News

Turnout is looking good for the upcoming election as 374 people had cast early ballots through Monday, according to the Donley County Clerk’s Office.

Early voting will continue through this Friday, November 3, in the Courthouse Annex.

The General Election will be held next Tuesday, November 7, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Polling places are as follows: Box 101 – Bairfield Activity Center – Clarendon College, Box 102 – Howardwick City Hall, Box 103 – Martin Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Box 201 – Clarendon Lions Club, Box 301 – Community Center – Rodeo Grounds, Box 302 – Paymaster Gin Office – Lelia Lake, Box 303 – Hedley Lions Club, Box 401 – Community Bank – Clarendon, Box 402 – Hess Home – Hwy. 273. Check your voter’s registration card to see which precinct box you vote in.

The clerk’s office will be posting results as they come in Tuesday night on tote boards located on the courthouse square, and the Enterprise will have complete results next week.

Sample ballots are in this week’s print edition.

A Clarendon High School student’s expulsion for bringing a gun to school ended this week, but questions still are being asked about the incident.

Four weeks ago, 17-year-old G.J. Martindale left his shotgun in his vehicle when he became sick after going dove hunting. The gun was sniffed out by drug dogs during a random search of the high school parking lot on October 3.

The school expelled the boy to an Alternative Education Program and reported the matter to the Donley County Sheriff’s Department.

The expulsion was upheld by the CISD Board of Trustees on October 13.

CISD Superintendent Monty Hysinger said some people are still wondering why the school called local law enforcement, but the school really had no choice.

“We just did what the law requires,” Hysinger said last week.

Federal law, Texas law through the state education code, and CISD policy all require law enforcement to be notified in this type of situation.

“We have to report any felony. Do people want us to determine which felonies to report? We want it to be a fair system.”

The only discretion the local administrators had was in the disciplinary action at the school.

Under the federal Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, the school is required to expel for a period of one year any student who is determined to have brought a firearm to school. The law does allow the superintendent to modify the length of expulsion from one year based on local circumstances.

The local student was expelled for four weeks – roughly eight percent of the one year maximum.

In a similar situation reported by the Associated Press, a student in Crescent, Oklahoma, was suspended for one full year when he left a .22 rifle in his pickup after going target shooting.

Recent articles in the Amarillo Daily News and the Dallas Morning News have said Donley County has been divided over the Martindale situation, but Hysinger doesn’t see it that way.

“I don’t think it’s divided the county,” he said. “It ought to bring us together because the people see we’re trying to protect the kids.”

The superintendent said a lot of people have thanked the school for the way the situation was handled.

The future of Martindale’s case will be decided November 13, said County Attorney Stewart Messer. That’s when a local Grand Jury will meet to determine if the boy should face criminal charges.

If the jury “no bills” the case, that will be the end of it, he said.

Clarendon Family Medical Center announced this week the addition of a new physician assistant to its staff.

Kim McMillan, PA-C, began work at the center last Thursday.

McMillan grew up in Crete, Nebraska, and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 1998. She attended physician assistant school at the Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center and graduated in June of this year.

McMillan and her husband Curt currently live in Amarillo but are looking at the possibility of moving to Clarendon.

Mr. McMillan is an engineer for Gilbert Construction.

“I’m very grateful and excited to have Kim here,” said Dr. John Howard.

Dr. Howard said he has been very gratified by the support of the community and encouraged by the growth of the local clinic since his arrival in January of 1999.

The clinic has been operating as an independent clinic – free from the Baptist/St. Anthony’s system – since January of this year, and the doctor is predicting a bright future for local medical services.

“I envision working with the hospital district to broaden the scope of services offered here,” he said.

He foresees the possibility of having visiting professionals providing optometrist and dental services as well as implementing telemedicine to provide 24-hour health care.

A new clinic for the community is another possibility that is still on the drawing board, Howard said.

TXU Electric & Gas and American Electric Power (AEP) jointly announce announced Tuesday a new 130-megawatt wind power project.

The contract establishes TXU Electric & Gas as one of the nation’s leaders in wind power purchasing with contracts to buy 361.5 megawatts from various wind power projects. In announcing this agreement, AEP distinguishes itself as a premier national developer of wind power projects with plans to continue adding to its portfolio.

AEP is the parent company of AEP-West Texas Utilities, which provides electricity to Clarendon and Hedley. TXU is a local provider of natural gas services.

TXU Electric & Gas will buy power produced by the 130-megawatt Trent Mesa Project in West Texas for at least ten years. AEP will develop, own, operate, and maintain the project.  AEP will also be involved in the project’s construction.  Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

AEP plans to begin construction of the 87 wind turbines in November on a West Texas site just south of Interstate 20 about 24 miles west of Abilene. AEP expects more than 515 million-kilowatt hours of electricity will be generated annually at the site, enough to supply about 30,000 homes for TXU Electric & Gas customers. TXU Electric & Gas customers should begin receiving energy from the project after its completion in August 2001.

