News

Donley County Commissioners’ Court approved a new contract between the Sheriff’s Office and the City of Clarendon last Tuesday, and city officials followed suit this week.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said the new five-year agreement for law enforcement services in the city will provide his office with annual two percent increases.

The current contract amount is for $130,000.

“This way each entity knows every year what’s going on, and we don’t have to worry about it,” Blackburn said. “It’s good for everybody.”

Details of the new agreement were ironed out during a meeting last month which included the sheriff, County Judge Jack Hall, Mayor Chris Ford, and Interim City Administrator Phyllis Jeffers.

Also under the new contract, fines collected in the city will go to the city, and the sheriff’s office will enforce city ordinances, Jeffers said.

“We had a good meeting with a spirit of cooperativeness,” Jeffers said. “(The contract) is fiscally responsible and maintains a high level of law enforcement. I was pleased with the outcome.”

Jeffers said the city and county will still meet annually to review the agreement and make sure it is working well.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen approved the contract at their regular meeting last night.

In other count business last week, commissioners approved employees’ health insurance for the coming year through, which includes an eight percent increase in premiums. The court also approved a bid on tax delinquent property and approved a request for a deed to clear up title to an acre of land in Section 14 that was once part of the Watkins School.

The commissioners also met in regular session July 12 and took the following actions:
Approved the 2010 Summer Celebration activities on July 22 on the Courthouse Square; Voted to sponsor the 2010 Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff with $500; Voted to approve the schedule of County Road & Bridge Fees for 2011, leaving those fees at the current levels; Approved the purchase of a storage building for use by the Justice of the Peace in Precincts 3&4; and Renewed guidelines governing tax abatements in the county for another two years.

The Hedley Board of Aldermen will hold two called meetings this week in the hopes of replacing the three city staff members who resigned July 1.

According to agendas posted at City Hall, the board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 15, to review résumés, and then the board will meet again on Friday, July 16, at 7 p.m. to hire employees.

The called meetings come after all three city employees – City Secretary Randy Shaw, City Clerk Rhonda Shaw, and city maintenance worker Roger Hagar – announced July 1 their resignations effective at the end of this month.

A call to Mayor Dusty Wilkinson was not returned by press time Tuesday. City Clerk Rhonda Shaw said the city has received applications for all three positions.

Several citizens have called on Randy Shaw to reconsider his resignation, noting the many functions he performs.

“City Secretary sounds like someone who sits in a chair all day,” Metcalf told the Enterprise last week. “Randy does not sit in a chair.”

Metcalf said Shaw writes grants for the city, picks up the trash, holds two state licenses to operate the water and sewer system, maintains the roads, and cares for the fire station and the cemetery.

During a called city meeting last Monday, Wilkinson asked Mr. Shaw what it would take to get him to continue in his position, but Shaw told the Enterprise that his mind was made up.
Shaw said he would help train his replacement and has offered to stay on part time beyond August 1 to ease the transition.

The Clarendon Tourism Committee is inviting everyone to the Donley County Courthouse Square next Thursday, July 22, for the 2010 Summer Celebration.

NewsChannel 10 will be broadcasting live at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 p.m. Activities scheduled from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.  KEFH and KLSR radio stations are also going to be broadcasting from the celebration.

This fun-filled event will showcase Clarendon as a progressive community with a rich heritage of Agriculture, Education, Religion, and the Arts.  The Celebration promises to have something for everyone including local musicians, an antique car show, a Farmers’ Market, demonstrations, and raffles.

One of the highlights of the celebration will be the Amarillo Star contest, which is reaching out this year and opening auditions to soloists, duets, trios and quartets.

“We thought it would be fun to add more competition to the event this year by opening the contest up to more than soloists,” said Maryann Hueston, Amarillo Star Chairman. “We look at this as an event to showcase our areas talent and since we encompass the Tri-State area we wanted to open the competition up to groups.”

For more information about the Amarillo Star contest, call (806) 376-7767.

Summer Celebration organizers have also planned games for kids of all ages, such as a dunking booth, water games, a bounce house, a Busy Town Mystery, a greased pig catch, a stick horse rodeo, horseshoes, washers, marbles, sack races, limbo, and more.

Food vendors are scheduled to offer a wide variety of tasty morsels, including candy, sausage wraps, chopped beef sandwiches, stuffed jalapenos, burritos, pizza, cotton candy, nachos, and brownies.

The evening will conclude with a special movie showing of The Karate Kid at the Sandell Drive-In from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

The tourism committee is working to make this a fun event for all ages, so please contact Terry Askew at 874-5001 or Denise Bertrand at 874-2846 to schedule activities or reserve booth space.

COLLEGE STATION – Rains and flooding from Hurricane Alex likely will lead to significantly increased mosquito activity in many parts of the state, said Texas AgriLife Extension Service experts.

“Excessive moisture and flooding help create optimal conditions in which mosquitoes can breed,” said Dr. Mark Johnsen, a medical entomologist with the AgriLife Extension agricultural and environmental safety unit in College Station.

“And having good information on mosquito behavior and control can help reduce both their nuisance factor and the threat of disease transmission.”
The best way to combat mosquitoes after flooding is by applying the “four Ds” of personal protection – DEET, dusk/dawn, dress and drain, according to Johnsen.

The first D refers to using a mosquito repellent with DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535, he said. The second D means restricting activity at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active. The third refers to dressing in loose-fitting, light-colored, long-sleeve shirts or blouses, and long pants. And the fourth D is in reference to draining standing water from bottles, cups, unused plant pots, tires and other receptacles that might provide a mosquito breeding site.

Johnsen added that materials covering the four Ds and other information on mosquitoes and mosquito control are available in English and Spanish and can be downloaded free from two AgriLife Extension websites.

The AgriLife Extension publication, “Potential Mosquito Problems after a Hurricane,” is available for free download at the Agricultural and Environmental Safety website, http://www-aes.tamu.edu/, as are the other free publications “Mosquito Life Cycle” and “The Best Way to Control Mosquitoes.”

Further information can be found in the AgriLife Extension publication, “Mosquito Problems after a Storm,” available though the AgriLife Extension Bookstore at https://agrilifebookstore.org/. The publication number for the English-language version is ER-042, and the number for the Spanish-language version is ER-042S.

Additionally, the Texas Department of State Health Services has health-related precautions, including precautions about mosquitoes, for people in areas where heavy rains may occur as a result of Hurricane Alex. These can be found at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/releases/20100701.shtm/.

Another resource, the “Mosquito Safari” website, http://mosquitosafari.tamu.edu/, sponsored by AgriLife Extension, the Dallas County Health Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Region 6 Pesticides Division, is a free interactive site containing scientifically based information on mosquitoes and their control.

“Mosquito Safari was created as an alternative to other Internet sites on the pests that are bogged down by heavily text-oriented pages,” said Dr. Mike

Merchant, an AgriLife Extension urban entomologist in Dallas who helped create the site. “It’s a visually appealing and interactive site that helps the user search out and eliminate places where disease-carrying mosquitoes might breed.”

Container-breeding mosquitoes breed in anything that can catch and hold water, including soft drink cans, open grills, watering cans, clogged gutters, wheelbarrows and used tires, Merchant said.

“The core of the Mosquito Safari site is a virtual backyard that you can explore with your computer mouse,” he said. “As you hit hot spots in the backyard, a window pops up and a narrator discusses what appears on the screen and how it relates to mosquito control.”

“While the site provides useful information and technical assistance to the public, it may still be necessary for people to contact a pest control professional or employ additional do-it-yourself methods,” he said.