MICAH POWELL/The Lufkin News

Lone Star Charlie’s on Loop 287 near highway 59 north, is being forced to close by the state after more than 30 years in business to make room for a new bypass.

The Lufkin Daily News says the owners are maintaing a positive focus on their relationships with customers, just as they have for the past 30 years.

“Imminent domain” allows the state to shut down the restaurant to make room for the new bypass, so the last day of business for the restaurant will be March 4th. They’ll spend time packing up and clearing out after that.

Will they open up again? The good news is, they’re looking for a new spot. But nothing has been secured and there’s no time table for when Charlie’s might be back up and running.

Two weeks left to stop by and wish them well!

But –  he’s not giving up his bid for the White House.

via Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Roemer says he is leaving the GOP after his dismal showings in the states that so far have held primary contests or caucuses.

Roemer says he’s going to run as an independent, and try to become the nominee of Americans Elect, a nonpartisan group that’s pushing for a third-party candidate to run against President Barack Obama and the eventual Republican nominee.

Roemer says he’ll also seek the nomination of the Reform Party.

The former congressman and governor has built his campaign on lambasting special interests in politics, limiting his campaign donations to $100 and refusing money from political action committees.

via Roemer leaving GOP, but not presidential campaign | Shreveporttimes | shreveporttimes.com.

via flickr/John-Morgan

The Index developed by the Heritage Foundation says nearly half of all Americans — 49.5 percent at last count — do not pay income taxes.  Even more startling, this percentage has more than tripled since 1984 — from 14.8 percent in 1984 to 49.5 percent in 2009.

In raw numbers, 151.7 million Americans paid no income taxes in 2009, compared to just 34.8 million tax filers who paid no taxes in 1984.

Many political leaders and economists say this does not bode well for the American form of government. Writing for the Heritage Foundation Online, economists Bill Beach and Patrick Tyrrel say:

“If the citizens’ representatives are elected by an increasing percentage of voters who pay no income tax, how long will it be before these representatives respond more to demands for yet more entitlements and subsidies from non-payers than to the pleas of taxpayers to exercise greater spending prudence?”

The writers say out of control dependence on government is worse today than it was when this report was prepared in 2009, and America’s financial integrity and security are at risk.

“The United States has reached the point at which it must reverse the direction of both trends or face economic and social collapse.”

via Chart: Nearly Half of All Americans Don’t Pay Income Taxes.

Every time he opens his mouth, President Barack Obama says it’s time for everybody to pay their fair share of taxes.  Which half of the population is he talking about?   The half that’s now paying all the taxes are already paying more than their fair share.

Here’s a look at this year’s nominees in the major categories. Let your voice be heard and tell us who you think will win!

‘Hugo’ leads the way with 11 nominations. Will it end the evening with the most wins? You tell us:

Paramount/DreamWorks/DreamWorks

Frazer Harrison/Kevin Winter/Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Kevin Winter/Carlos Alvarez/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Frazer Harrison/Jason Merritt/Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Jason Merritt/Frazer Harrison/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Gareth Cattermole/Valerie Macon/Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

DreamWorks/DreamWorks/Blind Wink Productions

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Facing huge budget shortfalls, the United States Postal Service has proposed solutions including closing hundreds of post offices and eliminating Saturday deliveries. Now it may be considering jacking up the price of stamps, too.

The popularity of internet services like online bill pay have led in part to a 1.7 percent decline in mail volume, causing the USPS to anticipate losing $14.1 billion in 2012 — with bigger losses expected in the years to come.

In response, postal officials sent a letter to Congress last Thursday in which they recommended several changes, including the possibility of increasing the price of a stamp from its current 45 cents up to 50 cents. While stamp prices have gone up four times since 2006, chief financial officer Joe Corbett said, “Clearly, we’re [still] underpriced [and] would like the ability to move that price up.”

The USPS says the extra nickel, which would likely be added in one or two-cent increments until 2015, would raise revenues by $1 billion annually. Although taxpayers don’t foot the bill to keep the postal service running, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told Congress that failing to help the organization limit its losses would result in a “long-term burden to the American taxpayer.”

[Time]

We didn’t either, but it’s true, and church leaders all over the country are concerned and protesting the change.

via flickr/DonkeyHotey

On January 31st, the U.S. Department of Education quietly changed eligibility requirements for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to specifically EXCLUDE people who do any kind of public service work for a religious organization or institution.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 stated that as long as graduates  took public service jobs at nonprofits and made on-time loan payments for 10 years, their remaining debt would be wiped out.

