“It’s Game Time!” was the theme of Kylene Black’s program presented recently at Dimmitt Book Club’s meeting here at Rhoads Memorial Library. She distributed questionnaires among members asking about their favorite book genre, author, childhood stories, etc. Members then guessed the identity of answer providers in the exercise designed to get-to-know your fellow member better.
Early voting on 14 amendments to the Texas Constitution will begin Monday, Oct. 23. Castro County’s polling site will be the courthouse as the early period runs through Friday, Nov. 3. The official election day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.
According to the League of Women Voters’ nonpartisan voters’ guide, the “current version of the Texas Constitution was written in 1876 and has been amended over 500 times. It limits the types of changes state lawmakers can make to laws.
“In order to change the Texas Constitution, the proposed amendments must pass both houses of the Legislature by a 2/3 majority and then be approved by a majority of Texas voters. The Texas Constitution cannot be amended by citizen-led ballot initiatives, referendums, or petitions.”
We hope to have some of the guides available to the public but cannot guarantee that we will. We do not have a large enough population for the League to mail some to us, so any we provide will have to be picked up elsewhere, such as libraries serving larger populations.
Viewing or printing a guide from their website, www.lwvtexas. org is another option. Not only can you get the details of the proposed amendments in English or Spanish; Simple Chinese or Vietnamese are offered, too.
“Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” is a book written by David Grann and released in 2017. It features the true story behind a series of brutal murders of the Osage Tribe in Oklahoma that came to be known as the “Reign of Terror.” Suspicious deaths claimed at least 20 tribe members who had become incredibly wealthy after oil was discovered on their land in Northeast Oklahoma.
In fact, oil royalties made the Osage the wealthiest people per capita in the world in the 1920s. Since ownership of the mineral rights could only be passed on to tribe members, swindlers found a way to steal the rights or Whites would marry into the tribe and their Osage spouses would succumb to a suspicious death.
In response, the newly formed FBI deployed a team using frontier lawman tactics, newfangled forensics, and undercover work. Their efforts were led by former Texas Ranger Tom White, with the case eventually being solved and the culprits sentenced to prison in 1929.
We have this book ready for checkout, along with the November/December 2023 edition of “Cowboys and Indians” magazine, whose cover article details the event. Also, the story is being depicted on the big screen as it opens in movie theaters this week. Major actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro star in the film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese. Until next week, Happy Reading!