Archives for April 2015

The Donley County Courthouse is turning 125 years old this year, and officials are taking steps to make sure the Jewel of the Plains is in tip top shape.
Twenty-four trees were planted on the Courthouse Square Saturday, replacing some trees that have died and planning for future shade on the west side of the square.
County Judge John Howard said lace bark elm trees were chosen for the east side of the courthouse for their hardiness and quick growth and that red oaks were placed behind the building.
The county is taking care not to obstruct the main views of the 1890 Romanesque Revival building.
During their regular meeting last Monday, April 13, commissioners discussed maintenance issues facing the courthouse house, including plaster repair near the round window on the building’s east façade, grip sealant for the courthouse steps, and expanded electrical capacity for the annual courthouse Christmas lighting.
Howard said Commissioner Dan Sawyer will work with electrical contractors on a proposal to add electrical outlets on the back of floodlights on the square.
Commissioners also approved allowing Trane to conduct an energy audit of the courthouse and other county facilities to determine if mechanical upgrades might pay for themselves through costs savings.
The county is also planning on purchasing 125th anniversary banners for light poles on the square and will be ordering patriotic bunting to go in the arches of the courthouse’s main entrance.
Howard said the commissioners’ court is committed to taking care of the courthouse and making sure it lasts for another 125 years.
Construction on the Donley County Courthouse began in 1890 and the building was opened the next year after a cost of $35,000. In 2003, the county, with state aid, donations and tax dollars, completed a full restoration of the building at a cost of $4.2 million. Today, the building is the oldest functioning courthouse in the Texas Panhandle.

By Tim Marema and Roberto Gallardo
Like most of the United States, Donley County saw an increase in the number of foreign-born residents over the last decade.
From 2000 to 2012, the number of Donley County residents who were born in a foreign country grew by 28 people to an estimated 91, according to U.S. Census data.
The percentage of county residents who are foreign born also increased during the period, from 1.6 percent to an estimated 2.5 percent.
The findings could be important locally because a new study by the Daily Yonder indicates rural counties with a higher percentage of immigrants are doing better economically.
The study looked at the nation’s 1,966 nonmetropolitan counties, including Donley County. Nonmetropolitan, or rural, counties have no cities of 50,000 or more residents and don’t have strong economic ties to a county that does.
The research showed that counties with a higher percentage of their population born in foreign countries generally had a higher per capita market income and more jobs. These same counties also tended to have lower rates of unemployment and better poverty than counties with a smaller proportion of immigrants.
In Donley County, the economic results were mixed throughout the period of the study.
• Total employment grew by 7.6 percent to an estimated 2,260 full and part-time jobs.
• Unemployment rose by 1.4 percentage points to 5.4 percent.
• And the percentage of people living below the federal poverty line fell slightly from 18.6 in 2000 to an estimated 18.2 in 2012.
The county’s overall 2012 population estimate was 3,700, a decrease of 4.6 percent over the past decade.
The connection between more immigrants and better economic performance did not surprise James H. Johnson Jr., a University of North Carolina business professor who has researched the economic impact of immigration.
“What people don’t understand is that immigration is a selective process,” he said. Immigrants tend to be younger and healthier than the general population, he said. “They are risk takers by definition. For them, the glass is always half full.”
But the demographic change can be challenging for smaller communities, said Daniel T. Lichter at the Cornell University Population Center.
“Whether communities take advantage of the potential of immigrant communities to improve the local economy depends on local leadership and how well they respond to immigrant populations,” he said.
The study is based on the 2000 U.S. Census and five-year American Community Survey data from 2012, the last year available when the study was conducted. The survey data is an estimate and has a margin of error that varies with county size.
More details on the study are available at www.dailyyonder.com/immigration2015.
Tim Marema is editor of the news site DailyYonder.com. Roberto Gallardo, Ph.D., is a Daily Yonder researcher and an associate extension professor at the Mississippi State University. The Daily Yonder (www.dailyyonder.com) is published by the Center for Rural Strategies, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Whitesburg, Ky.

