Page 4 The Cameron Herald • www.cameronherald.com Thursday, January 30, 2020 VIEWPOINTS Abbott applauds White House approval of women’s health funding

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg not been renewed under the third-lowest rate at 2.4 able to take part in shaping Abbott said Jan. 22 that a the Obama administration percent. the direction of the Lone Star Trump administration deci- because Texas refused to State.” sion reestablishes the federal fund abortion providers or Paxton joins in brief As of this month, according USPS 086-920 partnership for the Women’s their affiliates.” Texas Attorney General to the Secretary of State’s Health Program in Texas. Planned Parenthood, the Ken Paxton on Jan. 22 Elections Division, there Central Texas’ Abbott issued a statement nation’s leading provider announced his joining 17 were 16,106,984 registered Oldest Newspaper Founded 1860 concerning the approval of and advocate of high- through the Healthy Texas other states in a friend-of- voters — a new state record. the 1115 Waiver for Healthy quality, affordable health Women program — a nearly the-court brief that argues for Information on how to Texas Women: care for women, men and 40 percent drop — than protecting fetuses with Down register to vote and the vot- The Cameron Herald “The Lone Star State is young people, had a differ- when Planned Parenthood Syndrome from abortion ing process, such as what P.O. Box 1230 once again in partnership ent view. The organization participated in the program. based on genetics. forms of identification may Cameron, Texas 76520 with the federal government posted a news release saying The brief, filed with the be presented when voting, is Phone: 254-697-6671 to provide meaningful family the Trump administration Jobless rate stays low Cincinnati-based U.S. Court available at votetexas.gov or Fax: 254-697-4902 planning and health services “rewarded Texas’s long- The Texas Workforce Com- of Appeals for the Sixth Cir- 1-800-252-VOTE. [email protected] while fostering a culture of standing effort to cut off mission on Jan. 24 reported cuit, seeks to reverse an Ohio www.cameronherald.com Safety training is held life. This collaboration is a people’s access to health that the seasonally adjusted federal district court ruling symbol of our commitment care. The administration Texas unemployment rate that “created a categorical The City of Austin, Travis to championing the lives of approved Texas’ request to right to abortion, regardless County and Joint Task Force The Cameron Herald (USPS was 3.5 percent in December, 086-920) is published weekly by Texas women. I am grateful implement a Medicaid family up one 10th of a percentage of whether the reason for an Civil Support from the U.S. to President Trump and his planning program that bars abortion is clearly based on Department of Defense con- Central Texas Publishing, LP, point from 3.4 percent in 108 E. First Street, Cameron, administration for approv- patients from accessing care November 2019. discrimination against a child ducted response training in Texas 76520. Periodical postage ing this waiver and for his at Planned Parenthood and Although the rate of unem- with disabilities,” Paxton said Austin last week for a fic- commitment to protecting other sexual and reproduc- ployment increased slightly, in a news release. tional nuclear incident. paid at Cameron, Texas 76520. the unborn while provid- tive health care providers that Texas did add 29,800 jobs As many as 1,000 Depart- ANNUAL Registration is urged ing much-needed health also provide abortion. This over the month. TWC Chair- ment of Defense personnel, SUBSCRIPTION RATE: resources to Texas women.” is the first time the federal man and Commissioner Texas Secretary of State 50 City of Austin and 10 Tra- $37 per year in Milam County According to the gover- government has allowed Representing the Public Ruth Hughs, the state’s chief vis County staff participated $42 per year out-of-county nor’s office, “Healthy Texas a state to explicitly waive Bryan Daniel said, “Our cur- election officer, on Jan. 23 in the training. $48 per year out of state Women offers family plan- Medicaid’s free choice of rent economic climate creates reminded Texans to make Juan Ortiz, director for ning and women’s health provider for family planning opportunities for our skilled necessary preparations to the City of Austin Office POSTMASTER: Send address services to Texas women provision. This move upends workforce and success for vote in the upcoming March of Homeland Security and changes to The Cameron Herald. who earn less than 200% of longstanding federal law and employers. We look forward 3 party primaries. Emergency Management, P.O. Box 1230, Cameron, Texas the federal poverty limit. In sets a dangerous precedent Feb. 3 is the registration said, “We want to build the to continued growth in our 76520-1230. 