Sunday drive
Local parties seek candidates for tax assessor
Both local political parties are looking for potential candidates interested in running for Donley County Tax Assessor / Collector after the lone candidate for the job withdrew.
Tammy Morrow, running as a Republican, had been the only candidate for the upcoming November election but withdrew from race for medical and personal reasons last month.
Filling Morrow’s spot on the ballot is the responsibility of Donley County Republican Party Chairman Bill Word; however, Morrow’s withdrawal also gives Donley County Democratic Chair Jean Taylor the opportunity to place a candidate for her party on the ballot as well.
The party chairs must name candidates by August 21, and Word has set a deadline of August 9 at 8 p.m. for expressions of interest from potential Republican candidates. Word can be reached at 806-277-0246.
Those interested in being a Democratic candidate for the office can call Taylor at 806-856-5961 or 806-677-4242.
The office is currently held by Linda Crump who plans to retire when her term expires at the end of this year.
Three new cases reported of COVID
Three new cases of COVID-19 were reported by local officials in Donley County this week.
All three cases were reported by the Clarendon Family Medical Center, and two cases at the clinic were still pending as the Enterprise went to press Tuesday.
The new confirmed cases bring Donley County’s total positives to 43 with 37 of those listed as recovered. Six cases remain active at this time, the clinic said.
Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott made announcements Monday as the state continues to deal with rising COVID-19 numbers. The governor extended early voting for this November’s General Election by six days. Early voting will now start on October 13 rather than October 19.
The governor also announced that the grade promotion requirement related to the STAAR test for students in fifth and eighth grades has been waived for the upcoming school year.
Morrow drops bid for county office
Tammy Morrow has withdrawn her candidacy for Donley County Tax Assessor/Collector, according to the local Republican Party.
County Party Chairman Bill Word said Monday that Morrow withdrew her candidacy earlier this month, and Morrow expressed her regret at stepping down.
“I would like to thank everyone for their support in the primaries. It is with deep regret that I am removing my name from the ballot for Tax Assessor/Collector due to medical and personal reasons,” Morrow said. “I have enjoyed working for Linda Crump and the people of Donley County and will continue to help Linda as much as possible until plans can be made.”
Crump currently holds the office but plans to retire when her term expires at the end of this year. Morrow filed for the office as a Republican and faced no opposition in the spring primary. As the Republican candidate, she also was facing no opposition in the upcoming general election in November.
County Judge John Howard said it is the responsibility of the County Republican Chairman to name a replacement for Morrow on the November ballot. Word says he is taking suggestions from Howard and the county commissioners.
“I want this to be seen as independent,” Word said. “The voters have vested trust in the commissioners and Judge Howard, so they should have some input in this case.”
Word says he has to name a new candidate no sooner than August 3 and no later than August 21 in order for that person to be on the November ballot as the Republican candidate.
USDA officials warn residents about ‘mystery seeds’
By Kay Ledbetter, AgriLife Extension
Texas residents are now among those across the nation receiving mysterious seeds delivered by mail in tiny bags marked as jewelry. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are on alert because these seeds are unsolicited and are arriving in packages with Chinese writing and a return address in China.
Kevin Ong, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist and director of the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station, said the concern arises because these packages have seeds in them instead of what is listed, and there is no information on what type of seeds they might be.
“We don’t know what kind of seeds they are,” Ong said. “Not knowing what the seeds are could potentially open our agriculture industry up to noxious weeds. If that proves to be the case, if they take hold, they could impact agriculture negatively.”
According to USDA-Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service, APHIS, the Plant Protection and Quarantine, PPQ, regulates the importation of plants and plant products under the authority of the Plant Protection Act. PPQ maintains its import program to safeguard U.S. agriculture and natural resources from the risks associated with the entry, establishment or spread of animal and plant pests and noxious weeds. These regulations prohibit or restrict the importation of living plants, plant parts and seeds for propagation.
“Seeds for planting can be produced all over the world and some you buy may come from other countries,” Ong said. “Companies that sell these seeds have the necessary permits. In this situation, the source is not readily known. What USDA wants to know is why are people getting these and are they noxious weeds.”
