Opinion

Comments were varied this week, with local officials requesting support for addressing our water crisis and local hospitals. Other topics included what we might expect during the next presidential term, civility in politics and workers, both the lack o workers in businesses and the use of immigrant labor.

This letter was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The Texas Education Agency has taken over control of the IDEA charter schools, the state’s largest and arguably most successful charter school program.

The greatest danger today in the United States is our political system itself. Among the greatest problems we face are the policy of gerrymandering and passage of the Citizens United legislation. Both practices are counter to the idea of democratic government as meant by our Constitution. They are counter to the idea of one man, one vote. A third problematic part of our government is the absence of term limits.

Voters in both the United States and Mexico will choose their next president this year, and both elections are critical to the relationship between our two countries and policies that affect them — especially people who live in the Rio Grande Valley and other border areas.

This year Earth Day (April 22) marks the start of the fourth round of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty. Without much public fanfare, delegates from 175 countries together with hundreds of observers representing industry, academia, health organizations and environmental groups will gather in Ottawa to chart the course for the future of plastics and plastic pollution.

Behavioral health experts have reported an increase in cases of substance abuse and other treatments since the COVID-19 pandemic began. While the cases of the viral disease continue to wane, the need for treatment for addiction and other behavioral, and mental, problems remains high.

The Biden administration’s recent decision to pause the permitting approval process for U.S. liquefied natural gas exports is a major mistake based on inaccurate information that puts American jobs and allies at risk and undermines the global progress made possible through increased use of American natural gas.

In the next 30 years, sea levels will rise as much as they have in the last century, threatening urban areas all over the world.

I know that many of you have been enjoying spring break, the Easter holiday or March Madness. Others simply are relieved to see that the U.S. government may have averted shutdown.