Archives for February 2005

Sign up began Monday for citizens wishing to serve on any one of six local boards.

The City of Clarendon will hold an election to choose two aldermen and the mayor for two-year terms. Those positions are currently held by Aldermen Bobbie Kidd and Michael Tibbets and Mayor Tex Selvidge.

The City of Howardwick will also elect a mayor and two aldermen. Mayor Nancy Davis has announced that she will not seek reelection due to her daughter’s ongoing battle with cancer. The terms of Aldermen Marvin Elam and Bill Barton are expiring. They are serving out the terms of Mike Rowland and Dewey Linley respectively. The mayor and aldermen each serve two-year terms.

Hedley’s election will select four members of the board of aldermen, three for two-year terms and one for one year. Seats held by Aldermen Bruce Howard, Pam Casteel, Tangela Copelin, and Ricki Baker are all up this year. Baker is serving the unexpired term of Terry Stevens.

Two positions on the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees are up this year. Those seats are currently held by Weldon Sears and Lance Thornberry and are three-year terms.

Hedley ISD also has two trustee positions open this year. The three-year terms of Anthony Knowles and Rhonda Shaw are expiring.

The Donley County Hospital District will select three positions on its board. The two-year terms of Don Thornberry (Place 1), Alan Fletcher (Place 2), and Melinda McAnear (Place 3) are expiring. McAnear is finishing the term of Andy Wheatly.

Sign up continues through March 7, 2005; and the election will be held May 7.

The transfer from the old facility is complete, and all the books are on the shelves of Clarendon College’s new Vera Dial Dickey Library.

CC held a formal opening and dedication of the building February 3, and Library Director Jewel Houston called it a dream come true.

“We want this to be your library,” Houston told the crowd. “We want to help you any way we can.”

Students, faculty, administrators, alumni, and community members all gathered at the event which culminated with a human chain being formed from the old library at the west end of the Administration Building to the new facility situated west of the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center. The last 25 books were passed from one pair of hands to another to find their final destination on the shelves of the Dickey Library.

“We’ve had lots of compliments and nice comments,” CC President Myles Shelton said. “Everyone thought it was a fitting tribute to Mrs. Dickey.”

The $1.3 million library is named for the late Vera Dial Dickey, a resident of Memphis, who had a passion for education and who left a generous gift to CC after her death. Executors of her estate and several citizens of Memphis attended the dedication.

Also joining the celebration was CC President Emeritus Kenneth Vaughn and former CC President Jerry Stockton. Representatives from Frank Phillips College and Vernon College attended as well.

At 10,500 square feet, the new library is more than twice the size of its predecessor. It features amenities such as a computer lab with 45 computers, three study/reading areas, improved office and workspaces, and special display cases for items such as the Texas Collection.

Thursday’s activities were not without surprise. During a thank you to those who have donated to the college, CC Foundation Chairman Walt Knorpp unveiled a new “Meet the Challenge” campaign, in which he and his wife, Alderman Janice Knorpp, have agreed to put up a maximum of $10,000 to match other contributions.

“Clarendon College is Donley County’s best asset,” Knorpp said. “So many goals have been accomplished in the last three years, but we can’t stop now.”

Knorpp said every donation received by the Foundation in 2005 that is earmarked as “Meet the Challenge” will be matched up to the $10,000 goal. The money is not being designated for any special purpose. More than $1,000 has already been pledged to the challenge.

To find out more about the “Meet the Challenge” campaign, contact the college at 874-3571.

Community leaders wanted it. Kids wanted it. Parents wanted it. But no one group could do it alone.

Now through a spirit of cooperation, the dream of making Clarendon’s ball fields suitable for use by high school teams and turning them into something people can be proud of is being accomplished with the city, the school, the Little League, and the kids themselves joining forces to turn an idea into a reality.

“We finally got enough people to sit down and talk about it,” Clarendon Junior High Principal Marvin Elam said. “We got people… actually making plans and implementing them.

