Category Archives: business news

business news, economic news

Trump to raise the cost … of everything!

Donald J. Trump, with the stroke of his Sharpie pen, instituted tariffs on every item this nation imports from Mexico, Canada and China.

It means that the cost of all the things we purchase from these formerly friendly trading partners is going to cost you and me more money that many of us cannot afford to pay.

Trump, though, keeps operating on the myth that he is punishing those countries. Bullsh**! That’s all it is. The self-proclaimed “king of debt,” the guy who once thought of himself as a whiz-kid wheeler and dealer is going to inflict pain on those he took an oath to protect and defend.

What in the name of fiscal sanity is rattling around that strangely coiffed noggin of his?

Do you remember when this dipsh** took office the first time and he negotiated what he called the greatest trade deal in business history with Canada and Mexico. He tossed aside the North American Free Trade Agreement and replaced it with another deal he said would protect all three nations from economic harm.

Well, buckle up boys and girls. The numbskull in chief is about to inflict all kinds of harm on all of us. If you’re someone who trades in fruits and veggies imported from Mexico, you’ll pass the cost of those goods on to consumers. If you purchase timber from Canada, you’ll do the same thing. Oh, and computer chips and all manner of household goods imported from China? Same thing, gang.

Trump’s economic policies — such as they exist — are intended only to inflict maximum pain on Americans. That’s you and me, man!

business news

Trade war set to begin

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Let’s be crystal clear about what is going to commence among three North American neighbors now that Donald Trump has declared his intention to impose tariffs on imported goods.

Canada and Mexico, two of our strongest allies and most dependable trading partners, have been targeted — along with China — as candidates for massive tariffs on all goods delivered to the United States.

Who will pay the tariff? You and I will. Our neighbors, too, So will our loved ones. We will shoulder an immense burden as importers seek to pass the cost of the tariffs on to those of us who use the products imported from the three tariff-strapped nations.

I do not understand what Trump is trying to prove with these tariffs. He isn’t punishing those nations. They will respond by imposing tariffs on goods they import from U.S. exporters.

Hey, didn’t Trump negotiate a new free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico during his term in office? It was supposed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump called it a superior pact.

Well, it’s no longer superior to anything.

Buckle up, my fellow patriots. We’re going to pay through the nose for a lot of goods.

business news, International news

No, you cannot just ‘take back’ canal

Donald J. Trump is all bluster and fake bravado and zero substance and knowledge of the limits of the power of the office he is about to inherit.

He said he wants to “take back” the Panama Canal from the country that owns it outright, Panama. Why? Because he doesn’t like the steep fees the Panamanians are charging U.S.-flag ships using the canal.

Good grief! Panama took over the canal decades ago in a deal worked out with the U.S. government. It belongs to them! Panama is a sovereign nation that can do whatever it chooses with its assets. The United States has zero legal authority to seize property owned and operated by another nation.

I get that Trump doesn’t like the fees being charged U.S. shipping. I don’t particularly like it either. However, disliking another nation’s policies does not give us the inherent right to do the kind of thing that Trump is suggesting.

Let’s all get ready for this kind of nonsense to repeat itself for the next four years.

business news, local news

Keeping faith with pledge

A pledge I made some years ago is holding up nicely during this holiday season.

My pledge to the world — and to myself, mostly — was to avoid stressing out during this time of the year. I am happy to report that the holiday season will come and go without adding a single stress wrinkle to my aging puss.

I used to complain about how the intense commercialism of Christmas was the true enemy of the holiday. It wasn’t the so-called “liberal media,” or those who seek to remove the religious symbolism of the holiday.

It’s Madison Avenue and those who seek to make a buck on people’s desire to find the perfect gift for a loved one, or those who have to prepare the perfect holiday meal to consume after tearing up the package containing the perfect gift.

My gift-giving is limited mainly to my granddaughter. She is 11. She has her favorite activities. She tells me what they are. I act accordingly. My adult children have what they need and so I limit gift-giving for them significantly. My house is decorated, although I admit to scaling that back, too, since my bride is no longer here to whirl through the place like the Tasmanian Devil ensuring every decoration is shown properly.

So … my guilt and stress-free Christmas pledge is intact.

