Hays County opinion

Updated May 13, 2008, 3:45 p.m.

The Hays Highway

Reflections on a Buda election
A good city councilmember goes away and a good council candidate goes badly at the polls.
(May 13, 2008)
See the Buda Mercury piece.

Buda mayor vote a 'personal' choice
As Buda embarks on a new level of self-determination, voters will select a new mayor based on intensely personal preferences. (May 6, 2008)
See column.

Buda Lions make races fun
Unlike many sanctimonious event promotors, the Buda Lions Club just puts on the wiener dog races and leaves us alone. (April 26, 2008)
See column.

How about a drawing?
If more than 20 people are running for a seat on the PEC board and the winner can claim less than ten percent of the vote, then why not just hold a drawing? (April 18, 2008)
See column.

Kyle's compulsion to change
If Kyle is the hardest town to embrace along the interstate corridor through Hays County, it's also the most interesting town to envision. (April 13, 2008)
See column.

The Court of Public Opinion
A district judge has spoken on the matter of Nick Ramus vs. Hays County. What will the so-called Court of Public Opinion say about it in the November election? (April 6, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

Building cities we care about
Buda and Kyle will become garden variety suburbs if they don't change their sprawling ways. (March 28, 2008)
See column.

The new PEC openness
PEC can open its process to everyone in Texas and we're still facing higher energy prices. Unless one of these numerous board candidates actually has a plan. (March 21, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

Lining up late
Texas Democrats should be grateful that their state party didn't join Michigan and Florida by pushing their primary election up on the calendar. (March 4, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

Break up PEC!
The Hays Highway's funny neighbor, former Kyle Councilmember Jerry Kolacny, weighed in on Lila Knight and PEC the other day when he dropped by to borrow a cup of sugar. (February 26, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

The Democrats debate
Barack Obama has the look of every Democratic presidential winner starting from 1976, which means we don't really know what we're looking at. (February 21, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

Presidents Day
Presidents Day brought reminders that the presidency is as much about accidental circumstance as individual greatness. (February 19, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

Life in the fast Lane
Buda Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Lane finds himself in a critical situation as the city decides how to fill its city manager office while he runs for mayor. (February 14, 2008) See column.

The problem of Kyle
Leaders can lead and planners can plan, but Kyle really needs more citizenship if its plans are to be realized. (February 8, 2008) See column.

Too soon to panic
The Hays County Commissioners Court has approved $1.6 million in parks bond money to support youth football fields in San Marcos. But it's still too soon to panic that the court has lost track of the county's parks master plan. (January 25, 2008) See column.

Last time it happened ...
The last time this country entered a presidential election with no incumbency involved, we ended up with the Great Depression and a pop song. Maybe we'll do better this time. (January 17, 2008)
See The Daily Drive entry.

A personal rememberance
An old newspaper, The Cincinnati Post, put out its final edition today. (December 31, 2007)
See The Daily Drive entry.

On parks and processes
Someday, perhaps, Hays County will have parks to show for the $30 million approved by voters, but not until the commissioners and a citizens committee get clear about who decides what, and how. (December 30, 2007) See column.

A statement of transparency
The Hays Highway hereby spells out its goals, methods and commitments. (December 17, 2007) See statement.

About the Daily Drive
As The Hays Highway has grown to an extent calling for greater responsibility, the news blog, The Daily Drive, has been slightly remodeled. (December 3, 2007)
See The Daily Drive entry.

Choosing a city manager
The choice of a new city manager in San Marcos could be the choice between councilmembers arguing with a city manager, or councilmembers simply arguing with each other. (November 24, 2007)
See The Daily Drive entry.

PEC power play
In these days of $90-per-barrel oil, Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) customers can't be paying for bad investments, fat-cat compensation and frivolous spending. (November 18, 2007) See The Daily Drive entry.

Fare ye well, Todd Webster
Todd Webster brought high intelligence, intensity and a smirk to Kyle's city council. (November 8, 2007) See The Daily Drive entry.

The baloney of branding
Even by the disingenuous standards of branding, Kyle would pull quite a trick if it can emphasize its future by emphasizing its old water tower on a new logo. (September 27, 2007) See The Daily Drive entry.

Into the school tax breach
You never really thought you'd get that entire school tax cut, did you? Not with your city and county governments hard at work. (September 6, 2007) See The Daily Drive entry.

