Tag Archives: Panhandle PBS

How did those geniuses do that?

June 27, 2016 kanelis2012

The Public Broadcasting System is going to air the second of three documentary episodes this week that compels me to offer a brief comment.

“The Greeks” will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Tuesday on Panhandle PBS. It’s a collaborative effort by National Geographic and NOVA.

Part two of “The Greeks” is going to center on the “golden age” of that civilization. My interest in it, of course, comes from my own ethnic heritage.

I’m one of those rare Americans who can claim be of a single ethnic heritage. Both of my parents were first-generation Americans. Dad’s parents came to the United States from southern Greece; Mom’s parents were ethnic Greeks who came here from the island of Marmara in Turkey.

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Greece three times, in 2000, 2001 and 2003. The first two trips were with my wife.

We visited many ancient sites during our trips to that magical place. One of them, quite naturally, was the Acropolis in the middle of Athens.

I hope this special will answer a question that has lingered in my mind since the first time I laid eyes on the Parthenon, the temple designed by Pericles during the golden age of the Athens city-state.

My question deals with the columns. If you see the Parthenon’s columns up close you are struck by tapering of the columns. They are wider at their base than they are at the top.

Thus, the question: How did the ancient Greeks create those tapered columns five centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ?

One of my uncles — my mother’s youngest brother — once lamented out loud that he was proud to be “descended from those geniuses.”

So am I.

local news, media news

PBS deserves a shout-out for ‘The Greeks’

June 22, 2016 kanelis2012

Public broadcasting is a jewel.

It’s a polished piece of art that should be required viewing/listening in every home in America.

OK, I’m kidding about the “required” part.

I watched a one-hour special last night that gave me chills; they were the good kind of chills.

“The Greeks” aired on Panhandle PBS. It was the first of a three-part documentary series produced by NOVA and National Geographic.

Point of personal privilege. My last name gives away my particular interest in this series. It reveals my Greek heritage. Both sides of my family hail from that part of the world. I am almost as immensely proud of my ethnicity as I am of my country.

There. That’s done.

“The Greeks” tells the history of the earliest inhabitants of the Aegean Sea region. It tells how they became superb seafarers and how they laid the groundwork for the immense contributions to civilization that would come later, during Greece’s “Golden Age.”

The cinematography in this series is magnificent, showing the restoration of the Parthenon, glimpses of the amphitheater in Epidaurus, the ruins in Mycenae and in Delphi, and oh yes, the ancient Olympic stadium in Olympus.

My wife and I have been privileged to have seen all those sights. They took our breath away when we saw them and seeing them again on this magnificent, publicly funded television broadcast sent chills through my body.

Public broadcasting gets hammered on occasion by politicians in Washington who wonder why the government must spend money on television and radio.

Well, programs such as what aired last night give me all the justification I need, although I should note that much of the money comes from corporate sponsorships and contributions from viewers … such as yours truly.

I learned plenty during the hour-long broadcast. Learned scholars spoke to viewers about what they believe inspired these ancient geniuses and spoke also about the consequences of their actions.

It wasn’t all sweetness and enlightenment for those who carved out the beginnings of a civilization 5,000 years ago. “The Greeks” told that part of the story as well.

Next week, PBS will reveal how the Golden Age came about and what transpired to make Athens the center of what was then thought to be the universe.

Bravo to PBS.

You make me proud … to be a Greek-American.

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365783217/

legal news, local news

College needs to own its policies

May 8, 2016 kanelis2012

Some issues just aren’t adding up regarding the matter of Amarillo College’s hiring policies, which now have become the subject of community discussion.

Who’s in charge of administering and enforcing those policies? Aren’t there some others at AC who should be held accountable for this embarrassing development?

Ellen Robertson Green quit her job as AC vice president for marketing and communication after it was revealed that she allegedly violated AC nepotism rules by hiring her daughter to work as a content producer for Panhandle PBS, the college’s public TV station.

Green supervised Panhandle PBS. Her daughter, thus, reported directly to her mother.

That violated the school’s rules against nepotism.

I’ve already declared my own stake in this matter, given that until recently I worked as a freelance blogger for Panhandle PBS and that I consider Green to be a friend.

I now am an outsider looking at this situation from some distance.

However, I do know that everyone works for someone else.

Green didn’t operate in a hermetically sealed environment at AC. I’m going to take a bit of a leap here and presume that the college has qualified and competent legal counsel advising senior administrators of matters that might cause problems.

