Independent News Drop

KELI From Inkwell, this is the Amarillo News Drop. I'm Keli, with Hast.

HAST Schools across the Panhandle posted B ratings in the Texas Education Agency's latest accountability rankings released Friday. The TEA measures three areas — Student Achievement, which includes STAAR test results and graduation rates; School Progress, which tracks performance over time; and Closing the Gaps, which focuses on how districts serve underperforming student groups. Amarillo-area districts earned B's across the board. The state uses the same A-F system it's had since 2017, but the stack of B's tells you where the Panhandle stands — solid middle ground, not climbing, not falling.

KELI Counter-read on that: Most coverage will frame it as "schools are performing" without naming the actual test-score floor or what a B means in real classroom terms. The TEA doesn't break out whether these B's come from high absolute achievement or just year-over-year movement. Districts can score a B for progress even if their baseline is well below state average. For Amarillo listeners, the checkable piece is the next board meeting — ask whether your district broke down which three areas drove the B, and whether Student Achievement or Closing the Gaps is the weakest leg. That number tells you where the real work sits.

HAST Canyon ISD is pushing an energy efficiency plan it says will save more than thirteen million dollars in long-term utility costs. The projects include LED lighting updates across buildings, water conservation enhancements, and upgrades to building automation systems. The district is taking that to a board vote soon. If approved, the work rolls out over the next few years — a structural bet that lower utility bills free up money for classrooms instead of power bills.

KELI Staying with infrastructure. The City of Amarillo entered Stage 1 of its Drought Contingency Plan this week and is asking residents to follow a voluntary outdoor watering schedule. The city approved the plan in 2024 but hasn't had to invoke it until now — a signal that water stress in the Panhandle is tightening.

HAST On roads: expect lane closures on eastbound Amarillo Boulevard this week at Lakeside Drive and north Hughes Street for patching work. The right lane of southbound US 287 through Washburn was closed today for maintenance. Standard summer grind.

KELI Original Composites & Fiberglass, formerly Owens Corning, celebrated the planned restart of its second glass furnace production line Thursday. The line shut down in 2023 after an unplanned glass leak. The restart project is expected to create up to 165 full-time positions at an average salary of at least seventy thousand a year — a significant employment anchor for the region if the timeline holds.

HAST One date marker: August 17th, 1998 — President Bill Clinton admitted in taped testimony that he had an improper physical relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, then confessed to the nation the same day that he had misled people about it.

KELI That's the Amarillo News Drop. Full script and sources at inkwell.wiki/news/amarillo.

KELI Before we close, a word from Inkwell. Gil's Intelligent Version has a new companion piece on how the Latter-day Saints read the Trinity — three distinct beings, one in purpose, rather than three persons of one substance.

HAST It's an evenhanded look at the same question, decided the other way. At inkwell dot wiki, slash godhead.