Archives for March 2009

The Donley County Extension Service will hold its annual Good Health, Much Wealth, Your Choice Health Fair 2009 this Thursday, March 26, at the Bairfield Activity Center on the campus of Clarendon College.

There will be booths set up that are interactive and interesting for all ages.  During the fair will be a free blood draw from 8:30-noon. This type of blood draw would normally cost $125 without insurance or a co-pay.

To break the savings down further, it is $25 for the technicians to draw the blood, then to perform the testing on the blood costs from $75-$100. This generates a full report of your lipid panel, cholesterol, glucose, and the break down.

And if a person does have insurance, they can take the official report that is mailed to them to their doctor, and they can use that instead of drawing additional blood and costing more money.

During the fair will be a sign up table for “Walk Across Texas” program. This eight week program is designed to help individuals get into the habit of walking.

Interested parties can walk as individuals or on a team. The kick off for Walk Across Texas is 2:00 p.m. at the Clarendon College track.

For more information on these and any other Extension activities, please contact 874-2141.

An investigation will be opened this week into a possible violation of the Open Meetings Act by members of the Hedley school board, the Donley County Attorney’s office said.

County Attorney Landon Lambert said Tuesday that he will ask the Texas Rangers to investigate allegations that four members of the Hedley Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees held an improper meeting last August.

A complaint by former board member Rex Morris was filed with Sheriff Butch Blackburn, who turned the case over to the county attorney.

“The authority originates in my office to prosecute Open Meeting violations,” Landon said. “The bottom line right now appears to be that nothing has been voted on that wasn’t in an open session, and there does not appear to be evidence other than he said, she said that an improper meeting was held.”

A video tape of the alleged improper meeting was going to be reviewed later Tuesday by Lambert and the sheriff.

Lambert said the complaint alleges four members of the board – James Lee Potts, James Edward Potts, Tonja Ruthardt, and Bonnie Walsh – held an improper meeting following the funeral of Milford James Potts last August.

The members in question say they gathered to help the Potts family write thank you notes, and that school business was not the purpose of the gathering.

Speaking on the advice of the school’s attorney, board president James Lee Potts said he had no knowledge of any violation of the Open Meetings Law.

Board member Bonnie Walsh said the allegation is simply not true.

“We did help them do some thank you notes,” Walsh said. “It wasn’t like a meeting. They (the Potts) were too torn up. School business was not our concern.”

Walsh also said that setting would not have made sense for a meeting.

“If we were trying to meet in secret, we sure were stupid,” she said. “We parked right in front of Tonja’s house, and she has big windows with no curtains.”

Lambert said state law prohibits board members from meeting in a quorum to discuss official business outside of an official meeting. He also said that state law does allow board members to gather at club meetings, funerals, and meals as long as they don’t discuss school business.

Violating the Open Meetings Act can result in a fine up to $500 and jail time up to six months, Lambert said. The timeframe of the investigation will depend on the Rangers’ caseload.
“If I have credible evidence that I can prove someone did something wrong, then someone is going to jail,” Lambert said. “But if there isn’t credible evidence, then I’m not going to waste the county’s resources.”

A divided Hedley school board voted Saturday to propose non-renewal of Superintendent Bryan Hill’s contract.

Board President James Lee Potts told the Enterprise that the 4-2 vote was not a final act and that Hill has 15 days to request a hearing before the board of trustees can vote on his contract.

On the advice of legal counsel, Potts would not comment on reasons for the board’s vote or other matters related to the issue.

Hill said he was not given any reason for the action taken last Saturday, and he raised concerns about an evaluation the board did in January of his annual performance.

“My original evaluation has been gone from my personnel file for nine weeks,” Hill said. “I was given a copy.”

Hill said his copy of the evaluation shows him as being “below expectations” in five out of nine areas.

“I’ve never had a bad evaluation in 27 years,” Hill said.

One of the areas of concern was in the budget where Hill said last year he was rated as having “exceeded expectations” but this year was rated “below expectations.”

Cary Don Neeley has been on the Hedley School Board for more than 30 years and agreed that Hill’s evaluations had always been positive.

“I can’t remember a bad evaluation,” Neeley said. “We might have had suggestions for improvement, but I don’t remember anything being rated ‘below expectations’ before.”

Neeley said he could not comment on what had happened in closed session, but he did have one comment he repeated from the meeting.

“I said in open session that I believe this is a witch hunt,” Neeley said.

Board member Blain Burton, who voted against Saturday’s measure, also confirmed Hill’s account of his evaluation, and Hill said he had tried to work with the board to correct a deficit the school is facing.

“The board told me August 31 to bring budget deficit proposals,” Hill said.

The superintendent’s proposals were to reassign one teacher, cut three aides’ positions, and raise taxes; but the board did not take action on those proposals.

“That involved some relatives of the board, and they didn’t want to do that,” Hill said. “We never did anything.”

Board member Bonnie Walsh, who along with Potts, his father James Edward Potts, and Tonja Ruthardt voted in favor of proposing non-renewal, said Hill’s proposals on the teacher aides would not have saved the district any money because it would have reduced funding from other sources.

Walsh also said the board did not pursue raising taxes because they did not want to let the taxpayers down, and that they are trying to do things correctly.

“We’re calling TASB (the Texas Association of School Boards) all the time,” Walsh said, “because we want to make sure things are done right.”

