Category Archives: local news

local news, national news

Move over, Paul Revere!

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A supporter of this blog has informed many of my critics that I am now traipsing through some mighty tall cotton.

I need offer a quick-and-clean thank you to this fellow, who I have known for nearly 30 years, dating to when I arrived in the Texas Panhandle to take over as editorial page editor of the Amarillo Globe-News.

My friend, a former Randall County judge, has been chiding a critic over the tone he takes in chastising my arguments opposing Donald J. Trump’s choices to join his newly elected administration. He told the critic that “John Kanelis is a modern-day Paul Revere,” while berating him as a “disgrace to our country as you aid and abet the unhinged fool known as Donald Trump.”

See what I mean about the tall cotton reference?

I am not going to accept the Paul Revere reference. That is my friend’s opinion, to which he — and my critic — are entitled. However, my friend is a lawyer, which means he knows the language quite well. He’s a smart guy. I do not know my critic beyond what he says frequently while commenting on my blog; I just know him as an ardent Trump supporter … meanwhile, I am not.

There you go. Step aside, Paul Revere. You have company … I suppose.

crime news, local news

Allen PD officer: hero in truest sense

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It happens to me every time I drive by the highway exit in Allen, Texas: I think of the shooting that occurred in May 2023 at the Allen Outlet Premium Mall.

It was a hugely tragic event that ended when an Allen police officer, who happened to be at the mall answering an unrelated call shot the madman to death. However, the end came too late for nine victims who were gunned down by the shooter.

I am casting not a single stone at the police officer. He heard the shots and sprinted full speed toward the scene. He spotted the killer and fired his weapon.

What has happened since then is equally praiseworthy. The Allen officer has chosen to remain anonymous. Only his police department colleagues and his loved ones know the identity of this hero.

I have tried to wrap my noggin around that desire to keep his ID a secret. It might be easy for him to want the attention. He could cash in on his celebrity. This hero, though, has chosen another path. He has chosen instead to go about his work each day to serve and protect the public.

I went shopping at the mall a few weeks after the event and asked the clerk how she was getting along in the wake of the tragedy that unfolded not far from the store where she worked. “We’re doing OK,” she said with a hint of uncertainty about what “OK” really meant. I took her answer to mean “just OK. Not great, but we’re getting past it.”

And they will. Eventually. As for the police officer who still suits up each day, I am sure he will, too. None of us needs to know his name. All we need is assurance that heroes are among us and they answer the call to respond as only heroes can do.

local news

Sanity rules in Amarillo

Just when you think the world has gone mad and that the MAGA crowd is taking over our way of life … you hear about a Texas city where voters exercised their good judgment and put the brakes on the MAGA juggernaut.

Amarillo, where I once lived and worked, showed the nation how a community should react to zealots. The zealots in the Panhandle community weren’t going to let a city council decision to reject a proposed “sanctuary city for the unborn” ordinance stand. So they gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Voters then echoed the city council’s decision and rejected the cockamamie idea with 59% of voters saying “no!”

The idea was to prohibit pregnant women from traveling on public streets to drive to a place where could obtain an abortion. It would have empowered people to squeal on individuals they knew were planning such a thing. It would have subjected women and their doctors to criminal prosecution. It was an intrusive measure that could have created untold repercussion throughout the city.

It is an idiotic and totally unenforceable effort to interject government into people’s most intensely personal matters.

I have many friends still in Amarillo, where my wife and I lived for 23 years before we moved to the Metroplex. I, of course, couldn’t vote on that measure. I am just thrilled, though, to know that common sense and compassion ruled the day.

local news, national news, political news

Get busy, Texas Democrats

Looks to me as if the Texas Democratic Party has some work to do — I mean plenty of work to do — if it hopes to regain its footing as a competitive political organization in this great state.

I lost count of the emails and text messages I got from Democratic senatorial nominee Colin Allred proclaiming how he had Sen. Ted Cruz on the run, that he had caught the Cruz Missile in the fight for his U.S. Senate seat.

On Election Day, Allred fell — shall we say — far, far short of the mark. Cruz rolled to re-election. Allred now has to find another job, as he surrendered his Dallas House seat to compete for the Senate.

That was the story across the state. Democrats everywhere met the same kind of electoral fate that befell Allred.

Oh, and the presidential vote total? Donald Trump rolled to an easy win over Kamala Harris, capturing the state’s 40 Electoral College votes that seemed to be in the bag since before Harris became the nominee this past summer.

Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa has resigned. Good! See ya around, Mr. Chairman.

