Columns

Chief Appraiser/Tax Administrator Van Zandt County Appraisal District During the 88th regular session, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1801, effective September 1, 2023, which requires all Texas Appraisal Districts to develop a program for periodic review of each residence homestead granted under Texas Property Tax Code Section 11.13.

Texas District 2 State Representative Northeast Texas is one of the fastest growing regions in Texas and freight by rail will play an essential role to our economy, job growth, and transportation safety.

Dear Editor: Van Zandt County owes a great debt of gratitude to the Van Zandt County Historical Commission for their many years of work to preserve our county history. VZC Historical Commission President Elvis Allen, members Sherrie Archer and Tim West, and the entire commission have served us very well, and a special recognition to them and to our VZC Commissioners Court for their relentless work to preserve our courthouse.

•Names will not be withheld. •Letters will be edited for grammar, space and legal concerns.

In April of this year, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court authorized the application for a Courthouse Restoration grant from the Texas Historical Commission. The requested amount for the grant was $9,567,427, the maximum amount allowed for VZC.

You grew up together. Fought over who got to ride the newer bicycle and who would have the bigger bedroom.

TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION More than two million Texans lost power when Hurricane Beryl hit the Texas coast, and Gov. Greg Abbott wants to know why.

Ever been looked squarely in the eyes and bluntly told you are a bitter, angry person? Probably not. After all, who in their right mind wants to be within 12 feet of a bear and throw heavy stones at that huge, furious mass of muscle and bone? Nobody wants to face that.

Dear Editor: Recently, I had the opportunity to volunteer with the (Van Zandt County) Sarah Norman Library “book buddies” program. I am old enough to remember when the library was a tiny, crowded room in a county annex building.

Really, I plan to make this column funny again… soon! Of course (as I’ve written previously), some folks have never realized my articles were supposed to be funny. In the past year, watching helplessly as my marriage to Jocelyn disintegrated, God has used the deep pain to teach me some equally-deep lessons.