West Texas News

MILLER: With the end of Halloween, it’s time to think of Christmas music

Nov 4th, 2011 | By

The year sure has gone by quickly. Halloween has already come and gone and now it’s time for people to start focusing on the next big holiday. Christmas. While I have yet to hear any Christmas music on the radio, I can promise you by the time this column runs, some radio station in the
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HAWKINS: A pink tattoo for survival

Oct 5th, 2011 | By

Jami Griffis is planning to do something Friday that she never thought she’d do – get a tattoo. But it’s not just any tattoo – she’s getting a pink ribbon tattoo to commemorate the seven years that have passed since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I don’t have a tattoo anywhere else, but I
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HAWKINS: Ding, ding Admiral Foghorn, thanks for the memories

Sep 28th, 2011 | By

If you were a child of the 60s and 70s growing up in West Texas, chances are you boarded the “Good Ship High and Dry” every afternoon after school and set sail with Admiral Foghorn at the helm. Yes, back in the day, (way back in the day) there was a thing called kids programming
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FREEDOM VIEW: Texas governor flubs his lines on television

Sep 27th, 2011 | By

Texas governor fumbles repeatedly and almost incoherently with what should have been well-rehearsed debate sound bites. The most-recent Republican presidential debate was a weary two hours of television, and not much help for any candidate. Front-running Texas Gov. Rick Perry continued his streak of appearing not ready for prime time, and potentially offending his party’s
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GUEST COLUMN: Universities need self exam

Sep 27th, 2011 | By

 “Hire the best, honor the mission, and measure the results.” The president of my university — the big one in Austin, with tower bathed perpetually in orange — has it right. That way lies academic greatness and prestige, assuming we all agree on the meaning of “best” and “mission,” and the means of measuring results.
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CHAPMAN: America’s growing abortion aversion

Sep 26th, 2011 | By

The abortion debate has raged since 1973, when the Supreme Court gave abortion constitutional protection, but the basic law of the land has proved immutable. Abortion is legal, and it’s going to remain legal for a long time. Laws often alter attitudes, inducing people to accept things — such as racial integration — they once
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HAWKINS: Closer to home and shinin’ on in Odessa

Sep 21st, 2011 | By

It has been said that you cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad. This is true, and last month when Education Foundation announced Grand Funk was coming to town I was ecstatic. Sunday night at the Ector County Coliseum they will do what they have done for more than
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HAWKINS: Closer to home and shinin’ on in Odessa

Sep 21st, 2011 | By

It has been said that you cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad. This is true, and last month when Education Foundation announced Grand Funk was coming to town I was ecstatic. Sunday night at the Ector County Coliseum they will do what they have done for more than
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FREEDOM VIEW: Texas to yield big political contests

Sep 21st, 2011 | By

Forget Rick Perry. With all the attention the governor’s presidential run is getting, it is easy to overlook the crowded Republican race for the U.S. Senate and a growing number of legislative contests shaping up, including one in West Texas. Let’s start with the one for the U.S. Senate seat Kay Bailey Hutchison is vacating
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GUEST COLUMN: America’s Mark Twain conservatives

Sep 21st, 2011 | By

 Attempting to categorize conservatism in the 21st century runs the risk of plunging into the briar patch of academic labeling or the fever swamp of left-wing vitriol. In the first category, one finds such designations as conservatism, neo-conservatism and paleo-conservatism, while those things liberals say about conservatives may be relegated to the realm of overheated
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