Columns/Opinions

by ROY KNOX 

• There needs to be a house cleaning of senior leadership at The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Altering reports is at the very least these are firing offenses, probably criminal.

• All the cover ups for Hillary Clinton were wasted, I`m pretty sure Donald Trump would have lost to any other candidate besides her. Sweden has had to raise the retirement age to pay for the mass immigration in their country, the same thing liberals want here.

• Sean (Puff Daddy) Combs wants to buy the Carolina Panthers. (They will be for sale at the end of the season.) And, he wants to sign Colin Kaepernick to a contract. I wish Mr. Combs the best of luck, but you want to talk about an interfering owner?

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by ED STERLING

AUSTIN — State Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Nov. 29 announced the transfer of $1.47 billion into the State Highway Fund and the Economic Stabilization Fund, with $734 million going into each fund.

The transfer was enabled by Texas voters, who in the November 2014 constitutional amendment election passed a measure allocating at least half of the state’s oil and gas production severance taxes to the “Rainy Day Fund” and the remainder to the State Highway Fund for use on non-toll highway construction, maintenance and right-of-way acquisitions.

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by ELLIS KNOX

This bi-partisan bill was crafted by Sens. John Cornyn, R.-Texas, and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. I hesitate when I read bi-partisan, a democrat’s idea of bi-partisan is usually, “do it my way.” However, in this case the bill may actually be a real “common sense” effort to do something about the mentally disturbed and criminals from legally acquiring a gun.

After the recent mass shooting, and after the initial left wing media and democrat storm for all gun confiscation subsided, we find the laws in place and the National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS) failed in some way. The shooter was able to purchase his or her firearms legally. I mentioned “her” because one of the San Bernardino muslim shooters was a woman.

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By ED STERLING

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Nov. 20 extended the disaster declaration for counties affected by Hurricane Harvey. Some 60 counties are included and they will continue to be eligible for assistance as they recover and rebuild.

“The most important message I want to send to the victims of this storm is that they are not alone as they continue to recover from this storm. While we still have a long way to go to return to a new normal, I have no doubt that Texas will eventually emerge from this disaster stronger than ever before,” Abbott said. Declarations must be renewed every 30 days for assistance to remain available. Gov. Abbott said he would continue to renew them as needed throughout the recovery process.

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By ELLIS KNOX

Most folks in Camp County/Pittsburg know where I stand when it comes to guns and gun control. If you don’t know, I’m a Life and Endowment member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), an NRA Pistol and NRA Firearms Safety in the Home instructor, a NRA Range Safety Officer, an advanced combat pistol instructor and a state certified Texas License to Carry instructor. So that’s put me in the group the “so called” main stream media call gun nuts.

I remember being told by a fellow in Virginia that he could never think of any reason to even own a gun. A year or so later, after he was robbed and beaten, he bought a gun and got his Va. concealed carry permit (CCP). I was team teaching the NRA basic pistol class with a group of other NRA instructors. This course was the only course a person had to take to get their Va. CCP. He was surprised to see me there and explained to me later what had happened to him.

By ED STERLING

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott and leaders of the Texas Legislature on Nov. 9 announced the approval of $90 million in emergency state funding to help Hurricane Harvey disaster-declared counties pay for the removal of debris.

Cities and counties in impacted areas are responsible for 10 percent of costs associated with debris removal. The funding, to be administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, is intended to help alleviate that burden as the rebuilding process continues, the Governor’s Office said.

“Today’s action is just one more step in a long process to help our cities and counties recover and I want to thank all the members of both the Texas House and Senate for their effort to secure this much-needed funding,” Abbott said.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said: “Acting on this priority is essential so we can move forward with rebuilding and recovery efforts.”

By ED STERLING

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott and leaders of the Texas Legislature on Nov. 9 announced the approval of $90 million in emergency state funding to help Hurricane Harvey disaster-declared counties pay for the removal of debris.

Cities and counties in impacted areas are responsible for 10 percent of costs associated with debris removal. The funding, to be administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, is intended to help alleviate that burden as the rebuilding process continues, the Governor’s Office said.

“Today’s action is just one more step in a long process to help our cities and counties recover and I want to thank all the members of both the Texas House and Senate for their effort to secure this much-needed funding,” Abbott said. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said: “Acting on this priority is essential so we can move forward with rebuilding and recovery efforts.”