News

Burglary and criminal mischief kept the Donley County Sheriff’s Department busy last week.

Over the Columbus Day weekend, someone stole a Chevy passenger van from Clarendon ISD and went on a joy ride.

Chief Deputy Butch Blackburn said the sheriff’s office received a report on October 10 of a school van abandoned in the drainage ditch behind Henson’s.  The keys were still in the vehicle.

CISD Superintendent Monty Hysinger said the van had been gassed up and left with the keys in it so some coaches could take it to Amarillo to get film. But the coaches ended up using their own vehicle, and the school officials didn’t miss the van until they showed up for work Tuesday, October 10.

Blackburn said vehicle tracks from the van match those that were found at the Clarendon Municipal Airport where runway lights and a steel building were damaged.

Several fingerprints were lifted from the van, he said.

Hysinger reports that no damage was done to the van, but he urges anyone who saw the Bronco van to call the authorities at 874-3533.

Also last Monday night, October 9, a different band of thieves reportedly broke into the Lelia Lake Post Office and made off with several money orders. The same bunch is believed to have broken into Reynolds Machine & Supply and taken cash and tools.

Blackburn said authorities might have gotten a break in the Lelia Lake cases as the suspects tried to cash the money orders at a Dallas post office. The suspects’ tag numbers were written down there, and they were caught on video tape.

Postal Inspectors and the Texas Rangers were planning to run a search warrant on the suspects last Friday, but Blackburn said he had not heard anything as of Monday morning.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander last week sent $212.5 million in local sales tax revenue to 1,106 Texas cities and 119 counties. October sales tax rebates are up 20.8 percent compared to October 1999.

Locally the news was mixed. Clarendon’s rebate fell by 14.71 percent for a total of $14,794.15. But Hedley and Howardwick both posted gains of 55.86 percent and 223 percent respectively. Those cities’ rebates were $159.12 and $1,044.84.

For the year to date, Clarendon is running 3.37 percent ahead while Hedley is 14.33 percent behind and 20.16 percent down.

October sales tax rebates represent sales taxes collected in August and reported to the Comptroller in September.

For more information, check out our web site at the comptroller’s website.

A 17-year-old Clarendon High School student was expelled and charged with a third degree felony last week for bringing a gun to school.

Chief Deputy Butch Blackburn says the Donley County Sheriff’s Department received a call from the school requesting a deputy last Tuesday afternoon, October 3. 

The gun had been found in the boy’s vehicle by school officials and Clarence Patterson of the Interquest Detection Canines, a dog service CISD uses to randomly search for narcotics and weapons, Blackburn said.

The boy was arrested for possession of a firearm on school property, and his .12 gauge Winchester shotgun was seized as evidence. He was released on $1,000 bond.

Blackburn said the student stated he had been hunting the day before and had come down with a stomach bug. He reportedly went home vomiting and was still not feeling well when he went to school the next day. The deputy said the boy thought he had taken the gun out of his car.

Dead dove and spent shotgun shells were also found in the student’s vehicle, Blackburn said.

“He usually cleans out his car every time he goes hunting,” the student’s mother said this week. “But he was just so sick he came straight in the house this time.”

Clarendon School Superintendent Monty Hysinger could not comment on the specifics of the student’s case but did confirm a gun had been found on campus.

In addition to narcotics, the trained dogs smell gunpowder residue, Hysinger said. When a dog alerts on a vehicle, the superintendent says the procedure is the dog’s trainer will notify the principal, who will get the student. The student is then asked to open the vehicle, and if the student will not give permission, law enforcement and parents are notified.

“You can’t overlook things that the law says you have to enforce,” Hysinger said.

Carrying firearms on school property violates local district policy as well as state and federal laws. Hysinger said the law also requires students found with weapons to be expelled. He could not comment on what disciplinary action the school took against the student.

The mother said her son was suspended for three days, and an expulsion hearing was held with the superintendent and CHS principal Larry Jeffers last Friday. At that time the student was given a form of expulsion called the Alternative Education Program (AEP) for four weeks. He has been banned from UIL activities and can’t come within 100 feet of the school, she said.