The law covered a universe of public service jobs, including law enforcement, public schools, public hospitals and the like.  It also said faculty at nonprofit universities and employees of all 501(c)(3) organizations, which includes most houses of worship, would also qualify.

That’s no longer true. The new guidelines say graduates whose work is related to “religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing” don’t qualify anymore.

Reacting to a growing furor, the DOE issued a statement saying “…individuals working at religiously-affiliated non-profit organizations who perform at least 30 hours of non-religious activities are eligible for student loan forgiveness.”That apparently means only church workers whose work is mostly non-religious can qualify for loan forgiveness.

via Are clergy public servants? – For God’s Sake – The Washington Post.

Church leaders all over the country are protesting the change and organizing to protest to
Congress.  They’ve created a Facebook group called “Clergy Serve the Public Too.”

via Clergy Serve the Public Too! | The Groundswell Movement.

via Daniel Boczarski, Getty Images

Dave Mustaine, leader of the heavy metal band Megadeth, appears to be  endorsing Rick Santorum.  Or is he?

In an interview for MusicRadar.com, Mustaine said this:  “Earlier in the election, I was completely oblivious as to who Rick Santorum was, but when the dude went home to be with his daughter when she was sick, that was very commendable.”

“… I think Santorum has some presidential qualities, and I’m hoping that if it does come down to it, we’ll see a Republican in the White House… and that it’s Rick Santorum.”

Weighing in on the rest of the field, Mustaine called Newt Gingrich an “angry little man” and said Ron Paul will “make total sense for a while, and then he’ll say something so way out that it negates everything else.”

As for Mitt Romney, the rocker said, “I’ve got to tell you, I was floored the other day to see that Mitt Romney’s five boys have a $100 million trust fund. Where does a guy make that much money?….”

Still, Mustaine says he would pick any of the GOP candidates over President Barack Obama.

via Megadeth frontman backs Rick Santorum – POLITICO.com.

To no one’s surprise, Mustaine has issued a “clarification” of his remarks.  He says he was not endorsing Santorum, and, in fact, he won’t be endorsing anyone for President, but:

“What I did say was that I hope to see a Republican in the White House.  I’ve seen good qualities in all the candidates but by no means have made my choice yet.  I respect the fact that Santorum took time off from his campaign to be with his sick daughter, but I never used the word ‘endorse.’”

So there.  Now we know.

Thinkstock

A new Nielsen poll finds smartphones are becoming less of a luxury and more of a so-called necessity — at least for younger people.

Nielsen gathered data to learn more about the age, income and demographics of the typical US smartphone user. Specifically, the firm wanted to know if lower prices are making the devices more popular among those who earn less money.

Turns out more than half of people between 18 and 24 who make less than $15,000 per year are smartphone owners, compared to 43 percent of those aged 25 to 34 and just 31 percent of folks between 35 and 44 years old.

While researchers don’t know if the people surveyed, especially those in the younger group, have outside financial help (parents, spouses, etc.), it’s clear that even the respondents on limited budgets are making room for smartphone ownership.

But what researchers found most interesting is that although the younger set deems the devices a necessity, older people consider them more of a luxury — which is valuable information for developers, publishers and advertisers.

[TechCrunch]

The latest gender flap in Aggieland concerns the Aggie Dance Team, and where the team of female dancers should be allowed to perform.

photo Texas A&M Athletics

The Texas Aggie Dance Team has been a support/spirit group since 1995.  They dance and often lead the cheering at A&M men’s and women’s basketball games. They’ve also performed in pro sports arenas during Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas Desperados games.

On campus, the team dances only at basketball games, but some say it’s time to let them dance at football games on the hallowed ground of Kyle Field, the home of the football team, the 12th Man, the Aggie Band and the Yell Leaders, who, by the way, are also all men.  More about them later.

You won’t be surprised to know this is generating controversy.  There are two schools of thought on this. Some say why not?  Others say “over our dead bodies,” and the school is caught in the middle.

A school spokesman says “Any time we look at an issue of this nature, our response is always going to be, how does it affect the game-day atmosphere at Kyle Field, and would it infringe upon our traditions or our uniqueness … We take decisions of this nature very seriously and very deliberately.”

You can bet the ranch they’re taking this decision seriously, and it will not be made quickly.

It’s worth mentioning that one of the greatest Aggies of all time likes the idea.  Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow says he’s all for bringing the dance team to Kyle Field.

via Texas A&M dancing around dance team issue – Houston Chronicle.

Lady Aggies have another of A&M’s all male traditions in their cross-hairs.  The Yell Leaders are elected by the student body, and a lady Aggie is running for one of the slots.  Samantha Ketcham says it’s long overdue for the Aggies to have at least one woman leading the yells at sports events, and she wants to be the first.

