Category Archives: local news

local news, State news

Open-carry law might need some tinkering

New_Hampshire_Open_Carry_2009

Did the Dallas shooting that killed five police officers and injured several others reveal a flaw in the Texas open-carry law?

Consider what transpired during the Black Lives Matter march that turned violent when the shooter opened fire on the cops.

Several individuals were seen at the march carrying weapons in the open, which they were entitled to do under the state’s open-carry law. One young man was arrested, handcuffed and detained for some time while police investigated whether he took part in the shooting. It turns out he didn’t.

Which brings to mind the question: How do police determine who are the heat-packing bystanders in the heat of an adrenaline-filled moment in which tensions run at fever pitches?

Here’s a thought put forward by others, but which seem to make sense: The Texas Legislature ought to consider tweaking the open-carry law when it convenes in January to give cities the option of banning people from carrying weapons in the open during political demonstrations.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/opinions/editorials/article/EDITORIAL-Open-carry-doesn-t-mix-with-political-8353183.php

As the Beaumont Enterprise noted in an editorial, guns and political demonstrations just don’t mix.

I’ve been able to take part in simulated shooting demonstrations with the Amarillo Police Department. I can tell you from personal experience — and this involves use of weapons that did not carry live ammo — that the adrenaline that courses through one’s body in a shoot-don’t-shoot situation can cloud one’s judgment.

I cannot imagine the chaos that ensued in Dallas that evening when gunfire erupted. Police responded immediately to protect crowd members. Then some of them spotted spectators carrying weapons. What does a cop do — in an instant?

So, let’s fine-tune this law. If Texans are going to insist on the right to carry guns in the open, then there ought to be some reasonable restrictions on where they can pack them.

It seems quite reasonable to me to let cities decide whether to allow them at political rallies.

 

business news, local news

City’s landscape taking on new look

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I attended a luncheon meeting today atop the Chase Tower in downtown Amarillo.

The office building looms 31 floors above the ground and from the top floor you can get a tremendous look across many miles of the sprawling Texas Panhandle landscape.

I chose to look down, though.

Peering east from the top of the tower I was struck once again by the vast change that’s occurring across the street from the Civic Center and City Hall.

The Embassy Suites hotel superstructure has been topped out next to the performing arts center. Next door is that parking garage that’s going to provide parking for several hundred vehicles along with some retail space on the ground floor.

My amazement continues to be at the sight of all that heavy construction downtown, the cranes towering over the sites.

We’ve lived here for more than two decades. During almost our entire time as residents of Amarillo, my wife and I have seen nothing approaching the level of activity that’s proceeding at this moment.

For too long the city appeared indifferent to the vitality and economic health of its central business district. Does that make as little sense to others as it does to me, that the city wouldn’t want to develop a clearly defined strategy to improve its downtown district?

Amarillo did that a few years ago when it ratified its Strategic Action Plan.

I am gratified to see the progress that is underway downtown.

I’ll reiterate that the progress looks pretty impressive when you can look at it from the top of downtown Amarillo’s tallest structure.

local news, national news, political news

This is what you call ‘outreach’

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I hereby crown Barack Obama as the King of Political Outreach.

The president is convening a town hall meeting at the White House to discuss racism in the nation.

Who do you think he’s invited to take part? None other than Texas Lt. Gov. Dan “They Are Hypocrites!” Patrick.

This is awesome, man!

Patrick popped off right after the shooting erupted in Dallas that killed five police officers. He appeared on “Fox and Friends” to criticize the Black Lives Matter protesters for fleeing the gunfire and seeking help from the very police whose conduct they were protesting.

Thus, came the “hypocrites!” charge.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/07/13/patrick-attend-town-hall-obama/

It’s good that Lt. Gov. Patrick will attend this event. It will be televised on ESPN and ABC. The White House is seeking to assemble a diverse group of participants to get as many different points of view as possible.

This, I submit, is the real beauty of town hall meetings, which shouldn’t be used as political echo chambers where everyone applauds the views of everyone else.

