Category Archives: local news

local news

City playing catch-up with growth

When you attach the adjective “explosive” in front of the noun “growth,” you might be describing a community that is struggling to cope with why so many people are moving into your neighborhood.

Princeton, Texas — where I have lived for more than six years — is in the midst of a growth explosion. This one-time rural burg is now the fastest-growing city in the entire United States of America. Its 2020 Census was pegged at 17,027 residents. The city’s estimated population, just five years on, stands at 37,000 … give or take. City officials have said the actual estimation is well past 40,000 based on the number of water meters online.

The city council recently extended a moratorium it placed in new residential construction another 160 days, until November 2025. My own view of the future of the building ban? Good luck if you think you’ll have made significant progress on the infrastructure to lift the ban. I don’t see it happening. Then again, I didn’t predict a building ban in the first place.

Princeton has to install a lot of infrastructure to keep pace with the growth that continues to occur. It needs more police and firefighters. The chiefs of both departments say they are making progress in achieving those goals. The police department seemingly needs many more officers to cover the city properly and my hope is that Chief Jim Waters is able to secure the funds needed. He faces additional salary funds and money to equip the officers with state-of-the-art equipment. Fire Chief Shannon Stephens is in the same predicament in needing qualified firefighters to be on call 24/7.

The city needs water to deliver to the thousands of newbies who want to move here. Sewer service, too.

I am a bit dubious as to whether has bought enough time to secure all of that in the next 160 days. For one thing, even though the city imposed the moratorium in September 2024, it still must honor building permits that already have been issued to homebuilders. Take a quick gander in the city and you see plenty of new housing being erected. They soon will be home to new residents who will seek service that the city promises to deliver.

One more aspect deserves a mention: schools. While many communities are closing schools because of dwindlng student enrollment, Princeton cannot build schools quickly enough to accomodate the flow of students who are enrolling here. While it might seem like a “nice problem” to have, Princeton ISD Superintendent Don McIntyre doesn’t smile much when he ponders how he will accommodate all the new children coming into our public school system.

And so, the struggle continues in a city my wife and I barely knew about when we moved here. Now it seems everyone knows about Princeton and they want to be a part of the action.

local news, media news

Better friends … than ever!

Someone posted a question on social media that drew an out-loud laugh from this old man.

“How many of you are friends with someone you knew in high school?” this individual asked.

So help me I chuckled out loud … loud enough for my puppies to hear me and come running to see for themselves.

Here’s the back story …

I graduuated from Parkrose High School in Portland, Ore., in June 1967. They called it the Summer of Love. Whatever. The truth of my high school years was that I didn’t have many friends. I was painfully shy around girls and so I didn’t date. That’s right … I dated no one from my high school. I had a few close friends, maybe two or three. I met one of them the day I reported for junior high school in March 1962 after my parents moved us to the suburbs.

Dennis and I have been close friends ever since.

I change came over me in the 58 years since I graduated from high school. I snapped out of my shyness, thanks in large part to the girl I met in college in January 1971 and whom I would marry and spend 51 glorious years in her embrace.

We traipsed through life and along the way I came across men and women I knew back in high school. I was unafraid to chat them up, whereas before I wouldn’t have dared try to engage them in conversation.

Over the years as social media has advanced and taken over many millons of Americans’ lives, I now find myself with quite a few more friends from high school than I had in the olden days. Some of them are men with whom I share a common bond called “the Vietnam War.” Others are guys who just pop up from time to time on Facebook friend request feeds, enabling us to connect. Others still are women who these days are all grown up and understand why some of us boys were too shy to reach out before.

I cannot count a lot of high school-age friends, but my network of acquaintances surely has grown … thanks to social media.

Hey, it’s not all bad. You know?

local news

What gives on US 380?

My 75-year-old trick knee is throbbing for the first time in a good while and it’s telling me there might something amiss with that big apartment construction job that has been underway on U.S. 380 here in Princeton, Texas.

The site has gone dark … again! No sign of any work being done there for about the past three weeks.

You’ll recall that the general contractor walked off the job about three years ago when he/she got into a snit with the developer. I thought they would just knock the buildings down and start over with something different. I didn’t know what I was thinking.

The Princeton City Council agreed to let the developer proceed with a new contractor. It set a timetable for completion of the 300-unit complex billed originally as a “luxury apartment” site.

I don’t know what’s going on. I merely am using this blog to vent my continuing frustration with the on-off-again project that doesn’t seem to be gaining any traction.

Just think, soon the Texas highway department is going to tear the crap out of the roadway that runs through my city … making any commuting through Princeton a nightmare.

local news, media news

See you on the other side

I like making command decisions, given that I write primarily for myself, which means I can tell myself what to do … or not do.

