LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear editor, I loved your column about the concrete mess in downtown Rockdale. What so much concrete? It has taken away the two lanes in each direction, and the part that takes away our right turning lane at the corner of the library. Is it going to make Rockdale pretty? I don’t think so.

Powell steps into grandmother’s shoes

(Reporter readers will again be treated to a series of Black History stories with a focus on Rockdale’s Black History from Tamara Hebert Powell. Here is former editor, Mike Brown’s, editorial from 2020 introducing Tamara and his tribute to her late grandmother, Mrs. Susie Sansom Piper.—K.W.C.

$33 billion

Legislators should take care of taxpayers, future with surplus We’re in the sunny money days here in Texas it seems, even if the gray skies of recession and inflation are looming on the horizon. The main question state legislators will have to worry about now is how we spend it all.

Looking back...

100 YEARS AGO… J.L. Clark, radio expert of San Gabriel, was in Thorndale and we learn that San Gabriel School would soon have a receiving set which would rival any set in the country. The equipment was purchased by private subscriptions and the proceeds from entertainments.

Contacting your elected representatives

Last week, the legislative session opened in Austin. In Washington, D.C. the new congress took over. So now is the time to start getting engaged and communicating with your elected officials; be it at the federal, state or local level.

A little newspaper-related humor

FALLING FAR FROM THE TREE Here’s a little newspaper humor for you. Steve l ived a l l his life in the Florida Keys and is on his deathbed and knows the end is near. His nurse, his wife, his daughter and two sons are with him.

Compensation

Congress let the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act expire In its infinite wisdom, Congress let the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) die a silent death after having had it on the front burners for the past couple of years. I hope our industry is not doing the same.

Be compassionate

Iwas reminded recently of the time several years ago when a man came by the church office and asked if we could help him with some gas for his car. The church secretary who handled the benevolence ministry gave him a voucher that was good for $15 down at the local fuel stop.

He was not one of us

The ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark tells of an exorcist who was not a follower of Jesus, but he does a deed of power in Jesus’ name. Later that day, the disciple John tells Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not one of us.

DID YOU KNOW…

Study-abroad programs on the rise Af ter two years of declining enrollment that was undoubtedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, study-abroad programs are regaining their popularity.