News

Clarendon High School has announced the top students for the Class of 2024 are Toby Leeper and Avery Halsey.

The top students will be recognized along with other graduating members of the class during commencement exercises at the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center at Clarendon College next Friday, May 24.

Toby Leeper is the class Valedictorian with a weighted grade point average of 6.16. He is the son of Timothy and Catrina Leeper. He has attended Clarendon CISD since his kindergarten year. He was named to the A Honor Roll with a 4.0 unweighted GPA for all four years of high school.

Toby qualified for Regional UIL in science, mathematics, and current events over all four years. He was a state academic alternate in science in his junior year along with earning the National Rural and Small Town Scholars award. Toby was a National Merit Commended Scholar and was a member of the National Honor Society. He was a co-founding member of the Babble-On Historical Society, among several other distinctions.

Toby plans to attend Texas State University as a Terry Scholar immediately following high school, where he will major in Aquatic Biology, aiming to achieve a postgraduate degree to work in the research field and volunteer for conservation efforts.

Avery Halsey is the Salutatorian with a weighted GPA of 6.01. She is the daughter of Matt and Stephanie Halsey and has attended Clarendon CISD all four years of high school. She has been involved in UIL Academics, qualifying for the regional meet all four years and attending the UIL State Academic Meet in copy and editing her junior and senior year.

Avery was also involved in the gifted and talented program, student council, and was a class representative all four years. She was inducted into NHS her sophomore year and served as president her senior year. She was involved in service projects such as Snack Pak 4 Kids, the Food Bank, Clarendon Senior Center, and the Shattered Dreams drunk driving awareness project.

She also has been a dancer at Lone Star Ballet for eight years and performed in over 15 productions with the ballet, along with teaching at Lone Star Dance Academy for two years.

She will be attending Texas Tech University as a biology major with a Pre-med concentration and minoring in dance.

The Clarendon City Council voted against a proposed “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” ordinance last Thursday, May 9, with aldermen saying the bill would come close to overstepping city authority and cause division in the community.

The vote was 3-0 with Aldermen Eulaine McIntosh, Tommy Hill, and Terri Floyd all voting against the proposed ordinance. Alderman John Lockhart was absent from Thursday’s meeting due to a work conflict, but he voiced his opposition to the ordinance when it was first presented last month.

The regular meeting, which was held at the Mulkey Theatre, was attended by about 80 people, many of whom were from out of town. Public comments lasted over an hour with 18 people speaking for the ordinance and 13 against it. Those in attendance were given the opportunity to register their opinion on the issue when they arrived with 39 in favor and 31 opposed.

Arena of Life Cowboy Church Pastor Bunk Skelton was among those in favor of the ordinance and said the issue was about life and the will of God and said he approached the subject from his role as the father of an aborted child.

Also speaking in favor was Mark Lee Dickson, the political activist who first sent the ordinance to the city. He said the ordinance would close loopholes in the Texas Heartbeat Act. He said the Odessa and Lubbock mayors support it and said Attorney General Ken Paxton approves of it and said those who reject the ordinance reject the Heartbeat Act.

Rev. Ken McIntosh of the First Christian Church was among those speaking against the sanctuary ordinance. McIntosh first spoke out against the measure at the city’s April meeting and said he was more opposed now. In a prepared statement given ahead of time to the city and the Enterprise, McIntosh wrote, “Passing the ordinance only further divides and damages our community.” He also wrote, “Most of what the ordinance contains is already Texas law.”

Sara SoRelle also spoke against the measure. “We live in a community where differences exist. This ordinance would split Clarendon in two.”

Once the item came up on the business agenda, Alderman Eulaine McIntosh spoke first and discussed the research that she and other city officials had done to learn more about the proposal.

“When we do this job we want to be fair and make informed decisions,” McIntosh said. “We know we won’t make everyone happy. This ordinance comes very close to overstepping the city’s authority. I think our best course would be to vote no.”

Alderman Tommy Hill said he has a job and his employers are the citizens and taxpayers of Clarendon.

“I am pro-life,” Hill said. “State law is already in place that makes abortion illegal in Texas. We have church people that can come together and help these young mothers. We don’t need an ordinance to tell us to do that. We were based on Christianity. I don’t think we need to adopt this ordinance.”

Alderman Terri Floyd said the last month had been really hard for her.

“When you first hear about it, you think, ‘Oh, yes. We need to protect the unborn,’ especially if you’re pro-life which I feel that I am,” Floyd said. “But the more you listen to both sides of the story, there’s more to it. I don’t like the idea of someone turning in their neighbor for driving their daughter across the state line. I prayed hard about it, and I had a lot of people pray with me, and I just feel in my soul that this is not the job of the city council. Maybe there’s a different option we can take that we don’t have to be so harsh about it.”

Following the public comments, Sheriff Butch Blackburn praised those in attendance for their behavior at the meeting.

“Everyone has been civil and respectful,” Blackburn said. “This is why we’re called Saints’ Roost.”

The council then proceeded through its regular agenda with most of the crowd leaving the theatre after the sanctuary bill was voted down on agenda item five.

The Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire in the 800 bock of Johns Street in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 2, and the property was a total loss.

Fire Chief Jeremy Powell said the department was dispatched at 4:43 a.m. and arrived on the scene within about six minutes to find the home of Terry Sims fully engulfed.

