As most of you know, we lost my beloved wife Suzanne on Jan. 7. She was killed in a car wreck.
Suzanne was a very passionate person. She loved teaching, and it showed as hundreds of former students — many of them newspaper and yearbook students — returned that love by turning out for her funeral either in person or online through the livestream and thousands of tribute posts on Facebook.
It was truly amazing. Never have I seen such an outpouring of affection for a former teacher or a regular person. But then I remembered: Suzanne was never just a regular person.

Early primary voting starts on Valentine’s Day
 
Early voting in the March 1 primary begins on Feb. 14 and runs through Feb. 25. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Feb. 18.
There are seven statewide seats on the ballot: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, comptroller and one seat on the railroad commission. Winners in the Republican and Democratic primaries will face off in the Nov. 8 general election.

Two proposed amendments on May ballot

Registration form shortage as deadline nears

Dozens of school districts close due to COVID-19 outbreaks
 
Several dozen school districts across the state were forced to close last week due to the omicron variant of COVID-19 sending home students, staff and teachers. Most school districts planned to reopen on Tuesday following the MLK holiday.

Emergency SNAP benefits again extended
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is again extending emergency food benefits this month, with more than $307 million in emergency allocations expected to help more than 1.5 million Texas households.

Twenty-nine new laws in effect in January
 
More than 20 new state laws went into effect as Texans rang in the New Year, with another half-dozen to go on the books on Jan. 18, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Those laws include a ban on transgender athletes competing on sports teams that reflect their gender identity, and penalties for illegally restraining dogs.
Other new laws:

State steps up DUI enforcement during holidays
The Texas Department of Transportation has kicked off its statewide “Drive Sober. No Regrets” drunk driving prevention program for the holidays. Throughout the month, TxDOT has released videos of people who deal with the daily consequences of driving while impaired, either as an offender or survivor.
The stories and facts about drunk driving can be found at SoberRides.org.

State’s workforce surpasses pre-pandemic high
The Texas labor market exceeded the previous pre-pandemic high in February 2020 by hitting just under 13 million nonagricultural jobs in November, the Texas Workforce Commission reported last Friday. The adjusted jobless rate was 5.2% last month, down slightly from the previous month.

Drier, warmer weather in November
Blame it on La Niña.
By the end of November, nearly half the state was experiencing drought conditions, up 25 percentage points from the end of October, according to Dr. Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist with the Texas Water Development Board. La Niña conditions are “defined as below-average sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific,” Wentzel wrote. This results are warmer and drier weather than normal for much of Texas.