A Texan’s speeding ticket put her in the legal history books last week. To combat the backlog in criminal cases created by the pandemic, a Travis County justice of the peace conducted the nation’s first virtual criminal trial.

Now I cannot actually attest to this story being true since I was not there, but my cousin Thomas Wylie says that it is and, goodness knows, I have heard him repeat it at least 347 times over the decades since we were in school. Should you recall, Thomas Wylie is the same cousin who duped me into ordering that huge submarine pictured on the back of the Cheerio’s box and, when it arrived, it was so small we could hardly find it in the packaging. Nevertheless, we filled its little port with soda and tried to float it. Yet, alas, during an attempt to make it submerge, we lost it down the bathtub drain. Bearing this in mind, you have been duly advised to take this story for what it is worth…a ‘fishing tale’ from Thomas Wylie.

To the editor: As the upcoming election approaches, it brings to mind how many people put their hope and faith in politics. Personally, I have no political affiliation, in the same way that I have no religious affiliation.

To the Editor: I think we can all agree that having and holding elections is the bedrock of our Republic. Additionally, I think that we can get a consensus agreement across party lines that it is our civic duty to assist in enabling the timely execution of these elections without regard to political affiliation/association.

To the Editor: The American Postal Workers Union’s National Executive Board has voted to endorse Joe Biden for President of the USA. My opinion is not to disparage our local postal employees; however, in some areas of the country, one must question how much activism the union will play in the upcoming election.

To the Editor: Mr. Bill Balch, in the 14 August Record, put forth some surprising information about the “Postal Clause” in the Constitution of the United States.

To the Editor: I, for one, will not be joining the Democrats in their push for mail-in ballots because I want my vote counted. The Daily Signal had an article by Fred Lucas, Aug.

The Round Top Summer Sale Days will be Thursday, Aug. 20, through Sunday, Aug.

It’s mid-August and I’m still hibernating, fearful of any human who might be a virus villain ready to spew harmful air particles into my lungs, eyes, mouth or on my fingertips. So, when I received an invitation to a garden gathering of local writers, I declined sending regrets exposing my cowardliness and deep-seated fear of those who may be stalking unprotected and unsuspecting innocents.

Angelina Eberly, who took everything frontier life threw at her and kept coming back for more, died of natural causes at the Gulf Coast port of Indianola on Aug. 15, 1860.