Hey Amarillo

A conversation with Tremaine Brown of Shi-Lee's Barbecue and Soul Food Cafe . During the pandemic, Tremaine prepared and gave out nearly 90,000 free lunches to local kids. Then he picked up tens of thousands of pounds of trash from north Amarillo neighborhoods. His activism and generosity aren't new, but 2020 offered him an unprecedented opportunity to serve the city he calls home. In this episode...

A conversation with Dallas Bell, owner and operator of Burrowing Owl Books , an independent bookstore with two locations. She and her family arrived here from North Carolina when her husband accepted a pediatrics position with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Three years ago, they opened their first bookstore on the Square in Canyon, and recently expanded to Amarillo. Dallas speaks wi...

A conversation with Jason Herrick, president of Pantera Energy Company and president of the political action committee Amarillo Matters . An Amarillo native, Jason's lived and worked in Europe before he returned to lead his family's oil and gas company. He shares with host Jason Boyett about his career and his ongoing volunteer efforts with opportunities that impact Amarillo's future, like the Tex...

A conversation with Nikki Green of Two for the Road, the PBS travel and adventure show she created and cohosts with her husband, Dusty. Nikki tells host Jason Boyett about growing up in Claude, quitting her orthodontic career in her 30s to travel the world, and how COVID-19 has impacted production of their show, which just released its fourth season. Nikki also shares how she and Dusty split produ...

A conversation with Jason Barrett, owner of The 806 Coffee + Lounge and an active community leader in the San Jacinto neighborhood and 6th Street Historic District. The 806 is a coffee shop and vegetarian restaurant specializing in art and live music—and has had enormous influence since it launch in 2007. With host Jason Boyett, Barrett tells the origin story of The 806, details a few of its early...

A conversation with Jasmine Taylor, owner and operator of the new Oh My Fro Lash Co. , an online business based in Amarillo. A former 911 dispatcher and college basketball player, Taylor finally launched her business in the middle of the pandemic after years of dreaming and planning. With host Jason Boyett, she shares about the challenges of being a business owner, the state of Black-owned busines...

A conversation with Dr. Paul Matney , the retired past president of Amarillo College. A longtime educator, Matney spent more than three decades teaching media and communications students at WT and AC—while also serving as a weekend weatherman, a baseball umpire, and the face of AC within the larger community. He shares with host Jason Boyett about the broad scope of his career in education, and wh...

A conversation with Melynn Huntley, Elections Administrator for Potter County . With a little over a month before an enormously consequential presidential election, Melynn speaks with host Jason Boyett about her wide-ranging career. How did a former graphic designer end up managing elections—and how will it work during a pandemic? Most importantly, she shares what's on her mind as she coordinates...

A conversation with Teresa Kenedy, president of the Barrio Neighborhood Planning Committee and a retired social worker with Amarillo ISD. Teresa tells host Jason Boyett about growing up as a member of the only Hispanic and Catholic family in a small mountain town. Upon arriving in Amarillo for college, she found a much more robust Hispanic culture—and has since become a community organizer working...

A conversation with Ali Ramos, a graphic designer and Amarillo native who just graduated with a master's degree in social work from Columbia University. Ali is also a board member for NMD United , a national organization advocating for individuals with neuromuscular disabilities. She shares with host Jason Boyett about growing up with a physical disability, embracing an accidental leadership role...

A conversation with Bowden Jones Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer at FirstBank Southwest . Bowden is involved with a variety of community nonprofits and is one of the creators of the Northside Toy Drive. He shares with host Jason Boyett about his military-kid upbringing, coming Amarillo after having lived in Panama, how he stumbled into a successful banking career, and why...

A conversation with Austin Sutter, executive director of the Amarillo Hockey Association . A native of Red Deer, Alberta, he tells host Jason Boyett about arriving in Amarillo 15 years ago as a professional hockey player and deciding to stay even after his playing career ended. He believes Amarillo is on the verge of becoming a thriving hockey city and explains how the Amarillo Ice Ranch—a year-ro...

