News

The schedule of the 143rd annual Saints’ Roost Celebration was still undetermined Tuesday morning as various event organizers had yet to make final decisions about the festivities that are on the calendar for July 2, 3, and 4 this year.

As the Enterprise was going to press this week, representatives of different organizations involved with the celebration were being contacted to attend this Thursday night’s regular meeting of the Chamber of Commerce board to try to make decisions about the celebration.

Concerns all around focus on requirements for social distancing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and how to pull off a large event without people crowding together.

The Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association board, which advertises the celebration and hosts the ranch rodeo, met Monday night with Donley County Judge John Howard, Sheriff Butch Blackburn, and Scoutmaster Russell Estlack. Discussions were held about safety measures required by the state that would need to be in place if the rodeo is to proceed.

Dances usually held after the ranch rodeos have definitely been canceled, but the fate of the rodeo itself was still up in the air with COEA President Alex McAnear saying his board voted Monday night to table any decisions until June 15 to see if Gov. Greg Abbott releases updated guidelines for events.

“This is a new deal to everybody,” McAnear told the Enterprise. “There’s not any way to control [the crowd] once everybody gets out there.”

Officials said under the guidelines released by the governor on May 18, rodeo participants and volunteers would have to be screened and have their temperatures taken before the event. Bleachers would have to be marked with spectators skipping rows and keeping six feet of distance between groups. Bleachers and other surfaces would also have to be sanitized after each night’s performance, and other safety measures would also have to be followed.

County Judge John Howard said state and local officials would not be writing tickets or policing the rodeo, but he encouraged organizers to follow the state guidelines.

“Anything where you bring in a group of people who can’t social distance is opposite the spirit of the guidelines,” Howard said. “We’re basically on the honor system here, so how honorable do we want to be? We ask people to take responsibility for themselves; but if we host an event and invite people to it, the we have to bear some responsibility also.”

Howard and McAnear also both spoke to the Enterprise about possible liability issues, but McAnear said COEA deals with that risk every time it hosts a rodeo.

Regarding the COEA’s decision to wait until June 15, Howard said that trend is for the state to make things more open, but he said he doesn’t see the recommendation for social distancing going away.

Meanwhile, the Donley County Extension Office also had not reached a decision as of Tuesday morning about the 4-H sponsored craft fair held annually on the courthouse lawn. The Shriners’ barbecue has not been set at press time, as Al Morrah Shrine Club members continue to watch what happens with the craft fair.

The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, however, did vote in early May to proceed with the July 4 Herring Bank Parade, but entries have been slow coming in at this point.

Henson’s also has indicated they would proceed with the Turtle Race regardless of what other activities are held or not held.

Clarendon College is receiving $929,717 from the CARES Act for expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interim President Tex Buckhaults reported the funding to the Board of Regents during their regular meeting last Thursday.

CC has been approved for the funding in three parts, he said. The first is $442,844 for students, and CC has identified 362 students who are eligible for the funding. The college is working to contact all of those individuals so they can apply before the deadline at the end of this month. CC will then begin awarding the funds in the first two weeks of June.

The second part of funding is institutional, Buckhaults said, and totals $442,843. Of that CC has already tapped about $157,000 for dorm and meal plan refunds for the spring semester. The college also plans to use part of that funding for scheduling software to reduce the need for students to stand in line for registration and financial aid, improved wifi capabilities, an improved text messaging system, and other expenses.

The third part totals $44,030 and can be used for “strengthening the institution.” Buckhaults told the Enterprise that money has not been designated for a specific purpose yet.

The college’s financial aid office also applied for and received about $10,000 in emergency funding for students personally adversely affected by the pandemic. About 18 students have been identified by the college as eligible for that funding but those funds cannot be dispersed until the financial aid director receives proper training on the program by the state.

Clarendon Family Medical Center has reported no new cases of the COVID-19 viruses as of Tuesday morning this week.

CFMC says they have performed a total of 107 tests on local residents. All of those test results have been reported now with 87 negative for the virus and 20 positive cases, all of which have recovered.

Additionally, six cases have previously tested positive at facilities outside the county. The overall count of total positives in Donley County stands at 26.

Clarendon College Regents named Interim President Texas D. Buckhaults as the lone finalist for the college’s top job during their regular meeting last Thursday, May 21.

Board Chairman Tommy Waldrop said at the meeting that the college must now wait 21 days under state law before hiring Buckhaults officially as president. Waldrop said regents could meet in closed session next month to “hash out” any questions and details of a contract.

Buckhaults told the Enterprise the 21 days is considered a “cooling off” period by the state and allows time for community members and faculty to raise any questions or concerns about the appointment.

Regents originally named Buckhaults as “part time interim president” on November 27 and then met again on December 9 to name him the “full time interim president.”

According to a statement on the college website, Buckhaults has been with CC for 21 years and has served in the following positions: Vice President of Academic Affairs, Executive Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs, Vice President of Student Services, SACSCOC Accreditation Liaison, Director of Institutional Research and Title III, and various other positions.

Mr. Buckhaults holds a Master’s of Education from West Texas A&M University and a Bachelor’s of Science from West Texas State University.

The statement says the new president is expected to assume office July 1.

In other college business last week, Regents accepted a proposal for $16,975 for landscaping work on the Pampa campus to be reimbursed by the Clarendon College Pampa Foundation.

