Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 3, 2003 Page: 2 of 50
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' )AGL: 2 A Thi ksdav. April 3, 2003
Port Aransas South Jetty
Murray and Mary Judson
Co-Publishers
Mary Judson
Editor
Phone (361) 749-5131 e-mail: southjetty@centurytel.net
Opinion
Member:
South Texas Press Association
Texas Gulf Coast Press Association
Texas Press Association
National Newspaper Association
Corporate
influence
It’s one thing for the Republican Party to
finally take over the
Texas House of Repre-
sentatives. It’s another if
coordinated business in-
terests used corporate
money illegally to cap-
ture the House.
State District Judge
Mike Lynch of Austin
will rule April 3 whether
Travis County District
Attorney Ronnie Earle
can have a grand jury DAVE
continue to pursue that
question. McNEELY
There are symptoms
that point to potential problems.
• Lobbyist Neal T. “Buddy” Jones (for cli-
ent AT&T Corp.) asked House members
to withdraw as co-author of a hill sought by
SBC Corp.
“This is a real shot at the leadership,” Jones
scrawled at the bottom of his letter.
Uh, that’s Regulated Services Committee
Chairman Phil King, R-Weatherford — not
House Speaker Tom Craddick, Jones said
later.
• Jones’ lobbyist cohort at Hillco Partners,
Bill Miller — one of three people on
Craddick’s transition team — volunteered
to oversee a lobbyist research effort for
Craddick. After it became public, Craddick
said he wasn’t interested.
Jones and Miller, along with the Texas
Association of Business and Texans for Law-
suit Reform, helped Republicans in legisla
tive races last year’s elections.
Combined, the groups mailed more than
75 ads attacking Democrats and applaud-
ing Republicans.
Example: The business association at-
tacked Democrat John Mabry of Waco as a
“trial lawyer-hacked candidate .. . trial law-
yers are anonymously pouring millions of
dollars into the political process ...”
For the Republican, the group said: “Holt
Getterman believes in protecting doctors,
hospitals and patients from abusive and
frivolous lawsuits.”
Association lawyer Andy Taylor — who
worked on the state’s redistricting plan in
2001 for then-Attorncy General John
Cornyn — says it was issue-oriented free
speech, not hacking particular candidates.
Craddick was a constant presence when
the GOP-dominated Legislative Redistrict-
ing Committee redrew Texas House dis-
tricts, pushing out Democrats, as well as
some Republican supporters of former
House Speaker Pete Laney, D-Halc Center.
Republicans went from 68 of 150 House
members in 2001 to 88 in 2003.
Craddick became speaker.
Another group putting its logo on some
of the same mailers was Texans for a Re-
publican Majority, whose fundraising was
led by Republican House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay of Sugar Land. He wants the
Legislature to re-draw congressional districts
this year to elect more Republicans than the
court-drawn map used for last year’s elec-
tions.
Now, Texans for Lawsuit Reform is push-
ing a hill to reduce consumer lawsuits. \ he
effort is coordinated by lobbyist Bill Messer
— another who was on Craddick’s transi-
tion team. Messer was a business partner
with Mike Toomey, the lawsuit reform
group s former lobbyist. Toomey now is Gov.
Rick Perry’s chief of staff.
I he decision from Lynch will help deter-
mine whether this anonymous use of cor-
porate money violated the law', or whether
— despite its had smell and the close lies
between leaders and lobbyists — it can be-
come an unlimited practice in Texas.
Contact Me Neely at (512) 445-3644 or
dmcneely@statesman.com.
Letters to the editor
Letters to the editor must meet
the following criteria:
• Letters should be of interest to
the readership of the South Jetty •
should be limited to about 300 words
• must contain a valid signature •
must contain a valid mailing address
• must contain day and evening tele-
phone numbers where the writer may
be reached • names of persons writ-
ing letters will not be withheld from
publication • unsigned letters will
not be published *only one letter per
person per 30 days period will be
published • letters endorsing or op-
posing political candidates are con-
sidered political advertising and
should be taken to the advertising de-
partment * all letters are subject to
editing • letters of complaint about pri-
vate businesses will be forwarded to
the business in question and will not
be published • “thank you" letters are
considered classified advertising and
should go to the classified ad depart-
ment • deadline for letters is 10 a.m.
Monday for inclusion in the following
Thursday’s edition.
Hear the candidates on Wednesday
Listening is an art not easily accom-
plished by' most
Instead of hearing what our spouse,
child, friend, political opponent or elected
official is saying, most people hear what
they think the person is going to say.
That’s when the trouble begins.
As we embark upon the political cam-
paigns for school hoard and city coun-
cil, voters are encouraged to listen to
candidates with open minds so they can
learn about the candidates’ positions on
the issues - not what they think they
are.
One opportunity to hear from can-
didates will be Wednesday when the^
South Jetty sponsors Candidates’ Night.
