Morgan Wheatly

Clarendon College officials are celebrating a new milestone after recording the highest fall enrollment in the institution’s history.

The fall headcount settled at 1,590 following the 12th class day, setting a record for the 119-year-old college and edging past the previous record of 1,586 set back in 2010.

“We’re very proud of the effort of everybody involved,” CC President Robert Riza said. “Now we want to break 1,600.”

The new high represents a growth of 108 students over fall 2016, an increase of 7.3 percent.

It’s been a good year for Clarendon College. Spring enrollment was up 13.34 percent, the spring mini-session grew 172 percent, CC’s 12-week summer session for its career and technical classes was up 41 percent, and the college’s traditional five-week Summer I session was up 53 percent.

“We you look back at our strategic plan and the initiatives it included, it was a plan about processes,” Dr. Riza said. “Nowhere did it talk about enrollment, but it took care of itself when we made it more efficient to get into school and pay for school.”

Growth this fall came in several areas but particularly in Clarendon where the census in the dorms went from 248 to 281 and overall headcount went from 290 to 338.

“When you have 281 in the dorms and the max is 288, that drives the home campus higher,” Riza said, noting the new Honors College program, the revived Equine Judging program, and bigger livestock and meats judging teams as being reasons for growth.

Dual credit classes in area high schools also grew significantly with 621 students last year compared to 678 this year. Numbers from specific school districts fluctuated, but the largest growth came from outside the college’s traditional service area with 72 kids at Canadian High School taking government and history courses in a pilot program there.

CC’s campus in Pampa was also up 3.5 percent with 238 students. The Amarillo campus was flat in traditional cosmetology classes but saw growth in dual credit students attending there. The Childress campus was down slightly with 43 students.

“We have a faculty that works with kids, and a staff that works hard,” Riza said. “We have people that want to be a part of what we’re doing, and it’s what we’ve all been working on for four years.”

The Old West will come to life this weekend at the Saints’ Roost Museum during the 23rd annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff this Saturday, September 23, and tickets are going fast.

Thirteen wagons are scheduled to compete for top prizes, and other activities include live entertainment, museum tours, and the Western tradeshow.

The wagon teams will arrive Friday to host area students for a day of learning about the chuckwagon and cooking the cowboy-way. Friday afternoon will also include the junior cookoff, which pairs kids, ages 8-17, with mentors on participating wagon teams to learn the ropes of cooking over an open fire.

The big day for the cookoff will be Saturday when the wagons square off to battle for top prizes. The tradeshow starts at 10 a.m., and museum tours will be available throughout the day. Local and area entertainers will also be performing.

The authentic wagons will serve at 1 p.m. with the traditional chicken fried steak dinner, and other activities will include a hay auction and the Goodnight family reunion.

Admission is free. Tickets for the Chuckwagon meal are $15 each and can be purchased in advance at Every Nook & Cranny or by calling (806)874-2746.

The Clarendon City Council approved budgets and the municipal tax rates for fiscal year 2018 during its regular meeting last Thursday, September 14.

Aldermen voted in favor of an ordinance adopting the city’s annual budget and agreed to set the ad valorem tax rate at $0.733821 per $100 valuation.

Publicity and Tourism Agreements with the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce were approved as presented. The Chamber administers 25 percent of the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT), and the CEDC will administer 75 percent of the HOT fund less the annual amount needed to fund bond payments that are financing the Mulkey project.

Budgets for economic development sales taxes and HOT funds administered by the CEDC were approved as presented, and the Chamber’s HOT budget was also approved.

The council accepted the resignation of CEDC board member Leslie Norrell, and appointed Alderman John Lockhart to fill the year remaining on her term.

Aldermen approved engaging Foster & Lambert LLC to perform the fiscal 2017 audits.

The city’s Funds Investment Policy was approved, and the city administrator and city secretary were named as the city’s investment officers.

A contract with Pitney Bowes for postage metering was also approved.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Broncos used almost every tick on the clock Friday night against Wheeler, but finished the job they set out to do by defeating the Mustangs, 15-12.

“I thought our kids grew up a little bit Friday night,” first year head coach Clint Conkin said. “We overcame some adversity and came out with a win.”

The Broncos did a lot of things right in the game and the defense held Wheeler to only 163 total yards on the night.

“Our defense played sold all night,” Conkin said. “Damarjae Cortez picked off a Wheeler pass.”

Offensively, the Broncos made a few mistakes, but gathered themselves enough to get the win.

“Offensively, I thought we moved the ball well, but shot ourselves in the foot at time with mental mistakes,” Conkin said.

Conkin credited Daquawne Oliver with a good game as he carried the ball 21 times for 173 yards and one touchdown. Cortez made a good showing on the ground, as well, and racked up 38 yards on seven carries. Ryan McCleskey had four carries for 11 yards and Dalton Benson had one carry for two yards.

“Noab Elam was six of eight passing for 53 yards and a touchdown pass,” Conkin said.

