Moving Time Has Arrived

The time has arrived for my move from Amarillo to Austin. For the next few days, I will be packing, transporting, and unpacking all of my possessions.

That means I will not have the time (or the internet connection) to keep up with this blog. I have made some pre-scheduled posts so the blog will not go dark over the next few days -- but I will not be able to make new posts or to moderate the comments.

I hope to be unpacked and have a new internet connection by the 9th or 10th, and will eagerly resume regular posting at that time.

Let me make one thing clear. I am not leaving because of any ill feelings about Amarillo. That city has been good to me and my family, and I've made lots of wonderful friends there. Despite the redness of its politics, Amarillo is not a bad city to live in.

But an opportunity presented itself in Austin that simply could not be turned down. I know I will quickly fall in love with Austin and make good friends there also -- and I promise to do my part to "Keep Austin Weird".

Amarillo Has Record Turnout For First Day Early Voting

It looks like there's going to be a big voter turnout here in Amarillo for the 2016 election. The city, which is in Potter and Randall counties, say a record turnout for the first day of early voting on Monday.

Over 5,000 people voted in the two counties combined. Randall county had 3,311 voters cast a vote (about 3.88% of the county's 81,190 registered voters), and Potter county had about 1,700 voters cast a vote (about 3.09% of the county's 55,011 registered voters).

That's the largest first day turnout in early voting for both counties.

Amarillo Is Still The Windiest City In The United States

I don't know that this is something to be proud of, but it does explain why so many wind generators are being built here around Amarillo. Once again The Weather Channel (using data from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center) has declared Amarillo to be the windiest city in the United States. The figures in the chart above represent the average wind speed for the entire year. Amarillo averaged a full 1 mph above the second place city (Rochester, Minnesota).

Dem Primary Results For Potter/Randall Counties (Amarillo)

(This image is from realestateresusitation.blogspot.com.)

You cannot report the election results of Amarillo without reporting the results from both Potter and Randall counties. That's because the city is in both counties, with the northern half being in Potter county and the southern half being in Randall county -- and the bulk of voters in both those counties are from the city of Amarillo. Here's how the two counties voted in the March 1st Democratic primary:

POTTER COUNTY

Hillary Clinton...............1,490 (56.6%)
Bernie Sanders...............1,091 (41.4%)

RANDALL COUNTY

Hillary Clinton...............1,586 (51.1%)
Bernie Sanders...............1,479 (47.7%)

COMBINED VOTE FOR BOTH

Hillary Clinton...............3,076 (54.5%)
Bernie Sanders...............2,570 (45.5%)

I suspect that the Randall county totals were closer because that county is the home of West Texas A & M University (and a lot of college students seem to be "feeling the Bern"). Be that as it may, Amarillo voters followed the lead of the rest of Texas and picked Clinton as their preferred nominee (although by smaller percentages).

NOTE -- Congratulations are in order for Gentry Powell (who was elected Potter County Democratic Chair) and Mariah Strong-Woods (who was elected Randall County Democratic Chair).

Working The Super Tuesday Election

My posting is a bit light today. That's because I spent 15 hours on Tuesday working at an election site here in Amarillo Texas.

We had seven workers and processed 911 voters at the site I worked (during the twelve hours we were open). That completely wore me out. Our previous high at that site had been 507 voters.

After a good nights sleep, I hope to return to regular posting tomorrow.

(NOTE __ The Image of the ballot box is from edubuzz.org.)

Be Cautious When Judging Support From Crowd Size

The image above is an example of many like it that I have seen recently inundating social media sites. The supporters of Bernie Sanders want us to believe that the good turnout to hear Sanders speak means he has huge support among Democrats (and a good chance to win the Democratic nomination).

Don't get me wrong -- I like Bernie Sanders a lot, and I'm happy he is getting good crowds. I think he's one of the few really good politicians in Washington, and I would hate it if he was not getting good crowds (even though I personally support Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination). However, I think you need to be cautious about trying to predict a support level simply from crowd size (especially since the polls don't show he is close to Clinton).

A couple of things need to be considered. The first is that you can't assume someone supports the candidate just because they show up to hear him speak. I know a good number of Clinton supporters showed up to see Sanders when he came to Houston, and I suspect the same is true in many other places.

You must remember that in many places the people rarely get to see an actual candidate. I know if Sanders came here to Amarillo, every active Democrat in the area would flock to see him (whether they supported him for the nomination or not) -- because we don't often get to see candidates (or other famous people). And the same would be true if Clinton came to town.

It reminds me of the 2008 campaign when Bill Clinton came to Amarillo to plug Hillary's candidacy. An overflowing crowd of thousands filled a rather large auditorium to standing room capacity only. Looking at that huge crowd, one could assume that Hillary had the bulk of support among Amarillo Democrats. The problem is that the people were just there to see the former president -- and included many Obama supporters, and a large number of Republicans just wanting to see the president.

When primary day arrived, Clinton and Obama split the Amarillo Democratic votes right down the middle. And when the general election arrived, the city voted heavily for John McCain. In other words, the huge "Clinton crowd" meant very little when it came time to vote.

The other thing one must consider is that the people who show up to see a candidate (any candidate) make up only a very tiny percentage of the people who will vote on primary day (or in the general election) -- and the crowds that showed up tell you nothing about how those that stayed at home will vote.

As I said, I'm happy Bernie Sanders is drawing good crowds. It's always nice to see a good candidate being appreciated. But be very careful in drawing conclusions about candidate support from crowd sizes. While it might mean something, it could just as easily mean nothing at all.

NOTE TO BERNIE SANDERS AND HILLARY CLINTON -- Please come to Amarillo. We'd love to see you both, and I guarantee both of you would draw a big crowd.

I'd Like Your Opinion On This

This is a piece of art done by Rick Rueda of Amarillo. It is titled "PTSD".

I found it to be a powerful statement on a huge problem, and a beautiful piece of artwork. It speaks to the way this country sends soldiers off to war, but ignores the problems that war causes the soldiers when they return home. There are far too many suicides among veterans, because our government won't live up to its responsibility to care for veterans, and give them the care they need and deserve.

It was displayed in a local art gallery, and that gallery didn't see things that way. They have banned Mr. Rueda from displaying any more of his art in their gallery.

I would really like to know what my readers think. Is this a powerful piece of art? Or should it be banned from public viewing? Please tell me what you think.

I want to hear from as many of you as possible -- and to that end, I will even publish anonymous comments on this one post (if that is the only way you'll comment).

Amarillo To Have A Ridiculous "Rebel Flag" Rally

If there was any doubt that idiots and racists still exist in Amarillo, this should settle the matter. Today, there is to be a "Fly Your Flag" rally in the city -- and of course, the flag referred to is the Confederate battle flag (pictured above in a photo from Amarillo's Channel 10 News).

James Roberts, organizer for the event, said, "We're tired of the liberals trying to say our flag is hatred and racist . . . You know, 1860's we battled for our rights and now they're trying to take our rights away again".

Being a resident of Amarillo, I have a few things to say about this.

1. The removal of the Confederate flag from state property in South Carolina (and hopefully some other states) has nothing to do with taking rights from anyone. It simply removes a symbol (that many people are offended by) from flying on government property. State governments represent all citizens of the state, and the only flags that should fly (because they represent all citizens) are the state and U.S. flags. Any person who wants to fly the Confederate flag can still do so (or decorate their property or cars with that flag). The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees them that right -- no matter how offensive it may be to others.

2. There was only one right being defended by the Confederacy (and fought against by the United States) in the 1860's -- the right to continue to own slaves. No other "state right" was in question. And anyone who says otherwise is trying to rewrite history to fit their own bigoted ideas. If this flag represents any heritage, it is a heritage of slavery and white privilege.

3. The Confederate flag does not now, and has never represented, the heritage of the Panhandle of Texas. Note the map of 1866 Texas at the bottom of this page. At the time the Confederate flag was the flag of the South, the Texas Panhandle had no slavery, no plantations, and in fact, had not even been divided into counties. It was Indian country, and had very few (if any) settlers. The Panhandle has never had a "Southern" heritage -- it has a "Western" heritage, and even that didn't really start until after the Civil War (when the Confederacy was nothing but a bad memory). To think the Confederate flag celebrates Panhandle heritage is simply ludicrous.

(PERSONAL NOTE -- I was born and raised in Texas, and still live there. My mother's family came to Texas from Arkansas, and my father's family from Alabama. My Southern roots are strong -- and so is my dislike of this hateful flag.)

First Same-Sex Marriage License Issued In Amarillo

Yesterday, I informed you that Amarillo clerks (Julie Smith of Potter County and Renee Calhoun of Randall County) had loaded the new marriage license forms in their computer, and were ready to follow the Supreme Court decision and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Now the ice has been broken.

On Wednesday afternoon at about 12:30pm, Potter County issued the first same-sex license. The recipients (pictured) were Jimmy Healy (47) and David Miller (55). The couple said they were surprised that they were the first, figuring some others had already done it. They have been a couple for about six years.

I congratulate the happy couple -- and I hope they have a long and very happy marriage.

Amarillo Is Ready To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

There's been a lot of talk in the last few days about whether County Clerks in Texas counties will issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Attorney General caused some consternation with his rather muddied opinion saying individuals could refuse to issue licenses if it violated their religious beliefs, but most clerks now understand that someone in each office must issue those licenses (or the office will be subject to legal action and fines).

And that includes the clerks serving the city of Amarillo. Amarillo is in two separate counties. The northern half is in Potter County and the southern half is in Randall County. The clerks of both counties say they took Monday to download the new license forms from the state, and had worked out any glitches by late Tuesday. Both Potter County Clerk Julie Smith and Randall County Clerk Renee Calhoun say they have not yet had any licenses requested, but they stand ready to issue the licenses when asked to do so.

Amarillo is in one of the reddest areas of Texas -- an area that votes overwhelmingly Republican. So, many of us wondered how these clerks would react to the court decision. It is gratifying to see that they were not willing to waste taxpayer money by getting the counties engaged in silly lawsuits.

My Excuse For Light Posting Today

(Cartoon image is by Jeff Parker in Florida Today.)

I know that posting on this blog was a bit light today, and there's a good reason for that (at least I think it's a good reason). I spent most of Saturday working at the election polls. I left home at 6:20am and returned at 8:20pm -- and after 14 straight hours of doing my best to make it easy for my fellow citizens to vote, I was exhausted. I will hopefully return to form (be that good or bad) after I've gotten some rest.

Amarillo Teacher Named "National Teacher Of The Year"

Amarillo is justifiably proud of one of its own citizens right now. It has been announced that Shanna Peeples (pictured here in a photo from connectamarillo.com), an English teacher at Palo Duro High School, has been named the National Teacher of the Year. It is the first time since 1957 that a Texas teacher received the honor -- and the first time ever for an Amarillo teacher.

Peeples will be recognized by President Obama in a White House ceremony on Wednesday, and at the end of this school year she will take a year off from teaching to make about 150 appearances around the country as the Teacher of the Year. She hopes to highlight the problem of poverty as it relates to education. Peoples said:

“That fact brings a whole constellation of challenges — how hard it is to try to learn when you’re hungry, or when you’re sick and can’t afford to go to the doctor, or when you have to move out of your home in the middle of the night because you can’t afford the rent. That’s unfortunately what so many teachers are dealing with. The good news about that is for so many of those kids the story that starts out that way sometimes ends with such an amazing personal triumph for students.”

First Snow

The Texas Panhandle got its first snow of the year yesterday. These two pictures were taken standing in my front door. In our part of Amarillo we only got about 2" to 3", but that was enough to screw everything up -- because Texans, even those imported from the North, are stupid when it comes to driving on the snow (or ice).

The Windiest City In America - Amarillo, Texas

Chicago has claimed the nickname of "The Windy City", and it does get a lot of wind from the heating and cooling of Lake Michigan. But it is not the windiest city in the United States. That title goes to Amarillo, Texas.

