Opinion

This past week, we celebrated National Transportation Infrastructure Week. While this recognition does not come with celebratory cake and confetti, I know we can all appreciate the core systems which enable the movement of goods and people throughout the state and across the country. Transportation infrastructure brings prosperity to the nation by connecting Americans to all of the opportunities this great country offers. Whether you’re traveling along the El Camino Real de los Tejas with the family this summer, or transporting agricultural or livestock goods -- it is the highways, roads and bridges that keep Texans and the economy moving forward.

Recently I shared the news that the Museum has loaned three framed photos of our old 1896-1967 Courthouse to the Meteor office next door. Now we’ve gone one better. We’ve also loaned the Meteor a stunning head mount of a whitetail buck killed locally. I highly recommend that you visit the Meteor to see it.

A little over two weeks is all that’s left of the 87th Legislative Session. Deadlines alluded to in previous columns have come and gone, and we are now in the final countdown. These deadlines, referred to as the “Split Session Amendments,” were first proposed in 1930 to set the pace of session and ensure the Legislature operates efficiently. The first major legislative deadline arrived this past Thursday on the 122nd day of session, as the lower chamber rushed to hear as many bills as possible before the stroke of midnight. The House must now focus solely on Senate-passed bills for the next two weeks.

Mackie shares that the Bedias Women’s Club will hold its first meeting in more than a year next Thursday, May 27, at 2 p.m. at the Bedias Civic Center. All Bedias area women are invited and encouraged to attend. We are hopeful that most folks will have had the vaccine that want to take it and that we will be able to fellowship and celebrate again for our regular meetings.

I continue to urge readers to keep on Madison County Museum’s Facebook page, which I update daily with photos from our history. Some of you don’t participate on Facebook, I hated you missing a post from this past week, so I’m sharing it next.

Happy Mother’s Day! This weekend I hope that you will all take a moment to thank the hardworking mothers and grandmothers in your life. Whether carpooling a big group home from a late Friday night football game or working late nights to pay for that one perfect Christmas gift you just had to have, we all have our mothers to thank for stopping at nothing to make us happy. So do something special to make for a calm and relaxing day because, as we all know: “if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”

According to recent news reports, only about 26% of Grimes County residents and only about 20% of Madison County residents have received the full COVID-19 vaccination, thus taking advantage of this important step in ending our long night of discontent.

With less than four weeks to go before the 87th Legislative Session comes to a close, there is a mad dash to hear as many bills as possible before “Sine Die.” With so much happening in these final thirty days, let’s jump right in…