Sims had made it out of the house, and Powell said it was likely that the fire had been burning 15 or 20 minutes before the call went out. Fire fighters worked to keep the fire from spreading to other nearby structures.

CVFD responded with four trucks and 12 firefighters and had the blaze knocked down by 5:15. They remained on the scene until 7:30 a.m.

Powell said the house was burned so badly and so completely that the department was not able to determine a possible cause.

Red Cross personnel were contacted to help Mrs. Sims following the loss of her home.

Voters will head to the polls Saturday to decide three sales tax proposals and a Clarendon school bond issue, as well as determine who will serve on the Clarendon CISD board and the Hedley City Council.

Clarendon CISD voters will be deciding the fate of $11.7 million in bonds, which will be on the ballot in three questions. Proposition A will seek $1.8 million for safety and security upgrades and the school as well as two new buses. Proposition B would fund $6.9 million in improvements at Bronco Stadium including accessibility improvements, new home and visitor bleachers, a new press box, and $3.3 to 3.5 million for a new field house and to renovate restrooms and the concession stand. Proposition C would provide $3 million for a new vocational ag building.

Approval of all three bond propositions would raise the CCISD ad valorem tax rate by an estimated 32 cents per $100 valuation, and the term of the bonds would be 30 years. The current tax rate is about 83 cents per $100.

Clarendon CISD voters also have three people running for two positions on the Board of Trustees. Incumbent Wayne Hardin and challengers Ken McIntosh and Taylor Shelton.

CCISD Voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Donley County Courthouse Annex and at Howardwick City Hall for residents of that city.

Three ballots will be taken on the proposed creation of County Assistance Districts in the City of Howardwick, the City of Hedley, and in the unincorporated areas of the county for the purpose of raising funds to support the Donely County Sheriff’s Office.

If approved, the districts covering the cities of Howardwick and Hedley would raise sales taxes there by one cent, and the district covering rural Donley County would levy a two-cent sales tax. The new districts would be governed by the Commissioners Court.

County Assistance Districts Voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for rural residents at the Donley County Courthouse Annex, for Hedley residents at the First Baptist Church in Hedley, and for Howardwick residents at Howardwick City Hall.

Hedley city voters will also choose between incumbent Trisha Chambless and challenger Calvin Holland for mayor and will choose two of three candidates running for city council – incumbent Aaron Hanes and challengers Joe Pafume and John Pierce.

City of Hedley Voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Hedley.
For election results Saturday night, follow Facebook.com/TheEnterprise or check ClarendonLive.com,

Hedley ISD has announced the salutatorians and valedictorians for the Classes of 2024 and 2028 and set plans for high school and eighth grade graduations.

Eighth grade graduation will be at 10:00 a.m. in the HHS library on May 16 with the high school graduation being at 7:00 p.m. in the HHS library on May 16.

The Valedictorian for the Class of 2024 is Liam Branigan. Liam is the son of Shayne and Angela Branigan. He is graduating with a GPA of 97.28 or a 3.975 on a four-point GPA.

Liam has been an active member of Hedley’s extra-curricular programs while participating in football, UIL academics, track, and One Act Play.

Liam has received many honors during his four years as a Hedley Owl. He has been named to both A and A/B honor rolls and is a current member of National Honor Society. While in One Act Play, he received awards for Best Lighting and Sound Crew. He holds state records in the United State Powerlifting Association in the 13-18-year-old division.

Liam has been named to the Dean’s List at Clarendon College for his dual credit scores. Liam has also been chosen as a member of the Collegiate National Honor Society and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

His hobbies include enjoying time with friends, weight training, and running. Liam plans on attending WTAMU as an engineer major working toward a mechanical, civil, or electrical engineer degree. His future goals include becoming an engineer and discovering his purpose as a man as he makes progress toward becoming stable and self-sufficient.

The Salutatorian for the Class of 2024 is Ashlee Holmes. Ashlee is the granddaughter of Christie Carter. She has a GPA of 92.77 and an average of 3.781 on a four-point scale.

Ashlee has been active in extra-curricular activities while attending HHS. She has participated in basketball, track, cross country, cheerleading, UIL academics, and OAP.

Ashlee has been honored with being on the homecoming court and is a member of the A/B Honor roll.
Her hobbies include hanging out with friends. Liam plans on going to Clarendon College and then transferring to WTAMU where she plans on getting her Elementary Education degree.

The Valedictorian for the Class of 2028 is Sebastian Garcia. Sebastian is the son of Monecia Villarreal and holds a 94.88 GPA. Sebastian has participated in football, basketball, tennis, track, cross country, UIL academics, and OAP.

His hobbies include playing sports, spending time with family, and helping his grandfather on the ranch. Sebastian’s goals are becoming the high school valedictorian, striving to do better in sports, and gaining a sport scholarship to attend college.

The Salutatorian for the Class of 2028 is Cristina Ros Silvestre. She is the daughter of Basilio Ros and Manuela Silvestre. She has a GPA of 94.34.

Her school activities include FFA contests, OAP, UIL academics, tennis, basketball, and track. Cristina’s hobbies include drawing, photography, and baking. She plans on attending college to become an anesthesiologist and going to culinary school.