Archives for January 2005

The 2005 Donley County Junior Livestock Show and Auction will be held this weekend.

Activities begin on Friday, January 14; and all animals need to be in place by 5:00 p.m. in order to be weighed in. The show will begin on Saturday at 9:00 a.m., starting with the showing of the sheep, then the goats, followed by the steers and heifers, and ending with the gilts and barrows.

The auction will be held that night directly following the meal, which will begin at 6:00. We would like to encourage everyone to come out and support the youth of Donley County.

Two Hedley men are facing drug related charges after Sheriff Butch Blackburn caught them in what appeared to be a drug lab in a small travel trailer near Clarendon last month.

Arlington Barnes, age 49, and Billy Mullins, age 38, were arrested December 15 and charged with manufacturing methamphetamines with intent to distribute.

A third arrest in the same case was made this week, when Elk City, Okla., police picked up Shirley Jones of Memphis on Sunday.

Blackburn, who began his second term in office as sheriff on January 1,  said his department had been observing the trailer about 20 yards off County Road 13 eight miles south of Clarendon for about two weeks after a citizen tipped them off about the possible presence of a meth lab.

“We knew there was a lab in the trailer and just wanted to catch someone in there,” Blackburn said.

When the sheriff finally found someone at the trailer, he moved in, arresting Barnes and Mullins, but he just missed Jones, who the other suspects told him had left a few moments earlier with some of their manufactured meth reportedly in her possession.

“We think she is one of our bigger dealers,” he said. “We’ve known for some time of her possibly being involved.”

The sheriff said Jones was already on parole for other charges and was currently out on bond for drug possession charges in Wheeler County.

Officers recovered drugs at the trailer, and a Department of Public Safety narcotics team examined the lab and kept the site secure before the scene was cleaned up by a private hazardous materials team from Oklahoma City.

Barnes and Mullins remained in the Donley County Jail at press time with bond set at $75,000 each. Jones was in a Beckham County, Okla., jail for the same charge and also had a bond set at $75,000.

“These arrests should put a dent in our local drug trade,” Sheriff Blackburn said. “It should help us, Hall County, and the surrounding area.”

Clarendon and Hedley school officials are taking formal steps to file for state waivers to start the 2005-2006 school year earlier than allowed by state law.

Superintendent Monty Hysinger said the CISD Board of Trustees formally voted to seek the waiver Monday night, following a public hearing held last month.

That follows the same action taken by Hedley trustees on December 20.

“We’re interested in ending the semester before Christmas in order to help our students on finals and especially help our teachers with curriculums,” Hysinger said.

State law mandates that public schools not begin their fall semesters before the Monday in the week that contains August 21, which means the earliest school could legally start this year is Monday, August 22.

“That could put us about a week behind,” Hysinger said.

CISD wants to begin its school year on Thursday, August 18, with two in-service days for teachers, and then begin classes on August 22.  HISD is seeking to start classes Monday, August 15.

“The spring semester is typically five or six days longer than the fall semester,” Hysinger said. “That’s okay because those days are taken up by TAKS testing.

“If we get our waiver, then we’ll have 87 class days in the fall and 93 days in the spring. But without the waiver we’ll have 85 days in the fall and 95 days in the spring.”

Hysinger said such a difference could push fall semester finals past the Christmas break and would be especially troubling in high school where students take courses that are only one semester long.

“I think there is a good chance our waiver will be approved unless politics in the Legislature overrides us,” Hysinger said. “We won’t know until mid-March, but that doesn’t mean the Legislature can’t come back and say ‘no’ to the waivers. You know, what happened to local control? There’s no local control any more.”

Hedley Superintendent Bryan Hill has the same concerns as his Clarendon counterpart and said almost all the schools he knows of in this area are applying for the same waiver.

Hill also questions why the state would have a rule about when to start the year and then not require everyone to follow it.

“They say [getting a waiver] is not hard to do as long as you go through the steps,” Hill said. “If everyone can get a waiver, then why have the rule? They need to just leave us alone and let us start when we want to.”

A New Year’s Day fire inflicted extensive damage to a metal building adjacent to the main Hedley public school building last Thursday morning.

The building housed a weight room, concession stand, and men’s and women’s restrooms used during the football season, according to Hedley School Superintendent Bryan Hill.

“The bathrooms are severely damaged,” Hill said. “There is also water and smoke damage throughout the weight room and concession stand.”

Hedley volunteer firefighter Randy Shaw said firefighters received the call at 11:22 last Thursday morning.

