Archives for August 2016

Heavy rains the last two weeks have pulled Greenbelt Lake out of its Stage 3 Drought condition.

The lake level was sitting at 52.9 feet Tuesday afternoon, gaining about 1,600 acre-feet of water in just ten days, according to Greenbelt Water Authority General Manager Bobbie Kidd.

The reservoir’s Stage 3 Drought contingency is triggered at a depth of 51 feet.

“We actually just crossed back into Stage 2 on August 25,” Kidd said, noting that the rising lake level would reach its Stage 1 level when it gets back to 54 feet.

As of Tuesday, Greenbelt had come up about three feet in the last ten days and was now at 28.4 percent capacity. The reservoir is at its fullest point since November 30, 2010.

If the lake climbs to 57 feet, it will be at Stage Zero or completely out of drought contingency.

The lake was still rising Tuesday afternoon after more than three inches of rain was recorded at the filter plant Monday and Monday night.

“We’ve received 7.69 inches in August,” Kidd said. “Kelly Creek is where we have seen the biggest gain recently.”

Kidd said heavy water flow on Kelly has now washed the lake’s low water crossing on that creek twice since May.

“Our culvert is currently about 200 yards down from the crossing, and we’ve got to go pull that out,” Kidd said.

The forecast is calling for more rain this week. Measured precipitation varied over the county recently, but Lori Howard, Cooperative Observer for the National Weather Service, reported that her gauge west of Clarendon registered 9.54 inches for the ten-day period before Tuesday.

The Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees approved a $5.6 million budget for fiscal year 2017 during a called meeting last Monday, August 22.

The new budget will be about $130,000 higher than the current budget, and Superintendent Mike Norrell says the increase is mainly due to step raises for teachers and a 2.25 percent increase for at-will employees of the district.

Norrell said the budget is based on an average daily attendance of 440 students, just as last year’s budget was. Clarendon ISD’s enrollment Tuesday morning was sitting at 471.

The superintendent also said the district is not planning in major upgrades or renovations in the physical plant, but part of a $140,584 line item will be used to make upgrades to the school’s computer network servers. That expense will be partially covered by some federal funds the district will receive.

The $5.6 million budget includes $244,558 for food services.

Claredon ISD will maintain its current tax rate of $1.17 per $100 valuation as approved by voters three years ago. Due to higher property values, that tax rate will generate about $1.6 million in revenue, an increase of about $200,000 from last year.

Norrell said the school does receive some payments in lieu of taxes from the Salt Fork Wind Project, which generated about $45,000 last year and is expected to bring in a similar amount this year. The remaining funds to support the fiscal year 2017 budget will come from state appropriations and other sources.

The fiscal year for Clarendon ISD begins on October 1.

In other business last week, trustees accepted a bid on tax delinquent property in Howardwick, and approved a Legal Services Agreement with Eichelbaum Wardell as presented.

The Sandell Drive-In will mark its 61st anniversary this Sunday, September 4, with an Elvis Presley double-feature to benefit the Mulkey Theatre.

“Harum Scarum” will be screened at dusk followed by “The Trouble With Girls,” and admission will be free but a donation for the Bring Back the Mulkey project will be requested at the gate. The donation will also put you in the drawing for door prizes between features.

The Sandell began as dream of Gary and Nell Barnhill, who had met at a Dalhart theatre. They married, moved to Turkey, Texas, and were raising two young girls – Sandra and Adele – when they purchased the land in Clarendon where the drive-in now sits on.

The Barnhills would later purchase the Mulkey Theatre and operate it in tandem with the drive-in.

The family operated the theatres continuously until 1984. The Sandell then sat vacant for 18 years before John Morrow and his family reopened it in 2002. At the peak, Texas had 532 drive-ins. After the Sandell re-opened, there were 16 still operating.

The Mulkey Theatre was purchased in 2008 by the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and renovations have been made to the 1946 landmark since that time and are continuing.

In May of this year, the CEDC received a grant of $50,000 from the Don & Sybil Harrington Foundation to help install new heating and air-conditioning in the Mulkey. Project supporters have until December 31 to raise matching funds to help with that phase of the renovations.

Morrow is looking for a big crowd this weekend at the Sandell, and he hopes everyone will come enjoy the movies and help raise funds for the Mulkey Theatre project.

The gates will open at 6:00 p.m. and Elvis impersonator Smokey Binion, Jr., from Stinnett will be on hand to set the mood and entertain the crowd.

