This Week

AUSTIN – Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander last week sent local governments their final sales tax rebates for 2000, including $191.5 million to Texas cities and $15.7 million to counties.

Local rebates were down for Donley County communities. Clarendon’s rebate was down nearly 32 percent from this time last year for a total of $15,391.43. Hedley was down more than 32 percent to $197.24, and Howardwick dropped 37.70 to $722.83.

December’s rebates bring total sales tax allocated to local taxing entities in 2000 to $3.8 billion, a new one-year record for local sales tax revenue and an increase of eight percent compared to $3.5 billion in sales tax allocations in 1999.

Though 2000 sales tax rebates are up eight percent overall, rebates to local taxing entities for the month of December are down compared to December 1999, when local governments received extraordinarily large sales tax rebates, as the comptroller streamlined the process and made a year-end push to return every available local sales tax dollar to communities throughout the state.

This year, because of the steps Comptroller Rylander took to speed the monthly processing of sales tax revenue, local governments received more of their share of sales tax dollars sooner.

For the year, Clarendon’s rebate is up slightly by 0.83 percent. Hedley and Howardwick are both down for the year by 15.58 and 18.11 percent respectively.

The comptroller’s next sales tax allocation is scheduled for Friday, January 12, 2001.

For more information, visit  the comptroller’s website.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) voted last week for legislation that will provide rural hospitals, nursing homes, home health care agencies, and other key providers with more than $35 billion in relief.

Thornberry said that the relief money is in response to the way the 1997 Balanced Budget Act was implemented.  It contained broad guidelines that agencies filled in with specific regulations. 

According to a press release, the regulations squeezed far more money out of payments to hospitals, home health care agencies, and other providers than was ever expected or intended. 

Efforts for relief were included earlier this year in legislation passed by the House of Representatives on October 26, but the Senate failed to act on the measure.

“I’m glad to see this bill pass,” Thornberry said.  “It got caught up earlier in election-year politics, but I’m glad we were able to put all that behind us and get this package approved. 

“While it’s not everything everybody wanted, it will be a boost for rural communities and something that should help a lot of hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers as we head into next year.”

The legislation, which was included as part of the FY 2001 Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, passed the House by a vote of 292 to 60. Thornberry noted that the bill is the culmination of what he and other members of the Rural Health Care Coalition have been working on for the past 12 months.  Thornberry is on the Steering Committee of the Rural Health Care Coalition.  He stated that today’s bill is intended to put more money back into the Medicare system for rural providers, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Among other things, the bill would:

• Strengthen Rural Hospitals – Provides equitable treatment for rural disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) caring for a disproportionate share of poor Medicare patients; makes wage index improvements for rural areas; updates target amounts for all sole community hospitals; and increases rural patients’ access to emergency and ambulance services and rural health clinics.  All hospitals will receive the full market basket update.

• Enhance Home Health Hospital Provisions – Protects funding for home health services by delaying a scheduled 15% cut in payments in addition to other payment increases.  Provides for full medical inflation update for home health.  Hospice provisions also improve funding for end-of-life care. The plan also enhances the use of telehealth medicine in delivery of home health care services.

• Increase Access to Care for Nursing Home Patients – Maintains access to therapy services, and reduces regulatory burdens by eliminating some parts of consolidated billing.  In addition, the plan increases the Federal per diem rate for SNF “market baskets.”

The bill will now be sent to the Senate for a vote and is expected to be signed into law by the president.

By Valerie Avery

BIG SPRING – Social obligations, activities, and daily chores can sap the strength many people need to make the marathon stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The compulsion to fill those four-plus weeks with events that we believe will recreate a Christmas of our past creates unnecessary stress.  Stress steals necessary resources we need to replenish our soul during this month-long journey and can trigger depression – a more serious illness.

But following a few guidelines, according to Gail Zilai, a licensed therapist and Big Spring State Hospital Director of the Activities Therapy Department, can alleviate the deafening emotions which accompany the holidays.

• Busy schedules don’t allow for adequate downtime. Remember to get the rest necessary to maintain the energy needed for shopping, cooking, traveling, and entertaining.

• Don’t sabotage your diet of healthy and nutritious foods. Rich, sugary food add pounds and play havoc with your digestive system.  In addition, the guilt of overeating fuels depression.  If you plan on attending a party, think ahead of time how you will handle the buffet line.

• Be aware that holidays trigger memories of enjoyable or traumatic times in your life.  These memories may make you feel lonely.  If you have no way of counteracting these memories; be aware that they are natural feelings, so if and when they occur, you won’t be caught off guard.

