Archives for March 2004

Good luck and alert citizens have aided local law officers in making quick apprehensions of criminals.

Last Wednesday, the Donley County Sheriff’s Office received a call about 10:30 p.m. from Nathan Floyd of Clarendon, who said his residence on S. Carhart Street had been burglarized. Floyd reported several items stolen including a tin full of change and a blue button-up shirt.

Shortly after taking Floyd’s statement, Sheriff Butch Blackburn stopped at Allsup’s for a Coke and noticed three subjects, one of whom was wearing a blue button-up shirt and another who was trying to convert change into currency.

Blackburn approached the subjects and noticed several other items Floyd had listed as being stolen.

Derrick Todd, 19, and Timothy Jackson, 18, both of Memphis, and Johnny Castillo, 20, of Amarillo all pled guilty Monday and received five years deferred probation and a $2,500 fine, the sheriff said. All of Floyd’s property was recovered.

On Saturday night, Laban Tubbs informed the sheriff’s office that someone had just stolen his pickup from his residence southeast of Clarendon. Officers went into action, and a good citizen who happens to be the sheriff’s son, Tanner Blackburn, reported seeing the vehicle.

Officers stopped the truck nine miles north of town on SH 70 and arrested Randy Keith Mason, age 23, of Clarendon for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He later posted a $5,000 bond.

“Part of our success recently has been due to good citizens, and part of it is just due to stupid criminals,” Blackburn said.

The political scene heated up this week with several candidates signing up to run for local offices, and all but two local governments will hold contested elections this May.

In the race for three seats on the Clarendon Board of Aldermen, incumbents Tommy Hill, Janice Knorpp, and Mark White will be joined on the ballot by challengers Ron Lamberth, Bill Holden, and Ray Hamilton.

In Hedley, three people have signed up to run for two at-large positions on the board of aldermen. Pamela Casteel is challenging incumbents Leon Ward and Terry Stevens. Mayor Janie Hill is running unopposed for re-election.

At the Donley County Hospital District, Kelly Tunnell and Pat McAnear have signed up to run for the Place 4 seat on the Board of Directors formerly held by the late Jerry May. Linda Kay Bell is challenging incumbent Carolyn Moffett for her Place 5 seat on the board. Incumbent Onita Thomas will face Don Stone in Place 6, and incumbent Jim Douglas is challenged June Davis for Place 7 seats.

For three positions on the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees, incumbents Reneé Betts, Jim Shelton, and Marvin Thompson are joined on the ballot by Judy Thomas.

Four candidates have signed up to run for three places on the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees. They are incumbents Marlee Sharp and Jason Sargent along with Abby O’Neal and Rex Morris.

The City of Howardwick likely will not have an election this year. With three positions on the Board of Aldermen open, incumbents Bobby Murdock and Sam Grider signed up to run for re-election, and H.L. “Buster” Baird has also filed to run for a full term.

Baird is currently on the board, serving the unexpired term of Dewey Linley. As he moves to a full term position, the board will again have to appoint someone for the remaining time of Linley’s term.

Clarendon College will also not be holding an election as only the three incumbents – Ruth Robinson, Susie Shields, and Charles Deyhle, Sr. – have filed to run for re-election to the Board of Regents.

This year’s elections will be held on Saturday, May 15.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen unanimously selected 11 blocks of streets it wants paved and curbed this year during last Tuesday’s city meeting.

City engineer Che Shadle of OJD Engineering addressed the conditions of city streets, and officials decided on two streets to pave based on water flow and traffic.

Aldermen voted to authorize Shadle to start doing survey and design work and to take soil samples in preparation to pave and install curb and gutter on Fourth Street between Koogle Street and Jefferson Street and on Seventh Street from Cottage Street to Sims Street.

Mayor Pro-tem Mark White said the city wants the improvements to be a sign of things to come.

“Hopefully this is just the first step toward many more blocks that need to be curbed and paved,” White said. “We hope this is something that will be ongoing from year to year.”

The new street plan comes six months after Clarendon voters defeated a $2.5 million bond proposal to pave 152 blocks. City aldermen responded to that vote by increasing city fees and taxes in order to pave a few streets every year, and White said last Tuesday’s vote was made possible by that increased revenue.

“This is exactly what the tax increase and the fee increases were for,” he said.

Aldermen chose Fourth Street because it is a major thoroughfare connecting downtown to the public schools and because it is in very poor condition.

Seventh Street was chosen due to the amount of runoff water that collects on that avenue from all over the west end of town, which results in severe erosion and lots of debris being washed down onto streets downstream.

In other city business, Ray Greenwood spoke to the board on behalf of Cebridge Communications (formerly Classic Cable) regarding that company’s franchise agreement. Aldermen voted to accept a ten-year contract with franchise tax payments to be made quarterly to the city.

The board had a lengthy discussion regarding keeping a local channel, operated by the First Baptist Church, on the cable system. Greenwood said his company could provide a leased channel to the church for a set fee, or it could provide a Public Education and Government (PEG) Access channel, which would be regulated by the city.

The PEG channel would allow local churches to continue to broadcast their services locally through the Baptist church. However, the Family Net Channel currently on the air could not be aired unless Cebridge can reach a contractual agreement with that broadcaster. Greenwood said his company does have agreements with several religious oriented networks that could be aired in place of Family Net.

Jean Ledbetter, recalling past dealings with Classic Cable, cautioned against allowing the cable company to have too much control over the local channel and spoke out in favor of trying to keep Family Net on the cable system.

“We should not sign [this agreement] until it says ‘leave this channel alone,’” she said.

