Category Archives: local news

local news, State news

Ted Cruz: unlikable and mean

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I will go to my grave — hopefully not anytime soon — wondering for all I can muster how Ted Cruz continues to hang onto his seat in the U.S. Senate.

I cannot think of more unlikable and mean-spirited senator than Rafael Edward Cruz. He has cast his beady eyes on a bigger prize since the day he declared his Senate candidacy in 2012. He was elected that year and ran immediately for the presidency in 2016.

He damn near lost his Senate seat in 2018 to Beto O’Rourke. Now he’s running again, this time against another Texas congressman, Colin Allred of Dallas.

Allred says the polls have the two of them tied. Maybe so. Maybe not. Polling I see shows Cruz with a slim lead.

What in the world has this guy done for Texas? What legislation has he authored that brings tangible benefit to the state? I cannot think of a single piece of legislation that has Cruz’s name stamped on it.

I can, however, recite a couple of notable instances where he embarrassed himself and the state. How about the time he filibustered in favor of a government shutdown, reading Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham” from the Senate floor?

My favorite moment, though, occurred when Cruz sought to jet off to Cancun with his family in February 2021 while Texans were freezing to death in that killer winter storm. Someone caught him on the lam to Mexico. He returned … and then blamed his daughter for talking him into taking the family for a vacation.

Oh, how I want Allred to win this seat. Allred vows to work with Republicans. I intend to hold him to that pledge if he manages to win. Cruz, though, is lost forever to the cause of bipartisanship.

I’ll say it again: Good government requires compromise and Ted Cruz does not know to work in that environment.

local news

Speaker’s job still threatened

Dade Phelan’s close runoff victory in the Golden Triangle of Texas well could come at a price for the Beaumont Republican.

He wants to keep his job as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. To do that he had to fend off a GOP primary challenge from a first-time candidate David Covey, recruited to run in the primary by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought revenge against Phelan.

The speaker led the House that impeached Paxton on criminal charges. The vote was overwhelmingly bipartisan. Paxton then stood trial in the Senate, which acquitted him in a partisan show of cowardice.

Covey by all rights had no business forcing a runoff with the veteran legislator. He did and now Phelan is set to take office for another term.

I have spoken, though, with veteran lawmakers who believe Phelan’s victory in the runoff might not be worth having. His fellow Republicans are split among themselves over whether Phelan did the right thing by letting the House work its will in impeaching Paxton. The Texas House is chock full of MAGA Republicans who would love nothing better than to boot Phelan out of the speaker’s chair and install someone more to their liking.

As we have seen throughout the country, today’s Republican Party is controlled by those who are desperately loyal to the cult leader who is calling the shots.

My own preference, not that it matters? I hope Dade Phelan keeps his job. We need someone with a brain managing at least one of the state’s legislative chambers.

local news

Getting used to the traffic madness

Five years ago, my bride and I took a bit of a leap of faith, moving from our quiet neighborhood up yonder in Amarillo to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Our reason was as straightforward as it gets. We wanted to be near our granddaughter. We also knew that the move would present some challenges for us, given that we had were deeply embedded in the Texas Panhandle, our neighborhood and the home we watched being built from scratch beginning in October 1996.

One of the main challenges would be traffic. We knew about the legendary D/FW traffic woes. The place is covered in freeway asphalt. You pay tolls to ride on some of them. We have plenty of “interstate highways,” starting with I-35 E and W, I-20, I-30 and various loops around both Dallas and Fort Worth.

I have figured out, though, what appears to be a formula for getting from place to place. As they say about a lot of aspects of life: Timing is everything.

I have learned to time my excursions according to normal traffic patterns. I am acutely aware that factors can change the flow of traffic in an instant. Accidents, construction, special events that draw more motorists onto our rights-of-way all have this way of disrupting the flow.

I stay the dickens off the highways during rush hours. I have found that Sunday, naturally, is the best day to travel.

You know, of course, that my wife, Kathy Anne, has passed away. I have become friends in recent months with someone with whom I like to spend time. She lives in a Fort Worth suburb. It’s a bit of a drive from Collin County … but far from overly daunting.

It’s all in the timing, man. We select our visitation based partly on what we believe will enable relatively hassle-free travel.

It’s just one of those aspects of living in a metro area comprising about 8 million human beings, many of whom compete for space on our public roads and highways.

I have told you about my adaptability. So … there you go!

local news, media news

Mortality presents itself

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You’ve heard it said, I am sure, that “growing old isn’t for the … ”

Wimpy. Weak. Pansies. Faint-hearted. You know more of them. Of that I also am sure. I mention this because of a realization I made the other day while reaching out to a good friend who I’ve known since we were teenagers back in our hometown of Portland, Ore.

I hadn’t heard from this friend in, oh, several months. He normally keeps up with this blog and gets in touch with me via social media on a fairly regular basis.

He went off the proverbial grid. Or so I thought.

I reached out to another friend, a former high school classmate, to ask whether he had heard from our mutual pal. He said he hadn’t heard a word from him … or nothing about him. I told Friend No. 2 I would call the “lost” friend to see how he’s doing.

