Tag Archives: Texas winter storm

2021 channels 2020?

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

— Roger Daltrey, singing, “We Won’t Get Fooled Again

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It seems like a lifetime ago. We said goodbye and good riddance to 2020. Remember that? I do!

Then we welcomed the new year with the hope that turning a calendar page meant we could turn the page on an era of tumult, turmoil, tempest … the works.

The pandemic had killed many thousands of Americans; we endured the nastiest presidential election campaign in memory; then we watched the outgoing president foment the Big Lie about the election outcome being the product of political thievery.

The pandemic muted many traditional celebrations. Times Square was not full of revelers on New Year’s Eve.

Then the new year arrived.

To be candid, 2021 seems to have just continued the misery we felt in 2020. The nation endured the insurrection at the Capitol Building; five people died. The House impeached the outgoing president for the second time; the Senate then “acquitted” him by failing to get enough votes to meet the high threshold required to convict him of inciting the riot.

That all happened within the first month of the new year.

Then came the Storm of 2021. We in Texas are suffering from this event.

I am merely venting. I mean, what else is there to do? I cannot make the weather change, other than wish it would as I desire. Perhaps a prayer or two will help.

That all said, I won’t dwell on the misery we are experiencing in this new year. I am going to look forward. For one thing, the weather is going to improve. Spring is on its way. The grass will turn green; flowers will bloom; the temperature will warm up; the ice will melt.

The pandemic infection rate is beginning to decline. I get that too many Americans are dying and my heart continues to break over it. More of us are getting vaccinated, protected against infection.

A new president will not lie incessantly. He is going to act the part of head of state and commander in chief. The POTUS will function the way the holder of that office is supposed to function. As we turn the corner from the pandemic, my sincere hope — and belief — is that our economy will rebound.

The new year looks a whole lot like the old year … so far. It is testing my patience, but my reservoir of hope is deep.

They earn their keep

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

My many years working as a daily print journalist put me in touch with a boatload of public service officials, many of whom I learned to respect and some of them actually earned my affection.

I have been thinking of them over the past few days as we Texas residents have grappled with the ravages of Mother Nature’s wrath.

City managers, fire and police chiefs, utility officials, EMTs, paramedics, mayors and city council members all have been facing immense pressure to answer their constituents’ questions and tend to their needs. Yes, we pay their salaries and they are responsible to us first and foremost. Most of the public service officials I have known over many years have done their level best to fulfill their public responsibilities.

I knew a fire chief in Beaumont, Texas — his name is Pete Shelton — who jumped into a culvert to rassle a gator out of someone’s yard; I cannot recall the size of the beast Chief Shelton pulled out, but I think it was, um, sizable. That, I submit, is going above and beyond the call of duty.

We don’t have alligators lurking in people’s yards in Collin County, but we have plenty of officials here who do their jobs with dedication.

This winter storm has provided plenty of sleepless nights not only for those of us who have suffered through extended periods of time without heat or water. The nature-induced insomnia also has affected those upon whom we depend to solve those problems. Make no mistake that those ranks also include the utility employees who answer calls to restore water flow or work on power lines.

I just feel the need to salute them all. They have earned their salary.

Texas earns lumps it is taking

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It is no fun listening to media talking heads ripping Texas a new one over the mishandling of its response to the Arctic blast that blew in over the state.

It also is hard for me to admit this, given that I have lived in this state for nearly 37 years and have become quite acclimated to the state’s unique culture … but the state has earned the bludgeoning it is taking.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been quick to level criticism at officials from across the political aisle, has been singled out by many over the mismanagement and the resulting suffering that many Texans have endured from the winter blast.

Texas has sold itself to the rest of the nation as an energy-producing titan, with ample supplies of fuel to, um, keep the power plants operating. It turns out that all that energy hasn’t kept enough of those plants open. What’s more, some folks in high places made some bone-headed decisions about monitoring the production capacity; they have shut down too many plants at the very time the temperature was plummeting across the state.

There needs to be some answers about what has happened in this state, how it continues to flounder while so many Texans are suffering with no power, scarce water and next to zero confidence that anything will improve.

Oh, and we also have that pandemic that continues to sicken and kill us.

I have no regrets moving to Texas in 1984 to pursue a journalism career from which I drew great joy and excitement. It still saddens me to see so many others casting proverbial “side glances” at our state while we continue to suffer from nature’s wrath.

I am hoping we can get through this crisis … soon!