• Don’t overextend finances to fulfill everyone’s Christmas wish list.  Set a budget, and stick to it.  Involve your family in making homemade gifts and decorations this year.

• Avoid hosting a large get-together.  The party can be a heavy burden in addition to an already loaded schedule.  If a celebration can’t be avoided, enlist some help or plan a potluck supper.  Don’t be a martyr and carry the burden yourself.

• Accommodating visiting relatives or friends can be a real back-breaker when you’re already stressed.  Be up-front with houseguests about what you need to help your household run efficiently.

• Planning long-distance trips to visit friends or relatives may be difficult, especially for parents of young children.  Take along books, puzzles, and games to keep them entertained.  Try to be organized, and remember that it is better to get somewhere late than not to get there at all.

• When times become tense, play a CD or tape to lighten the mood. Sing out loud, sway to the music, and release some of that pent-up tension. 

The holiday will arrive and depart; how you handle this special time will make a difference in whether you enjoy yourself or make you and your loved ones miserable.

State Rep. Warren Chisum will be in Clarendon Friday, January 5, 2001, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the CHS Auditorium.

The state legislator has planned 24 town hall meetings in early January to hear from the voters and to provide an overview of what to expect from the Texas Legislature.

“State government works best when the public participates,” Chisum said. “I intend to spend more time listening than talking.”

Chisum typically files several bills based on concerns brought to his attention at town hall meetings.

“These informal get-togethers are probably the best time I can spend,” he said. “The best way to find out about a local issue is to hear about the issue from the people who have to deal with it. I hope everyone gets a chance to come and say what’s on their minds.”

The Texas Legislature, which is required by the Texas Constitution to meet for 140 days every odd-numbered year, will begin the 77th Legislative Session on Tuesday, January 9, 2001.

“Austin is pretty far from the Panhandle,” Chisum said. “I want to make sure people have the opportunity to tell their government what they expect right here at home.”

Chisum was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1988 and will report to Austin for his seventh term in 2001. He represents the 88th House District, which includes Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, Sherman, and Wheeler counties.

She didn’t know it until recently, but Opal Evans’ grandfather was a decorated veteran of the bloodiest war America has ever seen. Well, belatedly decorated anyway – his family didn’t receive his medal until 1998.

Evans’ grandfather, William H. Nessmith, was an early pioneer of Callahan County, Texas, moving there some time after the American Civil War to farm the land. Evans’ brother and sister were born right there Callahan County. She was born in Lubbock County and eventually came to live in Hedley.

Not much was known about Nessmith, however. Evans said no one talked about him much. His service in the War never really came up, and since he died in 1902, Evans never knew him personally.

“We just thought he was from Ohio,” Evans said.

But then a few years back, Evans’ daughter, Jamie Evans Buckner, started researching the family’s history, when she hit what any amateur genealogist might consider a gold mine.

It seems Nessmith was a private in Company F of the West Virginia Infantry from 1861 to 1865. Buckner found an Internet site which told her Nesssmith had even earned a medal, but it was never presented. In fact, it was still gathering dust in the vault of the West Virginia Capitol!

Buckner, who lives in Georgetown, Texas, went to work to claim the medal for her great-grandfather.

“We had to fill out a stack of paperwork this thick,” Evans said, holding her fingers about 1½ inches apart. “Then we had to wait six months to see if any other descendants tried to claim it.”

About a year and a half after Buckner first found the information on her computer and 132 years late, the State of West Virginia mailed the medal to the family in Texas – still in its original box. It was cast in 1866 and is inscribed with Nessmith’s name, rank, and company.

Evans had the medal framed with a short biography and a picture of her grandfather in what they think is his Civil War uniform.

“I was real excited about it,” Evans said.

Thanks to Buckner’s research, the family now knows a great deal about Nessmith’s life. He was born in 1842 in Washington, DC, and was buried on what used to be the Nessmith family farm near Cottonwood, Texas, in 1902. In those in between years, he served a long term in the Union Army, fighting to keep the States united.

How many friends did he see fall beside him during those four years in the war? Did he ever know about the award reserved for him? Or did he simply come to Texas to forget the bloodshed?

Those questions will probably never be answered. But his family can take pride in his finally being properly honored.

Mike Wallendorff was sworn in as the constable in Precincts 3 & 4 Tuesday morning by Donley County Judge Jack Hall.
 
Wallendorff was elected in the general election and was not scheduled to take office until January. He was sworn in early due to the November 1 resignation of Constable Pecos Hagler.

Wallendorff says he’s looking forward to serving the people of Donley County.

“I’d like to thank everyone for their votes and support,” he said.

The new constable will receive law enforcement training at South Plains College in Levelland next year from May to August.

