HerefordBRAND.com
| Wednesday,
April 12, 2017 | Printed on recycled paper
Hereford BRAND Volume 116 | Number 82
Proudly Serving The High Plains Since 1901
12 pages | $1.00
PAC aiding HISD bond
WHAT'S INSIDE
House Ag chair vows to pass bill Page 3
Blessing of Bikes at First Methodist Page 7
Lady Herd rallies past Randall, 4-2 Page 11
Proclaiming prevention
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Pinwheels representing the 153 confirmed cases of child abuse in the five-county Great Plains CASA for Kids area surround the Deaf Smith County Courthouse flagpole as a reminder that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. BRAND/John Carson
Volunteers sought during CASA special month
FORECAST
From Staff Reports
Today
PM Thunderstorms High: 66º Low: 51º
Sunrise: 7:21 a.m. Sunset: 8:20 p.m. Wind: S 15 MPH Precipitation: 80% Humidity: 86% UV Index: 4 of 10
Thursday
Scattered Thunderstorms High: 73º Low: 53º
Sunrise: 7:19 a.m. Sunset: 8:20 p.m. Wind: SSW 14 MPH Precipitation: 60% Humidity: 76% UV Index: 7 of 10
Friday
Patlry Cloudy/Wind High: 80º Low: 54º
A group of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Deaf Smith County joined Deaf Smith County Judge D.J. Wagner and Hereford Mayor Tom Simons on the county courthouse lawn Friday to put a local focus on a national spotlight. Wagner and Simons issued a joint proclamation in a ceremony to designate April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in both the county and city to coincide with the national designation. Great Plains CASA for Kids is making the most of the local proclamation to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect in the community and the need for more volunteers to help CASA make a difference in a child’s life. CASA volunteers are individuals from all walks of life who speak up for
a child or sibling group’s best interests while they are in the care of the state. According to the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services (DFPS), there were 153 victims of child abuse or neglect in the child protection system in Bailey, Castro, Deaf Smith, Oldham, and Parmer counties last year. “CASA’s role is more important than ever with all of the challenges currently facing the child protection system,” said Jeri Wells, volunteer coordinator of Great Plains CASA for Kids. “It is our goal to be able to provide every child with a voice in a court to ensure that they do not get lost in the system.” In December 2015, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ruled that the Texas child welfare system failed to protect kids in the long-term care of the state – ultimately violating their constitu-
tional right to be free from an unreasonable risk of harm. The challenges and struggles plaguing the system continued, leading to Gov. Greg Abbott naming child protection services (CPS) reform his No. 1 emergency item for the 85th Legislative Session currently sitting in Austin. CASA volunteers work on a case-tocase basis, getting to know a child and everyone involved in their life – including family members, foster parents and teachers – so they can represent the child’s best interests in court and other settings until the child reaches a safe, permanent home. Last year, 16 CASA volunteers served 57 children in the child welfare system in the Great Plains CASA for Kids’ fivecounty area. PLEASE SEE CASA | 2
Sunrise: 7:18 a.m. Sunset: 8:21 p.m. Wind: SSW 20 MPH Precipitation: 20% Humidity: 72% UV Index: 8 of 10
HEREFORD HISTORY 20 years ago • April 12, 1997
Temperatures did not reach above freezing. The record high was only 31 and the low was reported at 19.
INDEX
Obituaries................2 News.........................3 Opinion.....................4 Agriculture.............5 Community...........7,12 Classifieds...............9 Religion..................10 Sports....................11
© 2017 Hereford BRAND A division of Roberts Publishing Group
Great Plains CASA for Kids volunteers and supporters – from left, Eva Mendez Mullins, Robin Musick, Melissa Sciumbato, Beth Garcia, Benito F. and Zion Garcia, D’ann Blair, Laurie Kahlich, Beverly Schulte, Jackie Francis, Jeri Wells, Elizabeth Everett and Deaf Smith County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Ricky Prisk – join Hereford Mayor Tom Simons, left of flagpole, and Deaf Smith County Judge D.J. Wagner, right of flagpole, in proclaiming April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the city and county. BRAND/John Carson
As decision day for a $45 million Hereford Independent School District (HISD) bond issue draws closer, officials have repeatedly said they learned a lot from a 2015 bond issue that was overwhelming defeated. One of those admitted lessons was the importance of making voters more informed on a bond’s issues and needs, as well as the imperativeness of actually going to the polls. However, once a bond issue is officially called – as the current one was on Feb. 13 – state mandates restrict how and what school officials can say to the public about the issue. To address that deficiency from 2015, the current bond issue has its own cheerleaders in the form of the political action committee (PAC) Hereford Proud-Pass the Bond. “We are advocating for the passage of the bond,” said PAC treasurer Amy Schueler, who also officially requested the HISD Board of Trustees call the bond issue in February. “Once a bond is called, district employees and properties cannot be used to advocate passage. They can only give information and facts. “We can and do say vote yes. We are educating voters for a yes vote on the bond.” The $45 million issue is set to go before voters on Saturday, May 6 and contains four specific segments. Three of those deal with construction of new facilities – an early childhood development center, multipurpose rooms at each HISD elementary school, and new dressing and trainers learning facilities for varsity sports and classes – and account for $37 million of the bond’s total. PLEASE SEE PAC | 12
County OKs fire equipment for grader operators By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Emergency and maintenance officials have been given the go-ahead to price potentially life-saving equipment for county workers. The move came Monday during the regular meeting of the Deaf Smith County Commissioners Court. With grass fires an ever-present danger in the region, Hereford Fire Marshal and Emergency Management director Dean Turney
conducted a training session with brisk pace. county motor grader operaPanhandle grass fires durtors last month on how to ing the past six weeks have battle such blazes in Deaf proven to do just that with Smith County. graders being damaged and “Motor graders are our destroyed, several operamost valuable tool in fighttors narrowly avoiding ining those type fires,” Turney jury and some being not as said to commissioners Monfortunate. day. “They are more impor“Our attendance here is tant than a firetruck.” in reaction to a Wheeler However, fighting those County operator recently TURNEY fires often put grader operabeing severely burned,” said tors in potential danger as Cody Holloway of the Texas usually high winds move fires at a Forest Service, who attended Mon-
day’s meeting. “We are trying to get county [grader] operators firesafety equipment.” Holloway presented commissioners with several options on fire equipment for operators that included jumpsuits, as well as that currently used by the Forest Service, which includes hard hats, gloves, pants and jackets. Holloway added that each of their graders are also required to have a fire shelter – fire-resistant equip-
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PLEASE SEE COUNTY | 12