News

Hemphill County Hospital CEO Christy Francis reported on Tuesday afternoon that nine COVID-related patients were being treated at the hospital—three of them admitted in the previous 24-hour period. The spike in cases had forced medical staff to relocate the COVID wing to a different hall, where more beds were available, she said, adding that they still could only accommodate 11 patients, and were very near full capacity.

COVID-19 continued its rapid spread in rural America last week, setting a record for new infections for the sixth consecutive week and placing 3 out of every 4 rural counties on the red-zone list. New infections reached 110,130 for the week of Sunday to Saturday, Oct.

Donna Jenkins enters the clerk’s office Tuesday night with a visible smile, despite that mask she is wearing, and is greeted by Election Officer Lisa Johnson. Donna and her son Dale Jenkins deliver the ballot boxes and reports after a full day of overseeing one of the precinct polling places. She has been on the job every November for over 40 years, Johnson said, and showed no signs this week of wanting to retire. PHOTO BY LAURIE EZZELL BROWN

This 5:15 am Tuesday morning fire call to Mesa View Assisted Living proved to be a false alarm, but the Canadian Volunteer Fire Department emptied out the fire station to make sure they were ready to handle whatever awaited them. Another call on Sunday afternoon brought out the department to a report of smoke at the Edward Abraham Nursing Home, for what also turned out to be a false alarm. After a long nearly 12-hour call to the scene of a loaded, overturned cattle truck that started early Friday morning and ended Saturday afternoon, one might say our volunteer firefighters had more than earned their paychecks, but they’d be wrong. These guys do this job for nothing except our gratitude, which we do not show them nearly often enough. PHOTO BY LAURIE EZZELL BROWN

If you have a loved one who has a heart attack today—or a stroke, or a wreck on iceslickened roads—you should worry about where they are going to go for the medical care they will need. It is a problem.

Voters who want to cast their ballots early have today and tomorrow to complete that task. Early voting continues through the end of the business day, Friday at Hemphill County Courthouse 400 Main Street, Room 204. The polling station will be open until 7 pm this evening (Thursday) and will not close due to adverse weather conditions, according to District Clerk Lisa Johnson.

This 300’-tall radio tower succumbed to a heavy coat of ice and the wind from the top of the caprock, and collapsed yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) at a time when it might be needed most. Before it toppled, the tower facilitated emergency communications between the Hemphill County Sheriff’s Office, Hemphill County EMS and the Canadian Fire Department. Fire Chief Scott Brewster, who provided this photo, said he wasn’t sure how emergency responders would communicate without it, but said it would likely take months to build a new tower, and didn’t even speculate about the cost involved.

Both Xcel Energy Inc. and North Plain Electric Cooperative are reporting power outages affecting area customers since late yesterday when winter storms brought a combination of snow, ice, and sleet to most of the Panhandle area.