2018, HTW served approxi- for other states to pursue great state throughout 2020.” deadline. relationship with the armed mately 173,000 Texans. similar state-level measures, “Being prepared is essential forces to ensure we are pre- Regionally, the Midland PUBLISHER While this program is cur- with grim consequences Metropolitan Statistical Area for Texans seeking to make pared to respond and work rently funded with state for health care access their voices heard,” said together as efficiently as Lindsey vaculin recorded the lowest unem- [email protected] general revenue, Texas nationwide.” ployment rate among Texas Hughs. “In addition to regis- possible in the event of a submitted a Medicaid 1115 Data from the Austin-based MSAs in December with a tering to vote, Texans should disaster.” waiver application after Center for Public Policy set aside time to ensure that Events related to the non-seasonally adjusted rate BUSINESS MANAGER President Trump took office, Priorities estimates that of 2.1 percent, followed by they have made the necessary exercise in Austin were con- requesting federal match- nearly 45,000 fewer women preparations to cast their bal- ducted in Killeen and Fort clydell seaton the Amarillo MSA at 2.3 and [email protected] ing funds for the program. received birth control, cancer Austin-Round Rock with lot. Together, we will ensure Hood last week and contin- The waiver had previously screening and other services that all eligible Texans are ued into the current week. ADVERTISING DEBORAH HAIL [email protected] DISTRIBUTION Updated property tax information now available for Milam taxpayers JOE REYES CONTRIBUTING WRITERS WANDA LEE, New and updated property tax confidence that we will provide you spouses. The exemption amount is transit in warehouses that are moved BERTIE SHUEMATE, information has just been compiled the most complete, accurate and up- determined according to percent- within 175 days; construct, install or MARIE BAKKEN, by Milam Appraisal District and to-date available information to assist age of service-connected disability. acquire pollution control property; BARTEE HAILE is available now to assist taxpay- you.” The law also provides a 100 percent own and operate energy storage sys- ers. This property tax information This includes information about the homestead exemption for 100 percent tems; convert landfill-generated gas; is current and covers a wide range following programs. disabled veterans and their surviving or store offshore drilling equipment Deadlines for submitted copy: of topics, such as taxpayer remedies, • Property Tax Exemptions for spouses and for surviving spouses of while not in use may also be eligible ■ Weddings and Engage- exemptions and appraisals, and has Disabled Veterans – The law pro- U.S. armed service members killed in for statutory exemptions. ments, 5 p.m. Friday information for select groups, such vides partial exemptions for any action. • Rendering Taxable Property – If ■ All other news items, 5 p.m. as disabled veterans and persons who property owned by disabled veterans • Property Tax Exemptions – a business owns tangible personal Monday. are age 65 and older. or surviving spouses and surviving Non-profit organizations that meet property that is used to produce ■ Classified ads and all other “Whether you are a homeowner, children of deceased disabled vet- statutory requirements may seek income, the business must file a advertising, 5 p.m. Monday. business owner, disabled veteran or erans. Another partial exemption is property tax exemptions and must rendition with its local appraisal taxpayer, it’s important you know for homesteads donated to disabled apply to their appraisal district by a district by a specified date. Personal Please note: Because of space your rights concerning the property veterans by charitable organizations specific date. Businesses that receive property includes inventory and and time constraints, simply making tax laws,” said Dyann White, Chief at no cost or not more than 50 per- tax abatements granted by taxing equipment used by a business. Own- the deadline for news items does Appraiser of the Milam Appraisal cent of the good faith estimate of units; ship inventory out of Texas ers do not have to render exempt not insure it will be in that week. District. “You can contact us about the homestead’s market value to the that may be eligible for the freeport Precedence is given to the timeli- any property tax issues with full disabled veterans and their surviving exemption; store certain goods in See TAX Page 5 ness of the article, then to the order it was brought in.

Letters to the Editor The Cameron Herald accepts POLICE timely, original letters to the edi- Voters threw the Sharpstown Rascals out tor, on topics of local interest. BEAT The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday Cameron Police for the following week’s paper. Department On Feb. 1, 1971, the Securities and and simple in the eyes of Frank Sharp, Letters must be signed and Exchange Commission (SEC) released who did not hesitate to spill the beans to must include a daytime phone a 47-page follow-up to the bombshell federal prosecutors. number for verification. Letters lawsuit filed two weeks earlier that In the only criminal trial stemming may be edited for brevity and Think before exposed a stock fraud scheme involv- Th is Week in from the Sharpstown scandal, an clarity. ing a Houston banker and real estate Texas History Abilene jury found Speaker Mutscher The publisher reserves the developer and politicians in the highest and two close associates guilty of BARTEE HAILE right to limit the number of getting behind offices in the State of Texas. Historian accepting a bribe. The judge assessed times a writer's letters may ap- Frank W. Sharp was one of those famil- their punishment at five years proba- pear, make exceptions to length iar Bayou City success stories but with tion, but even that slap on the wrist in guidelines and to reject unsuit- a novel twist. He made his fortune not their repeated warnings, the Federal addition to the conviction itself were the wheel in oil but by building homes. Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped overturned by the appeals court. able letters. Sharp left the small East Texas town in and informed Sharp that he risked Looking back on the Democratic of his birth in the mid-1930’s looking losing the safety net for his customers’ Party primary election of 1972, it defies The Cameron Herald after drinking for work. Even in the Great Depres- cash. the logic of hindsight to see so many does not accept letters sion, there were jobs to be had in the Instead of cleaning up his act, Frank tainted names on the ballot. But most to the editor urging vot- Bayou City, and he found one as a car- Sharp concocted a scheme that would vulnerable incumbents, who had been ers to vote for or against The season for merriment and penter’s helper. let him to keep on doing business as linked to the scandal, chose to run for candidates in local elec- celebration recently passed. Its When the ambitious young man felt usual. In terms of the objective, his reelection rather than retire. tions. was also the time of year where he had learned enough about the con- idea was quite simple. He would bribe They waited for the furor over Sharp- Endorsements should the public overestimates their struction of single-family residences, powerful officials in Austin to pass stown to blow over, but that turned out ability to have a few drinks be displayed in political he borrowed $150 and began his home- a law creating a new state agency to to be a pipe dream. A major reason is then drive. advertising. building career. By the end of World guarantee bank deposits and, thereby, that the coverage never abated. The We ask the public to please In light of this policy, War II, he had progressed to building circumvent the nosy FDIC. Dallas Morning News, for example, be mindful of their choices to we reserve the right to several dwellings at a time in Texas Fifty years ago, politicians and their published more than 450 articles on do so. reject or edit letters for City and Jacinto City. underlings were free to do pretty much the hot topic in the 16 months between Law enforcement will be references to candidates Sharp anticipated the unprecedented what they pleased with no real fear the filing of the SEC lawsuit and the heavily enforcing laws per- and whether or not they demand for housing created by Hous- of getting caught. A 2013 article in Democratic primary. With other papers taining to driving under the should be elected. ton’s post-war boom. In 1948 the Texas Monthly described it this way: following the Big D daily’s example, influence of any intoxicant in magazine Better Homes and Gardens “Before Sharpstown, lawmakers could the story just would not die. hopes of keeping the public Address letters to: had this to say about his latest proj- raise and spend campaign money with Democrats went to the polls in the safe. Letters To The Editor ect: With the proposed investment of no meaningful disclosure. They were spring of 1972 determined to throw the There are many ways to get The Cameron Herald $32 million and projected population not required to file public reports about rascals out. Preston Smith, named an a ride home after drinking, the of 25,000, “Oak Forest (is) one of the their income, holdings and liabilities. unindicted co-conspirator in the bribery P.O. Box 1230 safest is by having a designated largest privately financed, single-family There was no open records law, little trial, finished a pitiful fourth behind Cameron, TX 76520 driver. So please think before home developments in the United States oversight of lobbyists and hardly any Ben Barnes, the LBJ protégé, Frances or e-mail to you drink and do not put other or world history.” incentive to conduct the public’s busi- “Sissy” Farenthold, the only female [email protected] lives at risk. With the completion of Oak Forest in ness in the open.” member of the Texas House, and even- With the help of Gov. Preston Smith, 1955, Sharp set his sights on an even tual governor Dolph Briscoe, a Uvalde Copyright © 2020. The entire CAMERON Police bigger prize – the Sharpstown subdivi- who put Sharp’s self-serving proposal rancher whose chief qualification was contents of this publication Department sion on the southwestern outskirts of on the agenda of an upcoming special that he was the biggest landowner in 605 West 4th Street the city. To eliminate the financial session of the legislature, and Speaker Texas. are copyrighted by The Cam- of the House Gus Mutscher, who engi- eron Herald and Central Texas EMERGENCY Dial 911 middlemen, he opened his own bank – The race for governor was no fluke neered passage, the bill was passed. Publishing, LP. No material Office: (254) 697-6574 Sharpstown State – and six years later as incumbents with little or no connec- a shopping center he christened Sharp- In return, Smith, Mutscher and five tion to Sharpstown were given the boot. may be reproduced without the stown Mall. accomplices turned a collective profit Texas’ government had to start over expressed written permission of Find us on Facebook! However, by the late 1960’s not every- of $300,000 on the quick sale of artifi- almost from scratch. the publisher. Go to our website thing was going according to Sharp’s cially inflated stock in Sharp’s insurance Bartee’s book “Texas Entertainers: OR www.cameronherald.com and click on the icon grandiose plan. Federal bank examiners company. Lone Stars in Profile” is packed with Affiliations: Texas Press objected to his practice of making large Within the month, Gov. Smith got actors, singers and writers all Texans! Association, South Texas Press loans with little or no collateral and told cold feet and vetoed the bill under pres- Order your signed copy by mailing a Association and the National him in no uncertain terms that it had to sure from legitimate bankers and state check for $26.30 to Bartee Haile, P.O. Newspaper Association See what everyone’s regulators. This was a betrayal pure been talking about! stop. When the wheeler-dealer ignored Box 130011, Spring, TX 77393.