What! Aug. 17, 2017
By Lisa Baker • 08-17-17
In San Antonio, a man, dressed all in black, entered a home through the garage then forced his way into the kitchen where he encountered the homeowner. He then tried to flee right after the homeowner grabbed a handgun and fired. The want-a-be thief, then later returned to yell at the homeowner for shooting at him. Huh? The female homeowner said, “If you don’t like being shot at, stay out of houses that aren’t yours.” YES!!
Eclipse: Unless you’ve been living underground, you know that the US will experience its first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse since 1918. NASA describes it as one of nature’s most awesome sights. Last minute travel may be difficult on public roadways so if you are traveling, go early and be prepared for heavy traffic, delays and headaches. In some locations in the US, the temperature may drop as much as 20-30 degrees. But NOT in Brazoria County. Since we aren’t in the direct path, it means there will never be a time when you can look at the sun without using the special eclipse glasses or viewers. Even quick glances at the sun, can cause significant damage, which people won’t feel since the back of the eye lacks pain sensors. You will think that your vision is fine until the next morning when you can’t see any more. Don’t take a chance with your expensive smartphones – cover the lens with a solar filter or the eclipse glasses. While supplies last, you can pick up eclipse glasses at The Source Weekly office. You can also go the BASF Planetarium for the Partial Eclipse Safe Viewing party that begins Monday at 11:46am, maximum viewing at 1:16pm and ends at 2:45pm. The Center for the Arts and Sciences at 400 College Drive in Clute. See you there.
Central Market’s Hatch Chile Festival has begun. Stock up and put them in the freezer. They’ll taste pretty yummy this fall, in chili, potato soup, biscuits, corn bread or pasta. They were roasting and bagging them outside the store on Saturday.
A Houston man ordered to pay child support for a daughter that is not his, has finished his 165-mile walk to Austin and the State Capitol to raise awareness of his situation. A DNA test proved he is not the father but according to Texas law, he is still responsible for around $65,000 in back child support that was accrued before the DNA test. The man in question is now married and the father of three. He is due back in Harris County Civil Court on August 28th.
New York: An 8-month-old baby was found alive in a white plastic garbage bag, 3-days and nights after she had been abandoned by her 17-year-old mother. The mother has been charged with attempted murder. So sad. Some states have laws that make it legal to leave a newborn in a safe place such as a hospital or fire station without fear of being prosecuted but it wouldn’t apply to an 8-month-old. Too bad the law tacks an age on it…some people just should not or cannot be parents…for many reasons.
And while we are on this subject…the body of an 8-month-old baby was found in a locked closet at a Ft. Worth home. A police spokesman called the circumstances “suspicious.” Really. What does that mean? Upon further search days later, it had been determined the babysitter had placed the child in his car seat which was then put in the closet so the baby could sleep…the baby was not strapped in correctly, slid down and suffocated. Moms, Dads and babysitters everywhere…listen.
Elvis died 40-years ago at the age of 42. Graceland is the second most famous home in the US after the White House – Presley is considered the best-selling artist of all time. In 4th grade, when Carolyn and I played house, she was married to Elvis and I always had to be married to the dead twin. Life is so unfair.
When a child grows up to a point where we can live with them, they decide to leave home.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: Steve Wozniak is 67. Apple Co-founder. Singer Joe Jackson is 63. Actress Viola Davis is 52. Actor Richard Anderson is 91. He was the boss in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Singer Mel Tillis is 85. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 80. I just watched Mrs. Doubtfire again. A classic. Actress Connie Stevens is 79. Cricket Blake in Hawaiian Eye. Actor Larry Wilcox is 70. Officer Jon Baker in ChiPs. Actor Keith Carradine is 68. Actor Donny Most is 64. Ralph Malph on Happy Days. The cute smiling redhead.
Princess Beatrice of York is 29. Actress Rosanna Arquette is 58. Actor Antonio Banderas is 57. Actor-writer Justin Theroux is 46. Actress Angie Harmon is 45. Actress Melanie Griffith is 60. TV host Hoda Kotb is 53. Pro and College Football Hall of famer Deion Sanders is 50. Actress Gillian Anderson is 49. Tennis Hall of Famer Rod Laver is 79. Widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the sport.
Blues musician Buddy Guy is 81. Singer Paul Anka is 76. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzegger is 70. Actress Delta Burke is 61. Law Professor Anita Hill is 61. Movie director Richard Linklater is 57. Actor Laurence Fishburne is 56. Actress Lisa Kudrow is 54. Actress Hilary Swank is 43. Actor George Hamilton is 78. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 54. Tennis Hall-of-Fame Pete Sampras is 46.
Actor Sam Elliott (sigh!) is 73. I could take the rest of the column to talk about Sam Elliott but I won’t. I’ll just end it right here!
