Archives for September 2001

The quick response of deputies in Donley and Gray counties led to the arrest of a man suspected of assaulting a woman last week.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said a 31-year-old Farmington, New Mexico, woman told Gray County Deputy Jim McDonald that a truck driver had attempted to sexually assault her in his vehicle. Donley County Chief Deputy Randy Bond was dispatched to the mile marker 124, the Clarendon exit on Interstate 40, where he met McDonald and the complainant.

According to Blackburn, the truck driver picked up the woman in Amarillo and pulled off on the access road inside Donley County. The man reportedly held a knife to the woman’s throat while he tore her clothes and attempted to assault her. The woman managed to get away, and the trucker drove off.

Deputy McDonald saw the woman running along the highway and stopped to help her.

The woman gave the deputies a detailed description of the assailant and his truck, which was put out to area law enforcement agencies. The truck was later stopped by the Beckham County Sheriff’s Department in Oklahoma.

The driver was held by Oklahoma authorities until Sheriff Blackburn arrived Friday and arrested him. Michael Lyn Smith, age 39, of Cleveland, Georgia, was charged with aggravated assault and returned to Clarendon where he was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Jimmy Johnson. At presstime he was still incarcerated in the Donley County Jail.

“I would like to thank the Gray County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Jim McDonald,” Blackburn said. “If not for the prompt response of Deputy McDonald and [Donley County] Deputy Randy Bond, we could not have caught this guy. He would have just been gone.”

Blackburn said the subject denies the woman’s charges but has a lengthy criminal history.

Hedley Public Schools will soon be embarking on a $1 million new building following receipt of a grant recently.

Superintendent Bryan Hill said the Hedley Independent School District was notified of the grant during the first week of August by the Texas Education Agency.

The new facility will be located on the current school grounds, west of the Owl Gym and south of the main school building. After completion, the main entrance to the school will face west instead of south as it now does.

Plans call for four new classrooms and a combination multipurpose library/auditorium area. One of the new classrooms will be a lecture hall, and the multipurpose room will include computers, which will be wired to the Internet and accessible by community members.

The new facility will nearly double the space of the main school building, Hill said. The building will be of a metal frame construction with a metal roof and a masonry veneer exterior similar to the Bronco Gym in Clarendon, he said.

Architect Steven Butler of Canyon is currently drawing plans for the project. School officials hope to have the job completed sometime early in the 2002-2003 school year.

Hill said HISD originally applied for the TEA Instructional Facilities Allotment grant in 1999 and has been reapplying every year. The grant will cover approximately 83 percent of the cost of the new building. The remainder of the cost will be picked up by HISD taxpayers with 15-year bonds.

In November 1999, school district voters approved issuance of bonds to cover the district’s match by a margin of 96-30. The condition of the vote was that the bonds would not be issued until the school was awarded the grant.

“Community support has been overwhelming,” Hill said.

While other area rural schools are facing declining enrollments, the Hedley school has been on the upswing. Hill said 115 kids attended Hedley ten years ago. That number is now 189, growing steadily for the last seven years.

The school attracts approximately 50 transfer students from Clarendon, Memphis, and Wellington, Hill said.

More improvements may be in store for HISD’s physical plant. Hill said the district is currently working on a grant application that would renovate the roof of the main building and update the facility to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen announced their intentions to begin tax abatement processes on two businesses during their regular meeting last Tuesday.

Applications were presented by the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation on behalf of Bayou Medical Ltd. (Dr. John Howard and family), which plans to build a new clinic south of the Medical Center Nursing Home, and Bill Cornell, who is building a new feed and farm supply store at Second and Orpe Streets.

Clarendon EDC Director Helen Parker spoke to the board concerning tax abatement policies and guidelines. The board made changes to the guidelines and accepted them. Aldermen also voted to amend Ordinance 323 to change the identification of Industrial Reinvestment Zone #1.

Hospital District Administrator Alan Graham presented a request to have the cul-de-sac in front of the Medical Center Nursing Home designated as Medical Center Drive and to have physical addresses assigned to current and future buildings there. The hospital district will continue to maintain the cul-de-sac. The designation is for 911 and delivery purposes. The city granted the request with odd numbers on the south and even on the north to stay in keeping with city street addresses.

In other city business, the order of the code of criminal procedure for the Municipal Court was approved, and the library policy and procedure manual was tabled for review. Alderman Bob Watson was appointed to the Panhandle Emergency Medical Service Advisory Board, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s rental contract on the city radio tower was renewed.

Aldermen met for nearly an hour in closed session to discuss pending litigation relating to the animal and livestock ordinance. No action was taken.