The Trent Mesa Project is the fourth major wind power agreement reached by TXU Electric & Gas.  Including this agreement, TXU Electric & Gas has contracted to purchase more than 1.3 billion-kilowatt hours of renewable energy annually from several wind farms in West Texas. TXU Electric & Gas projects it will have enough wind capacity from these agreements to fuel approximately 75,000 homes.

“TXU Electric & Gas is a national leader in supporting wind power,” said Steve Philley, who directed this project while vice president of TXU Electric Energy Supply and is now chief executive of TXU Australia. 

“Under the Texas deregulation law, this places TXU Electric & Gas at almost twice the amount of renewable energy initially required under the new State of Texas legislative mandates.  The Trent Mesa Project is another indication of the clean air commitment of TXU Electric & Gas.

“We began our commitment to wind power in the early 1990s, sending out requests for proposals to develop wind farms.  In just a few months’ time, we have announced three major agreements that firmly establish wind power as a viable energy option, and we are pleased to add this agreement to our energy portfolio,” Philley said.

“We believe that wind power has become more commercially viable in today’s market. We see exciting opportunities in North America as natural gas prices continue to remain volatile. We are very pleased to work with TXU Electric & Gas on this project,” said Dwayne L. Hart, AEP Energy Services Vice President of Business Development and Strategy. “This project adds an exciting new opportunity to AEP’s generation development segment.”

AEP has established a special website for the Trent Mesa Project. The address of the site is http://www.trentmesa.com.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Department reported Friday that burglars involved with Columbus Day crimes in Lelia Lake have been arrested.

Chief Deputy Butch Blackburn said Brandy Machell Savers, age 24, and Cecil Ray Turner, age 26, were arrested by Postal Inspector Fermin Romo in Palestine, Texas, on October 13.

Savers and Turner confessed to the October 9 break in at the Lelia Lake Post Office where they stole several money orders, Blackburn said. The duo also broke into Reynolds Machine & Supply and stole cash and tools.

The couple also burglarized the Estelline Post Office the same night.

Blackburn said Savers and Turner tried to pass off the one of the stolen money orders in a Dallas post office, but the postal clerk recognized it as being stolen.

The clerk refused to take the money order, went to the parking lot, and wrote down the suspects’ license plate number. They were also captured on video tape.

Fermin recovered some money orders as well as tools taken from Reynolds’ store.

Blackburn said the couple is scheduled to be arraigned on federal charges in Amarillo this week. They will also face state charges for the break-in at Reynolds.

Turner has a long criminal history, Blackburn said.

Donley County Clerk Fay Vargas reports a recent article in the Amarillo newspaper has caused some confusion about voting a straight ticket in the General Election.

Voters can mark an X next to their favorite party to cast a vote for every candidate of that party. But if a voter then marks a vote for an individual candidate in another party, that vote would override the straight party vote for that particular race. In other words, you don’t get to vote twice in the same race.

Early voting began Monday and will continue in the Donley County Courthouse Annex until November 3, 2000. Vargas reports her office will be open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., including the noon hour.

The General Election will be November 7, 2000, and a sample ballot will be printed in next week’s Enterprise. Profiles of local candidates are being published this week on page 12.

The Clarendon School Board met in regular session October 17.

A bid to replace the doors on the Old Gym was accepted from a Childress firm in the amount of $11,378.

The board approved a motion to add girls softball as a UIL extracurricular sport. Athletic Director Roger Hoeltzel presented cost factors, and Coach Kathy Barton presented results of a survey to assess the level of interest in adding the sport.

Time management, conflicts with other sports, and transportation issues were discussed. Stan Shelton offered the support of the Little League.

Coach Keila Cruce reported on tennis issues. She was concerned about the conditions of the courts and said a lot of the work can be done by personnel and students.

The board expressed appreciation to the coaches for their efforts and also for their eagerness in getting softball started for the girls of CISD.

CHS Principal Larry Jeffers gave a report on Parental Consent Requirements. He is mailing a waiver out that parents can sign allowing their children to leave the campus. A policy will have to be adopted by January 1, 2001, and will go out with registration packets at the beginning of the next school year.

Hysinger reported on school alteration and cancellation procedures for bad weather. He also discussed spending Activity Fund Miscellaneous money on trophy cases and a grill/vent for the Bronco Gym.

MUNDAY – Hot, dry weather conditions this year favored two boll weevil eradication efforts under way on the Rolling Plains, said a Texas Agricultural Extension Service entomologist.

“There are two active boll weevil eradication programs on the Rolling Plains – the Rolling Plains central zone and the Rolling Plains northern zone,” said Emory Boring, Extension entomologist based at Texas A&M’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Vernon. “Next year will be a critical period in the central zone.

“Fewer insecticide applications will be made there, and remaining boll weevil infestations will be spotty. Most insecticide applications there will occur from mid-June through mid-July and from mid-August through September.

“But trapping to gauge weevil numbers will continue at the same pace as this year. By the end of 2001, the central zone will probably be pretty close to their eradication goal.”

Boll weevil numbers are low in the northern zone, which begins in Hardeman and Foard counties and stretches east through Wilbarger, Wichita, Archer and Clay counties, he noted.

“Most irrigated cotton in the northern zone is located in Hardeman and Wichita counties. This year’s drought helped raise weevil mortality there, and lower September treatment thresholds have pushed weevil numbers well below those in the western counties of this zone,” Boring said. “There is little boll weevil migration from the north or south into this zone – thanks to its isolation from weevil-infested counties further to the east, and eradication programs in Oklahoma and the Rolling Plains central zone.”

Boll weevil migration has been a problem on the western side of the northern zone – especially around Turkey, Texas, the entomologist said.

“Even so, the addition of about 56,000 acres of cotton below the Caprock in Motley, Dickens, Kent, Briscoe, Garza and Crosby counties should help curtail weevil migration,” Boring said. “Producers and landowners in these counties voted to become part of the Rolling Plains northern zone in May. Diapause control applications started on this acreage in early September.

“This additional acreage establishes a well-defined boundary, and better isolation, for the western part of the northern zone, and will help limit weevil migration into the northwest part of the central zone.”

Trapping will continue to be an important part of both zone’s eradication programs.

“Workers in both zones will again place boll weevil traps around fields, after producers establish the 2001 cotton crop,” Boring said. “If there are fields in your area without traps by the time cotton reaches the four-leaf stage, contact the eradication program work unit in your county.

“Trapping, and monitoring trap numbers, tells us when to make insecticide applications. It’s very important that these applications are made where over-wintered boll weevils are moving into young cotton. This keeps weevils from depositing eggs in squares that are ¼-inch and larger. If producers and landowners continue to work closely with their eradication zone, we can lessen the cost and time necessary to achieve eradication on the Rolling Plains.”

There are eight active boll weevil eradication zones (programs) in Texas, operated and governed by cooperative efforts between producers and the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation. In late September, the Southern Rolling Plains zone was the first to declare its counties (Coke, Coleman, Concho, Irion, Mason, McCulloch, Runnels, Schleicher, Tom Green, and southern Taylor) “weevil free.”

There are three active boll weevil eradication zones on the High Plains. Producers in two other High Plains zones will soon decide when, and at what cost, to “activate” their eradication programs.

The Texas Agricultural Extension Service estimates that boll weevils cost the state somewhere between $25 million to $50 million annually, before eradication programs were initiated.

Eradication programs in regional zones are first approved by producers, and are funded by a combination of farmer assessments and state monies.

More information on the boll weevil eradication effort under way in Texas is available by visiting the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation site ( http://www.txbollweevil.org).

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen considered contracting for a part-time city administrator during their  regular meeting October 10.

Gary Pitner of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission (PRPC) spoke about the possibility of the PRPC providing city management services to Clarendon.

Under the proposed agreement, the city would contract with the commission to have a PRPC employee serve as a part-time City Administrator for an estimated $32,539 per year.

Pitner said the PRPC already provides this service to the City of Bovina and two other Panhandle area communities. He listed several benefits and outlined proposed duties of the administrator. The Board of Aldermen would still set policy for the city and oversee the city administrator. The city administrator would oversee daily operations of the city including the areas of personnel and business and financial matters.

Pitner said PRPC Local Government Services Program Specialist Colby Waters would be the person he recommends for this position. Waters currently serves Bovina in addition to his PRPC responsibilities.

The board requested Waters and his supervisor, PRPC Local Government Services Director Jarrett Atkinson, to appear at the next possible board meeting. A special meeting may be called for the purpose of speaking to Waters and Atkinson.

In other city business, attorney Kevin Brennen spoke on behalf of the Donley County Appraisal District to answer questions regarding an ordinance to defray the costs of collecting delinquent taxes. The penalty required by the ordinance goes to offset the attorney costs involved. The board voted in favor of the ordinance, 3-1 (Smiley Johnson, Bobbie Kidd and Billy Jack Land, Yes. Michael Tibbets, No.)

Sara SoRelle asked the board if she could purchase 600 brick pavers to finish a project she had started. Alderman Johnson moved, seconded by Tibbets, to have Ms. SoRelle check with Lynn Floyd to see if he still had the bricks first; and if not, then the City might open up the sale of bricks with the understanding that they not used outside the city or for resale and with a 3,000 bricks per household limit. Motion failed, 2-3 (Johnson and Tibbets, Yes. Kidd, Land, and Stavenhagen, No.)

Dr. Guy Ellis and Gene Hommel spoke on behalf of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, which is working to promote wildlife observation in our county to increase tourism. They requested $400 from the Motel Bed Tax to purchase a banner to be hung over US 287. The board voted to do this.

The Clarendon Economic Development Corporation budget was presented and approved. The board also voted to accept the resignation of Jack Hall from the EDC board and to appoint Dr. Myles Shelton in his place.

The municipal judge contract with Jimmy Johnson was discussed. Alderman Tibbets voted to table the contract. Motion failed for lack of a second. The board voted 3-1 to approve the contract (Johnson, Kidd, and Land, Yes. Tibbets, No.)

The TxDOT building was discussed and was tabled.

The tower rental agreement for A-1 Communications was discussed. The board approved offering the company a five-year agreement of $1,680 per year.

The airport was discussed. A notice or letter will be written concerning the airport agreement.

The equipment policy was tabled, and department reports were given.