Opinion

Letters to the editor published in The Monitor, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald during the week of Feb. 26-March 2, 2024.

The Region One Education Service Center recently announced that several border school districts have received two grants totaling to support counseling and mental health programs for students. We hope the recipients can use the funding to support holistic programs that include parents as a vital part of supporting students as well as identifying and addressing any potential problems.

I've spent the last few months doing a deep dive into the history of Palm Valley Animal Society's first 50 years. It's a wild and wooly story with a happy ending, but it's never been a smooth ride. About the only common denominator throughout has been our partnership with the City of McAllen, whom we honored last Saturday at our Puppy Love Golden Gala with our first-ever Visionary Award. Not only have they stuck with us through multiple rate increases and given us extra help when needed, they've made their own proactive changes in how they approach their lost and stray animal population.

Who owns the products of publicly funded research — the companies that created the products, or the people, through the government, who made the research possible?

A lively cheer erupted from the back of the school boardroom when the motion passed, with parents and community supporters celebrating after several years of advocating for a written daily recess policy for all elementary level students in the Brownsville Independent School District. The new policy will not take effect until the 2024-25 school year and is humble in scope, with only 15 minutes of unstructured play required for students in the 3-year-old program through fifth grade. It is a step in the right direction and BISD is the second public school district in Cameron County (Harlingen CISD passed a similar policy last year) to guarantee children at least one unstructured play break during their 7 hour-plus school day.

The Senate worked for months on a bipartisan bill on the border that Republicans had been calling for ever since President Joe Biden took office. The bill would dramatically change immigration law for the first time in decades. It was endorsed by the Border Patrol Union. If anyone knows if the proposed bill was good for them and for helping on the border crisis it’s U.S. Border Patrol agents.

The deadly February 2021 statewide freeze exposed great inadequacies and mismanagement in Texas’ energy network. Since then little progress is evident in addressing the primary problems. Now a bill in Congress would force Texas, which has the only single-state energy program on the U.S. mainland, to connect to the nationwide power grid.

It is unforgivable that any adult would suggest to any student that there might be a possibility to escape accountability for a loan. Actual experience has more value than all the lofty words taught from our dictionaries. If degree has a value less than the recipient is willing to repay, it certainly is less than what a taxpayer might be forced to repay.

There is a part of me that after more than 50 years still overwhelms and devastates me whenever my memories of that time and place overpowers my mind and my soul: Vietnam. A time and place that forever scared the bodies, minds and souls of hundreds of thousands of boys and men like me. Youngsters filled with dreams of life and of living. Of coming home and growing old, and in between, experiencing the natural evolution through the seasons and through the challenges and diversities promised by time, circumstance and opportunity.

February is the month we show our love to the special people in our lives. As you spend time with family, friends and loved ones this Valentine’s Day and throughout February, remember that showing you care about someone goes beyond flowers and chocolate. Show them how much they mean to you by prioritizing their health, checking your mate for possible signs of cancer and checking in with your mates to ensure they are making and keeping necessary medical appointments.