This Week

Speeders beware. The Donley County Sheriff’s Department will soon be watching you much closer.

The Commissioners’ Court approved a request by Sheriff Butch Blackburn to rent three radar guns for local officers during their regular meeting on Monday morning.

“I’m going to try to help pay our way,” Blackburn told commissioners.

The court agreed to rent two mounted radars and one handheld unit for $255.14 per month for three years from Stalker, a Plano, Texas, company.

The sheriff says the new radar units could pay for themselves with just three tickets being written per month. The department wrote 59 traffic tickets in December, and 18 have been written in February as of Monday. Only 36 were written in January, but Blackburn says weather conditions kept people slowed down that month.

The new sheriff says he doesn’t intend to turn his officers into “ticket cops,” but he does plan to step up enforcement.

“One day a week we’re going to be checking traffic in our school zones and on US 287,” he said.

Blackburn said patrolling on US 287 will be focused in Hedley, Lelia Lake, and Clarendon, the last of which has a contract with the department to provide police protection.

“[Clarendon] is paying us about $100,000 per year for police protection. We’re going to try to give them a little better traffic control for their money.”

Clarendon’s mayor and five city aldermen woke up Valentine’s Day morning to an unsightly surprise in their yards – wooden turkeys.

It’s the beginning of a contest to find Donley County’s King Turkey. The winner will be announced during the Turkey Strut Festival on April 21-22.

The mayor and aldermen must pay $5 to have the turkeys removed. For an additional $5, they can have the turkeys put in someone else’s yard. The first twelve turkey recipients will be the “dirty dozen” in a race for King Turkey.

Pictures of these 12 turkeys will be placed on money jars at Duckwall’s, and the winner will be the turkey who has the most money at the end of the contest.

During the contest, anyone can have a turkey put in someone’s yard for a birthday, anniversary, or gag gift for a $5 donation to the Tourism Council. Call Caroline Blackerby at the Burton Library at 874-3685 for your order and delivery.

Let the games begin.

A booming population and dwindling groundwater are issues facing Texans as they head into the 21st century.

That was the word from a panel of water experts gathered at the annual convention of the Panhandle Landowners Association in Amarillo Saturday to discuss the future of water rights.

Jack Hunt, CEO of the King Ranch, said the population of Texas will double by 2050 and the demand for water will go up accordingly. Water used for irrigation in Texas may go from 60 percent today to 40 percent or less by 2050, Hunt said.

Water plans called for by Senate Bill 1 are expected to cost $17 billion to implement, according to Hunt. Another $50 to $60 billion will be needed to renew water treatment facilities throughout the state.

“The general public is going to have to be better informed if we are to deal with these complex issues,” he said.

Paul Terrill, an Austin attorney, expects changes to the Rule of Capture in coming years that landowners need to be aware of.

The Rule of Capture stems from a 1904 state court decision, the East Case, which said that landowners own the water under their property. Terrill says the problem with the rule is that big cities can buy up water rights and drain the wells of neighboring landowners.

“The Rule of Capture, as it stands today, will not be around for long, and it’s important for rural landowners to be proactive,” he said. “The rule has served us well for 100 years, but these rights need to be defined so that they can be put down on paper, marketed, protected, and defended.”

Terrill suggested water rights might be based on a “historical use” method, on a pro rata method similar to oil and gas rights, or by a combination of the two.

The panel agreed that the best way for landowners to protect their interests was through local groundwater districts.

“We think the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District (PGCD) does a good job of protecting landowners,” said PGCD general manager C.E. Williams.

Seventy-six percent of the state’s groundwater pumpage is coverage by water districts, but Williams says the districts face making difficult and unpopular decisions in the coming years. Already, the PGCD hope to see 50 percent of the water in the ground in 1998 still there in 50 years.

That goal is easier said that done. Proposals are already on the drawing board to pipe ground water from Roberts County and other counties in the northern Panhandle to large urban areas.

Steve Stevens, a representative of Mesa Water, Inc., said that company has purchased water rights on 150,000 acres in the northern Panhandle. Mesa originally offered the water to the City of Amarillo and to the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, but both of those entities declined, Stevens said.

Now the cities of El Paso, San Antonio, and Dallas-Ft. Worth are interested in the water, he said, and if a pipeline is built to DFW, it would likely come through or near Clarendon.

The cost of 108” pipeline to El Paso would be $2.1 billion.

Williams said the PGCD is seeking fee authority for water leaving the district to look at and purchase recharge equipment and methods. Efforts to recharge the Edwards Aquifer down state have met with some success.

Another issue briefly discussed at Saturday’s meeting was the cloud seeding project being undertaken by the PGCD. Officials say they believe the project will increase rainfall over the district.

But opponents say the project could change weather patterns and cause the rain that might fall on their land to precipitate on someone else’s land.

The Panhandle Landowners Association has approximately 200 members. Clarendon’s Jack Craft is the incoming president of the group.

Sign ups start next Monday, February 19, for people wanting to run for local offices.

Six governments in Donley County have positions opening this year. Positions are elected at-large.

The City of Clarendon will elect a mayor and two aldermen. The two-year terms are currently being held by Mayor Tex Selvidge and Aldermen Bobbie Kidd (filling the late James Owens’ term) and Michael Tibbets (filling the term of Kent Womack.)

The City of Hedley has three aldermen seats open. Those positions are currently held by Bruce Howard, Shauna Monroe, and Jim Roberts.

