City-wide ban on texting while driving sought.

CONNECT AMARILLO: AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Texting while driving in a school zone in Amarillo is illegal and eventually, that ban could go citywide.

Wednesday, the Amarillo Traffic Commission talked about the possibility of a citywide ban on texting while driving.

"They wanted input as to if we need an ordinance, is an ordinance feasible," said Amarillo Traffic Engineer, Taylor Withrow. "Are there some other things we could do instead or in conjunction with the city wide ban."

They looked at information from Austin, which has had a city wide ban on texting while driving in effect for the past two years. During those two years, Austin only issued 310 citations for individuals breaking that ban, a relatively small number for such a large city.

Because that number seems so low, discussion during the Traffic Commission's meeting Wednesday turned to the difficulty of enforcing such a law.

"The difficulty comes with enforcing it," said Traffic Commission Chairman, D.J. Stubben. "But our wonderful police department is good about observing the drivers to see if they're driving erratically or anything then they can pull them over for another misdemeanor."

No action was taken on this issue during the meeting but will be discussed again at the next Traffic Commission meeting in January.

Images from Cruise Night - 11-5-2011

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All photos (C) Steve Douglass

Quake rattles Oklahoma - felt in Amarillo and Canyon!

SPARKS, Okla. | Oklahomans more accustomed to tornadoes than earthquakes suffered through a weekend of temblors that cracked buildings, buckled a highway and rattled nerves. One quake late Saturday was the state's strongest ever and jolted a college football stadium 50 miles away and was followed early Sunday by a jarring aftershock.

There were no reports in the hours after the quakes of any severe injuries or severe damage.

"That shook up the place, had a lot of people nervous," Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon said of the late Saturday quake, the strongest of a series of quakes. "Yeah, it was pretty strong."

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake Saturday night was centered near Sparks, 44 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, and could be felt throughout the state and in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, northern Texas and some parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, said geophysicist Jessica Turner at the U.S. Geological Survey. A magnitude 4.7 quake early Saturday was felt from Texas to Missouri.

Turner told The Associated Press that the subsequent magnitude 4.0 quake that struck at 3:39 a.m. Sunday was an aftershock centered some 36 miles east of Oklahoma City in the same region. Like Saturday night's quake, she said it was another shallow quake occurring about 3 miles underground, but experts had no immediate explanation for the spurt in seismic activity.

Following the quakes or numerous small aftershocks, several homeowners and businesses reported cracked walls, fallen knickknacks and other minor damage. At Shawnee, the fire department said one spire on the administration building at St. Gregory University had been damaged and another one was leaning, according to KWTV in Oklahoma City.

Pirates Of The Canyon - Balloon Glow 2011

Just one from tonight's balloon glow in Amarillo - part of the "Pirate's Of The Canyon event taking place this weekend.




(C) Steve Douglass
PHOTO COPYRIGHT 2011 STEVE DOUGLASS
UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION IS PROHIBITED

What was that flash? Pantex dismantling last largest nuke today.

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — The last of the nation's most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War.

The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down today at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.
Thomas D'Agostino, the nuclear administration's chief, called the bomb's elimination a "significant milestone."

First put into service in 1962, when Cold War tensions peaked during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the B53 weighed 10,000 pounds and was the size of a minivan. According to the American Federation of Scientists, it was 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II.
The B53 was designed to destroy facilities deep underground, and it was carried by B-52 bombers.

Since it was made using older technology by engineers who have since retired or died, developing a disassembly process took time. Engineers had to develop complex tools and new procedures to ensure safety.

"We knew going in that this was going to be a challenging project, and we put together an outstanding team with all of our partners to develop a way to achieve this objective safely and efficiently," said John Woolery, the plant's general manager.

Many of the B53s were disassembled in the 1980s, but a significant number remained in the U.S. arsenal until they were retired from the stockpile in 1997. Pantex spokesman Greg Cunningham said he couldn't comment on how many of the bombs have been disassembled at the Texas plant.

The weapon is considered dismantled when the roughly 300 pounds of high explosives inside are separated from the special nuclear material, known as the pit. The uranium pits from bombs dismantled at Pantex will be stored on an interim basis at the plant, Cunningham said.

The material and components are then processed, which includes sanitizing, recycling and disposal, the National Nuclear Security Administration said last fall when it announced the Texas plant's role in the B53 dismantling.
The plant will play a large role in similar projects as older weapons are retired from the U.S.'s nuclear arsenal.

New Dust Bowl Rocks South Plains

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

Discovery Center Balloon Glow October-14-2011

Air/car show this weekend!

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The Dewline Squadron of the The Commemorative Air Force is hosting a car and and airplane show Saturday at Tradewind Airport. Activities include opening ceremonies at 12:15 p.m.

Amarillo Skyline ...

If you ever get back to Amarillo
In a shiny new car or
Worn out shoes
If you ever get back to Amarillo
I’ll be waitin' for you - Alan Jackson.

(C) Photos copyright Steve Douglass and requires permission for reproduction.

Balloon Glow scheduled at Discovery Center!

AMARILLO --- The Don Harrington Discovery Center is hosting Balloon Glow.

Hot air balloons are coming to Amarillo from the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.

Watch as the balloons inflate and the pilots fire their burners.

Spectators are encouraged to walk around the lawn, see the balloons up close and talk to the pilots.

You can even climb up into the basket and take photos with your own camera.

The fun event will feature lots of hot air balloonists fueling up. It's Friday, October 14, starting at 6:00p.m.