The student’s mother also said that they were told the boy’s case would be kept confidential but that by Thursday people knew about it in Wellington and Stinnett. She believes the school violated the confidentiality rule and said the boy did not give permission for his vehicle to be searched. The family has retained the services of an attorney, she said.

“It was just an innocent, innocent mistake,” the mother said. “It could happen to anybody. I just wish it was over.”

The boy’s parents have appealed to the CISD Board of Trustees. A special meeting has been called for this Friday, October 13, at 1:30 p.m. in the CISD Administration Building.

“I think he has been punished enough,” the mother said.

By Cheryl Johnson, Clarendon Enterprise

The community of Hedley is gearing up for its 49th Annual Cotton Festival October 13 and 14.

The Hedley Lioness Club will kick things off by hosting a chili supper on Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Lioness Club building.  Prices for the meal are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for kids age twelve and under.  The meal includes a bowl of chili, cornbread or crackers, iced tea, and your choice of homemade cobbler or cake.

The Lioness Club will also be selling chances on a beautiful hand quilted quilt.  You can purchase those from any club member at the chili supper.  The drawing will be on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m.

The Hedley Owl football game will also be held on Friday in Happy against the Cowboys.  Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Junior Class starts the activities on Saturday with a Kick-Off Breakfast, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Senior Citizens Building.  The class will also hold a mesquite barbecue meal from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Building.  They will sell homemade pies by the slice or whole during the meal.

Sign up for the Hedley Volunteer Fire Department Antique Tractor Show will be held from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the City Hall.  Judging will be held at 11:30 a.m.

The kids can enjoy quarter activities at the face painting, popcorn, tattoo, beanbag throw, and castle jumper booths from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

KEFH Radio in Clarendon will provide “oldies” music from the grand stand starting at 10 a.m. and continuing throughout the day.

The arts and crafts booths will open at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day on the east side of Main Street. 

The Senior Class will begin Bingo for 50 cents per card in the Lions Den from 10 a.m. until midnight along with a full concession stand with hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chips, nachos, Frito pie, homemade ice cream, soft drinks, and candy.  Special $5 bingo games for a Moore Knife ($65 value) made by the Moore Brothers of Matador and donated by Moffitt Hardware of Hedley will be held at 9 p.m. and a game for a quilt handcrafted by Mrs. O’Rear of Wellington will be held at 10 p.m.

The Sophomore and Freshman Classes will open the cakewalk, Kiddie Air Jumper, jail, and dunking board at 10 a.m. and will continue throughout the day.  The Sophomores will be selling caps, buttons, shirts, and War and Peace fish bowls.

The annual Kiddie Parade begins at 10:30 a.m.  Participants must be fifth grade and younger to participate.

The Grand Parade featuring Queen Holli White, Princess Katterinna Johnson, and queen and princess contestants will begin at 2:00 p.m.  Line up for the parade begins at 1 p.m. at the Hedley school parking lot.  Winners of the parade will be immediately announced and awards will be handed out.

The Queen Coronation will begin at 7 p.m. in the Hedley gym.  This year’s queen candidates are Breanne Chase, LaRae Shaw, LaCenda Funderburg, and Sealey Stevens.  The princess candidates are Alex Sharp, Brittney Netterville, Kirsten Moore, and Justine Moore.  The drawing for the bale of cotton will also be held during the coronation.

A dance hosted by the Hedley Volunteer Fire Department will be held at the Fire Hall from 9 p.m. at 1 a.m.

By Cheryl Johnson, Clarendon Enterprise

During National Fire Prevention Week, October 8-14, firefighters, fire prevention personnel, and teachers across the country will direct attention to the need for fire prevention in the home, on the job, and in fields and forest.

The Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department visited the classrooms at Clarendon Elementary on Wednesday teaching the children about fire safety.  On Thursday, members of the fire department will hold a demonstration with the Jaws of Life at the Clarendon School on the east parking lot after 9 a.m. 

The department will wrap up the week with an Open House at the Fire Station on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.  Refreshment will be served and fire truck rides will be given to the children attending.  The winners of the Fire Prevention Week poster contest will be presented with their awards at the Open House.

