This Week

By Leon Church, County Agent

The 2000 Donley County Crops Tour will be held on September 12.  This tour is sponsored by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in Donley County. 

Five Private Pesticide Applicator CEU’s will be offered in conjunction with this tour.

The tour will begin at 12:45 p.m. with registration at the Donley County Courthouse.  The tour will follow the following route; 1) Ted Shaller ranch, Mesquite and Juniper control; we will also discuss rotational grazing systems; Leon Church and Ted Shaller will lead this discussion; 2) Ronnie McAnear farm, Cotton Variety trial and Cotton Insect Situation, presented by Dr. Todd Baughman and Emory Boring; 3) Curtis Schaefer farm, Bind Weed Control on Peanuts and Peanut Varieties, Dr. Robert Lemon and Dr. Todd Baughman presenters; 4) Eddy Helms farm, Cotton Fertilization Trial, Lake Weed Control Trial, Peanut Diseases, Irrigation Monitoring.  Presenters will be Leon New, Dr. Todd Baughman, Dr. Chip Lee, and Leon Church.

Following the tour, a barbecue dinner will be served for the tour participants at the Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center.  The dinner is sponsored by Paymaster Gin, Donley County State Bank, Community Bank in Clarendon, Quail Peanuts, Evan’s Fertilizer, Herring National Bank, and Birdsong Peanuts.

Levon Harmon, Texas Department of Agriculture, will give a presentation during dinner on Laws and Regulations and Drift.

This event is a great opportunity for producers to obtain five CEU’s toward their required 15 during the five-year license period.  Many private applicator licenses will be up for renewal this year, so don’t wait until the last minute to get those CEU’s.

For more information, call Leon J. Church, County Extension Agent in Donley County at (806)874-2141.

An official with the Donley County Sheriff’s Department says whoever is messing with campaign signs will be prosecuted if they are caught.

Chief Deputy Butch Blackburn said Monday that anyone who steals any candidate’s sign will face theft charges.

Candidate for sheriff William Holden reportedly has had more than 30 campaign signs stolen from his yard and from the yards of his supporters.

Blackburn, who is also a candidate for sheriff and has had two signs tampered with, said he personally wants to see the mischief ended.

“I want them to stop,” he said. “It may have seemed fun to kids, but the fun is over.”

COLLEGE STATION – Drought conditions that have plagued farmers and ranchers throughout the year and continue across Texas have led to $595 million in agricultural losses, economists with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service reported recently.

Cotton, the No. 1 cash crop in Texas, has been hardest hit, with Extension economists estimating $285 million in crop losses.

“As we look at the Southern Plains from San Angelo, to Big Spring, Lamesa and on into the Snyder and Roscoe area, it’s just simply burning up,” said Dr. Carl Anderson, an Extension cotton marketing economist.  “If it continues on for another 30 days, half of the dryland crop will be lost, and you can add another 500,000 bales.”

Billy Warwick, an Extension agronomist based in San Angelo, reports, “As you come south (of Interstate 20), that cotton would be lucky to make 150 pounds of lint per acre.  An indication of lucky would be stretching it.  A lot of cotton is six inches tall with one boll on top.  That doesn’t contribute much to yield to say the least.”

Anderson said much of the irrigated areas in West Texas have been hampered by both drought and insect problems.

“Yields are a little less because of insect pressure, and the cost of insect control has been severe on many farmers,” he said.  “In many situations, farmers have been trying to save their crop from insects, and drought has been taking away from it as well.”

Other estimated agricultural losses so far this year include:

• Grain sorghum: $15 million.

• Wheat: $125 million.

• Added irrigation costs: $27 million.

• Wheat grazing: $11 million.

• Forage crops: $50 million.

• Other crops: $20 million.

• Added feed/water cost: $62 million.

 Meanwhile, drought has prevented much of the state’s beef producers from building herds in anticipation of stronger prices.  Dormant pastures continue to result in reduced body condition of livestock and are requiring supplemental feeding.  Hauling water to livestock and herd reduction continued to expand especially in drier areas.  Dr. Ernie Davis, an Extension beef economist, said this could intensify considerably in the next few weeks if dry conditions continue.

Hay production since mid-year has come to a virtual standstill.  Hay production lost to drought is projected at $50 million.  Rain is needed soon to replenish pastures and to achieve an additional cutting of hay prior to the first frost.  If this does not occur, ranchers will be facing another costly feeding cycle through the fall and winter this year, according to Extension beef specialists.

