Run for it
Archives for September 2010
Gold Stars
Hicks is new Clarendon Mayor
Alderman Larry Hicks was named the 37th mayor of the City of Clarendon during the Board of Aldermen’s regular meeting Tuesday night, September 14.
Hicks, who was already serving as mayor pro-tem, succeeds former mayor Chris Ford, who resigned last night citing personal reasons. His term will expire next May.
City Hall says the board of aldermen will meet in called session next Tuesday to administer the oath of office to Hicks and fill his vacant seat on the board.
Close call
An official accident report from the Department of Public Safety was not available at press time, but emergency workers on the scene said it appeared Kuhn turned in front of a loaded semi-truck.
Kuhn’s GMC Jimmy came to rest in the southbound ditch. The semi-truck came to rest on its side in the center median.
Kuhn was extracted from the wreckage of his vehicle by the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department and the Associated Ambulance Authority.
Kuhn told the Enterprise Tuesday morning that he spent three days in an Amarillo hospital but suffered no major injuries. “The good Lord was looking out for me,” he said.
Ford quits as mayor
The Clarendon Board of Aldermen was expected to accept the resignation of Mayor Chris Ford during a meeting Tuesday evening as the Enterprise went to press.
Ford told the paper Monday afternoon that he intended to preside during Tuesday’s regular city meeting and that his resignation would take effect at the close of the meeting. He cited personal reasons for his decision.
“I’m just overloaded and have too much on my plate,” Ford said. “So I’m resigning. It was a difficult decision, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time.”
Tuesday’s agenda included closed session items for the board to deliberate the selection of a new city administrator as well as discussion of how to replace Ford.
Check back online at www.ClarendonLive.com for the latest news from Tuesday’s meeting.
College enrollment hits new high
Clarendon College reported a record enrollment after the 12th class day Friday.
CC officials say the college’s fall headcount stands at 1,586 – the highest in the school’s 112-year history and an increase of more than 11 percent over the previous fall enrollment record, which was set last year.
“A few years back, some laughed that we could have 1,000 students,” CC President Bill Auvenshine said. “Now here we are with nearly 1,600.”
Auvenshine credited the college’s success to its effort to provide opportunities for people close to home.
“We’re trying to meet the educational needs of the eastern Texas Panhandle,” Auvenshine said, pointing to new programs such as EMT training, welding, wind energy, cosmetology, and heating and air-conditioning. “We always come up with something new.”
Clarendon College enrollment has grown steadily the last four years, and fall enrollment this year is 44 percent above the same period in 2006. The growth has been a team effort.
“We have good instructors who take a personal interest in our students,” the president said. “We have two full time recruiters now and a full time marketing coordinator. The result is we can get a lot done.”
This fall’s enrollment breakdown is as follows: 486 in Clarendon, 416 in Pampa, 59 in Childress, and the balance in dual credit and online classes.
CEDC awards $4,000 in storefront grants
The most recent awards from the CEDC were for improvements to the First Baptist Church’s Downtown Ministry Center and to remodeling done by one of Clarendon’s newest business, Fantastic Nails. Both properties qualified for and received the maximum grant of $2,000.
Representatives of the Downtown Ministry Center have known about the CEDC’s program since its inception in 2008 and even attended the initial public hearing that helped shaped the program.
“This has been a three-year project,” church volunteer Terry Ashcraft said. “We certainly appreciate this grant, and the money will go right back into this building.”
The church installed a new sidewalk in front of the center, removed a dilapidated awning, and gave the building an updated paint job and a new sign. An attractive metal awning was then added to the structure, which in addition to improving appearances has helped keep the building cool.
Ashcraft said the church now plans to do some interior remodeling, repaint the north side of the building, which is visible from US 287, and possibly add an entrance for their community clothes closet on the north side.
Fantastic Nails & Spa, owned by sisters Trisha Tran and Valerie Tran, opened for business last month and is now attracting local clients as well as folks from Memphis, Hedley, Wheeler, and other nearby communities.