I did. He answered his phone. “Hey, man,” I said. “I have been thinking about you and wondered how you’re doing. I hadn’t heard from you in some time, so I am just checking in with you.”

We chatted some more. His voice sounded strong. He told me he had some surgery on his neck to take care of a “lymph node problem.” I then told him of my concern. “Hey, we’re all of a certain age that when I don’t hear from one of my peers, I start thinking the worst,” I said. My pal laughed out loud. He knew precisely what I meant.

How old are we? We’re in our mid-70s. We graduated from high school in the Summer of Love, 1967. Many of us went to war right after high school. Many of my friends have flourished, raised fine families and, of course, endured our share of tragedy and heartbreak.

I suppose this is my recognition that since time is no one’s friend that a sense of mortality has this way of creeping up on all of us.

Live life to the fullest, y’all. Because you never know …

 

local news

Odds mount against project

If I were a betting man — and I am not! — I would be inclined to lay money down on the demise of an apartment complex in Princeton, Texas, where work began but has come to a screeching halt.

My hunch is that every serious thunderstorm that pounds the construction site only damages it more severely, making it unfit to continue.

The project to which I refer sits on US 380 just east of Walmart. Construction began on it sometime in 2022. Then the developer and the contractor got into a snit and the contractor walked off the job. It is no small project that has gone fallow.

There has been virtually no sign of human life on the site for more than a year. Unfinished buildings are exposed to the often-violent elements. Meanwhile, we have had a soaking spring in North Texas, bringing literally tons of water onto the site. Will we get more of the same kind of Mother Nature’s anger coming our way? You can bet on that … for sure!

Meanwhile, Princeton city officials are saying next to nothing about the project’s status, demurring saying only that “legal” is handling it.

It’s making me wonder out loud once more whether we’ve got a big-league boondoggle on our hands along US 380.

environmental news, local news

Drive home: not for the timid

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I want to offer a serious shout-out to my fellow North Texans who today demonstrated that smart people do exist and they do occupy motor vehicles wisely through some seriously inclement weather.

My day began inauspiciously enough with a drive from McKinney to Fort Worth, where a friend of mine and I went to see a movie. We enjoyed the new release, “Ezra.” We had lunch and then I headed back to my house in Princeton. My GPS said it would take a little more than hour to make the trip. Bwahahaha!

I was heading for the Sam Rayburn Tollway when I saw it get very dark, very quickly. It was about 4 p.m. Then the rain came. With a vengeance!

Lightning flashes lit up the sky. The rain came down in seemingly Biblical amounts. The wind started to howl.

I turned on my four-way flashers and slowed my Ranger pickup way to down to around 35 or 40 mph.

This is where I want to offer a bouquet to the hundreds of other motorists I noticed. They did the same thing. Flashers and a major slow-down.

I noticed one serious wreck on the tollway median; a young couple had crashed through a utility pole and their car was parked rear-end first on the embankment, suffering heavy damage. The couple appeared to be OK. I said a quiet prayer that they would get emergency personnel attention soon.

I don’t normally take time on this blog to bitch about bad drivers. I do want to offer a good word about those I saw driving with an abundance of caution in some highly inclement conditions.

Oh, I am sure there were some wannabe-Mario Andrettis out there who thought they could power through the rough stuff no matter what. I am just grateful beyond measure they did so out of my field of vision.

We have been getting a lot of this kind meteorological violence in recent weeks. It could be that we are wising up to Mother Nature’s unspeakable power.

Whatever. May we never lose sight of the value of those lessons.

local news

How to enact moratorium

The city I call home has emerged near the top of an astonishing list of communities.

Princeton, Texas, is among the fastest-growing cities in all of America that have populations greater than 20,000 residents.

The Census Bureau released the figures recently. Princeton logged a population of 17,027 after the 2020 Census was taken, which nearly triple the size of the city in 2010. In 2023, though, the city grew by another 11,000 residents, pegging its population at an estimated 28,017.

Collin County’s growth has been equally staggering, standing at more than 1.2 million residents, according to Census Bureau estimates.

I look around my neighborhood and notice more lots being developed, with housing units being framed and utility lines being connected. I cannot estimate how many I see in my ‘hood; I’ll just suggest that there are possibly hundreds more units under construction.

Which brings me to my point. Mayor Brianna Chacon is tossing the idea around about enacting a single-family and apartment construction moratorium. I don’t know the particulars of what Chacon envisions, but I want to endorse — in principle — what she might want to do.

I have thought a little bit about the courage it has taken for Chacon to pitch this idea. She is a Realtor when she isn’t helping shape municipal policy, which suggests to me she is willing to take an income reduction if it results in a new public policy.

Chacon’s reason for favoring a stoppage in this construction is clearly defined: We don’t have the infrastructure to handle the flood of new residents. Our streets need repair; we have water needs that need improvement; we will need more first responders on the job.

Chacon said a while ago that Princeton has grown too rapidly, that it needs to play catch-up with the infrastructure it must provide the new residents who are coming here.

