CRIMESTOPPERS FUGITIVE OF THE WEEK

AFTER A TIP TO AMARILLO CRIMESTOPPERS, THE WOMAN WHO ROBBED THE CLEARTALK STORE ON SOUTHWEST 45TH ON APRIL 26TH HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.  MICHELLE CATRICE COLBERT IS NOW WANTED OUT OF RANDALL COUNTY FOR AGGRAVATED ROBBERY WITH A DEADLY WEAPON.  IF YOU HAVE ANY INFO ON COLBERT, CALL CRIMESTOPPERS AT 374-4400 OR GO ONLINE TO SUBMIT A TIP AT AMAPOLICE.ORG.  YOU COULD GET UP TO 300-DOLLARS IF YOUR ANONYMOUS TIP LEADS TO HER ARREST.

S.M. TRUE DIES IN ACCIDENT

PROMINENT WEST TEXAS FARMER S.M. TRUE, WHO SERVED AS TEXAS FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT IN THE 80'S AND 90'S, HAS DIED IN A TRACTOR ACCIDENT ON HIS FARM IN HALE COUNTY.  TRUE WAS A FARMER AND AGRICULTURAL LEADER ON THE SOUTH PLAINS SINCE THE 1940'S, EVEN TRAVELLING ACROSS TEXAS WITH GOVERNOR PERRY.  TRUE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE TEXAS HERITAGE HALL OF HONOR IN 2002.  HE WAS TEXAS FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT FROM 1982 TO 1993, AND ALSO SERVED ON THE TEXAS BEEF COUNCIL BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

RANDALL BURN BAN LIFTED

RANDALL COUNTY JUDGE ERNIE HOUDASHELL ANNOUNCED TUESDAY THAT THE BURN BAN IN THE COUNTY HAS BEEN LIFTED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.  IN A PRESS RELEASE, HOUDASHELL REMINDS PEOPLE THAT THERE ARE RESTRICTIONS AND GUIDELINES THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED BEFORE ANY OUTDOOR BURNING IS ATTEMPTED.  IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHAT AND WHAT NOT TO BURN, YOU CAN CALL THE RANDALL COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT OR GO ONLINE TO TCEQ.TEXAS.GOV

EX-PERRYTON STUDENT SUES SCHOOL

A FORMER STUDENT AT PERRYTON HIGH SCHOOL IS SUING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TWO YEARS AFTER GRADUATING.  IN THE FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT, .ANDREW YARA SAYS HE A SUFFERED SERIOUS BACK INJURY WHEN HE WAS JUMPED WHILE CARRYING A CLASSMATE DURING A ROLE- PLAYING EXERCISE ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST.  HE DESCRIBES IT AS AN ANNUAL TWO-DAY EVENT AT THE HIGH SCHOOL DEDICATED TO THE HOLOCAUST.  YARA CLAIMS STUDENTS WHO PLAY JEWS ARE REQUIRED TO OBEY DEMANDS BY CLASSMATES PLAYING NAZIS, OR GET A FAILING GRADE.  THE 19 YEAR OLD IS SEEKING UNSPECIFIED DAMAGES AND ATTORNEYS' FEES.  SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICIALS DID NOT RETURN CALLS FOR COMMENT.

AMARILLO SOX OPEN 2012 FRIDAY

Baseball season is about to begin for the Amarillo Sox. The team held its annual media day yesterday to talk about the upcoming season. Manager John Harris said this year’s team will be a good mix of returning players and newcomers. One of the newcomers just happens to be a former Major League pitcher, Wes Littleton, who pitched for the Texas Rangers not that long ago. Littleton said the Sox were the only team to give him a chance following Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow.  He says the arm is fully recovered and he is looking forward to getting back on the mound. The Sox will open the season with a ten-game home stand with the Winnepeg Goldeyes first up, beginning this Friday.

For more information contact the Sox office at 801 S. Polk or over the phone by calling (806) 242-4653.

2012 TRACK & FIELD TEAMS ANNOUNCED

The NCAA has announced the final field for the 2012 Division II Track & Field National Championships to be held May 24-26 in Pueblo, Colorado.  West Texas A&M has five men who qualified for the meet along with the 4x100 meter relay team. On the women’s side, the Lady Buffs qualified their 4x100 meter relay team along with Morgan Shelton, who will compete in the long jump and the Heptathlon. 

VENOM PULL EVEN AT 3-3 WITH WIN

Interceptions plagued Amarillo through its first five games, but there were few complaints about wayward passes from the Venom defense Saturday. The Venom (3-3) picked off nine passes against the West Texas Roughnecks including four by defensive back Ron Evans Jr. as Amarillo knocked off West Texas, 44-28, in Lone Star Football League action at Ector County Coliseum in Odessa. Former NFL quarterback Nate Davis, a fifth round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2009 who signed with the Venom on Thursday, made his Amarillo debut against the Roughnecks. Davis started, throwing six touchdowns with four picks. The Venom put it away with 26 seconds left as Davis hooked up with Doug Williams for a 15-yard touchdown.

