The recent tale of a pet dying during a traffic stop pushes a lot of buttons, but it really boils down to two elements.

In the past, Buda and Kyle could dip into fund balances here and there to keep tax rates low, but it appears neither town has any choice but to raise property tax rates in the next budget cycle.

It isn’t quite accurate to say Elizabeth Sumter got ran out of Kyle on a rail when she held a town hall-style meeting there back in February. Rather, the county judge left in a hurry on one of many roads in her county in critical need of widening.

Crime has started to become an issue in Kyle, signaling that the city no longer can get away with a small police force.

However one looks at it, downtown Buda faces a long path to prosperity. The best downtown merchants can hope for at any given time is a sense of progress.

The fools who fall for late-night infomercials are no worse off than the multitudes who respond to prime time television advertising.

Stunned by the death of Minerva Falcon, we’ve all tried to sum up what she meant to Kyle. The eulogy did it best.

A good city councilmember goes away and a good council candidate goes badly at the polls.

As Buda embarks on a new level of self-determination, voters will select a new mayor based on intensely personal preferences.

For the first time in going on two generations, the people of San Marcos looked outside town for a city manager, hoping a new perspective could break gridlock. They might as well have looked on another planet.

Those rib-tickling wiener dog races are coming back to Buda this weekend, and the Lions Club, as always, will just leave us alone to have a good time.

My grandpa used to say that he eats a bowl of oatmeal and reads his hometown paper every night before he goes to bed. That way, he said, he can sleep with nothing on his stomach and nothing on his mind.

Responding to pressure from legal action, the legislature and the Attorney General, Pedernales Electric Cooperative embraces the thrilling prospect of reform. Please excuse those of us who don’t share the excitement.

If Kyle is the hardest town to embrace along the interstate corridor through Hays County, it’s also the most interesting town to envision.

A district judge has spoken on the matter of Nick Ramus vs. Hays County. What will the so-called Court of Public Opinion say about it in the November election?