Do not simply discard these seeds as they can potentially germinate and escape into nature, Ong said. All cases should be reported to USDA and all packages should be kept secure until USDA gives further instructions.
All incidences of receipt of these unrequested seeds should be reported to USDA-APHIS by sending an email to Carol Motloch, USDA-APHIS’ Texas PPQ state operations coordinator, at carol.m.motloch@usda.gov. The email should include a contact email and phone number as well as a description of package information. Sending a photo of the label and material would also be helpful.
“First, if you didn’t order it, we don’t want anyone planting these seeds or even opening the packages,” said Larry Stein, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist, Uvalde. “It could be a scam, or it very well could be dangerous.”
“We recommend anyone receiving the seeds send an email to USDA and then wait to see if they are asked to send them in,” Stein said. “We would not advise throwing them away until more information is known because they might contaminate the landfill.”
To date, packages containing these mystery seeds have also been received in Washington, Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Louisiana and Arizona.
Advice from Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is that anyone receiving a foreign package containing seeds should not open it. Keep contents contained in their original sealed package.
“I am urging folks to take this matter seriously,” Miller said in a press release. “An invasive plant species might not sound threatening, but these small invaders could destroy Texas agriculture. TDA has been working closely with USDA to analyze these unknown seeds so we can protect Texas residents.”
An invasive species is an organism that is not native to a particular region. The introduction of this “alien species” can cause economic or environmental harm. In agriculture, an invasive species can destroy native crops, introduce disease to native plants and may be dangerous for livestock.
Deal would privatize city trash services
Clarendon city officials are working towards a deal that would privatize municipal sanitation services while preserving local jobs and saving money.
Mayor Sandy Skelton and Brandon Brown of Diversified Waste Management say the goal is to provide a transition so smooth that customers will not even realize there has been a change. That will be accomplished in large part, Brown says, by the city’s sanitation workers becoming employees of Diversified Waste.
“The employees here, you can’t replace them. Period,” Brown told the Enterprise. “I was so impressed by all of them. They all take great pride in their work.”
Earlier this year, the city learned that its transfer station – the area where trash trucks off-load their collections into a transport container – was not in compliance with state regulations for the transfer of refuse (i.e. common trash). The station is in compliance for handling construction and demolition material as well as recycling materials and yard waste.
City Administrator David Dockery investigated what it would take to upgrade the transfer station, and the estimated costs began mounting. According to the city’s engineer, the transfer station changes would cost $600,000 for design, construction, and permitting; and that was on top of the coming need for two new trash trucks in the near future and then a third trash truck within a few years.
Dockery said it soon became apparent that maintaining the city’s own trash collection service was going to require an infusion of cash approaching $900,000 to keep collecting trash and hauling it to the landfill in Memphis. And then there would still be the issue of the long-time supervisor Joe Neal Shadle’s expected retirement this fall and the loss of his experience.
It was then that Dockery reached out to Brown, who had been wanting to provide waste services to Clarendon for several years. The parties began negotiations, which are now coming to fruition.
“This is going to be a win-win for the community,” Brown said. “It’s a great blessing for us to have the opportunity to serve a community like this, and I hope it is for the city as well.”
Shadle is optimistic that the change will benefit the city and its residents.
“Of course, you’d like to see it stay local,” Shadle said, “But it’s going to cost the city quite a bit to stay in the business. Things have just gotten so darn expensive. You’re talking about $300,000 possibly or more for two new trucks.”
The city attorney is still finalizing the terms of the agreement, but both parties say Diversified Waste has agreed to several conditions. The company will purchase all of the city’s sanitation vehicles and equipment as well as the city’s Dumpsters; Diversified will retain all the city’s sanitation workers, other than Shadle, who is retiring, at their current or higher salaries; and Diversified will provide the service at a rate equal to or lower than what the city is currently paying. Diversified will also continue to service several grass and leaf Dumpsters that are also located around town.
“Our goal is to make it cheaper, but it won’t exceed the current rate,” Brown said.
Diversified is based in Amarillo and has more than 3,000 accounts, Brown said. Most of those are in housing developments outside Amarillo. Diversified’s only municipal account is with the City of Claude, but Brown hopes to change that by offering more services to the southeast Panhandle using Clarendon as a base.