Political observers say this means this year’s Texas voter turnout could be even lower than it usually is.

via Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Presidential elections draw crowds. Democrats surprised everyone in 2008 by getting all the way to Super Tuesday without having decided between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Republicans had already settled on John McCain.  That year, Democrats attracted 16.2 percent of the eligible adults in Texas, while Republicans got half that many with 7.7 percent.

Together, only one in four eligible Texas voters got involved in picking the Presidential candidate four years ago.  That’s electoral anemia, but in Texas it’s regarded as an outstanding year.

Sadly, it’s going to be worse this year.  Even fewer people are expected to vote.  The Texas primaries were supposed to happen less than three weeks from now, and Republicans would have had a pretty good chance of voting before their party settled on a presidential nominee.  That would also produce a good turnout of voters, but that date has vaporized in the the litigation over redistricting.

It now appears that the primaries will be held on May 29 at the earliest, and possibly even later.  Election administrators from across the state told federal judges that any date earlier than May 29 would set them up for failure because of legally required voter registration deadlines, required dates for early voting, required time lines and deadlines for overseas military personnel voting and several other factors.

The court has all but ruled out a split primary, with the presidential elections in April and everything else, from the United States Senate races down to the county races at the bottom of the ballot, in May or June.  That’s expensive, and lawyers say the state can’t pay for it.

A late primary could also suppress turnout. Voting in June — after school is out and summer plans are under way — won’t get people off their couches, especially if the races are boring.  If there’s not a good fight on the ballot, civic responsibility is the only motivation to vote.  Even a May 29 primary comes with a summer problem: the runoff following that election would fall on July 31.

Stay tuned.

via Texans Leave the Voting to a Small Minority — 2012 Elections | The Texas Tribune.

It’s beginning to look like the primary season will be all but over and the 2012 Republican Presidential candidate will be known before Texas Republicans get a chance to weigh in. At least two, and maybe even three of the four remaining GOP hopefuls will have fallen out by the time Texas gets to vote.

Texas Republicans can thank their stonewalling legislative leaders’ unwillingness to compromise for this state of affairs.  But, it does take two to compromise, and Texas Democrats also deserve some of the blame.  Leaders of minority groups who challenged the redistricting in court have also refused to make any compromise that would help resolve the dispute.

Thinkstock

The U.S. suicide rate is the highest in 15 years, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report found the suicide rate has been on the rise since 2000, and hit its highest point in 2009.

Between 2008 and 2009, the suicide rate jumped to 2.4 percent, with 36,909 suicide deaths reported in the United States. About 13 percent of people who committed suicide did so because of financial or employment problems.

There was a 14 percent increase in call volume at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, between 2010 and 2011, thus making mental experts place a stronger focus on job placement and financial services to lower the mental suffering that can lead to an increased number of suicides.

The recent increase in suicide, whether heightened by economic strain or other social triggers, signifies the need for education and training on understanding and preventing suicide,” Dr. Lisa Firestone, Director of Research and Education at the Glendon Association and Violence and Suicide Prevention Alliance, said in a statement.

“The suicidal state is both preventable and treatable. Services and education have been proven to save lives. Armed with the right tools to identify the warning signs and implement helper tasks, we can fight this crisis,” she added.

Nearly 8.3 million adults between 2008 and 2009 reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, the CDC reported. Almost 2.2 million adults reported making suicide plans in 2011, and more than 1 million adults said they attempted suicide in the past year.

Researchers have also found that many people prone to suicidal thoughts have not received the proper treatment. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 percent of American adults suffered from mental illness in 2010, however, only 39.2 percent of that group admitted to receiving treatment.

Source: TheCheckup.com

Franklin Roosevelt holds the record for the most times a president got the honor, hurling nine different times (eight opening days and an All-Star Game). Here’s a look back at some of the more memorable performances of presidents over the past century:

PRESIDENT OBAMA

President Barack Obama tossed the ball to Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, kicking off the 2010 baseball season in the nation’s capital. His pitch sailed high and wide. After the President was criticized for taking time off to attend a baseball game, he stayed home in 2011. With his reelection in mind, will Obama take the mound at a ballpark this spring?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

After the September 11 attacks, America looked to President George W. Bush for leadership. He delivered it in many ways in the days afterward, including his appearance at Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series. His fastball represented much more. At that “troubled time,” said a blogger on the National Archives website, “a baseball game helped us come together” and “a pitch showed the resolve of a nation.”