A conversation with Karah Gilbert, the founder of Solidarity Isn't Silent and an employee of Randall County's Youth Center of the High Plains. Karah shares with host Jason Boyett about her work with young people in the criminal justice system. They also discuss her multi-faceted organization, which began this summer as a way to stand up to the injustice faced by Black residents in Amarillo and acr...

A conversation with Devenie Graham, artistic director for the brand-new Sharpened Iron Studios , a newly launched company that is working to bring Hollywood-level film and TV production to the Texas Panhandle. An actor/model who worked in New York City and Los Angeles before returning to Amarillo, Devenie shares with host Jason Boyett why Amarillo is the perfect location for a major motion picture...

A conversation with Kishore Yalamanchili, MD , a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center assistant professor and local Division Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care. Having spent the pandemic treating COVID-19 critical care patients—and sharing about it on Facebook—Dr. Yalamanchili shares with host Jason Boyett about his career, his unlikely social media prominence, and why he has chosen to l...

A conversation with Kyla Frye , Executive Director of the WT Enterprise Center . The Enterprise Center is central to Amarillo's economic ecosystem, and Kyla shares with host Jason Boyett how the WTEC is helping local people launch new businesses and improve existing ones. They also discuss the Wire Accelerator program for early-stage tech startups, including why this area is building a reputation...

A conversation with Mugisha Aime, a mechanical engineer who recently graduated from Texas Tech. After Mugisha's family fled genocide in Rwanda, he grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania. Eventually they resettled in the U.S. when Mugisha was in his early teens. He shares with host Jason Boyett about what it was like to enter American school with no English, and how one teacher at Palo Duro High Sch...

A conversation with Megan Eikner , a local agriculture and natural resource agent with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension . Her job is wide-ranging and complex, but it's largely educational in nature. She helps local farmers understand the latest ag science and research, sharing with them the techniques that work best for the Texas Panhandle. A native of southeast Colorado, Megan also explains why she d...

A conversation with Liz Rascon Alaniz, a doctoral candidate at WTAMU and executive director of the Wesley Community Center . The Wesley is located in the heart of the Hispanic Barrio and has a long history of serving that historic neighborhood. Born in the Texas Panhandle to parents who immigrated from Mexico, Liz shares about her family's search for opportunity, the unique gifts of the Barrio to...

A conversation with Michael Timcisko, executive director of the Panhandle AIDS Support Organization (PASO). As Pride month concludes, Michael tells host Jason Boyett about coming of age as a gay man during the height of the AIDS pandemic, and how that has informed PASO's efforts to serve HIV-positive individuals. (It also has interesting parallels with the current moment, as our society learns to...

A conversation with Melodie Graves, Associate Director of Advising at Amarillo College and member of the executive board of the Amarillo Branch of the NAACP . A long-time community activist, s he shares with host Jason Boyett about being bussed to south Amarillo from the North Heights, her experience with subtle racism in high school and explicit racism while pursuing her Masters, and what the las...

"What I'll remember most is..." In mid-May, while cases were still rising in Amarillo and before the worldwide protests following the death of George Floyd, host Jason Boyett asked local listeners to call in and record the events, experiences and feelings they would remember most from the Coronavirus pandemic and shutdown. This final COVID Chronicles episode features the voices and perspectives of...

"Value my life as a human being. Cry when you see harm done to a person that looks like me, and do your best to stand beside me." The murder of George Floyd has sparked national protests across the United States and an unprecedented conversation about race. Against this tragic backdrop, African-American residents of Amarillo share their experiences, their emotions, and their longing for change. Gu...

"As a nation, we are in a pain dance." As May ended, another crisis compounded the pandemic's disruption. Protests spurred by the pain and outrage around racism spilled onto American streets. In this episode, Mayor Ginger Nelson shares with host Jason Boyett about Amarillo's response to both crises, and the challenge of leading in times of uncertainty. Meanwhile, Jackie Kingston of KAMR Local 4 Ne...

"It was a nightmare. I can't think of a better word." In this episode, Amarillo residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 share their personal stories. Guests include a local Tyson plant employee still in quarantine, an 82-year-old woman whose husband spent several weeks in the hospital, and a single mom who got the virus from her teenage son. All presented a variety of symptoms and levels o...