local news

Turnout still pitiful

Eleven percent! I hope Princeton voters will pay attention to what happened down the highway over this weekend.

That was the turnout of registered voters in Farmersville, Texas, for a citywide election to determine three seats on the City Council and — this is critical — to determine the fate of a proposal to adopt a home-rule charter for the city.

With that, 11% of the city’s registered voters managed to drag themselves to the polls to cast their votes.

I am terribly dissatisfied with the turnout. Granted, the results of the balloting are a different matter. I will speak specifically of the home-rule charter result.

That is a big fu**ing deal, to borrow a quote from the current president of the United States who muttered it while serving as VP as Congress approved the Affordable Care Act.

The home-rule charter passed with a 174-59 vote in favor of the proposal. By my calculation, that presents an 11.3% turnout of registered votes. That miserable turnout prompts me to ask: What in the name of voter apathy does a city have to do get people interested enough to vote on a matter as critical as this?

State law required the city to distribute copies of the proposed home-rule charter to every registered voter in Farmersville. City Secretary Tabatha Monk did as she was instructed. With the help of Collin County’s election office, she determined the voter count in the city stood at 2,122.

Every registered voter in Farmersville received a copy of the document. I have tried on this blog to explain the significance of a city being able to set its own rules without having to rely on state statutes. I guess few of our friends in Farmersville were paying attention.

Local elections allow voters to make decisions on those who set policies that have a direct impact on our lives. Strangely — and shamefully — these local elections almost always seem to produce the kind of turnouts we saw on Saturday down the road in Farmersville.

I now must wonder what my neighbors in Princeton will do when they get the chance to vote on a home-rule charter. It might be later this year, or it could be in the spring of 2023. The city is working now on a document to present to voters. We’ll all get copies of the charter when it’s ready to present.

I will vote on it. As I said about the Farmersville charter, it’s a really big … deal!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Uncategorized

Mom was dealt a horrible hand

This beautiful young woman you see on this blog post is my Mom.

I don’t know precisely when this picture was taken, but I’ll guess she was in her early 20s. So, I reckon it was shot about the time she and Dad got married in August 1946.

We’re all going to celebrate Mother’s Day. I will celebrate Mom’s time on this good Earth for giving life to me and my two sisters, but to be honest, it’s a bittersweet remembrance.

You see, Mom was dealt about as bad a hand as anyone could receive. She died in September 1984 of Alzheimer’s disease complications. Mom was 61 years of age.

Sixty-one! Now, to those who have undergone this kind of familial misery, you understand that Alzheimer’s usually takes years to claim its victims. That means Mom exhibited symptoms long before she passed away.

We weren’t wise enough at the time to understand what was afflicting Mom. We all noticed changes in her behavior. We were slow on the uptake, I suppose, to get her diagnosed by a neurologist. We did that in early 1980. Then we got the news: There is no cure for the disease and the only way to determine whether anyone has it is through an autopsy. The doc simply ruled out every possible condition that could cause her behavior change.

Mom was denied the chance to grow old. I cannot prove this, but I will rely on my hunch and my knowledge of the kind of young woman became in determining that she would have aged gracefully and that she would have enjoyed seeing her five grandkids grow into adulthood; she would have relished welcoming her great-grandchildren into this world as well.

They say that life isn’t fair. It damn sure isn’t! One cannot understand why the Good Lord takes some people in such a cruel fashion. He did in this instance and we were left only to wonder why.

Mom deserved better than what she was delivered.

My memories of her will last for as long as I draw breath and with that I want to extend a happy Mother’s Day as far as I can reach to the young woman in the picture.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

business news

Jobs piling up, unemployment low … huh?

The U.S. Labor Department each month gives us a snapshot of where the nation’s economy stands. It comes in the form of its jobs report.

What did the Labor stats show us this month? Oh, that private non-farm employers added 428,000 more Americans to their payrolls and that joblessness remains at 3.6%, or at the same level it stood prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

Still, and this just baffles me to the point of confusion: President Biden keeps getting pilloried because the economy — according to the critics — is “in the tank.”

Is it? Not really. Actually, the economy is humming along fairly well.

Now, I will acknowledge the obvious “elephant in the room,” which would be inflation. I don’t like paying more for eggs, bread, milk, veggies and meat any more than the next red-blooded American. Nor do I like shelling out huge piles of dough for motor fuel. Is that totally within the president’s control? No. It isn’t even close.