WASHINGTON – On Tax Day last week, US Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced legislation to lessen the burden on small business owners and assist taxpayers in cutting through IRS red tape.
The Small Business Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2015 would lower compliance burdens for taxpayers, strengthen taxpayer protections, compensate taxpayers for IRS abuses, and improve taxpayer access to the U.S. Tax Court System.
“All too often, the federal government, especially the IRS, places unnecessary burdens on our nation’s most important job producers: small businesses,” said Thornberry. “The laws and regulations that come out of Washington should always first do no harm, but they should also help grow our economy and American jobs.
“This bill provides hard working small business owners with important protections against an IRS that has been out of control for far too long.”
“Tax Day serves as an annual reminder of the complexity and inefficiency of our federal tax system, and especially the burdens the IRS places on jobcreating small businesses,” Cornyn said. “This bill takes concrete steps towards easing that burden so the small businesses that drive our economy can get back to what they do best – innovating and creating opportunity across America.”

Clarendon College Regents approved renewing 33 faculty contracts during their regular meeting last Thursday, April 16.
Regents met in closed session for about 45 minutes before seven people addressed the board in public comments on behalf of three current faculty members who were not on the list of renewals and in support of two athletic programs being shuttered by the college.
Students of drama instructor Leslie Schnaufer, rodeo coach Cody Heck, and English instructor Cannon Roberts spoke up for their teachers, and a member of the CC cross-country team also asked the board not to end his program.
Mr. Heck also spoke on his own behalf, and Interim faculty member Dr. Lauraine Paul spoke in favor of keeping the cheerleading and cross-country programs as well as asking the board to look into why her employment was not being continued.
The board voted unanimously to renew the contracts of the following faculty members as presented: Jay Anders, Welding; Dale Askew, RFO; Cathryn Bailey, ADN; Melvin Balogh, Volleyball Coach/Instructor; Erinn Campbell, Cosmetology; Dr. Edward Caraway, Biology; Valerie Conrad, ADN; Charla Crump, Speech; Kory Dunn, VN; Russell Estlack, Biology; Scarlet Estlack, Biology; Amanda Fefel, Softball; Bret Franks, Ranch Horse; Brian Fuller, History; JoAnne Genn, ADN; Alicia Hunter, VN; Kim Jeffrey, Criminal Justice / Government; Dr. Russell Killingsworth, Chemistry; Addie Lees, Women’s Basketball / Instructor; Melissa McCoy, English; Kelly McDonough, English; Devin McIntosh, Baseball /Instructor; Andy McLatchy, Government / History; Jamie Mears,  VN; Jana Oliver, Cosmetology; Linda Rowland, Math; Dr. Jeremy Sain, Math; Letha Storrs, Cosmetology; Johnny Treichel, Ag / Judging; Daniel Trejo, VN; Laban Tubbs, RFO; Frank Vance, Math; and Ken Wilson, Psychology / Sociology.
The board also voted unanimously to end the cross-country and cheerleading programs.
This week CC President Robert Riza said the cheerleading and cross-country programs were designed to bring in specific numbers and never hit their marks. Resources for those programs will be folded back into the CC athletic department so that the college could focus on its core programs. Cheerleading and cross-country students under scholarship at CC will have their scholarships renewed despite the elimination of those programs, Riza said.
Riza also said the college was not backing away from its commitment to fine arts or to rodeo.
“We are not shutting down rodeo or drama,” Riza said. “We want to make those programs stronger. In fact, expanding fine arts is part of our strategic plan.”
On Tuesday, the Riza administration announced that CC Ranch Horse Team coach Bret Franks will be overseeing the rodeo team, and the college began taking applications for a drama instructor.
In other college business last week, Regents approved a $77,328 proposal to purchase Microsoft Surface tablets for its Ranch & Feedlot Operations and ADN nursing programs. The expenditure will be partially offset by student fees and will eliminate a lot of paper waste at the college. Each RFO student currently receive 14 three-inch, three-ring binders of information, and this pilot program will put all that information at the students’ fingertips on a digital tablet. Students who graduate from the programs will get to keep their tablets.
Regents also ratified the employment of Lisle Rowland as an accountant and JoAnne Genn as nursing instructor.
Amarillo College Board Chairman Don Nicholson addressed the board on legislative affairs and issues facing community colleges in Austin right now.
In his President’s Report, Riza said new bathrooms under construction at the Livestock & Equine Center were nearing completion and should be finished by mid-May.
Riza also said an energy study done by Trane has identified $45,000 to $50,000 in potential savings if mechanical equipment was updated at the college. Trane will have a more detailed report in three to four months.
Interim Vice President of Instruction Roger Schustereit gave a short report for his office and said he was proud of the students who had addressed the board in open forum for speaking articulately and rationally for their views.