Capital Highlights A half-dozen lawsuits challenging the 13 approved Texas constitutional amendments appear to be dead in the water, The Dallas Morning News reported. The secretary of state’s office last week declared the propositions approved and now a part of the Texas Constitution, while Gov.

by Dan Eakin The Bee is a local newspaper, and our goal is to report only local news. That means we try primarily to report news that has occurred or is about to occur in Hardin County, or in parts of Jefferson, Jasper and Tyler counties.

Capital Highlights The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case that could decide whether medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban are written clearly enough to protect pregnant women who face serious health risks, the Austin American- Statesman reported. The 22 plaintiffs include women who contracted sepsis while waiting to terminate a nonviable pregnancy, and women who traveled hundreds of miles for abortions of a nonviable twin in order to protect the healthy fetus.

As we approach the holidays, I’m happy to share a local, feel-good story of the Beaumont community coming together to help those in need this holiday season. For years, Joshua Mouton has dedicated his time and money to gathering donations for Beaumont’s less fortunate.

My wife and I have eaten at Silsbee Seafood under the new management of Mr. Lee a few times recently.

The City council met Monday, Nov. 20, and conducted the monthly business of the city.

Capital Highlights As time runs out next week on the fourth special session, Gov. Greg Abbott said he will continue to fight for school choice, despite the Texas House once again decisively rejecting it when 21 Republicans largely from rural districts joined Democrats in stripping it from a $7.6 billion education bill.

From the Editors Desk I find it difficult to believe that it was almost exactly 60 years ago that John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on a street in downtown Dallas before a huge crowd of people.

Capital Highlights The Texas House on Friday defeated a proposed voucher plan, also leaving in doubt a comprehensive public school funding plan that became tied to it, The Dallas Morning News reported. A coalition of rural Republicans and Democrats joined together to take education savings accounts out of the bill by an 84-63 margin.

Capital Highlights The Texas Legislature, conceived as a part-time body to meet every other year for 140 days, is now in its record fifth session (counting the regular session). When the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is included, legislators have been in Austin pretty much the entire year, as the Texas Tribune noted.