News

The Donley County Junior Livestock Show and Auction will be held this Saturday, January 10, at the Clarendon Community Center.

More than seventy young people will be exhibiting 113 animals in beef, sheep, goat, and swine divisions at 9:00 a.m. Projects will be judged by Randy Dunn, ag instructor from Pampa.

The day’s activities will conclude with the buyers’ supper and auction at 6:00 p.m.

During the year, these participants spend many hours feeding and caring for their animals, and the auction gives them an opportunity to be rewarded for their hard work.

Many participants will take their livestock on to major shows in Ft. Worth, San Antonio, and Houston.

If you would like to support the Junior Livestock Show and sale or need more information, contact Lon Adams at (806) 856-5323.

AMARILLO – AMA•TechTel Communications President Lehmer Dunn and Daniel Hudson, president of ARNet, Inc., have jointly announced the merger of their West Texas-based communications companies.

“We are excited about joining two major players in our industry to form one of the area’s largest locally-owned, integrated communications providers,” Dunn said. 

AMA•TechTel provides high-speed wireless Internet service to the communities of Clarendon, Hedley, and Howardwick and to most of the rural areas of Donley County.

The combined company will have a customer base of approximately 30,000 business and residential customers throughout the Panhandle, South Plains, and Permian Basin region. 

ARNet’s merger with AMA•TechTel gives customers the opportunity to take advantage of additional products and services such as local and long distance telephone service, high-speed wireless and DSL Internet access, telephone equipment, data networking solutions, and e-commerce. Customers choosing additional services will pay less for those services than they would if they used multiple providers.

“All customers of the company will experience the same quality service, competitive prices, and outstanding technical support they have come to expect,” stated Hudson.  “I am pleased to have the opportunity to bring the distinct advantages of each company to the loyal customers of both.”

“We are focused and committed to providing comprehensive communication services for many years to come for the residents and businesses of Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, and the surrounding areas,” said Sam Attebury, owner of the combined company. 

“We have been in the service business for 50 years with Attebury Grain; customer service is not new to us. We fully intend to exhibit the same longevity and dedication in the communications industry as we have in the grain industry,”  Attebury said.

Over the past 18 months, AMA•TechTel has successfully integrated through acquisition 1 Source Technologies (Amarillo-based ISP), Adobe Walls Internet (Amarillo-based ISP), and Master-E Networks (Amarillo-based network/cabling company). These acquisitions have added greater depth to an already well-established company. 

ARNet, one of the first Internet service companies in West Texas, was founded in 1995.  AMA Online was also established in 1995, offering Internet service in Amarillo and the Panhandle region and grew to national prominence as a major provider of fixed wireless Internet service. 

In 2003, Texas Tech University selected AMA•TechTel to design, build, and manage a wireless communications infrastructure backbone reaching from Amarillo to Lubbock to Hobbs, New Mexico.

In 2002, AMA•TechTel Communications was created with the merger of AMA Online and TechTel Communications. TechTel Communications, a Lubbock-based company, was one of the first Competitive Local Exchange Carriers to offer DSL connectivity along with local and long distance telephone service.

Dunn will remain president of the combined company; the management team will consist of individuals from both companies. ARNet and AMA•TechTel employees will join to provide continued service to Amarillo, Lubbock, and neighboring regions.

For more information, contact Leslie Rhodes at 806/722-2299 or lrhodes@amatechtel.com.

For information about AMA•TechTel’s high-speed wireless Internet service, contact the authorized local distributor, The Clarendon Enterprise, at 806/874-2259.

Christmas in Howardwick was a big success again this year beginning December 7 with the lighting of the Nativity scene at the park followed by caroling and cocoa at City Hall.

Sixty people listened as Dr. Genoa Goad reminded everyone of the reason for the season and watched as the lights were turned on.  Special recognition was given to Randy White of Greenbelt Electric for the new lighting system, to Doc Holliday, Bobby Murdock, Buster Baird, and Jim Cockerham for setting up the Nativity scene, and Nelda Grider for playing the keyboard for caroling.

The Christmas lighting contest was held December 11; and once again judges Shirley Osborn, Jean McAnear, and Jewell Judd worked hard to insure the best were recognized with the following results: Grand prize for overall lighting – Mr. and Mrs. Levi Harvey at 200 Chamberlain with the spectacular red and white creation as you drive into Howardwick: General lighting – (houses) first place, Ken and Carol Cardin, 135 Diane Dr; second place, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Elam, 100 Rick Husband Blvd; third place, Jeff and Lee Ann Cook, Ten Bears: General lighting – (mobile homes) Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Longan, 515 Tiffanie Dr; second place, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Brown, 339 Groper; third , Mr. and Mrs. Ron Hawkins, 310 Sailfish: Religious category (houses) – first, Wayne and Carla Carter, 233 Swanson St.; second, Roy Monroe; and third, Dean and Dorothy Arnold, 120 Diane Dr: Religious category (mobile home) – first, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Carter, 150 Arthur St;  and second, Tom and Ronda Jaramillo, 161 Rick Husband.

