Open your wallet right now. What cards do you find? Most folks have a driver’s license, right? Then there are the military ID, school ID, work ID cards. You probably have multiple insurance cards – health, auto, life, home, Medicare. How about a debit card or some other bank card – maybe even a credit card? I hope you have a voter registration card, too.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

With the start of the NFL season, we, as fans, have dug our team apparel out of storage and are rocking those team colors wherever we go.

Our war games national defense is revised to counter China/Russia aggression. The U.S. Navy has deployed its new ship killer missiles in China’s backyard. The best way to confront a bully is to prepare for battle, preventing war.

Over the weekend, I had a really wonderful experience: meeting and spending some time with a fellow professional writer, Jordan Blumetti, associate editor of American Way magazine, the in-flight magazine of American Airlines.

We have a council who is afraid to spend tax monies in important things such as the purchasing of replacement communications equipment.

Did you know that the old line “I gave at the office” used by those who want to escape an appeal for funds actually refers to the United Way? Unfortunately, that negative connotation reflects the fact that the person using that excuse probably didn’t give at the office at all.

TOMATOES were once thought to be poisonous. When tomatoes were first introduced in the 15th century, Europeans noticed the increased mortality in those who frequently ate tomatoes, and concluded the plant was poisonous. In actuality, the acidity of the tomato released the lead in the pewter tableware of the period. It was the lead that killed ‘em.

While Gov. Greg Abbott has gotten a lot of attention in August, it hasn’t necessarily been his best month.

One of the biggest lessons I learned growing up was if you’re going to commit to something then you better be ready to commit all the way.

As the story goes, if you drop a frog in boiling water it would immediately jump out, but if you let it sit in a pot and slowly start heating the water the frog will not feel the difference until it’s too late and it will boil to its death.

The Liberty Bell was first rung to call Philadelphia together to hear the first time reading of the Declaration of Independence aloud. During the Revolutionary war, as the British approached Philadelphia in 1777, the Liberty Bell was quickly hidden in Zion Reform Church in Allentown to avoid the British from melting her down to produce musket balls.

The article in the News-Herald Sunday, Aug. 25 about the G7 Summit as taken from the Associated Press says in part:

Well, hello there. Good of you to join me. Waddle on over here and have a seat – take a load off, so to speak.

Remember when I said last week, “Multitasking is a myth! It doesn’t work! Seriously, the brain can only concentrate on one cognitive task at a time – really! It is time to embrace this fact and stop the madness.”

Listening to our track and field coaches gush over the departing Oscar Rodriguez made me realize how lucky Del Rio has been when it comes to its track and field athletes.

Texas could be a focal point for the 2020 elections – even if the state doesn’t support a Democrat over Republican Donald Trump.

The News: Trade war escalating, recession coming, North Korea shoots a missile, Trump is fighting the two Muslin congressperson’s who hate Israel working to wipe them off the map, but Trump is the anti-Semite because of his words.

My friends at the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce, executive director Blanca Larson and former News-Herald and Del Rio Grande colleague Megan Tackett, are working on a very exciting project – an area bird-finding guide.

As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher. When parents and families are involved in their children’s schools, the children do better and have better feelings about going to school. In fact, many studies show that what the family does is more important to a child’s school success than how much money the family makes or how much education the parents have. There are many ways that parents can support their children’s learning at home and throughout the school year. Here are some ideas to get you started:

I believe city administrators are always pulling the wool over city councils, and this includes the present one.

Multitasking is a myth! It doesn’t work! Seriously, the brain can only concentrate on one cognitive task at a time – really! It is time to embrace this fact and stop the madness.

This is a bad time of year to be behind me on the highway. I slow to a crawl for every produce stand I pass on either side of the road, and no amount of honking can make me speed up.

There’s a buzz in the air, and it’s centered in the town of Williamsport, Penn.

Whether Texas was front burner in national politics for 2020 before, it is now.

Does objective journalism still exist? Once the idea of journalism was objective facts letting the reader draw their own opinion. That journalism is exceedingly rare today. Some would argue it never existed.

A 1995 post-apocalyptic movie starring Kevin Costner and directed by Kevin Reynolds portrays a desolated world where small groups of individuals fight for survival on a planet flooded by the melting of the polar ice caps. The dry land has disappeared, giving way to a “Waterworld,” thus the title of the movie.

Recently I was visiting with a friend who has worked in education with adolescents for over 30 years, a few more years than me. We were talking about students in general and we both agreed that the most significant change with regards to the character of students is “grit” – or more specifically, lack thereof.

I am still “acclimating” to my new apartment, which doesn’t quite feel like home yet.

El Paso hospital clinic: “Trump demonstrated absence of empathy,” and Trump’s aides admit things didn’t go well, but Trump, his usual self, came out bragging about the crowds that greeted him. What crowds? Others ask.

Now is the summer of our discontent, or so it would seem if news stories are to be believed.

That’s right, folks. Now, I know the stars say summer ends a month from now on Sep. 23. Yeah, I know all about that Labor Day thing, too.