Monthly Archives: December 2019

local news

Congressman responds … sort of

I got an answer from my congressman, to whom I posed a direct question. His response, I must stipulate, was decidedly less direct.

In a letter I had asked Rep. Van Taylor, a Plano Republican, why after complaining about so-called “secrecy” during the House Intelligence Committee’s closed-door deposition of witnesses during the House inquiry into whether Donald Trump should be impeached, that he voted “no” on a measure to bring it into the open.

Taylor’s response was, shall I say, off the mark. He did thank me for “taking the time to contact me regarding efforts to impeach President Donald Trump. Our representative democracy works best with active participation from the people and I appreciate your sharing your thoughts with me.”

There you go. That’s the extent of any reference to the question I posed. Except that he didn’t answer it.

He offered the boiler-plate response about not seeing sufficient evidence to merit the president’s impeachment, let alone his conviction in a Senate trial.

I am disappointed, although not surprised. I won’t write him any more letters on this subject. I now know precisely where he stands on whether the president deserves to be impeached. Actually, I knew it long before his letter arrived in the mail today.

I told you I would report to you how Rep. Taylor would respond. I have done so. I was hoping for a direct response. I didn’t get one.

Disappointing in the extreme.

local news

Come clean on the Herring Hotel: Go or no go?

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Let me reaffirm what I believe should happen regarding the fate of a long-vacant structure on the outskirts of downtown Amarillo, Texas.

While developers and investors spruce up other dilapidated structures in the city’s central business district, the Herring Hotel sits there quietly. Its owner, Bob Goodrich, has been seeking some interest in the building for the many years he has been paying taxes on it.

I believe it is time for the city’s power structure — which doesn’t own the building, but which is heavily involved in approving incentives for other property downtown — to deliver the details on what it believes is hindering the Herring Hotel’s possible rebirth.

A number of agencies operating under the city’s umbrella have been involved in some level with negotiations regarding the Herring Hotel. I refer to the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, Center City, the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, senior city administrative staff, the Convention and Visitors Council, the Chamber of Commerce. Am I missing anyone?

Well, whatever. The city would be well-advised to offer some sort of statement to the public as to what is happening or not happening with the Herring Hotel. It’s been vacant since the 1970s. The Herring used to serve as the go-to site for practically every social event of consequence in Amarillo. Then it was closed up.

I haven’t been intimately involved in the Herring’s story, but I do know the owner. I am aware of several near misses regarding efforts to land investors who would pour money into reviving the structure.

With all the attention being paid to buildings such as the Barfield, the Rule, the Santa Fe, the Potter County Courthouse, the Kress, the Fisk — not to mention the relocation of several businesses along Polk Street — the Herring just sits there!

Is there a future for the building? Or will it continue to rot? Will it continue to serve as downtown Amarillo’s pre-eminent eyesore?

I believe there are some details about the future of the Herring that ought to be aired out. Is anyone listening at City Hall?

environmental news

Toilet-flushing gets POTUS’s attention?

I am trying to understand this one, but so far it escapes me.

Donald Trump, who says climate change is a “hoax” and who yanked the nation out of the Paris Climate Accord, now says people are flushing their toilets too many times. They’re wasting water. He wants the government to look into ways to make, um, more water-efficient toilets?

Well, I’ll be flushed.

The president told a gathering at the White House late this past week that people are flushing toilets “10 to 15 times.” Huh? Who does that?

To be sure, I don’t know the toilet-flushing habits of others, but I have trouble believing that flushing frequency presents the kind of existential threat to our water resources that Trump seems to portray it.

The consequence is the lack of water pressure, he said. “You can’t wash your hands practically, there’s so little water coming out of the faucet,” Trump said.

I guess I need to get out more, or perhaps understand better what at times flows through Donald Trump’s noggin. I just don’t get this one.

Of all the threats to our way of life — carbon emissions, deforestation, pollution, wasteful irrigation — Donald Trump has taken aim at the number of times many of us (he says) are flushing their toilets.

Go … figure.

national news

Impeachment journey set to take another historic turn

(Photo by Jeff Malet)

It is becoming distressingly clear to me that the impeachment of Donald Trump is going to produce the Mother of All Partisan Battles on Capitol Hill.

Congressional Democrats have sought to make the case that the president has committed impeachable offenses. I happen to believe the evidence that I have seen — and I’ve seen only the portion of it that has gone public!

I need no more convincing that Trump needs to be impeached, convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors in the Senate and then shown the door out of the Oval Office. Sayonara, Mr. President.

It won’t end that way.

Congressional Republicans have fortified their defense of the president with diversions, accusations and vilification of the accusers’ motives. They have ignored publicly the evidence that shows how the president solicited a foreign government for dirt on a domestic political foe, encouraged that government to interfere in the 2020 election, endangered our national security by buttressing the fortunes of a hostile power and violated the oath he took when he took office.

The Senate won’t budge, either.

