Hall retires from DCSB
Virtually drunk
Clarendon High School senior Levi Gates tries to walk while wearing goggles and headphones that simulate the sensory inputs of being drunk. The Texas Department of Transportation brought several simulators to the school last week to educate students on the dangers of drinking, using drugs, not wearing a seat belt, and driving while texting. Courtesy photo / Al Elam
Clarendon sales tax revenue up 10 percent in April
Clarendon’s sales tax revenues posted a healthy boost when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar delivered April allocations to local governments last week.
The city was up 10.52 percent from the same period in 2023 with an allocation for the month of $36,100.75 compared to last year’s $32,661.86.
Clarendon is now 5.04 ahead for its calendar year-to-date sales tax revenues at $163,795.08.
Hedley’s sales tax revenue for the month was up 2.93 percent at $8.63.19, and that city is now ahead 2.0 percent for the year-to-date at $4,304.75.
Howardwick’s revenue was down 19.10 percent to $1,653.45 for the month and down 20.70 for the calendar year thus far at $6,300.17. Howardwick’s drop is at least partly attributed to the fact that it lowered it’s sales tax rate effective October 1.
Statewide, the comptroller delivered $1.03 billion in local sales tax allocations for April, 5.5 percent more than in April 2023. These allocations are based on sales made in February by businesses that report tax monthly.
Wildfire disaster loans deadline is May 13
The Small Business Administration last week reminded Texas businesses and residents of the May 13, 2024, deadline to apply for an SBA federal disaster loan for property damage caused by the Smokehouse Creek Fire and the Windy Deuce Fire in Carson, Hemphill and Hutchinson counties that began Feb. 26, 2024.
According to Francisco Sánchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA, businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters may apply for SBA federal disaster loans to repair or replace disaster damaged property. SBA can also lend additional funds to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize disaster damage from occurring in the future.
These low-interest federal disaster loans are available in Armstrong, Carson, Donley, Gray, Hansford, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman and Wheeler counties in Texas; and Ellis and Roger Mills counties in Oklahoma.
Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.
In addition, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage. The deadline to apply for an SBA economic injury disaster loan is Dec. 13, 2024.
Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including personal vehicles.
Interest rates can be as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3.25 percent for private nonprofit organizations and 2.688 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Interest does not begin to accrue until 12 months from the date of the first disaster loan disbursement. SBA disaster loan repayment begins 12 months from the date of the first disbursement.
Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at SBA.gov/disaster.
Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659 2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.
Lady Broncos shut out Gruver again
By Sandy Anderberg
The Lady Broncos are currently 23-1-1 in regular season play as they begin to think about post-season play. They held the Lady Hounds off of home plate defeating them 13-0 last week. Kennadie Cummins earned the win against Gruver striking out 13 and allowing only one hit. Cummins faced 16 batters and threw an impressive 45 strikes out of 57 pitches.
The ladies jumped out early to put four runs on the board in the first inning. They were able to score two runs with no outs and put the next two runs up with only one out. The inning ended with a pop-up and a ground-out.
The Lady Broncos would not score again until the fourth inning when K. Cummins doubled on a fly to left field scoring Shelbi Coles and Bayleigh Bruce. Elyza Rodriguez brought Cummins home on a single to left and Gracie Wilkins’ ground ball to second scored Rodriguez and T. Cummins before the end of the inning.
With two outs in the fifth, Bruce hits Coles into home and Rodriguez hits the only Lady Bronco triple that brings Bruce home for a run. Sitting at 10 runs, the ladies were not finished as T. Cummins doubles on a ground ball to left field and was able to score Rodriguez and find home plate on an error by the left fielder. Wilkins turned a single into a home run on an error by the center fielder.
K. Cummins had two runs, singled and doubled, had two RBIs, and one stolen base while Wilkins posted one run, three singles, an RBI, and one stolen base. T. Cummins ended the game with two runs, a double, and two RBIs and Rodriguez had three runs, two singles, one trip, and three RBIS. Bruce made good on one single, two runs, and one RBI and Coles posted two runs as the DH in the win.
Broncos slam Shamrock Irish
By Sandy Anderberg
The Bronco baseball team only needed five innings to take down the Shamrock Irish in a district baseball game last week. The Broncos had a huge 22-2 win at home.
It only took the Broncos eight hits to score the runs. Senior Easton Frausto slammed not one, but two homeruns in the fourth inning. The first came on the second pitch of the series to score a run and the second homerun was a fly to left field that scored two runners. Frausto went on to knock in four runs and as many RBIs and collect four stolen bases in the game.
Mason Sims was on the mound for the first three innings where he allowed one hit, one run and struck out two. Overall, Sims threw 25 strikes in 41 pitches. Frausto took over the duties for the last two innings and had good results as well. He threw 46 pitches in all and racked up 26 strikes in his time on the mound.
