“The Way I See It’  is an attempt by the columnist to enlighten readers on a subject as he views it, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Rule of Law & A Constitutional Crisis

A Federal Judge David Bunning, son of former Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, put Kim Davis, a County Clerk in Kentucky, in jail for “Contempt” on 9/3/15 because she refused to sign and issue Marriage Licenses for “gay couples” to marry. (Mrs. Davis was released 9/8/15 by same judge.)

He feels empowered to do this because the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has ruled that all states must allow homosexuals to “marry”. Actually, I think he was just having a snit-fit because he can’t force her compliance, or “fire” her. As an elected County Official, she can only be fired by the State legislature by impeachment and conviction. Judge Bunning and Mrs. Davis both have sworn an Oath of Office to hold their jobs, so who is holding true to their Oath?

There is no power delegated by the Constitution to the Federal Govt to regulate marriage. (Or abortion, or Heath Insurance either.) But the Tenth Amendment clearly states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

SCOTUS has tried to use the “catch-all-excuse” of the 14th Amendment, but there was no case of a State refusing to recognize a “gay marriage” from another State, or punishing “Gays” under local Sodomy Laws.* Also 2 Justices, Ginsberg and Kagan, had previously performed “Gay Marriages”, so were obviously invested in a pro-Gay Marriage decision. They were REQUIRED by Federal Law to recuse themselves from the decision, but refused to do so. Justice Sotomayor has been video-taped bragging about being an ‘activist judge’ and ‘making policy’. This is a clear and gross violation of the Separation of Powers stipulated in the Constitution. Their decision was based on Liberal/Progressive/Socialist policy not on Constitutional Law and is another gross usurpation of powers from the States to the Federal Govt under a highly politicized administration that has consistently ignored, and often violated Federal and Constitutional Law. These are impeachable offenses.

Judge Bunning swore an Oath to uphold the Constitution. Mrs. Davis swore an Oath to uphold the US Constitution, the Kentucky Constitution, and the laws of Kentucky. Kentucky voters refused a Gay Marriage Law by over 70% against. Kentucky law states marriage is between one man and one woman. Mrs. Davis is also a professed Christian and stands by the traditional Judeo-Christian definition of marriage. So who is really upholding their Oath and real Law? Federal Judges, including SCOTUS Justices “shall hold their Office during good Behavior”, but overturning Established Law like the Defense of Marriage Act on some flimsy, made-up misinterpretation of the 14th Amend. is NOT “good Behavior”. It is Congress’s responsibility to “make Law”, not Federal Courts! Several States have lawfully passed laws against gay marriage, the US Congress has not passed any law to ‘legalize’ gay marriage, so it is not Constitutional for SCOTUS to change the Laws and thousands of years of religious tradition to suit a radical leftist pro-homosexual whim!

I support ‘Civil Unions’ for gays and others, especially in this litigious society and anti-Constitutional politicization of govt at all levels. I don’t support the “oppression” of homosexuals, but I’m tired of radical leftist militant homosexuals ‘oppressing’ everyone else with their demands. I suggest if a county or state doesn’t suit your “life-style”, go to another one that suits you better, quit trying to force acceptance and even support of your chosen behaviors on other people! Suing people that won’t bake you a cake or take your wedding pictures is not the way to gain acceptance. I don’t care about your “sexuality” as long as you don’t put it in the street and scare the horses, and it doesn’t raise my taxes, so just shut up about it. Then maybe all the contention will just go away. It is boring anyway. But if the militants keep picking at the scab, it may metastasize to the point that the cancer must be removed.

*Furthermore, Liberal Progressives have tried to use the 14th amendment for many things**, but conveniently ignore it to protect regular Citizens. If I wanted to drive my pick-up to Maine to go moose and bear hunting, I could be stopped and imprisoned in several Democrat run Yankee states merely for the possession of my legal firearms, even if stored in my truck and I had no intention of staying even overnight in that State. Even when traveling on a “Federal Highway”! That I am a combat veteran and hold a current Texas Concealed handgun License is of no value to those anti-Constitutional totalitarians. So SCOTUS, how’s that for, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States”? Quit trying to stretch it to fit your “Agenda”, just “interpret” it as it was written and intended. Forget about pushing gay marriage, and make Interstate travel for law abiding gun owners safe from Socialist Totalitarians that hate the Constitution and those that support it! **Including the Anchor Baby Nonsense because they ignore the “…and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” part.
MORE JUDICIAL INSANITY!

