Tag Archives: Collin County

local news

Road work does not end

A wacky millionaire in Amarillo, the late Stanley Marsh, was proud of posting signs around the city. One of them said “Road does not end.”

I now live in a community, Princeton in Collin County, Texas, where it can be said with a straight face that “road work does not end.”

We have this highway, U.S. 380, that runs through our city in an east-west direction. Traffic on it stalls westbound in the morning and eastbound in the afternoon as motorist go to work and then return home from work, respectively.

The Texas Department of Transportation and cities along the U.S. 380 route are planning ways that they acknowledge — if you ask them — that their big ideas are going to cause a whole lot of teeth-gnashing for the next several years.

They all want to relieve the traffic pressure on U.S. 380. Princeton City Manager Derek Borg told me recently that sometime in 2024, TxDOT will begin work on widening the highway from four lanes to six. Sheesh! Do I have to tell you about the disruption that will occur along that right-of-way? I won’t bother. I think you get it.

That’s not nearly the end of it.

Sometime soon, TxDOT is going to build freeway passes through communities along U.S. 380. Princeton, Farmersville, McKinney, Prosper, Little Elm and God knows where else will feel the impact of that work.

TxDOT has been gathering information from the communities, assessing the environmental impact of the monumental job. I am not sure when the agency plans to start work. This much I know: When it starts, there will be headaches a-plenty all along the highway.

When will it end? I haven’t a clue. I do believe it will bring significant traffic relief for cities such as Princeton … until the state decides to do even more work on our roadways.

The road work does not end!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Thank goodness for weather forecasters

We had a bit of a scare this morning, which prompts me to offer a good word to those men and women who keep us informed on what’s happening in our world.

Mama Nature took aim at North Texas today, sending tornadoes raking across the land. We were safe in our Collin County home. I didn’t hear any sirens warning us of pending danger. Believe me, we have a tornado siren real close to our home, so had it gone off we would have heard it.

But we had our TV turned on to the local ABC News affiliate, intending to watch “Good Morning America,” which we do most mornings. Instead, we got lots of weather news.

What I found strangely reassuring was that the forecasters working this morning — Mariel Ruiz and Greg Fields — did not burden us with details about “hook echoes” or other terminology that only meteorologists understand. To my ears, it frequently sounds like jargon that only weathermen and women can grasp. I have lived in communities in Texas where the weather guys become enamored with sharing their knowledge of “weatherspeak” to those who don’t understand what the hell they’re saying.

Today, they gave us the basics: the direction of the storm as it swept over us from west to east, its speed as it coursed through our communities, damage that it was inflicting, and what we need to do to protect ourselves … the critical news that we need to hear.

I am not inclined generally to give these kinds of reviews on this blog. It’s just that today, when they told us excitedly that “tornado warnings have been issued for Collin County,” we sat up and took particular notice.

Our North Texas counties are small in geographic area, so when they tell us of a storm “warning,” there is a decent chance it could roar through our neighborhood. Collin County comprises 886 square miles, which means it’s about 30 miles across in any direction. That ain’t much, man.

Well … it didn’t come close to us. I am grateful for that, obviously. I also am grateful for the constant information flow that kept us all wide awake and aware of what might happen.

Thanks, everyone. This TV watcher appreciates the work you do and the service you perform.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Why no tornado basement?

I am sitting in my one-story, no-basement home in Princeton, Texas. Listening to the thunder, watching the lightning and hearing the TV weather forecaster tell us they have just issued a “tornado warning” for Collin County, which is where you can spot Princeton.

Now comes the question: Why did the developer not build a tornado basement home in our subdivision?

We moved here from Amarillo in late 2018. Our home in Amarillo was on a street with a home that did have a basement. We were advised which house it was and were told that in case of a twister, we could hightail to that house, which was four doors to our west.

Hmm. Not so here.

We all are going to hope for the best … obviously!

Johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Get ready for rapid growth

Four years ago, my bride and I made what we knew at the time would be one of the most important decisions of our married life: We found a home in a community in the midst of a population explosion.

We chose to move into a newly built home in Princeton, Texas, which is in Collin County, nearly 40 miles north of downtown Dallas. We downsized from our previous abode in Amarillo. It’s perfect for the two of us.

What’s the point? It is that Princeton’s growth rate is unlike anything I’ve ever seen up close. The city’s population effectively tripled between the 2010 and 2020 census. The house we chose is in the middle of a subdivision that is still growing.

I came out of retirement to work as a freelance reporter for a weekly newspaper group. Only recently, my bosses at the newspaper assigned me to cover goings-on in Princeton. I am delighted to cover the news of the community I now call home.

But there’s a huge assignment awaiting me. It will enable me to cover plans for the Princeton Independent School District to deal with the population growth that is placing enormous strain on the district’s ability to keep pace. It looks as though Princeton ISD is going to present the third bond issue since 2017. Voters approved a bond issue election that year and again in 2019. I don’t want to get ahead of myself on what I project will occur in the weeks to come. I do, though, feel comfortable asserting that PISD has a raging tiger on its hands.

