Commentary

When we hear the word ‘faith’ we usually think of religious faith but faith is actually much more than that. Faith is present in our lives every day and we usually don’t think about it.

Faith is the belief in something that you can’t prove or don’t understand. When you’re driving down the highway at sixty miles an hour and another car is going the other way at sixty miles an hour and you’re only separated by lines painted on the road it’s not the lines that keep you from a head on collision - it’s faith. You have faith that the other driver will stay on his side of the road and he has faith that you will do the same. You don’t know what the other guy’s thinking and don’t know what he’ll do but you have faith that he will stay on his side of the road.

Readers of your newspaper should find extra value in reading your paper (Editor, please fill in here “next week” or actual day or date) when the State Treasurer’s Office will publish the names of individuals for whom we received new, unclaimed property money in the preceding year.

The State Treasurer’s Office is holding more than $900 million in unclaimed funds for current and former Louisiana residents. We are responsible for getting this money back into the hands of citizens to whom it belongs. Whether it was 10 days ago, or 10 years ago, this is their money and we will hold it for them until they claim it.

Common examples of unclaimed property include unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts, uncashed payroll checks, stock dividends and utility deposit refunds. When checks are not cashed or accounts go dormant, and the company is unable to locate the owner, the funds are sent to the Treasury for safekeeping.

INSTANCE OF A SHOCK

I was invited to a very nice home the other night in Shreveport and I was shocked to hear the owner of the house say that they thought it was terrible the way the governor of Florida has done the immigrants by sending them to Martha’s Vineyard. Thee said it’s so cruel. I briefly mentioned the fact they crossed the border illegally and should not even be here, but I could tell I ‘getting anywhere. I got up and left the room for a minute and I looked around and all I could see was MSNBC on their television. These people have no idea the real facts about what is going on in the United States. I challenge this in most cases. ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC - you name it - are not going to broadcast anything negative about the Biden Administration. Our only source of getting the facts is FOX, or One America News and Newsmax.

All I can say to one and all, you had better learn the whole story because this country is hanging on by a strap.

by Pete Abington

( Newsworthy Articles and My Opinion)

THE TIMES WE’RE IN

It was reported that just three years ago (2019) the United States spent $60 billion on food stamps. This year, more than $220 billion will be spent - that is double the amount. The president keeps calling for more money to be spent, even though he spends money for reasons other than taking care of people who are suffering from hunger. His solution seems to be just spend more money. The federal budget has caused inflation which makes it harder for people to buy food. It’s too expensive. He then offers more free food which will ignite even higher inflation.

It’s mind numbing to even consider that Satan actually believed that it was possible for him as a created being to dethrone the Creator while his entire existence was totally dependent on the Creator! He didn’t ask to be created, but God the Creator in His sovereign will has chosen to bring him into existence. His existence was nothing more than a privilege granted to him. What he failed to realize is that the same creative power that created him could have annihilated him in a twinkling of the eye. People often say that Satan is extremely intelligent, which is true to a large extent, but the way we should look at it is that he’s very intelligent in the area of deception and self-delusion. On the other hand, when it comes to common sense, he’s a very stupid, irrational, foolish being. We know this because there’s no way he could think, being a created being, that he can overthrow an all-knowing Creator We know that Satan was kicked out of heaven because of envy, pride, arrogance.

Letter to the Editor: I am thankful for this opportunity to be able to express an opinion concerning the upcoming proposition for renewal of the library tax once again in Sabine Parish on 8 November. This happens every ten years for the “purpose of the administration, improvement, operation, maintenance, and support of the Sabine Parish Library and its branches, including the costs of any capital improvements.”

It seems the library system in our parish often receives criticism from some and finds itself at the low end of priorities; much of this could be blamed on the library itself. Librarians seem to be the type of folks who unselfishly do their jobs, do them well, and expect nothing in return. It’s time for the rest of us to stand up in support of our parish libraries. This is not a new tax, as I’m told it began in Sabine Parish back in 1933.

Ask Rusty – Octogenarian Asks About Wife’s Spousal and Survivor Benefits Dear Rusty: I am now 80 and my wife is 76, and we both took early Social Security benefits at age 62. When my wife took her Social Security, it was a lot smaller than mine, so they took a portion of mine and added it to hers. How does that work? Also, when I die, will my wife get all of mine or just a percentage? Signed: Curious Senior Dear Curious: Social Security’s standard process is to pay a beneficiary’s personally earned retirement benefit first, and then add an additional amount as necessary to bring the payment up to what they are entitled to as a spouse, or as a surviving spouse. So, in your wife’s case, she is now (while you are both living) receiving her own earned Social Security benefit plus a “spousal boost” to make her payment equal what she’s due as your spouse.

Dear Editor and Sabine Parish Residents: I am writing this letter to ask for your “YES” vote for the library renewal tax.

The library is a valued asset to our parish!

As a young child, I vividly remember looking forward to the summer reading program.

All these years later, the reading program has expanded to bigger and better and offers so much for the youth in our parish.

Even though we are in the year of 2022, we still have many families that can not afford the opportunities the library offers.

As adults, we model what is important in life. Books, technology, and creating avid readers are some of the most beneficial tools we can offer the youth and citizens of our parish. Reading is an important foundation!

Joy and I spent several years looking for a place to retire. We looked all over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana before we decided to buy our home on the lake in Sabine Parish. We moved here in 2017 and have been full time residents for the last five years.

We moved from a good neighborhood in Flower Mound, Texas which is just north of DFW airport in the DFW metroplex. Since I’ve been here I’ve noticed a few differences, here are some: In Dallas my next door neighbor had her pool pump stolen in broad daylight. In Sabine Parish my next door neighbor doesn’t even close his garage door.

In Dallas I spent a lot of time in traffic jams. In Sabine Parish the traffic jam is when ten cars wait at the four way stop in hwy 6.

In Dallas my property tax was about $4000 a year. In Sabine parish its about ¼ of that.

In Dallas I didn’t know most of my neighbors. In Sabine Parish I’ve had dinner with most of my neighbors.

How I single handedly terrified the Sabine Parish Police Jury so badly that they had to institute a gag rule

Ok so it wasn’t EXACTLY single handedly, some others said the same or similar things in comments at several Police Jury meetings. But anyway… A few months back the road I drive down (Pilcher Road) was partially milled by the road crew. They left and after nothing happened for three weeks I phoned the Road Supervisor and was told there was no money to blacktop the road and there might not be money for a year or more, possibly several years.

When I asked why they would do something like that without a plan to finish the work I was told, “Well that’s just the way we do things around here.”