Archives for May 2004

When baseball made its debut at Clarendon High School four short years ago, few knew what direction the new sport would take.  Some are still wondering.  But the players and fans of Bronco baseball were confident in the days leading up to the semi-finals. 

Continuing their successful year, the Broncos defeated Nazareth in two straight games last week. 

The first game ended 17-10 after the Broncos kept the Swifts from regaining any momentum in the final innings.  The Broncos began the game slowly as they allowed the Swifts the early lead, but a big third inning gave the Broncos a slight edge. 

The fourth inning was crucial for the Broncos as they slammed in five runs and held Nazareth scoreless.  The Swifts scored two more runs in the sixth inning, but the Broncos already had the game well under control.

“We started off slow again,” coach Brad Elam said.  “We gave up seven runs, and five of our six errors were in the first two innings. Defensively, we settled down after that and made some plays.”

Elam was pleased with the pitching effort of Quentin West and noted that the defensive play of senior Jeremy Howard was crucial in the fourth inning. 

“We put a lot of pressure on Nazareth, and they had a hard time making plays, and we took advantage of it,” Elam said. 

“We took the lead in the third inning and never looked back.  We need to find a way to start better, but we never get down when the other team has a lead.  This team keeps fighting back.”

The second game in the series went the Broncos’ way as well, but not without on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense.  It wasn’t until the sixth inning was over that the Broncos took the lead for the first time in the game. 

An enormous fifth inning for the Swifts appeared to be the end of the Broncos’ attempt to win.  But just as they have all season, the Broncos wouldn’t be denied and fought their way back to get the win and the trophy. 

“This was another close game for the Broncos,” Elam said.  “As usual we got off to a slow start and had to fight our way back.”

Again it was West on the mound, and he threw good strikes at crucial times in the ball game.  Several players made critical plays when the Broncos needed them most. 

Elam knows his team has the ability to defeat opponents but feels they are not working alone. 

“I do not think it is a coincidence that we have been able to pull wins out,” Elam said.  “We are getting some divine help.”

The Broncos faced Hamlin Tuesday night in Vernon. Complete results of that game will be printed next week.

Donley County deputies subdued and arrested a Ft. Worth man last week after he assaulted a local family and then vowed he wouldn’t be taken alive during a 34-minute standoff with authorities.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said 46-year-old George Wayne Weatherly was seen exiting the northeastern county residence of Larry and Alice Laroe on state highway 273 at about 3:20 p.m. last Thursday when the couple returned home.

The suspect carried something to a white GMC pickup, approached the couple’s vehicle, and asked them if they lived there, Blackburn said. The Laroes responded that they did, and the suspect then reportedly told them he had just robbed them.

Blackburn said Weatherly produced a hunting knife and tried to stab Mrs. Laroe, who was in the passenger’s seat. The couple rolled up their windows, backed away from the suspect, and drove to a nearby hill in order to get cell phone reception to call for help.

Constable Mike Wallendorff intercepted Weatherly on SH 273. The suspect then fled down County Road 27, which is a dead end. The constable stopped the suspect and held him at gunpoint until backup could arrive, the sheriff said. Chief Deputy Randy Bond and Deputy Mike Spier responded along with Department of Public Safety troopers Chris Ward, Tony Polito, and Sgt. Richard Gribble.

Bond reported the subject waved a knife and made aggressive moves directed toward the officers.

“He said he wouldn’t be taken alive and would kill anyone who got close to him,” Bond said.

The deputies loaded beanbag cartridges into their .12 gauge shotguns and disarmed the suspect after Bond shot him once in the torso and Spier shot him in the hand. Bond then subdued the suspect.

Weatherly was booked into the Donley County Jail, where he remained Monday afternoon under a combined bond of $1.4 million on charges of aggravated robbery and nine counts of aggravated assault.

“All the officers involved did a remarkable job handling this situation,” Sheriff Blackburn said. “This could have been very serious and could have resulted in the death of the subject if not for the experience and expertise of Deputies Bond and Spier.”

Earlier the same day, Weatherly had been released from the Childress County Jail and placed on probation related to a DWI charge, the sheriff said.

Clarendon taxpayers could save at least $8,000 on airport renovations, according to information presented to the Board of Aldermen last Tuesday.

Alderman Janice Knorpp, who heads the committee overseeing grant-funded renovations at Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport, reported E.D. Baker had received the bid for the project and said the job should be about $80,000 under budget.

The $886,000 grant through the Texas Department of Transportation will fund runway and other improvements at the airport. The state will provide 90 percent of the funds, and the remaining ten percent will come from municipal funds.

City officials say it will be months before all the paperwork is done on the grant, but City Administrator Sean Pate said Clarendon could ultimately save between $8,000 and $10,000 thanks to the project bid coming in under budget. The savings could also provide a cushion if workers run into anything unexpected during construction.

The project should start the middle of this summer.

In other city business last week, aldermen considered a new sign for the airport and decided to have it read “Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport / Bass Field.”

Joe Shadle addressed the board concerning limbs being brought to the Recycling Center for chipping. The board discussed charging utility companies and construction companies to discard limbs. City Hall will check with other cities in the area.

In his Administrator’s Report, Pate said he had received a notice from AEP/Mutual Energy that they will start doing electrical disconnects. If a customer does not make payment arrangements, the electric company will disconnect service 15 days after the date of the mailed notice.

Clarendon High School has announced Tim Leeper and Matthew Aaron as its top students for the Class of 2004.

The valedictorian with a grade average of 97.64 is Tim Leeper, son of Bryan and Debbie Leeper.

Leeper has been very involved in extracurricular activities at CHS.  He has played basketball for four years, baseball for one year, and golf for four years.  He is also a member of the Clarendon Bronco Band, which received sweepstakes awards all four years and advanced to the Regional Marching Contest two years. He has also been a member of the student government for two years and served as the Student Council President his senior year. 

Leeper has also been very involved academically.  He was inducted into the National Honor Society and was awarded the Outstanding Chemist Award from the National Chemistry Society.  He has been a member of the Clarendon High School Gifted and Talented program for four years and participated in the National Rocketry Competition. 

Leeper was a member of the Pantex Science Bowl Competition for two years, where he served as captain.  He also participated in UIL Math, Computer Applications, Science, and One Act Play, which advanced to regional competition his junior year and area competition this year. 

Tim plans on attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he intends to major in Space Physics.

Clarendon’s salutatorian this year is Matthew Aaron, who is the son of Johnny and Anita Aaron, and has an average of 96.44.

 Aaron has been very active both inside and outside of school.  He has participated in the high school band all four years. In addition, he has been involved in basketball, track, and cross country.  He has participated in UIL academics in events such as Persuasive Speaking, Science, Computer Science, and Literary Criticism.  He advanced to regional competition in Literary Criticism. 

Aaron was a member of the UIL One Act Play, where he was named to the all-star cast.  He also was in the cast of “Annie Get Your Gun”, the Clarendon High School fall production. He has received the American Achievement Academy Award in English and Science and has been named to Who’s Who Among American High School Students.  He has also been inducted into the National Honor Society and is a member of the Spanish Club.

Aaron’s activities outside of school include membership in the First United Methodist Church Youth Praise and Worship band as a guitarist, and he has received numerous awards in the martial arts, including a 2nd degree black belt in Karate. 

Matt plans on attending Texas Tech University in the fall, where he will be a member of the Tech Honors College and the Texas Tech Air Force ROTC.

Leeper and Aaron will be recognized during CHS commencement exercises Friday, May 28, at 8 p.m. in the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Auditorium.

Clarendon College will be better prepared to serve future students thanks to a $50,000 grant awarded by the Don & Sybil Harrington Foundation last week.

The funds will be used to for technology purposes in the new CC Library & Learning Resource Center, which is now under construction. CC President Myles Shelton said the grant is a great gift for Clarendon’s students.

“Technology is one of the critical components of the new library,” Shelton said. “We are going to have an open computer lab with 45 computers, which will be tied into a wireless network. Students and faculty with their own laptop computers will be able to bring them in and access the network. This grant allows us to make that a reality.”

Shelton said the college is still waiting for the final paperwork on the grant but confirmed that there are no matching funds required. The grant money will go directly to the purchasing of computers.