“No one group has the money to do it alone,” he said. “This is an instance where the school, Little League, and city have come together, come up with a vision, and are working to achieve it.”

That vision was to build an entirely new softball field and substantially renovate McClelland Field by erecting new fences, adding new lighting, and constructing new dugouts.

“The school has had a need to improve the parks for our teams,” Clarendon School Superintendent Monty Hysinger said. “We knew since the city and school both own the fields, and the Little League uses them, we needed to work together.

“We have a lot of booster parents that were very interested in it and were ready to get something done.”

Hysinger said the support of the community has been tremendous.

“It’s been neat to see everyone coming together to get things done. The three organizations realized that things are tight, and we’re all trying to pitch in.

“We talked about it and realized if everyone pitches in we can accomplish anything for our community.  When you work together you can make your dollar stretch farther.”

City Administrator Sean Pate said he would like to think the organizations have set a precedent for others to follow.

“These three organizations have joined and worked together. It goes to show what can happen when you get people together and really want to accomplish something.”

Elam thinks the cooperation on this project is the only way it could be achieved.

“If you get people working together with a vested interest, anything can be done. I think this project is proof we can do more than just sit back and expect things to happen.

“It’s proof that when you work together and share talents, anything in the community can get done,” he said. “I hope this will show people we can overcome any problem in town, like the streets.”

Elam believes the project will give the kids and community an object of pride and the kids agree.

“I think the new fields are going to give us pride in our teams and town,” said high school junior Quentin West, who plays baseball for the Broncos.

Junior softball player Kaitlyn Howard agrees with West and likes the cooperation on the project.

“I like seeing people come together and work. It gets me excited about softball. It’s not only beneficial to just us, but to the whole community. It’s nice that the community is taking an interest in the youth.”

While the school has put up some money towards the project, much of the improvements have been made with donated materials and volunteer labor.

As work is nearing completion on McClelland Field and a new softball field is arising out of a formerly weed-covered lot south of Hart-Moore Field, Hysinger is pleased with the progress that is being made.

“I think that when we’re through, both fields will look tremendously better,” he said. “We’re getting some really nice fields that cost less than they could have without help.”

Hysinger said he encourages people to drive by and see the work that is being done.

“Get out and help if you would like,” he said. “We want to do this right where everyone will be proud of it, and we want these improvements to be nice in order to enhance the park area and add to future improvements.”

Elam says this project is a good investment into the community.

“We’re trying to make it something the kids and the community can be proud of. Whether people like it or don’t, this has proven there’s enough talent in Clarendon; and when you work together, you can get a lot done.”

Pate says for anything in a community to be truly successful the community should get involved.

“It all comes down to people taking pride in their community and unifying to make a change for the better.

“If we work together, we can accomplish things like better streets, nicer community areas, and a lot more.  A lot of people will say things need be done, but we need to come together and get it done.”

Pate also said the community needs to be willing to donate time and support one another.

“Now is a time to be unified. The most detrimental thing in a community is to not unify. It’s up to us to better ourselves and make a change for the better.”

WASHINGTON D.C. – US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) has acquired additional responsibilities in his role as a member of the US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra has chosen Thornberry to chair the newly created Subcommittee on Oversight.

“I am grateful for this opportunity to tackle some of the most serious issues facing our country,” said Thornberry. “I am also grateful for the support and understanding of my constituents as I devote time and energy to a job about which I will not be able to say much publicly.”

“I appreciate Mac’s willingness to serve as chairman of our new oversight subcommittee,” Hoekstra said. “This subcommittee has an enormous task ahead of it, and the energy and professionalism he will bring to this effort will greatly benefit the nation’s intelligence capabilities.”

Among the responsibilities of the new subcommittee is to oversee implementation of the reforms contained in the “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004,” also known as the “9/11 Bill.”

