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A surprising sharp noise suddenly cut through the vehicle interrupting the conversation between Clarendon High School junior Savannah Thackeray and her mother.

It was neither the sound of screeching tires nor the crunch of metal colliding. Rather it was the noise of her mother’s slapping hand, scolding another hand in the process of reaching for a cell phone.

As Thackeray’s mother Jennifer Haney drew her hand back, she looked at her husband in a scornful manner.

“You really shouldn’t text and drive,” Haney said.

Just minutes before this transaction took place, Thackeray informed her parents about a video she viewed that day at school warning students about the dangers of texting while driving. Those who saw the video learned a valuable lesson that one distraction while driving can cause serious devastation.

“After I saw the video, it made me think,” Thackeray said. “It was scary. I didn’t want to text and drive anymore, and I wanted my friends and family to stop too.”

The video told the story of an tragic accident that occurred in Utah in 2006. Nineteen-year-old Reggie Shaw was driving his SUV while text messaging his girlfriend when he crossed into the other lane and hit another car carrying two men, who were both rocket scientists. The scientists’ car slid into the oncoming lane where a pickup truck hauling a trailer crashed into it, killing the two men instantaneously.

“It kind of creeped me out,” CHS junior Dominique Brady said. “I would never want to do that to someone. I can’t imagine being responsible for the death of two people just for texting.”

But Utah is not the only state that is affected by texting and driving. Even in Clarendon there are drivers who dare to endanger lives by checking text messages.

“I see people texting while driving every day,” Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said. “Texting is very dangerous while driving because it takes too much attention away from the driver. It has been the cause of many wrecks.”

Out of 109 students surveyed, 75 admit to texting while driving. One of these drivers is senior Jill Luna.

“I started texting while driving probably about six months after I got my license,” Luna said. “It keeps me busy and awake when I’m on the road, usually on long drives like on the way to Amarillo or Dallas.”

Senior Lauren Shelton says her texting while driving makes her feel rebellious.

“My parents tell me every day to stop texting while driving, and they even threaten to take my car away if I don’t,” Shelton said. “But it’s almost just like a habit now. I don’t even think about it.”

Knowing there are people out there who choose to text behind the wheel has pedestrians like physics and chemistry teacher Bruce Howard practicing their “defensive driving.”

“Texting while driving is not very wise because it’s hard enough to drive as it is,” Mr. Howard said. “I’m always watching out to make sure what the other driver is doing.”
According to information found on www.KeeptheDrive.com, the number one cause of death among American teens is not drug overdose, violence or suicide, but vehicle crashes mainly due to distractions. Texting is the number one driving distraction among teens.

CHS Student Council members have recognized this fact and plan to dedicate a week solely to raise awareness of the distractions and conditions that can cause wrecks.
“One day will be for texting while driving, and the others will be covering speeding, driving while sleepy, drinking and driving, and driving with no seatbelt,” said Brandi Mays, student council president. “We hope that the students will begin to realize how serious some of these distractions can be. Hopefully, it will be eye opening.”

Junior Bradley Watson is one of 15 students who have confessed that texting has caused them to swerve to avoid hitting a vehicle.

“One time me and my friend Johnny were coming back to school from lunch, and we were by the Post Office when this woman stopped in front of me to turn,” Watson said. “I had to swerve to miss her because I was reading a text. That has actually happened to me twice.”

Of the 75 surveyed students who text and drive, 39 consider texting a distraction, while 36 disagree. Sheriff Blackburn says it is a major distraction to all those who text though, and has statistics to back it up.

“There have been studies that prove that texting while driving is as bad as driving while intoxicated,” Sheriff Blackburn said. “It impairs you that much.”

In Texas, it is currently only illegal for school bus drivers and those under 18 to talk or text on cell phones while driving. But there is a law waiting to be passed by legislation that will make texting illegal for all those who drive statewide.

Survey results reveal that out of 109 students, 56 think that texting while driving should be against the law, while 53 disagree.

“I think it should be because it’s so dangerous and causes many accidents,” junior Kelsey Thomas said. “People need to focus on the road when they’re driving, not texting.”

Reggie Shaw’s accident that caused widespread devastation raised awareness of the dangers of texting while driving to both students and teachers.

“Drivers need to think about other people and the effect texting while driving could have on them,” Mr. Howard said. “Think of your passengers. I think it would be hard to live with if yourself if you ever killed or seriously injured someone. One mess up can change your life forever.”

Students are now spreading the word to their friends and loved ones to stop texting on the road before more lives are permanently changed or even taken away.

“I want to keep those who I care about safe,” Haney said. “If I have to, I will continue to slap hands of those who choose to text and drive.”

A Clarendon woman was hospitalized for smoke inhalation after an early morning fire broke out in her home Monday, March 29.

The Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched at 6:05 a.m. to the home of Judy and Orsbain Perkins, located at 706 E. Second; and Donley County Deputy Sonny Morasco was first on the scene and helped get the residents to safety.

Judy Perkins and her sister, Ruby Hearn, were transported by to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo by Associated Ambulance Authority, where Hearn was treated and released.  Mrs. Perkins was later flown to University Medical Center in Lubbock, and the family was hopeful she would be released Tuesday. Mr. Perkins was not injured.

First Assistant Chief Jeremy Powell said when firefighters arrived on the scene, fire was coming out of all windows and doors on the north side of the residence.

“The living area of the home was fully engulfed and beginning to vent through the roof of the residence,” Powell reported. “The kitchen area located in the center of the residence was involved with fire and heavy smoke.”

Powell said the bedroom area south of the kitchen was not involved with the fire but did receive heavy heat and smoke damage.

The fire was quickly brought under control, and firemen remained on scene until after 8 a.m.  The residence sustained heavy fire and smoke damage. 

CVFD responded to the blaze within seven minutes, and a total of 23 firemen and seven units responded.

City Fire Marshal Kelly Hill said late Tuesday that he and the state fire marshal’s office had investigated the fire, and Hill said the origin of the fire appears to have been in the living room and appears to have been electrical.

A fund for the Perkins has been established at the Donley County State Bank.
Both eastbound lanes of US 287 were closed for more than one hour while fire units occupied them during the fire.  Some local residents may have temporarily been out of power as AEP/SWEPCO interrupted power to the residence for the firemen’s safety. 

CVFD recognized the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, TxDOT, the Associated Ambulance Authority, and Anndria Newhouse with the Clarendon Firebelles for their assistance during this case. They also acknowledged George Hall and the Donley County VFW Post for serving a late breakfast to the firemen.

The city’s firemen have been very busy the last few days. Also on Monday, the department was called to the Clarendon Dairy Queen to investigate the smell of smoke, responded to a grass fire which got into a pile of lumber next to a workshop at Jim Shadle’s residence west of the city, and was dispatched to a residence on Collinson Street reporting the smell of natural gas.

Previously on March 26, the department responded to a residence in the area of 4th and Jackson where a discarded cigarette caught a trash can on fire; and on March 28, Clarendon and Hedley units responded to a grass fire call on the LOL Ranch on FM 2471 that was started by wind damage to a power pole.

The District One 4-H Clothing and Textiles competition was held in Clarendon on March 27, 2010. Shown here are Cire Jauregui-3rd place Buying division; Kameron Shields-1st, 2nd,4th, and 8th places Arts and Crafts division; Hannah Hommel-1st place Construction division; MaRae Hall-1st place Embellishment division and 3rd place Fashion Design; and (front) Harley Jauregui-1st place Accessory Design. Courtesy Photo / Nicole Beames