Trisha Tran said she did not know about the CEDC program when she first considered purchasing the former Studio E location at 103 S. Kearney earlier this year.
“I was excited to find out about it,” she said. “It helps out a lot. The money will help cover the new sign.”
In addition to new signage and a new EIFS stucco façade, Tran and her sister knocked down partitions inside the building and installed new heating and cooling, new ceramic tile floors, eight spa pedicure chairs, and five tables for manicures. A new room was also created for cosmetologist Judy Thornberry, who continues to do hair in the building.
Tran says she has plans for more improvements in the coming months, including a new awning in the next month or so and new windows and an improved sidewalk next spring.
The CEDC has budgeted $10,000 for this fiscal year’s Façade Grant Program, which provides fifty-fifty matching grants up to a maximum of $2,000 per project for properties on a three-block stretch of Kearney Street.
Projects eligible for consideration could be anything from a coat of paint to new signage to a complete rehabilitation of a storefront. Those interested in the grants are asked to apply prior to beginning a project, and applications are available from CEDC Secretary Roger Estlack at The Clarendon Enterprise.
Since the Façade Grant Program began in 2008, the CEDC has awarded $10,414.15.
County cotton tour next week
The Texas Agrilife Extension Donley County and Evans Fertilizer will be hosting a cotton tour in Donley County on September 23 at 8:30 a.m. to view cotton variety trials and discuss variety traits.
Irrigation Specialist Nick Kenny will perform a pumping plant test on an irrigation system to discuss things to consider when replacing or making changes to new and old systems and water requirement based on number of heat units.
The tour begins at Evans Fertilizer at 8:30 a.m. and then travels to Lelia Lake and Hedley, wrapping up around 11 a.m. There will be two continuing education units offered for private applicator license holders.
For more information, contact Leonard Haynes at 806-282-7680.
Man thwarts plan to burn the Quran
Kudos to the citizens of Amarillo who stood up to a religious fanatic Saturday.
David Grisham had planned to burn a copy of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, on September 11 in Sam Houston Park. Grisham, the leader of Repent Amarillo, has built himself a reputation as a radical nut, and this action was supposed to be a sign of solidarity with another crazy man, Rev. Terry Jones of Florida.
Jones reportedly has the sum total of about 50 followers and recently made international waves by planning to hold a Quran burning. He was rightly condemned by many sources, even including the White House and top military men who worried it would incite violence.
Jones finally bowed to the pressure and put a halt to his plans, but Grisham soldiered on in Amarillo.
But then an amazing thing happened. A couple of hundred people showed up to object. Some carried signs with a message from Jesus – “Love thy neighbor.” Others confronted Grisham verbally, and still others placed their hands on top of the barbecue grill where he was preparing to ignite the Quran.
Even more interesting, a skateboarding atheist named Jacob Isom then ran up, distracted Grisham, and took off with the holy book, handing it over to a local Muslim leader.
“I believe in freedom for everyone and not to mess with everybody’s beliefs,” Isom told the Amarillo Globe-News. “I don’t believe in the Quran. I believe you shouldn’t burn it in front of people that do.”
The 23-year-old has become something of an overnight hero across the country as news of his actions spread across the media and the Internet.
Now some would say, as Grisham did, that burning a book is his Constitutional right. And it is. Just like it’s your right to burn the American flag or burn the latest Harry Potter novel or burn the Bible even. But that doesn’t make it the morally right thing to do.
It is a constitutionally protected form of free speech, but it also is distasteful and an example of being small-minded. If Grisham and Jones had carried out their plans, they would have been the moral equivalents of the people in the Middle East who danced in the streets and burned American flags on September 11, 2001.
Islam is a peaceful religion. But there are bad people who have perverted it in the same way that Grisham and Jones and others have sometimes committed horrible acts in the name of Jesus Christ.
