Category Archives: local news

local news

Oh, for the good old days …

A former member of Congress once told me a story that I want to share with you today because it reminds me of the days when Congress spent time actually governing and ignored the insults the other side would toss at them.

The ex-rep is Larry Combest, a Lubbock Republican and a man of high principle. Combest once represented the southern half of Amarillo, the part of the city that sat within the Randall County area of the Texas Panhandle.

Combest once served as an aide to Sen. John Tower, a Republican who once was slated to become defense secretary during the George H.W. Bush administration; his nomination got derailed over some persnal conduct issues. According to Combest, Tower had friends across the aisle, one of whom was Sen. Hubert Humphrey, a Minnesota Democrat. Tower and Humphrey would engage in ferocious floor debates over this or that public policy. Both men were adamant in their beliefs. They would raise their voices to each other.

Then, at the end of a day of stern debate, Sens. Tower and Humphrey would walk across the Senate floor, shake hands and often embrace as they walked through the doors of the chamber. Combest said the men were friends and never let harsh words spoken on the Senate floor sully their friendship.

I can cite many examples of bipartisan friendships in the Senate: Democrat Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Republican Bob Dole of Kansas; Democrat George McGovern of South Dakota and Republican Barry Goldwater of Arizona; Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. I need to add that Combest once told me his best friend in the House was a Democrat, fellow West Texan Charles Stenholm of Abilene. All of these men were fierce advocates of their points of view. They all maintained close friendships with their friends on the other side.

I want a return to that level of collegiality. These days we hear criticism that cuts deeply. It makes me wonder whether there is a relationship between the way lawmakers treated each other then and what we have today … which happens to be a Senate where nothing gets done.

Coincidence? I think not!

local news

Patience becomes a must

Work has begun a massive highway plan to improve transit along a major east-west highway that cuts through the heart of North Texas.

I refer to U.S. Highway 380, which serves as a major thoroughfare to residents of and visitors to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. There will be plenty of grumbles, profanities and obscene gestures to be seen and heard for what will seem like forever.

For my part, I will mutter the four-letter words under my breath in the sanctity of my pickup truck.

The Texas Department of Transportation has big plans for 380. It’s going to turn the four-lane highway into a six-lane jumbo road. One can see the concept of the new lanes being dug out at this moment. I live in Princeton and the evidence of work is everywhere in the form of those ubiquitous orange barrels and cones.

OK, so what’s the purpose of this blog? It’s merely to implore everyone to find that patience gene in our DNA and put it to work as we travel along the highway.

TxDOT unveiled some time ago an initiative that intends to reduce traffic along US 380. Part of that plan involves purchasing land in loops around communities that sit along 380. Princeton is one of them. The idea is to route through traffic off of 380, encourage motorists to take the loop and leave the existing highway to in-town/local traffic. The idea sounds doable. I will be anxious to see if works out as traffic planners envision.

That is, if I live long enough. I am not a young man. Indeed, I might be unable to drive myself when TxDOT announces it’s done with this massive project.

Well, I hereby pledge to mind my manners for as long as I can and for as long as it still matters.

local news

Make next manager live here

Former Princeton City Manager Mike Mashburn got away with a dodge that should have been termed unacceptable.

Mashburn was hired by the City Council to help establish a budget that would fall on the shoulders of the city’s 40,000 resident to pay. The city manager wasn’t one of them. He lived far outside the city limits, thus absolving himself of any fiscal responsibility for what he was asking the rest of us to pay.

The next city manager must not be allowed to wriggle off the fiscal hook in such a manner. Mashburn quit the city manager’s job after serving in that role for fewer than two years. The guy didn’t even live within Princeton’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. And yet, he was crafting a municipal budget that would be paid for fully by the rest of us.

This exemption bothered a number of residents, many of whom sought an amendment to the city charter that would require the manager to live within the city limits.

Just as maddening as the residency exemption was to many of us, Mashburn was able to negotiate a monthly travel allowance based solely on the city manager having to drive to work every day.

Let’s get real, shall we? The City Council makes precisely one hiring decision: it’s the city manager. The next individual who ends up managing the growth of the nation’s fastest-growing city should have to live here and share the burden he or she is asking the rest of us to bear. It’s a requirement that doesn’t need a charter amendment to give it standing.

local news

What’s happening at Princeton’s City Hall?

What in the name of tumult and tempest is going on at Princeton City Hall? I’m not covering it directly, but sources inside the place tell me there’s major chaos afoot.

Get a load of this: The city in the course of about three weeks has fired its legal counsel, lost its fire chief, who left to join another city’s fire department, accepted the sudden resignation of its interim city manager and then appointed its chief of police as its newest interim chief municipal executive.

All of this comes as the city awaits another Census Bureau report on municipal growth and Princeton, I am told, is likely to learn that it retains its standing as the fastest-growing city in the United States of America.

All of this has me shaking my noggin and wondering whether the city ever will be able to wrap its arms around the confusion that permeates City Hall.

