Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 96, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 1, 1985 Page: 4 of 35
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FAGE4A
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
SUNDAY DECEMBER 1, HM
It's here
State Capital Highlights
For most of us, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Halley’s Comet is streaking into view and will re-
main in the celestial vicinity until next spring
before vanishing for another 76 years.
As the world’s scientific community prepares
for this rare moment, it should be remembered
that British astronomer Sir Edmund Halley’s
prediction in 1682 that the comet followed a
regular orbit was a benchmark in scientific
understanding of the universe.
Until the 16th century, astronomy was
dominated by the theory of an earth-centered
universe. In 1609, Galileo’s telescope proved
otherwise. Yet, even he was confused by comets,
which he believed were optical illusions.
Laymen were equally confounded by comets.
From time out of mind, superstitious persons
blamed them for catastrophes befalling leaders
and empires. It was believed, for example, that
comets were mystically linked to the death of
Julius Caesar in A.D. 44, the fall of Jerusalem to
the Romans in A.D. 66, and the conquest of
England by William of Normandy in 1066.
Edmund Halley (rhymes with “alley”) was
transfixed by the passage of the comet that would
eventually bear his name. He rejected the argu-
ment that comets were random phenomena and
spent more than 20 years trying to plot the
comet’s path. Only when he combined Issac
Newton’s gravitational theories and Galileo’s
planetary theory did he discover that comets
moved in elliptical orbits.
Poring through astronomical history, Edmund
Halley identified earlier sightings -- in 1607 and
1531 - of the comet he saw in 1682. From this
research, he predicted the comet would return in
1758. It did, subsequently appearing in 1834 and
1910.
Today, despite the world’s fixation with
Halley’s Comet, scientists still can only guess at
the composition and origin of comets. The most
accepted theory is that comets are made of lef-
tover material from the creation of the solar
system.
We are advised that comet material gathered in
an orbit two light-years from the sun in a region
known as the “Oort cloud,” named for Dutch
astronomer Jan Oort. A chance collision nudged
Halley’s toward the sun and Jupiter’s heavy
gravitational pull kept the comet in an elliptical
orbit.
How does Halley’s Comet t^jpear? The eminent
American astronomer Fred L. Whipple
speculates that it resembles a giant, dirty
snowball more than 3 miles in diameter. Embedd-
ed in the ice are frozen chemicals that turn to gas
when heated by the sun. The gas and dust par-
ticles create a glowing cloud around the snowball
nucleus called a “coma.”
The long tail of dust particles emanating from
the coma are blown back by solar winds sweeping
off the sun’s surface. Although the vivid tail stret-
ches for approximately 6 million miles, scientists
note that the solid matter in it would fit in a suit-
case.
Halley’s relatively close passage during the
next several months provides the world scientific
community a unique cosmic laboratory. In addi-
tion to the hundreds of sophisticated telescopes
monitoring the comet, five space probes -- two
from the Soviet Union, two from Japan, and one
from a European consortium -- will rendezvous
with the comet to photograph the nucleus, gather
dust particles, and analyze the comet’s gases.
Limited by budget restraints, the United States
will be limited to photos of the comet from an
observation platform sent up by the space shuttle
next March.
From this multifaceted inspection of Halley’s
Comet, astronomers hope to find a key to the
origins of the Earth. Although the planets have
changed dramatically in 5 billion years,
astronomer Donald Yoemans of the Jet Propul-
sion Laboratory in Pasadena asserts that comets
are "the least altered objects in the solar
system.”
The comet will be visible during clear nights in
November and the early-morning hours in
December. It will disappear in February as it
reaches perihelion, the point at which it is closest
to the sun. As it comes from behind the sun, the
comet will reappear in March and pass closest to
the Earth on April 11 at a distance of 39 million
miles.
Halley’s Comet is a cosmic talisman from
Earth’s beginnings. Besides revealing some of its
secrets for the first time to eager astronomers, it
serves to raise anew the ancient question: “What
is man, that Thou art mindful of him?”
Political jostling aimed at White
By LYNDELL WILLIAMS
Texas Press Association
AUSTIN - State government has
its own rhythm: a time to govern
and a time to campaign, even though
some would say a good politician
campaigns all the time.
There was a lot of political jockey-
ing going on last week and no matter
the origin, the man in the middle of it
all was Gov. Mark White.