Thus, I am unclear as to why Green is taking the fall by herself by resigning her post at AC, particularly after the college terminated her daughter’s employment when reports of this policy violation became known.

The way I see it, if the school fired her daughter, that ends the nepotism problem right off the top.

Green was one of several VPs at the school who report directly to AC President Russell Lowery-Hart. Was the president unaware of the hire? Did he let it go? If he was unaware, why was he kept in the dark?

I fear the questions will linger for a time longer and cast a growing shadow over a public institution that — until just recently — had enjoyed a stellar reputation throughout the community it serves.

It’s time to clear the air.

Fully.

local news

AC faces hiring controversy

May 6, 2016 kanelis2012

Let’s get the full disclosure out of the way right off the top.

I once worked on a freelance basis for Ellen Robertson Green, the newly former head of communications and marketing at Amarillo College. I wrote a blog for Panhandle PBS, the AC-affiliated public television station. I consider her a friend.

There. That’s out of the way.

The news today that Green has resigned her position at AC — effective immediately — because of hiring violations is disturbing to me in the extreme.

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2016-05-06/amarillo-college-vp-resigns-daughter-fired-amidst-nepotism-allegations?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Amarillo_Globe-News

She quit and her daughter was fired from the college. Green’s daughter had worked as a content producer for Panhandle PBS’s website and, thus, reported directly to her mother — in violation of the school’s anti-nepotism policy.

Here’s what troubles me: How did Green actually make that hire without her superiors not knowing about it? She didn’t run the college. She didn’t operate in a vacuum. Moreover, the college hires legal counsel to protect the institution from getting entangled in precisely these kinds of issues.

Here’s the policy. It looks quite clear to me.

https://www.actx.edu/president/pagesmith/80

Green is a high-profile individual in Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle. She served on the Amarillo City Council until this past May, when she was defeated for re-election. I considered her to be a highly effective elected official and I wanted her to keep her council seat.

How this matter got past the individuals who are in charge at Amarillo College escapes me.

local news, media news

Full-time retirement inches a little closer

April 24, 2016 kanelis2012

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

One of the many joys of my post-daily journalism life has been in telling folks that I work four — count ’em, four — part-time jobs.

Well, I can’t say that any longer.

I’m down to three.

Actually, you can call it two-and-a-half.

What does this mean? Well, I figure it means I’ll have a bit more time to start looking forward to the full-time retirement gig that is looming ever larger on the horizon.

Two of my remaining jobs are of the self-employment category. I work from home to do one of them, which is to edit news copy and proof-read pages for the Quay County Sun in Tucumcari, N.M. The other job requires to pile into a motor vehicle and interview subjects for stories I write for NewsChannel10.com, the website for KFDA-TV NewsChannel 10.

A third job came to an end this week when Panhandle PBS’s general manager informed me of the station’s plans to move in a new direction. I’m OK with the decision, although — as I admitted to my former boss — I am disappointed and, frankly, a little sad that my time there as a public affairs programming blogger has come to an end.

Still, I wish them well. The station is run by a good crew of energetic and (mostly) young staffers intent on producing public television programming that matters to those who watch it.

I made a decision a while ago to work at the automobile dealership only when needed: vacation or sick relief, those kinds of things. My employer agreed.

What’s left for yours truly? Well, my hope is to stay busy writing and editing for as long as I can.

My wife and I believe we are moving toward the best of our life together.

We are eternal optimists. Not a thing that has happened since we entered this new phase of our life has changed our outlook about the prospect of full-time retirement.

local news, media news, political news

Feeling unchained these days

March 29, 2016 kanelis2012

I had a marvelous opportunity this evening to speak to some nice folks about the state of play in media, politics, and the world in general.

The Potter/Randall Democratic Club asked me to offer some observations about this and that.

They figured I needed something to do now that I’ve been kinda/sorta retired for more than three years. A number of the folks there are acquaintances of mine. A couple of them were contributors to the Amarillo Globe-News opinion pages over the years, writing letters and sending in guest columns for my consideration.

I truly enjoyed meeting new folks and getting reacquainted with old friends and sharing some thoughts about the condition of our political and public policy world.

It occurred to me as I began my remarks that one of the true joys about being able to speak for myself is that I no longer represent someone or something else. I no longer am on a media outlet’s payroll, which enables me to speak my mind and to offer thoughts on this blog.

