Archives for January 2008

Donley County 4-H and FFA members are set to compete in the 2008 Donley County Livestock Show this Saturday, January 12.

The show will begin at 8 a.m. at the Clarendon Community Center with the Lamb and Goat show followed by the Steer, Beef Heifer, and Swine shows. A premium auction will be held following the buyers’ appreciation dinner at 6 p.m.

The premium auction is a way of helping youth to recover some of their expenses involved in purchasing and feeding their animals. Raising a livestock project not only teaches youth about hard work but also increases their learning skills of leadership, responsibility, finance, nutrition management, and good sportsmanship.
The Junior Livestock Show Board invites the public to come and support these youth at the show and premium auction Saturday. Those who would also like to make a contribution to the auction may contact Livestock Show Chairman Larry Gray at 874-2095.

Clarendon’s Kenny King will be among three big names who will headline the honorees to be installed in the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame February 10.

The event will also be special because it is the 50th annual ceremony dedicated to recognizing sports achievement by active and retired athletes and coaches with roots in the Panhandle area. The ceremonies will be held at 2 p.m. in the Ordway Auditorium at Amarillo College, and the public is invited to attend.

King, who has two Super Bowl rings, will be joined by Marsha Sharp – the winningest basketball coach in Texas Tech history, and Olympic gold medal winner Brandon Slay of Amarillo.

The Hall of Fame called King “one of those rare athletes who excelled at the high school, college, and professional levels.” He grew up in Clarendon, where he was a key member as a sophomore of the Bronchos’ 1972 state runner-up football team, then became one of the state’s top schoolboy running backs as a senior.

OU head coach Barry Switzer personally signed King in Clarendon, and King led OU in rushing as a sophomore but became more of a blocking back his last two seasons. His blocking is credited as the key to Billy Sims’ Heisman Trophy season at OU in 1978.

King was drafted by Houston in the NFL’s third round by Coach Bum Phillips but later was traded to Oakland where he played on two Super Bowl champion teams and was All-Pro.

King caught an 80-yard scoring pass from Jim Plunkett in Super Bowl XV, which was the longest scoring pass play in Super Bowl history. That mark stood for 16 years.

King finished his playing career in Hamilton in the Canadian Football League. Today he lives and works in Ft. Worth. King will be the 143rd member of the Hall of Fame.

Also to be recognized during the ceremonies next month are coaches and athletes of the year in eight sports as well as a variety of special award winners.

Old Man Winter snuck up on Donley County and those traveling through it last Thursday night when a brief but heavy snow blanketed the area.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Office logged one accident at 7:32 p.m. two miles east of Lelia Lake; but as the snow piled up, the traveling quickly became very treacherous. Another accident happened – this one north of Hedley – shortly after 8 p.m., and then numerous accidents and stranded vehicles were reported over the next several hours.

Local motels were full before the accidents started happening, the sheriff’s office reported, and stranded motorists were soon being cared for by local churches.

The First Baptist Church had 20 people come in to its Downtown Ministry Center between the hours of 10 p.m. and midnight, and the First United Methodist Church accommodated about 40 people in its Fellowship Hall between 10:45 and midnight.

One rollover was reported to the sheriff’s office at 1:18 a.m. six miles west of Clarendon on US 287, and another was reported at 4:16 a.m. west of Lelia Lake.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said the accidents could have been much worse, but that one accident near FM 1260 east of Clarendon backed up traffic to Hedley and kept people from moving too fast.

“That kept people from speeding,” he said.

Despite the high number of accidents, the Associated Ambulance Authority only had to transport two people to the hospital in Amarillo.

National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Tommie Saye reported a total of three inches of snow in Clarendon.

Motorists left the Baptist and Methodist facilities by noon Friday, and Blackburn said roads in the area were generally wet but clear by 2 p.m.

Donley County’s unemployment rose to 4.1 percent in November, according to seasonally non-adjusted data from the Texas Workforce Commission.

The figures show Donley County with 1,738 people employed out of a workforce of 1,812 with 74 people looking for work.

October’s figures showed an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent with 67 people out of work out of a workforce of 1,785.

One year ago in November, Donley County’s unemployment rate was 3.9 percent with 71 people jobless.

Statewide, the November seasonally adjusted nonagricultural employment grew by 12,300 jobs in November.

Texas employers now have added 204,400 jobs over the past 12 months, for an annual growth rate of 2.0 percent compared with a national growth rate of 1.1 percent. The November statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.2 percent, up from 4.1 percent in October, but down from 4.7 percent a year ago.

“Job growth in Texas continues to outpace the nation as employers hire workers and expand,” said Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chair Diane Rath. “The solid economic foundation laid in Texas over recent years is serving employers and workers well.”

The Midland Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) experienced the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.7 percent (not seasonally adjusted). The Amarillo, Lubbock and Odessa MSAs were second at 3.2 percent.

“Texas employers across many industry sectors are adding jobs faster than the nation as a whole,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Ron Lehman.