The Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post
Fredericksburg — Two confirmed cases of rabies have been reported in Gillespie County — a rabid skunk and a rabid raccoon. Both were shot in separate incidents and taken to a veterinarian’s office for testing.

Kerrville Daily Times
Kerrville — The original H-E-B grocery store in Kerrville celebrates its 100th year with a grand re-opening. H-E-B is one of the major grocery store chains in Central Texas. The current chairman and CEO of H-E-B, Charles Butt, is the great-grandson of the original founder, Florence Butt, who invested $60 to start the now multi-billion dollar business. The company has a strong commitment to community involvement and helps stock food banks, runs a number of summer camp programs, and contributes to United Way and many other organizations.

The Highlander
Marble Falls — A man was found dead in his home from multiple gunshot wounds. The man’s son has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police are investigating the case.

The Bandera Bulletin
Bandera — A Birmingham, Alabama, firm has filed plans for a combination Dollar General store and McDonald’s restaurant.

The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon
Floydada — Youth and animals compete for honors in stock show. A nice set of pictures from the local stock show. As an aside, anyone else notice the first names of these kids? Interesting names and spellings.

More Texas Newspapers…

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has been good to me.

Psalm 13:5-6

I’ve been thinking that I should write something of depth and wit for my site, but I have ice cream in the freezer that is waiting for me to scoop it into a bowl. I’m sure I’ll be back to writing something witty as soon as I run out of ice cream.

From NPR’s website, I learn that the German word korinthenkacker literally means “raisin pooper” and describes “someone so taken up with life’s trivial detail that they spend all day crapping raisins. You can spot these types a mile off — it’s that irritating pen pusher or filing fanatic whose favorite job is tidying up the stationery cupboard.”

From a book review entitled “Translating the Untranslatable.”

Retired U.S. District Judge William Augustus Bootle passed away today at the age of 102. Judge Bootle issued rulings in a number of historic civil rights cases in the 1960s.

On the way home, I was listening to NPR’s report about Judge Bootle’s demise. The reporter began a sentence with these words “Bootle’s most bitter battle,…”

Now say that 5 times fast.

I overheard a conversation today at lunch that seems to me to be the epitome of a Texan’s concept of winter. Both the content of the conversation and accents bring me to that conclusion that the two people speaking were Texans. The general conversation was about business travel.

Texan #1: Is there anything that you can actually do in St. Paul, Minnesota?

[Pause]

Texan #2: There’s ice sculptures.

[Long pause; blank stare from Texan #1]

Texan #1: Who would want to look at ice sculptures??

[Thoughtful pause by Texan #2]

Texan #2: People who live in St. Paul, Minnesota… ???

[Contemplative stares by Texan #1 and #2 as they tried to imagine ice sculptures in the middle of town.]

Texan #1: It’s just too cold there.

The current temperature in St. Paul is 3 degrees. Forecast for later in the week shows highs into the 30s.

In Austin, Texas, it’s currently 52 with forecast highs by Friday of 70.

Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: “Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again.” Let us go out realizing that the Bible is right: “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” This is our hope for the future, and with this faith we will be able to sing in some not too distant tomorrow, with a cosmic past tense, “We have overcome! We have overcome! Deep in my heart, I did believe we would overcome.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here?

I think I’ll take that time tomorrow to remember where we have been as a nation and to remind myself where we are now. We as a people and a nation have come a long way in overcoming our past, but the journey is not yet complete.

These three speeches — “Where Do We Go From Here?,” “I Have A Dream” and “Iíve Been to the Mountaintop” — by Dr. King are all well worth the time to read. Each is available here: Selected Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s been a long and busy week. Much of my evenings during the past week have been devoted to preparing for a series of four weekend youth retreats and battling allergies. Temperatures here in Central Texas have ranged from the low 20s to almost 80 degrees in the last week. Pretty much everything that I’m allergic to thinks that it is spring.

I didn’t finish much of what I needed to have done before heading out the door for the first retreat on Friday. We compromised and improvised to make it all work. I think that the weekend went really well.

I’m one of the “tech guys” for the weekend. I’ll try to give more explanation to that later. I have been working with these retreats for the past 9 years now. Amazing that it has been that long!

I’ll write more about the weekend after I get some sleep.

Two new products announced by Apple today at the MacWorld Expo…

Apple iPod shuffle - Very cool. I love the advertising campaign. “Enjoy uncertainty.” “Time to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods?” [an old reference to the so-called intelligent shuffle]

Apple Mac mini - Very, very cool and WOW! I love Apple’s innovations in computer design. Now the question is: Will it sell without cannabalizing Apple’s higher-end sales? The Cube Redux.

I’m following live coverage of the MacWorldExpo keynote via AppleInsider. There’s no live video stream this year, so I’m limited to text only updates. Of course, I’ll watch the webcast later today once Apple has it posted to their site.

I probably would follow this just as closely even if it weren’t part of my job.

ooo… AppleInsider says, “The lights have dimmed.” Let us now imagine Steve Jobs in his trademark blue jeans, black turtle neck, and sneakers as he takes to the imagined stage.