Sure, I do write for a couple of broadcast outlets these days; I write part time as a freelancer for KFDA NewsChannel 10 and Panhandle PBS, which means that I am not counted as being employed by them.

It occurred to me as I began my remarks that I am officially unfettered, untethered, unencumbered, unleashed, unbound, unrestricted, uninhibited … well, you get the idea. I get to speak my mind — whether I’m standing at a podium or offering comments through this blog.

Sure, my career as a full-time print journalist ended unhappily for me back in August 2012. I wasn’t entirely sure at the very moment I realized my career had ended whether I could bounce back. I did manage to pick myself up; I got off the deck and along the way I discovered a side of my adaptability I didn’t realize I possessed.

Thus, am I now glad my tenure at the Globe-News came to a screeching halt?

You bet I am.

local news, media news, national news, political news

PBS discussion sheds great light on campaign ’16

March 19, 2016 kanelis2012

I feel compelled to begin this blog post with a disclaimer.

I am a freelance blogger for Panhandle PBS, the publicly funded television station based at Amarillo College here in the Texas Panhandle.

There. That said, I now want to say that the discussion that was broadcast Friday evening was one of the most intelligent I’ve heard yet about the state of the race for the presidency.

This discussion featuring liberal syndicated columnist Mark Shields and conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks covered three critical points:

The Republican primary campaign, the Democratic primary campaign and, in a related matter, President Obama’s nomination of Garland Merrick to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Shields and Brooks occasionally spar when they appear each Friday on the PBS NewsHour. They disagree on substantive matters from time to time. They were in agreement on several critical issues, though, this week.

Hillary Clinton will not be denied the Democratic nomination; Donald Trump is the likely Republican nominee; Judge Garland deserves to have his hearing before the U.S. Senate.

The most interesting aspect of what was said, though, came in the discussion of Trump and Garland.

Shields noted that Trump has won everywhere. He smoked what is left of a once-huge GOP field in Florida, Shields said, where opponents spent millions of dollars in negative TV ads. They didn’t make a dent in Trump’s juggernaut. Whatever it is that Trump has mastered, he has turned it into an unbeatable — so far! — formula for political success.

As for Garland, Shields also believes that the Republican leadership in the Senate is going to pay a price for refusing to consider the judge’s appointment to the Supreme Court. Brooks agreed that Garland deserves a hearing — and deserves to take his seat on the court — he doubts there will be hell to pay in the campaign for Republicans.

Both men also believe that Garland is the best candidate for the court the Republicans are likely to get — particularly if Trump is the GOP nominee for president. Trump will lose the election to Hillary Clinton, who then will be free to appoint someone of her liking — and could present that nominee to a Senate led by Democrats.

And so it will keep going throughout this crazy election cycle.

You’ve got to relish — and share — intelligent discussion whenever you hear it.

That’s what I’m doing here.

* * *

If you’re of a mind, please accept my invitation to look at my blog at PanhandlePBS.org; it’s called “A Public View” and it focuses on public affairs programming aired on Panhandle PBS.

http://www.panhandlepbs.org/blogs/public-view-john-kanelis/

local news

Down to just three jobs

January 22, 2016 kanelis2012

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

Four jobs have turned to just three.

More or less.

I worked my last shift today as a “regular” part-time employee of an Amarillo auto dealership where I’ve been working for more than two years.

No, I didn’t quit. I merely asked to work on an “as-needed basis.” Someone calls in sick? Or goes on vacation? Or gets stuck in the snow and ice? Call me. I’ll be available . . . maybe.

My availability will depend mostly on whether my wife and I are on the road tooling around the country towing our fifth wheel, or visiting with our granddaughter — and her parents and two brothers — in Allen, Texas.

This retirement status has been slow to take root. I’m continuing to have too much fun as a freelance blogger for two media outlets. I’m continuing to write news features for NewsChannel10.com, which is the website for KFDA-TV in Amarillo. I also am writing blogs for PanhandlePBS.com, offering perspective on public affairs programming. The third job involves editing news copy and proofreading pages for a weekly newspaper in Tucumcari, N.M.

I’m now officially a Social Security recipient, joining my wife, who decided to take “early retirement” a couple of years ago. Social Security says that at my age I am able to collect “full retirement benefits.”

But the idea of going to work two or three — or sometimes four — days a week became something that I found less appealing now that our household income took a dramatic boost once Social Security benefits began arriving.

