Editor, the Advocate:

And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

It’s fashionable to gripe about polls, but they can expose voter sentiment and reveal, sometimes, why elected officials act the way they do.

Editor, the Advocate:

Editor, the Advocate:

If you grew up in a town with a unique name, there are likely many stories about how the name came to be. Also, you know the struggles of trying to explain them. If your town is small, few folks have heard of it and they have no idea where it is.

From June to July 2021 (the latest available data), the number of job openings was up 749,000 to 10.9 million, the highest level since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping such records in December 2000. The largest increases in available positions occurred in health care and s…

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

The following editorial published on Sept. 22 in the Dallas Morning News:

Victoria has long had a shortage of affordable housing.

This week, President Joe Biden attempted to inject life into his ailing presidency by dragging out of the closet the hoariest of political cliches: “fairness” in taxation. Touting his new $3.5 trillion tax and spending bill, which would radically increase corporate taxes, personal income tax…

Candidates for the 2022 elections are still popping up, but many of that election’s major issues are already being debated.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corrupti…

Road of Life

Editor, the Advocate:

Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress …

I never parted with a $20 bill faster.

It’s hard not to feel a buzz of anticipation when looking at the conceptual drawings of downtown Victoria in a recent briefing provided to City Council.

And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a pla…

Editor, the Advocate:

The state’s foster care system has been dangerous to children and embarrassing to the state for years. But with state officials constantly chasing other issues, it’s still suffering from neglect.

Editor, the Advocate:

The frustration was evident in my doctor’s voice. “Why won’t people listen, and why won’t they protect themselves and their families from the virus?” This doctor is not alone. His frustration is shared by countless others whose careers are dedicated to caring for patients. These folks care d…

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not …

Senior Moments

This is a catchphrase I use a lot. It is not our mission statement, but more like a slogan. It is easy to remember, captures our efforts across the spectrum of grades and courses, and allows us to ask the question, “are they?” This is a fair question. Can we really say more kids are learning…

And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusal…

The following editorial published in the Beaumont Enterprise on Sept. 17:

Editor, the Advocate:

Like almost any American over the age of 25, I vividly remember Sept. 11, 2001. The images of planes striking buildings and people fleeing in terror—and the resulting acts of heroism—are indelibly etched.

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Not every change in the state’s political maps starts with party affiliation. Geography and population are giving Republican mapmakers new headaches.

The following editorial published on Sept. 14 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

I recently filled in hosting a local Philadelphia talk show, which gave me the opportunity to interview Lt. Col. Jonathan P. Meyers, a retired Marine who’d recently written a memoir about his almost three decades in service, “American to the Corps.”

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of …

Strangers

Stroman Middle School and its students are hanging in the balance of the November election, but voters still lack the necessary information to weigh in.

Me: “Ever notice there aren’t any contestants our age on Wheel of Fortune?”

And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. An…

Editor, the Advocate:

The rings, and nose jewels,

If you’re like me, you enjoy few things more than a long, hot shower.

The Main Street movement that has taken hold in cities and towns across the country over the last few decades has shown that a community is only as healthy as its core — its downtown. Furthermore, a community’s downtown serves as its face to the rest of the world.

The state of Texas has figured out, at least for now, how to do unconstitutional things in a way that doesn’t raise a majority of the eyebrows in the U.S. Supreme Court.

It’s usually the state suing the feds, but now the federal government is suing Texas for outlawing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. There are more lawsuits between the state and federal governments to come.

Editor, the Advocate:

Editor, the Advocate: