John Kanelis

By John Kanelis

Commerce’s recycling efforts could have tanked when Commerce Community Cares bailed out of a volunteer effort it had joined with the City of Commerce and Texas A&M University-Commerce.

The efforts did not die. I had been concerned when Commerce Community Cares decided it no longer could volunteer for the joint project. The recycling efforts did become a “bit more difficult” without the volunteers, according to interim Commerce City Manager Ned Muse.

By JOHN KANELIS

Princeton Mayor John-Mark Caldwell only thought he was resigning from the City Council after moving to Rockwall.

It turns out, according to the city's legal counsel, Caldwell is required to stay in office until after the next election, which occurs on Nov. 3. That's what the state requires, so Caldwell must remain in place, gavel in hand, running City Council meetings.

By John Kanelis

SEA RIM STATE PARK, Texas -- I am married to an anti-littering militant.

I have known it for the nearly five decades of our married life, but I saw it on full display on a morning walk along the Texas Gulf Coast.

We sauntered onto the beach from our fifth wheel. Immediately, she became incensed at what she saw ... and what she began to collect on our stroll. I figure we must have picked up close to a 40 pounds of trash on our walk of several hundred yards.

I am proud of her, as you might surmise.

By John Kanelis

Are you ready for a fall without football?

I do hate being the gloom and doomer, but there might be that dire fact staring us in the face and it might be soon.

Think for a moment of what is happening to Major League Baseball. MLB has commenced its 60-game season, with teams playing in front of empty seats and piped-in crowd noise. Except that a lot of players are testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. Teams are sending players home or ordering them to quarantine themselves. Games are being postponed left and right.

By John Kanelis

I admit to having trouble understanding how this campaign played out.

State Rep. Dan Flynn is among the most conservative members of the Texas House of Representatives. He has earned the highest praise imaginable from conservative political activists … yet somehow, he ran into an opponent who said Flynn isn’t “conservative enough.”

By John Kanelis

It's time to acknowledge some folks who get damn little recognition during the good times, but they certainly deserve it these days while the nation is struggling in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

I refer to polling-place volunteers, the election judges and assorted volunteer staffers who herd voters to the proper places, making us all adhere to safety measures designed to keep us healthy, not to mention alive.

By John Kanelis

If this was to be the year you would try out some fried beer at Fair Park in Dallas … you’ll just have to wait until 2021.

The Texas State Fair isn’t going to occur this year. Fair organizers have canceled the annual event for the first time since the end of World War II; back then we were too busy celebrating the end of the bloodiest conflict in world history. This year’s cancellation comes – as if you need reminding – because we are in the midst of another struggle against the coronavirus pandemic.

By John Kanelis

This much is likely true: When you go off to war and then distinguish yourself by becoming the most highly decorated soldier in your nation’s history, communities are likely to compete for bragging rights to be known as your designated “home town.”

By John Kanelis

This story disappointed me greatly, but at some level I wasn’t terribly surprised, as I have seen this scenario play out before.

Commerce Cares Recycling decided to discontinue its work collecting recyclable materials, saying that too many residents were carelessly tossing trash into the recycling bins. Commerce Cares couldn’t devote the time and effort to separate the trash from items to be recycled … so it surrendered.

By John Kanelis

How proud are they of Audie Leon Murphy in Farmersville, Texas?

They are so proud of their favorite son that they wouldn't dare let an international medical pandemic -- which has shut down ceremonies and outdoor events around the world -- stop them from honoring the most decorated soldier to serve during World War II.

By John Kanelis

“Antifa” as become a four-letter word in some circles around the nation.

It is meant as a sort of shorthand for a group that opposes fascism, as in “anti-fascism.” Of course, it has morphed into a more militant sort of operation. Of late, though, it has been blamed for fanning the flames of discontent and discord on our city’s streets in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic killing in late May by Minneapolis police officers who were arresting him for – get this! – allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill.

By John Kanelis

On a day when Donald Trump preened and proclaimed that George Floyd would be “happy” with the huge job gains registered in the wake of the global pandemic, a group of Princeton, Texas, residents gathered at a park under a sweltering sun to honor Floyd’s memory.

Floyd, as the world knows, died more than a week ago when Minneapolis cops arrested him for a non-violent offense, put face down on the pavement and then snuffed the life out of him. The officer who killed him is white; Floyd was black.

By John Kanelis

Amid all the gloom and grief, and all the mayhem and misery associated with a global pandemic and the death of a man at the hands of brutal cops in Minneapolis, Minn., I found time Saturday to cheer an event for which I have been waiting.

