Category Archives: local news

local news

City falls short on building ban goals

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All righty, kids, where does the city of Princeton, Texas, stand in its effort to prepare for the deluge of new residents wanting to call this North Texas city home?

The city council voted recently to rescind a building moratorium it had declared a year or so ago. The council decided to stop issuing building permits for new homes and apartments because it needed to shore up its infrastructure to prepare for the ongoing tidal wave of new residents.

Did the city succeed? Uhhh … no. Not even close. The Princeton Herald reports that the 2025 Legislature enacted laws aimed at preventing future building bans. So the city was left with no choice but to start issuing building permits.

What about the infrastructure, you know, the streets, sewer, water and emergency services personnel the city said it needs to shore up? A few streets have been improved. Near as I can tell the water and sewer systems are as they were when the ban took effect. Police and fire? I hear that Police Chief Jim Waters asked for seven new officers; he got two. The fire department is equally short staffed.

As a taxpaying resident of this rapidly growing community, I am asking: What the hell is going on at City Hall? City Manager Mike Mashburn walked into something of a bee’s nest when he took the job held for all those years by former Manager Derek Borg. There’s now an active recall movement afoot against at least one incumbent city council member and I understand that Mayor Eugene Escobar has signed on in support of one of the recall efforts. What in the world … ?

All the while, the city continues to struggle with providing the infrastructure it said was necessary when it enacted a building ban on new single-family homes and apartment complexes.

Seems to me someone needs to take a firm hold of the municipal rudder and start steering this ship toward serious stability.

local news

On a roll heading for ’26

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You know, there are days when everything one touches turns to doo-doo and there are days when the stars align just right for you.

Today is one of those latter days for me. I now shall explain.

A few weeks ago I was involved in a minor accident that damaged the driver’s side of my Maverick pickup. The damage wasn’t huge, but it was still costly to repair. I picked my vehicle up and drove it home after a couple of weeks in the Princeton, Texas, body shop.

Then a strange event occurred a couple of days later. The driver’s side door suddenly was sprung. I couldn’t open or close it without scraping the edge of the door against the front fender. I had to reconfigure the interior of the truck to enable me to enter and exit the vehicle through the passenger door … a royal pain in the patootie. I called the body shop to tell them what happened. No sweat, they said. Bring it in and we’ll examine it and let you know the extent of the repair, they said.

I delivered the Mav to the body shop today at 8:40 a.m. At 9:15 the young lady, Devin, emerged to inform me “the door isn’t sticking any longer. Come back and take a look at it.” I did and met the mechanic who performed what I consider to be something of a miracle repair job. Poncho me told the wind might have caught the door and sprung it.

What? That’s it? Yep, he said. It’s all good, he added. It took 35 minutes. Period.

If that’s the case, then the damage to the truck wasn’t necessarily a result of faulty repair. That was Poncho’s best guess. However, Poncho fixed the problem without charging me anything for it.

Some days it is good to wake up on the right side of the bed. Today is one of those days.

crime news, local news

Museum always breathtaking

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DALLAS — It doesn’t matter how many times I have come to this exhibit — or how many times I will see it in the future — every visit fills me with awe about one of this country’s most profound tragedies.

I came here this week with a dear friend to tour the Sixth Floor Museum, which commemorates the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. Sixty-two years have passed since that horrifying day and I continue to be struck by how that single senseless act sent a great city’s emotional psyche spiraling into the sewer.

I saw for the first time on this visit a copy of the Dallas Morning News editorial page published on the day of JFK’s visit. The editorial referred to the city’s “partisan cleavage” that would disappear hopefully that day as it welcomed the 35th president of the United States. Indeed, there had been fear that right-wing activists might protest the president’s visit, accusing him of being “soft” on the Soviet Union.

Well, it turned out the world was looking in the wrong direction. Lee Harvey Oswald turned out to be an avowed Marxist who two days later met his own end when a night club owner, Jack Ruby, shot him in the gut as he was being transferred from the city jail to the county lockup.

I continue to be struck by the quietness of the large crowd of museum-goers who were milling around the sixth floor, looking at the artifacts, reading the text on the walls explaining JFK’s legacy, his record, his accomplishments and even where he fell short during the 1,000 days of his presidency. I found myself whispering information into the ear of my friend; I didn’t want to make any sort of unwanted noise. I felt as though we were in a church sanctuary.