But Alderman Michael Tibbets said he thought it would be best to get the channel under the city’s control.

“You’ll be dealing with the city not the cable company,” he said. “The best long term solution is an agreement where you’re dealing with the city.”

The board voted to approve the franchise agreement with a corrected copy to be presented to the city in 30 days and to vote on the second and final reading of the ordinance in 60 days.

Clarendon Economic Development Corporation President Will Thompson addressed the board concerning the possible donation of the Mulkey Theatre to the city. The board agreed to pay for an appraisal of the building out of the Motel Bed Tax Fund.

ABILENE – The Texas Department of Agriculture has established the 2004 assessment rate, due date and discount date for the Northern Rolling Plains Zone of the boll weevil eradication program.

The assessment for 2004 in the NRP is $10 per dry row acre and $15 per irrigated row acre, the rate established by growers and landowners in the original referendum.

Growers with failed acres are eligible to receive a credit of 50 percent of their assessment on those acres destroyed before the final certification date. Qualifying failed acres must remain free of all hostable cotton until a killing freeze to receive the credit.

Assessment notices will be mailed by September 7, and payment is due October 8.

Cotton growers who pay by September 23, 2004, are eligible to receive a two percent discount on their assessment.

Local Democrats and Republicans will be going to the polls next Tuesday to select their candidates for state and national offices.

Polling for both parties will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the following locations:

Democratic Primary: Precincts 101 & 103 – Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center; Precinct 102 – Howardwick City Hall; Precinct 201 – Donley County Courthouse; Precincts 301, 302, & 303 – Hedley Lions Den; and Precincts 401 & 402 – Community Bank (Clarendon).

Republican Primary: Precincts 101 & 103 – Clarendon College Courson RFO Center; Precinct 102 – Howardwick Baptist Church; Precinct 201 – Episcopal Church Mission Building; Precincts 301, 401, & 402 – Burton Memorial Library; and Precincts 302 & 303 – Hedley Fire Department.

In addition to selecting candidates, the Democratic Primary ballot will include two non-binding referenda on privatizing Social Security and Medicare and regarding an amendment to the state constitution outlawing unfunded mandates on counties.

With less than two weeks left to sign up, many local governments were still looking for candidates to run for office at press time.

So far, only two boards currently face the prospect of contested elections.

In Hedley, three people have signed up to run for two at-large positions on the board of aldermen. Pamela Casteel is challenging incumbents Leon Ward and Terry Stevens. Mayor Janie Hill is running unopposed for re-election.

At the Donley County Hospital District, Linda Kay Bell is challenging incumbent Carolyn Moffett for her Place 5 seat on the Board of Directors. Incumbents Onita Thomas and Jim Douglas are running for re-election to their Place 6 and Place 7 seats. No one has signed up to run for the Place 4 seat formerly held by the late Jerry May.

The City of Clarendon has three citizens seeking three seats on the Board of Aldermen. Ron Lamberth and incumbents Janice Knorpp and Tommy Hill have filed to run.

All three incumbents on the Clarendon College Board of Regents have filed their paperwork. Ruth Robinson, Susie Shields, and Charles Deyhle, Sr., are all seeking re-election.

Incumbent Marvin Thompson is the sole candidate for three seats on the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees; and incumbent Marlee Sharp is similarly alone in the contest for three seats on the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees.

The City of Howardwick remains the lone entity with no candidates at all with three seats on the Board of Aldermen open this year.

Sign up for local offices will continue through March 15, 2004. This year’s elections will be held on May 15.

 

Voters in next Tuesday’s Democratic Primary will have an opportunity to speak out about the practice of state government forcing unfunded mandates on local taxpayers.

Following efforts by members of the Texas Association of Counties (TAC), Texas Democrats chose to place on their ballot a referendum to allow citizens to vote for or against a state constitutional amendment “protecting taxpayers by prohibiting state mandates that require local property tax increases.”

The amendment itself will be presented to the Legislature at its next session.

State Republican officials decided not to put a similar referendum on their ballot next Tuesday.

“While Democrats were voting to protect local taxpayers from any more of Rick Perry’s unfunded mandates, rank-and-file Republicans were buckling under to pressure from him to support additional assaults on counties across this state,” Democratic Chair Charles Soechting said.

But Donley County Judge Jack Hall said the issue goes beyond party lines and is something of which all local voters should be aware.

“I think [unfunded mandates] is an issue that is very important to this county and local taxpayers,” Hall said. “It is very important today, and it will be more important in the future.”

The Donley County Commissioners Court is in favor of a ban on unfunded mandates and passed a resolution in November in support of TAC’s efforts. More than two-thirds of Texas counties have passed similar resolutions.

“Our property taxpayers currently have no protection against state actions that force counties to raise taxes,” Hall said. “We believe a constitutional amendment would curtail many of the unfunded mandates. While legislators and state executives do not willingly intend to cause local tax increases, their actions too often result in tax hikes because they do not include statewide funding mechanisms to pay for the directives to counties.”

Many state mandated programs end up costing local taxpayers, particularly in the areas of indigent health services and judicial costs.

Donley County officials say indigent defense expenses, incurred when the county is required to pay attorneys’ fees for economically disadvantaged criminal defendants, are the most costly to local taxpayers. Treasurer Becky Jackson says the county spent $16,214 on indigent defense in the last fiscal year, of which less than 21 percent was reimbursed by the state.

While Tuesday’s vote is not for or against an amendment at this time, it will bring the issue to the attention of the Legislature, Hall said.

“This is just a step toward the future to not allow them to do this anymore.”