“It took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control, and we stayed until about 12:30,” he said.

Twelve men from the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department were called in to help the nine volunteer firefighters from Hedley fight the blaze.

Shaw said that the fire probably originated from an electric heater in the men’s restroom.

“That’s the only thing we could see that would have caused it,” he said. “All of the contents were a loss.”

Hill met with an insurance adjuster Tuesday who told him the insurance company would cover all expenses to tear the building down and rebuild.

“The insurance adjuster did not say how much it will cost, but the company will pay for all of the costs of replacement,” the superintendent said.

“We would like to see work begin on the building as soon as possible,” he said. “We hope to have it finished by early spring so we can use it for spring sports.”

Voters won’t have many choices to make for local offices when they go to the polls this November.

Filing for county positions closed at the Clerk’s Office last Friday, and only two incumbents drew challengers.

The race for Donley County Tax Assessor/Collector is the only countywide office with more than one candidate. Incumbent Democrat Wilma Lindley will face a challenge from Republican Vicky Tunnell for that position.

In Precinct 3, voters will have a chance to reconsider the 2000 election. Former commissioner Andy Wheatley, a Republican, has filed to take back his old office from Democrat Henry “Buster” Shields, who won the job four years ago.

Wheatley, who was elected to the Donley County Hospital District Board last May, has resigned his position there, according to a local Republican Party official. A hospital district official said that board would likely be appointing a replacement for Wheatley soon.

Local incumbents running unopposed this year are Sheriff Charles “Butch” Blackburn, Jr. (D), Commissioner Pct. 1 Ernest Johnston (D), and Constable Pct. 3&4 Mike Wallendorff (D).

Also of local interest, 100th Judicial District Attorney Stuart Messer (R) and 100th Judicial District Judge David McCoy (D) have filed for their respective offices, and neither has drawn an opponent from a major political party.

Clarendon’s own Mac Thornberry (R) has filed again to run for his District 13 Congressional seat. He is currently serving his fifth term in the US House of Representatives. He did not draw a Democratic opponent for this election.

State Sen. Robert L. Duncan (R-Lubbock) is seeking re-election to represent District 28, which includes Donley County; and State Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) is asking voters for another term representing District 88, which also includes Donley County. Neither men will face a challenge in either the primary or the general election..

The Democratic and Republican primaries will be held on Tuesday, March 9, 2004. Donley County Democratic Chair Jean Taylor has told the Enterprise she will continue in her position. County Republican Chair Karla Devin is filling the unexpired term of Rogers Hester and said she will be seeking a full term in that position.

The General Election will be held Tuesday, November 2, 2004.

The owners of B&R Thriftway this week announced the sale of the supermarket chain to Lowe’s supermarkets.

Complete details of the sale were not available Tuesday morning, but a Lowe’s representative said more information would be made available in the coming days.

Bill and Laquetta Wilfong and Ron and Ka Wilfong established B&R Thriftway in Tulia in May 1975 and expanded the line to seven locations in the last 29 years. They have owned the Clarendon store since 1987.

“Our company was based on providing quality service, excellent product, and a genuine concern for the customers,” the Wilfongs said in a statement.

“We put into our business exactly what we expected others to receive. We took pride in providing quality meats, fresh produce, and a good selection of grocery items at a reasonable price.”

With over 40 years of experience in the grocery business, the Wilfongs say they have seen a lot of changes. There have been computer and electronic advancements, but they say small town grocers still have to provide household products and dry goods to compete with larger businesses.

The Wilfongs said they appreciated all their employees who helped promote their business and also said they are thankful to the towns where their Thriftway stores are located for their loyalty and support.

“We have truly enjoyed fulfilling your grocery needs,” they said. “We feel the time is right to step back and enjoy life with our families and relax.”

In addition to the Clarendon supermarket, B&R Thriftway has locations in Tulia, Fritch, Iowa Park, and Borger and two locations in Hereford.

Lowe’s Pay-N-Save currently operates 60 supermarkets in West Texas and New Mexico.

Resolve to improve your education in 2005 by taking classes at Clarendon College.

Classes are available on campus, online, on demand or via tele-learning. Spring registration begins Monday, January 17, at the Bairfield Activity Center, and evening registration is available until 8 p.m.

Classes start Tuesday, January 18, 2004. To obtain a copy of the spring 2005 schedule, log on to www.clarendoncollege.edu, click on Current Students, then click Class Schedule, or call 874-9500.