Archives for May 2004

A new ambulance will soon be added to the fleet of the Associated Ambulance Authority at no cost to Donley County taxpayers, thanks to a grant from the Amarillo Area Foundation.

The foundation board voted April 27 to approve a grant from the Lawrence R. Hagy Fund in the amount of $43,679 for the purpose of purchasing a new Type III ambulance.

“We’re thrilled,” said authority Director of Operations Anita Aaron. “Everyone worked really hard to make this happen. This will be good for all of Donley County.”

Aaron also expressed her appreciation for the foundation.

“Without the Amarillo Area Foundation’s support, services such as ours wouldn’t be able to afford the caliber of equipment we have,” she said. “They are so very generous.”

The grant will be combined with a $35,000 grant from the Texas Department of Health (TDH) that the authority received last November. That award was the highest possible level of funding under the TDH Local Project Grant program, and it was received after the authority had only 30 to 45 days to fill out an application that was more complex than previous applications.

The ambulance service operates a total of three ambulances under the authority of the Donley County Hospital District. The two grants, combined with a trade-in value, will allow the oldest of the three ambulances to be replaced.

District Administrator Alan Graham said obtaining the grant was the result of the efforts of the hospital board and many district employees and said it will help improve the service the district provides.

“This grant will enable us to have three ambulances that will be low-mileage and will be dependable in providing the highest quality of care to the people of Donley County,” he said. “Best of all, we were able to do this without incurring any debt.”

The district is already in the process of taking bids on the new ambulance. Those will be opened Monday for possible action by the hospital board on Tuesday.

Voters will be going to polls this Saturday, May 15, to choose which of their fellow citizens will be making decisions on five local boards.

Polls will open at 7 a.m., and voting will continue until 7 p.m.

Four open positions on the Donley County Hospital Board of Directors have been the most talked about races of this election season. Kelly Tunnell and Pat McAnear are running for Place 4 on the board, the position formerly held by the late Jerry May. In Place 5, incumbent Carolyn Moffett is being challenged by Linda Kay Bell. Place 6 incumbent Onita Thomas is facing challenger Don Stone, and June Davis is running against incumbent Jim Douglas in Place 7.

All positions on the Hospital Board are elected at-large, and votes can be cast at the Clarendon ISD Administration Building, Howardwick City Hall, and the Hedley Lions Club.

Four people are running for the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees. Incumbents Reneé Betts, Jim Shelton, and Marvin Thompson are joined on the ballot by challenger Judy Thomas. The top three vote getters will be elected, and ballots may be cast at the CISD Administration Building.

In the City of Clarendon, three positions are also up this year on the Board of Aldermen. Incumbents Tommy Hill, Janice Knorpp, and Mark White are challenged by Ron Lamberth, Bill Holden, and Ray Hamilton. The city board is elected at-large, and the top three candidates will be the winners. Votes may be cast at City Hall.

The City of Hedley has three citizens – Pamela Casteel, Leon Ward, and Terry Stevens – running for two at-large positions on the Board of Aldermen. Ward and Stevens are up for re-election, and Casteel was recently appointed to the board to fill the unexpired term of Abby O’Neal, who resigned to run for school board. She is now seeking one of the two full terms. Balloting will take place at the Hedley Lions Club.

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 and challengers Abby O’Neal and Rex Morris. The positions are elected at-large, and the top three candidates will be elected. Voting for this election will also be at the Hedley Lions Club.

CHILDRESS – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has implemented a plan to assist the State of Texas in reducing operating cost.

Starting April 26, 2004, TxDOT’s Childress District Maintenance Section will begin working 4-10 hour days.

“The longer daylight periods through the spring and summer months will allow for earlier start times and a longer work day,” said Terry Keener, Childress District Engineer.

All maintenance and maintenance support offices will work 4-10 hour days with offices being closed one day a week.  Telephones will be forwarded to the District Office in Childress or the Maintenance Supervisor in your respective County.

This plan will allow the maintenance sections to spend more time on the job site and will save fuel cost by reducing trip time and traffic control set up time.  A further savings in energy will be realized by the offices being closed one day per week.

“TxDOT started this program a few years ago, and we saw a significant increase in work efficiency and a reduction in operating cost,” said Keener.

“Each office has been instructed to adjust their thermostats to coincide with the office being closed, and emergencies will be responded to promptly.  We expect the public will continue to experience a high level of customer satisfaction.”

The maintenance offices in Childress, Wheeler, Donley, Motley, and Knox Counties will be closed each Monday.  Collingsworth, Briscoe, Hall, Hardeman, Cottle, Foard, Dickens, and King will be closed each Friday.

Anyone with questions about this or any other TxDOT issue may contact Barbara Seal, Public Information Officer at 940-937-7145.

The American Bantam Association has honored two Clarendon boys with the recognition of Master Breeder this spring.

