I know it’s been almost a week but I can’t start The Juice without recognition of those still out in the Hill Country trying to locate victims from the Guadalupe River Flood. And of course those families grieving following the loss of loved ones. I also hope that those businesses that were destroyed will be able to rebuild without a mountain of issues and red tape.
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The other day I attended a meeting of the County Election Board and came away scratching my head. I thought I was going to write this up as a news story but since it’s more of an editorial we’ll talk about it here.
The Orange County Republican Party Chairman Cheryl Warren wants to go back to paper ballots and hand counting for the March Primary. This would be for Republican voters only. She claimed in the last election there were ballots that were mismarked. County Elections Administrator Donna Alford says it was user error.
If there was an issue with a ballot, it was considered “spoiled” and another ballot was given to the voter. If you think it’s ever taken a long time to get results before don’t plan on staying up election night. According to what was said in court, based on the last election figures, it would take 24 hours or more according to Alford.
The county has put a lot of work into allowing the voters to have the ability to vote at any of the locations they list. However that would change on Election Day as both Republicans and Democrats would have to return to a precinct box list like we did years ago and not be able to vote at any box.
Alford says only one of the 254 counties in Texas has done this. Gillespie County has half the registered voters we do and less than half of the precincts.
The there’s the extra expense of making this happen. And the extra work that falls on Warren. Just doesn’t make sense. I’m curious if it’s a majority decision. A straw poll of the 15 or so Republicans in the room, only one other person seemed to be in tune with Warren’s idea. There’s time for minds to change. We’ll see what happens.
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Finally got Chuck Knipp, aka “Shirley Q. Liquor” in the Behind the Mic podcast chair. It was great to sit across from the “man” that made us laugh for so many years. He’s still making me laugh as I did out loud many times. All these years he’s claimed to be born in Canada. He was just pulling our leg. So tell your “mom and dem” to check it out.
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Going back to last week’s Juice, I heard from Jeff Rogers down at Rogers’ Lumber who assures me wet logs don’t smell like beer. LOL. Also heard from several Bobcats reminding me that Flanigan was the one that took the paw logo off in favor of the Thunder Cat logo which looked more like the Carolina Panthers. The logo changed but the name stayed the same.
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Lost a good friend, Lou Moore on Friday. It happened to be on his 63rd birthday. Many knew him as an All-Stater for the Mustangs. He was also the 1981 OC Athlete of the Year. Went and played for Lamar. Big Lou may not have looked that fast, but he was quick with the tongue. Some legendary one liners. Said he was a boat club legend without a boat! Even in his final moments surrounded by his brothers, the nurse walked in and said, “These must be your brothers,” and Lou said, “I’ve never seen these guys before in my life.” Lou was also instrumental in the Annual CCA Banquet fundraiser which is coming up in August. We’ll miss you Big Lou.
Stay cool this weekend. The Dog Days are here!
-Gary Stelly-
gstelly66@gmail.com
Volume 1 No. 24
The Juice is a weekly column where Gary Stelly discusses things that happened the past week and mixes it with 40 years of being involved in the Orange County community. (If we think of a better way to explain it we’ll change it) You can also check out his podcast by clicking on the Behind the Mic banner on the KOGT.com front page.
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