Opinions

letters policy

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The Dispatch Record encourages letters from readers. Letters should be to the point, typed if possible, and signed.

Fond memories of the Chestnut Street Bridge

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A few weeks ago on the news, I heard about the famous Suspension Bridge in Waco, Texas that has been restored and is now in use. That reminded me of the old Chestnut Street Bridge in Lampasas.

Disinformation operation against the Supreme Court

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The past five weeks has seen a flurry of media activity, clearly coordinated, against the right-of-center U.S. Supreme Court. First, the outlet ProPublica began publishing a series of pieces “exposing” the well-known fact of Justice Clarence Thomas’ long-running friendship with billionaire real estate tycoon Harlan Crow, and alleging ethical improprieties pertaining to the justice’s purported failure to disclose certain information.

Answers needed on immigration crisis

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Unless they live in border states, most Americans seem oblivious to the immigration crisis in the country. While we’ve always had people crossing the border illegally, the Biden administration’s lax policies on immigration have permitted the daily dribble of migrant crossings to become a tsunami.

Thoughts on the death of my dog

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We cannot equate animals with humans. As much as we love our dogs -- a love that is genuine and deep -- we know we can get another dog, but we can never get another human being after the loss of a child or loved one.

Drought

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Last year was a tough one. We were in a drought.

The fentanyl trail: China to Mexico to American mortuaries

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It starts in China, runs through Mexico and ends in mortuaries all across America. This is the fentanyl trail -- that, so far, our government has failed to block. In 2003, according to the National Institutes of Health, 1,400 Americans died by overdosing on what that agency calls “synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl).” By 2008, President George W. Bush’s last full year in office, that death count had climbed to 2,306. By 2016, President Barack Obama’s last full year, it had climbed to 19,413. By 2020, President Donald Trump’s last full year, it had climbed to 56,516. In 2021, President Joe Biden’s first year in office, it climbed again to 70,601. In the first half of 2022, fatal fentanyl overdoses continued to rise in the United States. “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl-related substances) may have resulted in almost 73,000 overdose deaths between July 2021 and June 2022,” the Congressional Research Service stated in a report it published on Dec. 8, 2022.

Destructive policies damage our nation

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An obsession with a distorted sense of “compassion” is strangling our national debate on the most important issues of our time and contributing to the ongoing deterioration of the country. Leftist activists and politicians love to appeal to people’s “compassion” in support of policies with demonstrably destructive results, and we must stop being taken in by this deceit if we are to have any hope of repairing our damaged nation.