Meanwhile, the Texas cotton crop was planted on 6.3 million acres this spring, with many expecting above average yields.  Only the state’s earliest cotton acres were able to escape the devastating summer drought.

The lower Rio Grande Valley, the lower and upper coast region, and the Central Texas Blacklands produced an average crop that totals close to 1 million bales.

High temperatures of 100 degrees or more and a lack of rainfall have caused a substantial setback across 5 million acres of cotton planted in the Rolling Plains and Southern High Plains of West Texas.  With less than 2 million acres irrigated, the 3 million acres of dryland cotton in the region have suffered significant losses, Extension economists report.

An estimated 1 million acres had already been lost by the beginning of August, according to the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service.

In the Rolling Plains, 1 million acres of cotton stretching south from the Red River to near Abilene are expected to be less than half the usual 300 pounds of lint per acre.  Cotton losses in the Rolling Plains are expected to be at least 250,000 bales, valued at $75 million.

The Southern High Plains region stretching from San Angelo to Big Spring, Lubbock into New Mexico also has been hit hard by high temperatures.  A lack of sufficient rainfall last winter failed to build sub-soil moisture.  Losses in the Southern High Plains are estimated at 700,000 bales, valued at $210 million.  These estimates do not include likely losses in fiber quality, such as a shorter staple length, due to moisture stress.

Of the $285 million in cotton losses, Anderson said the economic impact felt by rural communities and agribusinesses could reach $600 million.

“Government payments will be very welcomed (by the cotton farmers),” Anderson said.  “We’ve been in continuous drought.  Most producers haven’t had time to catch up, and the market price last year was so weak.  The market is better now, but it’s not going to show much in the pockets of producers because of the way the loan deficiency payments work.  Any programs that might be added for disaster reasons would be welcomed.”

Drought conditions have hampered Texas agricultural production four out of the past five years.  The 1996 drought resulted in $2 billion in producer losses while the 1998 drought led to $2.1 billion in producer losses.  The 1999 drought resulted in $223 million in producer losses.

A reunion is planned for the Clarendon High School Classes of the 1950s on September 22-23.

Registration will be held Friday evening at the Bar H Dude Ranch. The group will attend homecoming activities that evening, take bus tours on Saturday, and attend the Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff on Saturday along with other activities.

For more information, call 874-2053 or 874-3811 immediately.

A tip from an off-duty state trooper led to a drug bust near Clarendon High School and the arrest of one young man last Friday night.

A group of young people reportedly seated themselves near off-duty DPS Trooper Chris Ward at the football field during Friday’s scrimmage. Ward could smell marijuana on the youth and called local law enforcement from the field, according to officials with the Donley County Sheriff’s Department.

 Deputy Bruce Berrell stopped a vehicle with five occupants near Fourth and Koogle streets shortly after 8 p.m. and said he could smell marijuana in the car.

After a discussion, the driver was read his rights and voluntarily produced the controlled substance from the vehicle’s center console, Burrell said.

Thomas Lynch Roach of Canyon, age 19, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute within a drug-free zone.

Roach was booked into the Donley County Jail and was later released on $5,000 bond. He has no prior criminal record, Burrell said.

The other four occupants of the vehicle were released to their parents with no charges pending.

“Our main objective is to make people aware that you can’t have this stuff around our school kids,” Burrell said.

Possessing a weapon, alcohol, or narcotics of any kind within 1,000 feet of school property is illegal, the deputy said. Possessing narcotics in the drug-free zone with intent to sell can be a third degree felony.

For reference, officials say one city block is about 300 feet.

The drug-free zone law applies to public schools, property leased or used by schools, and higher education campuses.

“If we can help one person stay off this stuff, we’ve accomplished something,” Burrell said. “I don’t think [these kids] realize what this stuff can do to them.”

Chief Deputy Butch Blackburn and DPS Trooper Chad Simpson also assisted with Friday’s bust.

The first Terex S-17E Elevating Scraper was unveiled here last week with high expectations that the new machine may give Donley County’s economy a lift.

 The prototype scraper, which can move up to 17 cubic yards of dirt, was built by Clarendon Manufacturing and Terex Equipment Ltd. of Motherwell, Scotland. The local firm plans to build two more scrapers this year and 20 next year.

