MULESHOE, Texas _ Magann Rennels has been on the job as a local television newshound for almost four decades. Still, the savvy proprietor of the town's only cable station can't possibly know what stories might fall into her lap for the three times a week "Muletrain" reports on her family-operated Channel 6.
How could she possibly have known nefarious souls would steal the portable outdoor air conditioning system down at the nursing home, necessitating an emergency fundraiser; or the success of the after-school healthy snack program? And, of course, who knows when those smitten might get engaged or married or when babies will be born? And then there are the obligatory obits about friends and neighbors.
A real surprise blockbuster came in June when Muleshoe's own Lincoln Riley, whose parents Mike and Marilyn still live in Rennels' neighborhood, was named the football coach at the University of Oklahoma after the unexpected resignation of Bob Stoops. Now the youngest head coach in major college football hailed from the West Texas speck on the map that fell into Channel 6's market.
Overnight, "Muletrain" was competing with "SportsCenter" for eyeballs.
"A really exciting time," Rennels called the high-adrenaline week that followed Riley's ascension from offensive coordinator. "Surely not an everyday event in these parts."
