Guests of honor
Tickets on sale for Mulkey opening
Tickets are on sale now for the opening night of the renovated Mulkey Theatre on Saturday, May 25.
General admission for the event is $50 per person each for a full evening of entertainment. The doors will open at 5 p.m., and the entertainment will start at 6 p.m.
In addition to a red carpet entrance and food and refreshments, organizers have planned a program to take attendees back in time to the opening of the 1946 theatre while also demonstrating the theatre’s new capabilities.
The Mulkey’s first live musical performance will be the South Plains Jazz Orchestra playing big band hits from the 1940s, and the artistic director from the outdoor musical “TEXAS” is preparing a live theatre act to follow the band.
The featured motion picture presentation for the grand opening will be a 1946 John Wayne and Claudette Colbert movie, “Without Reservations.”
Tickets for the May 25 grand opening must be purchased in advance of the show at the Clarendon Visitor Center, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Tickets can also be purchased by phone at 874-SHOW.
Following Saturday night’s grand opening, the Mulkey will hold four free admission matinees on Sunday, May 27, and Monday, May 28, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day. There will be no admission charge on a first come, first served basis.
Movies tentatively scheduled for those matinees are “Greece” followed by “The Majestic” on Sunday and “Despicable Me” followed by “The Cowboys” on Monday. Those selections may change based on availability.
The annual Mulkey Block Party, which has been held on Memorial Day weekend, is not being held this year as efforts focus on getting the theatre itself open. If there is enough interest, the block party may return in the future.
For more information about the Mulkey Theatre or the opening weekend, contact the Clarendon Visitor Center at 806-874-2421.
City sales tax hits new all time high
Clarendon hit a new record last week when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar distributed monthly sales tax allocations to local governments.
The city’s May allocation came in at an all-time monthly high of $56,593.42, which was up more 27.73 percent over the same period one year ago.
The figure blew past the previous monthly high, which was set just six months ago in November with a total of $45,308.43. Clarendon closed out calendar year 2018 with the highest sales tax revenue in his history, collecting $421,334.60.
After seeing declining revenues in the first months of 2019, this month’s allocation has caused excitement at City Hall and now puts the city 6.21 percent ahead for the calendar year-to-date at $181,324.46 up from $170,708.75 at this point in 2018.
May’s allocations are based on sales made in March by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in January, February and March by quarterly filers.
Hedley and Howardwick also posted gains this month. Hedley’s May allocation was up 157.9 percent to $2,340.71, putting that city 14.84 percent ahead for the year-to-date at $4,776.72.
Howardwick brought in 27.2 percent more at $1,220.53 and is now up 3.88 percent for the year at $5,648.26.
Statewide, Hegar sent local governments $867.7 million in local sales tax allocations for May, 0.7 percent more than in May 2018.
High-speed chase ends in Memphis
An Iowa Park woman was booked into the Donley County Jail Monday after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase from Clarendon to Memphis.
Michelle Dehoyos, age 40, was wanted out of Iowa Park for a hit and run involving a police officer when she was spotted in Clarendon shortly before 9 a.m. Monday. A Donley County deputy gave pursuit and as Dehoyos fled east on US 287 at speeds of up to 120 mph.
Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Dehoyos wrecked her car in Memphis, hitting a pipe fence near the old John Deere dealership on the west side of town.
The Iowa Park Leader told the Enterprise that police in that city had been dispatched to an apartment complex where a woman was reported to be acting erratically. As officers responded, the suspect fled in a blue car. One officer managed to get her patrol car behind Dehoyos’ vehicle, but the suspect then put her car in reverse and backed into the officer’s vehicle and fled.
Dehoyos later called her children and said she was headed to Vernon.
Donley County Justice of the Peace Pam Mason arraigned Dehoyos Tuesday on charges of Driving While Intoxicated and Evading Arrest in a Motor Vehicle. Bond was set at $1,500 on the DWI and $10,000 on the evading charge.
The Leader reports that Dehoyos is also facing charges in Iowa Park of evading and causing an accident involving damage greater than $200.
CC Lady Bulldogs fall in tourney
The Clarendon College Lady Bulldogs closed out their 2019 season Monday at the NJCAA Region V tournament in Lubbock.
CC won its first game against Odessa College on Saturday, 10-7, but then fell to Midland College on Sunday, 1-2.
The Lady Bulldogs then were eliminated from the tournament with an 8-0 loss to Howard College on Monday. Howard went on to win the tournament championship.
Lady Owls face faculty and friends
Johnny E. Leathers
On Tuesday, May 14, 2019, Johnny E. Leathers, 98, went to be with the Lord.
Services will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 18, 2019, in First Baptist Church in Clarendon with Brother Richard Leathers and Rev. Larry Capranica, officiating. Burial will follow in Citizens Cemetery in Clarendon.