Company officials say they are currently negotiating a three-year contract with Terex, and they predict as many as 70 new jobs will be created over the course of the contract.

“One year ago, almost to the day, all we had was a purchase order.  Today [we have] a scraper,” said Clarendon General Manager Darrell Leffew. “That’s short work – from design to machine in just 12 months.”

A crowd of an estimated 200 people were on hand for the unveiling last Friday at the Courthouse Square. State Sen. Tom Haywood (R-Wichita Falls) and US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) were featured speakers at the ceremony, and a representative from State Rep. Warren Chisum’s (R-Pampa) office was also present.

“I’m glad I got to be home on this exciting day,” Thornberry said.

People are continuing to leave rural areas, making it harder for state and national representatives to fight for rural and agricultural concerns, Thornberry said.

“The key to turning around this trend is creating jobs in rural areas.”

Thornberry said opportunities for jobs won’t come from Washington or Austin, but rather they will come from people like Darrell Leffew and from hard work.

Today’s global economy is nothing new for Clarendon, he said, noting past involvement from English and Scottish investors in the Texas Panhandle.

“Donley County has been in a global economy for a long time with its earliest ranches involved in partnerships with people in Great Britain.

“Today we can work together and be stronger than we would be separately.”

 
Darrell Leffew and J.E. Hancock look over the new Terex S-17E.

Enterprise Digital Photo.
 
Also present Friday was 95-year-old J.E. Hancock of Lubbock, who Clarendon’s operations director, Stan Leffew, called the “Father of the Elevating Scraper.” Hancock’s company designed and built elevating scrapers before selling out to Clark Equipment, which then built the machine for Terex for many years.

Darrell Leffew went to work for Hancock in 1962 and was employed by him for nearly ten years before founding Clarendon Manufacturing & Distributing Co., Inc.

To Hancock went the honor of the cutting the rope to unveil the S-17E as the crowd cheered and Harold Taylor of Friona played “Scotland the Brave” on the bagpipes in full Scottish attire.

Also speaking at Friday’s unveiling were Clarendon EDC President Trey Chamberlain and Clarendon Mayor Tex Selvidge.

Representing Terex were John Dudgeon of Terex Americas’ Tulsa office and Randall Orr from Houston.

Prior to Friday’s festivities, the S-17E underwent shake-down testing by moving approximately 10,000 cubic yards of dirt on the west edge of the Clarendon College campus. The newly leveled area is expected to be the future site for an equestrian and livestock center for the college.

The future holds more tests in store for the prototype over the next few weeks before Terex turns it over to a contractor for the an independent evaluation.

In the meantime, Stan Leffew says Clarendon Manufacturing will be ordering supplies this week for the next two scrapers, and the company is proceeding with plans to build a new plant.

Leffew said the company is in contract to buy property on north Hwy. 70 where the old drive-in theater is. The new facility would be 22,500 sq. ft. plus office space.

Clarendon Manufacturing currently has five employees in its shop, and Leffew said new workers will probably come from out of town.

“We’ll mostly likely be drawing on Clarendon College’s machinist program in Pampa and on Amarillo College’s welding program.”

All former Clarendon Bronchos (or Broncos if you prefer) are invited to an All-School Reunion during the homecoming weekend.

The reunion kicks off on Friday, September 22, with the pep rally at 2:30 p.m. in the Bronco Gym.  A Mexican pile-on supper will be held at the school cafeteria from 5 to 7 p.m., and supper tickets are available at the door for $5.50 each.

All the classes will meet in the Old Gym at 6:15 p.m. where they will walk to Broncho Stadium as a group. Tickets for the ball game are $3 each.  Following the homecoming game, there will be visiting and a dance at the Clarendon Community Center located on the rodeo grounds. The cost for the dance is $5 per person.

On Saturday, September 23, coffee and donuts will be served at JAMZ at 10 a.m.  Immediately following, the group will be taking a tour of the high school and the new gym.

Saturday evening, reunion goers can enjoy chicken fried steak at the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff at 5 p.m. at the Saints’ Roost Museum. Admission to the all-day event is free.  Tickets for the chuckwagon supper are $10 each and are going fast. They may be purchased in advance from Henson’s.

For those who don’t want chuckwagon cuisine, a steak dinner will be held at the Bar H Dude Ranch at 6 p.m.  Tickets for this dinner are also $10 each.  It is important to RSVP, especially if you plan on attending Saturday night.