As the Texas Tribune reports, quoting White House press secretary Josh Earnest: “I think the president is hopeful that those kinds of interactions will both illuminate a variety of perspectives for the American people to see,” Earnest said, according to a transcript of his daily briefing with reporters. “I also think he’s hopeful that it will illustrate what can happen when people open up their hearts to a different perspective.”

The catalyst for all this, of course, is the shooting of the two young men in Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul, as well as the Dallas march and the shooting that erupted there. Two young black men died after being shot by white police officers and the shooter — another young black man — opened fire in Dallas in an act of revenge against white police officers.

It’s good that the White House is playing host to this town hall.

It’s even better that the president of the United States has invited an outspoken critic — Dan Patrick — to take part.

You want outreach? This is it.

local news, political news

So long, Dr. Eades, and thank you for your service

eades

Brian Eades is about to call it a public service career in Amarillo.

I wish he wasn’t leaving, but a man’s got to do what’s best for himself and his family.

The best thing for the City Council member is to pull up stakes and replant them in western Colorado, where he’ll open a medical practice.

He served nine years on the City Council and was on the front row of some fascinating and invigorating debate. He served the community with great distinction.

Lisa Blake is going to take the seat that Eades will vacate and I hope — for the sake of the city — that she continues the level of service that Eades provided.

Eades represents — for lack of a better term — the “old guard” on the council. He managed to win re-election in May 2015 while two of his colleagues got booted out by challengers. It likely was a combination of the quality of the challenge he faced and the fact that voters weren’t as outwardly angry with him as they seemed to be with the incumbents who lost their re-election bids.

You can shout all you want about the level of anger that had been expressed at City Hall, but here are a few things to note.

I’ll start by noting that Eades helped make policy decisions affecting these elements.

— The city has continued its steady and robust population and business growth.

— Downtown redevelopment efforts take several key steps forward. It created an agency devoted exclusively to downtown redevelopment. It crafted a Strategic Action Plan to implement certain steps.

— The city has gone on a water-rights purchasing spree, buttressing its water reserves that now will last for the next century or two.

— Amarillo debated whether to enact indoor smoking bans. Two referendums failed narrowly, but the word has gone out to businesses: Don’t allow smoking in your establishments, as it is hazardous to people’s health.

— The city has deployed red-light cameras at intersections in an effort to deter lawbreakers from running through stop lights and posing hazards to other motorists and to pedestrians.

Eades had a hand in all of that.

I join others in wishing him well as he trudges off to rural western Colorado where, I presume, he’s going to deliver more babies into the world.

He served the city well.

Thank you, doc.

local news

Welcome to the arena, Lisa Blake

blake

Well, that didn’t take long.

Amarillo City Council members interviewed five finalists today for the vacancy on the body that will occur when Dr. Brian Eades hits the road.

Then the council chose the head of Leadership Amarillo, Lisa Blake, to fill the seat that Dr. Eades will vacate.

It wasn’t a unanimous vote. Councilman Randy Burkett voted “no” to appoint Blake.

Whatever the case, I guess we’re getting used to split votes on the governing body, which saw its makeup changed dramatically after the May 2015 municipal election.

This council member selection process was an interesting and enlightening exercise. The five individuals spoke to the council in full public view. They all answered the same set of 10 questions. I wasn’t there today, so I cannot comment on the quality of everyone’s answers.

I did visit today, though, with a community leader who did listen to the interviews and he came away quite impressed with Blake’s presentation, her background and her potential as a city leader.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/32430303/blake-appointed-to-place-2-seat

What happens now? How will Councilwoman-designate Blake work with this new council?

The City Council has been a contentious group at times. Indeed, it took power amid some fairly shrill rhetoric, which included calls for then-City Manager Jarrett Atkinson to quit and for the dismissal of the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board.

It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride — at times — for the past year.

So now, we have a fourth new member of the council about to take office.

I am heartened to know that the new council member has a strong record of civic involvement. Leadership Amarillo has been a stellar organization for a long time and Lisa Blake represents the good work that the organization has done to promote a new generation of civic leaders.

