Morgan Wheatly

A formerly vacant building will be open for business this month, thanks in part to a grant from the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation.

Brownlee Custom Boots and Big Texas Hair & Highlights has been renovating the front portion of the building located north of the Mulkey Theatre at 106 S. Kearney. The proprietor, Elaine Brownlee, builds handmade boots and will also operate a hair salon in part of the building.

Brownlee last week received the CEDC’s 15th façade grant for $132.61, representing half of the cost of new signage on the building. Brownlee said she learned about the grant program, which pays for eligible storefront improvements in the city’s Central Business District, from CEDC Executive Director Chandra Eggemeyer and said it was very helpful.

“I am very thankful to have it,” Brownlee said. “For someone trying to start on a budget, it is a major help, and I would recommend it to other businesses.”

The building previously received a façade grant about four years ago, which improved its curb appeal, but it was still only used as storage as it had been for about four decades. Brownlee, however, wanted to be in that location.

“It’s in a prime location next to the Mulkey, which is being heavily promoted, and there are a lot of wonderful people on this block,” Brownlee said, referring specifically to neighbors down the street, longtime Clarendon bootmaker Jim Owens and leathergoods artisan Jamie Bebout at Straight Off The Ranch.

Brownlee has been making boots for about two years, learning the trade in Henrietta before her husband took a job on the High Card Ranch near Clarendon in April. She said they and their young son love it here, and she looks forward to taking boot orders and doing repair work as well as scheduling hair appointments.

In addition to new signage, Brownlee has spent a great deal of time refinishing the walls and ceiling in the building as well as sealing the hardwood floor. The property owner also invested in electrical and plumbing upgrades to accommodate the new tenant.

Since the Façade Grant Program began in 2008, the CEDC has awarded $ 17,769.54 to property owners on a three-block stretch of Kearney Street. The Façade Grant Program provides 50-50 matching grants, up to a maximum of $2,000 per project, for improvements done to commercial storefronts; and under the new guidelines, the program now considers properties located in the city’s entire Central Business District, an area defined by city planning maps created in 2002. Generally, that includes properties facing Kearney Street from First to Fifth streets as well as properties facing Sully Street from First to Fifth and properties on the west side of Gorst Street from Second Street (US 287) to Fourth Street.

Projects eligible for consideration could be anything from a coat of paint to new signage to sidewalk improvements to a complete rehabilitation of a storefront. Property owners interested in Façade Grant funds must get approval before beginning their projects.

For more information about the CEDC Façade Grant Program, contact Chandra Eggemeyer at the Clarendon Visitor Center inside the Mulkey Theatre at 874-2421.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary of the Clarendon Sonic Drive-In after someone broke a glass door and stole the restaurant’s safe.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said the crime occurred sometime last Thursday night or early Friday morning, and a white male suspect was captured on a video security camera wearing a mask, gloves, and coat.

Authorities are working diligently to identify the subject. If you have any information, you are asked to call the sheriff’s office at 874-3533.

Donley County residents are being urged to sign up for a new notification system that could save lives in the event of a local emergency by using text messaging, telephone calls, or e-mails.

The “Resolve To Be Ready” system can be utilized for severe weather, wildfires, or other disasters to notify people of where the danger is and what steps to take.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said fewer than 200 people are currently signed up on the system, and he wants to see that number increase. Blackburn said the system would have been very beneficial during past wildfires so that residents in the path of a fire could be easily and quickly notified.

The system has been put together by area emergency managers and the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission (PRPC) in an effort to provide all jurisdictions in the region the ability to contact their residents quickly when disasters are imminent. The goal was to create a sustainable call-out system that would enable local emergency management officials to rapidly notify their residents in mass when conditions (weather or otherwise) jeopardized their jurisdictions.

Commonly referred to as a reverse calling system, “Resolve To Be Ready” came to fruition when the PRPC applied for and received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cover 75 percent of the cost of building and implementing a regional notification system. The Amarillo Area Foundation generously provided $100,000 to support a large portion of the non-FEMA funded system costs, with the PRPC providing another $24,000 in support. Together, these grant funds and contributions have now made it affordable for every jurisdiction in the region to maintain notification capabilities.

Clarendon College has been using the same system to keep its students aware of severe weather threats as well as class cancelations.