PRESIDENT CLINTON

President Clinton was the first president to make his pitch from the mound — previously they came symbolically from the stands. He let go of a slow, hanging pitch that he says he wasn’t happy with. “Most of my practice pitches were much better,” he said.

PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON

On Opening Day in 1965, President Johnson opened the season with the Washington Senators. Even some of the opposing Red Sox players were amazed by the moment, as you can see in the footage below.

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

In his first Opening Day pitch, President Roosevelt misses his mark. “Roosevelt’s pitch is wild but we’ll forgive him. Everybody knows he has plenty on the ball,” the announcer says.

PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON

A jovial President Wilson throws out the first pitch at an unnamed game. Could it have been the 1915 World Series? That was when President Wilson became the first president to get the ceremonial honors at a World Series game.

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

In a “d’oh!” moment of massive proportions, the pilot of a private plane wandered into protected airspace over Los Angeles on Thursday — an area temporarily restricted because President Obama happened to be in town.

When fighter jets were scrambled to escort it in for a landing, authorities found the plane was loaded with more than 20 pounds of marijuana.

Two F-16s under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) took off from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, CA and intercepted the Cessna around 11:30 a.m. PT. It landed without incident and was met by local law enforcement, who then discovered the plane’s illegal payload.

While Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said only that the aircraft was carrying “some type of narcotics,” a law enforcement official said the stash was actually 10 kilograms of what appeared to be marijuana. That’s the equivalent of roughly 22 pounds.

The unnamed pilot was deemed “of no protective interest,” meaning he wasn’t considered a threat, and was turned over to the Long Beach Police Department. The case is expected to be referred to state prosecutors.

[CNN]

via flickr/lmegliol

The book Suicide of a Superpower has chapters titled “The End of White America” and “The Death of Christian America.”  Critics say the book is racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic, and MSNBC listened.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin says he doesn’t think Pat Buchanan’s book “should be part of the national dialogue, much less part of the dialogue on MSNBC.”  So, the network has parted ways with Buchanan,  and Griffin says “We wish him well.”

Buchanan denies the charges against him and his book, and says the decision to fire him is “an undeniable victory for the blacklisters.”  He says advocacy groups like Color of Change and the Anti-Defamation League label people as racists or anti-Semites if they dare “to venture outside the narrow corral in which they seek to confine debate.”

The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America says MSNBC made the right decision in letting Buchanan go.  The book “was not his first, nor his worst offense,” said Ari Rabin-Havt, executive vice president of Media Matters. “He’s been making the same racially insensitive, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements for the past 50 years.”

via Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan dropped from MSNBC – USATODAY.com.

What do you think?  Buchanan is famously conservative and known for his often controversial opinions.  Do you think it’s ironic that he would be kicked off a TV network that claims to be devoted to free speech and finding truth through the expression of opposing views?

With Buchanan gone, the openly and unabashedly liberal MSNBC no longer has anyone with an opposing view.

The Jeff Dunham Party Bus tickets are now available at the radio station, 1216 South 1st St. in Lufkin.

The $125 ticket includes a ride to and from the event, food provided by Bryan’s Smokehouse, drinks provided by Lufkin Coca-Cola as well as the ticket to the show! (cash only please)

Presented by Maid Pro.

Check out some of his popular material here:

But maybe not for much longer. The winds of change are blowing through the hallowed halls of Aggie land.

via flickr/VeryHappyHomemaker-Angee at Postcrossing

For most of its history Texas A&M was a men-only school, famous for its military Corp of Cadets that trained thousands of men for military careers.  In the 1960s, the school started accepting women and minorities as students and corps members, but the “yell leader” group remained all male, and it still is, but that might change.

A female student — Samantha “Sam” Ketcham — is running for one of the most coveted elected positions on campus — Yell Leader — the group that generates spirit and leads the noise from the crowd known famously as the Aggies’ “12th Man”.

Ketcham says she’s a third generation Aggie, raised to bleed maroon and love A&M’s traditions. She has a Facebook page and website that’s drawing lots of support for her campaign. It’s also drawing criticism from people who don’t like the idea of a female yell leader. They think she’s out to destroy the tradition.

Ketcham says she’s not trying to change anything.  She just thinks it’s time to allow women to join the men in leading the yells.  Aggie students will say what they think when they elect next year’s yell leaders two weeks from now.

Stay tuned.

via Texas A&M Woman Hopes to Be First Female Yell Leader.

A&M is one of the finest agricultural and engineering schools in the world, and famous worldwide for its reverence for tradition.  Unfortunately, it’s also known for being obstinate in the face of change.

Having traditions is a good thing, but allowing tradition to prevent change can be a bad thing.

