Ben Estlack

Citizens wishing to serve their community can now start signing up next for positions at six local governments that are scheduled to hold elections this spring.

The cities of Clarendon, Hedley, and Howardwick; the Clarendon and Hedley school districts; and the Donley County Hospital District all have a total of 19 positions available this year.

In Clarendon, the full two-year terms of Mayor Jacob Fangman and Aldermen Terri Floyd and Eulaine McIntosh are up this year along with partial terms expiring in one year held by Aldermen Ashlee Estlack and Mandy Smith.

Hedley has three aldermen’s seats up this year. Those are two-year terms and are currently held by Aldermen Larry Ely, Tanya Gibson, and Jennifer Floyd.

Howardwick has the full two-year terms of the mayor and two aldermen up this year. The mayor’s seat is currently vacant, and the aldermen’s positions are held by Johnny Floyd and Jada Murray.

Clarendon ISD Trustees serve three years, and the terms of Robin Ellis, Chuck Robertson, and Donny Howard are expiring this year.

Hedley ISD has two full three-year terms up this year. Those seats are held by Bruce Howard and Michael Metcalf.

The Donley County Hospital District Board of Directors has three two-year terms up this year. Those are currently held by Rose Lemley – Place One, Jeff Robertson – Place Two, and Cindy Shelton – Place Three.

All local boards are elected at-large, but hospital board candidates must file for a specific place on the board. Candidate applications are available from the administrative offices of each entity.

Filing began Wednesday, January 15 and continues through Friday, February 14. Elections are scheduled to be held Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Municipalities in Donley County started off the calendar year with positive sales tax growth when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar distributed January allocations last week.

The City of Clarendon’s revenue was up 2.81 percent for the month at $39,535.48 compared to $38,454.40 at this time in 2024.

Hedley was up 9.68 percent with an allocation of $874.43 compared to $797.23 last January.

Howardwick’s allocation was up 42.85 percent to $1,812.53 this month, beating last January’s revenue of $1,268.81.

The new Donley County Assistance District Number One in Howardwick brought in $1,132.90 to assist law enforcement in the county. That sales tax started being levied in October following approval of Howardwick voters last May.

Statewide, Hegar delivered $1.1 billion in local sales tax allocations for January, 0.3 percent more than in January 2024. These allocations are based on sales made in November by businesses that report tax monthly.

Nearby, the City of Claude’s January allocation was down 7.89 percent at $21,304.92, and the City of Memphis dipped 7.37 percent with an allocation of $27,388.68.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and PanTeXas Deterrence LLC, (PXD) Manager and Operator (M&O) of the Pantex Plant, last week announced completion of the last production unit of the B61-12 modification.

The B61 nuclear weapon has been in service since 1968, with numerous performance modifications. For more than a decade, thousands of workers across the nation’s Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) have focused on the B61’s life extension program (LEP), updating or replacing weapons components, extending its service life by at least 2 decades.

“Completing the B61-12 is the result of extensive collaboration across the nuclear security enterprise and represents a major technical achievement,” said Teresa Robbins, Assistant Principal Deputy Administrator for Operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“For over 40 years, Pantex has been the nation’s primary nuclear weapon assembly, disassembly, and life-extension center – the work you do here is critical to our nation’s security and your performance reflects positively on the entire enterprise.”

“It’s complicated to execute our mission, and that entire team has to operate to near perfection, in order to achieve this kind of milestone,” according to Kelly Beierschmitt, PXD President and General Manager.

The ending of the current version of the B61 weapon marks one of the biggest modifications ever attempted within the NSE.
“So, this is a very large program,” said Todd Welchlen, Senior Project Manager for NNSA. “We have Pantex, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos, Savannah River, and Kansas City. We’ve also integrated Boeing and we’ve got the Department of Defense represented as well.”

“I think it’s really been a good collaboration between all the organizations, all the sites in the country, have contributed in some way to making sure we have this modification that helps deliver something that the military needs,” said Joseph Papp, PXD Senior Director of Production Engineering.

“I am very proud of the teamwork and want to personally thank the entire NNSA for making this happen. Teamwork was essential in completing this very important milestone. The challenges were communicated early, and this dedicated team worked to resolve them with urgency,” said Jason Armstrong, Pantex Field Office Manager.

Realizing a final completion of a record for any weapons system’s modification is a major milestone and it represents another successful chapter in the history of the B61-12.

“The significance of this accomplishment is great when you zoom out and think about the role the B61-12 plays in our overall nuclear deterrent, not only for our nation, but for our allies, as well as the globe,” said Colby Yeary, PXD Mission Assurance Officer. “The analogy of having a puzzle and all the puzzle pieces fitting together comes to mind…and without the B61-12, we would have an incomplete puzzle.”

That sentiment was echoed by Beierschmitt. “The world’s not gotten safer, it’s gotten more challenging with geopolitics, and every time we make a delivery, every time we do something on schedule, it signals to the entire world that this deterrent is strong.”

Pantex’s modernization efforts continue as antiquated structures are removed and new buildings are erected as replacement facilities. Two years ago, Pantex broke ground on the Advanced Fabrication Facility (AFF), replacing structures built nearly 80 years ago.

For more than 58 years, Pantex has manufactured high-explosive (HE) charges for every weapon in the nation’s nuclear stockpile. The AFF, with an approximate cost of $21 million, has a footprint of 20,000 square feet and will provide a more efficient and cleaner workspace for development and testing operations.

“The AFF will enable Pantex to support Weapon Modernization Program production, which directly impacts deliverables to our Department of Defense customer and global security for the nation,” said Jason Armstrong, Pantex Field Office Manager. “Completion of this facility is another example of our commitment to our mission and to our designation as the National Nuclear Security Administration High Explosives Center of Excellence for manufacturing.”

Pantex HE production is wide-ranging; providing cradle-to-grave HE manufacturing for all weapons programs. The AFF replaces an inadequate legacy facility with an annual maintenance cost exceeding $470,000. It also allows for consolidation of operations from three World War II-era buildings, allowing for improvements in operations and efficiency.

Senior Director of Explosives Technology Operations Monty Cates is proud of the unique HE work performed at Pantex. “The AFF is a testament to the talent, dedication, and hard work of the people who worked on it, such as the contractor and subcontractor partners, Construction Projects, Engineering, Production Projects, the Advanced Fabrication team, and many others,” said Cates. “This facility houses some of the most technically advanced subtractive and additive manufacturing machines available, which will positively impact Pantex’s ability to support the Global Security Mission now and in the future.”

Other near-term construction projects supporting the HE mission include the High Explosives Science and Engineering Facility and the High Explosives Synthesis, Formulation, and Production Facility.