The Friona Community Center is finally getting a new roof. The 15,000 square feet structure was built by Lewellen Construction of Friona and hosted its inaugural event, the 26th Annual Parmer County Livestock Show, in February of 1974.
Now you can wear a mask to get some money and not go to jail! The City of Friona is on the lookout for the best-looking face mask. If you think your face mask is a winner, email a picture of yourself sporting it to cityinfo@frionatx.us. The winner of the contest will be announced on Friday, May 8th and receive $100 worth of Friona bucks to be used at local restaurants.
The Center for Disease Control recommends wearing cloth face masks or bandanas in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain like at the grocery store, pharmacies, or convenient stores. If you are a business owner allowing customers to enter your store, please post a sign on your front door asking everyone who enters to wear a face covering. With two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, wearing a face covering will help keep you and those around you safe.
City Manager Lee Davila and Mayor Ricky White remind you to help keep Friona safe by wearing a face mask in public settings.
Delia Ruiz is the newest member of the Friona Police Department. She is originally from Muleshoe, Texas and graduated from Muleshoe High School. She attended Amarillo College and went through the Panhandle Regional Law Enforcement Academy. She graduated from the police academy in March 2020. Her first day on duty with the Friona Police Department was April 20th. She is eager to work for and serve the community of Friona.
Delia's family: (l-r) sister-in-law Emmy Ruiz, brother Jeronimo Ruiz, Delia, and husband Jose Castellano.
The National Guard will bring a Mobile Testing Site to Friona on Saturday, April 25th. The site will be at the Calvary Baptist Church located at 1500 Cleveland Avenue in Friona. You MUST make a reservation in order to be tested. The CALL CENTER NUMBER is 512-883-2400. You may also go online at https://txcovidtest.org/ to make a reservation. To be eligible for testing, you must have one or more symptoms of COVID-19. See symptons list.
by Gayla Quillin, MBA CEO/Administator Parmer Medical Center
Maybe you did a deep clean of your home when you found out the seriousness of the new coronavirus. Now that you're social distancing and not leaving the house very often - maybe just a rare pharmacy run, a daily walk outside - you might be wondering how often you should still be disinfecting.
First, it is important to understand why you need to disinfect surfaces in the first place. The virus spreads when a person coughs or sneezes respiratory droplets. These can spread "onto hard surfaces or onto our hands, which we then touch things with, transferring virus from our hands to the surfaces we touch," said S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital.
The virus can survive on different surfaces for various lengths of time. "And then we can pick it up," Long said. "If we touch our face, we are at risk of infecting ourselves. So cleaning those 'high touch' surfaces, where lots of hands could be depositing and picking up viruses or other germs, is very important."
The regularity of cleaning and disinfecting depends on your particular situation and what's evolving around you.
Even if no one in your household is ill, you should still "clean regularly and disinfect daily" as a baseline precautionary measure, said Alexa Mieses, an assistant professor in the department of family medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"There's a difference between cleaning and disinfecting," she said. "You should be doing a regular cleaning routine, which includes removing dirt and dust, and regular household cleaning products are fine for this."
When you are disinfecting, however, you are trying to kill germs. "For this, you should use bleach or a cleaner with 70% alcohol," Mieses said. She noted the Environmental Protection Agency has a list of approved disinfectants for COVID-19, but bleach and alcohol are the most commonly used in the home.
Long said just how often you should disinfect depends on whether you are in the high-risk category for COVID-19, how many people live in your home, and how often you all share common items and surfaces. "Though there's no hard and fast rule" he said "you should probably disinfect surfaces every time you have a visitor of any kind, and disinfect more frequently if you're high-risk or have a family member working outside the home".
"You probably don't need to clean your whole house from top to bottom every day, but rather focus on "high-touch surfaces," Mieses said.
"When we are talking about high-touch surfaces, we mean doorknobs, tables, sinks, light switches, remote controls, toilets, handles to anything, cabinets" or other items your family uses or touches frequently, Mieses explained. Car keys, sunglasses and other items you may touch a lot (and take outside the home) are good items to clean, too.
How often you should clean if someone in your house has COVID-19 symptoms
If someone in your home is experiencing coronavirus symptoms, you will want to disinfect surfaces more - as often as those who aren't ill might come into contact with them.
"If the person with symptoms is well enough, I would encourage them to clean and sanitize their own areas if they are self-isolating as much as they can," Long said. "I would clean and disinfect the shared surfaces much more frequently."
Mieses said you may want to wear gloves to "protect yourself from harsh chemicals and minimize your risk" of becoming infected with the virus. Wash your hands very frequently as well especially if you ever touch something the person with symptoms may have touched. Remember to wash for at least 20 seconds to effectively kill germs, and keep in mind that soap and water is better than hand sanitizer.
