Archives for May 2002

Former constable Jimmy Swinney is pursuing an appeal in his lawsuit against Donley County.

Swinney’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal in the Donley County Clerk’s Office on April 22, and Swinney paid the associated fee this week, officials said.

The county won a summary judgment in January from District Judge David McCoy, who ruled that the Donley County Commissioners’ Court had not abused its discretion when it set Swinney’s salary at $3,170 in December 2000.

Swinney is now appealing to the Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo.

County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer said after the court receives the appeal, Swinney’s attorneys will have 30 days to file their brief then, her office will have 30 days to do the same.

“This could take up to six months,” Messer said.

Messer said she is still confident the county will prevail in the lawsuit.

“I’m very comfortable with the county’s position. We’ve won so far, and I still believe the commissioners did the right thing originally.”

Swinney won a write-in campaign in November 2000 to fill the position of constable in Donley County’s Precincts 1&2, which had been vacant for more than three decades. He took office in January 2000 and sued six months later alleging, among other things, that his $3,170 annual salary was unreasonable.

In September of last year, Swinney resigned his office after he failed the test to become a certified Texas peace officer.

By Carrie Helms, Clarendon Enterprise

After a successful appeal to the state for funding, Clarendon and Hedley schools will receive all of the funding for the 2002-2003 school year they had expected.

In March, the schools stood to lose almost half a million dollars because of discrepancies in valuations in the two districts by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ and the Donley County Appraisal District.

“Because our local valuation was within 5% of the state’s valuation,” CISD Superintendent Monty Hysinger said, “the Comptroller’s office accepted our numbers.”

According to Paula Lowrie of the Appraisal District, this problem has occurred more than once, but each time, the appeal has been successful.

“When all is said and done, they accept our numbers,” Lowrie said. “We work hard all year long to do things right, and there is no need for us to change the way we do things.”

The state system may be flawed, but Hysinger does not see any changes in the future.

“There has to be some give and take,” Hysinger said.  “The state was not correct in many of their valuations, but the local office may need some adjustment as well.”

The schools will not be receiving new monies, but they will get all the funds they had planned for.

“Both the Donley County Appraisal District and the firm that represented us should be commended,” Hysinger said.  “We are just relieved that even though this doesn’t end our financial worries, we won’t lose any aid we counted on.”

Clarendon High School has announced that Kelley Lemley, Claire Rodriguez, and Austin Sears are the top academic students for the class of 2002.

Kelley Lemley, the daughter of Joe and Rose Lemley, has been named Valedictorian of Clarendon High School with a GPA of 100.90.  Kelley has been honored with National Honor Society induction, Academic All-District for the last three years, Academic All-State during the current year, and the HOBY Scholarship for Leadership in the spring of 2000.  Kelley has also received fourteen Honor “C” awards and the State Board Academic Award in 2000 and 2001.

Kelley has also been very successful in extracurricular activities.  She advanced to state competition while participating in Junior Historians and solo and ensemble in the CHS band.  In addition, Kelley was selected as All-District in basketball and was selected for the All-Region basketball team her junior year.  She also participated in cross-country and golf and was a Bronco Cheerleader.  Kelley served as a leader in our school by being elected to the student council.  Kelley is involved in the church band of the First United Methodist Church.

Claire Rodriguez, the daughter of Fidel and Estella Rodriguez, has been named Salutatorian for Clarendon High School with a GPA of 98.00.  Claire has been extremely active while attending CHS.  She has participated in the award winning Clarendon Bronco Band for four years, has run cross country for four years, and qualified for regional in 2000, played basketball for the Lady Broncos for four years, and has been a member of the track team for three years.  Claire has also played tennis for two years and served as a manager for the Lady Bronco softball team.

Claire has also been involved in UIL academic contests all four years in high school.  She has participated in Current Issues and Events, Spelling, Number Sense, News Writing, and Feature Writing.  Claire qualified for state competition in News Writing this spring and placed first.  Claire has also participated in Junior Historians for two years.

Claire has also been honored by her classmates by being elected Student Council representative her sophomore year, Student Council secretary her junior year, Student Council treasurer her senior year, and NHS secretary.  Claire has received several other honors:  eight Honor “C” awards, CHS Homecoming Queen, National Honor Society member, Academic All-District five times, Best Student in Foreign Language, President’s Award, All-State Academic in cross country, TEA Education Excellence Award, member of the state qualifying trombone ensemble; and she chaired one of the state’s Best Pride and Patriotism Committees.  She is also active in the St. Mary’s youth group.

