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Archives for November 2010

Broncos fall to Seymour, 14-7

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Bradley Watson (10) and Daniel West (2) react as Clarendon’s Chris Crump crosses the goal line last Saturday in Lubbock. Enterprise Photo / Roger Estlack
No other words fit so well in describing the Broncos’ 7-14 loss to Seymour on Saturday in Lubbock than “heartbreaking.” No one would have guessed the “Boys of Fall” would not still be playing football this week.

The Broncos’ stellar season came to abrupt halt in the Area round of the playoffs ending a year that was one for the record books. It was the first time since 1981 that the Broncos were named District Champs and a win would have been the first time since 1972 that the Broncos made it past the second round. But it wasn’t their day.

The Panthers may have won on the scoreboard, but the Broncos reestablished their position in 1A football as a team to not be taken lightly. Game after game this season the Broncos proved they could play with the best of them after posting only two losses overall.

“Our expectations were high for this game,” head coach Gary Jack said. “We felt we were ready and had a great week of practice. We expected a tough game, and that’s exactly what it was. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Jack felt the Broncos were not as sharp as they had been. Several things could have
played a part in the loss, but Jack is not making excuses. There was a lot of emotion running through the team and things just really did not click the way they had been, Jack said.

Defensively, the Broncos played outstanding, but offensively they could not get things going like they had in the past.

“It was a good defensive game,” Jack said. “But offensively, the things we had been doing that worked were not working for us. We could never get into a flow. The defense definitely dictated both sides of the ball. One or two plays either way could have changed the outcome of the game.”

Jack gave Seymour credit.

“They are a good team, and they played well,” Jack said. “We didn’t think anybody would slow us down and they did.”

The Broncos’ only score came on a four-yard run by senior Chris Crump with Johnny Gaines kicking the extra point. Clarendon racked up 249 total yards and was virtually even with Seymour in the stats book. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, the Broncos were moving the ball down the field and had a chance to tie the game at 14 all. But the Panthers intercepted a Gaines pass on the nine-yard line and ran the clock out.

Despite the loss, the Broncos had a great year and Coach Jack is extremely proud of them.

“I will miss the seniors,” Jack said. “They played hard and were great leaders. I’ll have good memories of the entire team and the seniors. What a run these kids had this season.”

Jack knows there is good talent coming up.

“We have a bunch of kids returning, and they have big shoes to fill.”

The Bronco underclassmen will be ready come fall; ready to rewrite the record books once again.

The senior Broncos are Johnny Gaines, Mike Crump, Chris Crump, David Roberts, Bradley Watson, Brayden Phillips, R.J. Nino, John Levario, Daniel West, Coby Braughton, Trent White, Clayton Shields, and Monty Holland.

Court hears pleas in several local cases

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The 100th Judicial District Court heard two pleas resulting in deferred adjudications last Tuesday, November 16, in Clarendon.

District Attorney Luke Inman prosecuted the cases for the State of Texas with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding.

A total of $5,000 in fines was assessed, and the defendants were also required to pay a total of $1,072 in court costs.

April Nichole Ballard Randall was placed on probation for a period of two years for the third degree felony offense of retaliation. Randall pleaded guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication for the offense.

Randall was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place July 17, 2010, and was later indicted by the Donley County Grand Jury on October 27, 2010.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Randall is required to pay a $2,000 fine to Donley County, and is also required to pay $473 in court costs. If Randall violates probation, she could face up to 10 years in the Institutional Division of the TDCJ.

Jacob Israel Brashears was placed on probation for a period of three years for the third degree felony offense of injury to a child. Brashears pleaded guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication for the offense.

Brashears was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place October 31, 2009, and was later indicted by the Donley County Grand Jury on October 27, 2010.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, Brashears is required to pay a $3,000 fine to Donley County, and is also required to pay $599 in court costs. If Brashears violates probation, he could face up to 10 years in the Institutional Division of the TDCJ.

Also last week, the court met in Panhandle on Monday and heard seven pleas from across the district which resulted in six convictions and one deferred adjudication.
Out of the six convictions, five defendants were sent to the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Three of those defendants were locals to the Texas Panhandle.

A total of $16,500 in fines was assessed as a result of the pleas that took place on November 15. In addition to the fines, the defendants were required to pay a total of $2,522 in court costs and $420 restitution.

Mark Allan Linley was convicted and sentenced to six and one-half years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Linley was sentenced for the third degree felony offense of abandoning a child.

Linley, 52-year-old resident of Howardwick, was arrested in Collingsworth County by Deputy Vincent Marasco for the offense that took place on June 18, 2010.

“Deputy Marasco is a full-time deputy for Donley County and also assists Collingsworth County on a part-time basis,” said Inman. “Marasco provides both counties with exceptional service.”

