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The Sealy News is posing the following question to our readers:
Are you excited about this years presidential election? • Big Trump Fan • Love Hilary! • Hit the reset button and start over.
Last week’s question was:
Does President Barack Obama’s and predecessor George W. Bush’s speeches on July 12 represent a turning point in race and police relations? • Yes: 30% • No: 60% • Undecided: 10% Number of votes: 10 Log on to www.sealynews.com to let your voice be heard. We will bring you the results of this poll and a new question every Thursday.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz B40B Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-5922 U.S. Senator John Cornyn 517 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-2934 U.S. Representative, Dist. 10 Michael McCaul, 2000 S. Market St., Ste. 303 Brenham, Texas 77833 (979) 830-8497 Texas Governor Greg Abbott P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 (512) 463-2000 State Senator, Dist. 18 Lois Kolkhorst P.O. Box 1867 Brenham, Texas 77834 (979) 251-7888 State Representative, Dist. 13 Leighton Schubert P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768 (512) 463-0600 Austin County Judge Tim Lapham 1 East Main Bellville, Texas 77418 (979) 865-5911
County Commissioner, Precinct 1 Reese Turner One East Main Street Bellville, Texas 77418 Barn - (979) 865-2126 County Commissioner, Precinct 2 Robert "Bobby" Rinn P.O. Box 275 Industry, TX 78944 Barn - (979) 357-4780 Office- (979) 357-4785 County Commissioner, Precinct 3 Randy Reichardt 166 Jefferson Cat Spring, TX 78933 Barn - (979) 865-5441 County Commissioner, Precinct 4 Douglas King P.O. Box 754 Wallis, TX 77485 Barn - (979) 885-3829 Office - (979) 478-7121 Sealy City Manager Larry Kuciemba 415 Main Street Sealy, Texas 77474 (979) 885-3511 Sealy ISD Superintendent Sheryl Moore 939 Tiger Lane, Sealy, Texas 77474 (979) 885-3516
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■ READER SERVICES Main number (979) 885-3562 Fax (979) 885-3564 Mailing address: P.O. Box 480, Sealy, Texas 77474 Known office of publication 193 Schmidt Rd., Sealy, Texas 77474 The Sealy News is a weekly publication distributed on Thursdays. ■ STAFF DIRECTORY Publisher, Karen Lopez publisher@sealynews.com Managing Editor, Shawn Larson editor@sealynews.com Bookkeeper, Sandy Davis classifieds@sealynews.com Reporter, Jason B. Hogan reporter@sealynews.com Advertising, Alex Sanders sales@sealynews.com Circulation, Sandra Weeber ■ DEADLINES The deadline for editorial submissions is Monday at noon for the Thursday edition. Retail and Classified display deadlines are Friday at noon for the Thursday edition. The deadline for classified word ads is noon on Monday for the Thursday edition. ■ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Sealy News publishes letters to the editor on most topics. Send your letters to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 480, Sealy, TX 77474, email to editor@sealynews.com or fax 979885-3564 by 5 p.m. Friday for the Thursday edition. Letters should be hand signed and include the writer’s
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Appellate court strikes down Texas voter ID law AUSTIN — Texas’ voter photo identification law is racially discriminatory, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled July 20. In striking down the law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, the Fifth Circuit said it disproportionately and negatively affects African-American and Hispanic citizens’ right to vote. Gov. Greg Abbott decried the ruling in Veasey et al. v. Abbott et al., saying: “The Fifth Circuit ... wrongly concluded the law had a discriminatory effect. Voter fraud is real and it undermines the integrity of the election process.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also reacted, saying: “Preventing voter fraud is essential to accurately reflecting the will of Texas voters during elections and it is unfortunate that this common-sense law, providing protections against fraud, was not upheld in its entirety.” SB 14 required voters to present government-issued photo identification when voting at the polls. Acceptable forms of photo ID, as specified in the legislation, included: Texas driver license, Texas election identification certificate, Texas personal ID card, Texas concealed handgun license, U.S. military ID card, U.S. citizenship certificate and U.S. passport. Prior to the implementation of SB 14, a Texas voter could cast a ballot in person by presenting a registration certificate, a document mailed to voters upon registration. The Fifth Circuit sent the case back to the federal district court in Corpus Christi and ordered the court to find an “appropriate
remedy” to the discriminatory effects of SB 14 in time for the impending general election in November. Abbott proposes legislation Gov. Abbott on July 18 asked the Texas Legislature to pass the Police Protection Act in the 2017 session commencing in January. “At a time when law enforcement officers increasingly come under assault simply because of the job they hold, Texas must send a resolute message that the state will stand by the men and women who serve and protect our communities,” Abbott said in proposing the legislation. Abbott said that if enacted, the Police Protection Act would: – Extend hate crime protections to law enforcement officers; – Increase criminal penalties for any crime in which the victim is a law enforcement officer, whether or not the crime qualifies as a hate crime; and – Create a culture of respect for law enforcement by organizing a campaign to educate young Texans on the value law enforcement officers bring to their communities. “The recent (July 7) shooting in Dallas is not the first time law enforcement officers in Texas have been targeted. Our goal is to do everything possible to make it the last,” added Abbott. Court blocks haze rule The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on July 19 ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency’s “regional haze” air pollution abatement rule. The rule, Attorney General Paxton said, would have imposed $2 billion in costs “without
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achieving any visibility changes in the time period included in the Federal Implementation Plan.” Those costs, Paxton added, included “costly, unnecessary upgrades.” Sales tax holiday is set Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on July 18 promoted the state’s Aug. 5-7 sales tax holiday, during which shoppers will save an estimated $92 million in state and local sales taxes. The law providing for the annual tax holiday exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced below $100 from sales tax, saving shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend over that weekend. Lists of apparel and school supplies that may be purchased tax-free can be found at TexasTaxHoliday.org. Texas adds jobs in June Texas added an estimated 171,100 seasonally adjusted jobs over the past year with the addition of 7,200 nonfarm jobs in June, the Texas Workforce Commission announced on July 22. Also, Texas has added jobs in 14 of the last 15 months, and, while the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.5 percent in June, up slightly from 4.4 percent in May, it remained below the national average of 4.9 percent.
GuestColumn
Creating a conversation There’s still a social stigma that African-Americans generally come from broken homes and haven’t been raised properly on how to interact responsibly. They are social deviants. I’ve heard many lately say they’ve never heard of “the talk” taught by minorities, a tool passed on from generation to generation that really stems back to the days of slavery and how to survive on a new master’s plantation. Now plantation has exchanged itself for neighborhood and, even worse, master has been replaced by police officer. I can hear those saying that’s an unfair and unjust interpretation and I might tend to agree after typing that. But there are others who would say that I called it spot on. There’s a right and wrong way to go about approaching a police officer during a traffic stop. It’s been ingrained. One way might get you a citation or night in jail and the other could get you shot. That may be sobering and implausible for some. It’s a farfetched reality that could be defused by responding respectfully and adhering to an officer’s direction. I thought the same thing until eight years ago around the age of 26 when I was wrongfully accused of illicit activities and manhandled in my backyard on the eastside of San Antonio without probable cause while returning home from work at 3 a.m. If you live in certain neighborhoods, you have to return home at a decent hour
like a curfew or be subjected to search. It’s flabbergasting to accept that such a thing as a talk is in place as a teaching mechanism, and whether it’s at all necessary. History judges individuals, and cultures, based on inescapable past perceptions. Perceptions are dangerous nuggets that end relationships or can get people killed. That’s a concept that must be accepted before any real change can be had. We were all enamored and naïve to believe one man’s political platform and racial makeup harkened any real difference in society when President Barack Obama sought the top office in 2006 offering impactful change. It’s taboo to admit racism still exists. We’re better than that. Times have changed. We’ve changed. Have we, or do those thoughts get locked away when among our counterparts? Or are our real intentions and beliefs disguised and tucked away into comedy routines? Most political and social pundits have sparked the need for talks between communities and those that swear to serve and protect them. As they have said, it starts with admitting there is still a problem. It may not be purely racial discrimination but class based. Maybe law enforcement does have to access dangers in some communities different than others because some people’s homes are bedrocks for criminal
JASON B. HOGAN Staff Reporter
upbringing, though not everyone who lives there is the enemy. They are imprisoned by financial shortcomings that are not entirely their own doing. And not to fully blame the educational, financial and prison systems, but there is something sick and sinister about a rule that keeps some of its citizens impoverished through the mind, body and soul. Choices become minimal when faced with your family’s continued survival, even though that doesn’t make something illegal right. Let’s not forget police forces do not bear the sole burden for neighborhood breakdowns. That would be impractical. They are men and women who serve to make their towns, cities, states and country better for their families and for all. Their purpose isn’t ruination. They want to go home like the rest of us after a long day at work. Conversations cannot only be driven nationally. Those talks have to start at home in our communities. They must take place among families, schools and parent-teacher associations, and through local town halls. We must understand each other.
Texas Attorney General Responds to Fifth Circuit Ruling on Voter ID Attorney General Ken Paxton released the following statement on today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on the Voter ID law: “It is imperative that the State government safeguards our elections and ensures the integrity of our democratic process. Preventing voter fraud is
essential to accurately reflecting the will of Texas voters during elections, and it is unfortunate that this common-sense law, providing protections against fraud, was not upheld in its entirety.” The Texas Legislature enacted the voter ID law in 2011 through Senate Bill 14 (SB14), requiring voters to present gov-
ernment-issued photo ID when voting at the polls. The seven acceptable forms of photo ID included the following: a Texas Driver’s license, free Texas election identification certificate (EIC), Texas personal ID card, Texas license to carry a concealed handgun, U.S. military ID card, U.S. citizenship certificate, and U.S. passport.