QUESTION: Is the Longview Public Library still accepting books for donations?

Editor’s note: Answer Line has been on assignment this week. Look for new questions and answers soon. In the meantime, enjoy this best-of column from 2014:

QUESTION: My wife and I had lunch today at a local restaurant. All employees working the guest area wore face masks. We noticed the employees working in the kitchen did not have on face masks. What are the face mask rules for all restaurant employees?

QUESTION: The historical marker for the old Longview High School on Whaley Street is really overgrown. Who is responsible for maintaining that?

QUESTION: I heard there’s more mobile COVID-19 testing coming to Longview. A couple of the days require prescreening for symptoms for an appointment. When mobile testing was here the first time, the prescreening questionnaire asked questions about insurance. Is insurance required for me to b…

QUESTION: How are buffets like the Golden Corral, China King and others where the customer can pass through and serve themselves operating now that they can be open?

Editor’s note: Answer Line was on assignment this week. Look for new questions and answers next week. In the meantime, enjoy this best-of column with Q&A from 2016:

QUESTION: I received in the mail an economic impact payment card. It is a Visa credit card for my stimulus money. I have not received a check or anything, and I don’t know if this is a scam or not. It says that it’s on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

QUESTION: About the $1,200 economic impact payment: I read that it’s for people with an adjusted gross income of $150,000. Is that for one person or two people? I haven’t gotten anything yet, and I know people that have.

QUESTION: Is the Texas Department of Insurance doing anything to lower auto insurance rates like in Louisiana because people are driving a lot fewer miles during the pandemic?

QUESTION: If bars are supposed to be closed, how can Outlaws Bar hold an outdoor live concert with drinking and over 35 people out back of the bar not keeping any distance between them? Longview police evidently did nothing to enforce the governor’s order. Who else can be notified for violations?

QUESTION: I was wondering how long it took Dr. Jonas Salk to come up with the vaccine for the horrible polio epidemic? Did the other countries also have polio? I can think about that polio and how scared those parents were for their children. It makes me think how scared people are for their…

QUESTION: How have our local hospitals been affected by COVID-19 patients? How many patients have they treated? Were they overrun with COVID-19 patients?

QUESTION: What is the story behind the abandoned car wash at the corner of Pliler Precise and Judson Road? It’s been roped off for several years it seems.

Editor’s note: Technical problems derailed Answer Line’s bid Friday to finish today’s column. She’ll return with new questions and answers next week. Meanwhile, enjoy this column from Jan. 27, 2016:

QUESTION: Why is the county no longer sharing countywide COVID - 19 information with Longview Mayor Andy Mack? Is there a reason we are not seeing daily updates on the county’s social media pages? Mayor Mack is doing a great job at providing information, but why does it seem his hands are ti…

Editor’s note: Answer Line was on assignment this week and indulging in a little bit of sadness that her baby’s kindergarten year and her fifth-grader’s final year at Hudson PEP have been cut short. Please enjoy this column from June 11, 2010. She chose it just because it quoted now retired …

QUESTION: Would Answer Line please explain what a charter school is? There’s been a lot of publicity about that lately.

Answer Line note: I decided this would be a good day to share a couple of poems that some faithful readers sent me about our current situation. Keep sending questions — I’ll be back at answering them Saturday. Today though — in this fourth week of working at home while cracking down on a cou…

QUESTION: Where did coronavirus get its name? Who, what or where is corona?

QUESTION: Gov. Greg Abbott previously stated that a shelter in place would not include houses of worship. Can you get clarification concerning the order by Gregg County and the city of Longview?

ANSWER LINE NOTE: Answer Line has received a few questions from people regarding complaints about businesses and people violating the governor’s order — and now a local order as well — prohibiting people from social gatherings of more than 10 people and prohibiting people from dining in rest…

QUESTION: I am wondering what country or entities hold our national debt. I have heard two answers and was hoping to find out the correct one. Is there more information about who owns the debt?

QUESTION: We are senior citizens and were wondering about filing our taxes. The AARP tax service that was being offered to seniors at Kilgore College has been closed, and we were wondering if the IRS is going to extend the tax filing deadline of April 15?

QUESTION: If a member of a family’s household is quarantined because of (COVID-19), are the others living there also homebound?

QUESTION: It seems like frequently we read about a fatal shooting here in Longview, or some not fatal, just a shooting. How do the past six months or so compare to the past history of Longview? Either we’re getting more publicity or we’re shooting more.

QUESTION: About a year and a half ago, we voted to approve a new EMS and fire station to serve the Judson and northeast Gregg County area. I saw my taxes go up to pay for it, and I’m wondering about the status of the project.

ANSWER LINE NOTE: A couple of weeks ago, Longview ISD conducted a town hall meeting at Broughton Recreation Center to discuss the possible conversion of the remaining campuses in the district to charter schools.

QUESTION: Does Longview have any restrictions on large trucks traveling on Loop 281 (between U.S. 259 and Pine Tree Road) during the middle of the day? Today at noon, I saw a large oilfield tanker, two 18-wheelers, a Trinity Industry tank car on its way to their facility east of Longview’s c…

QUESTION: When the city dredged the pond at Teague Park a few years ago, the pond was never restocked. It’s a safe place for seniors to fish, but there are no fish there. They stock it with trout for the kids fishing day, but the fish die off when the water warms up. Why hasn’t it been restocked?

QUESTION: I’m calling about the automatic traffic control at Neiman Marcus Boulevard and Eastman Road. It’s frequently out of commission and switches back to manual. I’ve called the city numerous times. It gets fixed for a short period of time and then it’s broken again. Who do we need to ta…

QUESTION: I have a question that I’m not sure where to address it to. Many years ago it was popular to support a POW-MIA soldier with a bracelet that had their name, rank and where they were stationed. I still have mine, and recently I checked and he is living. I don’t know how to go about c…

Editor’s note: Answer Line was on assignment this week and will return next week. In the meantime, enjoy this best-of column consisting of questions and answers from May 2014 and April 2015.

Editor’s note: Answer Line was finishing up another assignment this week and will return next week with more questions and answers. In the meantime, enjoy this best-of column from February 2015:

QUESTION: What is the tall pole with vegetation on it (or overgrown bush) on the track side of the Longview Amtrak depot building? It’s not very attractive during the winter months. Does it have some historical reason to be there?

Editor’s note: Answer Line was on assignment this week and will return next week. In the meantime, enjoy this best-of column consisting of questions and answers from September 2015 and August 2015.

Editor’s note: Answer Line is on assignment this week. In the meantime, enjoy this best-of column from March 2017:

QUESTION: A man named Paul Pastorek participated in the town hall meetings Longview ISD hosted last year about the district’s charter school plans. Who is he?

QUESTION: I am trying to find some information about the Rodden Building (3723 W. Marshall Ave.), particularly its age. It is surrounded by buildings that appear to be the same age and have unique brickwork. I have not been able to find anything on the internet about these buildings. I’m fro…

QUESTION: There’s a restaurant I frequent on the Loop. They charged me a 3% transaction fee for using a credit card. I’m wondering if that’s legal in the state of Texas. I don’t know of any other restaurant or any other business that charges a transaction fee for using a credit card.

QUESTION: I usually hesitate to answer phone surveys, but several months ago, I received a phone call about a possible grocery store that was considering a location in Longview. I enjoy cooking, so a new grocery store sounded interesting. As the survey progressed, I learned that a company ca…