Linley was indicted by the Collingsworth Grand Jury on November 1, 2010.
After being indicted, Linley picked up another felony charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony offense, which was taken into consideration pursuant to his plea of guilty to the third degree endangering offense, according to Inman.

In addition to the sentence, Linley is also required to pay $376 in court costs, and a $1,000 fine to Collingsworth County.

Wade William Langenbacher was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Langenbacher was sentenced for the second degree felony offense of possession of certain chemicals with intent to manufacture a controlled substance.

Langenbacher, 25-year-old resident of Channing, Texas, was arrested with three other individuals in Carson County by Panhandle Police Assistant Chief Taner Blackburn for the offense that took place on September 24, 2009.

“Taner [Blackburn] does excellent criminal interdiction work on our local highways,” said Inman. “This is one of several cases that Taner has made on Highway 60 where local drug dealers and traffickers, as well as local methamphetamine cooks, have been taken off the streets and out of the community.”

The driver, Joshua Mullen, is currently serving shock probation in the Institutional Division of the TDCJ. The front-seat passenger, Christina Ann Mullen, pleaded guilty on January 4, 2010 and received six years in the Institutional Division of the TDCJ. Christi Thryselius-English, the back-seat passenger next to Lagenbacher, is also currently serving in the Institutional Division of TDCJ for shock probation.

Langenbacher was indicted by the Carson Grand Jury on October 29, 2010.

Langenbacher’s case was not presented to the Carson County Grand Jury until October 29, 2010, due to the drug laboratory report not being finalized until September 21, 2010, according to Inman.

Langenbacher was the last of four defendants charged with possession of certain chemicals on the night of September 24, 2009, all three of which have done penitentiary time pursuant to pleas to an information.

In addition to the sentence, Langenbacher is also required to pay $355 in court costs, and a $2,500 fine to Carson County.

Jeffrey Joe Fisher pleaded true to the allegation listed in the State’s Motion to Revoke Community Supervision of Defendant and was convicted and sentenced to five years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Gene Maurice Massey was convicted and sentenced to six years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and eighteen months in the State Jail Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

David Allen Wade was convicted and sentenced to twelve years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Wade was sentenced for the first degree felony offense of delivery of a controlled substance.

Steven Fitzgerald Streib was placed on probation for a period of five years for the first degree felony offense of possession of controlled substance. Streib pleaded guilty for the offense that took place on April 29, 2009 and was placed on deferred adjudication for the offense.

Hearing draws no comments

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CHILDRESS – A public hearing was held Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at the Childress Fair Park Auditorium, regarding the proposed plan for construction projects in the Texas Department of Transportation’s Childress District.

TxDOT invited residents and local officials in Wheeler, Collingsworth, Childress, Hall, Donley, Briscoe, Dickens, King, Knox, Foard, Motley, Cottle and Hardeman counties to make public comments pertaining to the Childress District FY 2011-2014 Rural Transportation Improvement Plan.

No comments were made at Tuesday’s meeting, which Director of Transportation Planning and Development Marty Smith said isn’t unusual.

“We usually have a very small group, if any,” Smith said. “I think people don’t feel as if they have any input on the rural plans.”

A copy of the plan can also be found at txdot.gov/business/governments/stips.htm. The document includes details for seal coating and overlay projects on state highways in Donley County and replacement of two bridges in Clarendon – one on Seventh Street at the City Park and another on Rosenfield Street.

“All projects have funds obligated to cover the cost from the state and federal levels, and most of these projects are for preservation sake,” Smith said. “With our limited funds, we’re just trying to hold the system together.”

Written comments about the Transportation Improvement Plan can be made until 5 p.m. on Nov. 29 and can be submitted to Marty Smith at: TxDOT Childress District, 7599 US 287, Childress, TX 79201 or via e-mail at Marty.Smith@txdot.gov.

Going up

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Quay Johnson, a freshman from Lubbock, TX, scores during the Clarendon College Bulldog game against Wayland Baptist last week at home. For a complete schedule of Bulldog and Lady Bulldog basketball see the adjacent schedule. Courtesy photo/ Bill Huey, Clarendon College

Calls for ambulance service rising

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Anna Howard demonstrates care given on a local ambulance with Debra Hill. Enterprise Photo / Ashlyn Tubbs
A recent increase in ambulance calls has the Associated Ambulance Authority baffled as to the cause.

In 2004, the highest number of monthly calls was 49. This year, the highest number is 96 calls in September, and there are two other months that have received 95 calls.

“We’ve never seen this much activity,” Ambulance Administrator Anna Howard said. “We’ve steadily crept up on our number of calls, but nothing like this year. For unknown reasons, this year has had an amazing jump.”
According to Howard, there are a few more medical calls than trauma, but on average they are the same.