I likely won’t ever buy into the notion that John Kennedy should rank among the nation’s great presidents. One thousand days doesn’t give anyone much of a chance to carve out a lasting legislative legacy. He had some success and he fell short a time or two during his time in office.

He did bring a huge wellspring of hope to a nation that needed it in the moment. That hope was blown to bits by the gunman aiming his rifle from the sixth floor of a building that reportedly was destined to be torn down.

I’ll be back again someday. I cannot get enough of that exhibit.

local news

Speak the language!

The time has come for me to vent against one of my several pet peeves, so here goes.

It is essential for major companies to hire individuals who interact with the American public to ensure those employees can communicate effectively with the public they are serving. In other words, employees should be able to speak English!

I live in a North Texas community that is chock full of families who speak English as a second language. It is quite common for me to walk through the only major grocery store in our community and never hear English spoken by people I pass while shopping for food. Hey, no problem with that, man.

It’s different, though, when I need assistance from an employee at that store and I ask him or her for, oh, where can I find a can of mushrooms. I occasionally get that blank stare from the employee who doesn’t understand a word I just said. I have to look for an English-speaking employee or, if there’s no one available, find the item myself. Maybe I have time to look for it. Maybe I’m on a tight deadline and need the help right away.

I returned recently from a brief trip to Roanoke. Va., where I stayed at a fairly nice mid-priced hotel. They serve breakfast at this hotel. I dished up some scrambled eggs, got a bisquit and some fruit. I sat down, took a bie of the eggs … and they were cold. I summoned the hotel staffer working the kitchen to tell him my eggs were cold. He looked at me, nodded his head — and smiled! I might as well have been speaking Martian to the guy.

Look, I totally get that the United States of America is an increasingly pluralistic society. I welcome the world here. I do not believe we need to write a law declaring English to be the official language of this nation.

However, we’re still a nation where English is the predominent language. I want our business community to recognize that reality when they seek to do business.

local news

A brief post script …

ROANOKE, Va. — While I realize my recent tale of woe regarding my rented car is no great shakes in the real world, I thought I would share this brief post script with you.

The car I rented at Roanoke Regional Airport froze up on me. The battery was deader than Francisco Franco. I called the rental company and it sent a tow truck operator to me to jump-start the 2025 car that croaked. It started nicely. She said I should let it for a few minutes before returning it to the rental station.

I did and got a nice replacement vehicle for my trouble. I received the replacement car in time to attend the graveside service at the end of the funeral that drew me here in the first place.

Even better news is that the replacement is easier to enter and exit than the low-rider I got in the first place. This old man’s body just doesn’t bend like it did in the past.

Life is good … again!

local news

First time for anything

ROANOKE, Va. — I came to this wonderful city in the Blue Ridge Mountains with the noblest of intentions … to attend a funeral for the son of long time and dear friends of mine.

It all was going swimmingly. Not a glitch in sight. None expected. I have a nice hotel room near where my friends live. It is near the airport where I will depart Roanoke in a couple of days.

Then it happened …

I piled into my “low rider” rental vehicle. Pushed the start button. Nothing happened. Zero! The car is frozen. Nothing works. No dash lights. It’s stuck in “park.”

That saying about the “best-laid plans” is ringiing in my mind’s ear right now.

I’m going to miss the funeral. With a stroke of luck I might be able to attend the graveside service. I called the car rental company. They’re sending a tow-truck driver to haul the piece of mule dookey away. I’ll be able to get a replacement vehicle.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me. I’m going to chalk it up to one of life’s mysteries. I won’t make a big deal about it when I see my friends.

Just wanted to share it with you.

local news, political news

‘A proud husband and father … ‘

Here we go … again, with political candidates bragging to voters that they are faithful to the sacred vows they took when they married their wives.

We’re going to the polls soon in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area and one of the candidates for a Texas Senate seat is offering that boast on his TV ads across the market. Former Southlake Mayor John Huffman talks about his budget-balancing record, his ability to keep taxes low … and, yes, that he’s faithful to his wife and devoted to their children.

It’s the last item that draws my attention with this brief rejoinder.

