News

Clarendon beat a record recently set in August for the second highest monthly sales tax revenue when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar distributed monthly allocations to municipal governments.

The city’s November allocation was $51,013.66, reflecting an increase of 15.36 percent compared to the same period one year ago.

That’s greater than the previous second highest allocation of $49,677.44 in August of this year. The best month on record for the city was May 2019 with an allocation of $56,593.

City officials attribute these increases to taxes on online sales from national retailers finally making their way to Texas cities.
The November allocation brings the city’s calendar year-to-date total to $410,227.35, an increase of 4.40 percent over the same point in 2019.

Hedley was also up 2.71 percent to $1,558.06 this month and is 6.70 percent ahead for the year at $10,159.763.

Howardwick’s sales tax revenue almost tripled from $798.77 last November to $2,310.42 this month, with the city now 36.36 ahead for the year at $18,236.37.

Statewide, Hegar distributed $890.5 million in local sales tax allocations for November, 4.8 percent more than in November 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in September by businesses that report tax monthly, and on sales made in July, August and September by quarterly filers.

Donley County has added 23 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, and County Judge John Howard, MD, said a second death has now occurred locally because of the disease.

“If you want a more important number, we have had 91 positive tests at the clinic in the month of November,” Howard said. “Of those, nine have been hospitalized. That’s what everybody needs to know. That’s a rate of one in ten people going to the hospital.”

The Clarendon Family Medical Center reported 44 active cases on Monday afternoon, and the clinic conducted 68 tests in the period from November 17 through November 23, bringing the total number of tests conducted locally to 666. Of those 193 have been positive, and 473 have been negative.

Combined with the known cases that have tested outside of the county, there have now been 224 confirmed positive cases and two deaths in Donley County since the pandemic began.

Because of discrepancies between regional and state reporting and a lag of the state updating local officials, Howard suspects the number of positive cases in Donley County is probably actually closer to 250.

Clarendon Family Medical Center spokesperson Marsha Bruce says people need to take the virus seriously.

“If you don’t believe in COVID-19, that’s fine,” Bruce said. “You don’t have to get a test, but if you’re sick, stay home.”
Bruce also said there is no apparent “hot spot” and that the virus is “everywhere.” She also said there is no truth to the notion that if you get, you’ll be immune to getting it again.

“People do get it again,” she said.

Last week, Bruce said symptoms of the disease also vary widely and said the clinic has seen a lot of cases with gastrointestinal issues – nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea as well as people who think they just have a sinus infection.

As reported previously, Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, has expressed frustration with the state reporting system, not only for the time lag but also how the state is handling the results of rapid tests like those now being conducted at the local clinic.

The state, Howard said, will not count a positive rapid test as a confirmed COVID-19 case unless it is backed up by the more invasive swab test.

“They will report those as ‘probable’ or ‘pending,’ but I assure you the only way you’re going to get a positive rapid test is if in fact you have COVID,” Howard said.

The state’s online dashboard, therefore, will not show the same number of “confirmed” COVID cases in Donley County as reported in the Enterprise, and Howard also said the online dashboard of the Childress Regional Medical Center is “in no way official.”

Donley County’s total COVID-19 case count crossed the 200 mark Tuesday with 45 people having active cases of the disease under the care of the Clarendon Family Medical Center as of late Tuesday afternoon.

In the last seven days, the local clinic has conducted 91 tests, and the total of known positive cases grew from 164 to 201.
Clinic spokesperson Marsha Bruce urged everyone to take the precautions that everyone by this point knows about.

“Do what you know you should,” she said, “and understand that there doesn’t have to be a fever to have COVID.”

Bruce said symptoms of the disease also vary widely and said the clinic has seen a lot of cases with gastrointestinal issues – nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea as well as people who think they just have a sinus infection.

“We have four people in the hospital, and that’s bad,” she said. “We have never sent that many to the hospital, and there are no beds in Amarillo right now.”

Rising cases also saw some local businesses and facilities again changing the way they do business. City Hall was again closed to the public, and the Burton Memorial Library will also be closed to the public for two weeks, according to City Administrator David Dockery.

The Donley County Senior Citizens put out a call for volunteers to help prepare meals after some staff had to be quarantined this week, and The Clarendon Enterprise also again closed its office to the public last week.

The actual number of COVID-19 cases in Donley County is believed by local officials to be higher than the numbers reported. The Enterprise receives regular updates from the Clarendon Family Medical Center, but positive test results on local residents from medical facilities in Childress, Amarillo, and elsewhere can and do lag behind by a matter of days or weeks before those reports get back to the county level from state officials.

As reported last week, Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, has expressed frustration with the state reporting system, not only for the time lag but also how the state is handling the results of rapid tests like those now being conducted at the local clinic. The state, Howard said, will not count a positive rapid test as a confirmed COVID-19 case unless it is backed up by the more invasive swab test.

“They will report those as ‘probable’ or ‘pending,’ but I assure you the only way you’re going to get a positive rapid test is if in fact you have COVID,” Howard said. The state’s online dashboard, therefore, will not show the same number of “confirmed” COVID cases in Donley County as reported in the Enterprise, and Howard also said the online dashboard of the Childress Regional Medical Center is “in no way official.”