He says he has some plans for the office but didn’t offer any specific objectives.

“There are just some things that need to be tended to that haven’t been tended to,” he said.

Wallendorff’s predecessor resigned to pursue another employment opportunity.

Meanwhile, Judge Hall said he has received a proposed budget from Jimmy Swinney, the constable-elect in Precincts 1 & 2. The proposal calls for $35,493.98 to be allocated for the office, which includes $17,146.95 for a salary.

Swinney was present at Monday’s meeting of the Commissioners’ Court but did not address the court, Hall said. The county took no action on the proposed budget.

The Precinct 1 & 2 constable’s position has been vacant for about 30 years prior to Swinney’s filing as a write-in candidate for the position. He was elected with 52 votes last month and will take office in January.

In other business, Judge Hall says TxDOT and the county are moving forward with plans to replace bridges on Skillet Creek and Carroll Creek.

A joint federal and state program will pay for the bridge replacements with the stipulation that the county spend matching funds on other road improvements in the county. Commissioner Bob Trout said the county has spent $27,500 on the Mulberry Creek bridge to provide the match.

December 31, 2000, has been set as the date to let bids for the Skillet Creek project, Hall said. The Carroll Creek project will be bid some time next year.

Clarendon CISD is pleased to announce that Monty Hysinger, Larry Jeffers, and Marvin Elam will be planning an educational trip to Washington, DC.  Students in grades 7-11 will be eligible to attend.

The group will be traveling to Washington for four days and three nights this coming May 30 through June 2.  School administrators are working with Lakeland Tours of Charlottesville, Virginia, in coordinating this exciting, once in a lifetime adventure.

Lakeland Tours is the nation’s leading student travel company with over 30 years of experience.  Each year Lakeland Tours provides educational tours to our nation’s capital for over 50,000 students.

The group will fly out of the Amarillo Airport early on the morning of May 30 and will begin their sightseeing immediately upon arrival in Washington.  The daylight hours will be very busy with visits to places such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, FBI Headquarters, Ford’s Theatre, the Petersen Home (where Abraham Lincoln died).  Other interesting sights will include the White House, the Supreme Court building, the United States Capital, the Library of Congress, Embassy Row, the National Cathedral,  the National Zoo, and a box lunch cruise of the Potomac to Mount Vernon.

One of the most moving and memorable sights the group will visit is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also referred to as The Wall.  This V-shaped memorial bears the names of the more than 58,000 Americans who gave their lives or are still unaccounted for in Vietnam.  The Wall is symbolically located between the Washington and Lincoln Memorials with each arm of the “V” pointing to one of these memorials.  The Wall is actually sunk into the ground to symbolize the wound that the Vietnam experience left on America.  Visitors to the memorial can look up the name of a loved one in special directories and obtain a “rubbing” of the name with pencil and paper.

Students’ evenings will be busy with a visually spectacular Night Tour of the area’s monuments and memorials, as well as organized social activities such as dancing, swimming, or just lounging with friends in the hotel room.  After four busy days and three fun, relaxing nights, the group will return to Clarendon with a lifetime’s worth of unforgettable memories.

Parents who wish to inquire about this opportunity for their children may contact Monty Hysinger at 874-2062, Larry Jeffers at 874-2181, or Marvin Elam at 874-3232.

VERNON – TXU Electric & Gas announced Tuesday that customers having difficulty paying their bills during winter’s toughest and coldest times can rest a little easier.

TXU will not disconnect gas customers on days when the previous day’s temperature was below 40°F and the National Weather Service predicts temperatures in that county will fall below that level the next 24 hours.

TXU Area Manager Doug Hill said his company remains committed to safeguarding the health and welfare of its customers.

“We want our customers to know that we value them, and we want them to be warm and safe this winter,” Hill said. “If a customer is worried that they will not be able to pay a bill, they should contact our office, and we’ll be glad to work with them on a deferred payment plan.

This new standard in helping customers will be implemented across the breadth of the TXU service area. Prior to this year, TXU (formerly Lone Star Gas) has not disconnected gas service for customers when temperatures were below 32°F.

The company is working with the Texas Railroad Commission and its recent ruling to ensure the health and welfare of Texas citizens with a potential colder-than-average winter on the horizon.

“We’re very proud of our history in working with our customers,” Hill said. “We have established innovative programs to help our financially strapped customers during the summer heat waves and winter weather watches.

“As always, we want our customers to know that we value them, and we want them to be healthy and happy during these sometimes trying times.”

TXU Electric & Gas customers needing more information on this program can call (800) 460-3030. The company delivers energy to 11 million customers primarily in Texas, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Austrailia.