AUSTIN, Feb. 7 - As chairman of the International Relations and Trade (IRT) Committee, I am excited about getting to work on the recent interim committee charges issued by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

McALLEN, Jan. 30 - 2010 is a year for counting. People will be counted for the once-in-a-decade census. Fractions of seconds will be counted during bobsled and downhill ski races at the winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

SAN CARLOS, Jan. 25 - Imagine living with your spouse and three children in a single room cottage with a bedspread for a door, a single light bulb and no indoor plumbing.

McALLEN, Jan. 24 - By the 1950s, post war McAllen had changed as it grew larger. An airport was thriving, radio and TV stations were established.

EDINBURG, Jan. 3 - In the beginning was the creation, the earth, eruptions of angry volcanoes, the passing of eons. Then came the rains, the rushing of rivers.