Ho, ho, ho ….

business news

Looking for votes? Well … yeah!

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A brief lesson in political context seems to be in order, as I must respond to a statement from a frequent critic of this blog.

I wrote something the other day calling attention to Kamala Harris’s support of an idea first pitched by Donald Trump: to end the rule requiring taxes on income received from tips for service workers.

My critic just couldn’t leave the issue well enough alone. He couldn’t just endorse Harris’s support of an idea first promoted by her presidential campaign opponent and then move on to the next point of contention.

No … instead he said something about how Democrats blasted Trump for the idea, saying he was just angling for votes.

In an election year? A candidate is looking for ways to win favor with voters? Who knew?

Here is the lesson. Listen up. In an election cycle, every single proposal offered by candidates is done with one primary goal in mind: to win votes! It makes no difference which politician does it, or which party to which he or she belongs. They all do it and they all have the same motive in mind.

I just want to make clear that we should understand the context at play here. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are of like minds on the principle of banning taxes for tips. They both want voters to believe them over the other person.

As for my critic. Pipe down, dude!

business news, local news

When to demolish?

I keep waiting, and waiting …. and waiting for the bulldozers to show up on a site I’ve been commenting on for some time.

It’s the apartment complex that someone started to build only to leave it undone more than a year ago. Since then, it has gone to serious seed, as in it’s getting unfit to finish.

It’s the one next to Wal-Mart on U.S. Highway 380 here in little ol’ Princeton, Texas. The developer and the general contractor parted company more than a year ago. The reasons for the snit aren’t known. The city seems to have decided the site isn’t up to code. It will issue the order to take it down in due course.

I might be sounding a bit repetitive with this post, but I want to make another point that I deem necessary to be made.

The city should never have to be put in a position such as the one that Princeton finds itself. City Hall is going to turn into the bad guy the moment it orders the bulldozers fired up. What appears to have happened is that the terms of the deal that brought this massive luxury apartment complex into being was not nailed down sufficiently to prevent the kind of kerfuffle that severed ties between the contactor and developer.

I cannot speak with direct knowledge of what should have been done, but I do know that Princeton, Texas, is now looking foolish — and unnecessarily so — because a partially built residential complex likely is doomed for destruction.

This is strange in the extreme.

business news, local news

Action — finally! — on business park

Well, you can just ruffle my hair and call me Frankie, for I have stumbled onto a project that has been a long time in the making.

I ran an errand this evening in Princeton, Texas, where I have lived for the past five years. My route took me south on Beauchamp Boulevard toward County Road 400. That’s when I saw a sign with the name of a general contractor just a few yards from a marker identifying the future site of Bois d’ Arc Professional Park.

What did I do? I took a picture of the sign and called the number of the contractor.  Then, expecting the call to go to voice mail, someone answered. It was Max Allen, the general contractor.

Allen then proceeded to tell me he is going to build a pre-school on the site. He said he expects to break ground “in about 60 days.” He said his work only entails the school but said there “might be other projects coming up as well.” I won’t take that last statement to the bank. Still, I am heartened to see some evidence of movement on a significant parcel of land that has just been growing weeds since I moved into the area all those years ago.

I have heard Mayor Brianna Chacon lament at least once that the professional park has remained empty. I will point out, though, that a new storage unit has gone up just south of professional park boundary. Chacon also has talked openly about the possibility of declaring a moratorium on single-family and apartment construction to enable the city to shore up its infrastructure.

With all that hanging over the city, I am tickled to reveal the apparent start of an important new commercial project on property that has been begging for it

business news, local news

Let’s get busy, Mr. Manager

You may count me as a Princeton resident and taxpayer who has a growing fear of the future of what at the moment looks like a construction monstrosity.

They’re seeking to build a “luxury apartment” complex on the south side of US 380, just east of Walmart. Work stopped abruptly on the project in May 2023. The developer said he would hammer out a new deal with a contractor in 30 days.

Well, the 30-day window slammed shut. Still no contractor. Work is still waiting to resume … one year later!

Here’s a thought to toss at Princeton’s new city manager, Mike Mashburn. The city council recently gave Mashburn a five-figure increase in his base salary and extended his contract. This was done before Mashburn actually did anything in his new job!

