Michael Morris

Area pantries, families struggling
We often plan to highlight the efforts of area food pantries as we get closer and closer to the end-of-year holidays.
November 18, 2009

Be sure to salute our veterans today
The day after tribute was paid to 13 men and women killed in what they believed to be the safety of an American military base, we honor the millions of others who served with equal honor in the name of preserving our freedom and fighting to bring them to other oppressed people around the globe.
November 11, 2009

Positive signs at river’s mouth
The expression goes that some people need a figurative 2-by-4 across the head before they get the message. Freeport officials are hoping a couple of 4-by-8s before the eyes will do the trick with fishermen and beachgoers.
October 21, 2009

Firefighters push burn-prevention message
Brazoria County residents probably couldn’t wait to start digging out their matches this week when the county’s ban on outdoor burning — in place almost uninterrupted since spring — finally was lifted.
October 09, 2009

It might be time to rethink how you live
Americans are great at a lot of things, perhaps none better than the ability to cling to the things we always have known, As a society, we quickly adopt the “we’ve always done it that way” mentality as reason enough to not do things any differently.
October 07, 2009

Raising a symbol of community
As time has passed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of flags flying outside homes across the country has noticeably diminished.
October 02, 2009

Highway projects galore will boost travel
It would take some effort to overstate the importance of road projects approved for pass-through toll funding by the Texas Transportation Commission. The same is true for another project on the verge of beginning — the expansion of FM 2004 between Highway 288 and Highway 288-B through Lake Jackson and Richwood.
September 30, 2009

Schools might take a look at sponsors
It’s tough times and voters everywhere are being asked to pay more for the services local government and districts provide. And some school districts think this is a good time to ask for new buildings and improvements. But there might be a simple solution. Have someone else pay for our new and spruced-up schools.
September 23, 2009

Now the time to have say on county refuges
The purpose of creating wildlife refuges is to protect the fragile environment to serve as havens for God’s creatures — migrating birds, waterfowl, four-legged animals whose habitat has been confined by human encroachment.
September 16, 2009

American workers will overcome gloomy times
Labor Day weekend, a time devoted to the hard work of the nation’s people, was met with an ugly reality before it even began.
September 06, 2009

Take time to review your insurance coverage
It’s the message you would expect to hear from people connected to the insurance industry — everyone needs to buy more coverage. In this case, however, it’s not just a sales pitch. It’s a word from the wise.
September 04, 2009

Bus plan smart way to keep kids safe
For many Brazosport ISD students, crossing the road to get to their school on the other side would require playing chicken with traffic if not for the awareness of Lake Jackson and school district officials.
September 02, 2009

Cities need more time to finish creek cleanup
There's no good reason why feds shouldn't extend grant to allow for the completion of the Oyster Creek cleanup project under way now in Lake Jackson and Clute.
August 19, 2009

Freeport on right path with sidewalk
The expression “hitting the streets” is more than a cliché about people canvassing neighborhoods to those who reside in Freeport. It’s a reality in the city for those whose own two feet are the main form of conveyance.
August 14, 2009

Propaganda rampant in health care ‘debate'
What the country needs is an honest discussion about health care. It needs town hall meetings not overtaken by high-volume blurts of misinformation.
August 12, 2009

Gov'ts should pinch pennies like rest of us
It is a sentiment we already have heard from readers about the federal government, and one we expect to see with greater frequency about some local governments as we are at the height of budget season.
August 09, 2009

Dedication helps ensure sea turtles’ survival
Unlike some of the higher-profile endangered species — like the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest that interfered with logging or the prairie grouse, whose flight path might intersect with energy-generating windmills — the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle never made for good headlines.
August 07, 2009

All options lead to one outcome: irritation
One of the hardest parts about being an American right now just might be trying to figure out who to be ticked with.
August 05, 2009

Poise defuses potential racial powder keg
President Barack Obama’s invitation to Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley for a beer at the White House was intended to be a calming act in what quickly became a racially divisive situation. At the very least, the incident was the result of an overreaction on the part of either the Harvard scholar or the police officer responding to a reported burglary — or both.
July 31, 2009

Lifestyle change serious as a heart attack
Most people, of course, don’t have the motivation of finding themselves curled up on their living room floor to compel major lifestyle changes — no smoking, no fast food burgers and daily exercise.
July 29, 2009