Archives for September 2018

A Carrollton woman died Monday, September 3, following a single-vehicle accident east of Hedley.

DPS Trooper Lynn Mays said a family of five were westbound on US 287 when the left rear tire on their Dodge Aspen blew out, causing the vehicle to go off the road and roll multiple times.

Among those in the car was 25-year-old Jasmin Pena, who was riding in the front passenger seat without a seat belt. She was ejected from the vehicle and later died from her injuries at North West Texas Hospital in Amarillo.

A three-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy, neither of whom were properly restrained, were both ejected from the back seat of the vehicle. Thirty-two-year-old Jaime Meneses was also in the back seat but was wearing a seat belt, according to DPS Sgt. Cindy Barkley.

The driver of the vehicle, 52-year-old Maria Pena of Dallas, was also not wearing a seat belt but was not ejected. She was transported by ambulance and the boy was airlifted to Northwest Texas Hospital. DPS reported they both sustained serious/incapacitating injuries.

The accident remains under investigation.

Responding to the accident in addition to the DPS were the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, Clarendon and Hedley fire departments, Associated Ambulance Authority, and a Hall County deputy.

The Clarendon City Council will vote on what will likely be the biggest budget in the city’s history next Thursday, September 13.

Construction of a $1.9 million water recreation project along with $3.9 million in USDA-funded infrastructure improvements have pushed the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 to $8.1 million.

The budget for the city’s usual expenses next year is $2.3 million, which is up about $200,000 from the current budget.

Funds for the water recreation project are coming from donations and grants, and the USDA project is funded with a $1.3 million federal grant with the city financing the balance of that project over 40 years with a $10 per month fee on water accounts that has already been in place for over a year.

City Administrator David Dockery said the proposed budget includes the final payments on tax notes and general obligation bonds that were approved in 2012 for street, water, sewer, and drainage improvements. The city does not have any street improvement plans in the upcoming budget, preferring to wait until the USDA project completes installing about five miles of water lines before embarking on new street work.

The budget is built on a slight tax increase with an ad valorem rate of $0.75865 per $100 valuation, up from the current rate of $0.733821. City leaders expect to see the property tax rate go down for fiscal year 2020 as the city retires some of its debt.

The new budget includes a five percent across the board raise for city employees, a three percent raise for the administrator, and an eight percent raise for the city secretary.

The budget also includes $25,000 for the second phase of a three-year plan to bring the 1918 City Hall into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Money also remains in the budget to continue the city’s efforts to clean up properties with dilapidated structures.

No fee increases are included in the proposed budget, although Dockery says the city may consider a sewer fee increase at some point in the next year.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) unanimously reversed tariffs placed on newsprint from Canada last week, ruling that US industry is not being harmed by the imports.

The August 29 ruling was seen as a victory for newspapers and other printers that use uncoated groundwood paper.

“We are immensely gratified today by the International Trade Commission’s vote not to impose permanent tariffs upon the North American newsprint supply,” said National Newspaper Association President Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (SC) News. “The paper markets serving community newspapers can soon begin to move back to market pricing without the heavy hand of government imposing taxes upon the primary suppliers of newsprint.”

In response to the tariffs, US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) was one of 38 members of Congress to co-sponsor the Protecting Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade Act of 2018 also known as the PRINT Act, which would have suspended the duties pending a study of the effects on the printing industry. Thirty-three members of the US Senate co-sponsored a companion bill in that house.

“The USITC’s action last week was a great relief, and community newspapers across America are very grateful to Congressman Thornberry and his colleagues for their efforts to protect these jobs,” Clarendon Enterprise publisher Roger Estlack. “Mac’s efforts combined with a major push back from across the country helped stop what was becoming an enormous burden and threat to the local newspapers.”

Newsprint users experienced price increases and a disruption in supply after duties were assessed earlier this year following a complaint by one paper mill, North Pacific Paper Company. The import tariffs – as high as 32 percent – jeopardized the viability of the industry and threatened more than 600,000 US workers in publishing, printing and related industries.

The Texas Press Association had been lobbying against the tariff for almost a year. The association joined a coalition led by News Media Alliance and National Newspaper Association.

“We are delighted at the outcome,” said TPA Executive Director Mike Hodges. “The International Trade Commission clearly saw what our industry has been saying all along – that the case for a tariff was groundless and that American newspapers would be in grave danger if a tariff were made permanent. Our members’ involvement with the Texas Congressional delegation was crucial in our efforts to defeat the tariff and we deeply appreciate their hard work.”

All five USITC commissioners voted against the tariffs and officially determined that US industry is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada.

“We will not know until mid-September the commission’s rationale for its vote of 5-0 against continuing newsprint tariffs,” Rowell said.

“We understand it will take a couple of months for the preliminary tariffs to be unwound and credits to be issued back to those companies who had paid duties at the border since last January. But it is an enormous relief to know that the ITC does not find a basis for continuing sanctions.”