The Sandell will also be showing Kubo and the Two Strings as its featured presentation this Friday and Saturday. To learn more about the Sandell Drive-In, visit www.sandelldrivein.com.

To donate to the Bring Back the Mulkey project, send your check or money order to the Clarendon Community Fund, PO Box 906, Clarendon, TX 79226.

By Kiah Collier, The Texas Tribune

A state representative who has passed legislation aimed at reeling in Texas’ standardized testing regime is calling on the state to ditch required STAAR exams while it “tries to iron out STAAR’s many kinks.”

State Rep. Jason Isaac’s proposal comes the week after the Texas Education Agency announced it was penalizing the New Jersey-based company that develops and administers the controversial exams more than $20 million over problems that surfaced during springtime testing — including computer glitches that caused students to lose answers. It is the first year Educational Testing Services has overseen STAAR administration after the state scrapped the bulk of its longtime contract with London-based Pearson Education.

“Flawed testing practices threaten the State of Texas’ ability to fulfill our education system’s goals — and our children’s futures,” Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, said in a statement Monday. “The litany of errors being uncovered about STAAR is simply a disservice to our students, hard-working teachers, and families.”

While the state works with ETS to resolve the issues, Isaac suggested “schools be given the freedom to choose from a variety of nationally normed standardized tests.”

“School districts should not be hampered by an inefficient and ineffective system,” Isaac said. “Adding a dose of free-market philosophy to education by allowing a variety of standardized test options can only drive down costs and improve quality.”

Isaac told The Texas Tribune he will file legislation next year that would allow school districts to use something like the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills instead of STAAR. He filed a similar bill in 2013.

Last year, Isaac co-authored a bill that passed overwhelmingly requiring that 85 percent of elementary and middle school students be able to complete STAAR exams within two or three hours (two hours for third through fifth grade; three hours for sixth through eighth grade.) House Bill 743 took effect last June.

A group of parents is suing the education agency, alleging it did not comply with the law this year.

“I hope my colleagues will join me when the 85th Legislative Session convenes in seeking transformational changes that will ensure that testing is a benefit, not a burden, to Texas’ students, teachers, and families,” Isaac said.

The legislative session begins in January.

Education and the rising cost of health care insurance were leading topics on citizens’ minds last Friday when State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) and State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) held a town hall meeting at Clarendon College’s Bairfield Activity Center.

Seliger opened the forum with an overview of the upcoming legislative session, which will begin next January with legislators dealing with a decline in oil, gas, and sales tax revenues.

“We’re telling people not to ask for more money, although there are areas of exception,” Seliger said, noting that lawmakers would be looking to put more money into public education and the department of transportation.

Seliger also praised the work of community colleges for doing an “exceptional job” of preparing people for higher degrees and for the workforce.

King agreed with the senator that education would be a main topic in Austin next year.

“There’s probably never enough money for education,” King said. “I’m just not sure where the money is going to come from.”

King said that transportation is important to him as well, especially since a recent federal regulation resulted in the closure of several state commercial drivers’ license offices that did not meet national guidelines. The representative said he supports more money for TxDOT but wants to make sure the CDL office in Pampa re-opens.

With the floor opened for questions, Clarendon fourth grader Benjamin Estlack asked Seliger about the STAAR test.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just let our teachers grade us?” Estlack asked.

Seliger replied that teachers are the ones who come up with the test questions for the state exam.

Estlack then commented on the stress placed on students taking the STAAR test, and Seliger said students should feel no more stress than taking any other test.

Hedley ISD Superintendent Colby Waldrop discussed the issue of rising health insurance costs resulting in less and less take-home pay for teachers. Seliger talked about the forces driving up the price of health care and raised the possibility of regulating health care like a utility. To Waldrop’s point specifically, the senator said the only solution would be to raise the base allotment to schools so they can raise teacher salaries.

Clarendon ISD teacher Brittany Monds also voiced her concern with her health insurance costs and her paycheck and asked why she should vote for King and Seliger. The senator said that he and King had done more for education than anybody and said the state does not set local teachers’ salaries and that responsibility rests with local districts.

Donley County Judge John Howard asked the legislators about a possible new four percent cap on counties’ ability to raise taxes. The current cap is eight percent, and Howard said the amount of revenue Donley can raise under the current rule would not even cover the cost of placing one juvenile in a detention center.

King said the four percent idea is being driven by Harris County.

“It’s the same people who want vouchers to go to private schools,” King said. “I think there are enough rural Republicans to stop this.”

