Morgan Wheatly

AUSTIN – In an effort to help Texas drivers keep their child passengers properly secured, the Texas Department of Transportation today announced it is offering free, year-round child safety seat inspections conducted by certified technicians.

The inspections are available by appointment at each of TxDOT’s 25 district offices. The announcement coincides with National Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 15-21.

“Buckling young children into safety seats is the law, so TxDOT is pleased to offer this service in an effort to help keep them safe,” said Phil Wilson, TxDOT executive director. “To ensure optimal safety, it’s important those seats are properly secured and that parents are using the right seat based on their child’s age, height and weight.”

Texas law states: children younger than 8 years of age, unless taller than 4 feet 9 inches, must ride in safety seats. Nationally, three out of four safety seats are used incorrectly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A new study by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) found nearly nine out of 10 Texas children were riding in safety seats, but many were not properly buckled. The new study also revealed 37 percent of infants and toddlers in Texas were secured incorrectly — or not at all — when riding in a vehicle.

The TTI study also reported the Texas cities with the highest rates of correct child safety seat use are Austin (83 percent), Tyler (78 percent), Fort Worth (77 percent), Bryan/College Station (75 percent) and Waco (73 percent).

Cities with the lowest rates of correct child safety seat use are Brownsville (26 percent), Amarillo (37 percent), El Paso (37 percent), Lubbock (44 percent) and Houston (59 percent).

TxDOT’s new interactive seat finder at TexasClickItorTicket.com can help drivers find the proper safety seats for their children. Visit the site and click on “Child Safety” to begin the search for an appropriate safety seat. To schedule a safety seat inspection, call a TxDOT district office or find your local contact at TexasClickItorTicket.com.

For information, call (512) 463-8700.

The Les Beaux Art Club met September 6th at the First Baptist Church. The hostesses for our delicious meal were Jan Campbell, Lori Howard, Evelyn Mann, and Neal Risley.

Jack Craft, an example of our local unbelievable talent presented they program. His presentation of the sculpture of iron works was absolutely amazing. His work has appeared in New York City, several museums around the country and on a permanent display at a Gallery in Marfa.

Jack also introduced Kate Beck, an artist from Maine that has been at the ranch as an Artist in Residence. Mrs. Beck has a brief history of her work.

We are hard at work on the Art Festival that will be October 26th & 27th. We will be featuring many of the artist that will be appearing at our festival so you will see what amazing talent we have coming and what a terrific show we will have. We will have our Buyer’s Reception Thursday night. This is a private showing for those people that have bought purchase awards.

Friday is School Day, and Saturday and Sunday is open to the public and there is no charge for admission. On Sunday, the Catholic ladies will have the famous Enchilada Dinner.

By Fred Gray

State Senator Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) visited the Bairfield Activities Center Thursday, September 5, to update the folks about the goings-on in Austin. Donley County Republican Party Chairman Tom Stauder introduced Senator Seliger to a crowd of about 50.

Sen. Seliger, the Chairman of the Higher Education Finance Committee, reported that this year the Texas Legislature passed a $192 billion budget, which was $750 million below the constitutional limit that is determined by the inflation rate and the population growth rate.

Seliger commended Clarendon College for ranking number one in Texas, 14th in small, rural colleges, and 28th in the nation in by the CNN/Money magazine ranking for student success. Community college financing is crucial and the legislature added more funding for our community colleges, Seliger said.

Public education and transportation were the primary focus of the legislature’s deliberations. After the mandated session, Governor Perry called special sessions to pass a transportation bill.

Of the issues facing Texas in the near term, water is the most critical, according to Seliger. The State of Texas is facing critical water shortages in most areas of the state. Most of the determination of future water usage will be determined by local and regional water development boards, in cooperation with the state – which made a provision for local water development board to access $2 billion of the state’s rainy day fund.

During the meeting a spirited discussion accompanied Sen. Seliger’s report. Future water needs were a concern for almost everyone in attendance and many questions and concerns were put forth to the senator. The lively discussion of water needs and concerns took up the major portion of the meeting.

Regarding transportation, Sen. Seliger pointed out that the urban areas of Texas will get the lion’s share of the recent and future appropriations, in order to get the most utility out of each dollar spent.

Border protection also was high on the legislature’s priorities. Additional funding was appropriated to continue to enhance our border security. A little known fact is that the United States Navy is now patrolling Texas’ border rivers and lakes, Sen. Seliger said.

The senator’s presentation was well received by those in attendance, with very little dissention. Included in the audience were several members of Professor Gene Denney’s psychology class, who attended for extra credit. Senator Seliger engaged them in a series of questions addressing Syria and gay marriage. An overwhelming majority of the students expressed that they were of the opinion that marriage ought to be between a man and a woman. Most also felt like the US ought to refrain from bombing Syria.