Our house is two blocks from an elementary school that opened in 2019. Three school years later, it has two portable classrooms assembled next to the playground. I was told that Lowe Elementary School basically was over capacity when the doors opened for the first time.

So it goes in a city that is bursting at the seams. The school system needs places to put its exploding student population. The city recently received voters’ endorsement of a city charter, which is a sign of municipal maturity for Princeton. Traffic in Princeton grinds to a halt during morning and afternoon rush hours along the major highway that intersects the city; the state has plans to improve traffic flow that cannot be realized soon enough.

My bride and I, frankly, are happy to witness our city grow, to mature and to change its identity from tiny burg to a community of significant consequence.

This is a first for us. We are anxious to see how our city grows up.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Streets: City’s job No. 1

As I run my errands through the city where we live, Princeton — a fast-growing city in Collin County, Texas — I am struck by the number of “Road Closed” and “Road Work” signs I see.

Which brings me immediately to my point. Princeton is tending to an issue that is on the minds and lips of many residents with whom I visit from time to time.

The quality of our streets is, um, horrible.

The city just completed an extension of Beauchamp Boulevard, which is two blocks from the home my bride and I bought nearly four years ago. It is now working on a total remaking of Second Street. Myrick Boulevard, south of our neighborhood, is being widened and beautified into a work of civil-engineering art.

Your tax dollars at work? You bet! Do I object to that expense? Not in the least bit!

This is what cities are empowered to do. They are obligated, in my view, to make it as easy as humanly possible for residents to travel from point to point.

There will be plenty of grumbling from those who encounter the detours and “Road Closed” signs. Let ’em grumble. That’s their right.

I am going to accept that this is the cost of progress in a growing community. I am paying my taxes to finance this work. The best news? There’s an end to it!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news, local news

Growth is great, however …

A Princeton, Texas public school administrator told me something the other evening that I didn’t appreciate fully … until this morning when I ventured to our local Post Office to take care of some routine business.

Princeton School Superintendent Don McIntyre mentioned how “out of control growth” in a community can be troublesome for educators who need to plan for how best to educate the children pouring into a school system.

This morning, I walked into our Post Office at the moment it opened and found that I was one of about 30 people already waiting for the doors to open.

You want growth? We have it in this Collin County community.

I mention my experience this morning because of what I am certain was the norm, say, about a decade ago when Princeton’s population stood at just a shade less than 7,000 residents. Today, that number appears to be well past 20,000, maybe nearer to 30,000.

This place is booming, man!

I know this is a little thing but going to the Post Office when the place opens shouldn’t require one to spend nearly an hour waiting to conduct a routine matter that should have been resolved in less than a minute.

I happened to encounter my mail carrier later in the day and told her what happened to me this morning. “They only have one person waiting on customers,” she told me. I know that, I said. She said something about having a new postmaster on duty in Princeton, to which I said we need to find a new postmaster general to run the operation from the top.

In actuality, what I learned today is that our new hometown is underserved by the U.S. Postal Service. Its distribution center here is nowhere near large enough to accommodate the volume of human traffic that uses it.

Hey, I am all for growth. I am pleased to be part of the inbound migration that found a forever home in this bustling city. My wife and I could not be any happier with the decision we made.

I just wish at this moment that the higher-ups could do a better job of anticipating the chaos that develops occasionally at places like the Post Office. That part is no fun at all.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, local news

Conflict of interest?

Ellen Skinner wants to be elected justice of the peace in Collin County, Texas. If the Republican nominee for JP wins, she will join her husband as an elected official in this fast-growing county northeast of Dallas.

Now, what do we make of these two folks holding elected office?

Well, Mr. Skinner happens to be Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner, which makes me scratch my head just a bit. You see, Ellen Skinner would be adjudicating cases brought into her court — as often as not — by Collin County sheriff’s deputies. Both of these individuals are Republicans.

I am not going to level any accusations here, because I don’t know either of them … although I did shake Ellen Skinner’s hand several months ago at a meeting in Farmersville.

I reached out to a friend of mine, a former Democratic JP in Potter County. I asked my friend if she perceived a conflict of interest if the judge is making a judicial decision on a matter brought to her by the sheriff’s office. My friend believes a conflict could exist.

Hmm. I need to pursue this matter a bit further. I don’t want any conflict of interest. The JP candidate is a lawyer. The sheriff is an experienced law enforcement officer. Surely, they have discussed this matter at home.

From my seat, though, I have difficulty imagining how the JP avoids a complaint from someone who comes up on the short end of a judgment brought to the judge by the sheriff’s department.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, media news, medical news

Blogging: preventative measure

I have read countless articles over many years about the value of maintaining one’s interest in matters such as, oh, national and world affairs can help stave off mental decline.