Burning the Quran won’t convert any Muslims to Christianity just like burning a Bible would never convert a Christian to Islam. In the same way, burning the American flag doesn’t dampen the spirit of the patriot. It inflames that spirit and breeds hatred.
As America prepares to celebrate Constitution Day this Friday, we should all consider that freedom includes not only enjoying your own liberty but respecting the liberty of others. We are not free unless we are all free. People like Jones and Grisham would put their beliefs above all others even to the point of exciting violence and trying to destroy the beliefs of others.
The strength of this nation rests with people like Isom and the hundreds of other people who exercised their free speech louder than Grisham could Saturday and, in so doing, helped bring the Amarillo community closer together rather than tear it apart.
We are fortunate – or some would say “blessed” – to live in a land where people can believe what they choose and not have to live in fear of persecution based on your faith – or even your lack of faith. We all owe special “thanks” to Isom and the others who stepped up Saturday to make sure that our region stayed true to the American promise of religious freedom.
Meanwhile…
The Obama administration is coming up with turn the economy around with just less than 50 days to go before the November elections. Last week, while celebrating Labor Day, he said the country should embrace a plan to spend $50 billion on 150,000 miles of roads; 4,000 miles of railways; and 150 miles of airport runways.
First of all, is spending more money always the answer? We’re $13 trillion in debt! It’s time to stop digging this hole.
And secondly, maybe we should just spend existing infrastructure funds more wisely and build things that last. Take a look at US 287 from Washburn to Amarillo. That stretch of road is being redone for at least the third time in six years. It was under construction when my nephew was born in 2004, it was under construction last year when my mother was hospitalized, and now it’s under construction again. It’s ridiculous.
Maybe if we didn’t have to repave the same stretch of highway over and over again, we could afford to maintain the low-tech 1960s-era rest areas that are currently being bulldozed in the region or possibly have resources to mow the right of way. Just a thought.
Broncos corral Mustangs, 20 – 6
Before very vocal fans, the Broncos managed a 20-6 win to put them at 2-1 for the year.
According to head coach Gary Jack; the game was an old-fashioned hard-fought game.
On the stat sheet, the Mustangs’ total yards came in at 23 more than the Broncos, but on the field where it counts, the Broncos dominated the entire night.
They were determined to fight to the end and the intensity the Broncos demonstrated proved they are a force to be reckoned with this year.
Quarterback Johnny Gaines threw for 78 yards and hit Mike Crump for a 21-yard strike right after the break.
Crump had scored the first six for the Broncos in the second quarter of play on a five-yard run to put the Broncos up.
The Bronco defense did not allow the Mustangs to score until the fourth quarter and were successful in defending the two-point conversion.
“Our defense did a lot of good things,” Jack said. “And they held Wheeler to only six points. Mike Crump had 16 tackles, and Chris Crump had 14 with one fumble recovery.”
Jack also noted that Charleston Harris added nine tackles, Jacob Pigg had seven tackles and one sack, and David Roberts helped with five tackles and one sack.
“Jon Levario and Johnny Gaines each had an interception, too,” Jack added.
Offensively, the Broncos made little progress in the first half of play, but stayed solid to add two scores in the second half.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively early,” Jack said. “But we did in the second half of the game. We stepped up and took care of business. Our running game went well and we were able to pass enough to do what we needed to do.”
Overall, Jack thought the Broncos played well and came out of a very physical game fairly healthy. They will use this week in practice to prepare for the Tulia game Friday night on the road.
“We are entering into a tough stretch of games,” Jack said. “We go to Tulia Friday night and they’re having a good year so far. They’re a 2A school and much improved from last year.
“The three games we have on the road will be a big challenge for us.”
Jack is appreciative of the huge crowds at Bronco Stadium and is excited to see the support.
The Broncos will travel to Tulia to take on the Hornets on Friday, September 17, and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Come support your hometown team.
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