This Week

Community organizers met last Tuesday to begin making plans for the annual Saints’ Roost Celebration on July 4, 5, and 6.

For the first time in several years, the main activities will be held on July Fourth, which falls on Thursday this year. The Craft Fair, the Old Settlers Reunion, and the Parade will all be held on July Fourth.

Official word was not available at press time, but members of the Al Morrah Shrine said they would probably hold their annual barbecue the same day as the parade.

A change for this year calls for merging the kiddie parade back into the regular parade instead of holding it on a different day.

Details are still being worked out, but the plan calls for the kids to join the lead of the parade for approximately one block downtown then pull off to the side where they can watch the rest of the parade. This prevents Kearney Street from being blocked off for two days and hopefully will provide a larger crowd to see the kids on their bikes and tricycles.

On Friday, July 5, the Downtown Ministry Center will host a Depression Luncheon, and a stick horse rodeo is also being discussed for that day.

Henson’s annual Turtle Race will be held on the afternoon of Saturday, July 6.

The Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association is planning to hold a 30-man bull riding contest, a wild mare race, and a calf scramble on July 4th. The Ranch Rodeo will be held Friday and Saturday nights with dances to follow both nights.

Businesses in Clarendon and Hedley bucked the statewide trend in January and posted gains in sales, according to information from Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander.

The comptroller’s office Friday delivered $271.3 million in monthly sales tax payments to Texas cities, counties, transit departments, and special purpose taxing districts. Sales tax allocations to local governments are down 2.4 percent compared to the $278.2 million paid in March 2001. So far this year, local sales tax allocations are down 0.2 percent compared to the first three months of 2001.

But locally, the cities of Clarendon and Hedley saw significant increases in their sales tax rebates. Clarendon’s rebate grew more than 60 percent from $8,819.10 last year at this time to $14,112.46. Hedley’s sales tax rebate jumped from $35.70 in March 2001 to $285.93 this year.

March sales tax rebates include local sales taxes collected in January and reported to the Comptroller in February.

January sales pushed Clarendon’s year-to-date rebate total to $57,702.91, an increase of 3.73 percent. Hedley’s year-to-date total is down less than one percent.

Another local city did not enjoy increases this month. Howardwick’s rebate dropped 43.94 percent to $489.55 and is down nearly 26 percent for the year.

Statewide, Rylander sent March sales tax rebates of $181.9 million to 1,115 Texas cities, down 1.8 percent compared to March 2001.

 Donley County Commissioners enacted a county-wide burn ban during the court’s regular meeting Monday.

The ban prohibits the burning of trash, controlled burns, and open pit fires but does not include barbecue grills.

The ban will remain in effect until the court’s next session and may be extended if dry conditions continue. Violators will be prosecuted.

A Clarendon man was sentenced to 25 years in prison last Friday by District Judge David McCoy for assaulting a local woman last September.

According to the district attorney’s office, Stanley McCampbell was indicted by a Donley County Grand Jury for the first degree felony offense of Burglary of a Habitation with Intent to Commit Aggravated Assault. He entered a guilty plea as part of a plea agreement.

McCampbell was represented by defense attorney Rick Harris of Pampa. District Attorney Stuart Messer represented the State.

In another case last week, Judge McCoy found Bobby Dale Tyson of Wellington guilty of Indecency with a Child relating to a July 1998 offense. McCoy sentenced Tyson to eight years in prison as a result of plea negotiations between D.A. Messer and defense attorney Earl Griffin.

Messer’s office said the conviction was a result of cooperation between the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, Child Protective Services, and the Bridge – Children’s Advocacy Center of Amarillo.

“This case required the joint efforts of all those involved to be able to bring it to a conviction,” Messer said, “but mainly it took the courage of one young girl who, even though she was a victim of abuse, still had the courage to stand up for what was right.”

Messer also expressed his appreciation for the Clarendon Lions Club for the use of the Lions Hall.

“During the remodeling of the Donley County Courthouse, we have received wonderful cooperation from Clarendon College in allowing us to use their facilities; but when we had a scheduling conflict with the college, the Lions showed their willingness to serve the community by allowing their building to be used as a courtroom.”

Democratic and Republican voters will go to the polls next Tuesday, March 12, to select their candidates for November’s General Election ballot.

Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Some statewide positions are contested in the primaries, but no local candidates are opposed by members of their own parties.

Democratic voters may cast their ballots at the following locations: Precinct 101 – Knorpp Hall at Clarendon College, Precinct 102 – Martin Baptist Church, Precinct 103 – Howardwick City Hall, Precinct 201 – Donley County Courthouse Annex, Precinct 301 – Clarendon Community Center, Precinct 302 – Buster Shields Residence, Precinct 303 – Hedley Lions Den, Precinct 401 – Community Bank, and Precinct 402 – McClellan Residence.

Republican voters should vote at these polling places: Precincts 101 & 103 – Bairfield Activity Center at Clarendon College, Precinct 102 – First Baptist Church of Howardwick, Precinct 201 – St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall, Precinct 302 – Paymaster Gin, Precinct 303 – Hedley Fire Station, and Precincts 301, 401, & 402 – Burton Memorial Library.

Registered voters can check their voter registration cards to determine which box they should vote in.

Early voting by personal appearance for both parties continues through 5 p.m. on March 8 in the County Clerk’s office of the Courthouse Annex.

The following local candidates appear on the Democratic ballot and (I) indicates the incumbent: Zane Reese for United States Representative, Jack Hall (I) for County Judge, Fay Vargas (I) for District & County Clerk, Vicki L. Sloan for County Treasurer, Ann Kennedy (I) for Justice of the Peace in Precincts 3&4, Bobby G. “Bob” Trout (I) for Commissioner of Precinct 4, and Jean Taylor (I) for County Chairman.