Democrats have been talking bravely about a potential turnaround in Texas since 2018, when Beto O’Rourke came within 2 percentage points of defeating Cruz. It’s been downhill for Democrats ever since.

What’s the answer for Texas Democrats? How about starting from scratch? Perhaps the party should stop seeking to placate different racial and ethnic groups. Maybe it should forgo trying to warm up to LGBTQ groups. Perhaps the party should stop fighting the last key court decision.

A turn toward authenticity could be one answer. I remember when Texas Democrats were led by individuals who portrayed themselves as who they were. Shouldn’t that be enough?

The Democratic Party — and I am in their corner — need to get real busy real fast if it wants to be competitive in Texas.

local news, military news, national news

Honor our vets … and the nation they served

My favorite veteran, my Dad, left this Earth 44 years ago. He never had the chance to grow old, as he was just 59 when he perished in a freak boating accident in British Columbia.

Pete Kanelis, though, was every bit a hero in my eyes and, yes, in the eyes of the nation he served with honor and distinction in one of its darkest times: World War II.  Dad’s heroism didn’t stand out among the 16 million men and women who suited up for that war. But he fought hard against the tyrants who sought to subjugate us all.

He was the farthest thing possible from being a “sucker” and a “loser,” if you get my drift.

Dad did not teach me many valuable life lessons during his time on Earth. Two things stand out. He valued family above all else. He also was an unabashed, unapologetic patriot who loved this nation and was prepared to fight to the death to preserve it.

He exhibited that pride on Dec. 7, 1941, the “date which will live … in infamy,” as FDR said the next day in the speech to Congress in which he asked for a declaration of war against Japan. The day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dad was listening to news reports at home in Portland with his parents and his six siblings.

He walked out of the house and went downtown to the armed forces recruiting office where he saw that the U.S. Navy was open for business. He enlisted that afternoon. 

Dad knew the fight for our national life was about to begin and he wanted to be a part of it. He got his wish … and then some!

He never boasted about what he did that day. In fact, my bride and I didn’t learn about it until 2019, when one of his brothers, Uncle Tino, told us what transpired that day. “I was 9 years old,” Tino said, “and I remember it vividly.” Dad was a 20-year-old college sophomore on that fateful day.

He taught me, without fanfare or bravado, that when your country needs your service, you step up and serve in any way you can. I would do so later … but this tale is about my favorite veteran and the heroism he displayed the moment he knew his country needed him.

Pete Kanelis embodied the best among us and on this Veterans Day, I salute all who served the greatest nation on Earth.

local news, political news

Early vote shows early enthusiasm

Well, I did what many other Americans have dedicated themselves to doing and I voted early. Indeed, I \was among the first people lined up at the Princeton Municipal Center waiting anxiously to cast my ballot for a plethora of races on our lengthy ballot.

I haven’t normally done sort of thing, given my former distaste for voting early. I preferred to wait until Election Day to cast my ballot. Something in my inner self prompted me to vote early this year … so, I did.

I was heartened by the number of North Texans who were waiting. Everyone was quite glad to be there, awaiting their turn to perform this wonderful act of citizenship.

I won’t get into what partisan impact the early-voter turnout will have on our voting pattern. Analysts say Democrats prefer to vote early; Republicans prefer to wait until Election Day. I do not know how they can make that calculation. I had no feel for how my fellow early voters stand on the presidential race, which is as it should be.

Hey, it’s done. I am now going to block any further electronic correspondence I have been getting from those wanting me to spend money on their candidates’ campaign.

local news, political news

‘Election day’ arrives

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Notice the quotation marks around the words “Election day,” and also notice I didn’t capitalize “day.”

It’s because the actual election day will be15 days from now. However, I am going to march into the belly of the beast sometime Monday to cast my ballots for a slew of candidates and issues along my lengthy ballot in Princeton, Texas.

I still cannot define with clarity why I have decided to break with the tradition of waiting until Election Day to cast my ballot. I won’t try.

I am just going to drive to the polling place and wait to cast my ballot. I am going to vote enthusiastically for a number of races, such as for president and the US Senate. I won’t belabor the points on why. You know why.

It’s a full ballot and none of the candidates with whom I am most familiar present any real threat of a candidate making a deal-breaking mistake between now and the day they count all the ballots. I will split my ballot among Democrats and Republicans.

I do enjoy the pageantry, such as it is, about Election day or Day. Indeed, I would support shutting down everything for Election Day, which this year falls on Nov. 5. Why not make casting our ballots for whom we want to lead us a national holiday?

