Archive for 'Brandon Evans'
UIL gateway to creating an academic culture
Posted on 06. Feb, 2012 by Brandon Evans.
The state of Texas offers nice carrot to get kids passionate about academics. The UIL academic contests give students an amazing opportunity to apply what they learn in a competitive environment. But so far it seems like these academic contests are lacking as a priority at Wise County schools. However, there are a few teachers [...]
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haze on the horizon
Posted on 23. Jan, 2012 by Brandon Evans.
Yesterday. Close to sunset. The wind howled from the west, echoing across the prairie like the ghost of a thousand wolves. It carried a beige haze like the smoke of distant fires. But closer and closer it oozed, replacing winter blue with a stain the color of dead grass. The dust storm enveloped the senses. [...]
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Dreams deferred
Posted on 09. Jan, 2012 by Brandon Evans.
On a gray Sunday I stood next to an ancient oak tree. Leaning closely I noticed a cocoon buried deep in the fissures of the rough bark. Stowed away like a passenger on some oak-hulled ship, a creature slowly takes shape inside. Although it never moves, the winged animal will take first flight in a [...]
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Waste more, want more
Posted on 26. Dec, 2011 by Brandon Evans.
Once we get everything we want we just want more. The Christian Science Monitor reports that “Americans generate an extra 5 million tons of waste between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.” The largest chunk of that originates from Christmas shopping. It’s ironic a holiday celebrating the birth a child that gave rise to a religion [...]
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12 not so angry men and women
Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Brandon Evans.
District Judge John Fostel thanked the seven women and five men of the jury at the end of the trial in the Wise County Courthouse last week. It was a case of the state versus William E. Sparks. Sparks, 52, was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. This was a victim that trusted [...]
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Green Monday smog
Posted on 12. Dec, 2011 by Brandon Evans.
Today, the second Monday in December, marks Green Monday. In contrast to the crowds and lines and hair pulling and trampling and pepper spraying of Black Friday, Green Monday (see http://www.greenmonday2011.org/), is the official online shopping day. It’s the last day to guarantee orders made online will arrive in time for Christmas. So it’s just a bunch [...]
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snow, cynicism and whimsy
Posted on 05. Dec, 2011 by Brandon Evans.
“Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery.” — Bill Watterson, creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes “The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, [...]
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Candidates without a district
Posted on 28. Nov, 2011 by Brandon Evans.
What happens when the district you plan to run for gets the kibosh? That’s what happened for Parker County resident Roger Williams. The Former Texas Secretary of State had made a splash on the national scene with his Donkey Whisperer political ad. It was part of his grass roots campaign for the newly created Congressional [...]
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Tougher environmental regs good for North Texas
Posted on 14. Nov, 2011 by Brandon Evans.
Lots of politicians and some business owners like to perpetuate the idea that government regulation destroys jobs and curtails job creation. That perception might be more myth than fact. A study released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that only 0.3 percent of those laid off in the past year was due to “government [...]