Archives for March 2006

A former Clarendon family was devastated when a fire destroyed their home and caused the death of a six-year-old girl.

Shaniqua Wilson was killed in the fire, and her two-year-old sister, Tashonda, was sent to a Lubbock burns hospital, according to an article in Saturday’s Amarillo Globe-News.

Their four-year-old brother, Christopher, has returned to Clarendon to live with relatives and is now enrolled in Clarendon Elementary School.

The family is in need of a twin bed and clothes for the young man since of all of his belongings were lost in the fire. Interested parties can contact Jill Frausto at 874-1810 to help with this situation.

Larry Wilson told the Globe-News his nephew Ben Wilson, awoke during the fire and took Christopher outside through a window before kicking in the front door to look for the other residents.

The Wilson family moved to Amarillo a few months ago. According to the Globe-News, the three children, the children’s mother, Nettie Wilson, Ben Wilson, the children’s uncle, and Gloria Wilson, mother of Nettie and Ben Wilson, all lived in the house. Gloria and Nettie were not home at the time of the fire.

Donley County Democrats in Precinct 4 favored incumbent County Commissioner Bobby G. “Bob” Trout over challenger Brad Dalton by a 35 to 21 margin in Tuesday’s primary election.

Trout will now go into the November election with no opponent on the Republican side.

The only locally contested race in the general election will be for the office of Justice of the Peace of Precincts 1&2. Incumbent Republican Jimmy Johnson will face a challenge from Democrat Connie Havens.

Other unchallenged officers this fall will be County Judge Jack Hall (D), County Clerk Fay Vargas (D), County Treasurer Wanda Smith (R), Justice of the Peace of Pcts. 3&4 Ann Kennedy (D), and Commissioner Pct. 2 Donnie Hall (R)

Also unchallenged is Republican Landon Lambert seeking the County Attorney’s office.

A total of 287 local citizens cast ballots in this year’s primary elections, but new voting tabulation machines required by the federal government were unable to break down that total by Republican and Democratic voters.

Only 11.2 percent of eligible Donley County voters cast ballots in the primaries.

The owner of the Western Skies Motel made an unexpected proposal to Clarendon Aldermen when the board met in regular session last Tuesday night.

G. Patel said he intends to build a new swimming pool in the grassy area in front of his motel office on US 287, and he offered to sell his current swimming pool to the city for use as a public pool.

Nothing is wrong with the existing pool, Patel told the board, but he said most travelers do not know it is there since it is hidden from view, and being out of sight of his front desk makes it hard for him to monitor what’s happening in the pool.

A new pool in front of the motel would be easier for him to manage and more visible from the highway, Patel said.

The current pool is fenced in on the west side of the motel between it and the Dollar General. Patel said he would also include the property between the highway and the pool as part of the deal.

The board asked Patel what his asking price was, and he said he had not figured that yet as he was just seeing if the city was even interested.

The aldermen asked Patel to prepare a legal description of the property to be sold and bring that back to the city. They also directed City Secretary Linda Smith to contact the city’s insurance carrier to determine what the liability would be to the city.

In other city business, the board discussed the upcoming municipal election and again revisited the idea of contracting with Donley County to conduct the election and use the county’s electronic voting machines.

Aldermen had previously resisted the idea and had questioned whether the federal Helping America Vote Act applied to the city. But Mayor Tex Selvidge said the Texas Secretary of State’s office had told the city it had no choice in the matter.

The board voted 3-1 to have the county conduct the election with Aldermen Michael Tibbets, Tommy Hill, and Mark White in favor. Alderman Bobbie Kidd voted against the measure, saying he still didn’t like the idea. Alderman Janice Knorpp was not present.

The board then approved an Order of Election for the purpose of electing three aldermen. Donley County Clerk Fay Vargas was named early voting clerk, and Bunny Owens was named as election judge.