Trube brought civility to Buda
For all Buda's improvements during the mayoral reign of John Trube, a dramatically more constructive civic discourse is the most welcomed. (August 4, 2007) See column.

The oldest is still the best
The new H-E-B Plus! is certainly a boon for Kyle, but the old H-E-B at Manchaca Road and Slaughter Lane still is the best around northern Hays County. (June 13, 2007)
See Daily Drive entry.

Putting a price on life
Hays County voters will have something to say about the value of human life Saturday, when they vote on a $172 million road bond. (May 9, 2007) See column.

Will homebuilders follow suit?
Now that doctors and lawyers are coming to Kyle, are homebuilders still going to argue that the city can't support a high-end housing market? (May 4, 2007)
See Daily Drive entry.

On asking questions later
Former state Representative Rick Green received deferred adjudication for his Election Day attack on present state Representative Patrick Rose. The way this legislative session has gone, Green might have gotten off easy. (April 14, 2007) See The Daily Drive.

In praise of third places
Contrary to rustic fears, pubs and night time coffeehouses are indispensable if a growing Kyle is to develop the civic aesthetic that will save it from decaying as a house farm. (March 15, 2007) See column.

When justice isn't enough
Though Austin federal Judge Sam Sparks made the right call by dismissing a lawsuit against MySpace, justice won't solve all of our problems. (February 23, 2007) See column.

The rugged and the winter
Is shutting down for three days really the best response to this week's winter weather? (January 18, 2007) See The Daily Drive.

An unfair fight about fair housing
Four local cities have asked to help Kyle defend itself against greedy homebuilders. The wonder is that more growing cities haven't asked to join. (January 11, 2006) See Daily Drive entry.

Letters to the editor
Charles O'Dell responds to our screed about McCarthyism, and a bit about the inequity between Hays and Lehman High Schools. (December 4, 2006) See letters.

Wanted: A serious challenger
Maybe you don't like Hays County Judge Jim Powers. And, maybe, you'd like challenger Liz Sumter worse. (November 4, 2006) See column.

Dealing with democracy
Government by the people is inherently messy. But Kyle can do better. (September 13, 2006) See column.

Buda shakes hands with the monster
Buda isn't like other towns, so Wal-Mart might impact it differently. (August 19, 2006) See column.

When is a watchdog not a watchdog?
Don't be fooled by over-heated rhetoric. McCarthyism isn't happening in Kyle. (August 12, 2006) See column.

Kyle could have kept pool outrage quiet
The breastfeeding controversy at the Kyle swimming pool should never have been so noisy. (August 2, 2006) See column.

Ethical cleansing?
The Kyle City Council booted Kyle Klips suspect Sherry Anderson from the city's ethics commission. (August 2, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

A publication winds a long road
Who would have thought a political campaign in Kyle would rope in the City of Austin and the state comptroller's office? (July 24, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

The world turns
Six years ago, George W. Bush and his friend, Ken Lay, were about to take over the world. (July 6, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Boys, girls and cars
The sad plight of two boys in Buda illustrate the pit falls of growing up. (June 29, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Big buisness, big money, big problems
Texas oil company ExxonMobile makes big profits and raises big questions. (April 3, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Delay and the dregs
The smoke has to be getting a little to hot for Texas Congressman Tom DeLay. (March 31, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Without which not
Freedom of information is neither a conservative nor a liberal value. It's an American value. (March 28, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Votes for sale
What do you get when waves of money from outside an electoral region to but elections? Whatever it is, it's not enough like democracy. (March 10, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

A Vichy Democrat?
Is Henry Cuellar really a Republican? Or just a "Vichy Democrat?" (Feb. 28, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Ciro zeroes in
Are all Democrats liberal extremists? Congressional candidate Ciro Rodriguez can name one who isn't. (Feb. 24, 2006) See column.

Is there a good choice among four?
Suppose we have four gubernatorial candidates in Texas. Does this imply we will have a choice? (Feb. 17, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Bad aim, no guts
A couple notes on the media, Dick and Hillary. (Feb. 15, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

Shoot straight
How can these guys run a war when they can't shoot straight? (Feb. 13, 2006) See The Daily Drive entry.

A university takes its name
Texas State is becoming Texas State, before our eyes. (Dec. 1, 2005) See column.

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