We woke up to ice/frost covered trees Sunday morning but no ice on the streets. They were kind of pretty. It all melted by afternoon as temps got above freezing for a change. Lets be thankful we didn’t have any power outages. I was inside most of the weekend. Cold weather doesn’t agree with me. My kids in the Denton/Frisco area were housebound for a few days from the ice storm. A fella I had a meeting with Friday left Friona about 3 p.m. for Lubbock. He was flying back to California and finally got there at 9 p.m. Sunday after being stuck at DFW for two days. Winter doesn’t begin until December 21.
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Some of the wind turbine companies are being fined by the government because the wind turbines are killing birds, especially eagles they claim. So the government subsidized the wind farms and are now penalizing them for bird kill. I suggest the politicians and bird lovers go talk to the birds about the dangers of flying into a wind turbine blade.
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The Parmer County Junior Livestock Show dates are January 15-18. Weigh-in Wednesday the 15th, show is the 16th, and sale is the 18th. We think the dairy heifer show is on Tuesday the 14th. Exact schedule and times later.
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Riley Rector had a wreck Sunday night on Rockwell Road in Amarillo. He reached for some jerky on the floor and ran into a dumpster. His dad Rickey says he broke his back with compressed fractures in three places. No surgery but Riley will be lying flat for a while and wear a back brace when he can get up. Was to be released from Northwest Hospital in Amarillo Tuesday and will stay at Rickey’s house during recovery. Going to be quite a healing process and we wish young Riley a speedy and complete recovery.
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Friona graduate Tania (Hand) Raindl and husband Brady are expecting triplet boys in the spring of 2014. They live in Lubbock. Tania is the daughter of Gary and Gail Hand of Friona. If memory serves me, Tania is a former Miss Friona and she played the piano for her talent. Congratulations to all of the Hand/Raindl families. Wow! Triplets!
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Thanks Jeri Lynn White for the Christmas goodies you brought by on Thursday. Pumpkin snickerdoodles and bacon wrapped toast and cream cheese. Mighty nice gesture from the local 4-H sponsors. And mighty tasty.
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Sunday around noon a semi- ran into the rear of a vehicle on Hwy 60 east of town causing a rollover and injuries to the driver. It was a hit and run as the semi- left the scene. Area law enforcement was notified and New Mexico state police stopped the semi- on 60/74 in Clovis. The truck had front-end damage and was leaking anti-freeze. DPS trooper Izzy Carrasco went to the New Mexico scene and arrested the truck driver who was from El Paso. He was charged with serious bodily injury and jailed in Farwell. Friona EMS transported the accident victim to PMC with back injuries.
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Monday, December 16, the winners in the Chamber of Commerce Ho! Ho! Home for the Holidays promotion will be drawn at participating merchants. Also that same Monday evening, Chamber judges will be driving around town to pick a Christmas decoration winner so be sure to turn your Christmas lights on.
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A bit of trivia. At the Monday city council meeting, city manager Patricia Phipps told the aldermen there are 1,365 water meter connections in Friona.
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It was good to see city councilwoman Martha Barker at the council meeting Monday evening, although she arrived by wheelchair. Martha is recovering from foot surgery as a result of dropping a big butcher knife on her foot and severing some tendons. She hasn’t been able to work at Suds and Scissors in a while and will be out of commission for a while longer. Her hair customers will be glad to see her back at work and so will we.
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News from Monday’s county commissioners meeting. They heard from county auditor Larry Johnston and county treasurer Altha Herington and reviewed the 2013 county fire department reports. County Judge Trey Ellis said the DPS would be closing some of the smaller driver license offices like Friona soon. Consideration was given to allow county employees to process certain driver license transactions but the issue was not deemed feasible for Parmer County. A TxDOT grant to repair county roads was too complicated. Used and obsolete electronic equipment was approved to be destroyed instead of sold. And the county burn ban remains lifted until further notice.
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The Noon Lions Club met last week with 16 members present and enjoyed meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans plus cobbler thanks to Lupe and Geneiva at Headquarters. Linvell Rose was given a gift card to Gander Mountain for selling the most shotgun raffle tickets. The drawing for the Browning shotgun will be held Thursday December 19 at the club meeting at Headquarters Restaurant.
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Went to the Prairie Acres Christmas party Tuesday evening. Santa handed out an abundant number of gifts and the visiting families enjoyed Christmas carols and lots of goodies to eat. Kevin and Carolyn Wiseman led the singing of Christmas carols and Prairie Acres elves handed out the gifts. Brownie Girl Scouts sang carols too. Nice evening. The Heritage Estates Christmas party is 6:30 p.m. Thursday December 19.
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The annual Friona High School Choir Christmas concert is Monday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Admission is free. Director Allison Johnston suggests you bring a non-perishable food item to support the new Friona food bank. Allison says, “Come and enjoy an evening of Christmas music and help alleviate hunger in our community. It’s a win-win.”
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It is almost time for Chieftain/Squaw district basketball to begin. The district games will be broadcast on KNNK Radio 100.5 or you can listen via the television on WT Services channel 6. The broadcast schedule will be included in our paper each week. Go Big Red!
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My kids in Denton, Frisco, and Coppell were all iced in during the four-day ice event in the Metroplex. Except my son Casey was on a tour of Israel and Jordan when the ice came. Youngest daughter Megan tried to drive in the mess and got her car stuck for a couple of days then towed by the city of Denton plus a parking ticket. After a $160 towing fee she has her wheels back and another valuable life lesson learned. Megan’s birthday is December 16. She will be 23. Happy birthday baby girl.
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Effective January 1, 2014 our Friona Star subscription and advertising rates will increase about 10%. It is the first rate increase in ten years. The single copy price will increase from 50-cents to $1.00. Announcements, i.e. birth, engagement, wedding, anniversary will increase from $10 to $15. We will continue our no charge policy for obituaries. Thank you all for the support of our community newspaper. We look forward to continued success in 2014. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Until then!
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