Aug. 24. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said even “undocumented immigrants” can be part of “the people” protected by the Bill of Rights. Even though this in conflict with Federal law that prohibits an “unauthorized immigrant,” to possess firearms or ammunition. (Actually a “Criminal Invader” with numerous brushes with Law Enforcement.) The prohibition also covers people in the U.S. on non-immigrant visas. http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/unlawful-immigrants-can-have-gun-rights-appeals-court-rules-b99561826z1-322737461.html

Further discussion available on the website. Get involved, join the discussion.

Dear Friends,

It has been 2 years since I was bitten by that rattlesnake.  Thank God for Memorial Medical Center.  They took very good care of me ( ER, Nurses, Dr Paul Barnell and the whole staff) Please use our local Hospital and doctors.

We have come a long way since Dr Stanley Lester had a vision for medical care in Calhoun County. The rural health clinic will open within the year. Our county government and Formosa want the best health care for all of us.

We are blessed to have all these doctors.

Russell Cain
Resident for 60 years

Taking Scripture Out of Context

People are quoting scriptures to justify the arrest of Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis for refusing to grant same sex marriage licenses. Particularly the one about being subject to governing powers. Yet the same person who wrote “as much as lieth live in peace with all men.” Meaning that there are times when we have to take a stand in the face of oppression.

And there are numerous case studies in scripture where individuals refused to obey the commands and initiatives of their leaders and governments. Jeremiah, the 3 Hebrew children, and Daniel all come to mind. But the one that really stands out is in the book of Acts. The apostles after being beaten publicly and ordered not to speak in the name of JESUS replied “we ought to obey God rather than men”.

If you don’t want to believe the Bible that’s up to you but don’t take it out of context to defend your own twisted ideology.

Patrick Overton

Thank You

On Tuesday August 25, 2015 Port O’Connor had an AWESOME Retirement party for Johnny Johnson, our wonderful Postmaster. We all hate to see him go, but we wish him well for his so much deserved retirement.

I want to send a great big THANK YOU to EVERYONE that helped make it happen and to EVERYONE who came out to honor Johnny and bid him farewell. Your “Best Wishes,” cards and gifts were a special added touch. I especially want to say “THANK YOU” to Pat Johnson, Johnny’s sweet wife for coming to share this special time with us.

The gathering was a HUGE success! But without all the volunteers that helped, it wouldn’t have been as successful. “THANK YOU” Mary Jo and the POC CHAMBER for jumping on board with your gift to Johnny and furnishing the sandwiches. “THANK YOU” Marie Hawes and the POC LADIES SERVICE CLUB for the fruit and vegetable platters, the desserts, and essential things I probably wouldn’t have thought of. A special “THANK YOU” to all the ladies who helped prepare the food, serve and make everyone feel so welcome.

A special “THANK YOU” to Pat Ekstrom for the beautiful sheet cake, for taking care of the community marquees and for your untiring help and guidance. Also “THANK YOU” Sally Ragusin for your behind the scenes help, and for your guidance. Words just can’t express my gratitude and pride in all of you and our Port O’Connor community! I truly LOVE our home and I am EXTREMELY PROUD to be a PORT O’CONNOR WOMAN!!

Sincerely,
Nancy Pomykal -a proud Port O’Connor woman

Transparency in Port O’Connor

At the August 25, 2015 meeting of the Port O Connor Improvement District (POC ID) The Public Information requests were again in question.

We received bids from two law firms to handle our public information because our council was unable to act on these types of requests.

The firms in question were, Randle Law Office LTD., L.L.P. that submitted a bid for $195.00 an hour. The other was Gardere Wynne Sewell L.L.P. that submitted a bid of $595.00 an hour. What firm would you have chosen? Wrong!! Our three new appointed directors Allen Junek, Joe Newsome , and Albert Redding chose the $595.00 law firm to help make it harder for us to figure out what is going on in this district.

There is an old saying (if it don’t stink, why cover it up). I made a motion not to accept the proposals from either firm and Leon Brown seconded the motion, but it failed.

Allen Junek said that our present firm Walker Keeling L.L.P. was not experienced enough and did not specialized in public information, but at the August 13, 2015 meeting of the board Walker Keeling LLP presented the board with a bill in the amount of $20,117.42 for public records requests.

I made a motion that we not pay this bill and the motion passed. But guess what,, it was on the agenda for consideration again at the Sept. 1, 2015 board meeting at 12 p.m. At this meeting I made a motion not to pay this bill, Leon Brown made a second,,,,,, but Allen Junek, Joe Newsome and Albert Redding voted to pay the bill, so it passed and we will give $20,117.42 to a law firm that should not be handling this type requests in the first place.

