Columns/Opinions

My son deals with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder.
 It seems he literally cannot be still at times. I learned a long time ago, that if his hands were busy, he was more attentive. This was backed up at a recent meeting I had with a diagnostician at his school. 
We were having him tested to make sure there was nothing on top of the ADHD that we needed to combat. The diagnostician stated that as long as my son had a small item in his hand that he could fiddle with, he was more attentive to the questions and testing she was doing with him.
Now, before the meeting with the diagnostician, I had been seeing the little boxes called a “fidget box” that I and considered getting him. (I even discussed the option with the diagnostician.) Ultimately, I chose against this, under the concern that it might make too much of a clicking sound that would disrupt others in the classroom. 

By Ed Sterling

With Mother’s Day approaching, I have had some friends who are weighing on my heart. It has also got me thinking about what really makes the world go round. 
There is a picture that goes around on Facebook periodically that reads “Strong Women; May we be them, may we know them, may we raise them.” 
As the mother of two girls, I can tell you that one of my greatest goals in life is that my girls will grow up to be strong, independent women who would be able to take care of themselves on their own if the need arise. 
More than that, though, I want to raise my girls to be strong in their faith, and strong in the belief of themselves. One of the greatest things that my mom and dad did for me was to teach me to believe in myself.

Dear Editor:
Saturday, May 13 marks the 25th anniversary of one of America’s great days of giving — the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food drive. Letter carriers walk through the community every day, often coming face to face with a sad reality for too many, hunger.
Each year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect non-perishable food donations from their customers. These donations go directly to local food pantries to provide food to people in the Elgin area who need our help.
Last year, they collected over 80 million pounds of food nationally, feeding an estimated 64 million people. 
Over the course of its 24-year history, the drive has collected 1.5 billion pounds of food, thanks to a postal service universal delivery network that spans the entire nation, including Puerto Rico, Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi on April 10 ruled the State of Texas has failed to prove that the voter identification law was not written with discriminatory intent and purpose.
The ruling came in response to a charge by the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that Judge Ramos re-examine the evidence and her 2015 findings in Veasey et al., plaintiffs, v. Greg Abbott et al., defendants.
Plaintiffs alleged racial discrimination in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965 in response to the passage of Senate Bill 14 by the Texas Legislature in 2011. The law changed the list of acceptable forms of identification voters may use at polls and enacted other restrictions. The State of Texas argued that the law was passed not with a discriminatory purpose, but to combat voter fraud at the polls.

By Ed Sterling

By Toni Walker
By now, I am sure all of you have heard of the horrific accident that occurred on March 23 that involved a Mount Pleasant Independent School District bus, an 18-wheeler, and a private vehicle
I have said from the onset that the bus driver should be considered a hero. 
Had he not been alert enough to swerve out of the way of the oncoming eighteen wheeler, this situation could have been much worse. Instead of two lives lost, there could have been many more, including students, who died as a result of this accident.
As a former coach, who drove buses for sport teams, I know how difficult it is to maintain focus on the road, especially late in the evening, after a long day at a sporting event. The fact that he was alert enough and swerved to avoid a head on collision is nothing short of heroic.

By Rebecca Smith

By Ed Sterling

It’s all over but the crying