Let’s see now what she can do on behalf of her new constituents.

She’s got 200,000 of them out here who need steady, strong and civil leadership at City Hall.

International news, local news

Visiting a relic of a glorious past

parthenon

A young friend of mine has just returned from a trip spanning several days in Greece.

Butler Cain, a journalism professor at West Texas A&M University (for now) has been good enough to post many of the pictures he took of his journey on his own blog.

Here’s the latest batch:

https://butlercain.com/2016/07/11/acropolis-of-athens/

This group features shots taken at the Acropolis, which looms over Athens as a reminder of the greatness of the civilization it represents. The Greeks aren’t enjoying too much of that greatness these days, as their country struggles its way through a crippling recession.

But the pictures of the Acropolis — and of the Parthenon — remind me of two things.

One is that I’ve been able, along with my wife, to visit that magnificent place more than once. We went there together in 2000 and 2001; I was able to return a third time in 2003.

For those of us of Greek heritage, the sight of those antiquities sends chills throughout our body. I hope to return again.

The second reminder is of something my late father once told me when he was able to visit Athens with my grandfather — who came to the United States from Greece not long after the turn of the 20th century.

Dad told me that when he walked to the top of the Acropolis and was able to sit inside the Parthenon — which I guess you could do back in 1970 when he and my grandfather were there — he could feel his mind expand. He said something like, “I thought of things I never thought I could ponder.”

He felt smarter just being there, inside those columns erected 400-plus years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Butler Cain is going to move on soon to another academic post in his native “sweet home Alabama.” I wish him well.

Thanks, young man, for sharing these wonderful pictures.

I feel smarter just looking at them.

local news

Step right up, City Council candidates

Councilmen_2015

A fascinating ritual is about to take place at Amarillo City Hall.

Five individuals seeking to become the fifth member of the City Council are going to interview Tuesday in person — in full public view — with those individuals they seek to join.

The city is seeking to fill the seat being vacated later this summer by Dr. Brian Eades, who’s leaving the city to set up a medical practice in Colorado.

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2016-07-10/council-question-hopefuls

I wish Eades hadn’t taken this opportunity for professional advancement. But hey, a man’s got to do what he’s got to do. I wish him well and thank him for his service to this city.

Back to the task at hand.

The council is interviewing five folks who emerged as finalists from a pool of 14 original applicants. The 10 questions they’ve established I presume have been seen by the finalists. They’ve had time to bone up on the answers.

I sense we’ll know who among them have done the best preparation. Then again, we also might get a sense about which of them is the most rehearsed and whether that element of the preparation will present itself when they answer the questions.

Without question, the most provocative question is No. 4: How should a council candidate conduct himself or herself publicly and privately “when they may ultimately serve as the people’s ambassador?”

Pay attention to that one, Sandra McCartt. The question I’m sure is aimed at her, given the tempest that stirred when some social media posts she authored came to light. They weren’t exactly the type of messages that cry out “people’s ambassador!”

This process is new to the city. I hope it works well for the council. More importantly, I hope it works well for the public that will be listening to what these individuals say about how they intend to govern our city.

I’ll make one final point just one more time.

Council members are not obligated to convene an executive — or closed — session to deliberate over who they prefer. State open meetings laws only empower the council to do so.

If they are dedicated to full transparency and public accountability they now have the chance to demonstrate it.

Deliberate in public, gentlemen of the City Council.

Good luck to you all.

business news, local news

Downtown Amarillo opens another venture

Fresh Vegetables at market

Amarillo’s downtown district is undergoing significant change, perhaps even more dramatic change than we’ve witnessed at City Hall during the past year or so.

Amarillo Community Market opened today.

It brings together artisans and food producers to sell produce and assorted goods to customers who wander downtown to browse and buy. Check out the link right here:

http://mix941kmxj.com/the-amarillo-community-market-opens-on-july-9th/

Will this concept succeed? Will it flourish? Will it become part of downtown’s fabric?

No one knows.