“The ability to use printed and online resources is the future,” he said. “This makes the technology we’ve dreamed about come true.”

The Harrington Foundation and the Amarillo Area Foundation awarded a total of $506,979 in thirteen grants around the Panhandle in recent days, including a $43,679 grant to the Donley County Hospital District for a new ambulance. Foundation CEO Jim Allison said the grant awards are about more than money.

“The foundations are pleased to announce these recent grantmaking decisions, representing an investment in people, property, and ideas, which in turn will help our region flourish, not only in economic and monetary matters, but in matters concerning spirit and hope,” Allison said.

Shelton credited CC employees Will Thompson and Greg Henry for their work on the grant application.

Construction on the new library is reported to be about two weeks ahead of schedule. The $1.3 million facility is being funded by gifts to the college and the CC Foundation.

Local incumbents were returned to office in all races last Saturday when Donley County voters went to the polls.

Despite being the most talked about race, only 25 percent of registered voters cast ballots for candidates running for the Donley County Hospital Board, which was the only countywide election.

Three current members of the hospital board were re-elected. In Place 5, Carolyn Moffett defeated challenger Linda Kay Bell, 336-307.  Place 6 director Onita Thomas won more votes than any other hospital board candidate in her 436-208 re-election victory over Don Stone, and Jim Douglas posted the narrowest win when he beat June Davis, 329-307, for the Place 7 position.

In the race to fill the Place 4 seat formerly held by the late Jerry May, Pat McAnear defeated Kelly Tunnell by a margin of 416 to 222.

A total of 652 votes were cast in the hospital board election.

Clarendon voters also decided to keep their current city leaders on the job as three incumbent aldermen were returned to the board. Alderman Mark White received the most votes, 242, followed by Aldermen Tommy Hill and Janice Knorpp with 195 each.

Also on the city ballot were Ray Hamilton (147), Ron Lamberth (129), and William “Bill” Holden (78). A total of 343 citizens voted in the municipal election, a turnout of 27.5 percent.

Hedley residents also like their city leaders. Mayor Janie Hill, running unopposed, received 60 votes; and Aldermen Terry Stevens and Leon Ward were re-elected with 39 and 54 votes respectively. Challenger Pamela Casteel received only 27 votes.

Sixty-six Hedley voters cast ballots in that city’s election, a turnout of 30 percent.

Voters in the Clarendon Independent School District returned three members of the Board of Trustees to their offices. James Shelton received the most votes with 376, followed by Reneé Betts with 361 and Marvin Thompson with 315.  Challenger Judy Thomas received 164 votes out of the 428 ballots cast.

Hedley Independent School District voters re-elected two current members and added a new face to their Board of Trustees. Incumbent Marlee Sharp led the count with 80 votes, and incumbent Jason Sargent had 78. Abby O’Neal was elected with 68 votes, and Rex Morris will not be joining the board after receiving only 56 of the 102 votes cast.

Hedley High School officials announced this week that Treva Rowland and Lacey Wallendorff will be the valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2004.

Rowland is graduating with a high school grade average of 97.60. She is the daughter of Mike and Linda Rowland and the granddaughter of Don and Treva Fulton of Howardwick and Betty Rowland of Roswell, New Mexico.

Rowland has been involved in UIL academic contests and the UIL state competition, OAP, FFA, choir, basketball, track, and cross country. She is treasurer of the National Honor Society.

This summer Rowland will be receiving her Girl Scout Gold Award at the capitol in Austin and will be representing Greenbelt Electric Cooperative and Donley County in Washington, DC. She plans to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall, majoring in Chemistry.

Wallendorff has an average of 97.18 and is the daughter of Mike Wallendorff and Larry and Lori Adams.

During her high school career, Wallendorff has been involved in basketball, golf, track, BPA, UIL, OAP, FFA, choir, NHS, and yearbook. She is the treasurer of the Class of 2004 and the president of NHS.

Wallendorff plans to attend West Texas A&M University in the fall where she intends to study to become an Optometrist.

Commencement ceremonies for Hedley High School will be held Friday, May 28, at 8 p.m. in the HHS Auditorium.