News

A horse race has developed in the Republican Primary with four candidates now jockeying for position to succeed Donley County Judge Jack Hall.

Jack Craft is the most recent addition to the lineup. Filing on the deadline day Monday, Craft is a local rancher and businesman who spearheaded the petition drive that led to Donley County voting to allow alcohol sales this year.

Gary Campbell was the first candidate to step forward several weeks ago. He is a retired haz-mat engineer and realtor who is currently representing Clarendon on the Greenbelt Water Authority Board.

Randy Bond is also seeking the county’s top job. He has more than 30 years in law enforcement and is currently Donley County’s chief deputy as well as a local businessman.

Last week, Dr. John Howard threw his hat in the ring. In addition to serving as the community’s medical doctor, Howard is active in the United States Navy and serves as the chairman of the Clarendon College Board of Regents.

All four men will face each other in the March 4, 2014, Republican Primary. If one candidate does not get more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will be in a run-off election. The top Republican is facing no opposition in the November General Election.

A competitive primary race has also developed for the Precinct 2 County Commissioner’s seat currently held by Donnie Hall, who is not seeking re-election. Three candidates will be on the March ballot. Daniel Ford signed up last week and joins Mitchell Martin and John Grady in the race.

Two competitive races have emerged for the November election. Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace Connie Havens is running for re-election as a Democrat and is being challenged by Republican Pam Mason. Precinct 1 County Commissioner Dan Sawyer seeks re-election to his post on the Republican ticket and faces a November challenge from Ricky Rattan on the Democratic side.

County Treasurer Wanda Smith (R) and County/District Clerk Fay Vargas (D) are unopposed for re-election as is Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace Denise Bertrand (R).

Also of local interest, State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) and State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) have both announced their filings for reelection.

US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) is also running for re-election and is being challenged by Dr. Pam Barlow of Bowie and Elaine Hays of Amarillo.

The Clarendon Christmas Bazaar will have its debut this Saturday, December 14, at the Donley County Activity Center from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The first of what is expected to become an annual event is being hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and will seek to provide local shoppers with all the choices they need to find that perfect gift for everyone on their Christmas list.

Drawings will be held every half hour for door prizes and gift certificates, and a gift wrapping service will be available at the show.

The Happy Toy Maker will be featured at the Bazaar with his handmade Western toys from Happy, Texas, and more than 20 vendors are registered to display their seasonal wares.

Local and area vendors include Sandy Anderberg, Kevin Johnson Bits & Spurs, Wild Wine Collection, Pink Zebra, Simply Sweetz, Amanda’s Country Whims, Saints’ Roost Museum, Stuff It Taxidermy, The Cowgirl’s Home, Campbell Online Marketing, Straight Off the Ranch, Big Texas Hair & Highlights, Every Nook & Cranny, Diva Bling, Henson’s, Farm Girl Frosting, Hippy Heart Headbands, Don Stone Signs, Alexis’ Treasures, Burrow’s Buckles & Spurs, and Buffalo Gold – Herd Wear.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church will have a concession stand available and will also be serving stew at the Bazaar.

Santa Claus will be available for photos from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department will have one of its trucks at the Bazaar for tours at 5 p.m.

For an afternoon of family fun and shopping, visit the Clarendon Christmas Bazaar this Saturday. Call 940-655-4220 or 806-262-8158 for more information.

Late Night Shopping continues this week and next with Clarendon business making shopping at home fun and easy, and the first ever “Great Bowls of Fire” Chili Challenge is right around the corner.

Local merchants are keeping their doors open until 8 p.m. this Thursday, December 12, and next Thursday, December 19, for your shopping convenience. Santa Claus will be on hand both nights, and wagon rides will be available.

Cathy’s Christmas Candies and the Nazarene Church’s handmade crafts will be available December 12, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church will be serving pasole, tamales, and sopapillas that night at LaVelle’s Coffee Shop.

Late Night Shopping will close out on Thursday, December 19, with the main attraction being the first “Great Bowls of Fire” Chili Challenge sponsored by the Clarendon Economic Development Corp. and the Chamber of Commerce.

Ed Montana will provide the musical entertainment for the Chili Challenge, which is also will be inside LaVelle’s, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. as businesses go up against one another for bragging rights and their chance at a traveling trophy.

Monday, December 16, is the entry deadline for chili teams. The cost is $25 per team. The winners will be selected on a “people’s choice” basis, and admission is $5 per person. All proceeds from the challenge will go to the Mulkey Theatre project.

Challenge details and entry forms are available from Chandra Eggemeyer at the Clarendon Visitor Center inside the Mulkey Theatre.

Local merchants and the Donley County State Bank are also making shopping at home easy this year with zero interest loans available for the holidays for those who qualify. Contact the bank at 874-3581 for details.

Christmas is a great time to support the merchants who support your community.

Donley County Commissioners enacted a burn ban during their regular meeting Monday, December 9.

No outdoor burning is allowed 24 hours prior to or on the day of a forecasted Fire Weather Watch or a Red Flag Warning issued from the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

Under Donley County’s Burn Ban conditions, anyone engaging in outdoor burning must contact the Donley County Sheriff’s office prior to ignition and give the dispatcher a burn location, a contact phone number, and approximate burn time. The persons engaging in outdoor burning needs to be present on site of the burn until the burn is completed.

Anyone engaging in any form of outdoor burning is asked to burn with extreme caution at all times.

Forecasters can issue the watch or warning for all or selected portions within a fire weather zone. The Red Flag event is verified when the weather and fuel conditions listed below are met simultaneously for any three hours or more during the period.

The following weather and fuel conditions must be forecast to occur or already occurring before issuing a Fire Weather Watch and/or Red Flag Warning for the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles: Minimum relative humidities equal to or less than 15 percent; 20 foot winds of 20 mph or higher and/or gusts to 35 mph or higher; and an NFDRS adjective fire danger rating of “high” or higher.

For additional information regarding, log onto www.srh.noaa.gov/ama/ or contact the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

The burn ban will stay in effect for the next 90 days.

In other county business Monday, commissioners approved Justice of the Peace Denise Bertrand’s request to lead up a group of people to decorate the courthouse lawn for Christmas next year. County Judge Jack Hall said Bertrand will work on planning the effort, and the county will put money into the project over a three-year period.

Commissioners also approved a contract for assessment and collection services presented by the Donley Appraisal District, and the court voted to cast the county’s support to Jerry Green and Bonnie Campbell for seats on the appraisal district board.

A motion was approved to authorize the county’s participation in the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool.

The Bridge’s capital expansion campaign entitled, Building a Stronger Bridge for a Brighter Tomorrow, has been completed. The Center located at 804 Quail Creek, Amarillo, has finalized construction and will host an open house on Thursday, December 12, 2013 from 4-6 p.m.

In January 2012, The Bridge embarked on a capital campaign in order to expand the existing facility, adding new offices, and a brand new Education Conference Center. This goal was initiated through a strategic plan which involved the board, staff and representatives from partner agencies. In May 2013, funding of the more than $600,000 project was complete. The renovation added approximately 1800 square feet to the existing building and a garage to house vehicles used in rural travel.

“We are excited to have completed construction of our project and show the community our new Education Conference Center. We are grateful to everyone that has supported us in our efforts,” Says April Leming, Executive Director of The Bridge. Major contributors to the project include: Amarillo Area Foundation, Dr. Kent Roberts and Ilene Balliett Foundation, C.J. and Syble Fowlston Charitable Trust, Gilliland Family Foundation, Mary E. Bivins Foundation, High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation, Josephine Anderson Charitable Trust, The J.E. and L. E. Mabee, Mays Foundation, Meadows Foundation, several anonymous donors, individual donors and the board and staff of The Bridge.

Also new at The Bridge, is a digital upgrade of its forensic interview equipment. The upgrade has been made to each location of The Bridge and to mobile interview equipment used in rural areas. The Bridge’s main location is in Amarillo and has satellite offices in Pampa, Dumas and Hereford. The improvement of this mobile forensic technology will go a long way to help underserved child victims of abuse in our area,” said Leming. “We are grateful to the Governor’s Office and Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas (CACTX) for providing the resources that will significantly increase the availability of services and resources for underserved children and families who have been victimized by sexual abuse.”

Law enforcement, prosecution and Child Protective Services across the state rely on trained staff at children’s advocacy centers (CACs) to conduct forensic interviews of suspected child victims and witnesses. CAC forensic interviewers are professionally trained to interview children about their experience in a non-leading, legally defensible manner. This interview is digitally recorded and often becomes a key piece of evidence in these difficult cases. Traditionally, interviews are conducted onsite at a local CAC. These facilities provide a neutral, child-focused environment which can lessen the trauma to victims and families.