Regarding the number of active cases in Donley County, Howard called that a “rolling number,” noting that patients who test positive for COVID-19 should come off the active list ten days after their test unless they are still showing symptoms.

Read the COVID-19 guidelines from the Clarendon Family Medical Center here. 

The annual Clarendon Community Thanksgiving dinner will be held on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26.

The dinner is free and will be served from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will be available in to-go plates only on Fifth Street by the Clarendon school cafeteria.

Deliveries will be made to the handicapped and shut-ins by calling in advance.

This annual event is made possible through community donations, which can be made at Pilgrim Bank or mailed to PO Box 45. For more information, call 874-2007.

Applications for the Community Angel Tree are now available at Keith Floyd’s Shop, 120 West 3rd, for children age 12 and under living in Donley County.

Applications must be completed and returned by Friday November 30. Late applications will not be accepted.

Donations in support of the Angel Tree Project can be made at Pilgrim Bank or mailed to PO Box 45.

As part of a national day known as GivingTuesday, the local Donley County Community Fund (DCCF) is participating in The Panhandle Gives campaign.

For nine days from November 23 through December 1, all funds raised locally will be increased through a match from the Amarillo Area Foundation.

“Participating in this campaign is an opportunity for our local fund balance to grow,” DCCF chair Jacob Fangman said.

The DCCF is a local board whose purpose is to raise money for a perpetuating fund while contributing a portion of the money to local organizations. Over the past four years, the DCCF has been able to give $5,000 to local charities while increasing its own fund balance.

So that the local DCCF can benefit from the match, anyone wishing to participate will need to give their donation by Monday, December 1, so that the final deposit can be made on GivingTuesday.

Contributions can be mailed to Donley County Community Fund, c/o Jacob Fangman, PO Box 906, Clarendon, TX 79226. Checks should be made out to The Panhandle Gives, with DonleyCCF written on the memo line.

Other board members are Shauna Herbert, Sherol Johnston, Diane Skelton, and Roger Estlack.

The Clarendon City Council declared three properties as public nuisances during their regular meeting last Thursday, November 12.

Following the recommendation of the code compliance officer, the council took action on 802 S. Faker, 222 S. Kearney, and 701 E. Fourth. Owners of those properties will now have a timeline to follow to bring those properties into compliance with local ordinances or the city can take further action.

In other city business, the council accepted a bid from Roy Williams to build a curb and sidewalk along Kearney Street at the new aquatic center for $7,539.

Quarterly reports for Hotel Occupancy Tax fund expenses for the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce were approved as presented, and the council approved re-appointing Roger Estlack and Chuck Robertson to the CEDC board for two-year terms.

Aldermen approved authorizing the public works department to buy a new fleet vehicle, and the council approved a list of old equipment as surplus available for auction.

The council also approved a request from Cheryl Johnson to abandon six feet of city right of way along South Jefferson Street.

In his report, City Administrator David Dockery discussed code compliance efforts, the aquatic center progress, clean up from the October ice storm, the USDA water project, and the new sanitation contract. M.C. Harris and Landford Henshaw were reported as new or reassigned employees.

Dockery also brought up doing a comprehensive plan for the city in the near future as way to guide the council and employees in the coming years.

COVID-19 numbers continue to rise in Donley County and the Panhandle region with no immediate relief in sight.

The Clarendon Family Medical Center reported Tuesday afternoon that 30 active cases are under its care, which was up from 28 Monday and up from 19 one week ago.

Also as of Tuesday, the clinic has conducted 507 tests since the pandemic began with 133 cases confirmed as positive.

Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, said Tuesday that there are about five more active cases that he is aware of in the county, which would bring the overall active count up to at least 35. But Howard also discussed the difficulty in getting accurate case counts for local residents who test outside of Donley County.

The judge’s office received a state update last Wednesday, but the state then retracted the report on Friday, saying there had been data errors and that a new report would be issued that day. Then Howard later learned the state office was closed on Friday, and he still had no update as of Tuesday.

“If someone from Donley County tests positive in Amarillo, that case is first reported to Potter/Randall county officials, who then report it to the state regional office in Lubbock, who then are supposed to report it to the county and the state,” Howard said.

Howard expressed frustration with the state reporting system, not only for the time lag but also how the state is handling the results of rapid tests like those now being conducted at the local clinic. The state, Howard said, will not count a positive rapid test as a confirmed COVID-19 case unless it is backed up by the more invasive swab test.

“They will report those as ‘probable’ or ‘pending,’ but I assure you the only way you’re going to get a positive rapid test is if in fact you have COVID,” Howard said. The state’s online dashboard, therefore, will not show the same number of “confirmed” COVID cases in Donley County as reported in the Enterprise, and Howard also said the online dashboard of the Childress Regional Medical Center is “in no way official.”

Regarding the active cases in Donley County, Howard calls it a “rolling number,” noting patients who test positive for COVID-19 should come off the active list ten days after their test unless they are still showing symptoms.

“A lot of cases are going beyond ten days,” he said.

Howard also said the positivity rate for the local clinic in October was 34 percent and said three of his patients are currently hospitalized.

“From September 30 through November 5, we conducted 225 tests and had 77 positives,” he said. “We’ve had 22 positives in November alone. November 4 and 5, we performed 31 tests and had 13 positives.”