“Our plan isn’t to eliminate jobs but to create jobs,” Brown said. “We want to expand and make Clarendon a hub. I want to provide incentives so that this is a place people will want to work.”
Shadle said Brown has talked to current sanitation employees about keeping benefits the same and also possibly raising salaries. He also said Brown was impressed by the city’s employees’ talents and how they work to save the city money.
“These guys can do a lot of work,” Shadle said. “They can do welding, fix Dumpsters, maintain the trucks. We’re getting ready to work on a transmission today. Brandon’s guys don’t do all that.”
Brown says he intends to be in a Clarendon a lot to learn from local workers how things are done here. That commitment also impressed Shadle, who was very interested in preserving his workers’ jobs.
“These guys are local and have families,” Shadle said. “Brandon seems like a good guy, and he’s got a place here. That means a lot.”
The city and Diversified are also working on a lease agreement that would allow the company to use the city’s facilities on Front Street as a base while two part-time city employees will continue to operate recycling services there. Collection of recycling Dumpsters would by subcontracted to Diversified.
Mayor Skelton said Claude officials have nothing but praise for Diversified Waste, and Brown says he intend to bring that same service to Clarendon.
“We’ve had no rate increase in Claude in three years,” he said. “It’s gotten to be a positive thing for both of us.”
Diversified is already working in Donley County, providing the trash haul-off service at the county dump, and Judge John Howard says the county has been satisfied with its dealings with the company.
Brown has a weekend home in Donley County and says his family has enjoyed the Fourth of July here for a long time. He also said due to his company’s working relationship with the county, Diversified has provided the portable toilets for the Saints’ Roost Celebration on the courthouse square for several years at no charge.
“We want to get very involved in the community through annual clean-ups and other ways,” Brown said. “In Claude we sponsor a big meal for the 4-H, and we’ve done happy hours at the tea place and the snow cone place, and we’re planning one at the ice cream place there.”
City officials say they hope to have a contract in place with Diversified by October 1 for the start of the new fiscal year.
“We’re going to make mistakes, but we’ll do everything we can to make it right,” Brown said, emphasizing that the trash trucks will still be driven by the same local employees everyone has come to know. “I think the only change people will see is that some Dumpsters may get replaced.”
Enterprise wins top PPA award
The Clarendon Enterprise received nine first place plaques on its way to earning the General Excellence award during the 110th annual Panhandle Press Association meeting in Amarillo last Friday, July 24.
The convention was originally scheduled for March in Perryton but was simplified and rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Competing in Division One for weekly newspapers, the Enterprise earned first place honors for Editorials on the subjects of open government the need for integrity on Clarendon College board. The paper also received first place awards for Best Human Interest Photos by Roger Estlack and Anndria Newhouse, Best Headline Writing, Best Spot News Photos by Roger Estlack and Dusty Green, Best Humorous Columns by Ben Estlack, Best Feature Stories by Roger Estlack, Best Special Section, Best Serious Columns by Roger Estlack, and Best Website.
The Enterprise won second place honors for Best Sports Writing by Sandy Anderberg and Roger Estlack, Best News Writing, Best Sports Photos by Elaina Estlack and Roger Estlack, and Best Society & Lifestyles.
Ben Estlack also picked up third place for Best Serious Columns, and the Enterprise placed third in Front Page Layouts.
The Enterprise’s coverage of the Clarendon College board earned it the Ken Towery Community Service Award for 2019.
Former Quanah publisher, the late Harry Koch, and former Borger and Pampa reporter, the late Nancy Young, were inducted into the PPA Hall of Fame.
Dr. Robert Riza, formerly of Clarendon, delivered the keynote for the PPA awards dinner.
The PPA was led this year by Fritch publisher Tara Huff as president. She along with Vice President Jeff Blackmon of Hereford and Secretary/Treasurer Roger Estlack of Clarendon, were re-elected to their positions.
Mary Smithee of Canadian and John Lee of Pampa were elected as new members of the board and will join current directors Mary Dudley of Perryton, Tim Ritter of Canyon, and Michael Wright of Dumas as well as Joni Yara of Booker, who continues as the association’s Immediate Past President.
Attending this year’s convention from Clarendon were Roger, Ashlee, Benjamin, and Elaina Estlack and Tara Allred.
Regents name Shelton to vacant board seat
The Clarendon College Board of Regents appointed James Shelton to fill a vacant position on the board during a called meeting last Friday, July 24.
The appointment puts Shelton in the seat formerly held by Lon Adams, who resigned earlier this month with two years left on his term.
Shelton had filed to run for the board in February for this year’s election, which was originally scheduled for May but was rescheduled for November because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are now still five candidates running for three positions on the board – Regents Darlene Spier and Carey Wann are running for re-election, and the seat vacated by Dr. Bill Sansing in November is also open. Guy Ellis, Debbie Thompson, and Chris Matthews are also running for the board.
Regents also took up consideration of the position of vice chairman of the board, which had been held by Adams.
At the board’s regular meeting July 16, regents had moved to name Edwin Campbell to that position, but Campbell reminded the board a possible conflict of interest issue with his brother-in-law working for the company that manages the college’s investments.
President Tex Buckhaults said the college’s attorney as well as the college’s accrediting agency said Campbell’s familial relationship would not prevent him from serving as vice chairman; however, both agreed that he could not serve as chairman.
Since the only job of the vice chairman is to serve as the chair when the chair is absent, the board agreed to appoint a different member to that position. Regents then approved Wann as the vice chairman of the board.
In other college business, the board approved a bid from Yates Flooring to replace carpet in the president’s house.
The board also discussed tree trimming and removal but took no action at this time on the advice of the president.
Sue Britten
Sue Britten, 64, of Groom died Friday, July 24, 2020, in Groom.
Graveside services were Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Groom.
Family directed memorial service followed July 28 in the First Baptist Church in Groom with Rev. Andy Dietz, officiating.
Arrangements were by Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Sue was born February 15, 1956, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Virgil and Jo Anne Johnson. She was a graduate from the Clarendon College LVN program and worked at Hall County Hospital in Memphis for 10 years. She had also worked as a waitress for several years prior to her illness. She married Jimmy Britten on July 5, 1996, in Amarillo. She had been a resident of Hedley before moving to Groom 24 years ago. While living in Hedley, she had helped with the Hedley Meals on Wheels. Sue loved her family and loved playing with her grandkids. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Groom.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Jack Lee in 1980; and a sister, Becki Torres.
Survivors include her husband, Jimmy Britten of Groom; three daughters, Susan Clendennen of Groom, Cindy Lambert and husband Ronnie of Hedley, and Carlene Coots and husband Billy of Abilene; three brothers, Jesse Reynolds of Shamrock, Johnny Reynolds of Possum Kingdom, and Bobby Johnson of Pampa; nine grandchildren; four great grandchildren; and several nieces, nephews, and brothers and sisters-in-law.
The family request memorials be sent to the First Baptist Church in Groom.
Sign the online guestbook at www.robertsonfuneral.com
Adenia “Deenie” Baird
Adenia “Deenie” Baird, 57, of Clarendon died Monday July 20, 2020.
No services are scheduled at this time.
Arrangements and cremation are under the direction of Rector Funeral Home.
Adenia was born August 1, 1962, in Lubbock to Doris and Wes Mills. She had a smile that could light up a room, and a hug that warmed your heart. “Deenie” just loved people. She was caring and compassion. She was an animal lover.
She met the love of her life, Tony at the Martin Baptist Church. They got married in Goodnight and spent 34 years together. Adenia enjoyed her scratch offs, and always had some good luck with them.
Adenia was preceded in death by her father, and her grandfather, L.A Watson.
She is survived by her husband Tony, her daughter, Sarah Braim and her husband Ryan; her mother, Doris Mills; two brothers, Charles mills and Kent mills, and his wife Tina, her Grandmother, Rosalee Watson; her aunt, Gay Cole and her husband Bob; and 9 grand-dogs.
Donations can be made to Donley County Senior Citizens or a fund at Herring Bank for the family.
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