At around 2:30 p.m., Central Daylight Time, a rocket launched from Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral, Fla. It carried two American astronauts into orbit. It was the first launch of Americans from a U.S. launching pad in nearly a decade.

Jose De La Torre would be about 75 years of age today. I don’t know how he would have lived his life. I don’t know about his family history or what he aspired to do after he took off his Army uniform.

Farmersville Police Chief Michael Sullivan has been protecting and serving the public for 34 years while working for various police agencies throughout North Texas.

John Ratcliffe is likely to be confirmed as the nation’s next director of national intelligence.

By John Kanelis

Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, was a brilliant thinker to be sure. He also was dead wrong as he sought to forecast the future of civilization.

The quote you see attached to this blog is attributed to Socrates, who took his own life more than 300 years before Jesus Christ’s birth. He lamented the disrespect shown by young people. If we were to take what the great man said to the bank, we would indeed be in a world of hurt.

By John Kanelis

Do you want to take a hike? Or ride a bike? How about taking your horse on a ride? Maybe even jog a bit to get your heart started?

Some folks along a 130-mile trail that runs from Farmersville to New Boston have just the place for you to do all of these activities. At least they intend to make it even more suitable for such activity, but it’s going to take some time, some effort and more than just a little bit of money.

By John Kanelis

Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp has put out the word: School will open this fall at all 11 system campuses with in-person classroom study and, get ready for it, there will be football.

Are you ready? For some football? 

Let's not jump the gun just yet.

By John Kanelis

I am full of contradictory emotions at this moment in light of the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic.

Although I miss doing many of things I cannot do at the moment, I am in no rush to return to doing them. I fear contamination. I don't want to get sick. Nor do I want my family members and others I love to become sickened by the virus.

By John Kanelis

This blog post might not be of general interest, but those of you who have moved to your "forever home" might appreciate that I am smiling a bit while I write this brief message.

We moved to Princeton, Texas, a little more than a year ago. We settled into a new home in a subdivision that is still under construction. Just a bit south of us -- about a block or so away -- is a large tract of land that eventually is going to become a park.

By JOHN KANELIS

You know it and I know it, too. When police officers and firefighters suit up for duty, when they honor their oath to “protect and serve” the public, they are performing hazardous duty.

By John Kanelis

Greg Abbott wants to go slow if he is going to re-open Texas business. The Texas governor plans to let us know what he wants to do later this week, but he has given us a preview of what might be coming up.

By JOHN KANELIS

A company known for plenty of high-tech advances wants to build a concrete plant near Farmersville and a key Texas government agency has decided to grant the company a permit to do so.

By John Kanelis

I suppose you could accuse Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of being a bit slow on the uptake in his statewide response to the coronavirus pandemic.

I will not join that chorus. 

Gov. Abbott today issued a stay-at-home order for Texans. Don't leave the house except to purchase essential items, such as food, fuel and assorted necessary household items. We can venture outside, walk around the neighborhood but we just need to keep our distance from our neighbors. The order lasts at least until the end of April. 

By John Kanelis

If I were sitting in Collin County Judge Chris Hill's chair at this moment I might be inclined to tell Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins to mind his own bee's wax.

Then again, were I occupying Jenkins' chair, I might respond with, "Hey, Chris, we're all in this together. I'm looking out for everyone in the region. That includes the residents of Collin County."

By John Kanelis

Hunt County commissioners have joined a growing list of counties that have done what needs to be done: mandating "shelter in place" for residents.

They are reacting as they should in response to the coronavirus pandemic that has circled the globe. 

Hunt County won't be the final county. You can take that to the bank.

Shelter in place isn't anything approaching house arrest. It means we can still venture out, run essential errands, such as going to grocery store for food and other necessary goods. 

By John Kanelis

It’s fair to wonder about the upcoming runoff election for a Northeast Texas legislative district seat: How does someone as conservative as state Rep. Dan Flynn face a primary challenge from the right?

Flynn, a Van Republican, is running against Bryan Slaton, a businessman from Royse City. The two are running for the House District 2 seat that Flynn has occupied since 2003.

By John Kanelis

So, just how serious should we take the current outbreak of a dangerous infectious disease, the coronavirus that is sweeping across Planet Earth?

Try this: Texas A&M University-Commerce has just canceled all “face to face” classes on campus, telling students and faculty to go to online coursework only.

That, I submit, is a very good call.

TAMUC isn’t the only university in Texas to make this move. Other campuses in the Texas A&M University System have done so, as has the University of Texas-Austin.

By John Kanelis

I will get straight to the point with this blog post.

South Texas Democrats have rocks in their noggins if they intend to argue that the elimination of straight-ticket, partisan voting is unconstitutional and that it discriminates against minority voters.