Archives for August 2011

A $1 million bond remains in place for accused child murderer Robert Babcock following a district court hearing in Clarendon last Thursday, August 18.

Babcock is charged with Capital Murder in the January 5 death of his son, four-year-old Chance Mark Jones. During last week’s court appearance it was revealed that his attorneys plan to pursue an insanity defense, and they are seeking additional psychological and neurological evaluations of their client.

Babcock’s mother, Gayle Edes, took the stand during the bond reduction hearing and testified that neither she nor her son have the resources to put up the $100,000 cash necessary to secure his bond. District Attorney Luke Inman questioned Edes about her relationship with Jones.

Inman also presented to the court the details of the original complaint against Babcock and brought up other cases in Texas where bonds were not reduced.

Judge Stuart Messer maintained the $1 million bond, citing the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s intent to pursue an insanity defense.

“I find the $1 million bond is appropriate to assure a court appearance and for the safety of the community,” Messer said.

The court also considered a separate $100,000 bond for Babcock on an unindicted domestic violence charge, and Messer reduced that to a personal recognizance bond.

Also during last week’s court appearance, Judge Messer set two more pre-trial dates – one on October 4 and another on November 29 – and schedule Babcock’s trial to begin January 17, 2012.

The water level at Greenbelt Lake continues to decline this week, prompting the City of Clarendon to move into Stage Four of its drought contingency plan. The City of Hedley remains at Stage Three.

Greenbelt Water Authority reported a lake depth of 47.20 feet Tuesday, which is down from 47.48 feet last week.

Members of the Greenbelt Board of Directors discussed the falling lake level during their regular meeting last Thursday, August 18, but took no action pending the results of a long term engineering analysis of the reservoir. That report, which is expected in October, will look at the future of the lake and is also supposed to identify alternative sources of water to meet long-term needs.

Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd told the board that the authority’s member cities – Clarendon, Childress, Crowell, Quanah, and Hedley – had all showing cutbacks in water usage, and he recommended not enacting further restrictions or implementing a system of water allotments at this time.

“I think we need to give our engineers a chance to report,” Kidd told the board, “and I think people will do more to conserve if they can make their own choices how to do it.”

Greenbelt hit Stage Four of its own drought plan on August 2 when the reservoir’s depth fell to 48.0 feet. The plan continues to call on Greenbelt customers to try to reduce water usage by 30 percent.

Kidd said he believes most people have given up on watering outside and thinks that summer coming to an end will help on water usage. He also said the Georgia Pacific plant near Quanah – one of Greenbelt’s biggest industrial customers – is exploring ways to cut its water usage.

Clarendon City Administrator Lambert Little attended the Greenbelt board meeting and said he was pleased with the cooperation his citizens were showing in Stage Three as he announced his intention to declare Stage Four.

Hedley City Secretary Jason Conatser says his community was remaining on Stage Three until he could have a meeting with the mayor this week.

Clarendon’s Stage 4 Rules

Clarendon’s mandatory restrictions for Stage Four are as follows:
1. Residential customers with odd-numbered street addresses water on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Residential customers with even-numbered street addresses water on Thursdays and Sundays. Commercial customers water on Tuesdays and Fridays. Irrigation of landscaped areas shall be limited to designated watering days between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and between 8 p.m. and 12:00 midnight and shall be by means of hand-held hoses, hand-held buckets, drip irrigation, or permanently installed automatic sprinkler system only. The use of hose-end sprinklers is prohibited at all times.
2. Use of water to wash any motor vehicle, motorbike, boat, trailer, airplane or other vehicle not occurring on the premises of a commercial car wash and commercial service stations and not in the immediate interest of public health, safety, and welfare is prohibited. Further, such vehicle washing at commercial car washes and commercial service stations shall occur only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and between 6:00 p.m. and 10 p.m.
3. Avoid filling swimming pools except during the above watering hours.
4. Avoid operating ornamental fountains unless necessary to support aquatic life or if equipped with a recirculation system.
5. Do not water-wash driveways, sidewalks, and other hard-surfaced areas. Do not wash down buildings or structures except for immediate fire protection.
6. Repair all leaks as soon as possible, and report any leaks or unauthorized usage to City Hall. Night and weekend emergency leaks should be reported to the Donley County Sheriff’s Office at 806.874.3533.

Persons found guilty of violating Clarendon’s Stage 3 rules can face a maximum fine of $500.

Clarendon College Regents approved an $8.9 million budget for Fiscal Year 2012 during their regular meeting Thursday, August 18.

The overall budget includes a previously approved increase in tuition and deals with about $400,000 of lost funding from state budget cuts, college officials say.

CC Dean of Administrative Services Annette Ferguson said the college will lose more than $100,000 in revenue from the state cutting funds to classes in prisons in Childress and Pampa but said CC hopes to make up that loss with a new nursing program in Childress.

The college is also bearing a greater share of the cost for employee health benefits and is paying a new one percent surcharge fee to participate in the state’s retirement program.

CC President Phil Shirley said the budget reflects the fact that state funding for higher education continues to wane, shifting the cost of education more to the student.

College employees won’t be getting a raise in the new budget, but Shirley said the college will pay a $400 stipend to employees on December 15.

“We wanted to do something to show we appreciate them by some monetary means,” the president said. “We wish it could be more.”

To support the new budget, the Clarendon College District is proposing adopting the effective tax rate of $0.2221 per $100 valuation, which would bring in the same local tax revenue as last year of approximately $400,000. The current tax rate is $0.2219. Regents will consider and adopt a tax rate next month.

No one attended a public budget hearing held immediately prior to the board meeting.
In other college business, Regents acknowledged the resignations of baseball coach Mike Silva and library director Reagan Silva; approved the hiring of cashier Sharon Jones; and acknowledged the assignment of new duties to faculty members Melissa McCoy as division director and Dr. Robert Taylor as administrative assistant to the Dean of Institutional Research. The board also voted to extend the bank depository contract with Herring Bank by two years.