Unfortunately, some suspected child victims are unable to travel to our center due to geographic distance and/or hospitalization. The use of mobile forensic interview equipment alleviates such barriers by allowing investigators and interviewers to travel to the child. The equipment package includes a video camera, a specially-equipped laptop and microphone.

The Bridge CAC in Amarillo is no stranger to having to cover a large territory with one full facility and three satellite offices. The Bridge covers 26 Texas counties with a staff of 10. This equipment will bring the technology to the 21st century, allowing interviews to be recorded digitally.

The Bridge (www.bridgecac.org) was the first children’s advocacy center in the state of Texas, opening its doors in 1989. The Bridge started utilizing mobile forensic interview (MFI) equipment in 1995; however this equipment required heavy lifting and a large vehicle to transport. In 1996, The Bridge went to Amarillo Media Systems to look for a better solution and they were able to deliver developing a concept that is still utilized today but has made advancements in the recording process through the years. Through the use of MFI equipment, The Bridge has been able to reach more victims who cannot travel to one of their facilities due to distance or other circumstances. This method has been proven to be a creative and efficient way to deliver high quality services to children in all 26 counties.

Since that time, the Bridge has provided services to more than 20,000 children who have been victims or witnesses of crime in the Texas Panhandle. In 2012, the Bridge interviewed 1,038 children in the Texas Panhandle, and provided community education to more than 3,000 adults and safety education programs to more than 700 children, ages 5-10. The Bridge strives to bring a comprehensive approach to child abuse investigation, facilitating communication among 72 partner agencies in the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle. Our Mission is: To Provide a Child’s Path to Healing and Justice.

By David Maly, Texas Tribune

Politicians, advocates and even a Santa Claus turned up at the Capitol on Monday to promote a new law that aims to protect Texans’ right to wish one another “Merry Christmas.”

Texas Values, a faith-based political advocacy organization, on Monday hosted an educational event to make sure that parents, students and others know about House Bill 308, the so-called Merry Christmas Law that the Texas Legislature passed this year. The law is meant to to ensure that public school districts can educate students about the history of traditional winter celebrations and can use traditional winter greetings, such as “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hanukkah,” without fear of litigation.

“School districts for too long have either wanted to or thought that they had to be speech police,” Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, said Monday.

Critics of the law, however, say the Texas Values campaign is unnecessary, because the right to say “Merry Christmas” and use other holiday expressions was never at risk.

“It’s crazy to think that somehow there is a war on Christmas when the vast majority of people celebrate Christmas,” said Dan Quinn, a spokesman for Texas Freedom Network, a political organization that advocates for the separation of church and state.

Saenz told The Texas Tribune on Friday that one has only to look to recent conflicts in public schools to see the need for the law and the Texas Values campaign.

“For many years, there have been court cases in the state of Texas where students have been restricted from making these expressions and told that they cannot say ‘Merry Christmas,’ and even not being allowed to wear the colors red and green at parties during this time of year,” Saenz said.

He pointed to a recent instance at Nichols Elementary School in Frisco in which a member of the parent teacher association who was organizing a “Winter Party” sent out an email forbidding red, green, Christmas trees and references to Christmas or other religious holidays at the party.

Following local media coverage and concern from state Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Frisco, the association released a statement reassuring the public that the school was in compliance with the new law.

“Our December celebration is called a ‘Winter Party’ in an effort to include all holidays celebrated in our Nichols community,” the statement said. “Our effort is focused on allowing all children to celebrate any winter holiday without excluding anyone.”

Saenz said the Frisco incident and recent court cases, including a federal lawsuit against Katy Independent School District over removing a Christmas card from a fundraiser sale and other actions, are evidence that the campaign is necessary. Lawsuits against school districts can be costly for taxpayers, so he said it’s important to make sure the new law is followed.

Saenz said the campaign, which also uses radio ads in major Texas cities, is mainly meant to educate students and parents about the law, so that they can advocate for themselves if school districts attempt to restrict holiday expressions that the law allows.

But Quinn, of the Texas Freedom Network, said he believes the intent of the Texas Values campaign promoting the law is more secular in nature than religious.

“It’s a great fundraising tactic for them,” Quinn said.

Justin Butterfield, a staff attorney for Liberty Institute, a national organization that advocates for religious freedom, said the Merry Christmas Law simply makes clear what is allowed under the US Constitution and what’s not.

“It sets those bright-line rules and makes things a lot easier for the school districts, the parents, the students and for everyone involved,” Butterfield said.

State Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, who authored the legislation, said states, such as Oklahoma, are making similar proposals.