I mention this today because I just marked the 38th year since my dear mother died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. You surely know what that ailment entails. My family and I had little knowledge of it in the early 1980s when Mom was first diagnosed with it. She left us on Sept. 17, 1984 at the age of 61.

I have learned since then, though, that mental stimulation can be used as a preventative measure to fend off the symptoms of a decline in cognition. To be brutally frank, Mom’s life essentially ended when she no longer could work. She didn’t have interests outside of home or away from her profession as an administrative secretary, a career at which she excelled for many years.

It’s strange to say this out loud, but I will anyway: I think about Alzheimer’s disease almost every time I sit in front of my computer keyboard and pound out thoughts on this or that issue. My interest in these matters has outlived my career in print journalism by more than a decade. My full-time career ended on Aug. 31, 2012. The end came suddenly but given the state of decline in newspapers at the time, it wasn’t a surprise.

I have been able to transfer my modest skill at stringing sentences together to this avocation I have enjoyed. I also am able to continue writing for other media outlets: I freelance for a weekly newspaper in Collin County and for a public radio station affiliated with Texas A&M University-Commerce. I have told my employers at both places I intend to keep writing for them until (a) they no longer want me or (b) I lose my ability to string thoughts together … whichever comes first.

If the first event occurs, at least I will have this blog to keep me engaged. My hope now is that all I have read about how intellectual stimulation can stave off Alzheimer’s-related dementia is true.

So … let’s continue to enjoy the ride.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, political news

Lawn sign: yes or no?

I am grappling with my current issue of the day: Do I put a lawn sign in my front yard proclaiming my political preferences for all the world to see?

I am inclined to avoid doing so. You see, we live in an era of meanness that borders on insanity.

The last lawn sign that I pounded into the dirt on my front yard had the name of the late Frank Church, the senator from Idaho who in 1976 ran for the Democratic nomination for president in the Oregon primary. That was the last year before I became a full-time journalist, which to my way of thinking meant that I couldn’t declare my political leaning in that fashion as long as I was reporting on political matters.

That was 46 years ago. I no longer am a full-time journalist, although I do write on a freelance basis for a public radio station website and for a weekly newspaper in Collin County, Texas. I don’t feel encumbered, necessarily, by those part-time jobs.

However, I am a bit fearful of putting a lawn sign out there for, say, Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat running for Texas governor, in the middle of what I will presume to be a neighborhood full of Republicans.

We know the next-door neighbors on both sides of us and we know a smattering of others across the street and farther away on our side of the street. I wouldn’t expect trouble from them.

It’s the total strangers who travel down our street during all hours of the day and night who give me the heebie-jeebies.

I also should declare that since I joined the roster of ink-stained wretches who write for newspapers I haven’t contributed a dime to any political cause, either. I do vote. I am adamant that I make my voice heard where it counts the most.

This lawn-sign thing is going to require a major leap of faith. I am unsure whether I want to take it just yet.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

We love our city, but …

I need to stipulate right up front something that needs saying, which is that my wife and I love the city we now call home. Princeton, Texas, is “where it’s at” for us and it’s where we intend to stay, oh, for the duration, if you get my drift.

That all said, the city lacks one important feature that I want to examine in this brief blog post. It lacks any sort of central business-and-entertainment district.

Two things need to be stated. One is that I have discussed this issue with City Manager Derek Borg and he informs me that the city has set forth some long-range concepts for how it wants to enhance what passes for its downtown district, which is the area along Fourth Avenue just north of the Veterans Memorial Park. I haven’t taken the time to examine what those plans entail, but Borg assured me that the city has plans — that so far are still in the far-off stages of execution — for its downtown area.

The second topic is to consider what just occurred in this burgeoning Collin County community. It just opened its new municipal complex, which is about two miles east of the area I have been discussing so far. The new city hall complex sits east of Princeton High School on the north side of U.S. 380. It is, to be clear, a gorgeous collection of offices.

The city at this moment is putting the finishing touches on the landscaping around the complex and has begun work developing the green space and wetlands on the property. It is building walkways through the wetlands. There will be walking paths built in the area. Borg informed me some time ago the city is looking for commercial development to be included on the site, which the city obtained through a donation from a local family.

My first instinct is to wonder out loud how the city is going to develop a vibrant downtown area when it has invested so much of its effort and, yes, money on building a city complex so far away.

I have said more times than I care to remember that every successful city I ever have seen shares one thing in common: They all have busy, attractive and thriving downtown districts. I need not tick them off for you. We do have communities nearby that can make the claim to restoring their downtown districts to the betterment of the community at large. I think of McKinney to the west and Farmersville to the east. City size, by the way, is no factor, as McKinney — the Collin County seat — is home to more than 200,000 residents while Farmersville is home to a little more than 5,000 people.

Princeton — with its population of 17,000 residents — at this moment lacks any sort of central district that can attract anyone. I hope it gets there. I hope the city can find a formula that works. I hope Princeton can craft a community identity that goes along with the enormous and rapid growth that is occurring in this place where we intend to live forever.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com