Archives for August 2024

A Clarendon College student has been charged with a third-degree felony after a social media post caught the attention of the FBI last week.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn says the case is an example that posts on social media can have serious consequences.

“A girl is facing a felony now for putting something stupid on Snapchat,” Blackburn said. “People need to think before they type.”

The FBI contacted the Donley County Sheriff’s Office last Thursday morning, and the agent reported discovering an image on Snapchat that clearly showed the student and an entryway of the dorm she lives, which was identified as Clarendon College. In the post, the student said she was “shooting up this school” because a big bug was on her.

The sheriff’s office immediately contacted the college, located the student, and took her into custody for Terroristic Threat.

Clarendon College President Tex Buckhaults later said CC worked with the sheriff’s office to identify and locate the student and that college officials believe there was no longer a threat from the student.

Emily Jaramillo, age 18, was booked into the Donley County Jail, that morning. She was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Pat White the next day with bond set at $5,000 and was later released on bond.

Blackburn said Jaramillo had no weapon in her possession but said authorities had to act on the report of a threat. The sheriff said from the time his office was notified, it was only 20 to 30 minutes before the student was in a jail cell.

The US Postal Service has again proposed to lower public expectations for mail delivery, having already proven it cannot reliably deliver mail on time in many areas. It has filed a petition for a review of proposed new service standards with the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The announcement states that if a newspaper is further than 50 miles from a new Regional Processing and Distribution Center, an additional day would likely be added to expected delivery times for any mail that entered into the newspaper’s local post office.

National Newspaper Association Chair John Galer, who represents NNA on the USPS Mailers Technical Advisory Committee, said the announcement will draw attention to USPS’ current failures and cause the public to have even less confidence in its Postal Service.

“The plan is offered in the name of cost-cutting. In reality, it is just the same old story, one of inefficiency and unreliability,” Galer, who is publisher of The Journal-News in Hillsboro, Illinois, said.

NNA has long complained about unreliable rural mail service. It has asked the PRC on numerous occasions to require reports on how well USPS does in delivering rural mail on time, but the PRC has declined to do so.
Galer said NNA would participate in the PRC’s review of the new request.

“There is no question that USPS has severe financial problems,” he said. “It was supposed to produce more than a billion dollars in profit this year under its new Delivering for America plan. Instead, it looks like losses of close to $7 billion will be reported. The mail is changing. There is less of it. We agree with USPS’ statement about that. But USPS has been driving its mailers away with postage increases that have risen several times faster than inflation; at the same time it is delivering mail slower. That certainly results in less mail. Now it wants a reward for its predictions of less mail. At some point, Congress has to step in to protect rural America.”

The public’s input is being sought to create Downtown Christmas Celebration on November 30.

Would you like to have a downtown celebration in Clarendon? A Christmas event where friends and neighbors walk around town and visit? Where members of our community have an opportunity to sell their crafts? Where decorations are hung and Christmas Carols are sung?

The Donley County Courthouse Lighting Committee holds a ceremony on the courthouse lawn the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Even though businesses are often open late, most people go home after the lights are lit and the signing stops. Expanding this event to downtown and getting more people to involved will be the subject of a meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 9, at the Burton Memorial Library.

Anyone who is interested in helping organize the event, who has something to display or sell, or who has music or talent to share is welcome to come.

For more information, call Denise Bertrand at 806-336-1417, Angela Stone at 806-654-0600, or Tessie Robinson at 806-220-6222.