The board accepted the administration’s recommendation to renew nine-month and 12-month faculty rehires as follows: Nine-month positions – Candace Abrams, Dale Askew, Melvin Balogh, Edward Caraway, Bruno Castel, Tye Chesser, Joseph Davis, Russell Estlack, Scarlet Estlack, Kim Jeffrey, Kelly McDonough, Devin McIntosh, Ken McIntosh, Andy McLatchy, Mark James, Deb O’Neal, Linda Rowland, Laura Paul, Jeremy Sain, Robert Taylor, Johnny Treichel, and Frank Vance; and 12-month positions – Jay Anders, Missie Bradford, Ken Carlile, David Carr, Jana Coats, Sherrie Denham, Rodney Donahue, Alicia Hunter, Jamie Mears, Alyssa Oates, Mandy Poole Guerrero, Decee Surratt, and Tommie Ray.

In other personnel moves, the board ratified the hiring of Hunter Jenkins as the head men’s basketball coach and former Lady Bulldog Aleiyah Bantley as the assistant women’s basketball coach; accepted the resignations of Joseph Mulder, Isaac Fontenot-Amedee, and Pamela Hill; acknowledged the retirements of Charla Crump and Martha Smith; and let expire the contract of assistant women’s volleyball coach LaDerrianne Golden.

Among several items in his report to the board, Buckhaults updated the regents on the SACSCOC site visit, which has been postponed to June 23, and said the college currently has a projected fall occupancy in the dorm of 230 students at this point although recruitment is still ongoing. He said CC is watching Navarro College, which plans to reopen its dorms in July to see what safety measures they take amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clarendon College was exempted from state funding cuts last week when top Texas officials told agencies to find ways to slash spending.

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen last Wednesday sent a letter directing state agencies and institutions of higher education to each submit a plan identifying savings that will reduce respective general and general revenue related appropriations by five percent for the 2020-2021 biennium.

The letter specifically exempted the state’s 50 community colleges, which effectively preserved about $135,000 in state funds for Clarendon College, according to Interim President Tex Buckhaults.

“The state comptroller had previously said the budget was safe through December, but then we began hearing that we could see a cut between five and 25 percent,” Buckhaults told the Enterprise.

Officials at CC and other community colleges were relieved when the governor’s letter exempted them along with several other agencies.

In the letter, the state leaders also urge state agencies and institutions of higher education to pursue cost-saving strategies that will not affect the state’s response to COVID-19 such as forgoing capital expenditures that can be deferred, any avoidable travel expenditures, any administrative expenses that are not mission critical, and keeping unfilled any open positions that are not essential to Texas’ COVID-19 response.

“As Texans recover from this pandemic, it is incumbent that state government continues to maintain mission critical services without placing a greater burden on taxpayers,” reads the letter. “We are confident that Texas will get back to work and continue leading the nation in job growth, economic innovation, and business creation. However, it will take months until we know the true extent of the economic ramifications of COVID-19, and how combating this virus will impact state finances. To prepare for this economic shock, we must take action today to ensure that the state can continue providing the essential government services that Texans expect.”

Along with community colleges, the following agencies and functions were exempted from the budget tightening in light of the importance of the state’s response to COVID-19 and the continuity of critical government functions:

Appropriations to the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Military Department; and the Texas Department of Public Safety;

Funding for debt service requirements and bond authorizations;

Current law requirements for the Foundation School Program and school safety; Funding for Child Protective Services;

Benefits and eligibility levels in Medicaid programs, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the foster care program, the adoption subsidies program, the permanency care assistance program, and services for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities;

Funding for behavioral health service programs;

Appropriations for Correctional Security Operations and Correctional Managed Health Care at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice;

Appropriations to Health Related Institutions; and

Employer Contributions to the Teacher Retirement System and Employees Retirement System funds and to Social Security.

The sign-up period for Clarendon’s 15th annual “Trash To Treasures” garage sale event is underway through May 29 at 5 p.m.

A wide participation is expected again for this year’s sale, which is slated for Saturday, June 6. Garage sales in Hedley, Howardwick, and the surrounding area are also welcome to sign up for the big day.

Residents who wish to participate in this year’s “Trash To Treasures” are asked to come by the Enterprise before 5 p.m. on Friday, May 29, to sign up for the promotion.

For just $25, each household will get a 50-word advertisement in the Big-E Classifieds and the exclusive “Trash To Treasures” garage sale signs. In addition, the Enterprise will print a city map the week of the event indicating the location of each sale and will promote the citywide garage sale in area newspapers and with local radio ads.

For more information, call 874-2259 or come by the Enterprise.

One new positive case of COVID-19 has been reported in Donley County, according to Judge John Howard, MD.

Speaking Monday morning, Howard said the state had tested about 4,000 people in area meat packing plants with 1,111 positive cases reported afterward. One of those is a Donley County resident, Howard said.

Also on Monday, the judge said the Texas National Guard was in Clarendon to test more than 40 residents at the local nursing home as well as the staff at that facility. If any of those tests come back positive, the judge will be notified.

Meanwhile, the count of tests run on Donley County residents by the Clarendon Family Medical Center totaled 106 as of Monday. Three of those are pending, 20 have been positive, 83 have been negative. Six local people have now received a positive test outside the county, bringing the total local COVID cases to 26 with at least 21 of those having recovered.

On the state level, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Monday the start of Phase II in the reopening of the Texas economy. He said gyms, child care centers, and boys’ and girls’ clubs could re-open with safety guidelines effective May 18 and said that restaurants could expand to 50 percent capacity starting on Friday. Rodeos, professional sports, scouting, youth camps, and other activities can also resume this month.

However, due to the spiking numbers, largely in the Amarillo area meat packing industry, the following Panhandle counties would be delayed one week in moving to Phase II – Potter, Randall, Deaf Smith, and Moore.

“We must continue to place health and safety first and foremost,” Abbott said. “Be a good neighbor. Be a Texan.”
For more on the governor’s plan to reopen the economy, visit Gov.Texas.Gov/OpenTexas.