Morgan Wheatly

 AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will increase DWI patrols for a 21-day period that includes both the Christmas and New Year holidays. From December 13 – January 2, DPS troopers will focus DWI patrols in high-risk locations at times when alcohol-related crashes are most frequent.

“Historically, the holiday season brings an increased potential for drinking and driving incidents, and these enhanced DPS patrols will help save lives,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw.

“Impaired driving can easily turn a holiday celebration into a tragic situation. By designating a sober driver or finding alternative transportation if drinking alcohol is expected, Texans can do their part in keeping our roadways safe and making the holidays memorable for the right reasons.”

The increased patrols that target impaired driving are funded through a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

DPS offers the following additional tips for safe travel during the holidays:

Eliminate distractions, including the use of mobile devices.

Buckle up everyone in the vehicle – it’s the law.

Slow down – especially in bad weather, construction areas and heavy traffic.

Slow down or move over for police, fire, EMS and Texas Department of Transportation vehicles and tow trucks that are stopped on the side of the road with emergency lights activated – it’s the law.

Don’t drive fatigued.

Drive defensively, as holiday travel may present additional challenges.

Make sure your vehicle is properly maintained before your trip begins.

 Dr. John Howard has joined the race to be the new judge of Donley County this week.

Howard, who is currently the chairman of the Clarendon College Board of Regents, is now in a field of three candidates seeking to succeed County Judge Jack Hall, who will retire at the end of 2014. Gary Campbell and Randy Bond are also seeking the Republican Party’s nomination to run for judge.

Folks interested in running for county or state offices in the 2014 March primaries are facing a filing deadline of Monday, December 9.

In addition to the judge’s race, the following candidates have been reported to the Enterprise and are running in the Republican Primary: for Commissioner Precinct 2, Mitchell Martin and John Grady; for Commissioner Precinct 4, Dan Sawyer; for Treasurer, Wanda Smith; and for JP Precinct 3&4, Denise Bertrand.

On the Democratic ticket, County Clerk Fay Vargas is running for re-election.

Those interested in running in the Republican Primary can contact County Party Chairman Tom Stauder on his home phone 874-5099 or his cell 290-5525. Those interested in running in the Democratic Primary should contact County Party Chairman Jean Taylor at 856-5961.

Also of local interest, State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) and State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) have both announced their filings for reelection. US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) is running for re-election and is being challenged by Dr. Pam Barlow of Bowie and Elaine Hays of Amarillo.

Dr. Robert Riza took the helm of Clarendon College this week as the school’s 19th president.

The new president arrived in town Saturday and attended church and the community Thanksgiving service on Sunday before greeting several visitors to his office on Monday.

“It’s been a very positive experience,” Riza said. “Everybody has been very gracious and welcoming just like I expected of good Panhandle, West Texas people.”

Riza transferred his Lions Club membership to Clarendon Tuesday and says his first priorities are to meet people and familiarize himself with what’s going on in the community and at CC. He also plans to sit down with his senior staff individually, and talk about what’s working and what’s not.

Beyond that the college’s reaccreditation in 2015 and the planning that goes into that will take quite a bit of the new president’s attention.

Riza comes to Clarendon after serving as Vice President of Student Services at Hill College in Hillsboro. His wife, Cobette, will join the president in Clarendon this summer after the couple’s daughter graduates from high school.

However, Mrs. Riza is already making a contribution on the Clarendon College campus, having the couple’s son deliver a 12-foot Christmas tree to the Bairfield Activity Center over the weekend. The tree was set up and decorated by students this week.

“She is very excited to be coming here,” Dr. Riza said of his wife. “She will be very involved in the community.”

Mrs. Riza has been an elementary teacher for 13 years and enjoys working with groups that help disadvantaged kids, the president said.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen continued catching up on city business during the course of two meetings November 26 and December 2.

Last Tuesday, the board approved paying $7,369 for a sewer line at the Donley County State Bank for a situation that came up – literally – about seven months ago.

The bank at the intersection of US 287 and Kearney Street should have been connected to a new sewer line when the state reconstructed the highway in 1997. But according to Mayor Larry Hicks and Public Works Director John Molder, it was left connected to the old sewer line that was abandoned during that project.

Over 16 years, the bank’s bathroom filled up the abandoned sewer main and started backing up into the bank last spring. Hicks said the problem never should have happened and clearly wasn’t the bank’s fault, and the board agreed.

Also last week, aldermen held a detailed budget workshop, reviewing the fiscal year 2013 budget which automatically carried over to become the fiscal year 2014 budget while the board was non-functioning. City officials discussed which line items may need to be amended as the year progresses.

As part of the budget workshop, Molder presented a $14,000 plan to install a new waterline on three blocks of Fifth Street between Bugbee Avenue and Collinson Street. That is the only remaining cast iron line in that section of town, he said, and replacing it would hopefully take care of the few remaining reports of dirty water in that area. The project would also install two fire hydrants that are needed in that area.

This week, the board poured over a long list of reports and minutes that had not been approved since May.

Fire department representatives also asked the board to add a building located on Sully Street to the city’s liability insurance property. The department already houses fire trucks there and is considering buying the building from former fire chief Delbert Robertson. The added cost to the city would be about $625 per year, and the board approved that proposal.

Aldermen considered a proposal to buy a car to be used as an airport courtesy car and as an extra vehicle employees could take to training meetings and other errands. Mayor Hicks also said he would use the car every day checking on things around the city.

Alderman Beverly Burrow raised questions about whether the city had ever had this kind of vehicle in the past, and Alderman Doug Kidd asked about the liability to the city and the procedures that would be followed for people flying into the airport and wanting to use the car.

Alderman Will Thompson asked where the car ranked in priorities versus the city’s need for a new trash truck and new pickups for city supervisors, and Hicks said the car would be ranked below those needs. Thompson then recommended not taking action on the car until more pressing needs were taken care of.

The board took no action on this item, but several aldermen indicated their willingness to consider giving Hicks a mileage allowance on a future agenda.