The Weather Channel, who keeps this kind of statistic for all of America's cities, added up the wind speed for each day of the year and divided that by 365. This gave them the average wind speed for each city, and the city with the highest average wind speed was Amarillo -- at 13.6 miles per hour. Amarillo averaged a full 1 mph over the second place city -- Rochester, Minnesota.

This doesn't surprise me. I moved to Amarillo about 8 years ago, and the hardest thing to get used to was the constant wind. All cities have their windy days -- but in Amarillo, nearly every day is a windy day.

This explains why so many wind farms are springing up in the Texas Panhandle (where Amarillo is the largest city), and a huge electrical transmission line is being built from near Amarillo to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. DFW's huge population gives it a huge need for electrical power -- and the Panhandle has an abundant supply of that clean and renewable energy resource -- the wind.

NOTE -- Four of the windiest cities in the nation are in Texas. Does that make Texas the windiest state in the country?

Living In A "Campaign-Free Zone" ?

(The image above is from the website Novinar.me.)

We're just a couple of months away from an important election -- an election that will determine which party controls Congress for the next couple of years (which will determine whether anything is accomplished or we continue to have a federal government that is dysfunctional and refuses to compromise on anything). And in many parts of this country the two political parties are fighting tooth-and-nail for every vote they can get.

People all over the country have been inundated with political ads (TV, radio, newspapers, yard signs, etc.). It is estimated that over $1 billion has already been spent on political advertising for the 2014 election -- and much more will be spent before election day. Some estimate the final total will be around $4 billion. At least $84 million has been spent on just three senate races ($36 million in Kentucky, $28 million in North Carolina, and $18 million in Iowa) -- and that doesn't count the other senate races or the 435 House races.

In other words, in many parts of the country, an election ad will be the first thing a person sees when they open their eyes in the morning, and the last thing they see before closing their eyes to go to sleep. You might notice I said "in many parts of the country". That's because here in Amarillo (the largest city in the Texas Panhandle), we seem to be living in a campaign-free zone. While others are already sick of seeing campaign ads, it is rare in this part of Texas to see one of those ads (even though Texas has both a senate and governor's race this year).

I don't think this is because there aren't as many votes up here as in other parts of Texas -- because in a close election the Panhandle votes could be the deciding factor. I suspect it is because this is a very red part of Texas -- perhaps the reddest. The Democratic candidates seem to have written the Panhandle off as being a lost cause -- and the Republican candidates see no reason to spend campaign money in an area the Democrats aren't contesting. Frankly, I think this is a mistake.

While most people elsewhere would like to see less campaign ads -- I would like to see more. While Republicans outnumber Democrats about 3 to 1 here, there are a lot of Independents (probably more than both parties put together). And those Independents are not going to vote for anyone who has not asked for their votes (something I believe is true of voters anywhere). A few of them might go to the polls (and vote like their neighbor), but I suspect most of them will just stay home (because they have not been given a reason to vote for anyone).

Democrats have been trying to establish a get-out-the-vote campaign up here -- but that just identifies those who are Democrats (or leaning that way) and trying to get them to the polls. That needed to be done, but that will not end the GOP dominance in the Panhandle. We must reach out to Independents, and give them a reason to go to the polls and vote Democratic -- and that won't happen until Democratic candidates spend some campaign money here to ask for those votes.

It may sound strange to those of you in other states (or other areas of Texas), but I would like to see a lot more campaign ads in the Panhandle -- because that would mean the parties are actually fighting for the votes up here.

Wendy Will Be In Amarillo Today !

For those of you who want to meet Wendy Davis, the Democratic candidate for governor in the 2014 election, today is your opportunity. Candidates for statewide office don't often come to Amarillo, and I don't know if she'll be back this year or not -- so take this opportunity if you can.

WHAT: Community Meeting w/ Wendy Davis

WHEN: Friday, April 4, 2014 - 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

WHERE: Fernando's Mexican Restaurant 

2740 Westhaven Village

Amarillo, TX 79109

Random Thoughts On The Texas Primary

The Texas primary is over. There are still a few races that will have to be determined in a run-off election (for both parties), but basically the parties now know what their ballots will look like in November.