Of the personnel upheaval that has upset city governance, the resignation of the city manager perhaps is most stunning. The mayor, Victor Escobar, had expressed supreme confidence in the fellow they hired to succeed Mike Mashburn, who resigned just short of being on the job for two years. Mashburn wasn’t cutting it, so he quit effective immediately. There was no “buyout” associated with his resignation, which tells me the City Council is glad he’s gone.

Then came the decision to elevate Police Chief Jim Waters as interim city manager, giving Waters a second full-time job in addition to protecting Princeton’s residents against bad guys. Maybe it’s just me, but I am trying to understand how Waters will be able to do both jobs well enough to maintain a firm grip on the issues that affect either of them.

Last I heard, the city slapped a building ban on new residential construction to enable the city shore up its police and fire protection. Then it had to reinstate the construction because the Legislature slapped limits on the number of such bans cities could invoke. The city still lacks sufficient police and fire protection because of the growth explosion that is still underway.

City governance is no walk in the park. In Princeton, Texas — a place I am proud to call home — such governance seems to be getting dangerously close to impossible.

local news

Rep. Self … talk to us!

The gentleman who represents me in Congress is at once frustrating and quite capable.

The capability comes from his political experience as Collin County judge before making the move to D.C. The frustration comes from his relative silence related to the conduct of Donald J. Trump.

Trump’s cowardice during the Vietnam War has surfaced again as a talking point, given the war of choice he launched against Iran. Trump evaded induction into the armed forces, citing those infamous bone spurs. Yet he is so willing to send your young men and women into harm’s way for reasons that rtemain a mystery to most Americans.

One of the members of Congress who continues to stand with Trump is Self, a decorated Army Ranger, a combat officer. I believe Rep. Self is an honorable man, and I applaud his service in the Army. However, why in the world did he remain silent when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth angrily chastised six congressional Democrats for remaining members of the military that they are obligated to refuse to obey unlawful orders.

Democrats raised holy hell over Hegseth’s tirade. Republicans stayed silent. One of the silent GOP members is Keith Self, a 20-year military retiree who knows an unlawful order when he sees it and knows how to act when he is issued one.

Keith Self remains a dedicated Trumpkin. I won’t change his mind on that matter. But for the life of me, I don’t understand how he can remain silent while the commander in chief exhibits profound ignorance of the Constitution he took an oath to defend.

local news

Mac comes back for some keen memories

William McLellan Thornberry came home the other day to be honored by Texas Tech University as its 2026 Alumnus of the Year.

It was an honor well-received and richly earned.

Allow me now to dispense with the use of his given name. I want to refer to him as Mac. Yes, Mac Thornberry was my congressman for virtually the entire time my bride and I lived in the Texas Panhandle.

I agreed rarely with his politics. Or his views on public policy. Or with his occasional disdain for members of the “other” party on Capitol Hill. However, Mac Thornberry, a dedicated Republican through and through, did his work with class, with decorum, with dignity and with the sense that he knew from where he came.

Mac was a gentleman. He grew up in Donley County just east of Amarillo. He worked his parents’ ranch. He learned the value of hard work, of getting dirt under his fingernails. He served in Congress with none of the bellicose bluster we hear too often from the guy who succeeded him.

Mac Thornberry and I kinda grew up together. He’s a lot younger than I am, but we started our new Panhandle jobs in the same week in January 1995. He was elected to the U.S. House in the Contract With America election in 1994. I started my jog as editorial page editor of the Amarillo Globe-News. He read me pretty well. He knew my personal politics veered from his conservative views, even though the paper’s editorial policy remained faithful to the right-wing views for which it had established over the course of many decades.

However, I always liked Mac Thornberry as a person. He was charming in a West Texas, humble sort of way. I don’t recall ever telling him directly that I developed a deep respsect for the quality of man he showed himself to be. Maybe if he reads this blog post, he’ll see it for himself.

Given the open hatred and hostility we hear from those in power in D.C., there is not a hint of doubt that for my money, we could use more like Mac Thornerry in D.C. than we have serving there these days.

 

local news, science news

Welcome home, Artemis II!

Allow me this admission that comes with a plea for understanding if I look a bit bug-eyed for most of the day.

The four-person Artemis II lunar orbiter mission is set to splash down this evening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, Calif. The rocket that propelled the astronauts to the moon now gives way to the Orion spacecraft that will carry the astronauts back home.

Understand that my candid plea is deserved because of what occurred on Feb. 3, 2003 at the end of space shuttle Columbia’s 16-day Earth orbit mission. The Columbia shuttle mission, commanded by Amarillo resident Rick Husband, ended when the shuttle broke apart as it returned. We lost all seven of the astronauts in that tragic conclusion.

Now we hear about possible damage to the Orion heat shield. I hope you understand my anxiety today as the Artemis II crew prepares its return to Earth’s terra firma.

The four-member crew has joined the growing list of space-travel heroes who will be feted with parades and endless speaking engagements.

Let’s get through this latest moment of possible danger. I likely will weep tears of joy when I see those parachutes open and Orion splashes into the Pacific Ocean.

entertainment news, local news

‘Puppy Tales’ has returned!

It’s time for me to admit that I have been a neglectful puppy parent … but it has nothing to do with the care I give the pups who enjoy a special place in my family.

