Archives for August 2024

The Clarendon CISD Parent, Family, & Community Back To School Bash will be held Monday, August 12, from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

Clarendon Elementary School parents and students can meet the teachers that evening starting at 5:30 through 5:50 for students with last names beginning with O-Z, names A-G will be 6:00-6:20, and names H-N will be 6:30-6:50.

Clarendon Junior High and Clarendon High School students can meet their teachers in Bronco Stadium beginning at 6:00 p.m.

The overall Back To School Bash at the stadium will feature pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, chips, and water; and organizations will be selling homemade ice cream, tea, lemonade, and t-shirts. Those in attendance can sign up that night for Little Miss Cheer and Donley County 4-H. Games will be available for the kids to play until 7:15 p.m., and the district will hold its annual Title I meeting that evening.

The evening will wrap up with the annual Meet the Broncos event starting at 7:30 p.m.

August brings public notices to Texans as local governments begin to figure their budgets and tax rates for the coming fiscal year.

This week’s Enterprise includes notices from the Donley County Hospital District, which will set its tax rate on August 20 at 6 p.m.; the City of Hedley, which will have a budget hearing on August 22 at 6:30 p.m.; Hedley CISD, which will consider its budget and proposed tax rate on August 19 at 6:00 p.m.; and the City of Clarendon, which will hold a hearing on its proposed budget on August 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Public notices last week announced that the Claredon College District will hold budget and tax rate hearings on August 15 starting at 5:30 p.m. and the City of Howardwick, which will hold a hearing on its budget and tax rate on August 13 at 6 p.m.

The public’s involvement is encouraged at these meetings.

Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, Inc. celebrates its 40th anniversary with a look back at its storied legacy and optimism for the innovation that drives its future.

“Initially, Golden Spread was comprised of 11 Member Cooperatives, and over time, membership grew to include 16 Members providing electric service to a rural territory that includes 24 percent of Texas’ land and portions of Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado,” said Kari Hollandsworth, President and CEO of Golden Spread. “Those Members joined with a true cooperative spirit, realizing the benefits of being an integral partner with other cooperatives.”

Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, which services rural Donley County, is a member of Golden Spread.

“Our Members came together so they could meet the financial and operational challenges involved in delivering cost-effective, competitive and reliable power to their end users,” said Hollandsworth, who was named CEO in 2020 and was preceded by Bob Bryant from 1984 to 2008 and Mark Schwirtz from 2008 to 2020.

Strategic Board decisions in 1995 led to the construction of Mustang Station near Denver City, Texas, to manage peak load needs. Mustang Station not only fulfilled its initial role but also became a reliable year-round power source for Golden Spread Members.

The early 2010s marked a pivotal era, as the Golden Spread Board charted a transformative course from primarily purchasing power to directly sourcing its own power supply.

The journey to deliver competitive energy solutions yielded significant milestones in 2011 when Antelope Elk Energy Center (AEEC) at Abernathy, Texas, and Golden Spread Panhandle Wind Ranch, a renewable energy source near Wildorado, Texas, each achieved commercial operation. In 2016, AEEC cleared all the regulatory hurdles to connect the facility to two grids, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and Southwest Power Pool.

These achievements redefined Golden Spread’s operations, increasing its generation capacity and growing its workforce.

“This past year has been particularly outstanding for Golden Spread,” Hollandsworth said. “We achieved record sales, benefited from low natural gas prices and enjoyed strong profits from consumers outside of our membership.”

“We set a new peak usage record of 1,840 MW. This peak surpasses our previous record in 2019 and underscores the continuing growth within our territory. This success translates into direct benefits for our Members, as the value of their investment continues to grow,” she said.

Golden Spread is a devoted corporate citizen, proud to be located in Amarillo and to serve its Members’ rural communities. Among many other charitable activities in its vast territory, Golden Spread has given generous college scholarships since 1991.

This year’s scholarship recipients are Brazos Beck, Lyntegar Electric Cooperative; Maximus Dumbauld, North Plains Electric Cooperative; Julianna Ferrel, Lighthouse Electric Cooperative; Sawyer Francis, Swisher Electric Cooperative; Sage Gaillard, Rita Blanca Electric Cooperative; Paige Luning, South Plains Electric Cooperative; Kamryn Meiwes, Bailey County Electric Cooperative; Taylor Neal, South Plains Electric Cooperative; Meredith Sanning, Golden Spread Electric Cooperative; and Mason Snowden, Concho Valley Electric Cooperative.

“The scholarship initiative reflects our ongoing commitment to support education in the region and encourage the next generation,” Hollandsworth said.

“Golden Spread’s future lies in keeping innovation and collaboration at the core of our solutions to meeting Members’ needs,” she said. “Innovative approaches will be important as we address new developments throughout the territory, including regulatory changes and expected load growth from additional data centers and other mega-consumers such as hydrogen-producing facilities. We continue to adapt and find creative solutions as our Members and industry landscape grow and evolve.”

“Like our peers in the electric industry, we’ve faced trials from severe weather, shifts in demand and supply due to new technologies, and evolving regulatory and market landscapes,” Hollandsworth said. “We are proud to have met four decades of challenges with cooperative strength. This legacy prepares Golden Spread for many more years of success, growth and shared values.”