Tag Archives: Texas Panhandle

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PAC weighs in on possible vet school for Amarillo

Meanwhile, back home on the High Plains …

While much of the rest of the nation is swirling over news about Russia and other things related to the new president, a political action committee formed to push the interests of the Texas Panhandle has kicked into gear.

Amarillo Matters has decided to pressure the Texas Legislature to approve money for a proposed school of veterinary medicine that would be set up in Amarillo.

The Texas Tech University Board of Regents recently voted to cease the search for money to pay for the vet school in Amarillo, citing tight state money and other priorities that the Texas Tech University should fund first.

I happen to believe the Tech regents made a mistake. I also happen to believe that a veterinary school of medicine in Amarillo is the right ticket not only for Tech, but for the farming and ranching community that is so important to this region’s economic health and well-being.

As the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported: “‘We as a region and as a city need to be standing up for ourselves in Austin and make sure we get a fair share of the pie,’ PAC member and President of Pantera Energy Co. Jason Herrick said.”

I am gratified to see a group formed to apply pressure where it believes it is needed among legislators who control the purse strings for projects such as this one.

I need not remind Amarillo Matters that one of our region’s own — state Sen. Kel Seliger — chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee. Oops! I just did!

Amarillo Matters’ formation piqued my curiosity a few weeks ago. I asked in this blog what it was and wondered for what it stood. Now I think I get it.

Here is what I wrote.

Texas Tech got some push back from Texas A&M University, which has a top-drawer veterinary medicine program, when it first pitched the idea of building a vet school in Amarillo. I presume the Aggies thought Tech would be perhaps too competitive. My own view is that, hey, A&M doesn’t have a veterinary medicine school anywhere near Amarillo … so what’s the problem?

The A-J reports further: “The PAC believes a new school is vital to the state — which experts and lawmakers say is suffering from a lack of veterinarians in rural areas — and is crucial to Texas Panhandle industry, Herrick said. ‘I don’t know that urban and downstate folks understand what a strong cattle and dairy industry we have here in the Panhandle,’ Herrick said.”

This is precisely what PACs do. They “educate” others to the concerns of the regions they serve. I wish Amarillo Matters well in this endeavor.

local news

Pace of change is accelerating

This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on upcoming retirement.

I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but I’m sensing a certain sense of excitement as the pace of change accelerates around our house.

We are preparing for the next — and more than likely final — big step in our journey together. My wife, who’s an expert at house packing, is working hard to get our worldly possessions boxed up, put away and is clearing out rooms.

Do not ask me when the change will occur. I am not prepared to reveal a date-certain. Just know that as we continue this transition, which will include a significant relocation, that we’ve decided to speed the process up.

This might not seem like a big deal to you. It is to me.

I used to dread the idea of moving. That dread stayed with me until we moved from Oregon to Texas in the spring of 1984. We relocated because of a huge job opportunity that emerged on the Texas Gulf Coast. The four of us — myself, my wife and our two young sons — migrated to Beaumont.

The move itself offered a huge personal surprise, apart from the obvious culture shock we felt when we moved from the Pacific Northwest to a region I refer to affectionately as “Baja Louisiana.” The surprise was when I realized my own adaptability.

I had spent my entire life in the Portland area, except for a couple of years in the Army in the late 1960s. When opportunity knocked, I answered the call and responded by uplifting our family and moving them halfway across the country.

We found our way to Amarillo nearly 11 years later. I followed another big career opportunity to the High Plains. Then my career ended more than four years ago. Our transition toward retirement commenced a bit earlier than we anticipated, but we have figured out how to navigate our way toward that end.

We don’t intend to make as lengthy a move this time. It’s big nonetheless.

My tendency to be a stick-in-the-mud is giving way to some serious excitement about the changes that lie ahead.

Who knew?

national news, political news

It’s done; now it’s time to get used to a new era

The deed is done.

Barack Obama handed over the reins of power to Donald J. Trump. The former president and his family jetted off to California. The new president took up some business in the Oval Office before dancing the night away with his wife.