The Republican ballot has these local candidates: Mac Thornberry (I) for United States Representative, Robert Duncan (I) for State Senator, Warren Chisum (I) for State Representative, Jimmy Thompson for County Judge, Vicki Knowles for District & County Clerk, Becky Jackson (I) for County Treasurer, Jimmy B. Johnson (I) for Justice of the Peace of Precincts 1&2, Donnie Hall (I) for Commissioner of Precinct 2, Wayne I. Riggs for Commissioner of Precinct 4, and Rogers Hester (I) for County Chairman.

Restoration of the Donley County Courthouse is still on track; and nearly all of the structural work is finished, according to Phoenix 1 project manager Stephen Dodge.

Phoenix’s schedule calls for the building to be completed in September. The company’s contract with the county calls for finishing in October.

Meeting last Friday with project architect Chris Hutson, grant administrator John Kiehl, and key contractors, Dodge reported that mechanical systems are still being installed in the courthouse basement, but most of the wood and steel framing is finished in the building. Also ice and water shielding has been installed on the roof.

Stripping of woodwork continues, but some areas are ready to begin finish work. A sample stain has been applied to a section of wainscoting in the main corridor.

The new mechanical room on the third floor should be ready to accommodate new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning equipment this week; and refinished windows and trim should begin returning this month.

Replacing and repairing exterior metal cornices should begin within six to eight weeks, Dodge said.

Brick and mortar colors are still being matched. Curved brick for the circular tower on the southeast corner will have to be special ordered. Officials are also investigating to see if the chemical which is intended for cleaning the existing bricks is safe to use on the sandstone elements of the building.

In other project news, county fundraising efforts have collected $15,959 from persons and businesses interested in helping the project. Donations of any size are greatly needed and appreciated and can be sent to the Donley County Courthouse Preservation Fund, PO Box 825, Clarendon, TX 79226.

A new locally made Terex S-17E was shipped to Las Vegas, Nev., Monday afternoon to be shown in the Conexpo-Con/Agg. show later this month.

“This is the largest machinery show anywhere,” said general manager Darrell Leffew of Clarendon Manufacturing & Distributing Co., which builds the large earth scraper in connection with Scotland-based Terex. “Nearly every manufacturer in the free world will be there.”

The conference is held every three years and showcases the latest in equipment for construction, aggregates, and ready-mixed concrete industries, according to Construction Equipment magazine. More than 2,300 exhibitors will occupy nearly two million square feet of exhibition space. The show is expected to draw 135,000 visitors.

The S-17E elevating scraper is built for heavy construction jobs and can move up to 17 cubic yards of dirt. The scraper loaded this week is the sixth S-17E that Clarendon Manufacturing has built since the fall of 2000, and many more will be produced soon. Two other units will be shipped to Phoenix, Arizona, this week.

“Two weeks ago, we got an order for 17 units for this calendar year,” said Clarendon’s operations director Stan Leffew.

Clarendon Manufacturing is already looking to hire skilled welders and is considering plans to expand its physical plant. Stan Leffew said the company may soon put on a second shift in order to meet the demand of the new order.

“So far, everything we have built has already been sold or leased.”

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander this month delivered $338.8 million in monthly sales tax payments to Texas cities and counties, a one percent increase compared to the $335.3 million paid in February 2001.

Local figures did not reflect the state trend. Clarendon’s rebate dropped 10.63 percent to $29,206.38, and Hedley’s rebate fell more than 27 percent to $663.57.  Howardwick saw its rebate slip less than one percent from the same period one year ago to $975.94.

February’s rebates include local sales taxes collected in December and reported to the Comptroller in January. The state’s share of sales tax collected during this period was $1.2 billion, down 1.4 percent.

By Carrie Helms, Clarendon Enterprise

Clarendon native Will Thompson has been hard at work for almost a year updating the computer systems at Clarendon College, a project that is nearing completion.

He joined the Clarendon College staff last summer, and his first task was to update the existing computers before bringing online 70 new desktop computers and 14 laptops purchased with grant money for use on both the Clarendon and Pampa campuses.

“This year we started up grading the RAM to 128 megabytes,” Thompson said. “Then we had to upgrade the operating systems to Windows NT/2000.”

The outdated software was replaced with Microsoft Office 2000 to complement the computer curriculum, and the web server at the Pampa Center was upgraded to enhance web-based training for online classes.

“We really wanted to get some Microsoft Certification courses for both the students and the community,” Thompson said.

In addition, Thompson updated the administration system for improved registration, student billing, and office accounting.

“We installed a fiber optic system from the RFO building to the Activity Center,” Thompson said, “and a wireless connection to the gym so all the coaches’ computers have access to the network.”

The wireless project proved a great success, and they hope to include the dorms in the future.

“We want to give students the opportunity to use their personal computers to connect to the Internet through the network,” Thompson said.

Thompson is well qualified for his new position.  He holds a degree in computer science and information systems from Panhandle State University and served as an officer in the army working in communications.

“After I got out of the Army,” Thompson said, “I worked for NASA for five years before joining a company in Houston.”

Thompson and his family became jaded with big city living and were looking for a quieter way of life.

“In a regular commute, it would take half an hour to get 10 miles,” Thompson said.

Though the necessary elements are almost completed, the technology update is far from over.  Future plans include overhead display projectors for classrooms and improved Internet connections on both campuses.

“This has been an important project for Clarendon College for several years, but it’s a big job that takes a lot of time,” Thompson said.  “There is still a lot of work to be done, but I’m determined to get it done soon.”