The Bronco receivers did a good job for the Broncos with Bear Smith catching a pass for 14 yards and scoring one TD. Andy Davis had one catch for 10 yards, and Colt Wood had one pass for seven yards. Cortez also caught one pass for eight yards while Zach Caison caught one pass for eight yards. Preston Elam caught a pass and made good on a two-point conversion for the Broncos.

“I thought our kids showed a lot of heart in the second half,” Conkin said.

The Broncos will be back at home next Friday night, September 22, for a big homecoming game against Gruver beginning at 7:30 p.m.

State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) gave his insights on this year’s legislative session during a town hall in Clarendon last Wednesday, September 6, at the Bairfield Activity Center.

The senator said this session was one in which a lot of people wanted the state to dictate to local governments.

“It was a session where people came out of the closet and said they didn’t really like local government,” Seliger said. “But they are the same people who don’t like the federal government telling states what to do.”

Seliger drove home this point in talking about proposed property tax reforms that ultimately failed in the regular and special sessions earlier this year. Currently, local governments can raise taxes up to eight percent before triggering a situation where people can petition for a rollback election. But this year Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Paul Bettencourt led a charge to have that power limited to a four percent cap at which point an automatic rollback election would be triggered.

Seliger said this would have created an incentive for local governments to raise their taxes three percent every year just to keep up with the rising cost of doing business.

Donley County Judge John Howard thanked Seliger for a “courageous stand for local control in the face of intense pressure” when it came to tax reform.

The senator responded that counties work to get the most for their money and said “As much as people hate taxes, they hate shortcomings in services from cities or counties more.”

“The state put in independent schools and chartered cities to run themselves,” the senator said. “Smaller government is defined by its closeness to the people. I’ve always held the view that every election is a rollback election, a tax election, and a recall election.”

He also restated his position that voter participation has a direct bearing on the kind of government that exists.

“We have the government we deserve,” he said.

Seliger praised community colleges and Clarendon College in particular.

“Community colleges will make the biggest difference,” Seliger said. “Community colleges are a big driver in higher education. Clarendon College is on the cutting edge of a lot of things like its partnership with Texas Tech University and getting nurses educated for a fraction of the cost.”

Clarendon College President Robert Riza complimented the senator for his stand on tax reform and also for his work on behalf of community colleges.

Seliger said the state’s budget is a conservative one and is generally down in expenditures although certain line items where increased.

“We increased base funding for community colleges,” he said. “At Clarendon College it was $300,000 more for core operations.”

Other areas of increase included funds for Child Protective Services, and $300 million from the Rainy Day Fund to help overhaul state hospitals, $350 million for retired teachers’ insurance, and more money for border security.

Seliger said legislators approved $26 billion for public schools and that it should have been higher.

“The [funding] system was built in 1993 and is no longer functioning,” he said.

Seliger said reductions in state funds for public education just means more money has to be spent locally. He also seemed skeptical of a new commission charged with examining public education funding.

“Difficult to cut funds while trying to improve schools,” Seliger said. “If [the commission’s recommendation] is just to squeeze districts more, I’m not going to support it.”

Addressing hot button issues, the senator said the push for unlicensed “constitutional carry” of firearms didn’t get traction in the session because the checks in place are working in Texas. He also said he supported a “school choice” bill that would have let people use public funds for private schools to treat dyslexia and other disorders but the bill died.

Seliger called the “bathroom bill” very controversial. The bill would have required people to use the public restroom associated with the gender on their birth certificates, but it exempted certain public bathrooms because of businesses raised concerns about economic impact. Seliger downplayed the issue as a whole.

“Police chiefs and sheriffs don’t report that clothing choice impacts sexual assaults,” the senator said. “Parents and schools do what it takes to make kids comfortable. Schools have handled this for years.”

Seliger also called for greater legislative oversight of state transportation spending and said medical marijuana has not become a big issue in Texas because doctors are not clamoring to have it legalized.

An Arizona man is facing criminal charges after he falsely told authorities that he had been held up in downtown Clarendon at gun point on August 27.

Ryan Scott, age 34, of Kingman was arrested Friday, September 8, after handwriting analysis by three experts determined that his written statement of the alleged crime was deceptive.

Scott, who is a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) employee, told the Donley County Sheriff’s Office that a man had held him up near the railroad on Kearney Street and taken off with about $80.

The sheriff’s office, along with the Department of Public Safety and Game Wardens from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., searched for the suspect all day August 27 and through the night.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Scott had given a detailed description of the supposed robber, but shortly into the investigation, it became apparent that it was a fictitious report.

“We also obtained information that Scott was still using a credit card that was reported stolen to purchase plane tickets and fuel after the report,” the sheriff said. “We even had him on camera using the card.

Blackburn obtained a warrant and made the arrest, and Scott gave a full confession that he had made up the story.

Scott was booked into the Donley County Jail Friday on charges of False Report to a Peace Officer, a Class B Misdemeanor. He was arraigned later the same day by County Judge John Howard who set bond at $2,000. The suspect made bond the same day.

BNSF Railway Police assisted Blackburn’s office with this investigation.