benjamin Franklin
is one of those
founders that doesn't
fit the mold. He was
the son of a prolifer-
ate man, if not a
wealthy one (of
course, raising sev-
enteen children
could do away with most and improvement were not
fortunes!). Originally as popular then as they are
intended for the church, he now, and certainly there
felt a calling for the sea - wasn't a plethora books on
which his parents discour- the subject. Franklin's
aged. As a result, he ended thoughts on the subject,
up apprenticed to his father however, are better than
as a candle maker. Strongly most of the books available
disliking that as a career today,
choice, he was then appren- Franklin decided early on
ticed to his brother, a print- that to strive for “moral per-
er. The rest, as they say, is fection” was as laudable as
history, for it was largely scientific or athletic pur-
through the print shop that suits. One of the first to he
he became an acquaintance of the opinion that the
of the movers and shakers soundness of mind and body
who would become part of are linked, he became deter-
our government. mined on four resolutions,
Most of us remember supported by (originally)
Franklin for his scientific twelve areas for improve-
interests, thinking of the ment. His resolutions were
drawing in elementary to become more frugal so
school books of a portly man that he could save enough
with twinkling eyes holding money to repay what he
a kite with a dangling key owed to others; to be very
during a thunderstorm...not honest and sincere "in every
a hair of his powdered wig word and action;" to be
out of place. His curiosity industrious "to whatever
led to a habit of reading business I take in hand;"
almost anything he could and "to speak ill of no man
GUEST COLUMN
whatever, not even in a
manner of truth but to speak
all the good 1 know of every-
body." As resolutions, there
are few in modern writings
which would surpass these.
The writings in Franklin's
Almanac underscore these
self improvement thoughts,
as do his writings in other
areas. At a time when the
media is filled with reports
of person who have made
their way by using the
achievements and resources
of others, when polls indi-
cate that we - as a nation -
are more discouraged about
ourselves and our worth
than at any other time in our
history - perhaps we need to
take a look at the things
Franklin considered impor-
tant. A couple of things to
remember before taping
these to the bathroom win-
dow - he realized full well
that trying to work on all at
any one time would be noth-
ing but discouraging, so he
worked on one a week, start-
ing over after thirteen
weeks. The thirteenth
“area” was added after a
Quaker friend commented
that only a person filled with
pride would think he could
accomplish these - and per-
haps a little humility should
be added!
1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not
to dullness; drink not to ele-
vation.
2. SILENCE. Speak not
but what may benefit others
or yourself; avoid trifling
conversation.
3. ORDER. Let all your
things have their places; let
each part of your business
have its time.
4. RESOLUTION. Resolve
to perform what you ought;
perform without fail what
you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY. Make no
expense but to do good to
others or yourself; i.e.,
waste nothing.
(>. INDUSTRY. Lose no
time; be always employ'd in
something useful; cut off all
unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY. Use no
hurtful deceit; think inno-
cently and justly, and, if you
speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE. Wrong none
by doing injuries, or omit-
ting the benefits that are
your duty.
9. MODERATION. Avoid
extreams; forbear resenting
injuries so much as you
think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in
body, cloaths, or habitation.
11'. TRANQUILLITY. Be
not disturbed at trifles, or at
accidents common or
unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY. Rarely use
venery but for health or off-
spring, never to dulness,
weakness, or the injury of
your own or another's peace
or reputation.
13. HUMILITY. Imitate
Jesus and Socrates
Copied from the autobiog-
raphy of Benjamin Franklin,
using his grammar and
spelling.
Lisa Peterson is the
County Attorney for Nolan
County. Comments about
this column may be e-
mailed to editor@sweetwa-
terreporter.com.
Yankee Stadium to be chopped into little pieces
BEVERLY 11 ILLS—God bless times does a taxpayer have to
America, and how's everybody? be screwed before he straight-
The New York Yankees ens up his life and moves to
announced plans to chop up old Utah.
Yankee Stadium and
sell it in little pieces.
Fans can trade the
pieces of nibble forever.
That is, they can if they
can find anybody who
didn't spend their entire
rubble budget on mort-
gage-backed securities.
United Technologies
CEO George David tes-
tified at his divorce trial
in Hartford Tuesday.
He said his beautiful
Swedish wife raped him
i twice. A little more of
this testimony and he'll
be able to pay the divorce settle-
ment by selling the movie
rights.
