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This Week

Michele Denise Harlan

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Michele Denise Harlan, 70, of Clarendon, passed away on Sunday, March 24, 2024, in Amarillo.

Memorial services will be held April 6, at the COEA Community Center – Clarendon Rodeo Grounds, come and go, from 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Michele Denise Harlan

Cremation and arrangements are under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Michele was born on January 22, 1954, in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Edward Bernard and Lillian Dorothy (Stadtmiller) Rivard. She grew up in Connecticut and Florida and later moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she lived for over 10 years. She married James R. Bruce on January 24, 1978, and they were married for 19 years before his passing in 1997. The couple had three children together. In the early 1990’s, the family moved to Clarendon where she has been a resident since. Michele later married H.W. Harlan on November 24, 2003, in Clarendon.

Michele enjoyed watching the Young & the Restless as well as westerns and black and white programs. Above all, Michele loved her grandbabies. Her 13 grandchildren were the light of her life.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Lillian Rivard; son, Michael B. Harlan; husband, James R. Bruce; and brother, Edward Rivard, Jr.

She is survived by her husband, H.W. Harlan of Clarendon; two sons, Christopher Bruce, Sr. and wife, April, of Amarillo, and Michael Roy Bruce and wife, Heather, of Clarendon; two daughters, Andrea Randall and husband, Steven, of Amarillo, and Lesley Lemons and husband, Brandon, of Amarillo; sister, Dale Messick of Tucson, Arizona; and 13 grandchildren, John Anthony Levario, Leslie Coxey, Melanie Brook Lemons, Christopher Bruce, Jr., Holden Coxey, Kaylee Bruce, James Lemons, Aiden Iler, Bayleigh Bruce, Ashden Iler, Brilynn Bruce, Casyn Bruce, and Braxton Bruce.

NNSA opens new Pantex Field Office

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The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has established a new field office to oversee operations at the Pantex Plant.

The NNSA Pantex Field Office (PFO) replaces the NNSA Production Office which was previously responsible for oversight of operations at Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Y-12 Field Office has also been established to oversee Y-12 operations. Both of the new NNSA field offices began operations on Tuesday, April 2.

PFO’s mission is to ensure safe, secure and cost-effective operations at Pantex, which is operated by Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) for NNSA. Pantex is a key facility in the US Nuclear Security Enterprise and is responsible for the final assembly, dismantlement, and maintenance of nuclear weapons.

CNS will continue to manage and operate both Y-12 and Pantex for NNSA until a new contractor is named for the Pantex Plant. The CNS contract to run Pantex currently extends through September 30, 2024. CNS’s contract to run Y-12 currently extends through September 30, 2025, with two 1-year option periods.

Jason Armstrong will serve as the Manager of the Pantex Field Office. He previously served as the NPO Pantex Manager and as the Manager of the NNSA Savannah River Field Office.

Sandy Silva

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Sandy Silva, 79, of Clarendon died Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Pampa.

Memorial services are to be held on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Robertson Funeral Directors Saints’ Roost Chapel in Clarendon with Chris Ford, officiating.

Sandy Silva

Cremation and arrangements are under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.

Sandy was born December 2, 1944, in Wenatchee, Washington to Herbert Irwin and Helen Whitehall Jewett. She married Louis Peter Silva on January 1, 1975. She was an animal lover, and enjoyed nature, camping, and in her younger years enjoyed the fishing and outdoors. Earlier in life, she worked for Sandia Laboratories and ran several antique businesses. She was a Godly woman and never was embarrassed to witness to others.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband on December 10, 2020.

She is survived by her son, Craig Silva and wife Chanel of Clarendon; and her grandchildren, Anthony and Lillianna.

In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials be sent to the Donley County Senior Citizens.
Sign the online guestbook at www.robertsonfuneral.com

CC kills personal property tax levy

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The Clarendon College District will no longer levy a tax on personal property in Donley County following action by the CC Board of Regents last Thursday.

CC President Tex Buckhaults said the board formally repealed the unpopular tax on automobiles, boats, and other personal property during its regular meeting on March 21.

“We feel like we’re financially sound enough to forgo that much disparaged tax,” Buckhaults said.

The repeal will mean the loss of about $58,000 in annual revenue for the college district, the president said, but he believes CC can manage without that income thanks in part to higher state funding coming from a new funding method approved by the Legislature last year.

The Donley Appraisal District said the regents’ move will become effective with the 2024 tax year, payments for which will start being collected this coming October. The personal property tax for CC is still applicable to 2023 and prior tax years.

Local governments still levying the personal property tax include Donley County, the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District, the City of Hedley, and Hedley Consolidated Independent School District.

The personal property tax has been used in “property poor” situations where appraised values are not high enough to otherwise generate enough ad valorem revune for some local governments.

In other college news, Buckhaults said the board of regents also approved a motion to reduce the dual credit tuition rate to $56.87 per hour, which he said is the state reimbursement rate and will make it cheaper for high school students taking classes for college credit through Clarendon College.

Hedley OAP advances to Bi-District

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HHS 2024 One Act Play Troupe. Enterprise Photo / Kari Lindsey

Hedley High School’s One Act Play troupe competed in the District 2 competition in Groom on Thursday and advanced to the bi-district competition.

Hedley competed against Claude, Groom, White Deer, and Silverton and performed “Kamikaze Kate,” written by John Summons.

All Star cast members were Kali Curry, playing the part of Kate, and Javier Valles playing the part of Captain Kurado. Shailyn Hanes earned Honorable Mention All Star Cast for Hedley for her role as the Mother. Also advancing were White Deer and Groom.

The cast and crew consist of Kali Curry, Kelli Love, Shailyn Hanes, Christina Silvestre, Malorie Collins, Kylynne Shelley, Sebastian Garcia, Ray Curry, Kyler Booth, Javier Valles, and Takoda Edwards. The play was directed by Diane Conatser and Patricia Valles.

Hedley will compete in bi-district competition on Thursday, March 28, at West Plains High School in Amarillo.

Lady Broncos earn post-season basketball honors

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By Sandy Anderberg

Lady Bronco basketball coach Korey Conkin reports several players have received recognition for their solid play on the basketball court this past season

Kenidee Hayes and Courtlyn Conkin who were standouts on the Lady Bronco team were both named to the All-District and All-Region teams.

They also excelled in the classroom as well and were named to the Academic All-District team.

Graci Smith was named to the All-District Team, and Tandie and Kennadie Cummins received All-District honorable mentions awards and chosen to the All-Academic team. Berkley Moore was named the 6th man Award for District 2-2A and in addition was named to the Academic All-District Team.

Kashlyn Conkin was named as the New Comer of the Year at the district level and was All-Academic at the district level. Presley Smith and Lexi Phillips were named to the All-Academic team, and Kate Shaw was an All-District Honorable Mention and named as an Academic All-District player. Shelby Christopher was named to the Academic All-District team along with Hayden Elam.

Congratulations to all of those recognized for these achievements.

Broncos score two big wins

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By Sandy Anderberg

The Bronco baseball team is currently 7-1-2 on the year as they continue their district season. Last week the Broncos had big wins over two district opponents.

On March 19, the Broncos scorched the Shamrock Irish in five innings winning 10-0. All the Bronco runs came in their first at bat. Senior Jared Musick was on the mound. He had 12 strikeouts and threw 49 strikes out of his 75 pitches.

The team had nine RBIs and nine stolen bases in the game. Fellow senior Harrison Howard connected for a fly ball to left field that scored Easton Frausto and Musick for a three-run homer late in the opening inning. It was a long inning as the Broncos went through their batting rotation one and a half times before Shamrock could tally three outs.

Frausto had two runs, one RBI and one stolen base, and Musick had two runs, one double, two RBIs, and one stolen base. Levi Gates was strong at the plate and had one hit, run, RBI, and stolen base while Bryce Williams had a stolen base.

Mason Allred had a big day with one hit, a run, one RBI, and two stolen bases. Hagood had a run and RBI, Grant Haynes had a hit and run, and stole two, and Mason Sims added a stolen base and a run.

The Broncos defeated Kress 12-0 there Saturday. Howard pitched four innings and posted one hit, three base on balls, and 10 strike outs. Howard threw 41 strikes out of his 63 pitches against 16 batters. Frausto came in for two-thirds of an inning and struck out two batters.

The Broncos scored two runs in the first and two in the third, before bringing the win home with four runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The team had 10 hits, eight RBIs, eight walks, and seven stolen bases in the win. Gates singled a line drive to right field to score Howard to open up the scoring in the first. Musick then scores on a wild pitch, and Allred singled to score Gates.

The Broncos were able to keep their bats going to score all 10 runs in the first inning of play.

Frausto finished with one hit, two runs, one stolen base, and Musick had two hits, three runs, and one RBI. Howard posted three runs and one stolen base, while Gates earned one run on three hits and had five RBIs and one stolen base. Bryce Williams walked four times and had one run, and Allred had one hit, one RBI, and one stolen base. Hagood had one hit, one RBI, and one stolen base, Haynes had one hit, one run, and two stolen bases, and Sims added one hit and one run.

CCISD to hold March 28 town hall on bond election

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Clarendon CISD announced Friday it will be holding a town hall meeting on Thursday, March 28, at 6:00 p.m. in the CHS Auditorium regarding the May 4 bond election.
The public is welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting.
CCISD Trustees approved asking voters for $11.7 million in bonds on February 14. The measure on the May 4 ballot will be in the form of three separate propositions, and voters can vote for or against any or all of them.
  • Proposition A will seek $1.8 million for safety and security upgrades and the school as well as two new buses.
  • Proposition B would fund $6.9 million in improvements at Bronco Stadium including accessibility improvements, new home and visitor bleachers, a new press box, and $3.3 to 3.5 million for a new field house, restrooms, and concession stand.
  • Proposition C would provide $3 million for a new vocational ag building.
Also last Friday, CCISD launched a website regarding the bond election. The website includes projected tax impact and an interactive tax calculator. People can search their appraised homestead value from the Donley County Appraisal District and plug their appraised value into the calculator. See the website here: www.clarendoncisdbond2024.com

Big activities ahead for Clarendon Saturday

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The Clarendon College Invitational Judging Contest will attract a huge crowd and likely double the population of the town on Saturday as the biggest of three events that day.

As of Tuesday, more than 2,460 contestants were registered for the judging contest. The number of registrations doesn’t include the hundreds of parents and coaches who accompany the students to the contest. According to the 2020 US Census, Clarendon has a population of less than 2,000 people.

Past contests have had huge impacts on the local economy. Restaurants are typically packed for the event, and this year will hopefully be equally successful.

Also, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department and Donley County EMS will hold their annual pancake breakfast and hamburger lunch at the Fire Hall again Saturday morning beginning at 7 a.m. with lunch starting at 11 a.m.

Also at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Pony Parents will hold their annual Community Egg Hunt on the Courthouse lawn. Hundreds of kids will be gathering up thousands of eggs at that event.

TxDOT to begin overlay project in Clarendon

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A $6.4 million overlay project is set to begin on US 287 in Clarendon on April 1.

The project will include all lanes in the city as well as the southbound lanes from Clarendon to the Armstrong County line. The contractor for the project is J Lee Milligan.

TxDOT spokesperson Ginger Wilson said the work in Clarendon will consist of grinding off the top surface of the asphalt and putting down a new finish.

Drivers can expect daily lane closures during the project and are reminded to use caution when traveling through the work zone. This includes reducing your speed, obeying all posted warnings, and avoiding all distractions. Fines double in work zones when workers are present.

Work in the town section is expected to take six weeks to complete, weather pending.

For more information, contact Ginger.Wilson@txdot.gov or (940) 937-7288.

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