The Howardwick Beautification Club is happy to sponsor the Christmas events, but it would not be possible without the hard work of their members. The Club meets the second Tuesday of each month at 12:30 p.m. at City Hall.  Everyone is invited.

The Clarendon FFA Chapter will be holding their first Invitational Ag Mechanics Show on January 5, 2004.

Judging will start at 7 p.m., and winners will be announced after tabulations. Concessions will be available. This event will be held at the Clarendon ISD Agriscience Building.

This year, invitations have been extended to Hedley FFA and Wellington FFA, according to Clarendon’s ag instructor Robin Wheelus.

The public is invited to attend during the judging, and there will be a public viewing and silent auction on Sunday, January 11, from 2-4 p.m. Some of the projects will be up for auction on Sunday.

There will be five divisions and nine classes, and Wheelus is expecting approximately 12 or 14 projects this year.

The show will be a good opportunity to see how the students of Clarendon FFA and Hedley FFA are applying their skills. A note to bidders: some of the projects that will be up for auction will be showing at the San Antonio Livestock Show in February, so you might have to wait until February 23 to take delivery.

COLLEGE STATION – Beef markets will feel the repercussions of the United States’ suspected case of mad cow disease reported Tuesday, but consumers should feel confident the country’s beef supply is safe as surveillance efforts continue.

“The system is working,” said Dr. Ernie Davis, Texas Cooperative Extension livestock marketing economist. “They (animal health officials) caught that cow immediately. The turnaround time compared to the case in Canada was two to three weeks faster.”

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, widely known as “mad cow disease,” is a chronic, degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle. Worldwide there have been more than 180,000 cases since the disease was first diagnosed in 1986 in Great Britain.

Canada’s case was reported on May 21 – the first such reported case in that country in more than a decade. A cow in Alberta tested positive for the disease after tests were taken after slaughter.

As the beef industry has enjoyed some of the best prices in history, Davis said, the markets will feel the impact of Tuesday’s news, especially with many foreign countries halting U.S. beef imports.

“The United States exports 8 to 12 percent of its beef,” he said, noting that may sound like a small percentage, but that includes high-end cuts of beef that yield substantial returns. “When you look at Canada, beef demand was not hurt that much in that country when their case was first reported. We hope we will have that same type of reaction here. So yes, it’s going to affect the market, but a lot of it depends on the consumer.”

Agriculture ranks second in the overall Texas economy with beef cattle more than 50 percent of its annual cash receipts. The energy sector ranks first, while tourism is third.

Updated information about BSE is available from the US Department of Agriculture by calling 1-866-487-3226. Information is also available on the Web at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse.html.

Clarendon volunteer firefighters responded to a house fire on the Tolbert farm Sunday night, which left the contents of the house a complete loss.

According to Fire Chief Delbert Robertson, the firefighters got the call at about 7:00 p.m.

“Once we arrived at the house, it probably took less than an hour to extinguish the flames,” he said.

Clarendon Fire Marshall and volunteer firefighter Kelly Hill said that in about twenty minutes firefighters had the blaze under control.

The fire was at a house on the Tolbert farm located just past Martin at County Road 8 and Highway 287.

Robert and Barbara Tolbert were living in the house but were not home at the time of the blaze, according to a family member.

Due to heat and smoke damage, the contents of the house were probably a total loss, but structurally the house is ok, Robertson said. The loss was covered by insurance.

Hill said while there were not a lot of flames being generated by the fire, the heat was intense.

“There was a phone sitting up on a table that had just completely melted from the heat,” he said.

Robertson said the fire started while the family was in town eating dinner.

“We’re pretty sure the fire started when Christmas tree lights were left on a tree that was too dry.”

A GreenLight Gas official last week said he wants a Congressional investigation to be conducted following sharp increases in wholesale natural gas prices.

General Manager Brent Wheeler said local consumers could see a huge increase in their February billing, and he wants them to know that his company wants something done about it.

“No one should have to choose between heating and eating, but that’s exactly the choice that too many local customers face this winter,” Wheeler said.

GreenLight purchased wholesale gas in November for $4.51 per MCF (thousand cubic feet), but Wheeler says the company’s price soared after Thanksgiving and could cost them as much as $7 per MCF in January.

Wheeler says he wants everyone to contact their elected representative in Congress and urge them to take definitive action to investigate the increase.

“There is some talk that Congress might do an investigation,” he said. “They’ve been getting heat for the last two years but haven’t done anything.”

US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) could not be reached for comment due to the Christmas holidays.

“I don’t know that anyone has a good reason [for the increase],” Wheeler said. “It’s just inexcusable. The industry has full storage, and we don’t have real cold weather.”

Wheeler said the war in Iraq and increased usage to generate electricity have been offered as excuses for increased natural gas costs, but he said that doesn’t explain this latest increase.

“The vast majority of natural gas is produced in the United States,” he said, “and we’ve got more in storage than we did last year.”

