News

The Clarendon College Stampede Rodeo starts this week with more than 800 contestants signing up for about 1,000 entries.

“This is about 100 more contestants than last time [in 2022],” Franks said. “It just keeps growing.”

The rodeo will run Thursday through Saturday, October 10-12, with nightly performances at 7:00. Slack runs and preliminary contests will be held each day, starting at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday with 133 contestants in Break-Away slack followed by 50 entries in team roping.

Franks said the rodeo will feature contestants from 16 colleges in the NIRA’s Southwest Region.

Cowboys and cowgirls competing in the Stampede are some of the best in college rodeo, and several will make their way to the national finals later this year.

There is no admission to attend any of the daily competitions or the nightly performances. All contests will be held in the indoor Matlock Arena at the Clarendon College Livestock & Equine Center. Concessions will be available, and Franks says at least two food trucks will be on site also.

Rodeo events will include bull riding, barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, and more.

Hedley school officials are hoping voters will approve a higher tax rate this November to help the district compete on faculty and staff salaries and keep up with maintenance and safety issues.

The Voter-Approved Tax Ratification Election (VATRE) will be held Tuesday, November 5, which is the same day as the presidential election. Early voting will be from October 21 to November 1.

Voters are being asked to approve a 12-cent increase in the school district’s ad valorem rate, which would bring it to $0.7892 per $100 valuation, and would bring in an additional $257,394 to the district.

“We don’t have the money to compete with other districts, and we’d like to give just a little more for salaries and stipends,” Superintendent Tracey Bell said. “We’d also like to put some back for maintenance and operations.”

The school just recently had to pay out of pocket for a new roof, Bell said, and officials want to be more competitive on salaries while addressing safety concerns as well.

Bell said the Region 16 Education Service Center first brought up the idea of a VATRE election in the spring and the school board spent several meetings considering the idea before moving forward. She said a presentation two weeks ago at the Hedley Lions Club received positive feedback.

“People see it as a way to keep the school going,” Bell said.
Homesteads valued at $100,000 or less are exempt from school property taxes. A 12-cent increase would raises the Hedley school taxes on a $200,000 homestead by $120 per year.

Bell said more information is available on the school’s website, https://www.hedleyisd.net/page/voter-approval-tax-ratification-election-vatre. A calculator on the site can help taxpayers figure what their added tax burden would be.

The school will hold a public meeting on Monday, October 21, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for the board and superintendent to answer any questions citizens may have.

The Clarendon City Council will be talking trash during its regular meeting this Thursday at 5:30.

The city and residents have been grappling with issues of Dumpsters not being picked up in a timely manner, and this week’s council agenda includes reviewing the city’s agreement with Waste Connections as well as consulting with an attorney on the matter.

Last week, City Administrator Brian Barboza posted a statement on the city website addressing citizens’ complaints of overflowing trash bins. Barboza said truck maintenance issues and new truck drivers who were unaware of some Dumpsters have led to delays. He encouraged residents to notify the company directly when their trash is not picked up by going online. Click the “Missed Pickup” tab at https://www.wasteconnections.com/contact-us/.

Barboza said the following is a schedule of when trash should be picked up: Monday, Downtown and College; Tuesday, Nursing Home and Greenbelt Lake; Wednesday, West Side Clarendon; Thursday, East Side Clarendon; and Friday, Businesses and North Side Clarendon.

“We apologize for the inconvenience the trash service has caused for our citizens,” Barboza said. “Please contact City Hall at 806-874-3438 if dumpster(s) have not been picked up in a timely manner.”

The 2024 Hedley Cotton Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12, with food, music, and fun for the whole family.

A chili supper at the Hedley Senior Citizens will kick things off Friday at 5 p.m. followed by music with Johnny Woodard in the Hedley Lions Den starting at 7:00.

Saturday’s activities start with all-day bingo starting at 9:00 at the senior citizens. A corn hole tournament will start at 10:00, the kiddie parade will be at 11 a.m. on Main Street followed by the big parade at 2:00 p.m.

Hedley ex-students will reunite at the school at 3:00, and drawings for several fundraisers will be held at 6:00 p.m.

The Mulkey Theatre will welcome back the Texas Comedies team to present “Bonnie & Clyde: A Musical Comedy” on Sunday, October 20, at 1:30 p.m.

In this irreverent new musical comedy about the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a man obsessed with Bonnie pursues the two gangsters relentlessly.

This “mostly true” one-hour show with a live band is based on postman-turned-deputy Ted Hinton’s memoir, as well as newspaper and crime magazine stories of the 1930s.

Tickets for “Bonnie & Clyde” are $15 each and are on sale now at MulkeyTheatre.com and at the Clarendon Visitor Center.

Tickets may also be purchased by calling 806-874-2421.

Texas Comedies performed last year at the Mulkey with another musical, “BOOMTOWN,” which was based on early-day Borger, Texas. Learn more at www.texascomedies.com

The Clarendon City Council voted to discontinue any further exploration of developing an independent municipal water supply during a called meeting last Thursday, September 26.

The city had spent several months looking into the possibility of creating its own water supply separate from the Greenbelt Water Authority, including having an engineering firm study the availability of groundwater in the city and negotiating a limited escape clause in its agreement with Greenbelt to allow Clarendon to breakaway from the five-city system it has be a part of since the 1960s.

City officials also consulted with a financial advisor about the idea and explored funding from USDA.

During Thursday’s meeting, City Administrator Brian Barboza said after reviewing the advice of the financial advisor and considering the city’s trouble with staffing, he did not recommend pursuing the project.

“My gut feeling is to not go this route because we’re good where we are with Greenbelt Water Authority,” Barboza said.

Alderman Ashlee Estlack said she had concerns about the financial impact of adding more salaries or higher salaries to the city budget to run a water supply.

“I don’t feel we’re in a position to take this on,” Estlack said. “This would be a 40-year debt. I’d rather be in partners with other cities.”

Estimates were that it would cost about $5 million to develop a water system, and that figure would become $8 million with interest over time. The city would trade off payments to Greenbelt for payments on debt to become independent, but officials did not believe there would be savings to justify the added burden.

Mayor Jacob Fangman said he did not see any savings in moving forward, and council members also worried that projected budgets were not accurately showing the added costs that would come with running a water system.

Alderman Mandy Smith also felt like the council should focus its energy on improving infrastructure in the city.

Alderman Eulaine McIntosh said she felt that continuing in the future it would be better to cooperate with neighboring cities for water although she had some misgivings about the original Greenbelt contract.

Greenbelt General Manager addressed some of McIntosh’s concerns, and Clarendon’s Greenbelt board representative, Cameron Word, also said he believes the Greenbelt system truly works for the betterment of all its member cities, which includes Clarendon, Hedley, Childress, Quanah, and Crowell.

Kidd said Greenbelt also has a payroll of about $600,000 and all but one of its employees lives in Clarendon. The other person lives at the lake.

While the Greenbelt Reservoir is suffering from drought and low water levels, Kidd said the lake had a 40-year lifespan. The water authority is also developing new groundwater sources with $18 million in funding from the Texas Water Development Board.

Estlack also reminded the council of what the Greenbelt system has done for Clarendon.

“We reap benefits that other member cities don’t,” she said. “We have the employees and the economic impact that has come from people going to the lake.”

Aldermen Tommy Hill and Terri Floyd also agreed with comments the other council members had made before the council voted unanimously to stop pursuing an independent water system.

In other city business, the council approved the budgets of the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and the hotel tax fund budget of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, with Estlack abstaining on each vote. The council also voted to change the deductible on the city’s insurance from $250 to $1,000 to save on the premium cost.