Where does this leave us? We are left with the upcoming election, which curiously is where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said initially this battle should conclude. I do not believe the speaker overplayed her hand by launching the impeachment inquiry. Nor do I believe she erred in instructing relevant House committees to draft articles of impeachment.

Believing that the outcome will retain Trump in the White House at least through January 2021, I look forward to watching the trial unfold. I want the Senate trial to commence and conclude in short order. The Senate Democrats who seek to become president need to spend time on the campaign trail and any effort to prolong the trial plays into Trump’s hands.

It won’t end the way I want it to end. However, my own partisan bias persuades me that the 2020 presidential campaign will be just as relevant and spirited as we all knew it would be.

It is also going to be filthy, but millions of us knew that would be the case as well.

economic news, local news

What must Herring Hotel owner be thinking?

I haven’t talked to the owner of the long-vacant Herring Hotel in downtown Amarillo, Texas, for a good while. I know Bob Goodrich quite well. He’s a nice man, a conscientious property owner — and a fellow with big dreams for the building that once served as the go-to spot for Amarillo’s social elite.

That all stipulated, Goodrich must be steamed as he reads about other abandoned downtown buildings finding new life. The latest such structure is the Rule Building, which developer Todd Harmon wants to turn into a boutique hotel. Then there’s the Barfield Building, which is going to open soon as boutique lodging.

Other structures are finding life, or are being repurposed into something other than their original use.

Then there’s the Herring Hotel building. It sits there. Vacant and rotting. Goodrich pays the taxes on it every year. He seeks developers and investors. He once called me to say he had a potential investor lined up; then the deal fell through.

Someone who at the time had intimate knowledge of downtown Amarillo’s redevelopment efforts told me years ago he was certain there would be a happy ending to the Herring Hotel saga. This individual is no longer part of the downtown in-crowd and, of course, I have retired from daily journalism and have relocated to another community. It’s quite possible this person didn’t know what he was talking about, but … well, that’s grist for another story — maybe. 

I do have a parting thought. Perhaps there ought to be a statement from the downtown redevelopment gurus addressing the reasons why the Herring Hotel continues to sit quietly with no apparent action on the horizon. Center City? The Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone board? City Hall? The Amarillo Matters PAC? The Convention and Visitors Council? Amarillo EDC?

Might there be some way to reveal to the nosey segments of the public what they think they need to know about the Herring Hotel? Is there a future for the building … or not?

national news

Need to do better at keeping emotions in check

Oh, I need to do a much better job of restraining myself in the Age of Trump.

There can be no doubt that something has triggered an emotional response in me that I didn’t think would do so prior to Donald Trump sashaying onto the political scene.

“There’s more to life than politics,” Mitt Romney once said while saluting the adversarial relationship he had at the time with President Barack Obama. The men were running for the presidency in 2012 and Romney took a moment to say that he and the president didn’t harbor “ill will” toward each other.

That ain’t the case these days. It’s rubbing off on me. Dang it! I’ve got to control myself.

A member of my vast network of Facebook “friends” and actual friends posted something the other day that sought to poke a bit of fun at the rash of sexual harassers/abusers who’ve been in the news lately. Two of the examples showed photoshopped images of Obama hanging Presidential Medals of Freedom around the necks of Anthony “Carlos Danger” Weiner and Harvey Weinstein. The other two images were legit, with Bill Cosby and former President Clinton getting the medals.

“Why do you post this sh**?” I asked an actual Facebook friend who shared it. He fired back a tart response, telling me it was a joke and that I should “lighten up.” Touche. 

I blame Donald Trump for dragging me into this pit of emotional instability and nervousness. I still can take a joke as well as the next guy. My problem these days is that I am getting numbed by the constant barrage of hideous reports pertaining to the president, not to mention to the amazing barrage of insult-inspired Twitter messages that the president is prone to unleash.

I am nowhere close to needing therapy. At least not at the moment. If this glaring lack of joke awareness persists, however, I might need some counseling.

In the meantime, I am going to pray that the pending impeachment of Donald Trump gets traction and that, should he (likely) survive the Senate trial that will result, he gets thumped at the November 2020 election.

entertainment news

Still missing this iconic musician after all these years

I am one of the few Americans who was not watching “Monday Night Football” the night we all got the shocking news.

Howard Cosell, a friend of John Lennon, told the world that a gunman shot John “twice in the back,” that he was “rushed to Roosevelt Hospital … dead on arrival.”

I was watching an NBC show that night 39 years ago. They, too, broke in and stunned the world.

Oh, how I still miss this man. He was just 40 years of age when his comeback from a five-year hiatus from public view came to its tragic end. I am left to wonder, as are all fans of John Lennon’s enormous talent, what kind of legacy would he have built had he been allowed to live.

The man who essentially founded The Beatles led this band of musicians into the cultural stratosphere. Sure, he had plenty talent playing alongside. The careers of Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison all flourished after the band ended its professional existence in 1970. The three surviving members of the band collaborated in 1995 to finish a couple of songs that John had written; they released them that year with “Free As a Bird” being named the top single of the year. I remember the Grammy award presenter declaring, “I can’t believe this: 25 years after they broke up … the winner is The Beatles!”