I cannot disagree with that. Oh, we also have that mammoth apartment complex on US 380 that has been stalled. It is partially built and only God knows when work will resume on it. My suggestion would be for the city to pull the plug on that boondoggle, knock it down and turn the site into more green space. But that’s just me.

I like living in a city that is attractive for others who want to live here. However, enough is enough … or so it seems, as Princeton continues to lead the way in urban growth.

local news, media news

So many acquaintances

Blogging is my newest form of self-expression, although it certainly isn’t all that new, as I have been at it full time since 2012.

That makes a dozen years since I commenced this latest endeavor to put my thoughts on some form of cyber “paper” and distribute it throughout our known world.

Where am I going with this? I want to explain one of the phenomena associated with blogging that doesn’t seem to get as much attention as I believe it should. This form of commentary has introduced me to many acquaintances with whom I have no other personal connection.

They read these musings and are moved, either out of total agreement or the exact opposite, to be notified every time I post something that flies into cyberspace.

Am I moved at times to get to know these individuals? It depends on whether we agree politically. Occasionally, I hear from one of them whenever I write something positive about President Joe Biden. He will respond usually with a snarky comment aimed at his dislike of Biden’s policies.

The other stuff that flies into space from my laptop? All I get are the proverbial crickets.

Hey, no worries. I always await his reaction when I bellow something good about Biden or something negative about the moron who wants to run against him this fall.

He is far from alone among those lying in wait. The good news is that many critics of High Plains Blogger express themselves with a form of gentleness. I am casually acquainted with some of them. They might know members of my family. I might have actually met them. Then again, maybe not. I will engage them in some repartee, but only if I’m in the mood.

I tend to let my views stand as my final word on a subject once they are posted and sent rocketing into space. I am advised to engage more frequently than not, though. Debating readers who respond is supposed to “connect” me with the audience. Well, maybe so. Then again, it might widen the divide.

I continue to enjoy this avocation. It doesn’t pay me much money, but I ain’t in it for the cash. I do this because I just like writing and I like putting my stamp on this ever-changing world of ours.

Plus, it builds my sphere of acquaintances.

local news, media news

It’s like riding a bike

One of the things I discovered immediately upon taking up this gig as a freelance reporter is that I retained my ability to craft a human-interest feature story.

I spent the bulk of my nearly 37-year career in print journalism as an opinion writer and editor. Before that, though, I broke in the way most reporters do, writing general-assignment news stories and features about interesting individuals.

My full-time print journalism career ended in August 2012 and I was, to borrow a phrase, sent out to pasture. Then my wife and I moved to North Texas and I started working on a freelance basis for a husband-and-wife-owned group of weekly newspapers. My beat, such as it is, covers mostly Princeton and Farmersville.

That’s when the realization struck. I hadn’t lost the touch I acquired when I was starting out pursuing this joyous craft. I am not going to fill you with false bravado about the quality of the work I have done for my new bosses. Suffice to say, though, that they can depend on me to deliver them what they seek in a timely fashion. Deadlines, man, are everything in print journalism.

I also have determined that communities such as those I cover in Collin County still depend on local newspapers to tell their stories. It certainly is true that the digital age of journalism, the COVID pandemic and political pressure from on high all have had an impact on our influence in people’s lives.

However, community journalism is still kicking in Collin County, Texas. I am delighted to be able to continue to contribute to the telling of those stories to people who constantly tell me they still relish the feel of an actual newspaper in their hands.

local news

Some topics way off limits

I want to elaborate for just a brief moment on something I mentioned in an earlier blog post.

It deals with human sexuality.

A friend of mine died of HIV/AIDS in 1994. He had been sick for about six years before the virus took its gruesome toll. Tim was a colleague with whom I worked at a newspaper in Beaumont, Texas.

One Sunday morning, my phone rang at home. It was Tim. He wanted to meet me at the office to discuss something very important to him. I agreed. I hung up and told my bride that “I think Tim is going to tell me he has AIDS.”

Those who knew Tim had noticed a significant change in his appearance over the years. He lost weight. His color had gone quite pale. He didn’t look right.

Sure enough, that’s what he did. He and I sat in the vacant newspaper office and he informed me had been stricken with the then-deadly virus. He told me he had drafted an op-ed column and wanted to know if I would consider publishing it. I answered with an emphatic “yes!”

Then he said the following related to how he contracted the illness., “You know that I am gay.” My answer was the best I could produce in the moment. I told Tim that he and I never discussed his sex life. I also told him that is a subject I dare not broach with anyone. So … my answer was “no,” I could not possibly know for certain about his sexual orientation. Did I suspect it? Yes, but suspicion is far from knowing.

My point is this: I am uncomfortable talking about sexuality, be it with a gay person or a straight person, When I see people, or groups of people, bellowing about their sexual “pride,” it is a turnoff to me. This notion of having to identify people with a string of letters meant to be sure we cover all the sexual orientations available, to put it bluntly, leads me toward a discussion topic with which I am in no way comfortable.

It’s why I generally stay away from the topic on this blog.

Is this the old-fashioned version of me telling you this? It is! It well might be the final time I raise this issue in this forum.