Do we ever say goodbye to people?

It’s almost cliché to say the world is more interconnected today than ever.
But it’s true.

With social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and many folks just a short text message away, it’s easy to maintain a friendship with a person halfway across the country.
So as I say goodbye to friends, colleagues and all others in Amarillo, it’s comforting to remember I can easily keep in touch with everyone I want to.
Today was my last day as staff writer for the Amarillo Globe-News.

I worked at this newspaper for nearly 3½ years covering health, higher education, cops, courts, business and many general assignments thrown my way.

I worked with some great people and learned and grew a tremendous amount along the way. I am proud of numerous stories I’ve covered and broken as a journalist.

This was my first job out of college. I moved to the Texas Panhandle three weeks after graduating from the University of Georgia to take what I thought was a great opportunity to launch myself.

I wasn’t disappointed.

But it’s time for something different. I’m seeking a more stable industry to try to advance my career.

I start next Monday writing for Chemical & Engineering News, the member publication of the American Chemical Society.

I want to apply my chemistry education to jump into the world of science writing. Washington D.C., where I’ll move later this week, is a Mecca for journalist. It’s time for me to travel to the Holy Land.

I won’t miss the Panhandle winds. I will miss lunch at Sharky’s.
I won’t miss dealing with hospital spokeswomen. I will miss seeing the television news report the same story I broke in that morning’s newspaper.

Thank you to all the kind and generous people I’ve meet.
And remember, if e-mail is too antiquated for you, there’s always Facebook and texting.

Who to point to for health-care reform?

I was listening to the radio on my drive home yesterday evening and heard an interesting sound bite while the dial was turned to the local National Public Radio station.
It was President Obama talking somewhere about his health reform bill. The president made a statement in reaction to Republican complaints about his bill.
“You had 10 years to do something,” Obama spoke of Republicans to the crowd.
Say what you want about Obama and the Democrats’ proposal to overhaul the health care and insurance industries in this country, but President George W. Bush and Republicans were in office for long enough to have acted if they wanted to.
Unless Congress acts before April 1, payments to doctors for treating Medicare patients will drop by more than 21 percent. The argument from doctors is they will stop seeing Medicare patients because they will spend more money treating them than they get reimbursed.
But Congress has done nothing but delay cuts in physician payments for more than 10 years. That dates back to the Bush administration and a Republican-controlled Congress.
Reader comments from my story today want to blame Obama for the Democrats plan for the potential ruin of health care.
If health care in this country goes to Hell in a hand basket, you shouldn’t blame Obama-care and Democrats. Sitting on your hands and doing nothing is just as bad taking action and messing up.

Alabama men meet in Texas

I ran across the above picture in Tuesday's Globe-News for a story on the groundbreaking of the $21 million athletic complex at West Texas A&M. Pictured are Texas A&M regent Gene Stallings (left) and WT President J. Patrick O'Brien looking at plans for the project.
One interesting note many may not know:
Stallings is a former head football coach at the University of Alabama and helped the Crimson Tide win a national championship in 1992.
O'Brien is a proud alumnus of Auburn University, ‘Bama's archrival.
Stallings is a Texas native and played football at Texas A&M under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.
As a southern football enthusiast, I find it interesting when two people from a heated rivalry cross paths even when it has nothing to do with the schools.