We have this war erupting in Ukraine, which produces a lot of the world’s grain. Russian oil has been all but cut off from the rest of the world. Demand for all of that is high; supply is low. Hmm. High demand and low supply? What does that mean? We pay more for goods and commodities.

Biden is trying to help stem the rise in fuel prices by ordering the tapping of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He wants the SPR to ship 1 million barrels of crude oil each day for six months to help boost the supply of oil.

I am not going to criticize the president’s handling of the economy. He was dealt a bad hand when he took office in January 2021. The pandemic crippled the so-called “supply chain.” We are working our way through that crisis.

Meanwhile, we keep adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month and the unemployment rate remains just about at rock bottom.

What in the name of realism is wrong with that?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Getting used to new wheels

Our shakedown cruise hauling a down-sized recreational vehicle has taught me some lessons.

We traded in our 29-foot fifth wheel for a shiny new 21-foot travel trailer. We like the new unit … a lot! Even while struggling just a bit with constrained space in the new trailer, we are committed to it and we believe our scaled-down retirement travel itinerary will suit our new wheeled “digs” just fine.

We hauled it to the Texas Hill Country and found out as we motored down some back-road highways that our truck pulls the travel trailer just as easily as it did the fifth wheel.

Oh, but get a load of this: We ran into a “road closed” blockade along Texas Highway 236 near Foot Hood. We had to back the trailer up and turn it around. We were able to do so with much greater ease than we would have been able to do with a much more cumbersome fifth wheel.

We have what they call a “one-butt kitchen” in our trailer. We have fewer square feet of storage space. We will need to figure out what goes with us on the road and what stays home. The good news for me is that I married to an expert in making these key decisions. Therefore, I will defer to her … mostly.

The even better news is that our retirement journey is still heading for the open road. Just not as lengthy a stretch of road, but we’ll still be venturing our way further into retirement.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Esper joins the Trump tell-all brigade

You and I now may add former Defense Secretary Mark Esper to the list of chumps who have come clean on what it was like serving under the guidance of the most imbecilic individual ever elected to the nation’s highest office.

Esper writes in a forthcoming book that Donald J. Trump actually talked out loud and in the presence of others about whether he could fire missiles into Mexico to stop the drug traffickers … and then find a way to deny that he did it!

Trump ended up firing Esper as defense boss near the end of Trump’s term in the White House. I guess he might’ve gotten tired of Esper resisting such nutty notions coming from the man masquerading as our commander in chief.

My goodness, how many more of these revelations is it going to take to sink into the thick, gullible, vacuous skulls of the Trumpkins who continue to give this idiot a pass?

Former Attorney General William Barr has written that Trump refused to accept the fact that he lost the 2020 election. There have been countless other tales told about Trump’s obsession with voter fraud that did not exist, of his utter lack of attention to anything resembling the details of public policy.

The hits just keep coming. Ain’t it fun?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Mother Neff would be proud

MOTHER NEFF STATE PARK, Texas — I have spoken glowingly about the Texas state parks system, its amenities and all the recreational opportunties they offer to retirees … such as my wife and me.

Today, I want to take a brief moment to speak about something you might find weird. Too bad. Here goes anyway.

We came to Mother Neff State Park in Coryell County for a brief outing in our new travel trailer. I had to use a restroom. What I saw when I entered was stunning.

The public restroom was immaculate. As in eat-off-the-floor clean, man.

You don’t need to see a picture of the place to get the idea. Just know that the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is on the job keeping these public facilities suitable for, um … the public!

I took a moment to thank a park ranger who happened to be nearby. He accepted my thanks with gratitude.

Therefore, I want to proclaim that TP&W is worth the investment Texans are making.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Reactions to leak tell us plenty

Could there be a more graphic illustration of the differences between the two major American political parties than their reaction to the leak of a draft opinion regarding the probable fate of Roe v. Wade?

Someone on the U.S. Supreme Court staff likely leaked the document to Politico, which then revealed it to the world. The draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito, suggests the court is ready to overturn the landmark January 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the United States.

Conservatives have hailed the opinion. Liberals (such as me, your friendly blogger) have condemned it.