The board also discussed the proposed seal coat project and tentatively selected the following streets to be included in the project: Bugbee Avenue from US 287 to Fifth Street, Fourth Street from Koogle to Jefferson and from Gorst to Orpe, Parks Street from Fifth to Montgomery, and any remaining work to be applied to Third Street. All of this depends on the price per unit that OJD Engineering eventually comes up with for their seal coating project.

City Superintendent Jim Roberts reported he had signed a mutual aid agreement called TxWARN to facilitate rapid emergency responses from neighboring towns when needed.

The owner of the Western Skies Motel made an unexpected proposal to Clarendon Aldermen when the board met in regular session last Tuesday night.

G. Patel said he intends to build a new swimming pool in the grassy area in front of his motel office on US 287, and he offered to sell his current swimming pool to the city for use as a public pool.

Nothing is wrong with the existing pool, Patel told the board, but he said most travelers do not know it is there since it is hidden from view, and being out of sight of his front desk makes it hard for him to monitor what’s happening in the pool.

A new pool in front of the motel would be easier for him to manage and more visible from the highway, Patel said.

The current pool is fenced in on the west side of the motel between it and the Dollar General. Patel said he would also include the property between the highway and the pool as part of the deal.

The board asked Patel what his asking price was, and he said he had not figured that yet as he was just seeing if the city was even interested.

The aldermen asked Patel to prepare a legal description of the property to be sold and bring that back to the city. They also directed City Secretary Linda Smith to contact the city’s insurance carrier to determine what the liability would be to the city.

In other city business, the board discussed the upcoming municipal election and again revisited the idea of contracting with Donley County to conduct the election and use the county’s electronic voting machines.

Aldermen had previously resisted the idea and had questioned whether the federal Helping America Vote Act applied to the city. But Mayor Tex Selvidge said the Texas Secretary of State’s office had told the city it had no choice in the matter.

The board voted 3-1 to have the county conduct the election with Aldermen Michael Tibbets, Tommy Hill, and Mark White in favor. Alderman Bobbie Kidd voted against the measure, saying he still didn’t like the idea. Alderman Janice Knorpp was not present.

The board then approved an Order of Election for the purpose of electing three aldermen. Donley County Clerk Fay Vargas was named early voting clerk, and Bunny Owens was named as election judge.

The board also discussed the proposed seal coat project and tentatively selected the following streets to be included in the project: Bugbee Avenue from US 287 to Fifth Street, Fourth Street from Koogle to Jefferson and from Gorst to Orpe, Parks Street from Fifth to Montgomery, and any remaining work to be applied to Third Street. All of this depends on the price per unit that OJD Engineering eventually comes up with for their seal coating project.

City Superintendent Jim Roberts reported he had signed a mutual aid agreement called TxWARN to facilitate rapid emergency responses from neighboring towns when needed.

No injuries were reported, and no criminal charges are pending following an incident in which a student brought an explosive device to school last week.

Clarendon High School Principal Larry Jeffers said the incident occurred about 1 p.m. last Monday, when a loud explosion was heard north of the CHS building. The noise was heard inside the superintendent’s office, and a teacher discovered the remains of the device.

Some kind of drain cleaner had been mixed with aluminum foil and placed inside a plastic bottle, Jeffers said.

The principal would not release the name or classification of the student and would not say what punishment the school meted out. He did say that “appropriate actions were taken” and that “the student’s education will not suffer.”

By Judy Thomas, RN, Clarendon ISD

Schools and communities across the nation are reporting increases in Community Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus; Clarendon is no exception. 

We have been warned for years about “super bugs;” well they are here.

In the past MRSA was confined to hospitals and long-term care facilities; but in the past twelve months, the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance Division (IDEAS) of the Texas Department of State Health Services has noted an increasing number of reports of MRSA from local and regional health departments, the public, physicians, and school districts. 

Clarendon ISD has had six students diagnosed with MRSA this year alone.  These students’ infections are all unique and have no common factor associated with them. Infections have been found in the adult population as well. Because of this, we feel it is important the community be educated to the facts.

