Last week, the Beaumont City Council gave its unanimous approval to a $329.7 million budget and a new tax rate for fiscal year 2024, both of which will add financial pressure to already-strained family budgets. Beginning Oct. 1, the new tax rate is $0.681485 per $100 of value, which represents a very minor decrease...
Dismissed—with prejudice, yet without explanation. This was the order Shana Elliott and Larry Kalke received from a Texas court after four hard-fought months of litigation. Shana and Larry dared to challenge College Station’s restrictions on properties outside city limits, arguing the city’s failure to afford them representation in city council rendered the restrictions unconstitutional. The...
Last week, Central Health, Travis County’s hospital district, presented its Fiscal Year 2024 budget to the Travis County Commissioners Court. Under the proposed budget, the health care district would spend $744 million in total, “an increase from 2023’s $628.5 million.” That’s nearly a 20% increase year-over-year. To support all the new spending, it’s seeking a...
School districts across the state are anticipating the passage of the property tax relief proposition by voters this November and are already poised to slowly erode any relief that taxpayers may receive. Outside of the monuments to future generations debt that are some high school district sports complexes, or the absurd salaries and benefits awarded...
On just one Saturday night this month, three DePaul University students, all women, were robbed within half an hour on the school’s Lincoln Park campus in Chicago. One of the women was hit in the face by her assailant. Across town, numerous armed robberies and murders were taking place at the same time. In all, Chicago reported at least 22...
What happens when dialing 9-1-1 doesn’t involve criminal activity? Traditionally, overburdened and shrinking law enforcement agencies are the first responders to calls involving complex social issues like homelessness, mental health crises, and substance abuse. It’s a dual role that demands a balance of authority and compassion, and for the past 50 years, North Carolina has pioneered...
Justice Department traditionally offers an unforgiving, hard line on firearms offenses No one can claim surprise that the law is finally catching up to Hunter Biden. I’ve warned before that this could be “one of the biggest political scandals in American history,” and we have just witnessed the first time a son of a sitting...
There’s no doubting New York City Mayor Eric Adams‘ liberal bona fides; he once denounced a political opponent for not defending Black supremacist Louis Farrakhan vociferously enough. So when Mr. Adams says that open borders and a constant flow of illegal immigrants mean that “the city we knew, we’re about to lose,” we know that a fundamental shift has taken...
On the day before the federal government’s sale of offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Mexico, the tech website Electrek published an optimistic piece about the topic: “Despite headwinds, offshore wind will see ‘massive’ growth to 2032.” But the strength of those headwinds was made clear on Tuesday, when the feds received exactly zero...
In late July, the U.S. State Department presented a report to Congress which added nearly 40 individuals from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, including former presidents, judges, and other public figures to this year’s list of “corrupt and undemocratic actors.” Yet strangely enough, our close neighbor, Mexico—which ranks among the top five most corrupt countries globally—remains absent from...
Nearly 60 years ago, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan delivered a line that animates and inspires patriotic Americans to this day: “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction.” Throughout history, intrepid individuals have pushed back against the excesses of government, putting self aside in sacrifice for the posterity...
This Sunday evening (Sept. 17) will bring the end to another Constitution Day. The question facing America is whether we are also reaching the end of constitutional democracy: Do we still believe in the “self-evident truths” of equality and inalienable rights? If it seems strange even to ask such a question, consider the principles of...