Two positions are up on the Howardwick Board of Aldermen. Those are the seats held by Shirley Ariola and Mike Rowland (filling the term of Bob Hall.) Mayor Margaret Pettit’s term is also up this year.

Clarendon CISD will elect three members of the Board of Trustees to three-year terms. Jim Shelton, Reneé Betts, and Marvin Thompson currently hold those seats.

Three positions will also be filled on the Hedley School Board. The terms of Mike Wallendorff, Jan Farris, and Carole Ward are expiring.

The Donley County Hospital District will hold elections for three seats on the Board of Directors for two-year terms. The positions of Place 1 – Don Thornberry, Place 2 – Nelson Christie, and Place 3 – David Strange all expire this year.

Citizens can apply to run for these positions through March 21, 2001.

The Hedley High School Math/Science teams competed Saturday at Coronado High School in Lubbock in the “Hub of the Plains” UIL Invitational Meet involving 52 schools of all classifications.  Again, they were very successful in their competitions.

 The Number Sense team placed 3rd among 1A schools with Lauren Hill 2nd in class 1A and Dustin Knowles 4th.  The Math team was 2nd among 1A schools with Lauren Hill again placing 2nd and Lana Wallendorff 3rd.  The Calculator team was 3rd place among 1A competitors with Lauren Hill capturing first place and Samuel Howard 4th place; and in the freshman division Brittney Bennett and Treva Rowland placed 1st and 2nd.  The Science team was first place among all 1A and 2A teams, placing second in the small schools division (1A-3A) to Seminole.  Lana Wallendorff placed first among senior competitors and was the small schools chemistry champion.  Lisle Rowland and Lauren Hill were 2nd and 3rd among 1A contestants, and in the freshman division Lacey Wallendorff was first among small school competitors.

Hedley now sets its sights on District competition at Clarendon College after spring break.  They have a good chance to send a large contingent to the Regional UIL Meet at South Plains College in Levelland on April 20th.  Last year the Math, Number Sense, Calculator, and Science teams all won district championships, and the teams are anxious to see if they can defend their titles.

The Clarendon FFA Chapter will be trying to organize a local FFA Alumni Chapter. 

The purpose of the chapter will be to contact former FFA members and sign them up.  The membership dues will be $10.00, and the dues received will be used to create scholarships for local FFA member graduating seniors.

This will be a great way to reward deserving FFA members for all their work and accomplishments during their years of FFA membership.

The Alumni Chapter members will be invited to the annual Clarendon FFA Fish Fry, which is held in September.  Other meetings will be established during the year. 

A set of officers will be elected to help set up activities for the coming year and to set the qualifications needed for the scholarship applicants.

If you are interested in joining the Clarendon FFA Alumni Association and would be willing to help contact former FFA members, contact Mr. Edwards at Clarendon High School, 874-2076, or stop by the Clarendon Ag Building.

This will be a great way to get many former FFA members involved in activities that can be very rewarding for our local FFA members.

The Panhandle Livestock Association (PLA) will convene for their 86th annual convention at the Ambassador Hotel in Amarillo on February 10, 2001.

The PLA will host a panel of speakers to discuss the future of water rights in Texas.  The groundwater panel will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will continue until 11:30 a.m. 

The panelists include Jack Hunt, CEO of the King Ranch; Paul Terrill, partner of Hazen and Terrill attorneys in Austin; C.E. Williams, General Manager of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District; Charles Bowers, Chairman of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District; and Steve Stevens, a representative of Mesa Water, Inc.

This panel is an attempt to keep landowners abreast of these issues which profoundly effect the ability of landowners to produce food, fiber, and a living from their land.

A luncheon will follow this meeting, with the general meeting and director’s meeting of the PLA following the luncheon.

The evening festivities will begin at 6:30 with a prime-rib dinner to be served and United States Representative Mac Thornberry will be the evening speaker, giving insight into the new administration in Washington and how it will affect our livelihoods.

A dance beginning at 8 p.m. with the Tiny Lyn Band will round out the day’s interesting issues and festivities. 

For more information, contact Jim Haley at 806-323-8433 or Jack Craft at 806-874-3747.

Demand for utility assistance exceeds the $456,000 available funds in the Panhandle, according to a recent press release.

Panhandle Community Services Executive Director Johnny Raymond says he is concerned about the large increase in families seeking assistance in paying their gas bills.

“Because the numbers of families already on our waiting lists, it became evident our funds would be exhausted by the end of February if the entire bill was to be paid,” said  Raymond. 

“There was no way we could assist the numbers; therefore, a decision was made to pay for half of the current bill for those families meeting the 125 percent of the required poverty guideline.  The family will have to make arrangements to pay the other half of the bill.”

Local PCS offices have available limited funds including the office in Clarendon.

The first priority is to assure the utility will not be cut-off.  Most utility companies are willing to work with families with payment schedules.  After providing income documentation and a copy of the current gas bill, PCS staff will notify the gas company of the amount of assistance to be provided.

Raymond stressed the need for individuals to contact the nearest PCS Office and set up an appointment.  Staff members are working as fast as they can in meeting the demand for assistance. 

 Every effort is being made so the greatest number of families qualifying for assistance will receive some  benefit.

Anyone wishing to make a donation toward the utility assistance can make their check payable to Panhandle Community Services, PO Box 32150, Amarillo, Texas 79120 or take the check to the local PCS office in Clarendon.  PCS is a 501-(c) (3) Community Action Agency,  and donations are tax deductible.