Here’s my latest command decision: High Plains Blogger is going dark for a few days. I am taking some time away from the daily humdrum of commenting on issues of the day. And also from the more personal slice of life issues that pique my interest.

Why? Well, I am taking some time away from the house. I will be elsewhere for just a little while. The other reason is that I believe I am getting a bit stale. I kind of let that cat out of the bag a few weeks ago by suggesting I might dial it all back a bit.

I am doing so beginning when I sign off from this post. I just need some time away. I also might re-post some previous blog items. They likely would deal with current issues of the day. Or they might be of the human interest variety. I haven’t decided to post earlier items.

I occasionally go back through the archives to re-read those items. Candidly, they look pretty good to me. I might even mutter under my breath: Damn, I hit a home run with that one!

I long have prided myself on the volume of work I am able to produce each day. Some of my friends have expressed a sort of awe that I can crank this stuff out.

I’ll admit that I am running a little low on fuel. I need to fill the tank. I am taking some time away to do that very thing. I’ll see you on the other side.

local news

Sabol the Puppy: ruthless killer!

Sabol the Puppy has become a cherished member of my family but I admit to being a little remiss in reporting on her progress since she joined me in September 2024.

I have something of interest to report. Here goes.

Sabol loves to spend time outside. She mastered the doggie door immediately after moving in with me. In and out, in and out! It’s constant. Rainfall? Pffftt! She likes the rain, too … unlike Toby the Puppy, who hated water, unless it was for his bath.

Here’s what happened last night that deserves a brief comment. I was away from home for a while during the evening attending a city council meeting in another community; I was on assignment for my part-time gig as a freelance reporter.

I kept the back door open for Sabol to use at her pleasure. She long ago discovered some rodent activity near the back of the yard. She’s always back there sniffing around where the mice come into the yard. What’s more, I always wondered what my Chihuahua mix pooch, who’s now around 7 years old, would do if she ever caught one.

I got my answer last night when I returned home from my reporting assignment. She found a rodent, mauled it viciously, killed it deader ‘n dead … and brought it into the house!

So help me, I didn’t think she had that instinct in her. I am glad to know I was mistaken about her.

As my sis told me, “She’s a cat in puppy’s clothing.”

local news

Time is relentless … and merciless

Reminders present themselves to me with stunning regularity … and they all say the same thing, which is that time is not my friend, that it marches on without mercy.

Ã¥How do I know that? For starters, I know when I was born and that date tells me I am 75 years of age. I am actually still upright a touch longer than your average American male. I also know when the reminders knock when I see obituaries of friends. I heard this past week about the passing of a friend my bride and I knew in Amarillo. Kathy Anne is gone now, but I am going back up yonder at the end of the month to celebrate Caroline Woodburn’s life.

I am acutely aware that I am not providing a flash for those who are older than I am. They’ve known the obvious longer than I have. However, it is worth mentioning only because I am enough of a realist to understand what we all know to be true … that death is a part of life.

I have lost several longtime friends over the past calendar year. The rate of demise is accelerating. I am not a Pollyanna about this fact of life. Indeed, when I don’t hear from peers of the same age for any length of time, I begin to presume the worst. For instance, a high school classmate of mine — a fellow to whom I’ve grown close since we graduated from high school in 1967 — went quiet on social media for longer than usual. I called him to see if he is still alive. He is! I told the reason for my call and he assured me he is in good shape except for the usual old timers’ issues that plague all of us. We both laughed out loud.

The reminders keep arriving. I am an old man. I don’t expect to check outta here any day soon. However, as we all should understand, all of that can change — snap! — just like that.

education news, local news

Texas GOP goes anti-rural

Glenn Rogers writes a column for the Dallas Morning News and in his most recent submission he makes an astonishing assertion about the direction of the state’s Republican Party.

He said the party has become “anti-rural” in its outlook and its policy priorities.

He writes: Based on my personal experience and discussions with rural-focused organizations, I would say the top priorities for rural Texas are supporting public schools, providing access to quality health care, improving the quantity and quality of water resources, and improving communication capabilities.

I want to focus on the first item he lists, “supporting public schools.”

Texas public education is taking it on the chin, in the gut and maybe even in the groin by policies that strip public money from public school classrooms. The GOP-dominated Legislature recently enacted a bill that allows parents to spend public money to send their children to private schools. I consider that a direct affront on the public school system that, in my view, has served Texas families well since, oh, maybe the beginning of time.

Lawmakers tried to foist this issue onto the books in 2023, but Republican lawmakers representing rural school districts resisted. Many of them represent districts here in North Texas, where life revolves around the health and well-being of the independent public school district.

Something or someone got to those folks during the current Legislature and they climbed aboard the school voucher bandwagon to approve it and sent it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.