People,,, this is your money!!! This is your money that our three new appointed directors Allen Junek, Joe Newsome, and Albert Redding are willing to spend to continue and keep us in the dark. When asked for my emails I sat at my iPad for over two and a half hours forwarding every email I had, there were no charges involved, and I did not try to bill someone for the time I spent doing so. I have made a request for emails from Walker Keeling LLP and it seems that for me to receive these emails on a flash drive the cost is going to be over $900.00.

Just remember November 2016 is not that far away.

Marshall Bradford, Director POC ID

Transparency Is Expensive

Submitted by: Leon Brown

Transparency within the Port O’Connor Improvement District is EXPENSIVE
.
Joe Newsome, Bryan Redding and Allen Junek were appointed by TCEQ when Teddy Hawes, Tom Ekstrom and Doyle Adams resigned.

One of the first comments to the directors and to the public made by Allen Junek was “being Transparent”. Now, here is the whole story.

Shortly after Teddy Hawes’ resignation, I was legally informed that Teddy Hawes requested all my personal emails through the Texas Public Information Act. I spent several hours and forwarded hundreds of emails to the attorney. I sent so many emails the attorney asked if I was sure I wanted to submit all the emails. My answer was yes; I did not have anything to hide. I never heard back from that attorney.

I made similar requests through the TPIA regarding district emails and district documents. After my requests were made, I was informed by Donna Grafe-Tucker of the law firm of Walker Keeling, LLP; our district’s General Counsel, that most of my requests were being submitted to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for a written decision to withhold information from me.
Before now, guess how many AG requests for a decision to withhold information have been made in the past 22 years from our general counsel? None, zero!

In a recent meeting, Allen Junek made a statement that our General Counsel is not experienced enough to handle public information requests. Now, here is what is troublesome. General Counsel submitted an invoice to the District in the amount of $20,177.42 for the public information requests. Allen Junek, Bryan Redding and Joe Newsome voted to pay the invoice. Myself and Marshall Bradford voted No.

Sorry, the story does not end. Allen Junek, Joe Newsome and Bryan Redding also voted to hire a new attorney to handle the TPIA for a cost up to $595 a hour. Myself and Marshall Bradford voted No!

Editor’s Note:
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Letters to the Dolphin
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Joe Contreras
of Corpus Christi
5th Tagged Redfish Winner
CCA Texas STAR Tournament

With less than seventy-two hours remaining before the close of the 2015 CCA Texas STAR Tournament, Corpus Christi resident, Joe Contreras, made plans to go fishing after work with a friend on Friday, September 4.  After several hours waiting at his friend’s house for him to get off work, the friend decided not to go after all.  Contreras was about to go back home, then decided to go check out the tide for bait.  The finger mullet were in close so Contreras caught some and went wade fishing.  After two hours of catching several Ladyfish, Contreras was down to one last mullet.  Contreras’ leg was really starting to kill him, so he decided he would make one last cast and count to three hundred, then go home whether he caught a fish or not.  Between the pain in his leg and trying to count, Contreras wasn’t paying attention, then suddenly looked up and realized his cork was gone.  Contreras reeled the line tight and after a short fight, he landed a nice red.  The fish was covered with grass, so Contreras cleaned the grass off, but there was one more piece that would not come off of the fish.  Upon further examination, Contreras realized it wasn’t a piece of grass… it was a CCA tag covered in moss!  “I couldn’t believe my eyes!”  Contreras called his brother-in-law to tell him about the fish and asked him to look up the phone number so he could call and find out where he needed go weigh-in the fish.  The next morning, Contreras took tagged redfish #TA723 to get it weighed in at official STAR weigh station, Roy’s Bait & Tackle.  “Glad I went fishing!” Contreras exclaimed.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FIFTH TAGGED REDFISH WINNER!  Fortunately for Joe Contreras, he remembered to register for the 2015 STAR Tournament and went fishing without his friend.  He’s now the fifth lucky winner of a 2015 loaded Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab, pulling a brand new 23’ Haynie Big Foot boat rigged with a Mercury 150L Pro XS OptiMax motor and Coastline trailer prize package, which will be awarded to him at the STAR Awards Ceremony in October.

At the close of the tournament on Labor Day (Monday, September 7), a total of ten tagged redfish had been caught, but only five were confirmed winners.  Each will be presented a 2015 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab, 23’ Haynie Big Foot boat rigged with a Mercury 150L Pro XS OptiMax motor and Coastline trailer at the STAR Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 9th.