The reunion will conclude with Cowboy Church at the museum at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Letters have gone out to several classes regarding the reunion; but if you know of anyone who has not received a letter or attended but didn’t graduate from CHS please pass this information on to them. 

For more information, contact Janie Finch at 806-874-2682, Pat White at 806-874-9908, or Reneé Betts at 806-874-3913.

Valor Telecom to begin offering local phone service September 1

IRVING – On September 1, 2000, Valor Telecom will assume operational control of over 325,000 local phone lines in areas of Texas currently served by Verizon (formerly GTE), including Clarendon and Hedley.

“Valor Telecom is proud to serve Texas,” said Anne K. Bingaman, chairman and chief executive officer of Valor Telecom.  “With our corporate headquarters located in Irving, and one of our customer service centers located in Texarkana, we look forward to bringing a strong and lasting business presence to all the communities we will serve.”

On September 1, all customer records and pending orders will transfer to Valor Telecom.  In the first 15 days of transfer, temporary systems will be used while transferred records and service orders are loaded into new automated systems and re-tested.  Current phone service will not be affected by the transition.

To handle new service orders and the backlog of pending orders, Valor Telecom has hired additional personnel, installed new systems, and worked closely with government and regulatory officials and community leaders to prepare for the transfer of lines.  During September and October, Valor Telecom may receive a high volume of calls, and customers may experience delays in placing new orders.  However, any delays will be temporary during this transition period.

With respect to customer billing, phone rates will not change, but the Valor Telecom phone bill has been reformatted.  Therefore, some of the charges and fees may appear in a different section.  Furthermore, the transfer of lines to Valor Telecom will not affect customers’ current long distance and Internet services.  Customers who have selected Verizon as their long distance and/or Internet provider will begin receiving a separate bill for those services.  Valor Telecom officials said that the company will soon offer long-distance service so that customers can have the convenience of receiving one bill for local and long distance services.

Valor Telecom is mailing information, including customer service and repair phone numbers, to its business and residential customers in Texas.  Beginning September 1, 2000, if customers have questions about their local phone service, they should all Valor Telecom toll-free at 1-877-520-5220.

Valor Telecom’s business presence in the state includes its corporate headquarters located in Irving, Texas, where it employs approximately 175, and two operating divisions. The company has also established a customer service and repair center in Texarkana, Texas, with approximately 125 employees.  In addition, Verizon employees in these Texas exchanges will become employees of Valor Telecom.

With the Texas access lien acquisition, Valor Telecom will own and operate 540,000 business and residential local access lines, making it one of the largest independent phone service providers in the United States based on access lines.  The company launched operations of 120,000 local access lines in Oklahoma July 1 and will begin operating 95,000 local access lines in New Mexico on September 1.

Valor Telecom is a privately held company with operating subsidiaries in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.  Valor Telecom owns and operates primarily rural local access lines in the Southwest United States.  Valor Telecom’s major investors include: Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, Vestar Capital, Citicorp Venture Capital, and a group of twelve Hispanic investors.  Valor Telecom’s corporate headquarters are located in Irving.

For more information, visit Valor’s website.

Donley County Sheriff Jimmy Thompson has issued a stern warning following a crank call to the home of a local dispatcher.

Dispatcher Cheryl Phillips received the phone call last Thursday, August 24, shortly before 11 p.m. from a woman who claimed her house was on fire and her child was burning.

“The woman was hysterical,” Phillips said. “She was screaming that the house was on fire that he was on fire. She kept saying, ‘He set him and the house on fire!’”

Phillips said she told the woman to call 911, but the woman said she had to get the child out of the fire.

The off duty dispatcher tried to get as much information as possible from the woman, then called the sheriff’s office.

“Several things didn’t add up, but you just never know,” she said.

Two deputies, one ambulance crew, and three units from the Clarendon Fire Department were dispatched to try and find the reported house fire. A unit from the Howardwick Fire Department and several volunteer paramedics also assisted in the search.

No fire was found, and the call was determined to be a hoax.

Sheriff Thompson said if caught the perpetrator will be responsible for all expenses of the county’s emergency personnel during the search. If that amount is more than $1,500, it will be a state jail offense.

A crank call also was received at the KEFH-FM radio station Thursday night, but it’s not known for sure whether the two are related.