The annual fire safety observance commemorates the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, but Texans have only to look at the state’s record fire siege this year to appreciate the destruction wildfires can cause. 

The Texas Forest Service estimates that from January through September, 32,000 fires scorched an estimated 630,000 acres in Texas before being controlled by a combination of local, state, and federal firefighting personnel and equipment.

Texas mustered hundreds of local, state, and federal interagency personnel for fire prevention, mitigation, and suppression duties or threat of possibly devastating fire losses in the face of a record drought.  At the height of the fire siege, over 180 Texas counties had bans on outdoor burning in place.  The Texas Forest Service credits ban implementation with helping prevent additional wildfires and property losses.

“Fall normally brings an increase in fire danger, due to increased outdoor activity,” said Jim Blott, state wildland/urban interface coordinator with the Texas Forest Service in Conroe.  “When this increase in outdoor activity coincides with dangerously dry conditions, wildfires become increasingly likely and potentially more deadly.”

Blott suggested several fire safety precautions. 

County Commissioners extended the burn ban in Donley County on Monday.

The Donley County Commissioners’ Court accepted an environmental inspection report as part of the courthouse restoration project Monday morning.

Luis Acuña of Sun City Analytical, Inc., presented his firm’s findings and said asbestos and lead paint concentrations are low in the 1890 building.

Asbestos was found in the floor tile in five rooms and covers less than 1,500 sq. ft. A small amount of piping in a crawl space also is wrapped in asbestos.

Acuña said lead paint is mostly found on the metal ceilings of the building and can most effectively be dealt with by encapsulating it. In other words, the ceilings will just be painted over.

As expected, Acuña reported the bat infestation to be the biggest abatement challenge for the project. Contractors will use special vacuum devices to suck out as much of the guano as possible.

Most of the bats themselves are expected to migrate out of the building for the winter. Acuña has said previously that special netting will be used to interfere with the bats’ sonar and keep them out.

The bats, which Acuña identified as the Mexican Free Tail species, might take up residence under the bridges along the city’s main drainage ditch, he said.

The next step facing Donley County will be the development of an abatement plan by Acuña’s firm, which will become the basis for letting the bids for the abatement.

For more information on the restoration of the Donley County Courthouse, click here.

The local VFW post and its Ladies Auxiliary will sponsor a Meet the Candidates Night October 16, 2000, at 7 p.m. at the Bairfield Activity Center at Clarendon College.

As of press time, the VFW reported the following candidates as confirmed for the evening: Randall Sims, Stewart Messer, William “Bill” Holden, Wilma Lindley, Wanda Smith, Andy Wheatley, and Jimmy Swinney. Other local candidates were reportedly sent an invitation to the event but have not responded. VFW officials say all candidates are welcome at the event.

Joe Davis, general manager of KLSR Radio in Memphis, will moderate the forum. 

This event is free to the public, and refreshments will be served.

Clarendon Aldermen took on the topic of zoning ordinances and building permits when the board held its regular meeting last Tuesday, September 26.

The issue was raised because of some recent private improvements around town that have encroached on city rights of way. In a statement to the Enterprise, Alderman Smiley Johnson said the encroachments are a problem that can hinder city water and sewer projects and can be costly to the property owner.

Recently, a $248,034 waterworks project set for the west central part of town had to be scaled back partly because of private improvements in the city alleyway. Alleys are supposed to be 20 feet wide, but engineers found that private fences had been built in them.

A city ordinance, passed in 1952, restricts walls, structures, and buildings from being built, enlarged, altered, or repaired if the cost will exceed $25 until a plan for the changes are approved by the city. According to the law, plans must be submitted to the city and a building permit issued. The city will review the plans for property encroachments and other zoning items.

The building permit costs $1 for the first $1,000 of construction plus 25¢ for every additional $1,000. Failure to submit plans and secure a permit is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $10 to $100 for each day the violation is continued.

“Most people do not want others building on their property and likewise probably do not want to build on someone else’s property, including that of the city,” Johnson said. “The right of way may go years without any need for its use, and then one day it is needed.”