George, too, is now gone.

John Lennon’s legacy already is rich. We are left only now with the memory of what he was able to accomplish as a musician, a songwriter and an advocate for peace, and ponder what might have happened had fate not intervened that night in New York City.

As for the gunman who took him from us, well … may he continue to rot in prison.

business news, local news

Another ’boutique hotel’ sprouting in downtown Amarillo? Wow!

Now it’s the Rule Building, another long-vacant office structure, that’s getting new life as what they call a “boutique hotel.”

Who in the world knew?

According to www.newschannel10.com: “It was a natural progression for us to look at another opportunity. Especially with the growth and revitalization of Downtown Amarillo, we’re really hitting full stride right now, and it was an easy decision for us,” said Todd Harmon, vice president of development for DJ Investment Realty.

OK, before we pop the champagne corks and start a whole round of back-slapping, I want to offer a word of caution.

Even though I do not know Todd Harmon, I am aware of some hiccups that have occurred on projects he has sought to bring to fruition in downtown Amarillo. The Barfield Building is the most prominent of them. Harmon sought investors for the Barfield, but couldn’t make it happen. The building eventually was sold to another party and — voila! — it, too, is being turned into a boutique hotel slated to open in the spring.

I wish Harmon well. I hope he can turn the Rule Building into something beautiful. I want nothing but the very best for the downtown district in Amarillo, where my wife and I lived for more than 20 years before we relocated to the D/FW Metroplex.

As KFDA reports: As of right now, the structure plan consists of eight floors, 110 rooms, a 10,000 square foot banquet space, and a couple of restaurant and dining areas.

Don’t misunderstand me. I hope Harmon pulls this together. I want the project to succeed. I am hopeful that Amarillo’s future is still hurtling toward renewed prosperity. The city’s downtown district has made huge strides in the past half-dozen years.

I am going to offer cautious optimism that the Rule Building is part of that shiny new future.

national news

Speaker Pelosi: Don’t mess with me

Well, we have witnessed what happens when the speaker of the House of Representatives’ dander get riled up.

She tells a reporter who had the bad form to ask her a question that cut her to the quick to “not mess with me” when framing a question about whether she hates anyone, let alone a president of the United States whose impeachment she is about to engineer.

James Rosen, formerly of Fox News and now of Sinclair News, asked Pelosi on Friday whether she “hates” Donald Trump. Pelosi had stepped away from the podium after giving her press briefing. She wheeled around to answer Rosen, then she went back to the podium to make abundantly clear what was about to come from her mouth.

She said she doesn’t “hate anyone.” She invoked her Catholic upbringing and her being taught to “pray” for those with whom she disagrees. Pelosi said she prays for Donald Trump “all the time.” She said the issues leading to his certain impeachment have to do with the law, the Constitution and his high office.

“Don’t mess me with” when you ask me a question that implies hatred, she scolded Rosen.

Then she walked away a second time.

I have read accounts of the mood in the room in that moment and those who were there reported that they’d never witnessed a room full of reporters stunned into total silence. That is what occurred when Pelosi fired her barrage at a reporter.

It well might have been the speaker’s finest moment in her long public service career. Moreover, it likely revealed the kind of foe that Donald Trump is facing.

local news

The perfect antidote to all the craziness

I have discovered the perfect antidote — the remedy, if you will — to take one’s mind off the bizarre antics of those in power in Washington, D.C.

It is to take your granddaughter to a Christmas tree lighting in the community where you live — and then to watch your little pride and joy get asked to throw some fairy dust on the tree when Santa Claus arrives from the North Pole.

That’s what we did tonight. Emma had a blast. Grandma had more fun than she can stand, too. So … did I.

We drove the short distance to Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Princeton, Texas, a bit early. The activities began at 4 p.m.; we got there around 5. They wouldn’t light the three until 7:15. We had plenty of time to, um, waste.

We did. We walked around, visited with parents and grandparents of little ones enjoying the spirit of the season. Emma got to strap on some ice skates and “skate” her way around a rink that comprised a sort of plastic material that was interlocked like a puzzle. She only fell once, but got up and was just fine.

The sun set beautifully. Then a young woman who said she works for the city approached Emma and asked her if she wanted to throw some fairy dust on the tree when it the time arrived for the lighting. Emma, quite naturally, agreed. We called her Mommy and Daddy and she told them what she was about to do.

Then came the time. Santa arrived aboard a Princeton Fire Department truck, accompanied by an elf. Mayor John-Mark Caldwell wished us all a Merry Christmas and counted down. When he got to zero, Emma and four little acquaintances who also got recruited tossed the fairy dust on the tree. It lit up spectacularly. We all cheered.

Emma could not have been happier. Neither could her grandparents.

It was a moment of unfettered joy. It took my mind off the more serious matters about which I have been commenting on in this blog. I’ll get back to that in due course.

Tonight, though, I am filled with a child’s joy at welcoming Santa Claus to our community.

I will sleep well tonight.