EDITOR'S NOTE: Texas will hold 2026 Republican and Democratic Party primary runoff elections on Tuesday, May 26. The winners of those runoff races will head to the November 3, 2026, general election. Early voting in the runoff runs from May 18 to 22. Statewide, a total of 38 races will have runoffs because the candidates in those races failed to receive more than 50% of the vote during the March 3 primary.
James Roy “J.R.” Gill—father, husband, grandfather, lifelong adventurer and proud Aggie—passed away May 1. At age 95, he left the world peacefully in his sleep.
Funeral services will be held at 11 am on Monday, May 11, at Boxwell Brothers, 2800 Paramount Blvd, Amarillo, TX. Interment will follow at his birthplace of Miami, Texas. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors.
AMARILLO – Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s High Explosives Center of Excellence for Manufacturing, kicked off a new era of weapons maintenance and surveillance today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open its new High Explosives Science and Engineering (HESE) facility.
“The HESE is yet another important upgrade in our continued investment in modern technology,” Pantex Production Operations Division Director Carl Beard said. “The facility serves as another critical piece in fortifying Pantex’s role within the Nuclear Security Enterprise.”
AMARILLO, Texas (May 6, 2026) — May is Wildfire Awareness Month, a reminder that extreme weather and drier conditions mean that wildfires are a near year-round, growing threat. Xcel Energy is encouraging customers to get Wildfire Aware, Wildfire Prepared.
Some areas of Texas are experiencing about 35 more fire weather days per year than they did in the 1970s. This year, unseasonably warm and dry weather and very dry vegetation are expected to increase wildfire risks beyond the “normal” wildfire season.