■ Next Game: Saturday, May 26th - Rio Grande Valley at Amarillo, 7:05 p.m. Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum.

Dave Henry | Amarillo Globe-News ©2012

TASCOSA TO NAME NEW GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH

Amarillo ISD Athletic Director Brad Thiessen released a statement today saying that he will bring the name of Betsy Baughman before the  AISD Board of Trustees Monday night to be approved as the girls head Basketball Coach at Tascosa High School.  Baughman will replace Jason Cooper who has accepted a similar position at Claude High School.  Baughman comes to Tascosa High School with 17 years of coaching experience, 9 of those as a head coach. After starting her coaching career with AISD at Mann Middle School, Baughman’s first head coaching stop was at Happy, where she led her team to the regional finals in 2004.  The following year she took a similar position at Seagraves where she won the Class A State Championship and then defeated Nazareth for the Texas Cup Championship.  After stops at Merkel and Crawford where she took teams to the playoffs, Baughman has spent the last 3 years developing the Class 3A Mineral Wells program into a playoff contender.  An All-State high school player from Groom, Baughman played collegiately for Bob Schneider at West Texas A&M University.  Her daughter is Brooke Walthall, who was just recently hired as the Head Girls Head Coach at Randall High School.

Local Farmer Speaks To Congress

Dumas-area farmer Dee Vaughan testified on Capitol Hill this week before the U.S. House agriculture subcommittee that oversees general commodities and risk management.“I was just trying to convey that this next farm bill has to have some sort of price protection built in for producers in case prices get really bad,” Vaughan said. He noted that commodity prices have been strong for several years, but “you write a farm bill as an insurance policy, and you hope you never have to use it.” It is important to our region’s economy that farmers be protected against any sudden downswings in prices. Vaughan told KGNC that based on his conversations with agriculture committee staff members afterward the hearing appeared to have gone well.  

If you'd like more agribusiness news, podcasts of the KGNC Agribusiness and Information Hour are available here: http://multimedia.kgncam.com/audio/ag.htm 

Cattle Seeing New Menu

The effects of the drought have created “a very interesting year” in livestock nutrition, according to Cassie Schulte with Cargill Sweet Bran. Schulte told KGNC that, “There are a lot of new ingredients that are being used, both in the dairies and the feedyards” to feed cattle. Schulte explained that many of the newer sources of feed for cattle serve as replacements for forages. She said that includes “fiber sources that aren’t necessarily from the field. So you’re going to be looking at possibly byproducts from the corn milling industry and feeding potentially more grain. Corn stalks have been a big one this year.” Schulte said when it comes to selecting feed sources, a key consideration is making sure that the animal is getting sufficient energy and to be wary of products that might make an animal vulnerable to acidosis or mycotoxins.  To protect against such concerns, “having your ingredients analyzed” is important.   

Wheat Field Day Approaches

Texas AgriLife Research and USDA are presenting the annual field day for wheat producers on May 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the research station in Bushland. Dr. Jackie Rudd, an AgriLife Research professor of wheat breeding, told KGNC that water use issues will be the focus of this year’s field day. "Obviously, drought tolerance in all our crops is extremely important here in the High Plains,” Rudd said. At the field day, producers can learn about new wheat varieties that are designed to help make crops better able to withstand drought conditions. Irrigation equipment and strategies will also be discussed. For more information, contact Texas AgriLife at (806) 677-5600.  

Winter Wheat Production On Upswing

The quality of this year’s winter wheat crop might be suffering, but it looks like the quantity will be strong. Steelee Fischbacher of Texas Wheat Producers tells KGNC that it is estimated that the winter wheat produced in Texas this year will total 103.9-million bushels. Fischbacher said yields that high would be above average as production in our state is normally between 90-million and 100-million bushels. “Even for the High Plains region we’re going to be up on our production as compared to last year,” Fischbacher noted, adding that projections call for yields in our area to tally about 36-million bushels, nearly double the amount produced last year. Meanwhile, recent rains have slowed down the winter wheat harvest. It looks like the harvest will still be early, just not as early as it had appeared it would be at this time last week.  

Crop and Weather Report

The weekly crop and weather summary from Texas AgriLife reports that the hot and dry conditions we’ve had in recent weeks are causing rangeland and pastures in the Texas Panhandle to begin drying out at a rapid rate. A few areas reported receiving some moisture recently, including parts of Collingsworth County that received up to four inches of rain. Flooding and erosion occurred in many fields where there were heavy downpours. Farmers in the Panhandle continue planting corn and cotton. Wheat is in very poor to excellent condition, with most areas reporting poor to fair.

For the Rolling Plains, dry conditions are also causing problems there for pastures, especially in the western counties, as cattle are running out of grazing very quickly. Some cattle producers reported they may have to sell off more cattle without normal May rainfall.

In the South Plains, some producers are still pre-watering cotton fields, hoping for enough rain to plant. A few are already planting. A survey of 141 cotton fields in Lubbock County found about six planted, with less than 1 percent emerged. Cattle were in better shape as a result of improved grazing.