Voters are invited to come to city hall,
rather than listen to the television at
home. The forum starts at 5:30 p.m.
anti should last about two hours. After
listening to the candidates’ positions,
voters may contact the candidates in-
dividually to get them to clarify or ex-
pound upon their positions. That way,
voters will be casting votes based on
real information, not on hearsay or as-
sumptions.
Come to city hall Wednesday - and
listen.
One less bowl to fill
They infiltrate our lives, rule our daily
schedules, travel plans and control the how
well we sleep at night.
I’m talking about cats and dogs - the fam-
ily pets.
The extent to which we cater to them is
exceeded only by the extent to which we
cater to our children. Special diet? Serve it
up. Medication? It shall be administered. Sur-
gery? What time should we be there?
Several months ago, 1 wrote about our
29-cent, 18 pound cat that had turned into
a thousand-dollar diabetic. By the time the
diabetes was diagnosed, Sparky had been
part of the family for 12 years. You don’t
just kick a guy out for getting sick, so the
twice-a-day insulin shots began. I’d venture
to guess that Sparky is one of the few cats
who received a monthly package (that had
to he refrigerated, no less) at the post of-
fice.
Sparky used up more than his allotted
nine lives, and departed
this life on Monday. He
had become little more
than fur and bones,
weighing in at 6 pounds.
He didn’t appear to be
in pain, but bis quality
of life was in the nega-
tives. He had deterio-
rated badly over the
weekend, until Monday
morning when the deci-
- sion to let him go bad
to be made.
Sparky became part of the Judson family
in 1988 when he “came out from under the
Christmas tree”. Libby, who was in kinder-
garten (now a sophomore in college), had
asked Santa for a “peach and white” cat.
We searched high and low, and finally found
a female cat in the nick of time for Santa to
make the delivery. A few months later, it
Mary Henkel
Judson
Editor
became evident that Sparkles Glitter was a
him, not a her, and he unofficially became
known as Sparky.
I le was a cool cat who sat patiently as Libby
decorated him with beads and bow's, and
“became one” with the sofa in what we re-
ferred to as his “rug cat” act. The older he
got, the louder he snored. It got to the point
that Libby wouldn’t let him in her room at
night, so he moved in with Murray and me.
I haven’t hail a full night’s sleep since.
He was a creature of habit, and he and
Murray had their morning routine, such that
Murray could get around him even in the
dark as he made his way to the kitchen to
make coffee - but not before filling Sparky’s
food bow l.
Monday night, we looked at 14 years of
pictures, laughing and crying as we remem-
bered the good times.
Sparky ruled - and we’re going to miss
him.
Winter Texans begin to migrate north
A n<| nnu' jjto trek Witck home. Fkick to
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas,
Nebraska, South and North Dakota, Iowa,
Illinois, Michigan, Canada. The winter Tex-
ans brushing the sand off their shoes and
following the geese homeward bound.
But, first, one more stroll down the wide
Mustang Island beach. One more search for
the unbroken sanddollars. Stocking up on
the perfect shells - souvenirs of another win-
ter spent in Port Aransas. One more fishing
day on the south jetty, seeking a few' more
sheepshead, another two edible ounces from
16 ounces of fish. One more photograph of
the big steamer coming down the channel
carrying its load to or from Corpus Christi.
F |mo Lm c!c3!1 t ItL*
cabinets sharing the left-
overs with the forever
hungry seagulls, crying
their farewells to the be-
nevolent Winter Texans.
Soon the language will
settle back to Texanese.
“Howdy” w ill prevail over
“How do you do?”
“Mawnin” will replace
“Good morning.”
“Hook’em Horns” will
replace “Go Iowa...or
Huskies...or Sooners.”
Yesterday’s sandcastle now dissolving to
Cactus
Pryor
a mere seaweed covered mound of sand.
The persistent south wind now magnani-
mously offering a blue sea and a generous
light breeze for the northern travelers. The
farewells have been done. “Bye y’all, come-
back, ya hear?” “Thanks for coinin’,” “we’ve
had a wonderful time.” “By cracky, it’s been
a boot.” “See you next year, old friend.”
And suddenly, for a few months, Port
Aransas becomes a ghost town. Was that a
sigh of relief or one of grief? And each year
we count the numbers who will no longer
make their annual trip to the Texas coast
and the Rio Grande Valley. Migration even-
tually becomes a one-way trip.
“Y’all come back now.”
Letters to the editor
Porn and freedom
Once again I urge the citizens of Port
Aransas to inform themselves, make it a
point to let your city council representa-
tion know what you do or do not want in
your community. Last November I wrote
a letter to the editor mentioning drug para-
phernalia shops and sex shops (possibly)
coming. In response to Barbara Hawes
Morris’ letter last week “Porn offensive,”
we are all aware that here in Port Aransas
there have been some recent changes in
the retail souvenir shops. I his weekend I
made the rounds to check out what was
available.