Visitation will be from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Arrangements are by Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Johnny was born in Clarendon to D.E. and Grace Batson Leathers on April 11, 1921. He attended school at Lelia Lake before transferring to Clarendon, where he graduated from high school in 1939. As a high school student, he enjoyed showing calves and won many awards one of which was Grand Champion. His family won a contest sponsored by the Ft. Worth Star Telegram in 1940 to become known as America’s Most Typical All American family. He joined the US Navy during World War II, where he served as a Navy Corpsman with the 4th Division Marine Corps. After the war, he finished college at Texas Tech University in 1950. He married Betty Murray from Gatesville that same year. They were married until her death in 1981. He married Melba Brown in 1985.
Johnny was a school teacher and farmer. He began his career teaching Agriculture at Tulia, and then transferred to Hedley where he taught junior high science. Finally, he transferred to Clarendon ISD, where he taught junior high science for over 25 years. He truly cared for his students. He retired from teaching in 1985.
He was active with the Boy Scouts in the 1960s as an assistant Scout Master. He was a Christian who loved the Lord. He was very active in the First Baptist Church in Clarendon, where he was a Deacon, and Chairman of Deacons.
He loved his family and will be greatly missed.
He is survived by his two sons, Richard and his wife Angela of Bonham, and David of Tulsa, Okla.; three grandchildren, Amber, Timothy and his wife Krystal, and Matthew; six great grandchildren, Antonio, Jackson, Emma, Ian, James, and Maddox. He also leaves behind many friends and family. We want to thank Gina and Karen from Heart to Heart Hospice for their wonderful care of Johnny during his last months.
He was preceded in death by his parents, D.E. and Grace Leathers; a sister, Jean Williams; first wife, Betty, second wife, Melba Brown, and daughter-in-law, Lorrie Leathers.
Sign the online guestbook at www.robertsonfuneral.com.
Mulkey grand opening to be May 25
The grand opening of the Mulkey Theatre is just two weeks away, and workers are busy putting the finishing touches on the project to make it show ready on Saturday, May 25.
Tickets for the gala opening event will go on sale to the general public next Tuesday, May 14, for $50 each and a full evening of entertainment is being lined up.
In addition to a red carpet entrance and food and refreshments, organizers have planned a program to take attendees back in time to the opening of the 1946 theatre while also demonstrating the theatre’s new capabilities.
The Mulkey’s first live musical performance will be the South Plains Jazz Orchestra playing big band hits from the 1940s, and the artistic director from the outdoor musical “TEXAS” is preparing a live theatre act to follow the band.
The featured motion picture presentation for the grand opening will be a 1946 John Wayne and Claudette Colbert movie, “Without Reservations.”
Tickets for the May 25 grand opening must be purchased in advance of the show and are expected to sell out quickly.
Following Saturday night’s grand opening, the Mulkey will hold four free admission matinees on Sunday, May 27, and Monday, May 28. Two movies will be shown each afternoon with no admission charge on a first come, first served basis.
Mulkey fans have been asked this week to make suggestions for what those movies should be by commenting on a thread at facebook.com/MulkeyTheatre. Show times and movie selections for those matinees will be announced in the near future.
For more information, contact the Visitor Center at 806-874-2421.
Letter: We support Riza, rodeo team
We are proud of Clarendon College. Tookie and I both attended classes there. We are very proud of Dr. Riza, who we believe has done a great job as President of Clarendon College.
We are also proud of Bret Franks and the rodeo team, who have won the Southwest Region Men’s Championship for the first time ever.
Don & Tookie Thornberry,
Clarendon
Opinion: Trump empowers border patrol
By Noab Elam
A new variable is coming to the illegal immigration stage. President Trump is reported to now be considering a procedure that would empower the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to determine whether asylum seekers can enter the next phase of immigration control after an interview.
According to The Washington Examiner, the Department of Homeland Security is hurrying towards a new policy that would “give federal law enforcement on the border the authority to conduct interviews with asylum seekers who fear returning to their home countries.”
These interviews, called “fear interviews”, are actually the first official step for asylum seekers trying to gain temporary citizenship status in the United States. In 2019 alone, there has been a bevy of asylum seekers arriving at the border, usually in the form of “migrant caravans.”
This new policy is supposedly going to help take some of the weight off Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by lowering the numbers of requests ICE agents have to attend to.
Given the policy is actually pronounced and put into action, CBP would make the decisions regarding asylum seekers. ICE would then manage those allowed by CBP. President Trump’s new plan would effectively change the way CBP and ICE process these individuals. Currently, CBP and ICE process each claim into the country one-by-one.
Sure that process works when the crossing rates are limited to a couple thousand a month. However, the recent appearances of migrant caravans have made it too overwhelming to approach it in that manner due to the border patrol custody holding time of 72 days. ICE simply cannot move fast enough to get immigrants out within the 72-day time limit. And if these immigrants reach the 72-day mark, they are released into the United States for two to five years until their hearing date, which many do not even attend.
While the proposed immigration policy could help these measures, there is some clear disadvantages. An example is that one interview makes it hard to determine intent of a person. Some would even say that allowing illegal immigrants into the immigration process before people looking to enter the country legally is unfair, and they would be right. Some would also say our aid should be focused on people in our own country, and they would be right. However, I believe that, as a country founded on Christian values, it is our duty as a country to help others. Given that, it is definitely a hard situation to manage.
Noab Elam is a senior at Clarendon High School.
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