News

TUNED IN: Notes from Bob Davis, executive director of High Plains Public Radio

I like to the think of the programming on High Plains Public Radio as Classic Public Radio. There’s news in the morning and in the afternoon and in the middle of that information sandwich are unique music programs.

Cargill Meat Solutions is recalling hundreds of thousands of pounds ground beef products following because of an E.coli outbreak after one death and 17 illnesses.   

According to the USDA, Cargill is recalling over 132,00 pounds of ground beef products that may be infected with E.coli following an epidemiological investigation that found the affected people purchased the meat from grocery stores supplied by Ft. Morgan, Colorado’s Cargill Meat Solution

Multiple cases of West Nile virus (WNV) have been confirmed in horses across Kansas over the past few weeks.

According to the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of  Animal Health, 10 confirmed cases have been reported in Lyon, Marion, Neosho, Seward and Wichita counties.

KDA Spokeswoman Heather Lansdowne said there may be other infected horses that haven’t yet been tested. 

Did you know that Oklahoma is the only state to have an official state meal?

As Cowboys and Indians tells us, the meal—which is actually more of a gut-busting cornucopia of awesomeness—was approved by the Oklahoma legislature in 1988. The meal is a showcase for cuisine from all over the Sooner State, but scarfing down the whole smorgasbord is going to require a bit of driving.

A legend in the Texas Panhandle art world died last week.

Lightnin’ McDuff is perhaps most famous for his sculpture “Ozymandius,” two massive stone legs on a pedestal that can be found in a cow pasture between Amarillo and Canyon. The statue, which is based on Percy Shelley’s poem of the same name, has been featured in Slate and Atlas Obscura.

The Center for the Study of the American West in Canyon has received a major grant from Humanities Texas.

The Center for the Study of the American West, better known as CSAW, is fast becoming one of the nation’s most recognized centers for thought and research into the American West.

The grant of several thousand dollars annually will go toward producing the center’s annual “Forgotten Frontera” community conversation event.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Democratic opponent Beto O'Rourke have reached an agreement in their long-running negotiations over a debate schedule.

From The Texas Tribune:

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, have agreed to three debates before Election Day.

Oklahoma imprisons more people than any other state, which means the Sooner State remains the largest per capita incarcerator in the world. State Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh is trying to change that, and he may have found part of the answer in the nation’s previous leader in imprisonment, Louisiana.

TUNED IN: Notes from Bob Davis, executive director of High Plains Public Radio 

Three cheers for Valerie Brown-Kuchera, the host of High Plains Public Radio’s Little Spouse on the Prairie.

The Kansas Association of Broadcasters awarded Little Spouse on the Prairie honorable mention in “Commentary” category for medium markets.

Little Spouse airs Sundays at 8:35 a.m. (Central time) during NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Amarillo has seen a large number of campaign signs for Beto O’Rourke being stolen out of front yards in recent days.

Amarillo Democrat Cecily Wilkinson Riesenberg said she has had three O’Rourke signs stolen from her yard alone.

Carole McDaniel of Indivisible Amarillo confirmed the problem, saying thefts are particularly prevalent in the Wolflin, Bivins, and Belmar neighborhoods. McDaniel has been selling signs out of her house for $5, to try to replace the stolen ones.

The final broadcast for the Summer 2018 season of Amarillo Symphony Presents is Thursday, September 13th at 7pm CT. Highlights include "South Pacific: Symphonic Scenario for Orchestra," an arrangement from Rogers and Hammerstein's seminal show by Richard Russell Bennett, and "Scatter," a concerto for Project Trio and orchestra written in 2016 by Adam Schoenberg.

A forthcoming report by the Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund says the standards Texas uses to determine how much — and whether — to clean up abandoned industrial facilities and other contaminated sites are 'significantly weaker' than those of neighboring states and the federal government, in part because it tolerates a higher cancer risk.

From The Texas Tribune: 

The Amarillo City Council continues to receive a heavy backlash for its decision to move meetings to times that are less convenient for working Amarilloans.

As The Amarillo Globe-News reports, several citizens appeared at the gathering on Tuesday to voice complaints about the new meeting schedule, which has scheduled upcoming city meetings for 7 a.m.

The Kansas Cowboy Hall Of Fame is seeking nominations for folks who epitomize its cowboy ideals of honesty and self-sufficiency.

The hall of fame opened in 2002 at the Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City to recognize people who live the cowboy lifestyle and help preserve cowboy culture.

The town of Canadian, in the northern Texas Panhandle, has received a prestigious designation from the State of Texas.

As The Amarillo Globe-News reports, the Texas Commission on the Arts has named Canadian an official cultural district—one of only 26 such districts in the whole state.

A sick horse from Weld County, Colorado is prompting a search for hundreds of other horses that may have been exposed to a viral disease.

As The Denver Post reports, Colorado officials think up to 240 horses sold to people in 20 states were on the premises with a male horse infected with Equine Infectious Anemia, a viral disease that has no cure.