Dear Editor, I believe the county judge wants to close the jail because of the cost. The jail currently is about four million dollars in debt due to outstanding bonds. The county spends four hundred thousand dollars a year on these bonds. The county currently has about 9.6 million in surplus funds. The county can now pay off the jail debt at any time and still have a large surplus. The judge might argue we need to keep that surplus and pay off the jail from the budget. The county collects $275,000 a year for at least the next five years from the abatement on the wind farms. The county is about to receive another abatement from an energy project but it is not clear if that is an annual abatement or a one time deal. So what is the true cost of running the jail? As per the Jail Commission requirements, it is $159 for an inmate. Most of that is pay for employees. So after the first inmate, it costs an additional $40 per day for each inmate as there is no additional employee cost. The jail can hold up to 22 inmates. The average daily number of inmates is about 7. Also, the way our county jail operates, the employee cost is on the high side because the second person at the jail is dispatch. Removing the cost of dispatch lowers the daily cost of inmates. Needless to say, taking in out-of-county inmates would help with the cost of the jail. The judge wants to save these costs. I believe the closing of the jail should be up to the citizens. I would ask the commissioners to approve the SB22 grant this year and next to allow the jail to get employees. I would then ask the commissioners court if they want to close the jail to put it to a vote. Don't close the jail by using the budget, not approving the SB22, thus having a lack of personnel. Randy Ford Rotan, TX 79546

It is never easy to say goodbye to our loved one. Our hearts are riddled with grief.

Spring has brought the blessings of rain and the trauma of storms (twisters) in the past two weeks. Nature has her way of soothing us and scaring us.

Living within seasons is not as simple as merely announcing our desire to do so. Last week, I observed that adjusting life to a seasonal-based approach would require adjustments over time. I gave an example of matching our diet to fit with the seasonal availability of certain fruits and vegetables.

Early voting began Monday, April 22 for municipal, school board and various bond elections. It ends on April 30 with Saturday, May 4 being election day. What is on the ballot depends on where you live.

While regular readers of this editorial column might find it difficult to believe that from time to time, I am occasionally struck with moments where I have nothing to say, as often my metaphorical soapbox has a catwalk. When it comes to my opinions about public education, rarely do I have silence to share.

Good morning come visit with me awhile, it's early this morning Joe is still snoozing so I thought 'Hey I'll get up and visit with all my friends and enjoy the early morning!!!!!! It's chilly outside this morning, we got wonderful slow rain all day Saturday, it was wonderful. Course it was so dark I couldn't paint, so I just set in my chair and read all day, well I did fix Joe some lunch, but I hardly ever take a whole day off!!!!! My barrels got full and got full again, I told Joe, ' We have got to fix me 3 more barrels so I can catch the full of water when it rains like this, oh I hope this keeps up so the farmers will make a good crop and the ranchers up here have a beautiful pasture all summer long.

Mike Blum seems to be everywhere doing everything in the Rio Grand Valley. He lives in McAllen and knows all about the valley. He says the area covered by 11 states is smaller than the area covered by the Rio Grand Valley. “Geographically, the valley is 90 miles from east to west and 40 miles north to south. It’s home to 1.2 million people in Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr Counties.”

“I think I am only 57, but the paperwork does not back this up. I don’t feel old because your inside self doesn’t age.” – writer Anne Lamott (age 70) Last week after visiting a friend in an assisted living facility, I was reminded of many such trips to see my paternal grandmother in the 1970s and 1980s. Fifty years removed from those occasions makes for an interesting evolution in perspective.

Several months ago, I shared my reluctance to make New Year’s resolutions around January 1. That newsletter actually sparked some interesting conversations with some friends and readers about the topic. Those conversations revealed that I am not alone in my thinking, which was an encouraging revelation.