Yes, there is inappropriate, tacky, and
smutty stuff out there. However, out of
I 3 shops visited, I am happy to say that
eight carried merchandise fit for concerned
family tourists. If, Ms. Morris had chosen
any of the following, her Port Aransas shop
ping with her daughters would have been
“family friendly,” even during spring break:
Pat Magee’s, The Connoisseur, Island
Sports, Moby Dick, The Islander, Beach
Bum, Souvenir City and Absolutely Every-
thing. I highly urge Ms. Morris and all
concerned citizens to support these shops,
not the trashy ones.
As for Claude Brown’s letter, “STAFP
infection,” the American Heritage Dictio-
nary defines terrorism: “the unlawful use
or threatened use of force or violence by a
person or an organized group against
people or property with the intention of
intimidating or coercing societies or gov-
ernments, often for ideological or political
reasons.”
Xenophobia and terrorism have long ex-
isted on our precious soil, especially if you
were Native American, Black American,
Jew, homosexual or that of another politi-
cal, social or philosophical idea out of the
mainstream. How dare they question the
war? It is not only our right to freedom of
speech and opinion, but also our duty to
be informed. To listen, read and have criti-
cal thinking skills.
I personally want our troops to come
home safe, but unfortunately many will
come home in body bags. Saddam Hussein
is becoming a hero in the Arab world and
America is becoming more isolated.
Pat t Coeckelenbergh
Port Aransas
Yellow ribbons
Support our troops, tie yellow ribbons!
We were out Sunday tying yellow ribbons
in support of our troops. Our wish is that
when you see yellow ribbons, they remind
you to say a prayer for our troops, our presi-
dent and our country.
God Bless America!
Melvin and Delana Littleton
Momma
warned me
Considerable concern has been whipping
up relative to a deadly
new virus that only re-
cently came to light in
Asia and has spread to
Europe and North
America.
Severe Acute Respira-
tory Syndrome (SARS)
is mysterious in its ori-
gin and medical re-
searchers are trying to A TEXAS
figure out how to com- VOICE
bat it, but the Centers for r
Disease Control and Pre- 1
vention has come out MARIAINPALh
with some advice on how you may help
protect yourself, particularly if you think
you may be exposed:
• Wash your hands frequently or use al-
cohol-based hand rubs.
• People who are sick should cover their
mouths with a tissue when they cough or
sneeze.
• Do not share eating utensils, bedding
or towels with someone who i> ill.
In other words, when you’re sick or
around someone who is, behave the way your
mommy taught you.
Taking precautions
The mysterious nature of SARS must he
what has gotten people so worked up about
it. But face it, as of March 31, only 58 people
worldwide had died of the disease, none in
the United States. To put that into perspec-
tive, the flu and related complications aver-
age killing 36,000 in the United States ev-
ery year.
Not that we need to take anything lightly;
we made that mistake once with AIDS/HIV,
but we should try to keep from overreact-
ing.
On a recent road trip, 1 frequented pub-
lic restrooms in fast food restaurants and
convenience stores. You’ve seen signs in
restrooms reminding employees they must
wash their hands, some say “with soap,”
before returning to work.
A store in Franklin had a detailed sign
that gave step-by-step instructions about how
to do that, starting with “turn on the wa-
ter.” It told how lung to scrub the hands
and even mentioned using a fingernail
brush, which I assume every employee must
carry. After rinsing the hands, one is not to
turn off the water until drying with paper
towels and then using the towel to turn the
knob. Unfortunately, it did not tell them to
open the restroom door with the towel.
I wonder if the store management trains
the employees in their technique anil it they
check up on them.
“Marvin,” the manager might have to say
with a pained look on his face. “1 heard you
flush the toilet and you know you must care-
fully follow band-washing procedure after
that point and you know that requires a
minimum of 42 seconds to complete, yet you
exited the restroom within three seconds.
That’s why I’m forced to dismiss you. To
acknowledge that this has been explained
to you, I need you to sign here ... and, uh,
keep the pen.”
I don’t mean to make fun of what is very
good policy, but we all know the signs in
the restroom are more to assure the cus-
tomers than to remind the employees. That
was made abundantly clear at a fast food
restaurant in Livingston. Behind the ■
counter, underneath the menu, was posted
a sign comforting us with the information
that their employees washed their hands.
Maybe we should make that part of the
ordering process: “I would like a soft taco, a
hot dog and two drinks. Oh, yes, would you
please have the cook wash his or her hands
prior to preparing my meal?”
But whether you’re trying to protect your-
self from SARS, f lu or what we call the com-
mon cold, the time-honored practices are
still the best, lie considerate of others. Avoid
contact with other people when you are ill
(and avoid contact with others who are ill).
Cover your mouth when you cough or
sneeze. Wash your hands frequently, espe-
cially when around people who might be
sick. Avoid contacting your eyes, nose and
mouth with your hands.
Yeah, behave the way your mother taught
you. And don’t let worrying about SARS or
even the flu cause your blood pressure to
shoot up.
Steve Martaindale is a self syndicated
columnist. Write him at
steve@ATexasVoice.com.
South Jetty
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Judson, Mary. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 3, 2003, newspaper, April 3, 2003; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth662961/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.