Any information entered into the system belongs to the individual that provided that information. Nobody else can see it or use it for any other purpose other than for notifications. The system simply knows to send a call or text message to the cell phone, email address or home phone number entered by a registering resident. With the reliance on cell phones growing, it’s more important than ever that critical information be conveyed in a mobile environment.

As a first step toward personal preparedness, residents should “Resolve to Be Ready” by logging onto www.R2BeReady.com to register their contact information, along with the contact information of their family members, into this new system. That way, they can stay informed of conditions that may affect their safety.

Clarendon College has named students to its President’s and Dean’s lists for the spring 2013 semester. Eighty-five students achieved these honors.

Student’s on the President’s List – who all maintained a 4.0 grade point average through the spring semester – include: Myrna Janet Martinez, Amarillo, TX; Julie Rebecca Gibbs, Borger, TX; Clarissa Syvonne Elizondo, Brownfield, TX; Michelle Garcia and Tabatha LeAndra Noelle Pena, both of Childress, TX; John Preston Myers, Connor Lloyd McKowen, Jerami Adam Johnson, Jennifer Erin Price, Chanda Parker Reynolds, Sean James Connolly, and Jaimie Nicole Mendez, all of Clarendon, TX; Breanna Danielle Coons, Lubbock, TX; Jose Rolando Santos, Mexico City; Lindsey Anne Albus, Paducah, TX; Lisa Dawn Anderson, Karen Diane Norwood, Hunter Ace Shay, Dustin Ty Linder, Brandi Heather McCoy, Kelly Louise Turk, Kevin Lynn Turk, Brittany A. Balay, Terry Davis, Sonia Martinez, Brenda Kay Reed; Sunnie Nichole Sweeney, Crystal Gayle Taylor, Elena Leigh Valdez, Mary Ann Gonzales, Kendra Marie Meyers, and Chad L. Epperson, all of Pampa, TX; Jacob Gosselin-Deschesnes, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC; Festus Phil Farrington, Sedan, NM; Shawn Fitzgerald Harper, Shamrock, TX; Logan West Putnam, Waco, TX; Claudia Granados and Andrea Janae’ Duke, both of Wellington, TX; Kyla Brook Martin, White Deer, TX; and Mehgan Ryan Murray, Wylie, TX.

Students on the Dean’s list – who all maintained at least a 3.6 GPA – include: Elayne Chavez, Ryan Shane Backus, and Hanna Gaston, all of Amarillo, TX; Karen Mao, Anaheim, CA; Brandon Matthew Turner, Arlington, TX; Benjamin Robert Raulston, Blum, TX; Ashley Lauren Kanaman, Campbell, TX; Aaron B. Carroll, Carrollton, TX; Alisha Shurr, Central Point, OR; Sharlie Nichole Segura and Stormy Burrows, of Childress TX; Adam Kyle Judd, Kelsey Blake Mullins, Ora Michael Brown, and Jacob Ethan Shackleford, all of Clarendon, TX; Ryan Eugene Marvin, Coppell, TX; Justin T. Shealy, Corsicana, TX; Rebecca Lynn Couch, Florence, TX; Pamela Sue Mayfield, Fritch, TX; Samantha Ann Haralson, Garden Grove, CA; Darius Aaron Singleton, Garland, TX; Joel Anthony Britten, Groom, TX; Chelsea D. Sheehan, Howardwick, TX; Dylan Wayne Gruben, Lamesa, TX; April Dawn Ramsey, McLean, TX; Shaylie Nacole Thompson, Miami, TX; Stefanie Renee’ Boyd, Paducah, TX; Faith Bohl, Ivy Brooke Noble, Melanie Dawn Spencer, Megan Napier, Brittany Patterson, Desirae Rochelle, Kimberly Darnell, Jeb Asa Shelden, Emily Lauren Barrett, and Pamela R. Mathis, all of Pampa, TX; Jennifer Hope Boen, Panhandle, TX; Jennifer Ann Morgan and Kelleena Shanna Burrell, both of Shamrock, TX; Scotta Lee Faulkenberry, Stephenville, TX; Natalie Claire Bissell, Surrey, GU; Baily Gardner, West Valley City, UT; Courtney Fay McAnear, Whitesboro TX; and Reid James Drury, Yuma, CO.