Archives for May 2017

Donley County high school graduates for 2017 received $594,060 to further their education, according to announcements made by Clarendon and Hedley high schools.

Clarendon High School seniors are eligible for or have received $579,110, and the total for Hedley seniors is $14,950.

Students from both Clarendon and Hedley are eligible for $500 from Clarendon College. The Bulldog Bucks Tuition Assistance Program will help to defray the cost of tuition, fees, books, and housing costs. Bulldog Bucks can be used to cover any unpaid balance up to $250 per semester. That represents a $15,000 commitment to the youth of Clarendon and a $6,500 commitment to Hedley seniors.

CC President Robert Riza has also instituted a tuition cap so that Clarendon and Hedley graduates will never have to pay for more than 12 credit hours per semester no matter how many hours they take. Additionally, there has also been a $20,000 commitment by the Clarendon College Foundation to fund the PEAK scholarship for Clarendon High School dual credit students while still in high school.

Individual recognitions for Hedley are as follows:

Bailey Downing is the recipient of a Capital Farm Credit Scholarship for $250 and the Lila Kate & Kylie Monroe Memorial Scholarship for $300.

Brittany Downing received a Lions Club Scholarship for $500, the Donley County Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship for $300, and a Lila Kate & Kylie Monroe Memorial Scholarship for $300.

Kenlee Lambert, as the valedictorian of Hedley High School, received the Highest Ranking Graduate award from the State of Texas. This award will exempt her from tuition fees for her first year of college. Kenlee is also receiving the Lila Kate & Kylie Monroe Memorial Scholarship for $300.

Kade McCleskey will receive the Cross Roads Peanut Company Scholarship for $500 and the Herring Bank scholarship for $500.

Kylie Wood received a Hedley Lioness Club scholarship for $500.

The following Hedley seniors were also recognized for donating two or more units of blood while in high school: Brittany Downing, Kenlee Lambert, Toby Lindsey, Madison Shelp, Hannah Street, and Kylie Wood.

Clarendon High School individual honors were:

Briana Butler will be playing basketball for Clarendon College and has received the Presidential Scholarship for $1,000 per year for two years.

Clint Franks is the recipient of the Bill Talley Memorial Scholarship for $1,000 and the Donley County Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship for $300.  He has also received a Masonic Lodge #700 Scholarship for $500 to attend Clarendon College.

Bryce Grahn is the recipient of a $500 Les Beaux Arts Club Scholarship.  He has also received several scholarships from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., – an academic scholarship for $7,000 per year, a cross country scholarship for $9,000 per year, a track scholarship for $2,000 per year, the Director Award for $2,500 per year, and a $6,000 per year basketball scholarship for a four-year total of $106,000.

Seth Greer was offered partial scholarships to play for Oklahoma Panhandle State and Wayland Baptist.  He was offered a full ride to Missouri Southern State University with a value of $60,000. Seth will be playing football at WTAMU on scholarship with an undetermined value.

MaRae Hall was awarded the Jacob Dean Smith Memorial Scholarship for $500 and has also received a Pell Grant for $4,265 per year for a total value of $17,060.

Jensen Hatley is the recipient of the Cross Road Peanut Scholarship for $500.

Hannah Howard was awarded a PEAK Scholarship for $2,000 to Clarendon College and has received two Valedictory scholarships. The first is provided by the Knorpp Insurance Agency and Donley County State Bank and is given in the name of Walter B. Knorpp, Sr., and pays any unpaid portion of books, tuition and fees and is valued up to $4,000.  The second Valedictory Scholarship is the State of Texas tuition waiver valued at up to $5,000 dependent upon the choice of state college.  Hannah has also been awarded a $500 Lions Club Sweetheart Scholarship, a $500 scholarship from Herring Bank, and the Homer Estlack Memorial scholarship for $250.

Cire Jaurequi received the Walter B. Knorpp Salutatorian Scholarship to Clarendon College which pays any unpaid portion of books, tuition and fees and is valued up to $4,000. She has also received $500 from the Lions Club and the Terry Scholarship to the University of North Texas for an estimated four-year value of $80,000.

Clay Koetting received a PEAK Scholarship for $2,000 and a $500 Masonic Lodge #700 to Clarendon College.

Chance Lockhart has received three yearly scholarships to the University of Dallas.  The Provost Scholarship for $22,000; the UD Leadership Grant for $8500; and the Texas Equalizer Grant for $3500.  That makes a four-year total of $136,000.  Chance’s also received the Thomas Lynch (Jack) Roach, IV Memorial scholarship for $500 per semester for two years or $2,000

Aubryanna Powell was awarded the Betsy Ellerbrook Memorial Scholarship for $500, and a PEAK Scholarship for $2,000 to Clarendon College.  Johnson & Wells University offered Aubryanna an award of $65,000, and she also was offered a scholarship from Mary Hardin Baylor for $37,000.