You might recall that when I had Toby the Puppy I routinely chronicled the things he would do to make my wife and me laugh out loud. Then came 2023, the worst year of my life. I lost my bride to brain cancer near the beginning of the year. Then I said goodbye to Toby near the end of that horrible year, also to cancer.

I put Puppy Tales on indefinite hold. Then in 2024, Sabol joined my family. She has been an absolute scream. In 2025, my family added Endo, who became BFF with Sabol immediately on joining us in our Princeton home.

Today, I made a command decision. I am dusting off Puppy Tales and will resume telling you stories about the joy of returning to the world of puppy parenthood.

I have a quick story to tell, so here goes.

I took Endo to the veterinarian’s office this morning. My intention was to determine her age. The doctor told me she could give me a pretty good guess, based on the condition of Endo’s teeth. We walked in, got our place in the exam room.

Endo’s doctor took a look at her teeth and said she is “between 3 1/2 and 4 years old.” So, there you go. The doc estimated Sabol’s age to be between 6 and 7.

Then I made another command decision. I declared that today, March 31, is Endo’s birthday. I declared also that she turns 4 on this day. “She’s still a young dog,” Endo’s doc told me. The doctor also assured me that she appears to be in excellent health. We had fought off a yeast infection and some skin allergies. Endo weighed about 37 pounds when she first joined me. Today she tipped the beam at 46 pounds, earning her the affectionate nickname of Fatty. She’s not fat, but she clearly has gained weight, which she wears nicely.

Sabol and Endo are still besties. I am grateful they love each other. I had a little fear that Sabol might assert herself as the queen of the house. She didn’t do that, although I do consider her to be the Alpha female around here.

I am looking forward once more to sharing their lives with you. My hope is that you enjoy reading about them, too.

local news

‘No Kings’ not limited to progressive bastions

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Allow me to stipulate this much about the No Kings protest movement, which is that it isn’t limited to the People’s Republics of Austin, Berkeley or Boulder, Colo.

It is alive and well in Donald Trump-friendly venues such as, oh let’s see … McKinney, Texas.

I just came from lunch near where nearly 1,000 protesters were lined up on the western side of U.S. 75 and the northern side of U.S. 380 in the Collin County seat. They were marching, chatting amiably and carrying signs — many of which were downright clever.

The protesters are angry with the policies being pushed forward by Donald John Trump and his cabal of goons.

I had heard earlier today that the protests scheduled for throughout the nation would likely be the largest single-day political demonstration in U.S. history. Well, I took a look at the crowd gathered in Collin County this afternoon and based on what I saw I could conclude that if such a turnout was to occur in the heart of Trump Country, then the predictions of the largest-ever protest are likely to be true!

Folks are angry over the lack of “affordability,” the end of health care for middle-income Americans, the assault on woman’s rights to control their own bodies and now, on the war with Iran that Trump launched without a game plan for ending it or even a purpose for starting it.

They gathered today across the land. They gathered in mighty throngs in communities known to be anti-Trump in attitude. And they were present in places known to be more friendly to the POTUS in places like Collin County, Texas.

The message I am receiving from the widespread discontent? Donald Trump’s influence over the nation looks for all the world like a dying species.

local news

City manager search slogs on

Princeton’s search for a city manager is continuing at a snail’s pace, which could mean one of two things.

The city is taking its time searching for just the right man or woman to lead the City Hall staff … or it doesn’t have a clue on how to proceed. Which option do you choose?

The Princeton Herald reported this week that the city is offering little information on the search. They’ll back to us, city officials told the newspaper. C’mon, gang. Get busy, will ya?

Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. said he’s happy with the job being done by interim City Manager Jeff Jones, who replaced Mike Mashburn in December after Mashburn resigned. Mashburn had been on the job just shy of two years. Jones served formerly as city manager in Southlake.

So, what does Jones’s performance mean? Does he now emerge as a favorite to get the permanent job as Princeton’s chief municipal executive?

The city, in my view, made a mess of the process when it hired Mashburn. He emerged from the shadows after seemingly clandestine interviews with then-Mayor Brianna Chacon. The mayor introduced Mashburn to the City Council in an executive session and — presto! — the council hired him on the spot. The council took no time to ask him questions, to inquire closely about his background or ask him to jump through a couple of hoops to prove he would be the right man for the job.

Chacon boasted about the “transparent” process that occurred. Baloney!

Then came questions about Mashburn’s decision to live outside the city. It seems to me that a chief executive who is going to recommend the tax burden he proposes for the city’s residents should have to share in the burden he or she is asking others to bear.

The city council needs to do a much better job of seeking candidates to run the nation’s fastest-growing city. Three months have passed since Mashburn called it quits. Yes, we have an interim manager. And, yes, the mayor likes the job he’s doing. What about the rest of the council? Are they on board with this fellow, too?

My own preference would be for the council to collect as many applications as possible, winnow them down to a list of finalists. Say, about four individuals. Then they should tell us the names of the finalists, bring them to the city, meet in public, let interested residents meet them, question them and then make a decision.

The Princeton City Council makes one hiring decision. The city manager reports directly to the council. A city on the move deserves a city manager who is committed to this community. Get it right, council members!