Unfortunately for the governor, he
seemed to be catching heat from all
directions: the Republican party,
the courtroom, the schools, the
coaches, the consumers, even the
Democratic Party.
One thing going his way was a
planned trip to San Francisco for a
fund-raiser reception. His second
out-of-state trip for campaign funds
has folks murmuring once again of
his ambitions to be the Democrats’
vice presidential nomineee in 1088.
After all, the Democrats may need
a Texas homeboy on the ticket to
carry the Lone Star State, and White
has already been to New York to
raise campaign funds.
I
—M.
Political elbowing
The way political elbows were
jostling last week, you might wonder
if he left just to get out of the line of
fire. Some of the highlights which in-
volved White as a target, directly or
indirectly, included:
-Two GOP candidates, Kent
Hance and Tom Loeffler, both
demanded that White fire his ap-
pointee to the Public Utility Com-
mission, who recently acknowledged
using state funds and staff to finish
his Ph.D. dissertation. White said he
won’t do it and told Dennis Thomas
to “hang in there."
-Directors of the 10,000-member
Texas High School Coaches Associa-
tion announced they will meet soon
to consider whether they will launch
a campaign against White for his
unrelenting stance on the controver-
sial “no pass, no play” reform.
White’s answer was to insist he
won’t back off an inch and to declare
he has no sympathy for "crying and
whining" coaches.
-A legal challenge to soften "no
pass, no play” continued last week
in Houston where a class action
lawsuit went to trial. Political
forecasters say if the suit to change
the reform prevails, White’s
chances for re-election go down the
tubes with the reform.
-With that possibility obviously in
mind, Texas Attorney General Jim
Mattox told reporters he will run for
re-election, but wouldn’t rule out the
possibility he might challenge White
for the Governor’s Mansion. White’s
response to the challenge: “Come
ahead.”
-A Texas Consumers Union direc-
tor criticized White for failing to
reappoint a member of the State
Board of Morticians. Grady Baskin,
Jr. said he wasn’t renamed because
he refused to promise the governor’s
appointments secretary he would
support White’s re-election. The
secretary, Dwane Holman, said
that’s not what happened at all, but
consumer advocate Carol Barger,
also present, sided with Baskin.
Baskin won the Consumer Union’s
support last year when he made an
undercover probe of funeral homes
and found 23 of 24 breaking state
<ate
Weekly Update
Parking becomes hot topic
Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise en-
courages readers to submit let-
ters voicing their views or opi-
ninin
The letters will be published in
the Enterprise’s Letter to the
Editor column in Thursday’s or
Sunday’s paper.
The letter may be written on
et or issue of interest,
which are submitted
normal editing such as grammar,
punctuation and spelling. The let-
ters must be written within the
(confines of good taste.
The letters will also be subject
t>> editing for libelous or
slanderous statements or com-
mercialism. jfa av
"A’, A \’r%-
To submit letters, mall them to
“Leltet* to the Editor -
By JACK ANDERSON and
JOSEPH SPEAR
WASHINGTON - World peace and
the budget deficit are matters of
some concern to Congress, but as
you may have gathered from recent
reports out of Washington, the really
important issue is free parking
privileges at National Airport.
Rep. Phil Crane, R-Ill., got a few
dozen colleagues to sign a petition to
the Federal Aviation Agency, "sug-
gesting” that it ban Supreme Court
justices and diplomats from the free
VIP parking lot close to the terminal
so there would be more room for
members of Congress. To the
astonishment of bureaucracy-
watchers, the FAA spunkily rejected
the suggestion, and even stood up to
Crane’s none-too-subtle hints that
he’d remember the agency’s imper-
tinence come budget time.
The FAA professed its confidence
that the congressman would surely
not jeopardize the lives of air
traverlcrs by cutting the safety
agency’s budget over a matter of
wounded pride. And there the mat-
ter rests - for now.
But it's clear something will have
to be resolved about Congress and
airport parking. The case of Rep.
Mel Levine, D-Calif., and his wife,
Jan, shows why.
The Levines spent a month on the
West coast, leaving their station
wagon in a congressional parking
place at Washington’s Dulles Air-
port. When they returned, the wagon
had accumulated a parking bill of
$600. If the congressman had driven
the car out of the lot, thcre’d have
been no problem.
