Archives for July 2014

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The City of Clarendon moved to regulate gaming businesses last Tuesday, although none are currently operating locally.

Discussions about regulating eight-liner games started months ago, and the only known gaming establishment in town has since closed.

Ordinance 435 as approved July 22 will require gaming businesses to have a permit, and eight-liner machines would also be subject to initial and annual fees.

Aldermen debated the justification for regulating the gaming machines, including whether taking money from a gaming business was right or not.

Alderman Doug Kidd sought assurance that the ordinance as presented would not prevent anyone from operating an arcade for teenagers; and he also suggested that if the city was going to make money on gaming devices, it should be directed toward worthy causes in town and not just the city’s general fund.

The board agreed on a $100 permit application fee for gaming businesses plus initial fees of $100 per machine and annual renewal fees of $50 per machine.

The city’s code enforcement officer would also inspect such businesses to determine their compliance with local regulations.

This ordinance becomes effective September 1, 2014.

Also at last week’s meeting, Britton Hall presented information in public comment about a grant program available through PetSmart that pays to spay, neuter, and release feral cats. Hall asked the city to look into the program, which slows the growth of feral cat populations while allowing the sterilized cats to continue to control rodents.

Aldermen approved amending the current budget by $21,699 to purchase new Dumpsters and authorized up to $600 for new storage cabinets for City Hall.

Mayor Larry Hicks reported the street project was going well and is slightly ahead of schedule. He also reported that the Texas Department of Transportation may soon start charging the city for cleanup TxDOT has been having to do on Koogle Street as a result of rains washing dirt and rocks off Third Street during the project.

The board also worked on the 2014-2015 city budget and discussed the benefits of hiring a part time person to care for and clean the park during the summer months.

 By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A Kansas man lost his life Monday, July 28, while traveling through Donley County on Interstate 40.

Department of Public Safety Trooper Kelly Hill said 75-year-old Robert Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene by Donley County Justice of the Peace Connie Havens.

Jackson, a resident of Yates Center, Kan., was driving a 2008 Chevy Impala about 10:40 a.m. and traveling with his wife and daughter during heavy rainfall. The car was traveling eastbound about one-quarter mile west of the Safety Rest Area when the accident occurred.

An unidentified truck driver told Hill that Jackson was in the outside lane and appeared to be moving to the inside lane to presumably avoid standing water on the road. The truck driver said Jackson lost control of the vehicle at that point. The car went into the south ditch and the driver’s side door slammed into a light pole.

All occupants of the car were wearing seatbelts. Jackson’s wife was uninjured, and his daughter received only minor injuries, Hill said.

By Gilad Edelman, The Texas Tribune

Lawmakers at a U.S. House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation meeting on Tuesday said they support legislation that aims to resolve a land dispute between the federal government and Texas landowners.

The Red River Private Property Protection Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) would affect a 116-mile stretch of land along the Red River that forms part of the border between Texas and Oklahoma. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, citing court rulings, says the area belongs to the federal government. But Texans have used and lived on the land for years, holding deeds to it and paying taxes on it.

The bill would require the BLM, which has said it won’t decide what to do with the land until at least 2018, to transfer property within the disputed territory to landowners who can prove they hold a title through Texas county or state records.

“The status today is that private landowners cannot borrow money on their land, because the title is clouded,” Thornberry said. “They cannot make improvements on the land, they cannot sell the land, because there is all this concern that the federal government is going to come in and make a claim on portions of these acres.”

Pat Canan, a Wichita Falls game warden, told lawmakers that BLM officials placed boundary markers on his land in 2008, laying claim to 1.7 miles between his house and the river that he considered his property.

Steve Ellis, deputy director of operations for the BLM, said the agency opposes the bill because it could force the federal government to transfer mineral rights without compensating U.S. taxpayers.

Ellis suggested that the BLM could deal with some of the land by selling it at fair market value. Lawmakers bristled at the idea.

“That’s why there’s such fear of a federal land grab,” said Thornberry.

Subcommittee Chairman U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said that the suggestion “sent a chill up my spine.”

“Let’s hope we can solve this problem for you very quickly,” Bishop told Canan.

This past April, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a letter to the BLM accusing the agency of “threatening [Texans’] private property rights by claiming ownership over this territory” and urging it to disclose its plans for the land.

The dispute has a complicated history. In 1923, a fight between Texas and Oklahoma over oil and gas rights forced the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the boundary between the states. The court held that under an 1819 treaty between the U.S. and Spain, everything north of the middle of the river belonged to Oklahoma and everything below the south bank belonged to Texas. That left a strip of land between the south bank and the middle of the river that belonged to the federal government.

In the decades following that decision, the river shifted north, and new parcels of land on the south side were sold as parts of Texas. But in 1983, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that because the shifting was the result of sudden, rather than gradual, changes, the Texas border remained where it had been fixed in 1923. That meant the new land between the Texas border and the river belonged to the federal government, and not to the people who considered it their property.

The BLM has not fully surveyed the area, so it is not clear how many acres the locals have claimed and how many are untouched.

“This hearing is one more step forward, and a very important one, in our efforts to assure landowners that their private property will be protected,” Thornberry said in a written statement.

 Clarendon College is hosting its second Student Success Camp next week.

The College will offer courses August 4-6 at its locations in Clarendon, Pampa, and Childress to students looking to get ahead for the fall semester.

Courses will be offered in math, reading and writing and are designed to prepare students to take the TSI exam – a requirement to take college courses.

These camps are free and Clarendon College will cover all testing costs.

The first ever Student Success Camp held in June had positive results with 79 percent of stu-dents who participated scoring well enough on the TSI exam that they will not need any reme-diation this fall and are ready to take college coursework.

Interested students can get more information or RSVP by calling the Student Services office at 806-874-4820.

 

FORT WORTH – Kati Adams of the Hedley FFA Chapter was awarded the Lone Star FFA Degree at the 86th annual Texas FFA State Convention held July 14-18 in Fort Worth, Texas. The Lone Star FFA Degree is the highest degree bestowed by the Texas FFA.

The Lone Star FFA Degree recognizes FFA members who have received the Chapter degree, been active FFA members for at least two years, complete at least four semesters of agricultural science at or above the ninth grade level, maintain a supervised agricultural experience (SAE) program, demonstrate their leadership skills and show a commitment to the FFA through involvement at the chapter level and above. (Student Last Name) was one of more than 2,200 FFA members receiving this esteemed degree.

The 86th annual Texas FFA State Convention recorded more than 11,000 members and guests. Members of the agricultural youth leadership organization spent the week attending leadership workshops, participating in events and activities, being recognized for their achievements and serving as the legislative body for the Texas FFA Association.

The Texas FFA has evolved from an organization focusing primarily on production agriculture, to a broader-based encompassing organization that addresses the needs and interests of students in urban and suburban schools in addition to the rural communities from which FFA rose in 1929. The organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. The Texas FFA is the nation’s largest state FFA association with a membership of more than 104,000 members and 1,045 local FFA chapters. FFA gives students the opportunity to apply practical classroom knowledge to real world experiences through local, state and national competitions. For more information about the Texas FFA visit www.texasffa.org.