Editorial

IN YOUR VIEW: OA online facebook comments

ODESSA AMERICAN

With oil prices exceeding $105 a barrel and the increasing tensions in the Middle East, gas prices in Odessa are higher than the state average and almost even with the national average. Article Facebook Audrey Gray: Odessa gas prices have...... Full story

TEXAS VIEW: End-of-course exams raise stakes

THE POINT — The Legislature failed to clarify exactly how much weight required tests have.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Anyone who believes that standardized testing in Texas public schools couldn’t get much worse should wake up and sharpen his or her No. 2 pencils. The latest mess spilling out of the process has to do with what the Legislature really meant...... Full story

SULLUM: New York continues bogus busts

JACOB SULLUM

Thirty-five years ago, New York’s legislature decriminalized marijuana possession. Numbers released last week show the New York Police Department continues to flagrantly flout that policy, wasting resources on a pointless, unjust and illegal...... Full story

SULLUM: Bogus busts: New York City continues its illegal crackdown on pot smokers

BY JACOB SULLUM

Thirty-five years ago, New York's legislature decriminalized marijuana possession. Numbers released last week show the New York Police Department continues to flagrantly flout that policy, wasting resources on a pointless, unjust and illegal...... Full story

CHAPMAN: Appeasement? Please.

Stephen Chapman

On April 1, 2001, a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter collided over the South China Sea, forcing the Americans to make an emergency landing on Chinese soil. But the Chinese government said it would not release the crew until it got an apology....... Full story

FREEDOM VIEW: Gas prices are on the rise

THE POINT — Oil companies are going to start facing accusations of price-gouging.

The Orange County Register

Gasoline prices are on their way up again. So too is the ire of gasoline purchasers who skipped Econ 101 in school.Retail gasoline prices rose in California and most of the nation during the last week, according to the Energy Department. Average...... Full story

ROMANO: Extension could be good news

Robert Romano

At the end February, the payroll tax holiday will expire, along with the last extension of unemployment benefits up to 99 weeks. That event could provide Republicans an opportunity to have the Obama Administration put its money where its mouth is on...... Full story

SANCHEZ: Community-driven priorities

BY H.T. SANCHEZ

A team of parents, business leaders, teachers, principals and district administrators met from September 2008 to May 2009 to craft a powerful vision for the future of K-12 public education in Odessa. The process was facilitated by the Cambridge...... Full story

SOWELL: The anti-Romney vote

A funny thing happened to Mitt Romney on the way to his coronation as the inevitable Republican candidate for President of the United States. Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado happened. Rick Santorum beat him in all three states on the same day...... Full story

TEXAS VIEW: Taking another look at tenure

THE POINT — Although controversial, post-tenure reviews will be good for UT campuses.

BY: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Some professors at Texas university campuses have had a rude awakening, and at least a few are very unhappy. Recently, University of Texas System regents unanimously endorsed a call for enhanced performance reviews of tenured faculty members....... Full story

LETTER: Freedom of speech alive and well

Herman Vaughns

I had said I wouldn’t write another letter to the editor, but after reading Sandy Milner’s, “Obama has to go” letter my blood is boiling. I don’t know if Milner is a he or a she, but I will just refer to them as they,...... Full story

LETTER: Lots of hoaxes out there

Howard W Blair

I just want to thank the editors of your paper for (usually) correcting some of the elderly readers who write letters because of something they’ve read on the Internet. Some folks are scared to death after reading false stories they find in...... Full story

ELAM: Oklahoma, meet Minnesota

Dennis Elam

As any producer in West Texas knows, all crude oil is not created equal. Saudi Sweet Light (no Virginia, there is really no such thing as sweet crude) flows freely and is perhaps the easiest to refine into products. As such, it fetches some of the...... Full story

LETTER: Ban plastic bags now

Lonnie Lawrence

It’s time to ban plastic bags. Midland is considering it. Why are we always playing “catch-up” with Midland? Let’s get ahead of the curve. Just look at the side of our highways in Ector County. It is pitiful.... Full story

LETTER: Church on wrong side of issue

Chet J. Bales

With respect to Reverend Pfeifer, the Catholic church has been on the wrong side in many issues, please don’t get caught up in today’s politics and offer outrage, when there are many more tragedies that we can brought to the forefront...... Full story