I don’t intend to quit the auto dealer job entirely. However, as retirement inches closer, I am looking forward to spending a lot more time at home doing what I enjoy the most . . . which is to write.

And, oh yes. I also will keep pounding away from this platform.

local news, national news, political news

What if MPEV debate had that kind of format?

October 29, 2015 kanelis2012

I awoke this morning and a curious thought popped into my noggin about last night’s Republican presidential primary debate … so I thought I’d share it here.

What if Amarillo’s hot topic of the day — the upcoming citywide referendum on a proposed multipurpose event venue — had been the subject of a similar debate format between advocates on both sides of this highly controversial issue?

Suppose, then, that the two sides had gathered their forces, sat them in an auditorium, say, at the Civic Center or the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. And then imagine how they might try to out-cheer, out-shout and out-jeer each other whenever someone made a point they either liked or loathed.

You know, these kinds of things rattle around in my head from time to time. In this instance, they make me glad we haven’t resorted to the carnival atmosphere that has overtaken the Republican and Democratic presidential debates as they’ve been staged in front of the nation.

The GOP has staged three of these sideshows; the Democrats just one, so far.

The MPEV debates — and there’ve been a couple of them broadcast on Panhandle PBS — have been models of decorum and relatively good manners.

(Disclosure time: I am a freelance blogger for Panhandle PBS, so — as the Texas saying goes — I’ve got a dog in that fight.)

The second of those encounters will air tonight at 7 on Panhandle PBS. It features Amarillo lawyer Vince Nowak speaking against the MPEV and former Amarillo College President Paul Matney arguing in favor of it. This past week, the contestants were Amarillo City Councilmen Brian Eades (pro-MPEV) and Randy Burkett (anti-MPEV) making their respective cases regarding the $32 million sports and entertainment venue planned for construction in downtown Amarillo, across the street from City Hall.

Check both debates out here.

Were there catcalls? Cheers? Jeers? Zingers? None of that. It was just Panhandle PBS content producer Karen Welch grilling the contestants on why they favor and/or oppose the measure. There were differences of opinion, but on the whole the adversaries were courteous and respectful of each other’s time.

One can learn a lot when one is not distracted by crowd noise, glitz and show-biz bling.

Both sides have their share of passionate supporters. I prefer, though, to gauge the merits of an argument on the points made by the principals rather than relying on applause meters.

local news

Yes, I am 'living the dream' … honest

May 11, 2015 kanelis2012

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

You hear it all the time.

“Hey, how ya doin’?”

“Just living the dream, man. Just living the dream.”

You both laugh. It’s kind of a self-deprecating expression — usually — meant to make good-natured fun of one’s lot in life.

I don’t say that to folks because I don’t want anyone to confuse what I mean with what I say. Which is to say that were I to declare I’m “living the dream,” I really and truly mean it.

I’m happy to make the declaration here. Please know that in all sincerity, life is good.

I now am working four — count ’em, four — part-time jobs. They all activities that give me great pleasure.

Three of them involve journalism: blogging for Panhandle PBS (panhandlepbs.org), the Amarillo College-affiliated public TV station; writing news stories for NewsChannel10.com, which is the website for Amarillo’s local CBS-TV affiliate, NewsChannel 10; and helping a friend publish a weekly newspaper, the Quay County Sun, based in Tucumcari, N.M.

My wife reminds me that I am getting paid “to have fun.”

The fourth job is as a concierge for Street Toyota here in Amarillo. My task there? To chat with service customers and to make their experience at Street more enjoyable. That’s what they asked of me when they hired me. I thought, “Heck yeah, I can do that!”

I’ve heard others say as they enter semi-retirement that they “busier’n ever.” I get it. My wife and I are taking time as well to enjoy our life, to travel a bit here and there and to get ready for the day when we can move into full retirement.

My daily grind in print journalism ended more than two years ago. It was a stunning development. I’ve recovered nicely, I’m happy to report.

You won’t hear me say I’m “living the dream.” I don’t want you to think I’m making fun of my lot in life.

The dream is quite real.

High Plains Blogger

Tag Archives: Panhandle PBS

How did those geniuses do that?

PBS deserves a shout-out for ‘The Greeks’

College needs to own its policies

AC faces hiring controversy

Full-time retirement inches a little closer

Feeling unchained these days

PBS discussion sheds great light on campaign ’16

What if MPEV debate had that kind of format?

Yes, I am 'living the dream' … honest

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