Category Archives: local news

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.

local news

Highway work: a Texas thing

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — Forget high school football, or fried beer that they peddle at the state fair in Dallas, or the 12th Man that fills the stadium in College Station.

The newest “Texas thing” has to be the highway construction projects that disrupt traffic flow in virtually every corner of this vast state.

I returned to Dripping Springs in the Hill County to introduce Sabol, my new puppy, to members of our family.

The road work here does not end. I doubt it ever will. If and when it does, I’ll likely be underground for eternity.

US Highway 290 is getting a second deck above the existing thoroughfare. I understand the state wants to build a no-exit thoroughfare through what they call “The Y” along 290. The existing highway will remain and local motorists can exit whenever they want.

I have done my share of griping about the work occurring in North Texas along US 380. We are not alone! Yes, other parts of the state are going through much of what we’re enduring in the Metroplex.

I now will vow to avoid griping too loudly about future highway projects at home. It’s a Texas thing … you know?

local news

I missed you, Internet

Once in a while, you lose something you know is important to your life but that somehow you remain reluctant to admit its value.

The Internet tanked at my North Texas hone for most of the day Monday., It came back overnight and I am posting this brief item simply to acknowledge that, by golly, I missed the sucker and all it provides for me.

My cell phone service cratered as well. I had to leave the house, drive a few blocks away to make a phone call. No biggie. The rest of the info I collect during the day was out of reach.

I never thought I’d say this, but I did miss having the Internet available to me. It’s back.

I am whole again!

local news

Stand tall, Farmersville!

I want to offer a brief blog bouquet to a community I have gotten to know and, frankly, gotten to admire.

Farmersville sits along US 380 about seven miles east of Princeton, where I have lived for the past five years. I went to Farmersville today to take part in a brief event marking Old Time Saturday, an annual event that clogs the downtown square with booths selling all manner of goods, goodies and services.

I discovered long ago that Farmersville is a community proud of its tradition and it shows itself off whenever possible. Old Time Saturday draws vendors from all over North and Northeast Texas. The historic downtown square is festooned laughter, excitement and good times and fun.

Farmersville also celebrates every June the life and heroics of its adopted favorite son, Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy, who 79 years ago saved a French village virtually single-handedly from the assault of Nazi troops near the end of World War II. It is not clear whether Murphy spent much time in Farmersville, but he insisted on putting the name of the community on his dog tags when he enlisted for duty in the Army. That was good enough to persuade the city elders that “he is one of us.”

The city honors his memory every year for a weekend in June commemorating what he did in Holzwhir, France.

I was able to donate a pint of blood today and was proud to do so to help the city honor its heritage.

Farmersville does a good job setting the pace for how other communities — including Princeton — can honor their history.

local news

Get ready for traffic collapse?

This information comes from a North Texas public school administration, a fellow I trust to be truthful and one who isn’t prone to spreading vicious rumors.

It goes like this: He has heard from a leading Princeton public official that U.S. Highway 380 is going to narrow to one lane of traffic each way (east and west) while the state widens the highway from four lanes to six.

I am not going to name any names here, because I cannot confirm it. I already knew about the Texas Department of Transportation plans to widen 380. It’s been in all the papers. What I didn’t know was that to widen the highway from four lanes to six it has to narrow the traffic lanes from four to two.

The traffic along 380 is becoming the stuff of legends in this part of Texas. Damn near everyone I know who lives near me — neighbors, assorted friends and acquaintances, my mail carrier — all complain about the traffic.

This new development, though, is going to require me to find alternate routes heading east and west out of Princeton. The westbound alternative might be easier to identify.

Absent that alternative, I fear the Mother of All Traffic Nightmares is going to visit us in Collin County … and she won’t go away quietly.

local news

Jet lag isn’t permanent … but still

A strange notion came over me yesterday morning, one that suggested I had whipped the jet lag that plagued me since my return from a nine-day trip to Greece.

Silly me. It seems to be rallying inside this 74-year-old body of mine.

This is worth mentioning briefly because in all the international travel I have enjoyed over many years, jet lag hardly ever has been a problem I cannot shake.

This time it’s different.

I am going to attribute this stubborn case of jet lag to a couple of factors.

One is that I am generally sleep-deprived. I have had trouble getting a good night’s sleep for the past three or four years. Therefore, when I should be sleeping on an airplane … I am not! Among the many ways I heard to fend off jet lag, this one makes the most sense: Try to sleep on a jetliner when it’s bedtime at home.

Maybe next time.

Another factor is uncomfortable seats in the poor man’s economy class ticket I purchased. Don’t let the airlines fool you: Economy class seats are not comfy. The discomfort I felt on both long-distance legs of my journey has compelled me to declare that any future international airborne travel will be on a jetliner equipped with business class.

I’ll have to budget for it, plan ahead, because I know the biz class seats can cost me an arm and both legs.

So … I am fighting jet leg at this moment as I conclude this brief post.

What now? I’ll finish it. Post it.  Then I’ll take another nap. I can whip this.