My thought is that the city’s chief administrator has it within his power to summon the developer and any potential general contractors to his shiny new City Hall office. He should then order all the principals to work out an agreement that enables work to resume post haste.

I am not a construction expert, but I do know that time is not on the side of the contractors or the developer. The longer the complex is exposed to our fickle weather, the more damage is done to the exposed interior portions of the 360-unit complex.

Mashburn clearly has some skin in this game, as he now runs a municipal government with a direct stake in the success of this project.

I can guarantee that no one wants to be scarred by a project that falls victim to disputes of the type that has stalled work on this massive new project, which at the moment looks like nothing more than a massive eyesore.

business news, economic news, local news

A boondoggle in the making?

My chronic nosiness sometimes gets the better of me, particularly when I see large public projects seemingly abandoned.

I am referring in this instance to what I have been calling a “boondoggle in the making” around the corner and down the street from my Princeton, Texas, home.

I reached out to someone in authority at City Hall the other day to ask about the status of the “apartment monstrosity” under construction on the south side of US 380 just east of Walmart. The answer I got? “It’s being handled by ‘legal.'”

Hmm. OK. I asked a follow-up question: Does that mean the project is stalled? No answer has been forthcoming.

Now, I spent more than 36 years as a reporter and editor for two reputable newspapers in Texas and one in Oregon. My job was to sniff out problems when I suspected they were occurring. My gut — in addition to my trick knee — are telling me the city has a problem on its hands.

Princeton City Council approved a massive construction project to build a massive complex of “luxury apartments” on US 380. Site preparation was completed and several structures emerged right away. Work crews installed dry wall on several of the structures.

Then, about a year ago, work stopped at the site. A dispute between the developer and the general contractor led to some sort of work stoppage. The then-city manager told me at the time that they were working it out and that work would resume shortly.

Well, “shortly” never arrived, or so I understand. I haven’t seen any sign of human life on the construction site in weeks. The gates are closed and padlocked. The weather has at times been cold and damp, perhaps damaging the unprotected structures.

I am believing in my bones that the city has a problem in the form of an unfinished apartment complex that is looking more each day like a gigantic eyesore.

Cryptic answers about “legal” counsel answering questions gives me reason — I believe — to be deeply concerned about the future of this blight on our rapidly growing community.

business news, local news

Traffic woes to mount

The more I think about the decision to bring a huge new shopping complex to Princeton, Texas, the more I also have to think about one of the consequences of that massive new business endeavor.

Traffic, man!

When I travel through this part of Collin County, I hear a bit of chatter about how Princeton is becoming a city motorists should seek to avoid. Why? Because the traffic along US 380 becomes impossible … and impassable!

Just yesterday, in fact, I was coming home from an outing in Tarrant County. I drove across Fort Worth, along the Sam Rayburn Tollway and then high-tailed it to US 75 northbound. I made the exit onto US 380 in McKinney and started to head east toward the house.

Then I stopped. And waited. And waited some more for the traffic to move. It did. It took a while!

The Princeton City Council has approved a 91-acre parcel to be developed into a major shopping complex on the north side of 380. I favor the decision. I want the business to come to the city I call home. I also wonder about the wisdom of the council’s decision. Why is that? Well, I covered a Farmersville City Council meeting a couple of years ago and watched that council reject an apartment complex because — here it comes — of the traffic problems it would create.

Princeton’s council seemingly doesn’t have such concern, as it approved a mammoth apartment complex a few hundred yards east of where the shopping complex is planned. Work on that project still appears to be far from finished, but when it’s done, it also will spill hundreds of vehicles onto the highway every day.

Maybe I should look at this issue more strategically. Texas transportation planners are hoping to build a freeway bypass around Princeton …. eventually! It is designed to relieve traffic congestion on 380. Last I heard, though, the state is a long way from turning over any dirt on that project.

That work likely will outlive this old geezer’s time on Earth.

Don’t misunderstand me, as I am not going to reverse myself and oppose the business complex. I am a pro-biz guy and the revenue the shopping complex will generate will be very good for this city.

We’d all better prepared ourselves, though, for some major teeth-gnashing as we seek to get home in time for dinner.