Ashley Schmidt

AARP is working in communities across the state to ensure that Texans are in the driver’s seat through every stage of their lives. We are also creating communities where people can give back all they have to offer.

I was never an athlete. I was always the girl with her nose in a book. My parents enrolled me in T-ball when I was little. I was so bad the coach stuck me in the outfield where I could “do no harm.” He was wrong. At a crucial moment in a critical game (as critical as a T-ball game can be) the ball came straight toward me and there I was… sitting in the dirt making a daisy chain. The coach asked my parents not to bring me back the next year.

Although the Times Square Ball has already dropped, there is still time to resuscitate those New Year’s resolutions before the firecrackers sound on February 10th -- this year’s official start to the Lunar New Year.

... The anticipation, the edge-of-your seat excitement and the nail-biter finish. No, I’m not talking about the NCAA college basketball season; I’m referring to the Texas legislative session. And I can assure you, the action we’re in for this session should prove to be more exciting than anything taking place on the hardwood.

A statewide poll released today shows that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of surveyed Texans age 45 and older support a state law that would cap the interest rates and fees these businesses can charge borrowers. The majority of those surveyed (79%) believe that these loans should be capped at 36% or less.

Bob Jackson, State Director, AARP Texas offered the following statement on the decision by El Paso City Council to rein in abusive lending practices:

Ervin Rees has been awarded AARP Texas’s 2012 Andrus Award for Community Service, the Associations most prestigious and visible volunteer award. This award symbolizes an individual’s power and ability to make a difference in the lives of other.

Like most people, pets want to grow old in their own homes, not an institution. Unfortunately, thousands of older pets are brought to Texas shelters every year—usually because something unforeseen happened in their owner’s life.