That’s another story for another day.

A big day awaits tomorrow as Texas goes to the polls.

local news, media news

Yes on ward politics!

This won’t surprise many readers of this blog, but there was a time when I wrote editorials for daily newspapers that I penned opinions with which I disagreed personally.

Hey, I was getting paid to speak for the newspaper and my voice wasn’t the only one to be heard. I had bosses and I answered to them!

You want an example? I once wrote editorials endorsing Amarillo’s at-large voting plan for its five-member city council. I disagreed with that notion, but I sucked it up and spoke for the Globe-News.

I left the paper in August 2012 and wrote on this blog that I actually endorse the idea of creating single-member districts for Amarillo’s five-member council.

Well, the city is putting a proposal on its ballot next month that expand the council by two seats, and the two seats will be elected at-large along with the rest of the council.

Amarillo’s population has grown past 200,000 residents. It is a diverse collection of residents, comprising a growing Latino base, an expanding Black base, more immigrants are moving in. Residents have a wide variety of interests, ethnicities, creeds and values.

Why not divide the council into, say, four ward seats, two at-large seats and the mayor? I’ve seen such a system work in other Texas cities. Beaumont, where I first lived in this state from 1984 to 1995, operates on a hybrid system. It works well.

Yes, a ward system can go too far. I visited Charleston, W. Va., this past summer and learned that the city of fewer than 50,000 residents is governed by a council comprising more than 20 members, all of whom represent wards. Talk about tiny constituencies!

Amarillo, though, remains wedded to a system that worked well when the community was much smaller and much more homogenous than it is today.

Truth be told, I still wonder how a city can govern when the entire governing body — including the mayor — answers to the same citywide constituency.

local news

New journey begins

High Plains Blogger came into being as a political platform for yours truly, but I decided a while ago to branch it out to include what I call “slice of life” matters.

I have chronicled my grief journey on this blog and it has given me great comfort in the time since I lost my dear wife, Kathy Anne, to brain cancer.

I am proud to announce that this blog is going to accompany me on another journey. It’s a weight-loss trek called MOVE!, and it is run by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Not long ago I rolled out from a fitful sleepless night feeling crabby, out of sorts, and I had pain in several parts of my overfed body. I hadn’t stepped on a scale in some time fearing what I might learn. That morning, I did … and I was bowled over by the number that flashed at my feet. That number told me I gained more than 40 pounds since the passing of my bride. I had smothered myself in comfort food.

I have tried dieting on my own. I have tried exercise routines on my own. They did nothing for me. What did I do next? I reached out to my VA doc and told of this struggle. What did she do? She arranged for me to visit a nutritionist at the Rayburn VA Medical Center in Bonham. where my doc works.

I visited with the nutritionist and told her the following: I am old fat man, I am grumpy a lot of the time, I don’t want to look at myself in the mirror, I am in constant pain, my vanity is taking a serious hit because of the way I look. I am reaching out for professional help!

The nutritionist delivered to me a detailed program titled MOVE! She told me veterans have enjoyed considerable success in peeling off the pounds. There appears to be a serious caveat: You gotta follow it to the letter! No cheating allowed! I must set goals, establish a firm eating pattern, exercise regularly, the whole nine yards, man!

OK. Deal. I’m all in.

I will not bore you to sleep with all the nitty gritty of what awaits this tired old man. I just want to share with you a life-changing decision I have made … and one that I intend to follow to its successful conclusion.

local news

Hoping for a moratorium extension

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — Looking around this thriving Central Texas community, I am struck by what is occurring back home in North Texas, where I now call home.

Both communities are growing at breakneck paces, although I can argue that Princeton is setting sort of an unofficial land-speed record for residential growth. Princeton is acting on it, believing it is time to put the brakes on residential construction to enable infrastructure development to keep pace with the demand on those services.

Princeton has imposed a four-month ban on residential construction. Four months, at first glance, doesn’t seem as though it provides enough time for the city to provide enough infrastructure to keep pace with growth.

Police Chief Jim Waters said he needs to hire 30 more officers. Thirty more officers? The city needs to erect more water towers to control the flow of water into residents’ homes.

Street repair, construction and maintenance also must be bolstered.

It looks to me that Princeton finally has tapped into its proactive streak in managing its growth. Man … it must act.

The question now becomes: Is four months enough time?

No. It isn’t time to do all the things the city needs to do.

I see a moratorium extension in the city’s immediate future. Other rapidly growing communities, such as Dripping Springs, would do well to follow suit.