Voters Approve School Bond for STEM Center

Election volunteers Amy Austin and Ernestine Edmiston wait for voters at Saturday's bond election.

In a record turnout for a school bond election, the voters of the RISD overwhelmingly approved the passage of the $3.5 million bond for a new Capstone STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Research Center, to be located at the school’s ag farm:

For: 158    Against: 57

The heavy turnout was indicative of the local interest, as was the size of the crowd at the public hearing on April 15. Superintendent Kim Alexander, who was pleased with the election’s outcome, has emphasized the advantages a STEM endorsement will have for our students, whether they go on to college or directly enter the work force. 

As one of Texas’ 23 designated high performance school districts, Roscoe has leadership responsibilities, and school officials anticipate that the Research Center can be successful enough to serve as a model for many of the state’s other rural schools considering reproducing student opportunities to earn STEM endorsements.

Now that the bond has passed, Dr. Alexander said the hope is to have all the planning and preliminaries done by August 1 so that construction of the new center can begin.  The goal is to have the facility finished by August 2014.

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RCHS NAMES 2013 VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUTATORIAN

Valedictorian Faith Boren and Salutatorian Torrey Willman.

The top two students in this year's graduating class have been named.  The Valedictorian is Faith Boren, who graduates with an overall grade average of 99.77, and the Salutatorian is Torrey Willman, who graduates with an average of 98.11.

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NINETEEN RCHS SENIORS EARN ASSOCIATE'S DEGREES FROM WESTERN TEXAS COLLEGE

Back row left to right: Joe Luis Aguayo, Tyler Bromley, Eduardo Gallegos, Landon Jones, Brenon Moore, Jose Rangel, Pete Ortega, Brant Burnett, Kyle Bromley; Front row: Torrey Willman, Carolina Perez, Faith Boren, Blanca Leanos, Crystal Luna, Mirian Solis, Laura Pantoja, Alura Renteria, Stina Tomlin, Kendall Moses.  Graduates with gold collars were members of the Honor Society.

In a ceremony held Friday evening, nineteen of this year's twenty-seven graduating seniors at Roscoe Collegiate High School were awarded their Associate's Degrees from Western Texas College in Snyder.  

This is the largest percentage yet of RCHS graduates to earn their Associate's at the same time they finish high school.  Last year, thirteen of twenty-five did.

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LEANOS, THREE HORNETS WIN MEDALS AT STATE TRACK MEET

Jesus Leanos 

Roscoe’s Jesus Leanos finished third in the 3200-meter run at the State 1A-DII track meet in Austin Friday with a personal best time of 10:27.70, while Highland had three medal winners: Beth Richburg, Sheldon Hall, and Michael Hyde. 

Beth Richburg won a silver medal in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.31, Sheldon Hall was third in the boys’ 800-meter run (2:01.30), and Michael Hyde also won a bronze medal with a pole vault of 12’6”. 

Hall came in fourth in the 400 meters (52.20) and Richburg was fourth in the 300-meter hurdles (49.15).  Highland’s girls’ 4x400 meter relay team finished sixth.

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CITY WILL RE-OPEN BIDDING FOR WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND LINE UPGRADE

City Manager Cody Thompson addresses the Council at last night's meeting.

The City of Roscoe’s plans to complete the new reverse-osmosis water treatment plant this year received a setback when contractors' bids were opened and read last week.  First, only two companies made a bid, which was a disappointment since as many as seven were expected, and, second, both bids were about three quarters of a million dollars more than the City planned to spend on the project.  After being informed of the situation last night by eHT engineer Scott Hay, the City Council rejected both bids.

So now City Engineers eHT of Abilene will revise the project description and start a new round of bidding in three weeks or so.  It will then open the new bids around the end of June and present its results and recommendations to the City Council for approval in July, setting the overall project completion date back by about two months.