Energy is high this week on the Clarendon College campus with students beginning the fall semester this week and an administration looking forward to continuing a tradition of student success.

CC President Robert Riza set the tone for the semester last Thursday during All College Day as he listed statistics that make Clarendon stand out from other community colleges.

“Our average time to complete a degree is 2.3 years, the state average is 4.4,” Dr. Riza told CC faculty and staff. “Our average hours to a degree is 66, and the state average is 90. These figures make us number one in the state, and we’ve made that known in Austin.”

Riza said student success points have gone up for CC because the work of everyone at the college, and he also pointed to the college having a 10 percent increase in credentials earned as a sign of the dedication of its employees.

“Everyone’s job here matters,” Riza said.

Delivering a keynote address later in the morning, former Amarillo College president Paul Matney reinforced Riza’s message.

“There is an air of excitement as this semester starts,” Matney said, noting the success of CC students Wyatt Casper with the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association saddle bronc riding championship and Hosea Nelson and Michael Cruz, who were drafted by Major League Baseball teams, and the recent agreement with Texas Tech that will give CC students earning and Associates Degree in Nursing automatic admission to Tech’s nursing bachelor’s program.

“Student success is the heart and soul of this college,” Matney said. “It is the business of the business.”

Matney praised the accomplishments CC has achieved over the last couple of years, and reiterated the statistics that Riza listed earlier.

“A degree in an average of 2.3 years? Nobody does that,” Matney said. “Great things are happening at Clarendon College.”

Clarendon’s impressive statistics come in part from its innovative approach to developmental education in which students with remedial needs are immersed in traditional college classes with added tutorial help rather than having to spend multiple semesters in developmental classes.

The program began in the math department and has taken a system that previously got students ready for college-level math over a period of 2½ years and accelerated it to 16 weeks.

The method was pioneered by CC math instructors Linda Rowland and Dr. Jeremy Sain, and Riza recognized the pair last week for having won the “Texans Caring for Texans” award just days earlier in Canyon.

Riza also recognized CC Rodeo Coach Brett Franks and Enrollment Services Coordinator Martha Smith for going above and beyond their duties to make improvements to the college campus on their own time.

The president also recognized three employees for promotions Brad Vanden Boogaard as Dean of Student Affairs, Bryan Fuller as Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Ashlee Estlack as Chief of Staff.

Looking forward to the new academic year, Riza said CC will be focused on improving student services, will expand and co-mingle technical offerings where appropriate to better equip students for the workplace, and will continue to strengthen relationships with area school districts to provide greater opportunities for students, such as the recent expansion of the PEAK scholarship program at Clarendon ISD.

Two men were sentenced in separate cases when the 100th District Court met in Clarendon last Monday, August 15.

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

Eduardo Carrillo Vaquera, 36, from Amarillo pleaded true to allegations listed in the State’s Motion to Adjudicate and was sentenced to 12 years in the Institutional Division of TDCJ for the second degree felony offense of burglary of a habitation.

On September 4, 2012, Vaquera originally pleaded to the charges from the June 30, 2012, offense in Donley County.  The State filed the motion to adjudicate on June 6, 2016, alleging eight violations of community supervision.

Vaquera also pleaded true to allegations listed in the State’s Motion to Adjudicate and was sentenced to 10 years in the Institutional Division of TDCJ for the third degree felony offense of assault family violence.

On September 4, 2012, Vaquera originally pleaded to the charges from the May 28, 2012, offense in Donley County.  The State filed the motion to adjudicate on June 16, 2016, alleging eight violations of community supervision.

Adam Corey Duprey was convicted for the state jail felony offense of unauthorized use of a vehicle and sentenced to 12 months in the State Jail Division of TDCJ.

Duprey, age 28, from Dallas was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on June 23, 2016, by Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn. Duprey pleaded to an information filed by the State on August 5, 2016.

Another Donley County case was heard when the court met in Panhandle on August 9 where Kayla Denise Hobbs (a.k.a. Kayla Denise Camp) was convicted for the state jail felony offense of unauthorized use of a vehicle and sentenced to two years in the State Jail Division of TDCJ, but the sentence was probated for a period of five years.

Hobbs, 26, from Alvarado was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on June 23, 2016, by Sheriff Blackburn. Hobbs pleaded to an information filed by the State on August 5, 2016.

If Hobbs violates probation, she could face up to two years in the State Jail Division of the TDCJ.