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Coffee Memorial blood here today Volunteers are urged to participate in the Canadian Community Blood Drive, which is being held today, Thursday, Sept. 16, from noon to 6 pm at the Church of Christ Fellowship Hall.

This was the money shot in a tour of the Lipscomb County Courthouse last Thursday morning, just two days before Saturday’s formal rededication was to take place. The courthouse, built in 1916 in the Classic Revival style, has been the focus of a $3.74 million preservation project since 2020. On Thursday, county workers were busily moving into new offices, organizing files and records, and giving everything a last-minute mop and polish and dusting. This photo was taken from the balcony above the beautiful county and district courtroom, which more closely resembles the set of the classic movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In fact, while in the courtroom balcony on Saturday, retired Lipscomb County Attorney Otis Shearer reminisced about his experiences trying cases there, and quoted lines from the same movie. One visitor to the courthouse this weekend—former Lipscomb County Deputy Treasurer Cathy Ricketts—described it perfectly: “The inside of the courthouse is beautiful. They preserved the tile floors (cleaned them, etc.), but found amazing longleaf pine floors underneath the carpet in the offices. The courtroom is the stunner. They took out the suspended ceiling and redid the balcony that was a catchall for junk when I worked there. Just awesome.” Cathy said her husband, Doug, was pleased that they kept the huge frame he built for a quilt that various quilters in Lipscomb County created, featuring the old schoolhouses. PHOTO BY LAURIE EZZELL BROWN

National POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Recognition Day was created by an act of Congress in 1979 after 2,500 Vietnam-era families petitioned Congress for a day of remembrance. It is now held each year on the third Friday in September. Its overriding message is, “You are not forgotten.”

AMARILLO—State Sen. Kel Seliger is kicking off his annual town hall meetings for District 31, which spans 37 counties throughout the Panhandle, South Plains, and Permian Basin, to discuss the recently completed 87th regular session and 87th first and second special sessions. In light of the recently called 87th third special session, the town halls will be held virtually.

She was prosecuted for aggravated sexual assault of a child and is a registered sex offender. She is now accused of concealing her past while promoting fraudulent real estate investments. Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles filed an emergency cease-and-desist order to stop the scheme and protect Texans from harm.

On Tuesday evening, Canadian Rotary Club members placed thirteen flags at the entrance to Hemphill County Courthouse, in memory of every U.S. soldier killed on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in an attack outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Eleven Marines, one Navy corpsman, and one soldier were killed as the result of an enemy attack while supporting non-combatant evacuation operations. The Department of Defense released the following names of the deceased: For the Marine Corps: Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, assigned to the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Naval Support Activity Bahrain; Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, assigned to the Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah, infantry unit leader; Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California, a rifleman; Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska, a rifleman; Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana, a rifleman; Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas, a rifleman; Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri, a rifleman; Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming, a rifleman; Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, a rifleman; Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California; For the Navy: Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio, assigned to the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California; For the Army: Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee, assigned to the 9th PSYOP Battalion, 8th PSYOP Group, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. PHOTO BY WENDIE COOK