Category Archives: local news

local news

What a visit!

Now, that’s what I would call an eventful visit … so that’s what I’ll do.

I ventured to West Texas and spent a couple of days visiting four of my best friends on Earth. They are members of a Rotary International Group Study Exchange team I accompanied to Israel in May-June 2009. We have stayed in touch for the past 16 years and they have become part of what we call our “familia.”

We enjoyed some barbecue, a steak dinner with another couple I have known for many years. We reminisced about the month we spent in one of the most marvelous places in this world of ours.

Then, this afternoon, after enjoying a fantastic lunch at a famed BBQ joint in Olton, Texas, we got in touch with a young man and his wife — two more friends of ours — in The Netherlands. The young man was part of a Dutch team that toured Israel with us and we also have remained close.

That wasn’t the end of the excitement … for me. I took off around 2 p.m. expecting to arrive home in Princeton around 8. Hah! I ran into two thunderstorms, one along U.S. 82 as I approached Gainesville, and then along U.S. 75 just as I turned south in Sherman. It was violent, full of lightning and thunder and deluge-scale rainfall. The wind that preceded that first storm was so intense I seriously thought I would witness a tornado. Yes … I was frightened.

My six-hour home turned into a nearly eight-hour trek.

I so thoroughly enjoyed seeing my good friends, people I love dearly. We all went through a lot together on our tour of Israel. It will stay with us forever.

local news

Community journalism is alive and well

I was sitting in a city council chamber meeting room this evening when the thought occurred to me … that community journalism is where it’s at.

Sachse, Texas, is a nice city that straddles the Collin and Dallas County line. My bosses for whom I work part time have asked me to cover Sachse City Council for the time being. I said “sure,” so there I was taking notes on a budget workshop that was taking place. Council members are preparing the budget to run the city for the next fiscal year. It was a humdrum meeting.

But it was damn important and I was filled with a sense of honor that I was being allowed to report to the residents of this quiet city what their elected officials are doing to decide how to spend the money that comes from the pockets of the city residents.

Get this, too. The Sachse City Council doesn’t get paid a dime for conducting these meetings. The only pay they receive is to be reimbursed for expenses incurred while doing city business. Talk about a labor love!

And I get to report on these fine folks. I am privileged to engage in community journalism at its finest point.

With all the nonsense being kicked around about journalism, whether it’s fake, I am proud to report that the journalism I get to practice from time to time remains alive and well in the communities where I practice it. I do the same kind of community reporting in Princeton (where I live) and in Farmersville just east of my house along US 380.

It was just a brief revelation this evening. It’ll stick with me for as long as I can continue to string sentences together. I’ve said all along that I learn about the communities I cover. I am getting to know Sachse and whatever motivates its public policy. Best news? I get to report on it for the folks who pay for it!

local news

Town hall set … Rep. Self?

A good bit of the smart money, if any such thing exists these days in D.C., suggests that Republican members of the U.S. House will avoid anything resembling a town hall meeting with constituents.

They have taken the rest of August off presumably to collect their thoughts and prepare for what could be a miserable onslaught of anger when they return to duty in early September. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent them home reportedly to avoid forcing House members to stand for a vote on whether to require Donald Trump to release those Jeffrey Epstein files that might contain a smoking arsenal detailing who was involved in sex trafficking along with the late Epstein.

My congressman is a Republican, Keith Self of McKinney. He’s a good man. I happen to like him personally. He once served as Collin County judge after serving for 20-plus as an Army combat infantry officer. I hope he calls for a town hall meeting while he’s home. I also hope he doesn’t choose to partake of that other congressional tradition, taking off on one of those overseas “junkets” designed ostensibly to allow congressmen and women to collect facts about this and that issue.

Democratic members have been venturing into heavily Republican districts to feel the pulse of what’s driving GOP voters. They are learning that Republicans aren’t happy with the big ugly bill and the slashing and burning of aid to Americans who need it. Nor are they happy with the Trump team’s dodging of demands to release those Epstein files.

Indeed, I learned that a member of my extended family, who supported Trump with his vote, is now turning against the numbskull in chief. I suspect that Rep. Self might find many more like my family member out here in Trump Country were he to call for a town hall session.

Is Keith Self brave enough to face angry constituents or did he save his courage by facing down enemy fighters intent on killing him on the field of battle? If he’s not so brave, he wouldn’t be the first elected member of Congress to shy away from such a fight.

economic news, local news

Mixed feelings over airport expansion

How am I feeling these days as I learn about the expansion of McKinney National Airport just down the road a piece from where I live in Princeton?

My feelings are decidedly mixed. Although I tend to support the expansion as an economic driver for a region that already is undergoing a tremendous population explosion.

I shall explain myself.

Voters rejected a $200 million bond issue a couple of years ago to expand the airport, creating a third commercial air terminal in North Texas. It wasn’t even close, with 58% of the votes saying “hell no!” to the expansion. Had I been able to vote on the project, I would have voted in favor. Voters had their say.

