News

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.

Small nonfarm businesses in Donley and Hall counties along with 27 other Texas counties and neighboring counties in Oklahoma are now eligible to apply for low‑interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration
These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought in the following primary counties that began Sept. 17. The deadline to apply for economic injury is May 23, 2025.

Small nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.

For information call (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Jobless rates in the Texas Panhandle continue to be lower than the state average overall, but Donley and Hall counties continue to see higher rates.

August unemployment data shows Donley County’s jobless rate actually fell from 5.0 percent in July to 4.8 percent last month.

Seventy-one people were looking for work in Donley County compared to 74 in July, and the workforce decreased slightly from 1,469 in July to 1,465.

In Hall County, the unemployment rate went up from 5.4 percent in July to 5.9 percent for August. 65 people were looking for work out of a workforce of 1,105 compared to 60 unemployed people and a workforce of 1,046 in August.

Regionally, the Texas Panhandle labor market continues to demonstrate resilience, with unemployment rates remaining relatively low compared to the state and national averages. Amarillo MSA and the Panhandle Workforce Development Area (WDA) both experienced slight increases in unemployment rates in August 2024 compared to the previous year, but these rates remain below the state average.

The City of Amarillo experienced a slight increase in the unemployment rate in August 2024, rising to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent in the same month of the previous year.

The Panhandle WDA also saw a modest increase in the unemployment rate in August 2024, rising to 3.5 percent from 3.4 percent in the previous year. However, the WDA’s unemployment rate continues to be lower than the state average.

The state of Texas experienced a slight increase in its unemployment rate in August 2024, rising to 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent in the previous year. Workforce Solutions will be having a Red, White, and You job fair at 3120 Eddy in Amarillo on November 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The district court heard two pleas and one contested hearing when it met in Clarendon on Thursday, September 12.

District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the cases for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Dale Rabe presiding.
Jon Christian Walker, 28, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the third-degree felony offense of injury to a child.

Walker was originally placed on probation for the offense on February 1, 2024. On August 1, the State filed its motion requesting the Court to adjudicate Walker’s probation, alleging three violations of his conditions of probation, which Walker pleaded not true to. Walker was ordered to pay a $500 fine and $340 court costs.

Corey Mark Aragon, 35, was sentenced to four years in prison for the third-degree felony offense of evading arrest in a motor vehicle.

Aragon was originally placed on probation on September 19, 2017. On October 20, 2023, the State filed its motion requesting the Court to adjudicate Aragon’s probation, alleging six violations of his conditions of probation, which Aragon pleaded true to.

Aragon was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, $488 court costs, and $853.80 restitution.

Amanda Beth Burrow, 39, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the state jail felony offense of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Burrow was originally placed on probation on November 2, 2023. On March 11, the State filed its motion requesting the Court to adjudicate Burrow’s probation, alleging seven violations of her conditions of probation, which Burrow pleaded true to.

Burrow was ordered to pay a $500 fine and $290 court costs.

The 2024 Texas Panhandle Wildfires are the subject of a documentary coming to the Mulkey Theatre next Thursday, September 26.

“We’re Here” tells the story of Panhandle ranchers and the friends and neighbors who rallied to support them following the deadly fires last February.

Director Lee Wells loaded up a flatbed trailer with feed and a camera crew and headed to the Texas Panhandle on March 13, 2024. His aim was to provide support to ranchers and let them tell their personal accounts of the record-breaking wildfires.

After two long days and seven full-length interviews in three devastated counties, we had a story to tell,” Wells said. “We then went back two more times to gather more interviews and footage. Out of the fire and ash, we found resounding human resilience, determination, and a deep-rooted love for others. This story will inspire hope from despair, and a smile where deep sadness tries to depress.”

Tickets for the show are $10 each and can be purchased at the door or at MulkeyTheatre.com.

Clarendon’s sales tax revenues grew for September when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar delivered monthly allocations last week.

The city received $40,451.08 for the month, which is up 11.43 percent from $36,301.59 a year ago. Clarendon’s calendar year-to-date total is now up 3.02 percent at $381,086.62 compared to $369,879.32 at this point in 2023.

Hedley posted another positive month as well with sales tax revenues up 27.63 percent this month at $798.19 and is now up 20.52 percent for the year at $11,588.52.

Howardwick is up for the month by 1.85 percent at $1,920.58, but the lakeside city is still down 9.9 percent for the year-to-date at $14,954.59 after lowering its sales tax rate in last fall.
The tax news was not as good in neighboring communities.

Memphis was down 22.07 percent for the month at $29,722.10 and now down 8.59 percent for the year-to-date period at $292,230.05. Claude is down this month 44.38 percent at $18,991.11 and is down 9.10 percent for the year-to-date at $170,872.52.

Statewide, Hegar sent local governments $1.1 billion in local sales tax allocations for September, 6.3 percent more than in September 2023.

These allocations are based on sales made in July by businesses that report tax monthly.