But he had called his secretary to
meet them with the Levines’ other
car, which he then drove out just
ahead of the station wagon, driven
by Mrs Levine and bearing the $600
tab. The lot attendant let the con-
gressman out without charging him
for the few minutes the second car
fhere. But she insisted that
pay the $600 for the sta-
"She was extremely abusive to my
wife Levine told our associates
Corky Johnson
Goldberg.
Not so, according to the lot atten-
dant and a colleague. The con-
gressman “said he writes the budget
for the FAA and that he was going to
raise hell,” they wrote in a report to
the agency.
Levine, who doesn’t sit on any
committee with jurisdiction over the
FAA, said the employee’s version is
“simply not true," and explained:
"It is not my style to operate in the
way this lady claims.”
Levine said he asked to see a
supervisor. The employees claim
that was their idei, and that Levine
blew upat the suggestion and “made
several more statements and
threats about what he could do.”
The parking lot supervisor and an
FAA official say the attendants were
legally correct, because the parking
privilege is for members of Con-
gress only, not spouses.
House Sergeant-at-arms Jack
Russ disagreed. "Spouses are allow-
ed because of the nature of the job,"
he explained. "They are intertwined
in a member’s work,”
CONTINUING CRISIS: Ad-
ministration insiders are privately
warning that the farm crisis will get
worse before it gets better. Large
grain harvests this year, combined
with rising foreign production, will
create an international glut and
keep prices for agricultural pro-
ducts depressed. Economic experts
are predicting the worst wave of
farm foreclosures since the Great
Depression. Farm banks are
already collapsing at an alarming
rate. In the past 14 months, over half
of the 100-plus banks that failed
across the country were agricultural
banks.
MINI-EDITORIAL: Mush to the
consternation of the banking in-
dustry ~ and much to our delight» a
House sub------------------------
bill that
make most
for use the
of up to -
f^ood deposits that I
ficially cleared. We think this is an
outrageous burden on the consumer
and it’s high time the float was sunk.
Copyright, 1985, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
price disclosure laws. Baskin was
unsuccessful in trying to get the
board to take action.
Mattox, Brown
Mattox, for his part, last week in-
dicated he would forego making a
legal ruling on whether an announc-
ed candidate, state Sen. Buster
Brown, R-Lake Jackson, could legal-
ly run against him. The courts could
best decide that issue, he said.
Brown’s eligibility is questioned
because the Texas Constitution,
prevents a legislator from naming
for another office if he voted that of-
fice a salary increase. Brown has
said he won’t accept the higher
salary if he’s elected.
Mattox also announced last week
he has hired former U.S. Rep. Jack
Hightower, who served in Congress
with Mattox, as first assistant at-
torney general. He replaces Tom
Green, who resigned to run the Mat-
tox campaign.
The appointment kills speculation
that Hightower would try to take
back the seat he lost in 1084 to the
GOP.
Two party chairmen
Last week the head of the Texas
Republican Party surprised his folks
by saying he was out, and his
counterpart with Texas Democrats
did the same by saying he was in.
George Stroke, the chairman
credited with rebuilding a Texas
Republican Party shattered in ‘82,
said “it’s my time to go and let
somebody else do it.” He will not run
for re-election next year, and gave
no clue hinting he will run for a state
office.
Two days later, Texas Democratic
Party chairman Bob Slagle told his
state committee he will run for a
fourth term, probably a record.
Widespread speculation was that
Slagle would step down or run for
Congress instead. Slagle, solidly
aligned with the Mark White faction,
said he wants to finish the job he
started.
Short takes
• Comptroller Bob Bullock
reported tax revenues rose to 1S.2
percent in fiscal ‘85, due to the 1984
tax bill. He said spending on educa-
tion rose to 12.8 percent for a record
$16.2 billion.
• The Northshore Bank of Houston
became the 10th Texas bank to fail
this year.
• Secretary of State Myra
McDaniel says there will be a
$300,000 shortfall in funding the 1888
primaries, if two run-off elections
are required.
• Former Rep. Jay Gibson,
D-Odessa, announced his candidacy
for the Texas Supreme Court against
Raul Gonzales.
• Rep. Billy Hall, D-Laredo, an-
nounced for the Senate seat being
vacated by Sen. John Traeger,
D-Seguin. ’
POLK COUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 327-4357
USPS 437-340
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston, Texas
77361 under the Act of Congress of March 3,1897.
&
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 96, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 1, 1985, newspaper, December 1, 1985; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781180/m1/4/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.