Major sponsors for the 26th Annual CCA Texas STAR Tournament include Texas Ford Dealers, Tilson Home Corporation, Capital Farm Credit, , Academy Sports + Outdoors, Whataburger, Ozarka, Rio Ammunition, Hoffpauir Polaris, Mercury Marine, KTRK-abc13, Houston Community Newspapers, Fox Sports Southwest, Haynie Boats, Shoalwater Boats, Dargel Boats, Blue Wave Boats, Texas Fish & Game Magazine, Texas Oilman’s Charity Fishing Tournament, Coastline Trailers, McClain Trailers, Chris’s Marine and Mt. Houston Marine.

Visit www.ccamembership.org to get signed up today.  For more information, including a list of weigh-in stations, instant-entry registration locations in your area and weekly leader board updates, go to http://www.startournament.org.

Port O’Connor Ladies: Once again Bunco will be celebrated on Tuesday Evening, October 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the back room of the Community Center. And being the most outstanding Goblins of all here in POC, are Sally Jones and Biddie Hileman, the hostesses for this fun event. Do plan to attend this slightly scary event; and if you are new to Bunco, please call Shirley Gordon at the Library, 935-4365 to make arrangements to be in attendance that evening. BOOOOO!

As we all know, and those that have a younger resident in their home, school has started. Please, as a driver in our lovely area, be aware of the smaller residents crossing streets either on foot or on a bicycle. We have too many children, who somehow do not remain totally conscious of upcoming cars to pay attention. Therefore, it is necessary that we, the driver of the car, must be responsible to see that child nearing the end of the street.

For those of you that are looking forward with bated breath to the opening of that very new and totally delightful restaurant, Hooper’s Bar & Grill, be aware that it will be happening soonest. No specific date has been set, but it will be soon! And the restaurant menu is delightful; the incomparable Dalene Sagebiel Caffey is in charge once again!

The very last and the largest of all our fishing tournaments will be that honoring Chris Ragusin on October 2nd and 3rd. This tournament has been dedicated to the memory of Chris for ten years, and this one will be the last. Calvin and Sally Ragusin, his parents, have worked with many of our residents in putting this tournament together each year. But much of the kudos goes to those totally dedicated people who have organized this celebration each year. Those in charge are Amy Gosnell and Sylvia Rodriguez, but the group of people they have “coerced” into helping to do everything is phenomenal. We’re talking about people who have worked with local organizations to provide items for the Silent Auction; to others who give food for the Dinner; to just plain people who work the tables selling memorable T-shirts and food tickets year after year. And then to the organizations and people that the income from this event supports; this event has “filled the holes” that those who are in need have. A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL.

kubeckasue@yahoo.com 361 798-0560

I welcome correspondence from various organizations re their happenings for information to add to this column. Also welcome any remarks, good or otherwise.

Here we are in September. That if you were an old Roman it would be the seventh month of the year. You might recall that they only counted the months up to 10. They apparently didn’t like winter because their year started with March. Slowly the calendar got to the current 12 months with the occasional leap second and leap year.

That being said reminds me of what Mark Twain said about the months. Admittedly it is slightly paraphrased here. September is a particularly dangerous month to speculate in stocks: the other similar months are the rest of the year. Anyone who has followed the stock market these last few weeks, either ours or China’s, can attest to the roller coaster ride the stocks have taken.

September is that wonderful month where we get the last of summer’s best weather and the cheer of autumn also arrives. For many sport fans football is back. Here in Calhoun County the Sandcrabs have already won two games. By the time you read this they will have played their Homecoming game and hopefully that too will have been a victory. The college football games are filling up our Saturdays with their rah rah games Those who eschew high school and college ball to follow the Professional League know the Cowboys beat the Texans in a preseason game. They also know that Sundays TV dominate pro games. We truly are full of football for the next few months.

Baseball fans are approaching the fascination of the playoffs and World Series. Here in Texas the Astros are surprising us by leading the Rangers for the division title for the moment. Unfortunately my parents are not around to savor that their favored St. Louis Cardinals are tearing up their division and have the best winning average in major league baseball. My brother-in-law and his family who live in that area are excited. My sister, who also is not around, would be beside herself watching those batters wiggle their fannies while in the batter’s box seeking their next hit.

There are other things to celebrate locally. My goodness, Port Lavaca now has a coffee shop. Their beverage menu rivals the much more famous Starbucks. Heretofore to savor of those lattes or whatever’s required a trip either to Victoria or Bay City. It is now a much more pleasant drive to get one of those delicious things.

We could discuss some of the almost humorous but sad stuff that is going on in the political arena. This would especially apply to the race (?) for president which won’t actually start for almost a year. I would guess that qualifies for a slow period for really important news.

Let us end by recalling that Groucho Marx’s (do I show my age) favorite poems he said his favorite poem was the one that began: 30 days has September. . ., because it actually tells you something.