Ray Khovasain screams in a car cruising and honking horns on Commerce Street after a Spurs victory. San Antonio’s honking tradition existed long before Spurs wins, a reader says.
Tom Reel/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
It’s fair for our politicians to seek to recover some of the costs related to climate-driven disasters from the oil and gas industry, but leaders like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz keep giving it a pass, a reader says.
Robin Jerstad
Not just for Spurs
Re: “Spurs fans embrace rowdy ‘Let’s Go Honking’ tradition,” Metro, April 19:
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I enjoyed Melissa Renteria’s article about Spurs fans’ honking tradition in San Antonio.
However, the article makes it sound like it’s only for Spurs games. I was introduced to the honking tradition in 1963 after when I went with friends to the annual Chili Bowl game between Fox Tech and Sidney Lanier high schools at Alamo Stadium.
This game usually drew more than 20,000 fans.
The traffic on West Commerce Street was bumper-to-bumper. Then everyone would go to their neighborhood hamburger joint to continue the celebration.
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In our case, I believe it was Roger’s at the corner of San Pedro and Elmira. For the Lanier fans, it was Paul Marie’s or the Malt House on Zarzamora.
Don’t stay silent
Re: “Killing of children by Nazis a reminder to speak against evil,” Another View, Tuesday:
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I was deeply touched by the last words in Roger Barnes’ commentary, a quote from the Bullenhuser Damm Memorial block: “When you stand here, be silent. When you leave here, be not silent.”
The words are a reminder that we must speak out against the horrors that tyranny linked with ideology can inflict on a nation.
At Bullenhuser, the horror was the murder of children. In Minnesota, it was the killing of two citizens at a protest. In America, it’s the loss of due process, and the detention and deportation of many who came here seeking our help. The list goes on.
The words are also a reminder of the consequences of not speaking out, whether from fear or complacency.
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If we don’t defend the immigrant and the slain citizen, it will be too late when the tyrant comes for us.
When you leave here, be not silent.
Cruz gives Big Oil a pass
Texas leads the nation in billion-dollar climate and weather disasters, with a whopping 190 events from 1980 to 2024.
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Texas farmers, homeowners and businesses have struggled to recover from drought, floods and fires, and taxpayers have footed that Texas-size bill.
It’s only fair that our politicians should recover some of the climate disaster costs from the oil and gas industry, which is enjoying soaring profits and an estimated $34.8 billion a year in federal subsidies.
Instead, last week U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz introduced Senate Bill 4340. The Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 is legislation that would provide a broad liability shield for the industry.
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With the cost of dealing with climate-driven disasters only expected to soar higher, Cruz, along with Sen. John Cornyn and our U.S. House representatives from Texas, should ask the industry to pay its fair share, not hand it a get-out-of-jail-free card.