“We don’t have a good explanation because it’s not all one thing,” Howard said. “Our car accident calls have actually decreased since I came here in 2002. We see all sorts of different medical issues, like strokes and heart attacks as well as trauma, so it’s hard to pinpoint what the problem is.”

The average age of the patients varies as well.

“Some wonder if the increase has to do with the higher elderly rate in Donley County, but some of these patients aren’t elderly,” Howard said. “The average age of the patients is pretty much even because there is the same amount of people in each group.”

The majority of the calls are from Donley County citizens.

“We don’t get that many calls from people out of town or just passing through,” Howard said. “In fact in October, we had 56 calls from Donley County citizens and 17 from non-citizens. We thought that was impressive.”

One hypothesis Howard has is that people are putting off going to their primary physician.

“They wait until they start feeling really bad and then finally call the ambulance.”

The amount of calls frequently requires two ambulances running.

“We’re definitely staying busy,” Howard said. “We are fortunate to be able to run two ambulances in Donley County because a lot of small places are struggling to actually get a crew for their ambulance. We staff two trucks 24/7 with personnel, and with the increased calls we even have to staff a third truck at times, but it hasn’t affected the payroll yet.”

The two brand new ambulances received in March already have 24,000 miles on them.

“The old ambulances we replaced got 8.6-9.0 miles per gallon, while the new trucks get 10.9 so that’s good,” Howard said.

“We hope to keep these ambulances until they get at least 300,000 miles on them.”
Howard said the biggest issue with the increased calls is the fuel cost.

“We are still in budget as far as fuel, but if it keeps up like this I’m sure we’ll be over it soon,” she said. “We’ll be $4,000-$5,000 over the fuel budget if we keep up with the call volume of 80-90 calls a month.”

The amount of calls has not affected the care patients receive, though.

“We have a great crew,” Howard said. “If we need a third crew, someone is always going to be there. We have enough people willing to serve the community as EMTs who will even on the rare occasion act as a first responder when all three ambulances are out to provide immediate emergency care until one of our ambulances arrive. To me, that’s unheard of in a rural community.”

Many things worth giving thanks for

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Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season and appropriately is a time to pause and reflect on all the blessings that God has given us.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the good for the bad. I know it was that way last year for me after the loss of my mother. A deep loss like that can easily cloud your vision to the good things around you. But time heals our wounds, and faith strengthens us as the days go by.

So while last year I may have been hard pressed to come up with a list of things to be grateful for, this year is easier.

I’m thankful for my brother’s friendship. He has been there with me and for me throughout most of my life. He knows me better than most anyone, and we have shared many of the same trials. But we have also shared the good times, and still today we find ways to laugh at all manner of things.

Rocking my little girl is a blessing that I am realizing will not last forever. The day will come when she will be too old for Daddy to rock her to sleep. But for now, I acquiesce almost every time she asks because I need to rock her almost as bad as she needs me to rock her.

Reading to my little boy is an almost nightly thing I am thankful for. Sure we read many the same stories night after night. I can probably recite Officer Buckle & Gloria from memory. But he has pretty good taste in books, and I enjoy his inquisitiveness as he tries to figure out every aspect of every story.

My kids’ imaginations are a constant blessing in our family. Last night Ben put on his Lightning McQueen pajamas, then strapped on his belt and handcuffs, pinned on his sheriff’s badge, donned his cowboy hat, and mounted his stick horse. What a great way to end the evening! Ella often suddenly appears decked out in all sorts of “princess” wear… and sometimes she likes to dress up as the sheriff’s deputy.

My wife’s faith, love, and companionship I am constantly grateful for. I am not sure how I would have made it through the last four years without her. She can brighten my day and make me smile in the worst of the times. And the best of times… well, they are just that… the best of times. Thank you, Ashlee.

I’m glad that I have a job I love. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t stress me out from time to time, but for the most part I enjoy going to work. It’s nice to be active in the community and to have a job where we can try to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors.

I appreciate having roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in the pantry.
I’m lucky to have in-laws who have taken me in as their own. This happened I think before I got married, but it has become more evident since my parents passed away. I don’t get “son-in-law” cards on my birthday, for example. I get “son” cards. It seems like a simple thing, but it makes missing my own Mom and Dad a little easier on special occasions.

Speaking of Mom and Dad, I am thankful for my parents’ legacies. It’s nice when someone says, “I miss your Dad,” or “Your Dad did such and such for me,” or “Your Mom was a huge influence in the life of me (or my son or daughter),” or “Clarendon schools aren’t the same without your Mom.” They are still alive and with us in so many ways, and I am eternally grateful for that.