“The ‘9/11 Bill’ that Congress approved last month offers us a great opportunity to strengthen the various elements of our intelligence community. But that bill will be beneficial only if it is implemented in as quick and effective a manner as possible.

“I am deeply honored by Chairman Hoekstra’s decision to select me for this position, and I look forward to working with the talented group of colleagues who serve with me on this subcommittee.”

Thornberry joined the Intelligence Committee last September when House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert appointed him to replace former Congressman Porter Goss, who left Congress to become the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Thornberry also serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

More than 3,200 electric customers were left without power Thursday afternoon after a low hanging power line tripped out causing outages around the area.

Linda Caton, a Communications Consultant for AEP, said the failure was due to a 69-kilovolt line being down between Jericho and Clarendon.

“We’re not certain what caused the line to become low,” she said, “but a cross arm or insulator break can cause a line to go down.”

Caton said when the low hanging line shut itself off, two breakers in Clarendon and two in Hedley failed, leaving 1,830 customers in those communities without power.

The outage also affected customers of Greenbelt Electric Cooperative.

Member service advisor Randy White said Greenbelt Electric interfaces with AEP and an estimated 1,400 customers lost power.

“AEP feeds our substation outside of Clarendon,” White said. “We had customers affected in McKnight, Jericho, Hedley and Goodnight.”

The failure began at 2:14 p.m. Thursday, Caton said, and power was not fully restored until 4:30 p.m.

Clarendon city leaders tried to find common ground as they again took up the topic of street improvements during their regular meeting last Tuesday.

Mayor Tex Selvidge urged the Board of Aldermen to unify on a paving plan so that another year does not pass with nothing accomplished.

“We need to focus and give them [the citizens] something,” Selvidge said. “We have to decide what we’re going to do and do it. If we don’t, then suddenly it’s the end of the summer, and nothing’s done.”

Alderman Michael Tibbets said he thought the city should set the goal of paving every other street and borrow just the money that it can pay back in a short time.

“Why don’t we go a million and a quarter, borrow against our CDs, and start our grid?” Tibbets said. “If we pay it off in five or six years, you won’t have any opposition.”

City engineer Che Shadle said he thought the board should go even further than that.

“As a citizen, I’m saying borrow more than that,” he said. “I’m speaking not as an engineer but as someone who wants to see his street paved.”

Tibbets reiterated his point that a smaller project would meet with more approval from the citizens.

“Something that’s paid off in the same time as a trash truck won’t generate any opposition. You won’t have any petitions,” Tibbets said.

Aldermen Bobbie Kidd and Mark White said the city should continue its idea from last year of focusing on controlling water flow in the city and connecting paved streets.

Without taking formal action, aldermen directed Shadle to come back to the next meeting with a plan to pave as many streets as possible for $1.25 million, concentrating on areas of water flow and chronic maintenance problems. The project would be paid for through revenues from fee increases that were imposed in 2003 after voters rejected a proposed $2.5 million paving project.

Tibbets also asked representatives of The Clarendon Enterprise if the paper would be supportive of the plan or just try to create controversy.

“The newspaper doesn’t create controversy; we just report it,” publisher Roger Estlack responded. “We have always been in favor of paving from day one.”

In other city business, aldermen discussed the idea of constructing a metal building for a new City Hall, but the board decided the city could not afford to tackle that project and pave streets at the same time.

“Let’s just get estimates to fix this [City Hall] and do the streets,” Alderman Janice Knorpp said.

The board also gave final approval to Ordinance 354, which amends the Livestock Ordinance, and Ordinance 356, which amends the fee schedule at the recycling center.

Aldermen approved the mayor’s request to give the Saints’ Roost Museum $4,500 out of the Motel Bed Tax for costs associated with the museum’s depot project.

City Administrator Sean Pate reported progress being made to clean up an old dumping area north of the recycling center. He also said that work on the ball fields is progressing and that plans are being made to tear down a house on Allen Street.