News

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—As Texans make plans to celebrate the Fourth of July, Texas A&M Forest Service encourages everyone to be careful with any outdoor activity that may cause a spark.

Excessive heat over the past two weeks has resulted in grasses drying across portions of North, Central and Southern regions of Texas. Areas with dry grass may support wildfire activity due to accidental ignitions from fireworks or other activities that cause a spark.

The July 4th celebration in Canadian this year will be a little strung out across the calendar because of the way the 4th occurs---on a Tuesday.

The Texas Rangers have made an identification in a 22-year-old case of a previously unidentified woman in Gray County in the Northern Texas Panhandle. On August 12, 1999, the Rangers were called to assist with an unidentified body of an adult female along I-40 west of McLean, Texas. Investigators attempted to identify the female by fingerprint, DNA, and composite sketch; however, those efforts were unsuccessful. A DNA profile was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

Conservation urged as searing heat wave sweeps state
Texas’ power grid reported record electricity use early last week. Both the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are urging residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce electricity use as temperatures soar above100 degrees over much of the state. So far the grid, which administers 90% of the state’s power load, has been able to keep up with demand.

The Canadian Church of Christ’s traditional GO! Weekend—now in its eighth year of community-wide clean-up projects here—is packing up the shovels and work gloves and heading up US 83 this year to help the tornado-stricken town of Perryton. The date that was set for Canadian’s GO! Weekend—Saturday, July 22—has now been dedicated to Perryton’s recovery.

Misdemeanor Arrests

•Ramiro Vitela Rocha, Jr., 44, Amarillo; resisting arrest, search or transport; 6/20/23; RCSO

Felony Arrests

•Matthew Scott Sanders, 36, Canadian; warrant for possession of a controlled substance, PG 1; HCSO

Agricultural producers who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after spring planting should make an appointment with the Hemphill County Farm Service Agency (FSA) before the applicable deadline.

CISD administrators are shuffling the deck this summer as they address a number of staff changes. School board trustees have already approved the hiring of eight new teachers—several of them familiar to this community—and shifted six staff members to fill vacancies. They have also absorbed three positions without hiring new personnel.

Following last week’s EF3 tornado that has caused extensive damage in Perryton, both KXDJ Radio’s Chris Samples and https://highplainsobserverperryton.com/ continue to provide frequent and detailed updates regarding the needs of that devastated community.