Infrogmation, Flickr

The king cake is a traditional Mardi Gras food. It is usually a ring-shaped pastry, sometimes filled with cheese or jelly and sprinkled with the colors of Mardi Gras. It began as an Epiphany treat, celebrating the arrival of the Three Wise Men to the stable where Jesus was born. Oh, and it’s delicious.

The king cake tradition was brought to New Orleans by French and Spanish settlers who associated it with the Mardi Gras carnival. A dessert synonymous with celebrations definitely belonged with Mardi Gras and has been shared during the festive season ever since.

The secret of the king cake is that there is always a small trinket, often a plastic baby representing the Baby Jesus, baked inside that one lucky eater is bound to bite into. Of course, the lucky person who gets the baby in the cake gets special privileges, but is also usually responsible for bringing the next cake.

To get into the spirit of the impending Mardi Gras celebration, and to make your mouth water a bit, here are some delicious looking king cakes we found.

The Drizzled King Cake

niseag03, Flickr

The Beaded King Cake

all of olive, Flickr

The Discus King Cake

syvwlc, Flickr

The Mickey Mouse King Cake

Loren Javier, Flickr

The Go Big or Go Home King Cake

Aldon, Flickr

The King Cupcake

kristen_a (Meringue Bake Shop), Flickr

Double King Cake All the Way

HorizonsSC, Flickr

The Doing It Wrong King Cake

lesteph, Flickr

The Baby in the King Cake

mikebdoss, Flickr

The Eaten King Cake

mikebdoss, Flickr

An Amazing Rap About King Cakes

Want to Make One? Here’s How

Source: TheFW.com

Joe Raedle, Getty Images

If you filed your taxes electronically, you may be wondering where your refund is. And, if you visited the IRS website’s “Where’s my refund?” page, you may have been given an error message that says the IRS has no information about your return.

Recently, people who have visited the IRS site to use the “Where’s my refund?” tool have been getting the message that the IRS knows nothing about their already filed return. The IRS now has a message on its site that says it is only a glitch that should be fixed in a few days.

The glitch was caused by a new e-filing system that was designed to prevent refund fraud. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first problem the “Where’s my refund?” tool has had. Early in tax season, it was telling taxpayers they would receive their checks a week earlier than they were actually receiving them.

Despite the glitches, the tool is an important one. More and more, thieves are stealing identities and using software like Turbo Tax to get other people’s refunds. Not only is it important to stop the thieves, the IRS wants to make sure American’s are getting their refunds because nearly half of all taxpayers say they use the money to buy food and pay bills.

[via Huffington Post]

twix, Flickr

Teen truancy is a real problem for a lot of schools, but especially so for the Dohn Community High School in Cincinnati. It only has a 14% graduation rate and has been deemed an “academic emergency” by the state of Ohio.

So the school is trying out a novel approach: it’s paying students to show up and behave themselves.

Kids with solid attendance and clean discipline records are being rewarded with Visa gift cards for amounts between $10 and $25, and the school is also making $5 deposits into saving accounts set up for those students.

It may not sound like much, but a school administrator said, “Our student population is 90 percent poverty … Money is important to them. We can’t teach them if they’re not here.”

A student added, “I’m very excited to get the money … It makes me want to come to school on time, not that I don’t. But some students don’t have the money and this will help them. It’s a good idea.”

Despite some criticism of the plan, you can’t argue with results — the program has only been in place for a week and school attendance is already up 15%. Of course, that 15% is probably daydreaming in class about what they’re going to buy.

[via CBS Cleveland]

Source: TheFW.com

via TCU

TCU Chief of Police Steve McGee told a news conference that the students who were arrested sold drugs to undercover narcotics officers on the campus and off-campus at a restaurant and two nearby grocery stores.

McGee says the students sold marijuana, cocaine, Molly (Ecstasy in powder form), Ecstasy in pill form, acid and prescription drugs including Xanax, hydrocodone and others similar to OxyContin.

TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. says the busts are not a football problem, they’re a student problem.  Boschini says TCU has never experienced so many student arrests, and all the arrested students have been suspended from school and they could be expelled.

TCU Head football coach Gary Patterson says he is shocked, sad, and angry to know that some of his players were involved.  Patterson says he wants it to be known that his program will not tolerate illegal drugs, and the four players have been kicked off the team.

via 18 Arrested in TCU Drug Bust | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.

TCU is the last place in the country where you would expect to see something like this. This just proves how pervasive illegal drugs are in our culture. If it can happen at a fine Christian school like TCU, it can happen anywhere. We all need to wake up to that fact.