Brooke Smith has received a $500 Lions Club Scholarship and the $10,000 Donald R. Smith Scholarship.

Students may not use all of the scholarships they have been awarded due to their choice in schools.

Local graduates were also recognized by Clarendon College this year with honor cords for seniors who have completed dual credit classes while in high school. Green and gold honor cords to signify that they have completed 20 or more hours, and green and white honor cords to signify they have earned between three and 19 hours of college credit.

Donley County seniors in the Class of 2017 have earned a combined 613 dual credit hours from Clarendon College.

Two local men received probation for the May 1 burglary of a local liquor store when the district court met in Clarendon last Tuesday, May 23.

Assistant District Attorney Greg Buckley prosecuted the cases for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding.

Bradley Scott Jones was placed on probation for a period of two years for the state jail felony offense of burglary of a building.  Jones pleaded guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication for the offense.

Jones, 27 from Clarendon, was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on May 7, 2017, by Donley County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Hill.  Jones pleaded to an information filed by the State on May 22, 2017.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Jones is required to pay $488 in court costs, $501.36 in restitution, a $250 fine, and successfully complete 100 hours of community service. If Jones violates probation, he could face up to two years in the State Jail Division of the TDCJ.

Adam Harl Vorheis was also placed on probation for a period of two years for the state jail felony offense of burglary of a building.  Vorheis pleaded guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication for the offense.

Vorheis, 20 from Clarendon, was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on May 7, 2017, by Hill.  Vorheis pleaded to an information filed by the State on May 22, 2017.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Vorheis is required to pay $488.00 in court costs, $501.36 in restitution, a $250 fine, and successfully complete 100 hours of community service. If Vorheis violates probation, he could face up to two years in the State Jail Division of the TDCJ.

In another case heard last Tuesday, John Mark Dillinger, 32 from Martinez, Geo., was convicted for the class A misdemeanor offense of unlawful use of a criminal instrument and sentenced to 180 days in the Donley County Jail for the offense that took place on January 7, 2017.

The district court also met in Clarendon last Thursday, May 25, for one plea with District Attorney Luke Inman prosecuting and Judge Messer presiding.

Bry Alexander Cancino was placed on probation for a period of four years for the second degree felony offense of possession of a controlled substance.  Cancino pleaded guilty and was placed on deferred adjudication for the offense.

Cancino, 21 from Denton, was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on March 19, 2017, by DPS Trooper Justin Dillman.  Cancino pleaded to an information filed by the State on May 25.

Donley County Judge John Howard said windows on the 1890 Courthouse will soon be refurbished as county commissioners work to maintain the historic building.

The windows were one item on the county’s May 8 agenda. Commissioners took no action on a proposal for the work at that time. Another, more economical proposal, will allow the county to perform the needed repairs, Howard said.

Two third-story windows, which present a maintenance and safety risk, will be removed, rebuilt, and reinstalled at a cost of about $700 each, the judge said.

The county also is contacting expert architects and stone masons about spalling of the sandstone around the base of the courthouse. The issue of pieces of that stone flaking off was not addressed during the 2003 restoration of the building, and county officials are trying to determine the best course of action to fix that problem.

In other county business on May 8, commissioners accepted a proposal that would essentially privatize commissary and telephone services for inmates in the Donley County Jail. Howard said the move with ease some administrative work on the sheriff’s office and not cost the county anything.

The purchase of new computers for the county/district clerk were approved with funds coming from the technology fund.

A bid on tax delinquent property at Howardwick was approved as presented.

Budget worksheets were also distributed to elected officials and department heads with a return deadline of June 12.

The City of Clarendon tonight canceled a public hearing that had been set for next Tuesday regarding an alcohol variance request by Allsup’s Convenience Store.

Mayor Sandy Skelton made the announcement during the regular city council meeting May 25 that he was canceling the May 30 hearing because recently discovered case law made Allsup’s variance request unnecessary.

The store is in contract to buy property directly across from Bronco Stadium. According to city ordinance, alcohol cannot be sold on a property within 300 feet of a public school. The city therefore believed that Allsup’s would have to request a variance from that rule.

But Thursday afternoon, City Administrator David Dockery learned about a 1970 court case which determined that a football stadium is “not a public school within the meaning of the statute.” Dockery forwarded that information to the city’s attorney, who in turn determined that Allsup’s does not need to apply for a variance.

Clarendon School Superintendent Mike Norrell was attending tonight’s city meeting and raised the question of if the school’s functional living center was within the 300 feet rule. He and Dockery then actually left the meeting to go measure and came back in agreement that the distance to the center is 366 feet.

City officials say the Allsup’s project can go forward and they will be returning the company’s variance request fee.

“This information was just discovered today,” Dockery said after the meeting. “I apologize for the inconvenience and any disruption that the variance or the setting of a public hearing caused.

Norrell said that he will be sending the case law to the school’s attorney for due diligence on the school’s part.