When disinfecting, give those high-touch surfaces extra attention, since "lots of hands could be depositing and picking up viruses or other germs," Long said. "And don't forget about cellphones as well."
Other ways to keep healthy in your home
For your own safety, Long said to make sure you do not mix disinfectants and always follow the manufacturer's instructions.
"Also, no matter how often you are disinfecting, you still need to practice social distancing and wash your hands," he said.
If you have any questions about your personal COVID-19 risk or best practices, Mieses said "don't be afraid to reach out to your family physician or primary care provider. Beyond that, focus on being smart".
"Stay at home, wash your hands regularly, avoid touching your face, avoid shared equipment like fitness equipment," she said. "But stay active during the pandemic. You can still go outside for a walk; make it part of your routine." You should also focus on mental wellness, in addition to physical health. "This is not the first time the world has encountered something like this, but it's the first time for our generation," Mieses said, adding that feelings of anxiety and depression are a typical response to what's happening.
If you are struggling with anxiety or mental health issues during this crisis, Mieses said to reach out to your regular physician. They can direct you to a mental health professional. Take care of your whole self.
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According to local health and emergency officials, there are currently 2 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Parmer County. One in the Farwell area and one in the Friona area. Information can be found at the Parmer County Medical Center facebook page.
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Thanks to the mayor and city manager, aka Butch Corona and the Quarantine Dance Kid, for encouraging the wearing of masks in public settings. Masks are available from Leslie Ware @ (806)-225-7443 for $7 each, Pam Haseloff @ (806) 481-9964 for a donation, and Ivy Cottage @ (806) 250-8073 for $12.99 (made in Dallas). If you have masks available for the public, call the Star office at 250-2211 or just post your info on the Friona Star Newspaper facebook page.
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The school buildings are shut down but the online & distance learning continues. Thank you teachers, administration, staff, and crew for all the hard work that you are doing. Also, check out the new meal serving schedule below.
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National Richter Scale Day is April 26th. This day honors the life and work of American seismologist Charles Francis Richter. He was the inventor of the Richter magnitude scale that measures the intensity of earthquakes. Charles was born on April 26, 1900 and died on September 30, 1985.
Known more commonly as the Richter scale, the scale was invented by Richter in 1935. It measures the magnitude of an earthquake on a logarithmic scale of 0 to 10. Each number on the scale refers to an event that is 10 times more powerful than an event with a number before it. This means an earthquake with a magnitude of 4 is 10 times stronger, and releases approximately 32 times more energy, than an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.
Earthquakes lower than 2.5 on the Richter scale are almost never felt by humans. The Richter scale has now been replaced by more modern scales that calculate the magnitude and strength of earthquakes around the world.
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Call us at 250-2211 or send email to frionastar@wtrt.net to inform us of information that the public needs to know about. Cancellations and postponements will also be listed on our website at www.frionaonline.com.
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National Days April 23 - Picnic Day April 24 - Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day April 25 - Rebuilding Day April 26 - Richter Scale Day April 27 - Prime Rib Day April 28 - Superhero Day April 29 - Denim Day
Coronavirus cases confirmed
Texas Panhandle:
610 cases, 13 deaths
Armstrong County: 1
Carson: 1
Castro County: 11
Childress: 1
Dallam County: 3
Deaf Smith County: 16
Donley County: 24
Gray County: 25
Hansford County: 1
Hartley County: 1
Hemphill County: 1
Hutchinson County: 10
Moore County: 162
Oldham County: 3
Parmer County: 3
Potter/Randall County: 329
Roberts County: 1
Sherman County: 11
Swisher County: 5
Wheeler County: 1
Eastern New Mexico:
17 cases, 0 deaths
Curry County 10
Roosevelt County: 3
Quay County: 4
Oklahoma Panhandle:
30 cases, 1 death
Beaver County: 2
Cimarron: 1
Texas County: 27
Stay-at-home directives
Potter County
Deaf Smith County
Gray County
City of Amarillo
City of Canyon
Randall County
City of Pampa
City of Lefors
City of Hereford
Hansford County
City of Gruver
City of Spearman
City of McLean
Castro County
Donley County
Wheeler County
Swisher County
City of Perryton
Ochiltree County
City of Tulia
Armstrong County
City of Claude
County Disaster Declaration (English)
March 16 FISD Letter (English) (Spanish)
March 31 FISD Letter (English) (Spanish)
Letter from City Manager (English) (Spanish)
Friona Community Helpline (English)
2-1-1 Texas Social Services Hotline (English)
Share The Facts about COVID-19 (English) (Spanish)
What You Need To Know (English) (Spanish)
What To Do If You Are Sick (English) (Spanish)
County Clerk PSA (English)
Chamber of Commerce Letter to Businesses (English)
Friona Interbank Lobby Closed (English)
FISD Emergency Resolution (English)