The most interesting run-off for the Democrats is in the race for Agriculture Commissioner, where the two candidates who will face off in a run-off election finished in pretty much a dead heat on election night. Entertainer and political maverick Kinky Friedman got 38% of the vote, while virtual unknown Jim Hogan got 39% of the vote. This race could still go either way, depending on whose supporters show up at the polls. I give Hogan a slight edge, since run-off elections are participated in mostly by party regulars (and many of them are upset that Kinky tends to think for himself instead of toeing the party line) -- but I hope I'm wrong.

The other run-off for Democrats is in the U.S. Senate race. This will be between rich "blue dog" David Alameel (who got 47% on election night) and nutty LaRouche-supporter Kesha Rogers (who wound up with 22%). I expect Alameel will easily win the run-off, but will do nothing to bring voters to the Democratic ticket in November.

I won't comment on the Republican run-offs, except to say that there is very little difference between the candidates. Whoever wins will be a far-right-winger, because that is the state of that party right now in Texas. I saw an interesting article in the New York Times yesterday that said establishment Republicans had beaten back teabagger challengers in Texas. While I respect the New York Times, this just shows they don't really understand the political landscape in Texas.

There are no "establishment" Republicans in Texas holding elective office. The teabaggers have won in Texas, and have a stranglehold on the party -- with all GOP elected officials following the teabagger lead. Just because a few insane teabaggers ran against some far-right teabaggers in the primary doesn't change this fact (and doesn't mean any of the current office-holders are "moderate" or "establishment").

I don't know yet what effect the new (and unnecessary) Voter ID law had statewide, but in my own heavily Republican precinct it worked against the GOP. I worked the polls, and we only had two people show up without a picture ID. Both were Republicans. They were allowed to cast a "provisional" -- which will probably not be counted since they only have six days to show picture ID to the county elections administrator.

And finally, election day showed I may actually live in the reddest precinct in the country. My precinct had a combined election with the Republicans (to save money). Each voter, after being verified, was asked to choose which primary (Republican or Democratic) they wished to vote in. Out of about 451 votes cast, only 38 were cast in the Democratic primary (about 8.4% of the total precinct votes).

Blizzard In Texas

This is Amarillo (Texas) the day after the blizzard hit (over 18 inches of snow with 35 to 50 mph winds). I've only lived in Amarillo since January of 2007, but have already experienced two blizzards (the only two I've been in ever). Every single road in the 26 county Panhandle was closed -- and two days later, we're still trying to dig out.

I guess this is just the price we pay for having nicer summers than the rest of Texas (it is normally 5 degrees cooler here than other parts of Texas and the air is dryer -- making the summer more tolerable).

Picture is from the Facebook page of Amarillo's KISS FM 96.9.

Capitol X-mas Tree Overnights In Amarillo

This years Capitol Christmas Tree is a 74 year-old Engelmann Spruce that stands 73 feet tall. It was harvested from the White River National Forest in Colorado. The top photo shows the tree being loaded on the truck. The second picture shows the truck as it begins its circuitous journey to Washington, D.C.

On Wednesday, the tree arrived here in Amarillo. It was parked for much of the day near the city library, where citizens turned out to see it and sign the tree's cover (bottom picture). It stayed overnight in Amarillo, before continuing it journey -- next stop Dallas, and then Oklahoma City. It is expected to arrive in Washington shortly after Thanksgiving.

Early Voting Is Up In Potter & Randall

It looks like there is a lot of interest in voting in the 2012 election -- at least here in Amarillo. The county clerks of both Potter and Randall counties (about half of the city lies in both counties) are reporting that the early voting totals for the first four days have topped the early voting totals for that same period in 2008. For Potter county the early vote is up about 9.5%. Randall county is doing even better, with a jump in early voting of about 15% over 2008. Here are the four day totals for both counties:

POTTER COUNTY
2008..........4,342
2012..........4,756
up 9.53%

RANDALL COUNTY
2008..........10,098
2012..........11,641
up 15.28%