Letters to the Editor for 1-21-2016

Special to the PRESS

Dear Editor,

If you are disappointed about the Walmart store closing — located at 7480 Padre Island Highway (Highway 48) in Brownsville, you can protest by writing to:

Walmart Corporate Office

702 SW 8th St.

Bentonville, Arkansas 72716

(A petition would be great!)

Or, call Walmart at (479)273-4000 and someone will transfer you to the right department.

Let’s save those jobs and customer convenience!

Joyce DeLuca and David Swider,

Port Isabel


 

Editor’s Note: The following is an open letter that was read to the Point Isabel Independent School District Board of Trustees and submitted to the PRESS by Madeleine Sandefur.

Dear Members of the Board of Trustees,

Last September 15, 2015, very early into the start of the new school year, the Point Isabel Independent School Board of Trustees voted unanimously to withdraw the 313 application for a tax valuation limitation filed by Annova LNG. Many of our members were present that evening to voice our LNG concerns and to applaud your decision.

Although other public entities in the Laguna Madre area have similarly passed resolutions against the siting of LNG facilities nearby, we understand that the School Board vote represented the potential loss of significant financial gain.  For you to put principle over “payments in lieu of taxes” as your vote did, shows such integrity and thoughtfulness for the well-being of our communities that it is being noticed all around the state.

We are here tonight to again thank you for your important decision. We acknowledge the enormous and difficult task that was placed in your hands, and we will not soon forget the action you chose in the best interest of your students, our children.

We’ve included with this letter a picture of the Cheniere Sabine Pass LNG Facility that we thought you might find interesting.  It is located on the border between Texas and Louisiana and is the first LNG Export facility to go online (Jan. 2016) in the lower 48. In footprint and output, the size is very similar to Rio Grande LNG, one of the three LNG terminals proposed near Port Isabel. The picture was taken from about 1 mile away, across the Sabine River, and shows about one-third of the facility.  LNG companies show artists’ renditions that look rather benign.  This picture shows the reality.

Sincerely,

saveRGVfromLNG

P.O. Box 669

Los Fresnos, TX 78566


 

Dear Editor,

It was pleasant to read “REFUSING TO FORGET,”  the article written by Daniel A. Flores.  It focused on how South Texas College history instructor Trinidad O. Gonzales is directing attention on “massacre” the word used to describe “Life and Death on the Border 1910-1920,” an exhibit exploring the turbulent time where signs read “WE SERVE WHITE’S only NO SPANISH OR MEXICANS.”

The exhibit will open at the Bullock Texas State History Museum on Jan. 23 in Austin.

We cannot change history, but we must learn from the past, study and constantly resist the effects inflicted in our community in order to move forward and to stop accepting the mainstream narratives and support projects that describe our lives and to visit our painful history as a colonized area. We have survived, even when we faced a very toxic and racist environment, and that is a proof of our resilience and determination to claim not only our hidden history, but to be part of the whole society.

Continue reading, studying and promoting change on negative aspects that affect our communities in the schools and all social entities. Vote, speak up and get involved and never accept anything that offends us. I thank Trinidad O. Gonzales and many others who are helping us to change our mindset of being colonized subjects instead of being equal citizens of these lands that we have walked for more than 500 years.

Yolanda Garza Birdwell

Laguna Vista

Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2016/01/22/letters-to-the-editor-for-1-21-2016/

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