The RVPM gift shop has many great finds you might not know about. We have books focused on Hemphill County, the Panhandle, and Texas History. New in this week are several kids’ books including Texas Mother Goose and There Was a Tall Texan Who Swallowed a Flea. These are perfect additions to baby shower gifts for new little Texans. For the adults, we’ve restocked on our Harvey Houses of Texas books, as well as added several new books including Early Settlers of The Panhandle Plains and Frontier Forts of Texas, to name a few.

Dewayne Ford (in photo above) stands outside the River Valley Pioneer Museum, along with a group of other gun carriers in protest against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke and in defense of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The rally was heavily promoted on air last week by KXDJ commentator Chris Samples, who encouraged those listening to stage a rally in Canadian Saturday, and to bring their rifles with them.

After a last-minute filing flurry, six candidates are in contention for three seats on the Canadian ISD board of trustees. That decision is the only local issue before voters in the May 7 election, after elections for seats on the hospital and water district boards, and on the city council, went uncontested. Those elections will be, or have already been, canceled.

With warnings of high winds, wet snows, and blizzard conditions in the forecast early this week, Xcel Energy beefed up its crews and prepared to respond to possible power outages. Wind speeds reached 40 mph overnight, with gusts up to 60, and by early Tuesday, 50,000 customers had been affected by either momentary or sustained outages caused by Monday night’s weather. By late Tuesday afternoon, about 9,000 Xcel customers in the Texas Panhandle were still without power—most of those in the Amarillo metro area.