Roger Estlack

A Pampa man is in the Donley County Jail this week after leading officers on a high speed chase from Gray County last week.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Henry Lee Perryman, Jr., was facing three felony charges in Donley County as well as four additional charges in Gray County.

The sheriff said Perryman, age 42, fled from Pampa police the afternoon of April 13 after violating a court order in a domestic situation. The Gray County Sheriff’s Office alerted Blackburn’s department about the chase as Perryman fled on Hwy. 70 in a 2012 GMC Sierra. DPS also joined the pursuit, the sheriff said.

A Donley County deputy shot the pickup’s rear tires as Perryman fled south into Donley County on Hwy. 70. The suspect got turned around and headed back north, side-swiping a bystander’s vehicle and attempting to run over a Gray County officer. Soon after that additional gunfire from a Donley County officer brought Perryman’s vehicle to a stop.

Perryman was arraigned on local charges April 14 by Justice of the Peace Pam Mason for first degree felony Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, second degree felony Aggravated Assault Against a Public Servant, and third degree felony Evading Arrest with a Motor Vehicle, and total bond was set at $250,000.

Mason also arraigned Perryman on Gray County charges on April 15 for third degree felony Assault Causing Bodily Injury with a Previous Conviction, state jail felony Evading Arrest with a Motor Vehicle, and two counts of Class A Misdemeanor Violation of a Protection Order. Total bond on those charges was set at $25,000.

Local and area residents are invited to enjoy a Family Movie Night Friday with refreshments from the Mulkey Theatre.

The theatre’s ticket window will be open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, April 24, to sell delicious Mulkey popcorn along with drinks and snacks. Residents can buy their refreshments and then enjoy the movie of their choice at home.

Everyone is asked to please observe social distancing as they make their purchases.

Donley County has reported no new cases of confirmed COVID-19 since Monday, April 13, and 13 patients are still listed as recovered, County Judge John Howard, MD, said this morning.

The total number of confirmed local cases dropped by one today – from 23 down to 22 – after it was discovered that one of the positive cases reported by the Clarendon Family Medical Center is actually a resident of another county.  The updated data now shows that 20 local people have tested positive at the clinic out of 76 tests. Six of those tests are pending, and 50 have come back negative. Two other local patients were tested positive at facilities outside the county, bringing the total confirmed cases to 22.

Two residents remain hospitalized with COVID-19. One was reported on social media to be improving and was taken off the ventilator, and a family member told the Enterprise that the second patient is still on the ventilator but is alert and fever free today.

Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, reported today that eight of the 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19 are now listed as “recovered.”

No new cases of the virus have been confirmed since Monday with a total of 71 tests having been conducted on local patients by the Clarendon Family Medical Center. Only two of those tests are pending as of today, and 48 tests have been reported as negative. Two local people tested positive at facilities outside of the county.

(Editor’s Note: One case previously reported as having been confirmed at an out-of-county facility has been moved back into the “locally tested” category.)

Howard said two local residents who were confirmed to have COVID-19 are still hospitalized, and the remainder are recovering at home.

Judge Howard first reported three recovered patients last Friday, a fourth was listed as recovered on Monday, and two more were added Tuesday.

The judge also said the resourcefulness of his clinic’s staff has led to finding advanced testing facilities which has dramatically sped up the time in which test results are returned.

A lot of attention has been given to Donley County for the high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases being reported, but Howard does not think it means that the local community is “sicker” than other communities.

“We don’t have more disease,” Howard said. “We have more information.”

Howard said for a fair comparison of how many confirmed cases communities have on a per capita basis, you have to really be able to say how many people have been tested as a whole.

Wednesday, Howard said his clinic had tested about two percent of the local population, which was about four times the testing percentage of Texas as a whole.

Some communities are not testing at near Donley County’s level, but, Howard says, it doesn’t mean they don’t have the disease.

“I’ve said it before, I could lower the numbers in Donley County by just going back two weeks and not testing anyone,” he said.

(Editor’s Note: This article originally reported information from the county that 21 people were listed as ‘recovered’, but that number included all 71 patients who have been tested for COVID-19 (whether positive or negative) who are now symptom free. We apologize for the confusion.)

Sales tax revenues dipped slightly across the state when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar delivered April local allocations last week.

Statewide, Hegar announced $701.8 million in local sales tax allocations for April, 0.5 percent less than in April 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in February by businesses that report tax monthly.

Clarendon’s allocation fell 1.42 percent to $25,334.25 for April, but the city was still up 3.31 percent for the calendar year-to-date at $128,869.11.

Hedley’s sales tax revenue was down for the month 1.52 percent at $509.78 but was still up 28.63 percent for the year at $3,133.50.

Howardwick’s revenue was up 33.36 percent for April at $1,396.97 and up 33.36 percent for the year-to-date at $5,701.12.

Hegar’s office warned that next month’s allocations, which will mostly reflect sales made in March, will begin to show the impact of pandemic-related business shutdowns. The agency, therefore, expects local allocations in May to be lower and said June allocations will likely deteriorate further.