She also agreed with James Lee Potts that Saturday’s vote was not a final action.

“We just voted to vote on it,” she said.

Voting in favor of proposing non-renewal were J.L. Potts, J.E. Potts, Walsh, and Ruthardt. Voting in opposition were Neeley and Burton. Board member Troy Monroe was absent.

The board will have a called meeting this Saturday at 9 a.m. to discuss teacher contracts.

Clarendon’s first newspaper will be featured in a new exhibit at the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, which opens this Saturday, March 21.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Amarillo Globe-News, the Museum will journal the life of the Amarillo newspaper with a special exhibition called “Extra! Extra! Read All About It” in the Mary E. Bivins Gallery.

This exhibit will relate today’s Amarillo Globe-News as the lone survivor of more than 30 newspapers published in the city since its founding in 1887.

The exhibit will also touch on the history of journalism in the area, and among the items on display will be the first edition of Texas Panhandle’s first newspaper, The Clarendon News, which was published on June 1, 1878.

“This is the only known copy of our first edition,” said Clarendon publisher Roger Estlack, who agreed to loan the paper to the Museum. “This exhibit will be the first public display of this copy since it was discovered.”

Lost for many years, the 1878 paper was obtained in 2006 from an antique book dealer in Pennsylvania along with many early local papers. A reproduction of the first edition is on permanent display at the Saints’ Roost Museum in Clarendon along with an original copy of the second edition dated July 1, 1878.

The Clarendon News began as a monthly publication and went through many changes to become what is now known as The Clarendon Enterprise.  Articles for the first papers were prepared in Old Clarendon and then sent to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where the paper was printed. The paper was then transported by train to Texas and then by stage to Clarendon.

Another interesting part of the exhibit will be the permanent plaque for the Panhandle Press Association’s Hall of Fame, which features many former Globe-News employees and three former publishers from Clarendon.

A brief history of the PPA will also be on display, and the association will kick off its annual convention this year with a reception at the Museum next Thursday.

Also featured in the exhibit will be descriptions of the Amarillo Globe-News radio, TV, and newspaper media giant; influential figures who helped mold and shape the paper into what it is today; a replica of a 1950’s reporter’s space; memorable comics and political cartoons; and exceptional and award-winning front pages.

This exhibit will continue through September 7, 2009.

By Roger Estlack & Ashlyn Tubbs, Clarendon Enterprise

Clarendon city officials tabled a resolution on a proposed street project last Tuesday after hearing from another engineering firm.

The Board of Aldermen had previously been considering a program from Oller Engineering of Lubbock and a possible $10,000 plan to seal coat a few streets this year.

But Tuesday night the city’s current engineer, Che Shadle of OJD Engineering, addressed the board and said the city already has a seal coat program in place and that it could partner with the college to get bids this year.

Some aldermen were disgruntled about the city’s previous paving projects with Alderman Ann Huey calling one project “a disaster.”

Alderman Kyle Davis also expressed reservations about the scope of the project outlined for this year.

“Ten thousand dollars isn’t going to cover all the streets that need repairs for the seal coat project,” Davis said. “I think we should wait until next year when we have more money to cover more streets.”

No action was taken on the seal coat project. Aldermen will discuss the matter further at the next city meeting.

In other city business, the board heard a presentation from Tylan Shelton from RD, Inc., on wind energy. He asked the city to pay half the cost of a $2,000 study for a possible 10 megawatt wind farm. The board took no action on this request.

City Administrator John Webb updated the board on job openings the city has. He was looking to fill one vacancy and said he would like to hire one more person since summer is approaching.

The board set the dates for aldermen and city employees to paint the interior of City Hall on the weekends of March 28 and April 4.

Changing stated city meetings to a monthly schedule was tabled for the time being.

During the board’s comments section of the agenda, Alderman Davis said he was receiving several complaints about the water rate increase. Webb said he had received only a couple of complaints. The administrator also said that 56 percent of accounts did not change and that other accounts are now paying for what they use.

Many departments joined together March 10 to fight a fire that threatened property southwest of Greenbelt Lake.

The fire was reported at 7:09 p.m., and the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department responded and immediately called for mutual aid from Howardwick and Hedley, according to a report from First Assistant Chief Jeremy Powell.

Soon after that, mutual aid was also summoned from Memphis,  Groom, and Claude fire departments as well as the Texas Forest Service.

The fire, which is thought to have been ignited by a tree blowing into a power line, stared near the Greenbelt Lake road that leads to the bluffs and swiftly traveled south/southwest.

Powell reported that combined efforts of the Clarendon firemen and Donley County motor graders halted the rapidly advancing head of fire from crossing County Road N and County Road 9. When mutual aid units arrived, efforts were focused on extinguishing the right and then the left flanks of the fire.

The fire was contained by 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and then under control  by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. The fire burned 225.68 acres and stretched 1.6 miles long.

No injuries were reported resulting from the fire, and no structures were damaged, although several were threatened, such as the Bar H Dude Ranch.

Powell also reported that damage to landowners’ fences was kept to a minimum and that no livestock were harmed.

There were 20 units and 49 firemen involved in the extinguishing of this fire, as well as additional help from the Texas Forest Service, Donley County, the Associated Ambulance Authority, Donley County Sheriff’s Office, and Texas Department of Public Safety.

Powell said local firemen greatly appreciate the departments and individuals who devoted their time and efforts to help with this fire.