Since when does a man’s faithfulness to his family become grist for selling a political candidate? Look, I know what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to hold up his moral example as a selling point, which he sees as important given the propensity for men in public life to stray away from their vow to honor their spouse “for as long as they both shall live.” To my ears, it is an empty form of bravado. Do you recall how former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards professed his love for his late wife, only to be revealed that he was having an affair that produced a baby? The sleaze bag …

I won’t cast a vote in that Texas Senate race. For all I know, John Huffman is a good guy. He won the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News this past Sunday. It’s interesting that the DMN never mentioned his fidelity to his wife as a reason the paper is backing his candidacy.

Hmmm. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because the Morning News realizes what I have believed all along. Which is that candidates who brag about such matters are wasting their time on an issue that is far from being a big … deal.

local news

Future is in our hands

The future of our democratic republic well may lie in the hands of those of us who care enough to vote to preserve it. That’s my call, ladies and gents.

I now shall explain.

We have an election coming up in a little more than a year. We are going to elect a new House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate. A lot of incumbents who have swallowed the Donald Trump swill are on the November 2026 ballot in all 50 of our United States.

Now comes the question. Are we going to continue to stand silently by while both congressional chambers cede their constitutional power to an overreaching, overzealous, overheated POTUS who sounds and acts like a man intent on tossing aside the limited powers granted in the Constitution?

The correllary question is whether we’re going to use the power granted to us by the founders and vote out the gullible goons who comprise so much of today’s Republican Party. I hate saying this, but that has to include a man I had hoped would know better, my congressman, Keith Self.

Self is a retired U.S. Army combat infanty officer. A West Point grad. He’s a man who understands the value implied in the oath he took to defend the Constitution. Donald Trump does not honor the oath he took to honor the governing document, and yet Self — who I consider to be a good man — continues to stand with the numbskull masquerading as president.

The county is chock full of others just like Self. We need to rid ourselves of the men and women who follow the dictates of a charlatan blindly and with no regard to the sacred oath they took. After all, they end their recitation of the oath by declaring “so help me, God.”

local news

So much to learn …

One of the rules of thumb I have followed during my nearly 37 years writing for newspapers was to learn beyond the obvious about the communities I covered on my professional journey.

My career ended a dozen years ago, but my quest for knowledge about communities hasn’t let up. For example, I am freelancing for a group of weekly newspapers in Collin County, Texas. I have learned that one of the communities I cover, Sachse, is going to come to grips with whether to regulate “donation bins.” I won’t get ahead of myself here.

I am a bit baffled to learn that many communities do not have any ordinances on the books to regulate these bins. You know what I’m talking about, yes. These are bins set up for people to toss clothing, shoes and assorted soft goods to be picked up. Some communities have ordinances to govern them. They limit them at various locales, require certain distances between them, ban them from property next to schools.

Sachse doesn’t have an ordinance regulating donation bins. I don’t know if the city council will adopt such an ordinance. I will find out Monday when I attend a council meeting; the issue is on the agenda.

What have I learned about some of these North Texas communities? Many of them haven’t yet enacted municipal rules governing placement and use of these donation bins. They can become serious eyesores.

The stricter the rules, and stricter consequences for failing to obey them, the better.

economic news, local news

Signs portend driving misery

Driving south along Beauchamp Boulevard in Princeton, Texas, a day or so ago, a couple of orange signs jumped out at me as I entered the intersection with US Highway 380.

One sign had an arrow pointing west along 380 that said, “Road Work 2 miles.” The other sign had an arrow pointed east on 380 that said, “Road Work 6 miles.”

That’s when it hit me. The fun I have known would come to those of us who live in the nation’s fastest-growing city is about to commence. Actually, it won’t be fun. It’s going to be a headache, more than likely.

The Texas Department of Transportation is going to widen 380 from four lanes to six lanes. However, to do that I was told by a former Princeton city manager that TxDOT had to narrow the right-of-way from four lanes to two lanes … one lane in each direction. Thus, the “fun” begins for anyone needing to get anywhere along 380.

All of this appears to be the prelim to work on a freeway bypass around Princeton that TxDOT has been pondering since before my bride and I moved here six years ago.

This is the price of progress. I am able to pay it. Not with any great enthusiasm. But I’ll get through it. The alternative? There isn’t any!

To which I only could mutter: Aaaack!

This is one of the costs I am paying by living in a community that is undergoing a growth explosion. It’s no “spurt.” Or any other term that suggests a smallish growth pattern.