Category Archives: local news

What gives on US 380?

June 11, 2025 kanelis2012

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

Sabol the Puppy: ruthless killer!

June 4, 2025 kanelis2012

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

June 2, 2025 kanelis2012

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.

åHow 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

May 31, 2025 kanelis2012

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!

May 27, 2025 kanelis2012

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

May 23, 2025 kanelis2012

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

May 21, 2025 kanelis2012

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.

local news

Friendships come and go … forever

April 30, 2025 kanelis2012 2 Comments

Never in my advanced years on this good Earth have I experienced the loss of friendships in the manner I have done in recent times.

Yes, during the Age of Donald John Trump.

This novice politician has cost me friendships I thought for many years would be unbreakable. They might bend to the point of breaking. They would snap back like a sapling.

No longer.

Three quick examples come to mind of the relationships that been torn apart.

One involves a fellow I knew when I worked in Amarillo. He hails from Pampa. We met for lunch on occasion. We didn’t talk politics when we shared a meal, but we sure did when we sat behind our keyboards. We got into a snit one time and my pal cut me off. He was gone.

Another was a former colleague of mine at the Amarillo Globe-News. I left the paper in August 2012, he stayed on. We argued over this and that Trump policy. We became ex-friends. We stayed that way until he suffered a stroke and died a few years ago.

Yet another was a friend with whom I worked in Beaumont. We maintained our friendship even though he hailed from Arkansas and detested Bill and Hillary Clinton; I felt differently about them than he did, but our friendship survived. Along came Trump and my friend severed our relationship. It remained that way for the rest of his life.

I have struggled to understand why now do political differences get in the way of friendships. I have concluded this must be the nature of the politician who is the common denominator. Trump destroys friendships by turning on men and women on whom he depends. When they cross him, he cuts them off, sends them adrift.

Therefore, it seems to me, the same “logic” follows among those who adhere to the Trumpian blathering and those who oppose it … and him.

I am uncomfortable functioning in this environment. It’s not that I count many acquaintances as “friends.” I have few actual friends in this world. The rest of them are acquaintances, many of them do evolve into actual relationships.

I am happy to report that the few lifelong friendships I have forged over many decades are surviving this tempestuous time. However, we aren’t yet past this tumult.

local news, media news

Blog decision looms

April 29, 2025 kanelis2012 4 Comments

A possible decision might be looming for High Plains Blogger … that would be yours truly.

The decision involves whether I want to keep pursuing this daily goal of posting commentaries,. Yes, the daily goal. I have been writing blogs each day since The Flood, or so it seems. I have had good spells and slow spells.

I am deep in the midst of a slow spell. I have plenty of topics on which to comment. The response has been, well, rather sparse. As in very sparse. I’m in a slump.

I am unsure if my audience, such as it is, has grown weary of my rants. Maybe I’m not as sharp as I once claimed to be.

I believe I’ll know what to do soon after I post this particular item on Highs Plains Blogger. If the comments pour in from readers saying they want me to keep going, well, then I’ll respond accordingly.

If it remains quiet out there in Blog Land, I think that will tell me something, too. Maybe I can monkey around with the blog platform I use to get more response.

Just know that I truly enjoy sharing my world view with you. It’s my view only. I know it has its friends and its foes. Critics are welcome to offer their negative responses. I am a grownup and I can take it. I’ll be honest, I prefer to hear words of support.

I have sought to broaden the subject matter, to include more slice of life entries, rather than just relying on politics and policy.

I’ll know in due course what my decision will be. I’ll keep you posted on what I decide.

Meanwhile … have a great day.

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience