Jury service a small, critical sacrifice
      Editor's Note: New 329th District Court Judge Randy Clapp has agreed to write a regular column for Wharton County's newspapers. This is the first. Sometimes we take for granted the price of freedom. We often see jury trials on TV and in the movies.
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New year promises to be a 'watershed' like 1968
      Is 2008 the new 1968? You might think so, given all the comparisons we're seeing between then and now. World turmoil, assassination, an unpopular war and a wide-open presidential contest make it tempting to draw such parallels (and there is, of course, that 40th-anniversary hook), but they are of ...
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Having a 'hoppy' new year
      According to the Chinese calendar what year were you born? Curious? Here's your sign and your characteristics: Rat, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008. Bright, sociable and highly ambitious. (Should be a live wire and light up a room until you blow out your final filament.
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Sounding Board
Our Readers Write Email us at: bensharp@journal-spectator.com
      Voting woes Letter to the Editor: I read with much disgust and disappointment the latest report in the Wharton Journal-Spectator regarding the continual defense of using the ES&S voting machines in our county.
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King's 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail' provides insight into the origins of the American civil rights movement
      Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Years ago I placed a poster with the above referenced quote and a picture of its author, Martin Luther King, on the front door to my office.
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In Custody
Public records of persons booked into the Wharton County Jail
      Alcohol, drug charges David Garcia Ramirez, 48, 5107 Nichols, Wharton, was booked into Wharton County Jail at 9:07 p.m. Saturday for driving while intoxicated. He was released at 8:25 a.m. Sunday on $1,500 bond. Raquel Almanzar, 34, 1014 Calhoun, El Campo, was booked Saturday for driving while ...
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