Quiet time to reflect on life’s blessings is another thing I am thankful for. When the kids are asleep or when I’m driving and I can just think about all the good things in life, it becomes obvious that God has blessed me and my family immensely.

I’m also thankful for simple things – Blue Bell ice cream, Clint & Sons beef jerky, Shiner Blonde (which isn’t as well known as Shiner Bock but is very, very good), Beringer’s White Zinfindel for all the special occasions, and good Scotch.

And on the topic of dining, I’m thankful for the dishes my mother taught me to cook because it brings her to life again every time I prepare one of her specialties. And I’m also grateful for all the good stuff my wife cooks (which is everything she cooks) because I love it and I know my kids will remember those home cooked meals in the future.

I am grateful for my community and my church and all the warm friendships that make living here such a joy. I cannot think of another place that I would want to raise my kids than Clarendon, Donley County, Texas, where you go to the bank or the grocery store and people speak to Ben and Ella by name.

And last but not least, I’m thankful for butterflies because something about them reminds me of Mom and I always think of her when I see one.

Yes, God has blessed me in many ways. And I am sure, if you take the time to write it down, you will find that he has blessed your life also.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

David Patterson

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David Patterson, 75, of Canyon died Friday, November 19, 2010.

Services were held at 10 a.m. Monday in First United Methodist Church in Canyon with the Rev. John McClean officiating. Burial was in Memory Gardens Cemetery.

Arrangements were by Brooks Funeral Directors.

David Patterson was born July 29, 1935, in Doyle, Okla., to John and Clara Burton Patterson. He was a graduate of Groom High School and then graduated from West Texas State University.

He completed his graduate work at Oklahoma University and did additional graduate work at Texas A&M University. He married Jackie Estlack on November 11, 1956, in Clarendon. He taught school in Hereford from 1960 to 1964 and was a professor of Mathematics at WTSU for 31 years, retiring in 1995.

David was a veteran of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He loved antique cars, bluegrass and country music and enjoyed traveling.

He was the founder of Panhandle Council of Car Clubs and was a member of Amarillo Antique Auto Club, Early V-8 Ford Club, Studebaker Club, Porsche Club and First United Methodist Church.

He founded the Make-A-Wish Car Show in Amarillo which has been held annually for 27 years now and has raised $2 million for the Children’s Make-A-Wish Foundation.He will be remembered for his great sense of humor.

Survivors include his wife, Jackie; a daughter, Marcella Cropper and husband Chris of Fort Worth; a grandson, James Wilson, of Fort Worth; two sisters, Shirley Sustaire and husband T.C., and Charlotte Aldy and husband Roy, all of Groom; his mother-in-law, Ruby Estlack of Clarendon; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family suggests memorials to Meals on Wheels, 2616 13th Ave., Canyon, TX 79015; Make-A-Wish Foundation, 411 S. Fillmore St., Amarillo, TX 79101; High Plains Food Bank, 815 Ross St., Amarillo, TX 79102; or a favorite charity.

Billie Ruth Gaines-Law

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Billie Ruth Gaines-Law, 66, died Thursday, November 18, 2010, in Clarendon.

Services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 21, 2010, at the First Baptist Church in Clarendon with Elder Jeff Riles, Elder Roy Williams, Elder Harry Williams, and Elder Ella Bowser, officiating. Interment followed in Citizens Cemetery in Clarendon. Services were under the arrangement of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.

Billie Ruth was born August 3, 1944, in Gilmer, Texas, to Leroy Lee and Rosie Lee Childs Wilson. She married Alton Gaines, Sr., on August 23, 1962, in Clarendon.

She has been a lifelong resident of Clarendon where she worked at Western Skies and Lowe‘s. She loved her family, was a dedicated mother and grandmother, and was known as the neighborhood mom. She loved gardening and all else that God blessed her with. She was a member of the True Church of God in Christ in Clarendon.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepfather; her husband, Alton Gaines, Sr. on April 25, 1974; her son, Ben Gaines; and three sisters.

Survivors include her six sons, Alton Gaines, Jr., and wife Gina of Clarendon, Johnnie Gaines of Clarendon, Danny Gaines and wife Angie of Clarendon, Randy Gaines of Amarillo, Brent Gaines and wife Tasha of Amarillo, and Richard Gaines of Clarendon; her daughter, Glenda Wilson and husband Billy of Clarendon; her brother, Dale Childs of Amarillo; five sisters, Dorothy Hawthorne and Othella Bowie, both of Amarillo, Norma Lee and Estella Mae both of Orange County, Texas, and Carolyn Polk of Amarillo; 21 grandchildren; and several great grandchildren.

Owls fall short

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Brandon Benton celebrates a recovery during the Owls game last Friday night. Hedley faced off against Miami but fell short of a win, 36 - 20.enterprise photo/kari lindsey
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