Nevada lawmakers may add
a five-dollar sex tax on every act
of prostitution in the state's
j legal brothels. It's a sex tax. It
makes you wonder, how many
ROUND OUR PLACE
The White House
sent agents to the
Mexican border
Thursday to halt the
flow of cocaine. The
cartel is devious. They
know young people
are too smart to go
near the evil powder
but they think Baby
Boomers will relapse
once the housing
market rebounds.
Secretary' of State
Hillary Clinton flew
to Mexico City on
Wednesday to
address the border drug vio-
lence. No one in Washington
D.C. can really say anything
about it. Democrats have all
done cocaine and Republicans
have all laundered cocaine
money.
Hillary Clinton said
America's appetite for cocaine
is causing the Mexico drug vio-
lence. It is said that the U.S.
spends more on cocaine than
on pizza and French fries.
Imagine how awful the obesity
epidemic would be if we weren't
losing weight on the Disco Diet.
Aiyus Hamilton is the host
comedian at The Comedy Store
in Hollywood, lie can be
reached Jar speaking engage-
ments by e-mail at
argus@argushamilton.com.
Argus
Hamilton
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What we were taught
Round our place we talk a
I lot about “raising”, as folks
hereabouts call it. I remem-
ber asking Mama once why a
j certain man came to
I church wearing new
I bib overalls, a blue
work shirt and those
black, real shiny shoes
that tied when most
everyone else wore
suits. She said, “That's
the best he has,” and
then added, “You don't
have to dress up to go
to church, but you
should wear the best
Let's pretend this is right,
and maybe they didn't dress
up much. If so, we'll say it's
the first in a three-step
process. The second
step would be, "They
walked to church and
everywhere else.” So
I guess we should put
on our old clothes
and drive our vehi-
cles down to the car
lot, sell them and
start walking like
Paul. While you're
walking to church
(and every'where else)
snouiu wear me oesi InhnOfMI tanu everywneie eisey
clothes you have." This J0I1I1S0I1 be sure to throw your
man stayed in the
Book, lived it, studied it, and
also very likely knew all the
songs in the hymnal. He
likeci to sing and could, very
well. After one good crop
year he bought himself a blue
serge suit, new white shirt
ana tie. He was so proud to
be able to dress nicely to
come to church. He died
September 4, 1975, and I
imagine he was buried in
that very suit.
Now, it seems real “in" to
go to church in your yard-
working clothes and looking
like an unmade bed. It's too
much trouble to wear your
best for the Lord. Some peo-
ple who do this think they
watch and all such
things away. After you walk
home from church you need
to look at your nice house
with plumbing, carpet, cen-
tral heat and air and try to
find something like what
Paul would have lived in.
Then we could consider what
Paul did not have to eat and
feed most of our food to the
dogs. (You'll be glad to hear
that I'm not even going to
start in on our church build-
ings!) The point of all this
rambling is to say that if you
want to use Paul as an exam-
ple representing a way of
daily life you're fixing to
open a whole lot wider gate
than you can imagine.
If the Lord wills, next
my best and go to the meet-
ing house. I do not intend to
stray from my raising on this
one.
P. S. This is still church
talk, but a different avenue. 1
had an Associated Press pic-
ture that I looked at a lot. I
was totally impressed by it.
Picture a building big enough
to rope steers in. The people,
dressed in robes and some
sort of head covering, were
on their knees and bending
over with their heads nearly
to the floor, all of them, every
one of them, hundreds of
them in total worship of their
chosen deity. I thought,
“They came to worship, real-
ly worship, and there won't
be any talk of Friday night's
game.” Then I had a chill
thinking of the United States
getting seriously cross-
threaded with such a dedi-
cated group as that. We as a
great nation have seriously
strayed from the Lord.
c Stan Johnson 2009
Stan Johnson lives and
works in Nolan County.
Comments about this col-
umn can be emailed to edi-
tor ur sweet mat erreporter.eo
m.
lave evidence of the disciples
and maybe Paul wearing a Sunday morning I will put
tattered robe and no sandals, both feet to the floor, dress in
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Sweetwater Reporter will
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in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
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made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper's editor at
236-6677.
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Rodriguez, Tatiana. Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 113, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 29, 2009, newspaper, March 29, 2009; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth577855/m1/4/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.