The back-story reaction, though, is most telling. Conservatives want the leaker’s head on a platter. It’s the thought that someone would violate the court’s privacy that has the right-wingers all worked up. Liberals, meanwhile, are less concerned about the leak than the contents of the opinion. I’m on the libs’ side.

Of course, I was surprised that it became known via a leaked document. It’s never happened before.

But, geez, there weren’t any national secrets revealed! Indeed, the privacy invasion strikes many of us as ironic, given that the SCOTUS’s conservative majority doesn’t seem at all concerned about a woman’s privacy in determining whether to end a pregnancy. But leak a draft document? The world is coming to an end!

I realize this is just one example of the chasm that divides the two major parties. It’s just too damn bizarre to ignore.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

County honors former judge … bravo!

Randall County’s courthouse annex owes its existence to many individuals, but one of them stands out … as in he really stands taller than the others.

The county has performed a remarkable act of honor in putting the late Ernie Houdashell’s name on the building. Houdashell, who became a dear friend of mine after I left daily journalism in Amarillo nearly a decade ago, worked hard to swing the deal that enabled the county to build a government office building that serves the bulk of the county’s population.

Houdashell, who served as county judge for 18 years, died in November 2020 of complications from the COVID-19 virus. The Commissioners Court elevated a commissioner, Christy Dyer, to the judgeship. Dyer, who is running for election this year, presided over a ceremony at the annex that resulted in its now carrying Ernie Houdashell’s name.

I cannot even begin to express adequately my pleasure at learning that the county has taken this important step.

Eighty percent of Randall County’s population resides in south Amarillo; those residents pay the vast majority of the tax revenue that funds county government, even though the county seat is in Canyon.

That vast majority of the county population formerly renewed its car registration, paid its property tax bill and did its business with the county in a cramped structure on South Georgia Street. Houdashell laid eyes on a former department store site on Western Street and negotiated seemingly forever for the county to aquire that property. He did not quit. He didn’t surrender.

The county secured the funds to remodel, refurbish and renovate the Western site and opened the new annex a couple of years ago. It is spacious. modern and well-appointed. The county was able to bring many of its services under a single roof, creating a level of efficiency it didn’t have prior to the construction of the new site.

Ernie Houdashell made it happen!

Randall County honors annex after former judge (yahoo.com)

According to Yahoo News: “He was a mentor, my friend, and an inspiration,” Dyer said. “Randall County was so blessed to have him at the helm. He leaves big shoes to fill. I work very hard and every day, I think about him and what would be his thoughts on if we were taking the right step forward for Randall County.”

Ernie Houdashell would be proud. Of that I am absolutely certain.

Well done, Randall County.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

RBG spoke wisely

God bless the memory of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The nation is beating itself senseless over a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that proposes to do the very thing that Justice Ginsburg feared.

The opinion suggests the court should toss aside Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion in January 1973. Doing so, I fear, would turn women into “less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.”

The fight has commenced. The U.S. Senate will vote next Wednesday on legislation that provides federal protection for those seeking an abortion. It isn’t likely to pass, given the Republicans’ strategy to filibuster the bill. Since it takes 60 votes in the Senate to end a filibuster, such a move is virtually doomed in a 50-50 Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, though, wants to put his GOP colleagues on the record in opposing granting women the right to control their own bodies. Go for it, Mr. Leader.

Justice Ginsburg would be proud

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Lake is filling … rapidly!

I am acutely aware that a couple days of heavy rainfall isn’t going to bust a drought, but I have to say that the sight of a nearby lake gives me hope for the future of our region’s supply.

What makes me feel this way? I drive frequently along U.S. 380 from Princeton to Farmersville, Texas, as part of my work as a freelance journalist. My seven-mile drive takes me over a finger of Lake Lavon, which I have noticed over the past week or two has been rising dramatically.

A bridge crosses the lake from the north side of 380 and I have noticed that the water level is creeping up to the bottom of the roadway. It’s still several feet below the deck and it likely won’t ever go over the top. What’s more the shoreline around the lake is now under several feet of water.

I write this little ditty awaiting another drenching that’s coming our way, or so the weather forecasters are telling us. They’ve been wrong before, but the thunder we’re hearing tells me it’s on its way.

I am going to interview the chairwoman of the Texas Water Development Board in a few days for a story I am working on for KETR-FM radio. I well might ask her if my optimism is warranted.

Stay tuned … and stay dry.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience