Commentary

By  Pete Abington (Various Newsworthy Articles and My Opinion

The governor has set February 19th to begin a special legislative session. Our state faces a $1 billion shortfall in its 2018-19 budget, beginning July 1s,, after about $1.4 billion in temporary taxes expire on June 30th. Two hundred million will reduce the shortfall because of the federal tax changes that will help state revenue.

This leaves seven hundred to eight million dollar shortfall. Of course, the government wants to close the gap with about $1 billion in permanent taxes. The GOP lead house is leading the resistance. This is not necessarily true in the Senate. The big discussions will be what we are going to let the governor cut in expenditures, or if hes cuts things he should not and what will we tolerate that will continue our tax dollars to be spent for non-state expenses

Ny donna smith ammons

A get-away from the sadness and stress of losing Mother in January was just what I needed….and hubby-dear saw that a trip to Wilmington, North Carolina would be healing. My youngest son, Paul and his wife had moved to the beach town, where Paul became the new Chief Financial Officer of a behavorial center. In fact, they left from the funeral headed to their new home. A long Christmas weekend in Zachary preceded my flight out of Baton Rouge on a Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, I was nervous. I had not traveled along in a number of years.

By donna smith ammons

Christmas in Zachary with the grandchildren—Riley Kate, Braeden and Darby—finally arrived the last weekend in January. Talk about stretching out the holidays!!

Although I did very little decorating, except for my traditional memory tree, Christmas came and went pretty quickly. s

For the past month, I have kept my tree lit and decorated. Lots of presents have been tucked under the tree in anticipation of Christmas with the grandkids.

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By Pete Abington

The SARC has been forced to make some necessary temporary changes. Recently they have been the victim of sabotage, which resulted in a fire. Much of the facility was destroyed and they have taken the necessary steps to keep everything going as good as possible plus to reconstruct the damages. Under the leadership of the Executive Director Wayne Martinez and his staff of Roderick Davis, Tim Goodwin, Marie Montgomery and Janis Edwards, along with a dedicated board and employees, they hit the ground running getting things back to order. They have temporarily had to move their main office to Main Street, right across from Sonic Drive In and run the day care center from 545 San Antonio Avenue next to the Boyens Hardware. The car care center is back running full blast as it did not actually incur any major damages.

By donna smith ammons

What can you say--but a sincere thank you--to people who have gone out of their way to do something very meaningful in your life.

In the past year, three very special people have visited Arlington National Cemetery and gone to the grave of my father for me. These visits are very special to me because of many reasons.

Last year, Mr. G and his wife, Laurie, took time out from their visit to the nation’s capital to visit Daddy’s grave. Words cannot express my gratitude to these special friends. Not only did they visit, but they placed a colorful bouquet of flowers on his grave. This kind act speaks volumes to me! And just recently I received pictures of their visit. Thank you, dear friends. This is so special to me because I worked at The Sabine Index for Mr. G for almost 40 years. Not only did he support me and shared in my sorrow then, but he still remembers that hard time in my life, where he stood strong for me during my sorrow.

By Pete Abington

One easy answer about anyimmigrant remaining in the United States is simply for them to obtain citizenship. It really is quite easy and then we would all be playing by the same rules. With a few exceptions, first you must obtain a green card before you become eligible for citizenship. You must meet a few more requirements such as the length of time you spent in the U.S. as a green card holder, your moral character, your ability to pass a test in English and on U.S. History and government, and more. It really is not hard and a lot of people do it.

You might not be able to get a citizenship eligibility right now because you can’t show good moral character - like you have committed a minor crime (though not a major one enough to make you de-portable) or you have broken your continuity by spending too long outside the United States. There might be a few more minor steps but you can talk to the immigration authorities for full coverage.

DON’T QUIT

On November 9th, 2002, at Common Wells Stadium, LSU trailed Kentucky 30-27, with only two seconds left to play. The Tigers were at their own 25 and Kentucky was really celebrating. LSU had time for one desperation pass. LSU Quarterback Marcus Randall reared back and let the football fly, with all the arm strength he had. The ball sailed 68 yards and came down in “a blur of blue, white, gold colors”. A Wildcat safety got a finger on it, a linebacker also touched it, and a quarterback tipped it. The fourth and final player to touch the ball was LSU wide receiver Bevery Henderson. He snatched it out of the air at the 18 yard line, jiggled the ball several steps and then ran through an attempted tackle and into the end zone as time ran out. Henderson stated, “we practice that play every week, but it never works.”

By donna smith ammons

“Congratulations!!” (In a cheery voice) “You’ve won a Caribbean cruise.”

“You’ve been selected to receive a free iPhone 8 Plus!”“

Great news. You are now eligible for a new insurance plan. ”

“This is a call about your credit card. While there is no problem now, we thought you’d be interested in reducing your debt.”

And the calls go on and on. Makes me not want to answer my phone.

Last week I received a call about paying off my student loans. I didn’t have any student loans and it’s been 45 years since I finished at Ole Miss.

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