Preparation for City Sewer Line Improvements Begins

Freshly unloaded manholes on Sixth Street.

If you saw workers unloading large, circular concrete manholes in or around alleys in south Roscoe yesterday, you were seeing the first phase of the sanitary sewer line improvements that will be going on in town this year. Equipment, materials, and supplies are currently being delivered, and work will begin in earnest on Tuesday, April 11. It will then go until completion, which should take about six months—more or less depending on the weather and other factors. Whitney Underground Utilities of Valley Mills is the company in charge of replacing the old sewer lines from the 1940s and '50s and replacing them with new ones. Theirs was the lowest qualified bid at $581,787.

The old lines need to be replaced to eliminate exfiltration, or leakage, of sewage from the old lines, which can get into and contaminate the water table, and infiltration, or water entering the lines from rains, which unnecessarily causes a larger volume to be cleaned and filtered, which increases expenses. The new lines will also provide better service to residents. They will be set deeper than the old ones and have more manholes for easier access to problem areas.

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SPRING CLEAN-UP ENDS FRIDAY

The Spring Clean-Up dumpsters by the City Shop on 3rd and Laurel.

The City of Roscoe’s annual Spring Clean-Up is underway and will continue until Friday evening. Hours of operation are from 8am to 7pm. The three dumpsters are located just east of the City Shop on Third and Laurel Streets. City Manager Cody Thompson reports more activity this year than usual as dumpsters have been filled repeatedly.

As always, there are items that may not be placed in the containers. These include paint, oil, oil filters, chemical containers, and tree limbs. Air conditioners and refrigerators must be tagged land-fill acceptable.  There is no curb service, and since the Spring Clean-Up is for Roscoe residents only, anyone dropping off anything must be prepared to show a City of Roscoe water bill or other proof of Roscoe residency.

For more information, contact City Hall during business hours at 325-766-3871.

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WILKINSON SISTERS LEAD ROSCOE AT POST TRACK MEET

Once again, as they’ve been doing all season, the fleet-footed Wilkinson sisters, Bonnie and Lyndi, led Roscoe’s track teams, this time on Friday at the Bold Gold Caprock Relays in Post. In a meet with nine teams (Colorado City, Lubbock Roosevelt, Post, Idalou, New Deal, Roscoe Collegiate, Lamesa, Plains, and Sweetwater), all of them but Plains larger schools than Roscoe, the Plowgirls finished a respectable fifth.

Bonnie won the triple jump and was third in the 400-meter dash, while Lyndi finished second in the 800-meter run, and both were on the Plowgirl relay teams that finished second in the 4 x 400 meters and fourth in the 4 x 200 meters.

For the Plowboys, Jayden Gonzales finished second in the pole vault with a vault of 11½ feet.

Here are the complete results for the Plowgirls and Plowboys:

Plowgirls

Event                          Place        Athlete                   Time/Distance
Triple Jump                   1          Bonnie Wilkinson           36’7"
800 meter run              2          Lyndi Wilkinson           2:33.67
400 meter dash            3          Bonnie Wilkinson         1:03.64
4 x 400 m. relay           2           Plowgirls                        4:22.50
   (Jaci Alexander, L. Wilkinson, Jaleigh Morales, B. Wilkinson)
4 x 200 m. relay           4           Plowgirls                         1:58.57
   (Morales, L. Wilkinson, Alexander, B. Wilkinson)

Plowboys

Pole Vault                      2          Jayden Gonzales              11’6”

Next up for both Plowboys and Plowgirls are the Cottonwood Relays in Roby this Friday, March 31. This will be their last meet before the District Meet in Albany next Thursday, April 6.

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HUGE CROWD ENJOYS RANDY ROGERS BAND AT LUMBERYARD SATURDAY NIGHT

Randy Rogers at the Lumberyard Saturday night.

Roscoe’s population more than doubled Saturday night as some 1800 country music fans from all over the Big Country were at the Lumberyard for the Randy Rogers concert. And, despite all the high winds of the preceding days, it was a perfect evening for the outdoor event.  The winds were almost calm the entire evening with temperatures ranging from the mid-seventies earlier to the high sixties later.

The show was a make-up for the originally scheduled event by the band last fall that was canceled because of a pouring rain.

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FFA JUDGING TEAMS OFF TO WEEKEND MEETS IN CANYON, CLARENDON

The RCHS FFA Judging Teams will participate in two invitational meets this weekend, the first at West Texas A&M University in Canyon on Friday, and the second at Clarendon College in Clarendon on Saturday.

Here are the teams and members of each:

Horse Judging
Jasmine Foster
Kayla Justiss
Rebecca Shaw
Logan Wicker

Livestock
Lynzie Atkison
Tait Fullwood
Reese Kiser
Abigail Meadows
Zeke Murphy

Cotton
Cade Garrett
Giselle Herrera
Ainsleigh Nelson
Mariann Rainey
Nolan Reeves

Vet Med
Caleb Boren
Morgan Bowers
Jovanah Guzman
Alfonso Islas
Kayla Justiss

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WEATHER REPORT: WIND, RAIN, AND A TORNADO

There's a puddle in my driveway this morning.

It’s been a wild week for the weather. First, there were some seriously high winds on Thursday and Friday with winds of 37mph on Friday with gusts up to 50mph, and then there was last night’s storm that came in from the southwest with lightning, thunder, and strong winds. A tornado warning was issued at 9:30pm after radar indicated rotation, and wind gusts of 73mph were reported 11 miles southwest of Sweetwater. Residents of northwest Nolan County as well as anyone on I-20 between miles 233 and 266 were warned to “Take cover now!” and from some of the posts I saw on Facebook, many of my friends did just that. However, I missed it because I didn’t have the television or radio on, so I didn’t find out about it until later.

There were reports of a tornado four or five miles south of town moving east. It apparently didn’t cause any significant damage that I’ve heard about, but it scared several people in the area, and one person said her car was hit by a traffic sign.

Along with the high winds and tornado, last night’s storm brought some rain, which started when the storm hit and lasted off and on until about 1am. I haven't heard yet from others in areas around Roscoe except for one report of 1.3" west of town and one of 2.3" in Mitchell County. Here in town my rain gauge recorded .76”, which makes this month’s total rainfall by my reckoning .84” (I also had .06" on Wednesday and .02" on Friday), which is below the 1.12” average for March. But, no matter how much it was, we’ll take it. At least it’s a start, and maybe we’ll get more in April.

Temperatures this past week were milder than the week before. The high was Sunday’s 82°F, and highs were in the seventies on four days. The low dipped to 44° on Friday and again on Monday.

Today’s high is predicted to reach only 65°, tomorrow’s will warm up to 79°, and Friday’s to 87° before cooling back to 79° on Saturday, and 68° on Sunday. Lows will be in the fifties or upper forties.

There is a 50% chance of rain on Sunday.

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