Here is some background information. Staphylococcus aureus has long been recognized as a common cause of boils and soft-tissue infections as well as more serious conditions such as pneumonia or bloodstream infections.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), twenty-five to thirty percent of adults and children in the United States are “colonized” with Staphylococcus aureus—the bacteria are present but do not cause illness. Staphylococcus aureus (commonly called staph) colonies usually occur in the armpit, groin, genital area, or the inside of the nose. 

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, unlike a common Staphylococcus aureus infection, cannot be treated with inexpensive penicillins. Consequently, the treatment is often longer, more expensive, and more complicated, with frequent recurrence of infections. 

MRSA infections can be very serious requiring hospitalizations with IV antibiotics for weeks and even amputation of affected tissue. The fear is that the staph will become resistant to the few antibiotics that are effective.  The CDC recently reported the first two cases of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections.

This underscores the need for aggressive control and prevention measures for all antibiotic resistant organisms.

Most infections occur through direct physical contact of the staphylococci with a break in the skin (cut or scrape). Inanimate objects, such as clothing, bed linens, or furniture, may also be a source of infection when they become soiled with wound drainage and a non-infected person then comes into contact with the contaminated object. If there is no break in the skin, contact with infected persons or articles may result in colonization.

Some prevention strategies include:

• Hand washing is the single most important behavior in preventing infectious disease.

• Hands must be clean before you touch your eyes, mouth, nose or any cuts or scrapes.

• Wash your hands or use alcohol-based hand cleaner frequently.

• Wash hands or use hand gel immediately if they come in contact with any body fluid on the playing field or at other places where hand-washing facilities are not available.

• Wash your hands after sneezing, blowing, or touching the nose, after using the toilet, before leaving the athletic area or hospital.

• Do not share towels, soap, or other personal care items.

• Shower with soap and water as soon as possible after direct contact sports

• Dry using a clean, dry towel; Do not share towels, even on the sidelines at game.

• Ointments or antibiotics must not be shared

The Clarendon ISD Policy on this matter states “Any draining wound will be considered a potential MRSA infection until proven otherwise, and students will not participate in contact sports until cleared by a physician. Notify parents and inform the physician of the possibility of MRSA.”

If you have an infection, you must take care of the wound at home by avoiding direct contact with others until the wound is no longer draining and now have been instructed by a physician to resume usual activities.

The wound must remain covered. The dressing must be changed at least twice a day or as directed by a physician or more frequently if drainage is apparent.

Soiled dressings may be disposed of in household trash.

The infected person must wash hands frequently, especially before and after changing band-aids, bandages, or wound dressings.

For more information, visit the following websites: www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/health/antibiotic_resistance/mrsa/athletics/departments/; www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip/ARESIST/mrsa.htm; www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/community/; or ww.ahrq.gov.

Republicans and Democrats across Texas will go to the polls next Tuesday to cast ballots in party primaries.

Winners of the primary elections will represent their parties on the general election ballot in November.

The only local contest this primary season is the Precinct 4 commissioner’s position, with incumbent Bob Trout facing challenger Brad Dalton on the Democratic ballot.

Democrats will cast ballots in the following locations: Precinct 101 – Clarendon College Dickey Library, Precinct 102 – Howardwick Baptist Church, Precinct 201 – Donley County Courthouse Judge’s Office, Precinct 301-303 – Hedley Lions Den, and Precinct 401 – Burton Memorial Library.

Republicans will vote at these locations: Precinct 101 – Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center, Precinct 102 – Howardwick City Hall, Precincts 201 and 301 – Donley County Courthouse Commissioners’ Courtroom, Precinct 302 – Hedley Senior Citizens Center Meeting Room, and Precinct 401 – Church of Christ Family Life Center.

Check your voter’s registration card to determine which polling place you should use.

Voters casting ballots in the primaries will be ineligible to sign petitions calling for either Carole Keeton Strayhorn or Kinky Friedman to be placed on the November ballot as independent candidates for governor.

County Clerk Fay Vargas also reminds voters to carefully darken the oval next to the name of the candidate of their choice rather than marking an X as was done in the past. This will allow ballots to be counted by machines this year.