News

A petition to hold a local option election in Hedley is valid, but voting to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages in that city won’t happen until May.

Donley County Commissioners reviewed the petition containing 82 signatures during their regular session Monday afternoon and found it to be legal and in the proper format, but county officials say petition backers did not get it filed soon enough with the county clerk’s office to be placed on the November ballot.

“A petition like this has to be in my office for 30 days, and then [the commissioners] have to vote on it prior to the 71st day before an election,” County Clerk Fay Vargas told the Enterprise.

But that doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with the petition itself, Vargas said. And with a new law in place as of September 1, petition backers can now take their quest directly to the City of Hedley, where the Board of Aldermen will order the issue be placed on the May ballot.

“The city will now have to bear the cost of having that election instead of the county,” Vargas said.

Petitioner Tonja Ruthardt was not unsettled by the news, telling the Enterprise Tuesday morning that she wanted the election to be held in May anyway.

“Everything is good,” she said.

At press time, Ruthhard did not know when she would present the petition to the city.

Enterprise fans share their memories of 9/11

Ten years ago this Sunday, America watched in horror and outrage as terrorists killed thousands of our citizens.

The images of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, the smoking hole in the side of the Pentagon, and the burning wreckage of Flight 93 have been etched into our collective memory, and everyone who was alive at the time knows just where they were and what they were doing when they first learned of the attacks.

To commemorate the anniversary of 9-11, the Enterprise asked its readers on Facebook to share with us their memories of that terrible day.

Jennifer Benton Scoggin – I was in my first month of teaching elementary music at Krum ISD. We could only get bits and pieces of what was happening; and, of course, I was stuck in my classroom. It was horrifying with my family scattered over two counties and not knowing what was going to happen. When we all finally got home, we couldn’t tear ourselves away from the TV. We went through the motions of our lives for days while being glued to the news every possible moment. The event was especially poignant because just four months earlier I had spent some wonderful hours with a choir group from my previous teaching job at the top of the World Trade Center; therefore, I was mourning that memory as well as the loss of so many lives.

Audrey Jones – I was in Mrs. Perryman’s fifth grade class.

Leitha Martindale Watson – Working at Clarendon Elementary, it started out as a wonderful day, as it was Cody’s 18th birthday…… but that soon changed.

Chantelle Kelly Naylor – I was a junior at CHS. It was first period during band.

Lura N Larry Helms – At work, typing away…radio in background announced that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. We turned on TV and stood there ….terrified at the horror.

Shannon Armstrong – The morning of 9/11 started off like all others. I was getting ready to go into work at the New Mexico State Veteran’s Home in Truth or Consequences, I turned the TV on like usual and vividly remember watching a clip of the second plane hitting the tower and the title of America Under Attack across the screen. I remember feeling very weak and having to sit down. I made my way to work only to get a sicker feeling on top of my already sick feeling. All Vets who were able were sitting in front of a big screen TV watching what was going on tears were flowing down their faces wanting to know what they could do to help our country. So many were so upset and depressed; it took such a hard toll on them. To this day it still brings tears to my eyes thinking of how hard that day was. Thoughts and prayers to all who have been affected by the horrible events that took place September 11, 2001.

Tiffany Dawn McAnear – Stationed at Robins AFB in Georgia, prego with Chase. We were headed off base for a doc. appointment, saw it when we got there on the TV, could believe it. Barely got back on base in time after the appt, before they locked down the whole place.

Joanna Jarvis – I was living in Baton Rouge and going to physical therapy.
Dana Estlack Heim – Living in Wahoo, Nebraska on my way to work at the law firm in Omaha, Nebraska. Was talking to my husband about how to celebrate his birthday. Unfortunately it is on Sept. 11.

Scarlet Estlack – I was in grad school. We were finally getting cable installed. Someone called and told me. I didn’t believe them. My first day of cable was spent seeing that, sadly, it was true. God bless our country & keep her brave & strong!

Kassie Seitz O’Neal – I was working at Crow Hollow Feed Yard and it came over the radio!

Dee Thompson – Sitting at my apartment in Tyler, Tx. With my roommates skipping school.

Nikki Shahan – I was a senior in high school and when went to 2nd period we watched it on the TV. Still remember the numb feeling and how horrible it was to watch.

Michael McFarland – Just got home after working night shift went to my room and was called in the other room by my mom just in time to watch the second plane hit. I remember crying as the firefighters ran in while the buildings were falling.

Jessica Wright – I was living in Dalhart. I had taken my kids to school and went back home. I had not turned the TV on or anything. Everything was eerily quiet. I could not figure out why there were no cars going by or any sounds. Everything was silent; it was weird. I then heard the sound of sirens, but that was it. I had the feeling I needed to go see what was going on, so I jumped in my car and did not see another car except for the police cars. I went immediately over to my ex-in-laws to feed her animals while they were out of town and I decided to turn on the television. The first thing I saw was the towers burning, and I immediately felt terrified and sick to my stomach. They began showing different videos from people that were at different locations like in other buildings that had started filming thinking that the first plane crash was just an accident, and then screaming in terror after watching the second tower being attacked. My brother and sister-in-law showed up, and I almost lost it. I started crying and getting really scared wondering what else was going to happen. I will never forget that day, ever. I found out that the sirens that I heard and the cops I saw speeding [were going] out to the airport and to shut it down.

Carolina Selvidge – We were in Clarendon.

Joanne Johnsen – I was in my car when it said on the radio. Could/did not want to believe it, got to my sister’s house and she runs out tell me we are under attack.

Beth Foster Newman – High School Geometry with Ms. Hill. We all assembled in the auditorium and watched it on the big screen. Didn’t seem real.

Shonda Phillips Cummins – I was working at Hi-Plains hospital in Hale Center, Texas. I remember having the TV on and just staring in disbelief and tears in my eyes.

Kyle Allen – I was in District Court in Quanah for a hearing. A lawyer came in and said a plane had struck one of the twin towers. We had no idea at the time that it was a commercial jet. There was a kid in a Cessna that had landed on the White House lawn a week before so we thought it may be a copy cat. When I got home and turned on CNN later in the morning, I was in shock. A friend of mine from Ireland was living in Derry and witnessed Bloody Sunday in 1972. He has lived there in that area during all the troubles, bloodshed, and bombings. He called me and said that they were sitting in the pub and it was hard for him and his friends to grasp the gravity of what had happened. It was then that it really struck me how big the event really was. He had lived through terrorism in his own town for decades, lost friends, lost family, and still he was struck by the enormity of the acts on 9/11.