The opportunity that The Llano News and owner Ken Wesner have given me to continue to stay involved in the happenings in Llano is humbling. It has been several years since I have written Mikel's Thoughts, and the business of a small home town newspaper is daunting. There is never enough time, never enough time for employees to make every event, and always more than enough subject matter.
Dear Editor, This is in response to last week’s Texas Farm Bureau President Letter to the Editor. He said “When it comes to trade, government intervention has unintended consequences”. He is right, since Congress voluntarily surrendered its oversight authority for trade to the WTO in 1993, the U.S. has accumulated a balance of trade deficit of $8 trillion. He left chicken off of the beef and pork list.
On April 6, the Llano City Council adopted resolution 2015-04-06 recognizing the need for cost-effective and non-intrusive lighting to preserve the night skies around Llano. The resolution focuses on promoting and encouraging outdoor lighting that follows modern guidelines and technologies for efficient, cost effective and non-intrusive lighting. The resolution also emphasizes making efforts to educate landowners and businesses how to reduce energy consumption, save money, reduce light trespass ...
Dear Editor,
According to the last census, Llano County had the second oldest population in the US, just behind Dade County, Florida. That means that we have an abundance of retired folks, some living only on their Social Security checks.
The first four months of this year, my utility bill was huge.
Dear Editor,
The proposal pushed by Mayor Virdell and Aldermen Bryan Miiller and Todd Keller to construct the Leverett Water Well on Riley Mountain is a highly risky scheme. No firm cost estimate has been determined for the entire project.
The Mayor and two aldermen chose not to run for re-election and now, at the very end of their terms, are trying to jam this scheme through City Council.
Any decision regarding major cost for the taxpayers should be discussed and studied by the new Mayor and C ...
Dear Editor,
Having never written a Letter to the editor I find this a very important task as one citizen attempts in a few lines to share a personal point of view or idea. So here goes.
I would like to bring the important issue of Rain Water Collection back to our thinking.
From your City Manager
There are so many great things happening in Llano! One major project that is underway is the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) upgrade to the traffic signals at the intersections of State Highway 16/71 with Ollie, Sandstone, and Main Streets. When I first came to Llano, several businesses approached me about the four lane road that ran in front of their businesses, leaving little room for patrons to park and disembark from their vehicles.
This letter, written to the Texas Senate was shared, with permission,by Llano ISD Superintendent, Casey Callahan.
Dear Texas Senate,
It is unfortunate that you feel the need to vilify our Texas public schools because your top campaign contributions come from folks who are determined to see vouchers finally pass. Condemning our public schools and casting harsh accusations of widespread failure is not only disrespectful and counterproductive, it is just flat inaccurate.
Dear Editor,
A disturbing trend in Texas and across the nation is drawing attention from hunters and non-hunters alike – raising deer in captivity, much like livestock, and then releasing them to be hunted as little as 10 days later. Extreme animal husbandry practices such as repeated forced semen collection, artificial insemination, bottle raising, and often cavalier use of drugs to create abnormally large antlers are common in this industry, but have no place in wildlife management.
Dear Editor,
If many of you will remember, about 6 months to a year ago, the TCEQ came into the area and supposedly, declared many dry ditches as a navigable streams and ordered dams removed from creeks. This is still a threat from the EPA and Army Corp of Engineers but recently, the house cut funding for much of the so called regulations, but don't think that the issue is dead, as there are greenies who work 24/7 to think up ways to take what you have, or at least, TAKE away your use of the la ...