Johnson pointed to Second Street (US 287) where a storm drain was installed under the sidewalk last year in several blocks of right of way.

The board of aldermen urges all citizens to get a building permit before starting construction projects or installing prefabricated structures.

“In the long run it will help the city with improvements on rights of way adjacent to such areas,” Johnson said.

For more information regarding building permits, call City Hall at 874-3438.

In other city news, the city budget for 2000-2001 was reviewed and approved last week. An ordinance to collect delinquent taxes was tabled until the chief appraiser could visit the board. The law enforcement agreement with the Donley County was signed, and the Pampa landfill contract was approved.

The aldermen also expressed appreciation to Chris Knox who paid for drilling and placing a water well at the municipal airport. The well will benefit pilots and will be helpful in filling firefighting aircraft.

Temperatures may be dropping soon, but the extreme fire danger remains hot throughout the Texas Panhandle. Until the region receives significant rainfall, Texas Forest Service Assistant Chief Fire Coordinator Les Rogers says, “it’s just too dangerous to burn.”

A lack of rain coupled with a heavy fuel load of unseasonably dry grass and shrubs and harvested cornfields have left the Panhandle and its residents vulnerable as extreme fire danger continues to threaten the area. And as the season’s fronts begin to move through the region, fire officials are concerned about the lightning and gusty winds they often produce.

“Fires are burning quickly and intensely in this dry, heavy vegetation. And with gusting winds, fires, whether caused by lightning or humans, are quickly creating dangerous conditions for firefighters,” Rogers said. “I know we can’t stop lightning, but it’s critical for personal safety and that of firefighters that the public do what it can to prevent any accidental or human-caused fires.”

On September 19, a cigarette ignited a fire in Dallam County that consumed ten acres and threatened an affluent neighborhood, said Dalhart Fire Marshal Tom Morris.

The fire was burning through an open field that led up to the housing district. Fortunately for residents, Morris said, an alley separated the houses from burning field.

“The alley helped us stop the fire,” he said. “We were able to cut it off before it reached the houses.”

While Dallam County has seen an increase in fire activity, many regions of the Panhandle have not had the same problem, something Childress Fire Chief Steve Jones credits to the responsible actions of the public.

“People have been real careful,” Jones said. “But just because the temperatures are cooler, I don’t want people to think the danger is over.”

Rogers urges Panhandle residents to continue to keep up their guard and offers these tips: Light no open fires, including burn barrels and campfires; Comply with county burn bans; Extinguish cigarettes in vehicle ashtrays, not out the window or on the ground; Avoid driving or parking in tall grass where hot exhaust systems can ignite dry vegetation; When welding or using metal grinding equipment outside, select a clear area or wet down the work area and keep a fire extinguisher handy; Use caution when operating or repairing harvesting equipment.

A county burn ban continues to be in effect in Donley County. Commissioners will consider extending the ban when the court meets next Monday.

On Tuesday, October 10, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center, nationally recognized author and business consultant Don Taylor will speak to the general public on the subject of “Street Smart Financial Management.”  He will share tips on how small business owners can keep more of the money they make.

A year ago Donley County residents identified economic development as the top issue facing citizens of this county.  This is the third in a series of four seminars which Don Taylor has presented to assist citizens and business owners in creating a more profitable environment for themselves as well as their community.

Attendees will learn twelve financial “must knows;” constructing a well-built financial house; five financial tools that will keep you out of trouble; new methods for managing margins for greater income; understanding and calculating true costs of doing business; and what your banker really needs to see before saying “yes” to your loan request.

Recent research indicates that the typical business owner handles hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and yet most earn less than $50,000 annually.  To gain insight on what the top 10 percent do, join Mr. Taylor for strategies to achieve a bigger bottom line.

“Street Smart Financial Management” is sponsored by the Clarendon-Donley County Chamber of Commerce, Clarendon College, and the Texas Agricultural Extension Service of Donley County.  To reserve a space at the seminar or for more information, contact the Donley County Extension Service at 874-2141.