Clarendon’s 1920s water tower came down March 24, 2010, after being replaced by a new standpipe earlier this year. 
Archives for March 2010
Mayor confirms Webb’s termination
The employment of City Administrator John Webb was terminated Tuesday night by the Clarendon Board of Aldermen.
Mayor Chris Ford told the Enterprise the board’s decision was “based on a lack of confidence in (Webb’s) ability to perform the duties of city administrator.”
The decision came during a called meeting of the board the Enterprise learned about late Tuesday night, and Alderman Will Thompson confirmed that evening that the board voted 3-2 to remove Webb. Thompson said he and Alderman Ann Huey voted against the measure and that Aldermen Larry Hicks, Tommy Hill, and Kyle Davis voted for the removal.
Mayor Ford said the board’s decision was effective immediately and that Webb was given an opportunity to resign prior to the board’s action, which was taken after the aldermen met in closed session for an hour and 45 minutes.
“I have consulted with Texas Municipal League and the city attorney, and everything has been done according to the Open Meetings Act,” Ford said.
The mayor said he met Wednesday morning with all city employees to inform them of the decision.
“I told them that the board is supportive of them and the community and said the mayor and the board will be actively involved in responding to citizens’ needs and concerns.”
Ford said the board will likely have another called meeting next week to discuss appointing an interim city administrator and said the city will be looking for a new administrator.
Webb has served as Clarendon’s city administrator since October 2008. He did not have a contract with the city, Ford said.
The Tower Falls (video)
Workers knocked down Clarendon’s water tower in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The tower had served the city for more than 80 years and has been replaced by a new, taller standpipe. Visit our Facebook page for more video of the knock down.
Health reform will increase dependence
President Bill Clinton once declared, “The Era of Big Government is over!” And it now appears that he was right. We will soon be longing for the days of “big government” now that the “Era of Gargantuan Government” – or possibly the “Era of Omnipotent Government” – is upon us.
The Imperial Congress narrowly approved the hostile takeover of the American health care system Sunday. The bill was hailed as a way to extend health care to some 32 million Americans who are currently not covered by insurance of some kind. In typical liberal fashion, the other 275 million of us are supposed to feel good about supporting and caring for those 32 million helpless individuals.
If you voluntarily want to help someone by paying for their medical bills, that’s called charity. But when the government forces you to give up your money and your rights in support of someone else, that’s not charity. It is tyranny.
It is true that there are people in circumstances that are difficult and that there are people who genuinely need a helping hand. But there are also a great many people in this country who are freeloaders and only want something for nothing. This health reform caters to the second group while pointing to the sad stories of the first group.
It is, in fact, none of the federal government’s business whether you have health insurance. Constitutionally, it is really none of its business whether you ever even go to the doctor or get treatment for an illness. That’s up to you and private medical service providers.
But the reality of the situation is that the government has made this its business. With Medicare and Medicaid and a host of regulations, it has thrust itself into the doctor-patient relationships of millions of Americans. And no one can really say that it has been a financially sound decision. Medicare and Medicaid both have budget woes; and Medicare, like Social Security, is currently on the road to bankruptcy.
It makes no sense for the government to further tangle up this mess. A better solution would have been to enact market-driven reforms and gradually reduce people’s dependence on the government. The opposite is now happening – more government and more dependence. Politicians and bureaucrats will gain more power; and if they can’t squeeze enough taxes to cover the cost, Uncle Sam will just put it on his Chinese charge card.
Someday – some sweet day – either the federal government’s finances will collapse, or the People will take this country back. Let’s hope it’s the later, and let’s hope that day is in November.
Meanwhile…
Barack Hussein Obama is destined to be remembered as one of the greatest men in American history.
(I’ll pause as you catch your breath.)
Yes, the health care reform bill is now the law, and President Obama will justly get the credit for it. He will be mentioned in the same breath as Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and take his place in the pantheon of American Presidents… or at least Democrat Presidents.
Two years ago this column said that the Democratic Party deserved a candidate like Barack Obama – someone who believes wholeheartedly in the goals of the national party and will stand up for and work hard to achieve those goals. And that’s exactly what they got – a man who inspires his party and takes the country in the direction he believes it should go.
Now unfortunately, that direction is one in which the government runs every damn thing and freedom, personal responsibility, and a market economy are just ideas that receive lip service.
Critics of the Democratic Party have for years said the party stood for weak foreign policy, government regulation of the economy, higher taxes, higher spending, and the expansion of the welfare state to take care of everyone from the cradle to the grave.
To be sure, not every self-labeled Democrat in America believes all that or wants it to come true. But that is what the national party stands for, and it is evidenced by the actions of Mr. Obama and all the leftists, commies, social radicals he has surrounded himself with and by the mindless lemmings who clearly make up the majority of Democrats in Congress.