The Broncos were on fire at the plate and ran the bases well. The team grabbed a whopping 27 stolen bases from the Irish that gave them the momentum they needed to get the big win. Levi Gates knows how to get it done and finished with five stolen bases and Frausto, Mason Allred, and Brice Williams had four each.
Gates hit one double, one RBI, and collected three runs, while Allred had two singles, an RBI, and accounted for three runs in the game. Sims claimed one single, two runs, and one RBI and Shane Hagood had two runs and a stolen base. Harrison Howard stole one base, had one single and one double, one RBI, and had three runs. Grant Haynes posted one run, one RBI, and one stolen base while Parker Haynes grabbed one steal.
Two CHS students ‘die’ in mock accident
As the moon partially extinguished the sun’s glow Monday afternoon, a mock accident staged by Clarendon High School “snuffed out” the lives of two students.
The solar eclipse captured the attention of millions across the country, but as the sky darkened, it gave an exceptionally eerie feeling to the scene setup behind the Clarendon CISD D-wing.
The Shattered Dreams program illustrated the dangers of drinking and driving by staging a crash and the resulting efforts of first responders in full view of the student body, who had been given glasses were released from class to see the eclipse.
The drama that unfolded was fully explained Tuesday morning during a “memorial” service at the First Baptist Church, where friends and families mourned a real sense of loss for seniors Harrison Howard and Jared Musick, who had been pronounced “dead” Monday afternoon.
The situation had Kinzie Harred and Elyza Rodriguez portray two students who had been drinking during their lunch hour. Harred was driving and Rodriquez was her passenger when their speeding vehicle ran into a pickup driven by Harrison. He was thrown through the windshield and killed instantly while his three passengers were injured. Musick, thrown to the parking lot, was airlifted but later died.
Heston Seay and Jaxan McAnear were extricated from the backseat of the pickup and lived through the accident.
Rodriguez was hysterical after regaining consciousness, and Harred was given a mock field sobriety test, arrested, and booked into the Donley County Jail. She later commented that it was crazy how one decision could cause all of this. In the simulation, she was charged with two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and two counts of vehicular assault and sentenced to prison for her felonies.
Shattered Dreams is designed to educate students, parents, and the community about the serious issue of underage drinking and driving. The program provides realistic experiences, encouraging students to make positive choices. The program is typically held prior to a school’s prom, when teenagers are most likely to consume alcoholic beverages. TxDOT partners with local law enforcement and first responders to provide the program. TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Specialists work with schools who are interested in presenting the program to their students.
In addition to the six students with active rolls in the accident, eight other students were removed from their classes throughout the day to represent the fact that an average of eight teens a day die in the US from alcohol related accidents.
CHS Student Council President Courtlyn Conkin, who helped lead this year’s Shattered Dreams program, dressed up as the Grim Reaper and removed selected students from class each period as a heartbeat flatlined on the PA system. Those students were Dalton Coles, Tristan Richie, Gracie Clark, Colton Benson, Kennedy Hays, Tandie Cummins, Morgan Johnston, and Levi Gates.
Also participating in the program were a film crew comprised of Jacob Murillo, Avery Halsey, Ben Estlack, Cutter Seay, and Waite Dushay.
All students involved in the program were secluded from Monday morning through the memorial service, driving home a sense of loss between the kids and their friends and families.
Student testimonials at the memorial service demonstrated the emotional impact that the two-day program had on the teens.
The program included assistance from the Associated Ambulance Authority, the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, the Department of Public Safety, Robertson Funeral Directors, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Judges Pat White and Sarah Hatley, and Northwest Texas Hospital’s LifeStar helicopter, which landed near the scene.
Texas leads the nation in alcohol-related deaths among 15- to 20-year-olds, and one person was killed in 2022 in an alcohol-related accident every seven hours and one minute.
McKinney’s service recognized
Hedley students advance in academics, track
Mulkey to host CHS band and OAP performances
The Mulkey Theatre will host performances of Clarendon High School’s Bronco Band and One Act Play team this week.
The Bronco Band will perform a “Family Night Out” concert on Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. that will feature tunes from several movies in a night of music, fun, and laughs. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted at the door for the Bronco Band Boosters.
Band supporters are encouraged to eat at REFZ on Thursday as a portion of meal proceeds that day will go to support the Boosters.
The CHS One Act Play team will perform “Taking Leave” by Nagle Jackson on Saturday and Sunday nights at 7:00. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. both nights.
The Mulkey concession stand will be open all three nights for your enjoyment. There will be no movie this weekend.
Also, on Tuesday, April 23, Clarendon CISD will hold a Town Hall at the Mulkey regarding the upcoming bond election. The public is invited and encouraged to attend to learn more about the topic.
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