News

A wildfire preparedness meeting is planned for Monday, Jan. 31, at the Hemphill County Exhibition Center in Canadian. This multicounty sponsored AgriLife Extension event includes Hemphill, Ochiltree, Lipscomb, Roberts, and Wheeler counties. Its purpose is to assist with educational information preparation for stakeholders in the event of a wildfire situation, similar to the one in March of 2017. Registration begins at 9 am, to be followed by a 9:30 am presentation on “Wildfire Preparedness: What Can I Do?” by Brandon Boughen, AgriLife disaster assessment and recovery coordinator. At 10:45 am, Tim Steffens, AgriLife rangeland resource specialist, will talk about preparing a “Wildfire Ready Checklist,” and after lunch, author John Erickson will lead a rancher panel discussion at 1 pm. Canadian VFD Fire Chief Scott Brewster will follow with a panel discussion by fire department chiefs at 2:15 pm, and the meeting will adjourn at 3 pm. This event will be a face-to-face meeting in the Sand Sage Room of the Hemphill County Exhibition Center, located at 10965 Exhibition Center Lane in Canadian, with lunch sponsored by North Plains Electric Cooperative and catered by Alexander’s. Additional sponsorship has been provided by Silveus Financial. A Teams link will be provided to members of the public who wish to join the online meeting for a cost of $10/person. Registration is required for both the live and online events by calling the Hemphill County AgriLife Extension office at 806.323.9114.

Hemphill County AgriLife Extension Agent Andy Holloway was honored last Friday, Jan. 14, with the Texas A&M Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence, in a presentation made at the TAMU AgriLife Center in College Station.

Yesterday, the hospital district released their 14-day testing summary of tests performed in the last two weeks (610), the total number of positives results (273), and the testing positivity rate (45 percent overall, 41 percent for Hemphill County residents, and 49 percent for out-of-county residents).

Candidate filing began on Wednesday, Jan. 19, for candidates seeking a place on the ballot in the May 7 city council, and hospital, school, and water district board elections. Aspirants to public office will have their choice of 13 open seats. The filing deadline is Friday, Feb. 18, at 5 pm. Details about filing and eligibility for each governmental entity are as follows:

OKLAHOMA CITY—Blue jeans, automobiles, brightly-colored dishes, and even dental bling all have one thing in common—they’ve all been influenced by Western design. Discover how the history and craftsmanship of the American West influenced American goods and culture through the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s newest exhibition, Western Wares, opening Feb. 11.

Panhandle PBS invites our community to join a free, online Indie Lens pop-up screening of the film Missing in Brooks County on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 7 pm. Visit panhandlePBS.org/presents to RSVP and take part in this online viewing experience as part of the Panhandle PBS Presents series.

The pandemic cast a long shadow over 2021—whether it was the lead story, or the underlying one. Its effect has been so pervasive, and has so effectively disrupted our lives, that it is sometimes difficult to remember just how long we have been living with this viral beast.