1 Those who worked through the ice storm — A big shout out to all who worked despite our recent ice storm. Police, fire and medical personnel did not have the luxury to stay home and hibernate in their homes during this event. They left their families so that we could get any assistance with emergency care. We are aware of your actions, and we feel so blessed that you sacrificed your time.
Richard Cochran, Dallas
2 Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture — For its recent planned showing of the 2025 documentary “The Last Class.” While the originally scheduled screening at the Texas Theater was canceled because of our recent winter storm, those of us who had signed up were able to screen the movie at home. The film chronicles Robert Reich, 79, who served as Labor secretary in the Clinton administration, teaching his final class at UC Berkeley titled “Wealth and Poverty.”
Reich is a well-known author, political commentator, and in the film, Reich grapples with the end of his long teaching career which included previous stints at Harvard and Brandeis.
This is an insightful documentary that highlights the income inequality in our country and its impact on our society and democracy. The film also is a poignant portrait of aging, loss and the finality of the passage of time. In the film, Reich urges his students to seek out active, nonjudgmental dialogue with those who hold different points of view and, most important, to engage in critical thinking. Good advice for us all.
David Alan Jones, Farmers Branch
3 Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell — Caring for a loved one living with dementia often takes a significant financial toll on families. Currently, there are 460,000 Texans living with some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia. There are more than a million Alzheimer’s caregivers in Texas, and those individuals provide an estimated $33.1 billion worth of unpaid care annually. Of the total lifetime cost of caring for someone with dementia, 70% is borne by families, through out-of-pocket health and long-term care expenses or from the value of unpaid care. In addition, 41% of caregivers have a household income of $50,000 or less.
Thankfully, Rep. Gooden has chosen to take action on behalf of his constituents by becoming a co-sponsor for the Credit for Caring Act. The bipartisan Credit for Caring Act (H.R. 2036 / S. 925) would create a new, nonrefundable federal tax credit of up to $5,000 for eligible family caregivers.
As a constituent who works with senior citizens and their families daily, I am thankful for Gooden’s leadership in supporting this meaningful legislation to help caregivers in Texas and throughout the nation.
Jenni Knutson, Garland
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