In The News

Recent News Articles of Interest to Grayson County Democrats

Judge blocks coal plant order (By Kathy Williams, Herald Democrat, February 21, 2007) Opponents won a preliminary court volley Tuesday in TXU’s battle to gain permits to build six pulverized coal-fired power plants in Texas, including one in Savoy.
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Opponents of coal-fired plant hold mock funeral  (By Kathy Williams, Herald Democrat, January 26, 2007)  A small mock funeral procession wound around the square in downtown Bonham Thursday symbolizing one of the 13 premature deaths opponents of a coal-fired power plant said could occur. Citizens Organizing for Resources and the Environment held the event, which included the drive around the square, out to the site of the proposed plant near Savoy and back to Bonham, where they held a memorial service for “Ethan ?” Ethan is a hypothetical victim of pollution, one of 13 CORE says will come annually from TXU’s proposed coal-fired electrical plant.
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Accusations denied (By Kathy Williams, Herald Democrat, October 19, 2006) U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall calls false the accusations of Democratic challenger Glenn Melancon that Hall supported child labor abuses in the Northern Mariana Islands after traveling there in 1996. The trip, Melancon said, was financed by former lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, whose law firm, Preston Gates Ellis Rouvelas & Meeds then worked with Hall’s office to draft a letter to colleagues and statements for the Congressional Record.
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Readers Take Sides (By Glen Johnstione in Gunter, Herald Banner - Greenville, October 19, 2006). Well I am not surprised to read the letter written by Mr. and Mrs. Ivie of Heath, as obvious supporters of the Republican culture of corruption they missed the point altogether that Dr. Melancon is making by exposing Ralph Hall’s involvement in the Abramoff/DeLay scandal concerning sweatshops and exploitation of children.
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Be who you are!! (By John Hartsell in Denison, Herald Banner - Greenville, October 19, 2006) Dr. Glen Melancon teaches history at Southeastern Oklahoma University in Durant, Okla. His wife is a counselor at B. McDaniel Middle School in Denison, and the Melancons live in Sherman. Dr. Melancon is a Democrat, he is perceptive, educated, has character, candor and charisma
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Re: We recommend no one for the US House District. 4, Oct. 10, ‘06 in Dallas Morning News (By Christina Johnstone in Gunter, Herald Banner-Greenville, October 19, 2006) This editorial deserves a response. Why is it that Dr. Melancon’s position on NAFTA, CAFTA, No Child Left Behind and de-emphasizing the TAKS test sets your teeth on edge?
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Dallas Morning News Recomments No One for the US House District 4 (Dallas Morning News Editorial on 10 Oct 2006)
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FEMA Chronology for New Orleans Disaster (By Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly,
September 1, 2005)  

CHRONOLOGY....Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it and weep:
 

• January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.

   

• April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level."

   

• 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country."

   

• December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.

   

• March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism.

   

• 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.

   

• Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it."

   

• June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."

   

• June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

   

• August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.
   

So: A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away.

Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell.
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School of thought (By Erin Myers, Herald Democrat, August 28, 2005) A public forum entitled "School Funding Crisis in Texas" doesn't exactly sound like the platform for a heated political debate, but that's exactly what it turned into Thursday night.

Texas State Rep. Larry Phillips , District 62, remained composed while Grayson and Fannin county superintendents, teachers and residents voiced their strong opinions about the current state of school funding. The audience included nearly 400 members, many of whom were educators themselves. The three-hour meeting, sponsored by the Grayson County Democratic Party, addressed the current school funding issues.
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Portable classrooms not helping students (By Bonnie & Joe Fallon Jr., Sherman, August 14, 2005, Herald Democrat) In 1997, we moved to Sherman. Our children were entering the public school system, and imagine our surprise and dismay when we found out our daughter would be in a portable "classroom" for the fourth grade.
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Electronic voting plan causing much concern (By J.D. Morrow, Sherman, August 15, 2005, Herald Democrat) Your local news section 8-5-05 featured an article, "Electronic voting OK'd for county." You stated that Grayson County commissioners approved a request to bring electronic voting to the county, but you did not say who made that request.
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Democrat Chris