I’ll make yet another confession: I’m not yet ready to embrace fully the notion that Trump is actually, really and truly, certifiably the commander in chief of the world’s greatest military machine.

Yes, I know he is president. I know he won an election that seemingly everyone on the planet thought he’d lose bigly.

I’ve mentioned already that I’ve voted in 12 presidential elections. Five times my candidate has won; seven times he has lost. I know what it’s like to be on the short end of the vote count. Heck, the first election I voted in — that would be 1972 — my guy lost 49 states.

However, in every case I’ve been able to accept fully the outcome and move on … until now.

This one feels strangely different. It has something to do with what I still believe about the president’s unfitness for the office he now occupies. I get that not everyone agrees with me. Many of my friends here in the Texas Panhandle voted for Trump. They’re still my friends.

Still, I ask you to hang with me. I’m likely to come around.

Eventually.

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 31

Toby the Puppy has an affliction that my wife and I cannot cure.

He suffers from acute cabin fever.

Unfortunately, given that he’s so fluent in English — and we sense that he is learning how to spell — we have to be very careful when we speak within earshot of our puppy.

We cannot say the word “walk.” We have to spell it out whenever we’re in his presence, which usually is, well, all the time. That’s how he is. He shadows his mother mostly; me … some of the time.

The cabin fever has become quite acute as the weather has turned nasty here in the Texas Panhandle. We can’t take him for W-A-L-Ks when it’s rainy, cold and windy. Thus, he demonstrates his fidgetiness by demanding we go outside.

How does he do that? He sends us signals only my wife and I can interpret. He stands in front of us, tail wagging, looking anxious; if we stand up, he twirls around and heads for the closet door where we hang his leash.

If only we could do something about the weather. We cannot. We keep telling him of that fact. He doesn’t seem to listen … or care.

Patience is the order of the day.

And for many days ahead.

environmental news, local news

If you don’t like the weather …

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We have this saying in the Texas Panhandle.

It goes like this: If you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes. You can add whatever time frame you’d like. I prefer the 10-minute reference, because it just sounds kinda cool.

We say this to each other just to remind ourselves of how quickly the weather changes in this part of the country. Man, does it ever! In a hurry, too!

Well, the weather forecasters are telling us something really strange. The high temperature in Amarillo on Friday is going to hit 70 degrees, give or take a degree or two. Oh yes, the warm temps will be accompanied by heavy wind. Not just wind, mind you, but the nasty gale-force blow.

After that? The bottom falls out! The high Saturday will be 40ish. The low will be — gulp! — 5 degrees.

The temp will decline even more on Sunday.

So, there you have it. Late summer-like temperatures on Friday. Then comes the deep freeze on Saturday.

Oh, I almost forgot. We’re going to get our first snow of the season.

Just think: Winter doesn’t even arrive until next week.

media news, national news, political news

So much for ‘editorial autonomy’

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newspapers

I worked for four newspaper “groups” during my nearly 37 years in daily journalism. They were, in order: Newhouse Publications, Scripps League, the Hearst Corp., and Morris Communications.

They all said publicly that they didn’t “dictate” from corporate HQ’s how their individual newspapers formulated their editorial policies.

It was a bit of a challenge to explain all of that to readers and officials, but I managed.

Well, today the Morris Communications company that runs the paper where my career ended has put to rest the quaint notion of editorial “autonomy.” It has declared that all of its editorial pages today have endorsed Donald J. Trump for election to the presidency of the United States.

I haven’t yet read the Amarillo Globe-News’s “endorsement,” given that it hasn’t been posted on its online edition; I just looked this morning and couldn’t find it. Here, though, is the Florida Times-Union’s statement about the campaign. I’m guessing it’s being repeated here in West Texas:

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/2016-11-04/editorial-trump-change-agent-america-needs

The CEO of the Morris company, William Morris IV, has written what he’s called an “explanation” of the endorsement. It really is nothing of the kind. It’s actually a vapid restatement of platitudes and clichés. I don’t know Morris well, but I’ve had enough exposure to him to expect nothing more from this individual. Take a look:

http://jacksonville.com/news/2016-11-04/will-morris-explains-times-union-s-trump-endorsement

My favorite cliché is this one: “While this endorsement reflects our opinion, we want readers to know that this does not influence our news coverage. Newsrooms run independently from our editorial pages.”