Wheeler said this is the third year that prices have increased sharply. His company paid $1.74 per MCF in October 2001, which he calls an unusual low, and as much as $11.73 in March 2003.

Natural gas utilities are regulated by the state, but the wholesale natural gas market is unregulated and functions like a commodity. Wheeler compares it to the markets for cotton or soybeans and says it has the capability of taking big jumps or big declines.

GreenLight Gas is a not-for-profit natural gas provider and serves Clarendon, Hedley, Dodson, Estelline, Lakeview, Memphis, Paducah, and Wellington.

AUSTIN – Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn had good holiday news for state businesses when she released November sales tax figures last week.

“State sales tax revenue is up for the third month in a row,” Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said last week.

The news marks the first time since September 11, 2001, that state sales tax revenue have increased three months in a row.

November sales tax revenue is up 4.3 percent compared to November 2002, which is the largest growth since August 2001. The state received $1.36 billion in sales tax revenue in November.

“This is great news, considering the state had an historic, unfortunate first of two years of declining sales tax revenue in fiscal years 2002 and 2003,” Strayhorn said.

Locally, Clarendon’s sales tax revenue was up 11.37 percent for a total rebate of $18,734.74. Hedley received $343.95, which was down from $659.27 last December. Howardwick’s rebate was $835.67, a decline of more than two percent.

“Last December, the Grinch stole Christmas,” Strayhorn said. “We were seeing declining sales tax revenue at both the state and the local level, and tough economic times were also taking a toll on other revenue sources.

“This year, the Grinch isn’t going to steal Christmas. State sales tax revenue is up, and overall, local taxing entities will receive more sales tax this calendar year than they took in last calendar year.”

Local sales tax revenue is up for the sixth consecutive month, the Comptroller reported as she sent final sales tax allocations for calendar year 2003. Strayhorn sent local sales tax allocations totaling $306.6 million.

Strayhorn sent sales tax payments of $208.9 million to Texas cities, up 6.2 percent compared to December 2002. For calendar year 2003, city sales tax allocations are up 1.9 percent compared to 2002.

State sales tax revenue for November and December sales tax allocations to local governments represent sales made in October and reported to the Comptroller in November.

The Clarendon Broncos and Lady Broncos are gearing up to host the Greenbelt Holiday Shootout December 29-31 sponsored by the Greenbelt Water Authority.

Clarendon College will co-host the event and has donated the use of the Bulldog Gym. Games will also be held in the Bronco and Colt gyms

 The tournament will consist of 16 boys’ and 16 girls’ teams, which includes Clarendon and Hedley teams as well as teams as far away as Garland, Texas, and Grady, New Mexico.

Each team will be guaranteed three games, and some will get to play four games. There will be awards and trophies given to teams and individual players.  A three-point shooting contest will be held during the tournament with trophies going to the top boy and girl.

Boys’ and girls’ teams who have committed to participating in the tournament are: Clarendon, Wellington, Hart, Kress, Trinity Fellowship, Quanah, White Deer, Silverton, Hedley, West Texas, Valley, Highland Park, Adrian, Grady (New Mexico), Spearman, Panhandle, Alpha Charter (Garland), and Pampa Junior Varsity.

By Ashlee Kidd, Clarendon Enterprise

Motorists will soon no longer be seeing the Texaco star when stopping to get gas in Clarendon. 

Shell bought out Texaco two years ago and recently announced the conversion of its stations across the country.

The two stations in Clarendon were notified of the change by their Texaco gas distributors out of Amarillo.

“We buy our gas through Canadian Oil Company, and they told us ownership had broken up and that they would be converting to Shell,” said Paul Bivens, owner of the Texaco station at The Clarendon Outpost. “It just made sense that we make the change, too.”

Bivens said the change is slowly taking place.

“The signs are being ordered, and we anticipate that it will take place after the first of the year,” he said.

In order to make the change, some superficial changes will have to be made to both the Texaco station at The Clarendon Outpost at US 287 and Koogle Street and the Kidd Texaco station at US 287 and Jefferson Stret, which is a partnership between Doug Kidd and Bivens.

“Some paint and decals will be changed,” Bivens said. “Here at Outpost we will just be changing the awning and pumps, but at Kidd Texaco the whole exterior of the building will be changed.”

The pumps at both locations will be white baked enamel while the awnings will be yellow with red accents and the Shell logo. The building at Kidd Texaco will be repainted white, gray, and yellow.

Bivens said that the conversion should not affect customers other than the fact that their Texaco gas cards will be converted to Shell.

“I don’t foresee a rise in gas prices happening,” he said. “We will still be getting our gas from the same distributor. We will all just be under a different name.”

Bivens said the work will hopefully get started in January and be completed in mid February.

“I’m looking forward to getting this conversion over with so we can become whatever we’re going to be. For better or worse.”

The Outpost just finished replacing its underground storage tanks due to insurance regulations in order to meet the continued demand for gas.