The health bill is just the first accomplishment that Obama’s future biography will list. Within it is the nationalization of the student loan program. And if health reform was passed this easily, it won’t be long before the federal government moves to approve sweeping energy legislation and enact further controls over the financial system – whether the American people want it to or not.
Under Obama and his followers in the Congress, the American government is moving to the left and drifting even further from its Constitutional moorings. It remains to be seen how far the People and the States will let this go, but it is certain that reversing this course will be extremely difficult.
All-District honors
County youth place well in stock shows
Several Donley County FFA and 4-H members did well while competing at state and national 2010 livestock shows against thousands of youth and their animal projects.
Tres and Hannah Hommel were the only two representing Donley County at the National Western Livestock Shoe in Denver, where they showed their swine.
4-H members attended the Fort Worth Livestock Show to exhibit Market Steer, Swine, and Breeding Beef Projects. Jacob and Kae Hewett exhibited their Breeding Beef projects and received 9th and 10th in the heifer division and 2nd with their Braunvieh Bull; Jacob Pigg placed 9th in the Market Steer division and qualified for the Premium Sale; other youth exhibiting steers include Tres and Hannah Hommel, Brittney and Kelsey McAnear, Kaden Bennett, Rowdy Speed, Annie Patten, John and Jayson Pigg, Trevor Cobb, Joseph Russell, Seth Ruthardt, Caden Farris and Chris Blackburn.
At the San Antonio Livestock Show five youth exhibited their Market Swine. Kati Adams of Hedley had a 12th place Landrace; Misti Scott placed 10th with a Chester; others competing include Austin Adams and Lee and Shiann Cook.
Nine youth competed at the San Angelo Livestock Show. Caylor Monroe placed 1st with a light weight Cross; Austin Adams got 4th showing a Spot; Reid Copelin placed 6th in the York division; Misti Scott exhibited a 3rd place Chester and 6th place Duroc; Dalton Benson received 10th place with a Duroc; Madison and Lilly Carr exhibited their Breeding Guilt projects and Madison placed 11th with her Chester; Lilly placed 6th in the Pollands; also competing was Tres and Hannah Hommel with their Market Steers.
Wrapping up the show season, a total of 26 youth traveled to Houston to exhibit Market Steer, Swine, Sheep and Commercial Steer projects.
In the Market Steer Division, Kelsey McAnear placed 7th in the Short Horns; Annie Patten placed 9th with an Angus; Trevor Cobb placed 4th in the Maines; Kaden Bennett placed 10th in the Limousine Division; Caden Farris received 6th place with a AOB steer; Chris Blackburn placed 5th with a Polled Hereford; Rowdy Speed and Brittney McAnear got pulled for consideration but did not get high enough to place.
Also exhibiting were Jayson and John Pigg, Joey Russell, and Seth Ruthardt.
In the Market Swine Division, Austin Adams received Reserve Breed Champion with a Polland; Kati Adams placed 6th with a Spot; Colton Kingston placed 12th with a Hamp; others exhibiting were Wyatt Wheatly, Kyle Lindsey, Kolby Foard, Grayson Morris, Reid Copelin, Misti Scott, Dalton Benson, and Lee and Shiann Cook.
Krista Reynolds also exhibited her Market Lamb at the Houston show, and Cedar Stevenson competed in the Commercial Steer project competition.
Enterprise launches new site
The Clarendon Enterprise proudly unveiled its new website this week and encouraged readers to go online and get involved.
ClarendonLive.com will replace ClarendonOnline.com, which has served the newspaper since 2000.
“The old site served its purpose, but it was time for a change,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “The new site is more interactive, it is more convenient for our readers, and it will be updated more frequently.”
ClarendonLive will allow readers to post comments on stories, submit story ideas and photos, and place classifieds and announcements online. In addition, visitors to the site can still search more than nine years worth of archives that were transferred from the old website.
“We want ClarendonLive.com to become the spot everyone goes to for information about Clarendon and Donley County,” Estlack said. “We also want to see people get involved on the site and hope that it generates civil discussion on local topics.”
Readers can also sign up to get e-mail alerts when the site is updated, and a link is available to follow the Enterprise on Facebook.
Enterprise staff members have been working since December to get ClarendonLive ready, and the new site will still be fine tuned in the coming days and weeks.
“This has truly been a team effort,” the publisher said. “Contributing Editor Ashlee Estlack has put a lot of ideas and guidance into the site, and Julie Shields did a tremendous job learning the new interface and transferring content from the old site.
“Anndria Newhouse also provided great support and suggestions. We’ve also had a team of volunteers looking at the sight for about a week now.”
Much of the credit for the new site goes to Dr. Randy Reddick, who chairs the Journalism Department at Texas Tech University.