Well, no s***!

I won’t delve too deeply into this statement. It’s too shallow, frankly, for any serious examination.

***

But what fascinates me about it is its timing. Today is Sunday. The election occurs on Tuesday. That gives readers of Morris papers today and Monday to comment, to respond.

Hmmm …

One of my former editors — a mentor and a friend to this day — had a name for this kind of timing. He called it a “last-minute dump.” He disallowed letters to the editor that came in too close to the end of a political campaign. His belief was that readers deserved the opportunity to respond — either positively or negatively — to what was published.

That was a policy I sought to follow during my decades practicing that craft.

The advent of early voting usually meant that newspapers would get their editorial endorsements “on the record” at the start of the early voting period. In Texas, that window opened on Oct. 24 and it closed this past Friday. The idea would be to let voters know the paper’s view on campaigns, candidates and issues prior to readers voting on them; it would give readers the chance — if they desired — to use the paper’s perspective to help them make their own decision.

Texas Panhandle — and readers of all the papers served by Morris anywhere in the country — won’t get that chance today. They’ll open their newspaper and read an editorial endorsing Trump and will have virtually no chance to comment. No chance to condemn it or praise it. No opportunity to add some context.

Oh, they’ll get online and put some social media chatter out there. A letter to the editor? Something that would be published on the printed page after being examined by the folks who run the editorial pages? Forget about it!

That, folks, is a last-minute dump.

If only Will Morris would have explained that strategy to his company’s newspaper readers.

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No, Mr. Mayor … mountains are no obstacle

royal-gorge-bridge

This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on upcoming retirement.

ROYAL GORGE, Colo. — A fellow I once knew, Malcolm Clark — who at the time I knew him was mayor of Port Arthur, Texas — once took a vacation to Wyoming and Montana.

When he returned, we visited briefly and I asked him: “How did you like all that splendor?”

“It was OK,” he said, “but all those damn mountains kept getting in the way of the sunrises and sunsets.”

If you’ve been to the Texas Gulf Coast, then you know how flat it is. Thus, Mayor Clark was used to seeing the sun settle all way to the horizon.

I thought of Hizzoner when my wife and I arrived at Royal Gorge, about 45 miles southwest of Colorado Springs. The mountains in the distance loom large and majestic. They make a spectacular sight.

Did I think of them as an annoyance? Not for a second.

Our travels have taken us to some amazing places already as we’ve loaded up our fifth wheel, fueled up our pickup we’ve named Big Jake and headed out to explore this wonderful continent of ours.

Royal Gorge is just one more stop on our retirement journey.

The place truly is breathtaking: a bridge spans the chasm more than 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River.

I could get mighty used to looking at those peaks.

Sure, the sunrises and sunsets on the Texas High Plains are equally breathtaking. I’ve noted before that whoever called Montana the Big Sky Country never laid eyes on the Texas Panhandle.

But … more travels await us. More mountain peaks will entice us.

They’ll never annoy either of us the way they  seemed to annoy Malcolm Clark.

local news, national news, political news, State news

Let’s hope big early vote equals big overall vote

early-vote

Texas elections officials are beside themselves.

Early voting is setting records throughout the state, they say. In the part of the state where I live — the Panhandle — Potter County elections officials also report record turnout for the early vote.

Now, the question: Does the big early vote translate to a larger overall vote? My concern is that record-setting early vote means only that more Texans are voting early … period!

We hear similar reports around the country, where state and local elections officials are crowing about all this early-vote interest.

What in the world is driving it?