Austin Sears, the son of Dee Ann and Weldon Sears, has been named Clarendon High School’s High Ranking Boy with a GPA of 96.88.  Austin has been a member of the National Honor Society for two years and has served as vice president this year, has been named Top Student in Foreign Language, has received the President’s Award for Educational Excellence, and has also received the Texas Celebrations of Educational Excellence Award.

Austin has been a member of the first place State Plant Identification team and was named as fourth high individual in that contest as well as high individual in the Tri-State Fair Plant Identification contest.  He was also named seventh high individual in the State Range and Pasture contest.  Austin received a first place medal in district UIL Headline Writing and Computer Science.  He has been a member of a state qualifying French Horn Ensemble for the past two years as well as a Texas State National History Day participant.  His historical paper at the Junior Historians contest placed third and qualified him as a state finalist in the Barbara Jordan Essay competition.  The paper has been archived in the LBJ Library on the University of Texas campus.

Austin’s extracurricular activities include band for four years, basketball one year, French Club three years, UIL Science team two years, Science Bowl one year, Junior Historians two years, and FFA four years.  He served at FFA Historian his junior year and vice president this year.

Austin is also heavily involved in his community.  He has served on the Texas Rural Systemic Initiative Committee, has volunteered for the USDA Earth Team, is a member of the United Methodist youth group, and has been a guitarist for the Methodist Youth Praise Band.

Clarendon voters went to the polls Saturday and dashed the re-election hopes of two long-serving City Aldermen, those being Mac Stavenhagen and Billy Jack Land.

Voters instead chose Tommy Hill and Janice Knorpp as new members of the Board of Aldermen and overwhelmingly confirmed Alderman Mark White to a full term in office.  White had previously been appointed to serve out the term of Alderman Smiley Johnson.

A total of 257 voters cast ballots in the city election. That’s more than double the 119 who voted last year but is still a low turnout.

The number of voters registered in the city was not readily available at press time.

The final tallies were White, 219; Hill, 163; Knorpp, 137; and Stavenhagen, 130. Land’s write-in candidacy drew 62 votes. The election will be canvassed this Friday, and the new aldermen will be sworn in May 14.

Howardwick will also have new faces on its Board of Aldermen. Donald Holladay, Sam Grider, and Bobby Murdock were top choices of the voters in that city.

Holladay received 43 votes, Grider got 42, and Murdock had 39. Vernon Byars, the only incumbent in the race, garnered 30 votes.

Sixty-two people cast ballots in Howardwick. As in Clarendon, officials did not know how many citizens were registered to vote. Howardwick canvassed its election Tuesday night. Officials will take office May 14.

Also on Saturday, two incumbents were returned to the Clarendon College Board of Regents. Bill Sansing, who was appointed to serve out R.L. Gilkey’s term, was the top vote getter with 238 followed by fellow incumbent Jack Moreman who received 191. They will be joined on the board by Jim Blackerby, whose total of 149 votes edged out Sherol Johnston’s 139 and Mary Douglas’ 129.

A total of 261 people cast ballots the college election. That’s only 10.2 percent of the registered voters in the Clarendon College District, but the turnout was up slightly from the last election in 2000 when only 7.7 percent bothered to vote.

CC officials said their election will be canvassed, and new regents will be sworn in this Friday afternoon.

A cross-country car race added nearly $2,700 to Donley County coffers Sunday afternoon as sheriff’s deputies and state troopers issued 17 tickets to drivers in the Gumball 3000 Rally.

“All of them were very nice. They all paid cash,” said Justice of the Peace Ann Kennedy. “I understand they were betting each other who would be stopped next.”

Kennedy’s court in Precincts 3&4 collected seven fines ranging from $95 to $250 and totaling $1,090.

Justice of the Peace Jimmy Johnson said his court brought in $1,600 from ten violations. Tickets ranged from $140 to $255.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said the drivers were from Europe – mostly England – and the United States and were clocked at speeds up to 121 mph. Cars included high dollar models such as Jaguars, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, and Porches as well as domestic cars.

“They made a nice contribution to the county, and I think they had as much fun as we did,” the sheriff said.

Being stopped once wasn’t good enough for at least one Englishman.