“Dr. Reddick taught me publication design, and he has graciously taken us under his wing in the development of ClarendonLive,” Estlack said. “He has done a lot of work behind the scenes, spent a day with our staff, and was on the telephone for many hours with us over the last few weeks. We truly appreciate all his efforts on this.”
The Enterprise has a long tradition of reporting local events. The paper has been through many changes since its establishment as The Clarendon News in 1878. It was one of the early community papers to begin a digital edition with Enterprise-D in 2005, and ClarendonLive.com will continue that spirit of innovation.
“We will always have a newspaper, but increasingly readers will want more local news on the web,” Estlack said. “That’s the purpose of ClarendonLive – to keep our readers informed and connected to our community.”
Couple busted for passing bad checks
A Memphis couple was in the Donley County Jail this week after passing at least 30 worthless checks to businesses in Clarendon.
Sheriff Butch Blackburn said 53-year-old Darryl Smith and 31-year-old Amy Smith were each being held on $10,000 bond and facing charges of Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity – Theft, a third degree felony.
Authorities received a call from Bronco Burger last Thursday, March 18, about worthless checks being passed in Clarendon. The restaurant had received three such checks, and the establishment’s owners reported that the subjects had also passed checks at a Taylor’s convenience store here.
As the sheriff’s department began investigating the case, the couple was reported at Taylor’s again and was later stopped at White’s Feed & Seed, where they were arrested and booked into jail.
Blackburn said the checks were on the couple’s own bank account but that the account had been closed for several months. The checks ranged in amount from $2 to over $200, and the Smiths had started passing them locally on March 12.
“On March 17 and 18 alone the checks totaled about $700,” Blackburn said. “We expect to be bombarded with the bad checks from businesses in the next couple of weeks.”
The sheriff said the couple admitted to planning to use the money from the bad checks to buy crack cocaine.
CC judging contest expecting large crowd
The local population will more than double this weekend when the Clarendon College Invitational Judging Contest is held on Saturday.
The contest regularly attracts more than 2,000 high school FFA students and 4-H students from Texas and nearby states.
According to the 2000 US Census, Clarendon has a population of 1,974.
Blowing snow and hazardous driving conditions forced the cancelation of last year’s contest. That marked the first time in the 28-year history of the event it had to be cancelled.
Past contests have had huge impacts on the local economy. Restaurants are typically packed for the event to the point of actually having to turn people away, and this year will hopefully be equally successful.
In fact, the annual judging contest is the single biggest event to attract visitors from out of county for one day than any other annual event. By comparison, the July 4th Saints’ Roost Celebration barbecue annually attracts about 1,000 people, the Buck’N Blow Out Rodeo on Labor Day weekend drew 1,500 last year, and the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff records between 1,000 and 1,500 visitors each September. Each of those events, however, has hundreds of local residents in attendance. The greatest number of people at the judging contest will come from outside of Donley County.
In addition to helping local merchants, the event also presents a great opportunity for CC to showcase its campus, faculty, and programs for prospective students. Johnny Treichel, Clarendon College livestock and meats judging coach, said the event is the biggest recruiting tool for the college.
“This is the only time each year the college has this many potential students on campus,” he said. “And we are pleased to have such positive support from the community.”
Lady Broncos take 2 wins
The Lady Broncos added to their winning record (13-4,1-0) over the break with wins over Perryton and River Road. The ladies defeated Perryton last Thursday at 7-5.
According to head coach Gary Jack, the ladies were ahead 7-0 at one point in the game. “We were ahead 7-0 at one time, and I thought we would go ahead and end it in five innings,” he said. “But they were able to come back on us.”
Jack went on to say that the Lady Broncos played well enough to win, but felt they could tell they had been off a few days.
Danielle Ford hit her third over-the-fence home run in a row that helped the ladies to their win. Defensively, the ladies stayed focused.
“Our infield played pretty solid,” Jack said. “Trevela Dronzek, Caitlyn Christopher, and Brandi Mays did a good job behind Danielle’s pitching. And Dominique Mason did a good job at catcher.”
The ladies defeated River Road 12-8 on Friday.
“We were behind at first,” Jack said. “But our hitting was better and that helped us get the win. We trailed most of the game, and it was 7-8 late in the game, and we were able to fight through it and get the win. Jency Burton came in to pitch for us in the second inning and did a good job getting the win.”
Ford had yet another over-the-fence home run and Dronzek, Christopher, and Mays added doubles with hits to the fence.
“We were able to make some things happen at the end,” Jack said. “Emily Clark played well for us as did several other players. We’ll keep working and get a little better.”
The Lady Broncos will continue their district schedule as they travel to McLean Friday, March 26, beginning at 4:00 p.m.
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