Independence Day

[gentle music] It was a really hot night in the middle of summer, July 4th, 1988, in San Angelo, a small town in West Texas.

17-year-old Shane Stewart was gearing up for the Fourth of July holiday celebrations by picking up his girlfriend, 18-year-old Sally McNelly, and they were going to watch the fireworks.

Shane and Sally had started dating in the fall of 1987, when they were both students at San Angelo Central High School.

They fell in love fast.

Sally went to Lubbock.

Shane went to Kansas.

Eventually, they both came back, and it's not clear in the reporting I've seen exactly when, but sometime that summer, shortly before that fateful Fourth of July holiday, they met again and sparks flew, and just like that, they were back together.

In that summer of 1988, Shane was living with his father, Marshall Stewart.

weekend

and the Fourth of July weekend.

Those were the down times.

People just didn't seem to be too interested in what was coming out new in theaters that weekend or was just opting to go out and enjoy the weather and maybe do some outdoor activities for the holiday weekends.

Hey.

Has this been so big back in the day or no? In particular, we had like six major race days, and they were all holiday-centric, right? Easter was the first one, Memorial Day, and then Fourth of July races.

People would actually leave the festival, not the celebration in St. John's, to come over for the races and then go back, right? And then we'd have the native Triple Crown that would start Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Those six days were guaranteed moneymakers.

And also Pastor Ezra Jin, I think he was told flat out by Xi Jinping that Jimmy Lai would not be freed, but he would give some thought to Pastor Jin.

And lo and behold, Pastor Jin arrived in the United States on July 4th, Independence Day.

I think one thing that's not fully appreciated is the extent to which President Trump does advocate for political prisoners.

In his first term, there was Pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey that he was able to free through his personal intervention.

And also Pastor Ezra Jin, I think he was told flat out by Xi Jinping that Jimmy Lai would not be freed, but he would give some thought to Pastor Jin.

And lo and behold, Pastor Jin arrived in the United States on July 4th, Independence Day.

You know, I think one thing that's not fully appreciated is the extent to which President Trump does advocate for political prisoners.

In his first term, there was Pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey that he was able to free through his personal intervention.

Well, the fight for flock continues.

Fourth of July fail.

An epic Fourth of July fail.

Plus, who will be getting the next water bill increase? All upcoming.

Yeah,

She was one of our neighbors when we lived in this apartment complex, and she collected rocks, and she had these rock designs next to her patio, and she just had this little concrete slab.

It was an apartment, right? So a little concrete slab right off her sliding glass door, and then right next to that patio, she would have, so for Fourth of July, she would have red, white, and blue in the form of a flag.

Aww.

And that's how, this is before my parents or my mom and my stepdad knew each other.

And are you open seven days a week?

Yep, seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We're closed, I think, five days a year, major holidays, you know, Fourth of July, Christmas, close to Easter.

But other than that, yeah, it's very good.

So