Coke Zero is gone. It will be replaced with Coke Zero Sugar to give it an “even better unique blend of flavors.” Some people are mad. If I’m going to splurge and have a soda every few months, I want the straight-up hard stuff called pure cane sugar in my Dr. Pepper. Coke Zero will be packaged in cans and bottles that resemble Coca-Cola Classic.
Word on the street is that Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ is the first slam-dunk Oscar contender of 2017. My kids went to see it in Houston in Imax and said it was just unbelievable. I suggested that I might just go by myself one evening and they both said, “No…it’s just not the sort of movie that you go to by yourself.” I must go with them or a friend. Are the tables turned or what? Hmmm.
Walmart is bringing back an app that will let you skip the checkout line. Just download their phone app then scan the barcodes of items as they are placed in the basket. Then you have your receipt and cart contents verified by a Walmart employee as you leave, out the door and on your way quickly.
Soon, the United States Postal Service may be allowed to raise the price of mailing a letter. (It may be time for you to stock up on Forever Stamps.) But let’s think about it, since it’s only 49-cents right now, that’s dang cheap to send something across town or across the country. But, be warned, The Source Weekly may be emailing our account balances out soon. We save every place we can so we can help you advertise your business for the same amount we were charging 10-years ago. That’s right. We haven’t gone up on our rates in 10-years.
The Brazoria County Commissioners’ Court voted unanimously to ban all water activities along San Luis Pass in Southern Brazoria County. This includes bathing, swimming and wade fishing and the order will go into effect on August 20, 2017. Violators will be prosecuted – punishment up to $500 fine. They’re serious this time because too many people have ignored the dangers and lost their lives in the strong current.
Longtime Houston Livestock and Rodeo announcer Bill Bailey died at age 78. He had retired after being with the rodeo for 54 years. That voice. In the 70’s the rodeo’s world-famous BBQ contest was his idea.
A San Antonio woman was cited for disobeying a warning sign, failing to obey a police officer and driving past a barricade, after she waded back into rushing waters to retrieve her keys…AFTER SHE HAD ALREADY BEEN RESCUED from her flooded car by first responders. You could just see the roof of her car in the picture. While I researched this information, I happened to click on a recent rain-soaked video showing a rescue of a San Antonio man that was stranded atop his SUV that was submerged in raging floodwaters. My knees were weak as I watched all 25-minutes of the video. Emergency and first responders everywhere, deserve a huge round of applause because they are absolutely, awesome.
A child is someone who passes through your life, and then disappears into an adult.
The day that this paper comes out, my son, my oldest child, leaves for college. I’ve been preparing for this, for a long, long time. I remember his first birthday party and feeling so sad because it meant that I had only a limited number of years left with him. Well, as it turns out, I got bonus years because he’s a smart kid and stayed at BC for two years, all while working two part-time jobs. I couldn’t be prouder. I first said that I won’t cry on Thursday, then I said that I will NOT cry in front of him but now I’m saying that I will do my very best not to let him see me cry, because honestly, I can barely even see the computer as I type this and my nose is running like a faucet. This kid has made me so happy. He has the nicest, sweetest heart and can find good in most any situation. Because of him I got to be a mom…somebody’s mother…something that I knew I had to be or my life wouldn’t be complete. I was 41-years old when he was born. He went to work with me every day and we built Legos, read the “P” encyclopedia, struggled through math homework, colored and played games, all while I could have (and should have) been working on this newspaper. Regrets? Nope, not one single regret. We played in the dirt, caught frogs, rode bikes and worked on scouting. We talked and I mean, we really talked. And often. Many, many times, I would close the door of his bedroom at bedtime with him still talking, then as I slipped back in the next morning to wake him, he would pop right up and say, “Now, what I was saying…” and start right back where we left off, in the same conversation that we had tucked into bed the night before. I rejoice in knowing that I saw Disneyworld, Harry Potter World, New York, Boston, fishing on the lake and the whole wonderful world through his eyes. I have loved helping him check off his concert bucket list of Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Frankie Valli, Tom Jones, B.B. King, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson and Z.Z. Top. His future concert list will change and I hope I’m there with him clapping and cheering. But I know that I will mourn for all the vacations we didn’t go on, the books we didn’t read and the little things that we didn’t do, because our lives will never be the same, once we load up all the college related stuff that has been filling up my dining room for the past month. It’s so sweet and sour. I will be happy and sad as he closes his dorm door and I walk back to my car. I will still sit on the back porch this Sunday and think about all the things we talked about, analyzed and scrutinized every Sunday morning while sipping our favorite coffees from our favorite mugs. I am so excited to see where this new chapter takes him. This is what I raised him to do. But I have this huge, gigantic lump in my throat. I’m going to miss him so much.
Having a child is like growing another heart.
– Lisa
