Columns

CANTON HERALD-July 7, 1960:

Supreme Court strikes down major changes to abortion law

AUSTIN — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 struck down parts of the state abortion law that Texas lawmakers revised and passed in 2013.

The law’s provision that physicians providing abortions must have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital and the provision that abortion facilities must meet minimum standards for ambulatory surgical centers are in violation of the Constitution, the court said in a 5-3 ruling.

Justice Stephen Breyer, author of the court’s majority opinion, wrote, “We conclude that neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes.”

This question we will one day face

This question is asked daily

What is our answer

It is ask the human race.

If your soul could be traded

Just what would you take

Would it be from wealth and fortune

Or choose Jesus, your life to make?

When we think of riches

And the pleasures of life

And the things our Lord calls sin

Will we compare them to the joy of Heaven

That last forever no end.

If we don’t love Jesus for dying for us

We won’t have anything worth while

We will now live forever in Heaven

Or below, never to experience God’s smile.

But to give all for Jesus.

Brings forth a feeling so grand

And to love for ever

In God’s Holy hand.

LB-2016

As summer arrives in Texas, children will be spending more time outdoors and the danger of children being left alone in and around cars increases. When we think of children left alone in cars, our first thought is the danger of children dying in hot cars due to heatstroke. In addition to heat risks, there are other safety concerns with unsupervised children around cars, including back-overs, the risk of children releasing the gear shift or engaging electric windows, and even becoming trapped inside vehicles or trunks. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, approximately 39 percent of back-over deaths occurred at home in the driveway, an apartment parking lot, or in a townhome complex. Drivers involved in back-over and front-over deaths are often family members or family friends of the child.

Abracadabra! Presto! Voila! If you come Friday, July 8 to the VZC Library Summer Reading Program, Todd McKinney might utter some of these phrases as he performs feats of magic. Children ages 3 to 12, can show up by 10 a.m., get a ticket for the prize drawing, sit down in cool comfort and enjoy! There's room for parents and younger children also.

In addition, on the same day members for the Canton Lions Club will be in the library with their Spot Vision machine.

To a non-technical observer this could also be classified as magic! This machine is held like a camera as it focuses in on the eyes. After it takes the “picture” in just a few seconds a report is printed advising that the eyes are fine or the person needs to see an eye professional for further evaluation. This is especially good for younger children who can't verbalize what they are seeing or don't realize what they can't see well.

Supreme Court affirms 5th Circuit in immigration case

AUSTIN — The deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court on June 23 in effect affirmed a judgment that the Obama administration’s use of deferred action in implementing immigration policy violates the United States Constitution.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier ruled it was a presidential overreach to implement an immigration policy not approved by Congress. The Supreme Court’s 4-4 tie vote leaves that ruling in effect.

Gov. Greg Abbott welcomed the outcome. “The action taken by the president was an unauthorized abuse of presidential power that trampled the Constitution and the Supreme Court rightly denied the president the ability to grant amnesty contrary to immigration laws,” Abbott said.

CANTON HERALD-June 30, 1960:  Funeral services for Sarah Catherine Whitton were held Friday, June 24, at Elm Gove Church.

Mrs. Whitton was born on March 19, 1871, in Van Zandt County and passed away at her own in Whitton on Thursday, June 23.

Her husband, Eli Whitton, preceded her in death two years ago.

Interment was in Elm Grove Cemetery under the direction of you Eubank Bros. Funeral Home.

If you have visited the courthouse during the past few weeks it makes you wonder why it isn’t air-conditioned. The comfort of too many people is involved in the span of a year for the county seat not to be air-conditioned.

If you find any mistakes in the news column this week, you can blame it on our number 2 daughter, Jeanne, who has been filling and with the Herald staff this week as proof reader. She has been quite a help to us… In spite of her many mistakes.

Why be healthy

To be or not to be? That is the question. As a speech major in college I met a bunch of theater majors and some turned out to be famous. They warmed up in class asking Shakespeare’s famous question over and over. It never made sense to me, but it did to them.

I was fat from the time I was a little kid. I ate six donuts at a setting and ordering at least three hot dogs at a time was a way of life. Diets were a yearly ritual from high school on. The two years in the army took me from 230 down to 180. I was deprived of what I wanted to eat and ate and drank what they told me to eat and drink. The army also had morning exercise. YUCKO. I had no choice.

The last time a tornado got near Canton, I tried to phone my kids on a cell phone. All the circuits were busy with other people trying to phone their kids.

I texted the kids on my cell phone. Despite circuits being busy, the texts went through in a couple minutes. Don’t know how to text? Ask a kid to teach you. It could save your life.

I thought – what if the tornado had taken down the electrical grid? If it went down, the cell phone towers would be running on batteries. When they went dead, my cell phone would be useless.

The U.S. Government could also disable the cell phone towers and shut off all cell phone service if they thought terrorists were involved in an emergency. If the cell phones go dead, what else is available?