However, it does remind me of the kinds of urban projects that have succeeded over many years. I like to use my hometown of Portland, Ore., as an example where a touch of innovation can take root and grow into something quite grand.

Portland’s Saturday Market began more than 40 years ago at the west end of one of the many bridges that span the Willamette River. It was little more than a small flea market — or a glorified yard sale.

Today? It’s huge, man. It has become part of Portland’s urban culture.

I’m not a futurist. I cannot predict what’ll happen in the next day, let alone in the next year, or next decade.

But the signs of change in Amarillo’s thinking about its downtown district give me hope that there might be a place for a Community Market to grow into something significant for the city.

Hey, come to think of it … aren’t we still planning to build that multipurpose event venue downtown?

Gosh, the MPEV well might serve as the perfect venue for this Community Market once it’s complete.

Don’t you think?

local news, State news

Palo Duro Canyon ‘National Park’? Who knew?

9-palo-duro-canyon-lighthouse

You learn the most amazing things just picking up magazines and browsing through their pages.

Take what I found out today when I opened a copy of the Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine.

It was that in the 1930s, Palo Duro Canyon came within a whisker of being designated a national park. Is it possible that the jewel of the Texas Panhandle could have joined Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks?

The magazine noted that the canyon was “considered a prime candidate for one of the nation’s first ecosystem parks, a National Park of the Plains.”

Big Bend became a national park in 1944; Guadalupe Mountains earned the designation in 1972.

I know we have a couple of federal parks in the Panhandle: Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument; both were created in 1965. They’re fine attractions and provide a great escape for those seeking to enjoy the splendor of this part of the world.

Palo Duro Canyon was considered, though, to be “too similar” to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. But as the magazine noted, when did “being too similar to the Grand Canyon become a problem?”

The magazine article prompts me to ask: Is it too late for the federal government to make such a designation?

Much of the canyon now is part of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. It is a state park and is considered to be one of the premier parks within the state’s enormous park system.

It’s expensive, of course, for the federal government to set up these national parks. But think of this: A huge chunk of Palo Duro Canyon already is in public hands. Couldn’t the state deed this spectacular piece of property to the federal government, which then could designate the canyon as a national park?

It’s not as if the National Park System has stopped creating these parks. The most recent was created in 2003, when Congaree National Park was set aside in South Carolina.

Every visitor we’ve taken to Palo Duro Canyon has been aghast at its scenic splendor when we arrive there. It opens wide along the vast prairie and it sneaks up you when you approach it.

Is it reasonable to ask: Is it too late to reconsider Palo Duro Canyon for a national park designation?

I won’t hold my breath. Still, I am posing the question out loud.

local news, Uncategorized

Council is pulling a shroud over transparency

Transparency

Am I understanding this correctly?

The Amarillo City Council — that bastion of transparency and public accountability — is trying to keep secret the process it uses to select its fifth member. Council members are disagreeing over how to proceed.

If memory serves, city voters elected three new fellows to the council in large part because they promised to be more answerable to the public. They were tired of what they alleged was a good ol’ boy star-chamber system of doing business.

Things were going to change, dadgummit!

Well, here we are, more than a year after that election. Councilman Brian Eades is quitting the council effective Aug. 1. The council will have to pick his successor.

I’ve said before that the council makes one hiring decision: the city manager. It now gets to make another one by selecting someone to join its ranks.

This transparency pledge that the new council members made along the campaign trail isn’t that hard to keep.

The council has selected five finalists from a longer list of applicants for Dr. Eades’ seat. We all thought the council was going to interview the finalists in public, asking them a set of questions.

I think that’s a fine idea.

It’s an equally fine idea for the council to deliberate in public about who they like. As I’ve noted before, the Texas Open Meeting Law doesn’t require governing bodies to meet in secret to discuss “personal matters”; it only empowers them to do so. I also could argue that selecting a council member doesn’t fall within the realm of “personnel.”

Who doesn’t favor a more transparent government?

The Amarillo City Council took office this past summer with a new majority of members committing to shining the light on the way it does its job on behalf of the public.

Well, do they — or don’t they — still believe in what they promised?