We should have input from both sides — pro and con — concerning nuclear power in Victoria County.The public perception of the city’s refusal to air opposition to any nuclear power plant coming into Victoria County is that the city was unfair because it had allowed pro-nuclear power presentations on its Channel 15 (Advocate front page, Oct. 9). more >>
Criminals definitely hate two things: witnesses, and light. By continuing the now-established tradition of National Night Out, neighborhoods all over Victoria recently gave the bad guys a healthy dose of both. more >>
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who visited the Victoria Advocate Wednesday, referred to the country’s financial crisis as a “Pearl Harbor.” Indeed, the surprise bank failings, like a surprise attack, came out of nowhere and will certainly change life in the United States — and the world — for some time. Cornyn was helpful in outlining what had to be done and what needs to be done. more >>
The African American Chamber of Commerce’s goal of filling the gap that the Victoria Chamber of Commerce doesn’t fill is a plus for the community. This goal promises to be met at the African American Chamber of Commerce — Victoria’s second annual Chairman’s Awards Gala. And the individuals who the African American chamber has tapped for honoring this year are certainly deserving of that honor. more >>
We should honor our Hispanic heritage who helped to establish Victoria. Certainly, Martin De Leon, the founder of Victoria, should be recognized for his determination to establish Victoria (Sunday’s Advocate). De Leon petitioned the Spanish government twice for land — once in 1807 and a second time in 1809. The third time he sought land was in 1824 after Mexico won its independence from Spain; because of an open-colonization policy, Mexico granted De Leon’s petition. more >>
Young drivers from the ages of 16 to 18 are the highest group for the number of fatal accidents. This statistic may be for several reasons, including lack of experience, immaturity and poor training, to name a few, according to a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (Advocate, Sept. 29). For these reasons, we agree that the driver’s age should be changed from 16 and set at 18 years old. more >>
Ray Ruiz, a Victoria federal court security officer, should be reinstated to his job because he was fired in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (Advocate, Sept. 29). Ruiz failed a hearing test in 2006 because he was not allowed to wear his hearing aids. more >>
When judicial elections come on the ballot in Texas, it’s time to cross your fingers and hope that somehow the outcome produces competent, qualified and experienced judges to serve in our state and district courts. Many voters have no idea who they are voting for when they mark a ballot in statewide judicial races. more >>
Victoria County government set a good example by shopping for good electrical rates (Advocate, Oct. 2, Page B6). Just in the first year, the county expects to save taxpayers $123,000. That’s a substantial amount. The savings was accomplished by slowing withdrawing from a pool of governmental entities that buy their power at discounted rates. more >>
The commission charged with investigating the viability of making the University of Houston-Victoria a four-year campus gets an A-plus. With a little less than a month to do its job, the panel painstakingly spent time to thoroughly make its decision: Move forward with plans to make UHV a four-year university. more >>
Whether America should lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 is, in the end, a simple yes or no question, but it is complicated by innumerable arguments on both sides. Those in favor of lowering the age, such as the group Amethyst Initiative currently leading that effort, insist that binge drinking in America, including college campuses, only increases when young adults are forbidden to drink until age 21. That forbidden flavor makes these students drink more when they get their hands on alcoholic beverages, and deaths have occurred, they say. more >>
Our guess is it would have been pretty hard for most people to have no emotion when they looked at the front-page photo in the Advocate last Wednesday showing a badly injured dog with a bloody front leg. The dog was one of two who reportedly got out of their yard and wandered into the street, where they were accidentally hit by State Trooper Cole Dunaway as he drove through the neighborhood. more >>
By the Advocate Editorial BoardDo hurricanes serve a purpose, or are they meant only to purge Earth of impurities? Only Mother Nature knows for sure. David Tewes, a reporter for The Victoria Advocate and who has studied meteorology, explains that hurricanes play a useful role. They redistribute energy that has built up in a particular location. If you curb the hurricanes, that energy won’t get redistributed and could cause unwanted impacts on the atmosphere. more >>
We’ve said it several times already, but one more time won’t hurt: Victoria is ready for a four-year university. At the forum held by the UHV expansion commission last week, many residents of Victoria voiced their unity in urging the University of Houston System to implement a plan to make the University of Houston-Victoria a four-year university, thereby adding the freshman and sophomore years to the university. more >>
After Hurricane Ike’s assault of the Texas Coast, four million people found themselves without electricity. Many wonder how this could happen. Why can’t our power be sustained through, or at least restored shortly after, such storms? After all, here we are in the 21st century with all kinds of technological advances and almost 40 years since we put a man on the moon. more >>
Sheba was a local resident who had a lot of love and joy to give, according to the woman who wanted to give her a good home. That won’t happen now. Sheba, a German Shepherd mix who was young and healthy, according to Claudia Schoener, her would-be adoptive owner, died at the city animal control center — euthanized along with others as Hurricane Ike approached the Coastal Bend. more >>
U.S. churches are homes of worship, buildings for theological and humanitarian efforts. Churches should not be staging grounds for political works, and, in fact, federal law forbids it. more >>
Several school districts in the Crossroads area, including Victoria’s, have a decision to make regarding the two days of classes lost when Hurricane Ike bore down menacingly toward us. God and nature were kind, at least to our area, and the monstrous storm veered away from the Coastal Bend. But our unfortunate neighbors to the north caught pure hell — and that’s not an exaggeration. more >>
Most dictionary entries for the word “compassion” define it as “having pity” and “sorrow for the sufferings or trouble of another.” The people of the Crossroads area have always felt compassion for those in trouble, and thereby they worked to effect positive change for those suffering. more >>
We can all feel comfortable with our emergency management teams in the area. They have done a calculated and excellent job of making sure the people of the Crossroads Region were safe during the threatening and harrowing days preceding Hurricane Ike. Emergency managers must monitor an approaching storm and make decisions for the benefit of county residents’ safety based on the storms movement and its proximity to the coast. Of course, there will always be detractors of decisions made by emergency management coordinators. more >>