Well, I suppose it might have something to do with the news of late this past week, with FBI Director James Comey’s announcement that he might have some more information to reveal about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton’s e-mail controversy. Legal experts across the spectrum do not anticipate any penalty will come Clinton’s way. The focus now appears to be on Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged dirtbag husband — Anthony “Carlos Danger” Weiner and his hideous sexting scandal.

Democrats want voters to cast ballots early — perhaps before they change their mind. Republicans are seizing on it, too, before more stuff comes out about their nominee, Donald J. Trump.

As for the Texas turnout, the Lone Star State generally ranks among the poorest turnout states in the country.

I thought early on that because of the two major-party candidates’ low esteem among voters that this year’s presidential election turnout might set an all-time low.

I would be delighted to be wrong about that prediction, too.

national news, political news

‘Hillary is an accomplished debater’

donald-trump-flickr-cc

This will surprise no one, but I’ll mention it anyway.

The Texas Panhandle — the unofficial Ground Zero of the state’s Republican Party — is full of voters who are going to cast their ballots for Donald J. Trump for president of the United States in just 41 days.

I know a few of them. They’re friends of mine.

One of them sought to spin their guy’s miserable debate performance last night this way: “Hillary Clinton clearly is an accomplished debater. Trump? Well, he’s not.”

So, there you have it. Clinton’s debating skills won the day over Trump.

I told my friend that the issue wasn’t just debate experience. It was, indeed, that knowledge and preparation are essential for anyone who seeks to become commander in chief, head of state and president of the greatest country on Earth.

Trump was profoundly unprepared to deal with Clinton’s knowledge. That he spun off into those ridiculous riffs about President Obama’s place of birth and his attack on a former Miss Universe only proved beyond a doubt that this guy does not have the focus, discipline and — intellectual stamina — to compete head-to-head with the former secretary of state.

The most graphic irony of the 90-minute encounter last night to my eyes and ears clearly was that the candidate whose “stamina” has been questioned by Trump and the Republicans was the one who maintained her cool and composure.

Donald Trump was the one who ran out of gas in the final 15 minutes. His incoherence was quite startling.

Did this debate change any minds among voters? Oh, probably not. As my wife noted, Trump has been saying these outrageous things all along, but those GOP primary voters keep hanging with the Republican nominee.

Trump is now blaming the microphone and the “unfair” questions posed by moderator Lester Holt of NBC News for his utterly miserable performance in front of tens of millions of Americans.

Oh, boy.

local news, national news, political news

Hey, maybe Trump will come to the Panhandle after all

trump-campaign-signals-possible-shift-on-immigration-stance-1471865686-3208

I’m beginning to harbor a bit of hope that the Texas Panhandle might get a chance after all to see Donald J. Trump before this election campaign comes to a conclusion.

How do I know that? I don’t. I just feel it.

For years I’ve lamented how we get snubbed by the major-party candidates for president. Trump, the Republican nominee, is showing that he doesn’t take sure-fire regions for granted. He’s come to Texas a couple of times already. He’s likely to win the state’s 38 electoral votes, which makes many of us wonder: What the heck is he doing here?

What’s more, Trump is showing up in states he has no prayer of winning. An example: He’s going this week to Everett, Wash., a city near Seattle. He’ll lose Washington state huge to Hillary Clinton.

Sure, he’s spending a bit of time in those battleground states.

But then he veers off into places where — by any conventional measure — he has no business visiting.

Which makes me wonder if he’s going to follow the GOP modus operandi, which is to take us Red State residents for granted.

Would I go to a Trump rally? I believe I would. It’s not that I have any particular interest in hearing what the candidate has to say. I’ve heard enough already.

No, my interest would be in looking at those who cheer his screaming mantra. I no doubt would know many of those folks personally. Many of them are friends — at the very least friendly acquaintances — of mine.

I’m telling you, this bizarre and totally unconventional campaign is no longer able to surprise me.

Donald Trump ought to stop in Amarillo on his way to a rally at Berkeley, Calif., or perhaps on his way back east to another rally in, say, Biloxi, Miss.