Aha! But it wasn’t the final word. McKinney officials weren’t to be dissuaded from fulfilling their dream. They have broken ground on a smaller expansion, costing about $70 million. They’ll add an air terminal, expand parking and dress up the grounds to begin commercial air service sometime late next year. A low-cost airline already has signed up to begin servicing the airport to be known in aviation-speak as TKI.

It is mildly troubling to me that McKinney officials chose to ignore the voters’ wishes by proceeding with the airport project. Opponents cited the massive change such a project would bring to a community that they liked as it stands. There could be noise pollution, traffic congestion and all the various elements associated with rapid growth. At the groundbreaking ceremony, officials spoke affectionately about the growth that will come this way.

Princeton, where I have lived for six years, is the fastest-growing city in the United States. It currently is terribly underserved by commercial establishments. This morning, for example, I drove to McKinney to purchase a $6 part for my bathroom sink. I couldn’t find a store to serve my needs in Princeton. I am going to presume that economic expansion will bring those services and many others eventually to my city.

Indeed, the landscape in the greater McKinney/Princeton/Farmersville area is now slated for some monumental change once the airport expansion is complete. All of that produces a mixed bag of emotions for my neighbors and me. Thus, I can declare my feelings remain mixed as the airport construction is set to begin.

I am going to pray it goes well.

local news

Too good to be true?

You have heard it said, I reckon, that you shouldn’t trust an offer that is “too good to be true.”

I’ve been getting many of them lately in North Texas. Here’s how they go:

My phone rings with the message that says “Spam Risk.” OK, it’s a risk of a spam call, not necessarily a guarantee that it is some sort of come-on. I answer and the voice on the other end offers to sell me a home security system for my house “with no installation charge or set-up fee.”

Sigh …

I hang up. You see, I treat calls like that the way I treat motel marquee signs that tell you that the Flea Bag Motel has “free HBO.” No. It doesn’t have a freebie.

Nor do these home security pitches. You see, no one goes into business thinking of ways to throw money away. Which tells me in clear and direct language that anyone who says they’ll install a home-security system with no installation fee is going to make up the price elsewhere in the transaction. In the monthly fee, yes? Or perhaps in some sort of surcharge.

So, there will be no installation charge. Right. It’ll come to you in a different form, which gives the solicitor a justification for spinning a tale that borders on a falsehood.

Now that I have posted this item on High Plains Blogger, I am going to stop answering all calls that warn me of a “Spam risk.”

local news, media news

‘My Life in Print’ awaits

I pledged some time ago that I would keep you apprised of certain aspects of my private life as I continued on my retirement journey into old age.

With that I will make an admission: I have fallen short on one of my key goals, which was to complete the draft of my memoir by the first quarter of 2025. OK. I got that off my chest.

Now I will make another pledge. My intention is to finish that task by the end of this year. I need to parse the language just a bit. Notice I said it is my “intention.” I intend fully to complete this task.

For those who are unaware, I spent nearly 37 years covering communities in Texas and Oregon for newspapers. I worked for four of them, two in Oregon and two in Texas. I pursued my craft with great joy … until the end began creeping up on me. The end came on Aug. 30, 2012 when I learned I had fallen victim to the changing media environment. My boss at the Amarillo Globe-News informed me I would no longer do the job I thought I did pretty well for 18 years there. I resigned on the spot.

Then my bride said to me, “You know, you need to tell the story of your career. You’ve met some fantastic people and done some unbelievable things. Put it down and give it to our boys.” I agreed. I started work on it.

I had to compile the lengthy list of notable folks I encountered along the way. Some of them were great men and women; others were, well, not so great. I did some remarkable things along the way. I flew over an erupting volcano in early 1980; I returned to Vietnam in 1989, where I served for a time in the Army; I took part in an aircraft carrier tailhook landing and a catapult launch in 1993.

Only recently, I came up with a working title for my memoir. It’s called “My Life in Print.” It has a bit of a double entendre. It tells of my career using a print medium; and it tells the story of my modestly successful — and fully joyful — career in print journalism.

I got distracted along the way. I lost my bride to cancer 2 1/2 years ago. We had moved from Amarillo to the Dallas area six years ago. My effort to rebuild my life has taken more of my attention than I imagined. One of my two sisters recently passed away.

But … it’s not a downer. I have finished about 65% of the writing. I am pretty much done adding names of individuals to my already lengthy list. The end of this project is in sight. At least I think it is.

I also intend to publish it in some form. I want to bind the pages in a binder with an engraved cover. I also plan to dedicate to my bride, Kathy Anne, my immediate family and to the men and women I encountered along the way who have given me the grist to help me tell my story.

Moreover, when I’m done, you’ll be among the first to know.

environmental news, local news

Heroism abounds in Hill Country

Hill Country heroism is alive, well and flourishing as the nation grieves the horrifying loss of life and the destruction in the wake of the Guadalupe River flooding that began on the Fourth of July.