Allen and Russell Estlack, the father and son duo behind Estlack Boys Bantams, earned this prestigious distinction after twenty-four years of raising and showing black cochin bantams.

Allen (known as “Pigeon” to childhood friends) has a long history of showing chickens that goes back to the early 1950s.  However, the Estlacks didn’t begin raising black cochins until 1979. 

When Russell was just four, Allen began looking for a gentle variety of chicken that his son could show.  The purchase of a trio (two hens and a rooster) thus started a hobby that would bring the father and son closer together and earn them national recognition.

Russell called the hens his lady chickens. 

“I was allergic to cats and dogs, so Sally, my favorite hen, became my pet.  I took her everywhere,” he recalls with a grin, “even into restaurants.” 

It is hard to resist the charm of the small black birds, especially on a freshly mowed lawn.  The cochins glow with a beetle-like green sheen in the sun as they wade through the grass, clucking softly and preening themselves. 

In order to become Master Breeders, the Estlacks have traveled to chicken shows in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Chickens are judged by how closely their type and condition meet the breed and variety descriptions in the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection. 

Exhibitors must earn twenty or more starred wins to attain Master Breeder status, and stars are only granted when a bird defeats one hundred or more birds in a class or when it becomes grand or reserve grand champion of a show.  Estlack Boys Bantams joins only 21 breeders nationwide in accomplishing this level of excellence. 

“This hobby has become a life-long pleasure that I will enjoy sharing with my children,” Russell said.  “I want to thank my parents for their sacrifices in reaching this achievement.  The birds require a lot of time and care.  But, I can’t imagine life without them.  I’m sure Dad feels the same way.”

A long-awaited assisted living center will take another step closer to reality this weekend with groundbreaking ceremonies being held Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Clarendon Country Cottage Assisted Living will be located at Seventh and Taylor, and manager Sue Leeper says the facility when completed will give local people the opportunity to stay in their hometown near family, and friends.

The Country Cottage will be a 17-apartment building available for ambulatory residents, who will be provided home cooked meals, a warm and loving environment, interaction with other residents, and assistance with medications as well as medical needs.

The facility is being designed by architect Ken Condray of Lubbock and will be built by contractor William Jones of Amarillo.

Leeper said she’s wanted to start an assisted living facility for many years but only moved forward with the plan after her husband, Jack, passed away last April.

“He told me to go on with life, and this is my way of doing that,” she said. “We’ve always wanted this for the community.”

Leeper expects construction to start on the facility this fall and to be open for business sometime in 2005.

“We’re still in the financial stage of it,” she said. “We’re forming a limited liability partnership for investors.”

Leeper worked for 18 years as a nurse and director of nurses with the Donley County Hospital District and then was employed for three years by the Texas Department of Health, where she investigated and surveyed nursing homes.

Leeper invites the public to join her in prayer and thanksgiving at the groundbreaking this weekend.

“We believe that Clarendon Country Cottage has been orchestrated by God for the community of Clarendon.”

A high-speed chase Saturday night landed a California man in the Donley County Jail facing charges of evading arrest and aggravated assault on a peace officer.

David Allen Myer, 35, of Glendora, California, was taken into custody after he led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase exceeding 100 miles per hour through Armstrong and Donley Counties.

“At approximately 10:20 p.m., the Donley County Sheriff’s Department received a call that a dark Chevrolet Camaro was headed east on US Hwy. 287 traveling at excessive speeds,” Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said. “DPS Trooper Lynn Mays had clocked the vehicle speeding west of Claude and chased it through Claude.”

Mays and two units from the Armstrong County Sheriff’s Department then continued in pursuit of the vehicle east of Claude on Hwy. 287.

DPS Trooper Chris Ward spiked the vehicle one half mile west of the Armstrong/Donley County line, but the suspect was able to continue driving.

The pursuit then continued east, and DPS Sergeant Richard Gribble spiked the vehicle a second time one half mile west of Ashtola, but that also failed to stop the suspect.

“Spiking the vehicle only slowed him down to about 80 miles per hour,” Blackburn said.

“The vehicle made aggressive moves towards Donley County police units and was finally brought to a stop five miles west of town after I nudged him with my pickup,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn said that the officers and troopers from the two counties worked well together.

“It worked smooth, and it comes in handy to have vehicles like my pickup that are heavy enough to shove another vehicle without causing any damage.”

According to Blackburn, the officers involved in this chase were determined to stop the suspect before he reached Clarendon.

“We have a policy that we weren’t going to chase him through town,” he said. “It would have put too many lives on the line.”

Myer was arraigned by Donley County Judge Jack Hall on Monday, and bond was set at $75,000 for aggravated assault on a peace officer and $25,000 for evading arrest.

At press time, law enforcement officials say it is undetermined whether the use of alcohol or narcotics was involved in the case.