“They brought him in here for going 118 mph,” said Kennedy, who fined him $110 of the $113 he had in US currency. “Then they brought him back in for going 94 mph.”

The second time, the chap had to borrow funds from his buddies to pay the ticket.

One journalist traveling with the rally was given a seatbelt citation for hanging out of the car window by his waist to videotape the race.

According to web reports, the Gumball Rally started from Rockefeller Center in New York City on April 25 and ended on April 30 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. The race got its start in the 20th century when Robert “Cannonball” Baker drove from New York to San Diego in seven days, 11 hours, and 52 minutes. His fastest time cross-country was 53.5 hours.

The race gained popularity in the early 1970s and was further inspired by films such as “Gumball Rally” and “Cannonball Run.” The first Gumball 3000 Rally – named for the length of the race – was held in 1999.

The New York to Los Angeles record is 33 hours, 12 minutes.

“They were all good-natured about it, but it is very dangerous to drive that fast,” Kennedy said.

Law enforcement officers in Childress County, Armstrong County, and the City of Amarillo also stopped rally drivers, according to the Amarillo Globe-News. The top ticket writer was a state trooper in Oldham County who made 23 stops.

By Carrie Helms and Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The cable crisis facing local churches is over, according to an announcement made by First Baptist Church TV Ministry Chair Jean Ledbetter at last week’s Clarendon Aldermen meeting.

The church has made a deal with Classic Cable for the churches to be back on the air Sunday morning.

“Services will be just as before, beginning with Calvary Baptist at 8 o’clock,” Ledbetter said.

Co-chair Shirley Osburn said that the people of Clarendon have been instrumental in getting Classic Cable’s cooperation.

“They just can’t treat small towns like big cities because people don’t have that choice,” Osburn said.  “People in the community called, and gave their opinions and now we’re back on the air.”

According to Ledbetter, the church is waiting for a contract to seal the deal.

“We have agreed on a reasonable monthly payment of $50,” she said, “but we want to be sure we have a solid agreement in writing so that this does not happen again.”

Channel 11 has not been so successful, but KEFH-FM owner Patrick Robertson previously told City Council that his company is looking into the possibility of representing a satellite television provider.

“We should be able to finalize some details by the end of the week,”  Robertson said, “but as of now there is no change in the situation.”

In other city news, aldermen voted to lease a new copier from Tascosa Office Machines for $104.36 per month.

The animal ordinance was discussed. Mike Johnson said his property is his livelihood, and he didn’t think an ordinance should tell him what he could do it. Kyle Hill told the board he didn’t think the ordinance was fair and that he didn’t intend to abide by it at all. Mayor Selvidge told Johnson he could bring a petition before the board.

The board approved a request from Darrell Burton to use McClelland Field as a gathering place for some 200 youth for a conference on May 25 and 25.

Austin Howard, Stormie Garrison, and Michael Brooks discussed the skate park and presented the board with drawings and measurements. Board consultant Colby Waters reported he had contacted Texas Municipal League (TML) concerning liability insurance for the proposed park. It will cost an additional $2,759 per year for the insurance, plus there are strict but reasonable guidelines to follow. A representative from TML will be invited to the next board meeting.

Engineering proposals for a street improvement project were presented and considered. The board selected Barber, PSC, and TSC as the top three firms for consideration.

Local voters will go to the polls this Saturday, May 4, to elect members to three local boards.

Citizens of the City of Clarendon will select three aldermen in voting being held at City Hall. Those running are Tommy Hill, Janice Knorpp, Mac Stavenhagen (i), and Mark White (i). Billy Jack Land (i) is running as a write-in candidate.

Howardwick citizens will also select three aldermen and can choose from Vernon Byars (i), Sam Grider, Donald Hollady, or Bobby Murdock. Balloting will be at the Howardwick City Hall.

Citizens of Donley County can vote for three positions on the Clarendon College Board of Regents. Those running are Jimmy Blackerby, Mary Douglas, Sherol Johnston, Jack A. Moreman (i), and Bill Sansing (i). Voting for these regent positions will be held at the Administration Building on the campus of the Clarendon Independent School District.

If early voting is any indication, the college district and the City of Clarendon may have big turnouts this weekend. As of Tuesday morning, college officials were reporting approximately 60 early voters having cast ballots, and Clarendon City Hall had had 43 citizens vote early.

Howardwick City Hall reported nine early voters.

Polling places for all three boards will be open Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.