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A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
Thomas "T.C." Kincaid was in Eagle Pass on Tuesday carrying his message out to the voters of the 74th District of Texas as he is running for State Representative of the largest voting district of its kind in Texas.
Kincaid who hails from Fort Stockton and says that West Texas is vast and sparingly populated and he feels a need for a West Texas voice to be heard in Texas.
"I feel we have not been well represented in the past and hopefully I can change that. I'm a conservative businessman, not a carer politician, I feel we have too many of those," he stated in a candid exclusive interview with The Eagle Pass News Gram, ""Our founders envisioned citizen legislators who would serve a term and return to work under the laws set forth."
When asked what hope a medium-sized school district has in terms of meeting the rigorous education standards with limited funding by the state, Kincaid had the following to say, "Funding has been limited in the last biennium, but Susan Combs (State Comptroller) told me that sales tax revenue is up so the coming biennium should not be as bad, but as far as education goes, the quality is lacking. We need to elevate the quality," reiterated Kincaid, "Throwing money at it does not solve anything it exacerbates it. Take washington DC for instance. They spend more per student, yet have the poorest educated kids. I think an effective use of money is the key."
When asked about the new assessment, he had the following to say, "I think the assessment is probably better, but we need not teach to the test, but we need to teach at a higher level, if we did, the test would be inconsequential."
Kincaid is squaring off with local attorney Alfonso Nevarez for State Representative of District 74 and asks that all voters come out and execute their right to vote, "Come out and vote. Voting is not only a right, but a duty because it's the way our government is set up. People choose their leaders. The only way we can keep this right is to stay informed and for people to execute their right to vote."
Staff
-Eagle Pass
Democratic Party President, Victor Perry was a bit disappointed in the voting numbers thus far in this early election period. The Multi-Purpose Center has not necessarily been a bustle of activity for early elections according to preliminary numbers which indicate that approximately 3,800 citizens have voted of the 27,900 registered to do so. According to Perry these elections are even more crucial for voters to get to the polls due to the high stake seats that candidate are vying for including statewide positions, federal positions and the all important presidency which will dictate the direction of our country for the next four years.
At the local level the positions that are at stake include the 3 seats on the board of the Maverick County Hospital District and 4 places on the school board. Perry further added that considering the population of our local community and that the majority of Eagle Pass voters are Democrats it is imperative that we get out to the polls because so many of our social programs that are geared to assist Latinos may be cut including medicare, medicaid and scholarship programs.Perry said he needs more people to get out to the voting polls and exercise their rights as citizens, and reminds voters that as the poorest county in Texas and the third poorest county in the United States it is imperative that we let our voices be heard this election. Early voting ends Friday November 2nd and Super Tuesday will be on November 6th.
A.D. Ibarra
-Eagle Pass
In an extension of what is being heralded as an effective and visionary form of addressing the needs of troubled youth in this or any community, the Border Hope Juvenile Rehabilitation Center is working in coordination with the EPISD DAEP to look for ways to positively impact the lives of our troubled youth.
Bruce Ballou, Probation Director for Maverick, Dimmit and Zavala Counties, met with Mario Escobar, DAEP Director and a committee of educators and presented ideas of ways to both give students opportunities to learn and extend lessons in all major content areas as well as providing key community service projects to benefit our elderly, our poverty-stricken population and even their own families while garnering community service hours and invaluable hands-on learning experience in a variety of ways.
What is being discussed are three different projects: A community garden which will will grow crops to distribute at the local food distribution center; opportunities for the students to assist our elderly in filling out applications at the local food pantry; and construction projects which incorporate the carpentry gear found at the Border Hope facility.
"We want to find ways to do community service," stated Escobar, "Through service learning, and most importantly, How can we incorporate what they are doing into the TEKS."