Thumbs up, down
Former Texan takes a bow, Beyoncé shows C&W range and Karbach brewers cash in.
The problem this year with falling back to standard time is it adds another hour to the election season. #Let’sGetItOverWith
Chronicle reporter Brian Rosenthal has spent months battling on behalf of the voiceless, children shut out of our state’s education system. The Texas Education Agency this week, reacting to Rosenthal’s work, said it will suspend and eliminate a cap on the number of kids in special education classes. At a time when the news industry is doing more with less, you can’t help wonder how much better the state would be if we had 100 more reporters as dedicated as Rosenthal to watchdogging state and federal agencies.
Andre Johnson, the former Texans wide receiver, announced his retirement from football this week. A model person on and off the field, Johnson was a man of few words. In honor of that, we’ll simply say Godspeed and on to the Hall of Fame.
Sports Illustrated got its World Series prediction half correct back in March. It had the Cubs in the series, losing to the Astros. As we all know by now, Houston’s perpetual hardball heartbreak continued. There was an extra sting, seeing our old National League rivals with a plan that worked while we, um, twiddle our thumbs. Once again, a couple of former Astros were on the winning dogpile. Dexter Fowler (traded for Luis Valbuena) was a Game 7 hero, while former draft pick Ben Zobrist (traded for Aubrey Huff) was the series Most Valuable Player. #Don’tMakeUsWait50Years
Hometown hero Beyoncé teamed up with the Dixie Chicks at the Country Music Association in an act as good as Game 7. It was quintessential Texas girl power as they performed her hit, “Daddy Lessons.” Beyoncé’s dress may not have been country, but the music was, showcasing her crossover brilliance while Matthew McConaughey and others were mesmerized in the front rows. Surf over to abc.go.com for a replay.
Only the snobs were crying in their beer when the owners of local craft brewery Karbach cashed in this week. It was acquired by Anheuser-BuschInBev for an undisclosed number but certainly one that will keep the owners in fresh hops for many years. “There’s a new wrinkle this time around,” reported brewbound.com. “The deal comes less than two months after the U.S. Department of Justice promised to ‘carefully scrutinize any future craft acquisitions.’ ” No matter, other local craft makers were hoping the same lightning hits them. But one bar owner, decrying the corporatization of suds, promised to sell his remaining inventory and move on.
Who does Donald Trump surround himself with? One of his trusted agriculture policy advisers is Texas ag commissioner Sid Miller. Trump as recently as Friday called Miller “a wonderful guy.” Miller, however, has been the antithesis of “great” during a weird Twitter binge. It started with posts of Vladimir Putin in Trump neckties and progressed to using a revolting insult about Hillary Clinton. When confronted with facts about his assault on Clinton, Miller claimed he was hacked. Then he blamed it on a staffer mistakenly retweeting the wrong thing. But it wasn’t a retweet. It was a copy-and-paste job from someone who panders in anti-Semitism, chauvinism and other deplorable forms of hatred. Question No. 1: Why is Sid Miller’s staff — presumably paid by our tax dollars — reading this kind of bile in the first place? Question No. 2: Miller has been a disgrace from his trips to take “Jesus shots” to his call to nuke Muslims to his mishandling of an important state agency. There were far better qualified Republican candidates for that job in 2014. So next year, as candidates line up for the 2018 election, will the state party support Sid Miller or seek an alternative?
Most people at 83 think a big day is Bingo in the afternoon followed by the Early Bird Special at Luby’s. Not Rod Paige. The former U.S. secretary of education is getting ready to start a new job, interim president of Jackson State University in Mississippi.
You may call it the International Quilt Festival. We call it Basting on the Bayou. Thousands of quilters from around the world were here this week for the annual show. A couple of takeaways. The refurbished George R. Brown is getting rave reviews and is Super Bowl ready. And “Best in Show” this year is Dickinson’s Cynthia England for an elaborate scene of a South African fishing village.