Roscoe received $1,765,000 from the Texas Water Development Board last year to fund construction of the new water treatment plant and improve the city’s outdated water lines. But about $300,000 of that will go to City Engineers eHT of Abilene to do the engineering, create and get approval of the specifications, and supervise construction of the project.  So, the bids, both of which exceeded $2 million, were considerably beyond what is feasible with the available funds. 

Project revision will involve a decrease in the footage of upgrade which can be done to the city water lines.  However, it will not affect construction of the reverse-osmosis water treatment plant or the installment of the SCADA system that computerizes the pumps.

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CITY COUNCIL PICKS PATTY McBRIDE TO OPERATE CITY POOL THIS SUMMER

At its monthly meeting last night, the City Council selected Patty McBride to run the City Swimming Pool this summer.  She and Elementary School Principal Andy Wilson ran it last year.  This year, she and Lus Pantoja will be in charge of the daily operation, although Wilson will still be available to teach swimming lessons.  For more information, contact Patty McBride at 325-766-3049.  For information about swimming lessons, contact Andy Wilson at 325-436-1890.

City Manager Cody Thompson informed the Council that the repair and upgrade to the pool is underway and will be done in time for the pool to be opened the first week of June.  The pool is getting a new filtering system, drain, and drain covers.  The cost will be about $26,000. 

In other Council news, the Council approved the site layout plan for 26 proposed extended-stay rental units on lots 1-6 of Block 29, which face Laurel Street between 3rd and 4th Streets.  

It also considered a preliminary plat for some seventy lots of the Young Farm Estates on the city’s north side east of FM 608 and south of the lift station.  The lots will be 110’ x 60’ or 75’ each.

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CENTRAL ROLLING PLAINS CO-OP HOLDS ANNUAL MEETING

Co-op President Larry Williams addresses the crowd.

The Central Rolling Plains Co-op treated its stockholders to a barbecue dinner last night at the Roscoe School Cafetorium.  Items of business included the manager’s report, regional reports, audit report and the election of three directors, who remained the same as this year.  

Speakers included Tom Engelky, Alan Hoelscher, Brett Cypert, and Paul Williams.  Ralph Stirl presented the Soil and Conservation Award to Scott Etheredge.  Dividend checks and equity retirement checks were also distributed and door prizes awarded.

Stockholders who were unable to attend may pick up their checks at the Co-op Office until noon next Friday, May 24.  For more information, call 325-766-3431.

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WEATHER REPORT: RAIN

There were two showers last week, one on Thursday and one on Friday.  The amount of rain received varied widely depending on location, but the total for both days generally fell between a half inch and an inch.  The rainfall tended to be heavier east of town on Thursday and west of town on Friday.  The official total recorded by Roscoe weatherman Kenny Landfried was .35” on Thursday and .33” on Friday. The rain on Thursday also had some nickel and dime-sized hail for a short time.  There was also a light shower yesterday evening, but it didn’t last long and didn’t amount to much.

The weekend was sunny and mild with highs in the seventies and lows in the lower fifties.  Monday and Tuesday were warmer with highs of 86° and lows of 59° and 60°.

The outlook for the next few days, however, is for summerlike weather with highs in the mid to upper nineties and lows in the mid sixties.

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† EMMA LOU CLOPTON

Graveside services for Emma Lou Clopton, 75, were held at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 13, at Kuykendall Cemetery in Cherokee, Texas.  She passed away on Thursday, May 9, at her residence in Roscoe.

Emma was born on September 5, 1937, in Austin to Ira Elton and Letha Mae (Smith) McCown. She married James Clopton on June 2, 1952. A homemaker and a Baptist, she is survived by three sons, Jay Clopton and wife Cindy of Goldthwaite, Marty Clopton and wife Mary Lou of Roscoe, and Dale Clopton and wife Shannon of Hamlin; two daughters, Pam Henson and husband Johnny of Burnet and Margaret Gardner and husband James of South Carolina; 12 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; brother, Roy McCown and wife Joyce of Cherokee; and sister, Rosie Gray and husband George of Cherokee.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, James Clopton; one son, Yancy Clopton; and several brothers and sisters.

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