Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
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| El Paso Electric Company officials wth Mayor Flanagan this week when they worked out details to provide Van Horn with an emergency generator for use during power outages. They are (L to R) Mayor Flanagan, Kerry Lore, Hector Puente, and Jaime Luna. (Photo courtesy of the Town of Van Horn) |
- Representatives from El Paso Electric Company, Kerry Lore, Hector Puente and Jaime Luna, met with Mayor Ben Flanagan and Alderman Gilda Morales on Tuesday with the very welcome news that EPEC will be donating a diesel-powered generator for the Van Horn Convention Center in the next few months.
The automatic generator will provide power to the Convention Center in the event of a power outage so that our senior citizens and infirm will have a central location for them to stay cool or warm and run their medical equipment.
The donation will be a turn key operation with EPEC providing everything from the concrete slab to rewiring.
The idea for designating the Convention Center as a safe place for the elderly and infirm was the brainchild of Debbie Lorenz, who brought it to City Council, who then contacted EPEC with the idea.
Thank you, EPEC!
Column One
By Dawn Simpson
If you look inside this issue you will quickly see that the campaigning for the local March Primary election is in full swing. I am encouraged that some of those running are actually stating their qualifications and plans if elected. So many times in past elections (and we’ve watched these for 34 years here) people running can’t come up with much to say except, “Hey, Vote for me.” It is only when the candidates communicate to voters their reasons for seeking an office, and their qualifications for that office, that voters can make the best choice in electing people who will best serve them. Our county needs to move forward and we need to look real close to those asking for our vote in order to make informed decisions.
Contested elections are hard on this little town. We are such a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone. And in fact we consider most everyone a friend. So I pray that this election will not pit friends against friends and families against families. We need to remember that the election will pass and hopefully we will go back to being a close-knit town of friends and neighborhoods.
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“The People Have Spoken” are probably the most important four words in our democratic form of government. Well, the people of Massachusetts spoke loud and clear yesterday. If you are not a political news ‘junkie’ like I am you may not have been paying any attention to that election. It was a special election for the Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy. This is a very liberal Democratic state where only 12% of the registered voters are Republican, yet they elected Scott Brown, the Republican, with a 52% to 47% majority. With it being called ‘Kennedy’s seat’ or ‘a Democratic seat’, Brown let it be known that it was ‘the PEOPLES SEAT’.
So why did this election have national significance? Because Brown will now be the 41st Senator. This upset the balance of power that the Democrats had in the Senate and they do not now have a filibuster-proof majority. In the past few weeks, it became apparent that this was more than just an election to fill this seat. Many felt that it was a referendum on Health Care Reform, and that certainly played into it. However I believe, as do many, that it was more than that. It was a broader toxic mix of people being fed up with an arrogant Administration and Congress stuffing ‘big government’ down our throats. Brown ran a campaign on fiscal responsibility, limited government, and a strong national defense. And it took off like a wildfire. While Brown campaigned in his GM pickup, his opponent partied with the lobbyist in Washington. While she took contributions from those lobbyists to support her campaign, he had small donations, but amounting to millions, from supporters all over the US who shared his willingness to stand up to the big political machine now in power. Yes, much of his support and millions in contributions came from that ‘tiny fringe of radicals’ (according to many in Washington) called the Tea Party.
This was a stunning loss for the White House and Democrat-controlled Congress. And it should have been a wake-up-call to them to pull back and govern this country from the center, not the far left. I hope it was a wake-up-call to our Representative, Ciro Rodriguez. If not, I believe this election , even though it was in Massachusetts, will definitely impact the November 2010 elections.
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Thought for the Week.... “When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”
Thomas Jefferson
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
January 21st - Trustees of the Culberson County-Allamoore ISD will hold their regular meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at the District Administration Building. Officers, directors and interested friends of the Van Horn Community Christian Shelter will meet in special session today at 6:30 p.m. at the Shelter. Members of the Van Horn Volunteer Fire Department are slated to meet this evening at 7 P.M. at the Firehouse.
January 22nd - The Van Horn Eagle basketball teams (JV and varsity, girls and boys) are slated to play the Marfa Shorthorns today in Marfa beginning at 5 p.m.
January 23rd - Nothing scheduled at press time.
January 24th - Attend the church of your choice today.
January 25th - Members of the Van Horn Lions Club are scheduled to meet this evening at Mija’s Restaurant at 7 p.m.
January 26th - The Van Horn Rotary Club will meet today at noon at Chuy’s Restaurant. The Van Horn Eagle basketball teams (JV and varsity, girls and boys) are slated to play6 the Wink Wildcats here tonight beginning at 5 p.m.
January 27th - Nothing scheduled at press time.