This is the kind of action that destroys rural communities. Rogers, a rancher and veterinarian in Palo Pinto County, served in the Texas House from 2021 until this year. He writes that public education is the “backbone and leading employer in rural communities.” He adds that “without their public schools, small towns … would be devastated.”

So, why do Republicans in the Legislature insist on gutting these communities? Why do they knowingly take money needed to bolster public education and allow parents to send kids to private schools?

This is a turn that a once-great political party has taken. I believe it will bite the Grand Old Party squarely in its backside.

local news, religious news

Sharia law? It won’t happen!

I am hearing a rumbling or two from a community over yonder here in Collin County about what some folks assert is a growing Muslim influence.

It’s in Sachse, a city that staddles the Collin-Dallas County line. Sitting in a city council meeting the other evening, a woman rose to sound an alarm bell about Muslims, and about Islam. She said she is concerned that the community’s Muslim community is going to foist the teaching of “Sharia law” in our public school system.

Oops. Can’t happen. Sharia law is a strict Islamic interpretation of the Quran, the Islamic holy book.

As I read the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment prohibits any law that imposes religious teachings. This is a secular nation, according to the founders’ view. It is not lost on me that they would list the imposition of state religion first as the rights protected under the First Amendment.

So, when someone complains about “Muslim influence” in our community, they should disabuse themselves of any notion that Sharia law is going to be part of any public school curriculum.

It is not going to happen! Period! Moreover, if such a matter were imposed and it ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court, hell would freeze over before this court in particular would approve of such a stunning reversal of the First Amendment.

local news

City must serve residents first

You know by now that Princeton, Texas, is in the throes of a growth explosion, so the city has taken a key step to help it cope with the ramifications of the immense growth it is undergoing.

The Princeton City Council has decided to end its fire protection for residents living in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. Why? As I understand it, the city wants to devote its firefighting and emergency response resources to the growing number of residents living in the city’s corporate limits. Those in the ETJ will need to rely on Collin County to answer the call when fire breaks out.

This is a growing trend in fast-growing cities. Melissa has done so already. Wylie and Farmersville have given notice that they are going to follow suit. ETJ neighborhoods can seek to be annexed by Princeton at a later time. The Legislature some years ago amended state law to prohibit cities from arbitrarily annexing ETJs into their city limits.

On the surface, the decision might seem heartless. It doesn’t leave ETJ residents defenseless against fire or other emergencies. It merely puts pressure on the county to implement a proposed emergency services district that would cover those areas that cities are now having to forgo. Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar said the city has been providing fire protection service to the ETJ “without being properly compensated.” Look, cities such as Princeton have to look at servicing those whose municipal tax money pays the bills.

This is one of those bittersweet elements of rapid municipal growth. I get what the city is seeking to do. It wants to ensure it has adequate resources to aid those to whom the city answers directly. That would be those who live within the city limits.

As City Manager Mike Mashburn noted: “This decision ensures our fire department can maintain the level of protection our residents expect and deserve.” This action makes sense.

 

local news, media news

Gadflies can do good

My freelance gig has allowed me to get better acquainted with communities throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth region, which follows the form I’ve used for decades … meaning that I learn about new places when I am asked to cover them.

I recently began a gig covering the Sachse City Council in a nice city that straddles the Collin-Dallas County line. They have a seven-member council, a competent city staff and lots of people who attend the council meetings on most occasions. They also have what can be referred to as the resident gadfly, a fellow who I understand attends almost every council meeting and brings his version of what’s wrong with the city to everyone’s attention.

This fellow, though, did something I found quite refreshing. He ran for mayor and lost to the incumbent in an election that occurred at the start of the month. He ended up polling around 40% of the vote in a two-man contest. I don’t know about you, but I consider that a fairly strong showing for a fellow who, as I understand it, doesn’t usually offer much constructive analysis when he bellows before the council in the public comment portion of the meetings.

I have witnessed my share of gadflies during my nearly 37 years as a journalist covering issues for daily newspapers in Texas and Oregon. Almost all of them are content to merely bitch about government, but then decline to step into the arena when given the chance. This guy took his shot at it. He fell short.

One such gadfly in Amarillo once was elected to a seat on a county commissioners court. He raised a little bit of hell with the county, then stepped away. He also continued to gripe about alleged mistreatment by City Hall, but has not yet offered himself as a candidate for the city council.

I have no way to know where my newest gadfly acquaintance will take his camaign for civic improvement. Maybe he’ll make another run for political office. He might just be content to bitch out loud from the gallery at City Council meetings.

I do intend to listen carefully to what he has to say and along the way learn a little more about a community I will be serving. Even gadflies can teach me something.