Bell could be back in old post

Texas Tech physician Todd Bell drew much praise and support during his 10-month tenure as health authority for Potter and Randall counties.
His resignation, which came amid an investigation of a Stratford nurse practitioner he oversaw, was as a surprise to many around him. It was a sign of weakness from a highly-regarded man.
However, Bell’s replace to the post, Dr. Roger Smalligan said after his appointment from the Amarillo Bi-City-County Public Health District board last night that Bell could return as health authority.
“I would not want to rule that out,” Smalligan said. “It was just an unfortunate situation that happened from someone so far away abusing the supervisory position.”
The nurse practitioner in question, Ward Palmer, drank on the job and inappropriately prescribed narcotics, according to the Texas Board of Nursing. He has resigned his nursing license.
Charges have not been filed in the case and Bell is not the subject of any investigation.
Those who know Bell have nothing but positive things to say about him.
Bell has kept his duties with the Texas Tech School of Medicine in Amarillo, but also gave up his license to issue certain controlled substances as well as his health authority position on Nov. 23.
I analyze Smalligan’s comments from last night as saying Bell gave up some of his responsibilities to save face and could return once the legal cloud over Stratford settles.
Regional School of Medicine Dean Richard Jordan called Smalligan an “emergency replacement” for Bell.
No one has expressly said Bell will return as health authority, but Smalligan is at least hinting such a thing may occur.

‘The news can’t be bought’

Late last week, I pursued a story on an Amarillo doctor who was disciplined by the Texas Medical Board for killing a patient in November 2007.
The doctor, Naeem Khan, now owns Amarillo Urgent Care, a regular advertiser with the Globe-News.
Shortly after I called the clinic to seek comment from Khan for the story, his office administrator called me back to ask a series of questions of me, my reporting and my story.
The woman ended up speaking with one of my editors. That editor spoke with me shortly after getting off the phone with the administrator.
My editor told me to refer all their further calls to her.
Apparently, the administrator reminded my editor that Amarillo Urgent Care spends a lot of money advertising with us.
“Well, the news can’t be bought,” my editor said, relaying her comments to me.
We printed the story on Khan's medical board discipline Friday and a follow up today on his settling a malpractice lawsuit with the family earlier this year.

News organizations – at least those with integrity – don’t allow its organizations advertising dollars or potential advertising dollars influence its news coverage.

Bush received $10,000 for her appearance

Texas Tech paid Jenna Bush Hager $10,000 for her appearance in Amarillo Friday at a fundraiser for the women’s health institute named after her mother, the school said this week.
The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health held the $75-per-plate luncheon last week to generate money for its InfantRisk Center, a nationwide call center for pregnant and nursing mothers who seek information on how medication may impact their children or nursing. The event raised more than $150,000 for the cause, organizers said.
For Hager’s $10,000 fee, Bush spoke for nearly 15 minutes mostly on the topic of education and left the Amarillo Civic Center Grand Plaza immediately after finishing her speech at the podium.
Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, executive director of the Bush institute, said the entire event was underwritten by sponsors and money from the more than 700 attendees.
“I think it’s good for the area to bring in national speakers,” Jenkins said Monday.
Bush’s fee wasn’t included in last week's story. Jenkins avoided answering the question of Hager’s payment (but answered others on the event) in an e-mail and voice mail late Friday.

Another note of updating info from a story:
Gray County ended up spending $885,000 to bring capital murder charges against Levi King to trial, according to County Auditor Elaine Morris.
King pleaded guilty last year to the shooting deaths of three Pampa residents in September 2005. Lynn Switzer, 31st District attorney, wanted to pursue the death penalty against King despite his already serving a life sentence in Missouri. A Lubbock jury sentenced King to life without parole.
I wrote a story a couple of weeks ago on the difficulty of pursuing the death penalty.
I was unable to get a final tally for the King trial because heavy snow closed county offices that Thursday and Friday. The county auditor was not in the office before my deadline passed.

You love me. You really love me.

Or at least there are signs that some of folks actually read my postings.
I was having doubts for a while.
I can count the number of comments on one hand and have two followers to date. (One is a Globe-News editor.)
But I’ve had indications recently that at least a few readers are paying attention.
I’ve received comments on Twitter and wall posts on Facebook about what I’ve written in recent weeks.
The weekend before last, a reader pointed out specific posts and reminded me I needed to write more entries.
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine who works at Northwest Texas Hospital told me an entry I wrote concerning the emergency room circulated the hospital.
I made a New Year’s Resolution to provide more updates with my blog. Whether or not I’ve done that, it’s nice to know that at least of you out there are paying attention to or reading some of my dribble.