I cannot keep up with the fatality count these days. It’s past 100. It figures to climb. Many more are missing. Time is running out on those looking for survivors.

Through it all, we keep hearing about the men and women who drop all they are doing to pursue their lives to lend aid, comfort and assistance to the first responders who, themselves, are behaving with heroism beyond the call of duty.

Fire departments and medical organizations from all across the nation are deploying personnel to lend aid to the recovery effort. That’s what Americans do. We rally. We reach out. We offer love, prayers — and pickup trucks — to help our fellow Americans bring closure to the drama they are enduring. And by closure, I mean happiness as well as sadness.

I feel helpless sitting in my comfortable North Texas home. I am left to offer my best wishes to those who have survived the carnage. Prayers to those who are grieving the loss of those they love.

I also can salute the heroes who are answering the cries for help from Central Texas. They fill me with pride and hope that they might be able to minimize the suffering as we seek to recover from our collective grief.

environmental news, local news, media news

Keep it in perspective

Once in a while, news of the day can render whatever discomfort we are feeling to be irrelevant, if not laughable.

Here’s what happened to me on Monday morning.

I was delivering my weekly run of Meals on Wheels to shut-in residents of Princeton. I left the house wearing just my shirt, a pair of shorts and sandals. I picked up the meals to deliver at a local church and went on my way. I made the first stop, chatted up the gentleman who is always waiting for me.

I drove to the second residence. On the way, it started to sprinkle. The rain worsened the farther along I drove. By the time I delivered my second meal, the sky had opened up. It poured. I got soaked.

I grumbled to myself as I drove to the third location. Damn rain, I wish it would stop … or so I muttered under my breath.

Then the news came on the radio, which I had turned on my truck to National Public Radio. The reporter told me of the suffering in Central Texas. The raging river had killed dozens of residents. Many of the victims were girls attending a church camp in Kerrville, It had destroyed thousands of homes. The deluge roared down the Guadalupe River bed at enormous speed, sweeping away trees, homes, big and small vehicles and presumably people.

That was the moment I realized I was bitching about something that didn’t matter one damn bit. Why am I complaining because I am getting wet from rainfall.

Needless to say, I realized in real time that my concerns about wringing my clothes from the rainfal paled in comparison to the unfathomable tragedy that has gripped our Central Texas neighbors.

I learned my lesson.

environmental news, local news

Worrying about friends in the flood

Leave it to a crackpot climate-change denier to cheapen the worry and the grief of those of us who are sickened by the loss of life in the Central Texas floods.

One such moron has called the floods a hoax, a product of cloud-seeding. She said the climate change argument doesn’t hold up, calling the events of the past few days all part of some government plot to lay blame at the feet of industries that everyone with half a brain understands knows are responsible for the dramatic change in Earth’s climate.

We’re seeing it play out in real time in places like Kerrville, Comfort and New Braunfels, Texas.

Just so you know, I have friends and former colleagues who live in the flood zone. I cannot account for all of them. Last I heard, the death count has surpassed 70 people, including at least 21 children.

I checked in on my brother-in-law, who lives on the outskirts of the flood zone and was glad to hear he is safe from the ravaging floodwater.

None of this is about me and my particular worries. It is about the Texans struggling to stay alive in the wake of Mother Nature’s relentless wrath. This level of flooding doesn’t occur usually in this part of the world. However, here it is in the present time.

Money and other forms of relief are pouring into the region. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has kicked in a half-million bucks to provide aid to the stricken residents. Others are chipping in, too.

Everyone else — at least those of us with a heart — are left to worry and pray for the safety of those affected by the deluge that has befallen them.

May these good folks find the strength to carry on once the water recedes.

local news, national news, political news

Now we get to test our system

Donald Trump’s big ugly bill is now law, which means that the next big test of the strength of our democracy awaits in the form of congressional elections, which are approaching rapidly.

Can you believe it?

Americans who are concerned about the slashing of social programs, the effect it all will have on our national debt, the tax cuts for the mega-richest of us, the pardoning of criminals who attacked our Capitol on 1/6 will get a chance to elect a new Congress in November 2026.

It’s up to us, kids. You and me. All of us.

Talking about it, attending rallies, spending money to political causes won’t do the job. To finish the task, Americans who say they oppose the big ugly bill need to get out and vote. President Obama was fond of telling us to avoid the boos and jeers. “Vote!” he would say. Just vote your conscience. If your conscience moves you to cast your ballot for someone other than those who support the big ugly bill, you are afforded the right to do so in secret.

No one needs to know. Just vote!

I won’t keep my preferences a secret. I will continue to speak out on this blog about the direction I hope the country takes in a little more than a year from now. We have a congressman in North Texas, a gentleman I happen to like personally, who is on the wrong side of this big ugly bill issue. I intend to let Keith Self know my feelings frequently. I just hope he gets a worthy opponent who can speak intelligently and pledges to act accordingly to fix what I believe is wrong with the direction we’re taking.

No hard feelings, OK congressman?