Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants to take full credit for the recent capture of notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero. But the signs point to some degree of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican governments. At any rate, we welcome Caro Quintero’s arrest and other recent developments as evidence that the U.S. and Mexico are taking steps to mend their relationship despite what López Obrador’s rhetoric suggests. Caro Quintero is no average drug lord. He served 28 years in prison for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of U.S...
Easier to vote and harder to cheat: that was the refrain Texas heard from Republican state lawmakers when they passed their sweeping election bill last year. Yet for some of the state’s most vulnerable voters, casting a ballot in the 2022 primary election has been anything but easy, and state officials are to blame. In Texas, only citizens age 65 or older and disabled or absentee voters in certain circumstances are allowed to vote by mail. One of the new requirements this year is that citizens who vote by mail provide an identification n...
We’d like to thank Texas Republican state Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth for launching an inquiry into the books lining the shelves of public schools across Texas. No, really. Thank you. Sometimes we forget what it’s like to be a kid, driven by a bubbling curiosity and that indomitable impulse to do the opposite of what adults say. What more ingenious way to persuade students to read than to type up a 16-page list of books and tell schools that those titles are being investigated? It’s a clever move. We expect hundreds if not thousands of te...
Journalism is a high calling. We’re not too meek to proclaim that. And our profession’s current chapter of disruption and misinformation hasn’t changed that truth. That’s why we’re celebrating journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for the courageous work that brought them a Nobel Peace Prize. Announcing the prize on Oct. 8, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen praised the journalists “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Ressa, 58, is founder of...
Thoughtful news consumers might have read last month’s announcement of an audit of the 2020 election results in four Texas counties and pondered its purpose. Why would former President Donald Trump call for such an audit after losing badly in almost 100 previous recounts, audits and lawsuits aimed at finding widespread voter fraud? Why would he make such a play in Texas, a state he won? What’s the endgame here? Serious conservatives who are willing to put principle before politics — people like Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley — know this au...
Last week, the family of Texas firefighter Elijah Snow paid their last respects, still unsure of exactly how he died in Cancun, Mexico. After receiving conflicting reports, they are understandably concerned about whether justice is being served, in addition to grieving the loss of a husband, father, son and colleague. Sadly, that murkiness is not uncommon in tragic cases that cross the border. Dozens of Americans die or go missing in Mexico every year, and their families are often left in limbo, with no one on the case. The State Department...
In 2012, Pew Research asked 1,008 Americans to describe then-Vice President Joe Biden in one word. The responses ranged from “Good,” the most common answer, to “Goofy.” But almost five months into his tenure, the word that perhaps most accurately describes him as president is “Shortsighted.” Time after time, Biden has been caught short by consequences of his policies that should have been obvious. Biden should have been able to foresee, for instance, that he would face a crisis at the border in his first year in office. There were already sta...
Texas has a lot to celebrate when it comes to growth and prosperity, and we can now add to that celebration the number two, as in two additional congressional seats that the state picked up in the 2020 census. Texas is entitled to the seats because we continue to add new residents to our state, either through birth or through their decision to come to their senses and get here as fast as they could. It’s a testament to reality that people and businesses want to be here. But as we perused the national press, we found more than one story that c...
Earlier this year, South African-born comedian Trevor Noah hit at the heart of a serious problem hurting America right now. “Nuance doesn’t sell as well in America,” Noah said in an interview with CBS. “Nuance means you can’t just take a stand and fight the other person. Nuance means we have to talk a little bit more. And until the American political system can find a way to represent the nuance that exists within America, you are going to create this false impression that there is This or That.” In a nation sharply divided by ideology, i...
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has called for an investigation into why the Federal Aviation Administration certified the Boeing 737 Max and whether the agency is getting too close to the corporations it regulates. The Texas Republican is right. After two of the new 737 Max airplanes crashed, aviation regulators around the world grounded the planes. The FAA took longer to do so, and Cruz said at a speech to the Texas Lyceum that’s a concern. Cruz held hearings on the state of aviation safety in his role as chairman of the Senate subcommittee on aviation a...