Birds fly over the Port of Corpus Christi as the sun sets in late 2023. It’s time for Corpus Christi and the smaller cities in the region to strongly restrict water usage, and it’s time for Big Oil companies in the area to cut back on water use, a reader says.
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle file photo
Then-County Court Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez attends a hearing regarding charges she faced that have since been dropped. A reader objects to judging Gonzalez on a single incident without regard for the positive things she did for the community.
Ronald Cortes/Contributor
The Apollo 8 astronauts pose at Cape Kennedy on Oct. 22, 1968. The recent Artemis II flight was a resounding success, but it was Apollo 8 in 1968 that first flew around the back side of the moon, a reader notes.
JPK/AP
Cut Big Oil’s water use
Re: “Corpus Christi shortage could affect smaller towns in region,” SA Inc., Sunday:
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It’s time for Corpus Christi and the smaller cities in the region to strongly restrict water usage.
It’s also time for Exxon Mobil Corp., Occidental Chemical Corp., LyondellBasell, Valero Energy Corp., Flint Hills Resources, Steel Dynamics International, Citgo, Celanese Corp., Calpine and Chemours Co. to stop using more than 1 million gallons a day of regional water.
It’s time for Gov. Greg Abbott to take charge of the situation and get the state involved.
The major oil refiners — Exxon, Occidental Petroleum and Valero — made $38.8 billion in 2024. They could afford to chip in a billion dollars for a desalination plant for their use.
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They could start using ocean water for cooling instead of fresh water. Would it cost more? Yes. But what is more important? Water or oil?
It’s time to consider the question.
Alexander McLeod, Port Aransas
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Consider judge’s whole career
Re: “Lifetime ban appropriate for judge who lost her way,” Editorial, April 29:
The editorial reflects a troubling departure from balanced discourse. Judges must meet high standards of conduct, but so must attorneys.
What the editorial piece overlooks is the broader context of the December 2024 incident, including the role of escalating behavior in the courtroom. To portray Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez as the sole wrongdoer is not balance. It is selective judgment.
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This episode also unfolded within a highly politicized environment, where isolated moments can be amplified to overshadow decades of service.
Gonzalez’s record includes founding Reflejo Court, advancing trauma-informed justice, protecting vulnerable families and breaking barriers as Bexar County’s first openly LGBTQ judge. These contributions matter.
Accountability is essential, but so is fairness. Public servants deserve to be evaluated in full, not reduced to a single moment.
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Apollo 8 did it first
The recent Artemis II flight was a resounding success. I did notice, however, one error as reported by the press.
Artemis II was not the first flight by humans around the back side of the moon. That was done by Apollo 8 in 1968.
Apollo 8 was crewed by Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders. This crew circled the moon several times, meaning they saw the back side.
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Over Christmas, they read from the Book of Genesis during a live broadcast.
I had the pleasure of meeting Borman many years later, demonstrating to him a Beechcraft Baron — twin-engine piston aircraft.
He was a very friendly person and liked to be addressed as Col. Borman.
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