Santa Claus Rides in Parade, Talks to Kids

Santa is ready to talk to the kids. (Photo by Vicki Bowen)

Santa Claus was in Roscoe Saturday morning. He rode in the annual Christmas parade on the Roscoe Express shuttle with Mrs. Santa Claus, Miss Snake Charmer 0f 2020, Jacklyn Clinkinbeard, and a couple of others.

After the parade, he and Mrs. Claus went to the Roscoe Community Center, where he spoke with numerous children and took their requests for Christmas presents.

He says he’ll be back on Christmas Eve with his reindeer and plenty of gifts for everybody.  You may not see him, though, because his return will be in the middle of the night when most people are sound asleep.

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VERIBEST DEFEATS PLOWBOYS 40-32

Antonio Aguayo (20) awaits the ball from Jax Watts (21).

Even though the Plowboys lost their game with Veribest in Roscoe Friday 40-32, it was encouraging in one respect. The Plowboys started off very slowly, and in the first half it appeared they might be blown out. However, they played much better in the second half, outscoring the Falcons 10-0 in the third quarter and 13-10 in the fourth.

Antonio Aguayo led Plowboys in scoring with 12 points, followed by Parker Gleaton and Seth Wilcox with 8 each, and Jax Watts with 4.

Scoring by quarters:
                             1         2          3         4          T
Veribest            17        13         0        10        40
Plowboys           8          1        10        13        32

The Plowboys’ next game is scheduled for Friday with Robert Lee in Robert Lee with tipoff at 8:00pm.

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PLOWGIRLS FALL TO SNYDER, COLEMAN

The Plowgirls played two games this past week. On Friday they lost to Snyder in Snyder, and yesterday they dropped their district opener to Coleman in Coleman.

The score in the Snyder game was 45-34. Kaidy Ornelas and Carson Greenwood led the Plowgirls in scoring, both with 10. Cameron Greenwood had 8, Shauna McCambridge 4, and Jacey Rodriquez 2.

McCambridge had 7 rebounds, Carson Greenwood 5, Rodriquez 5, Ornelas 3, Cameron Greenwood 2, and Kirsten Welch 1.

Scoring by quarters:
                             1          2         3          4          T
Snyder              10          6        16         7         45
Plowgirls            7          7          5        15        34

Yesterday evening, the Plowgirls opened district play with a loss to Coleman in Coleman, 40-28.

This year, Roscoe Collegiate is in District 8-2A for basketball with Coleman, Colorado City, Forsan, Miles, and Winters.

Carson Greenwood led the Plowgirls in scoring with 12 points. Kaidy Ornelas had 10, Cameron Greenwood 4, and Jacey Rodriquez 2. Carson Greenwood also led in rebounds with 12. Rodriquez had 6, Shauna McCambridge 5, Cameron Greenwood 5, Mia Lavalais 3, Ornelas 3, and Kirsten Welch 2.

Scoring by quarters:
                             1          2          3         4           T
Coleman            7          14        13        6          40
Plowgirls           4          10         8         6          28

The Plowgirls’ next game on Friday evening is also a district contest, this one with Miles in Miles.

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ROSCOE POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT

On Saturday, December 12, at about 11am, Roscoe Police responded to a disturbance in the 200 block of Bois d’Arc Street, where they took into custody a 22-year-old white female and charged her with disorderly conduct for yelling obscenities in the public view.

On Saturday evening at around 9pm, a customer at Stripes was forcibly robbed while inside waiting to pay for a purchase. The case is under current investigation, and an arrest is expected soon.

Roscoe Police Chief Felix Pantoja warns residents to be careful of their surroundings because of the possibility of criminal activity.

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ROSCOE SCHOOL COVID-19 UPDATE

On Monday, the RCISD sent out a letter to parents with good news about the school’s Covid-19 numbers. Currently, there are only 7 staff members and 6 students with positive cases. As a result, school leaders are optimistic about continuing for another week without going to remote instruction.  

The letter also includes information about which students may receive remote instruction as well as what to do if a parent’s children test positive for Covid-19. So, if you are a parent, you need to read the letter for details. It is available as Covid-19 Update: 12-14-2020 on the school website (click here) or through the RCISD notification app.  

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COVID-19 RAGES AS VACCINE IS APPROVED

The big news on the Covid-19 front in the U.S. this week is that the F.D.A. has approved Pfizer’s vaccine and is about to approve Moderna’s. Vaccinations will start being administered immediately, giving everyone hope that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel, even if it may be the second quarter of next year before everyone who wants to can get vaccinated.

In the meantime, the pandemic continues to rage in the United States with over 3,000 deaths reported on December 9, a new daily record. And health officials are warning that it will get worse before it gets better. Although the northern Midwest is improving, other areas like the Northeast, the South, and the West Coast are seeing escalating outbreaks. Virginia and 19 other states set new records this past week, and California is adding 30,000 new cases a day.

Texas has seen an increase in the number of hospitalizations with 9,304 compared to 8,790 a week ago and number of deaths by an average of 9 more each day over last week. However, Texas is actually doing better than 35 other states in numbers of new cases per capita, as the numbers are generally bad all over.

In the Big Country, the situation, while still critical, has at least lowered its number of active cases. There are now 2,481 active cases of Covid-19 in Taylor County, down from the 2,618 of last week. Covid-19 hospitalizations are also down to 102 from the 116 of last week. However, 64 staff are currently in quarantine, and the region’s ICU beds are still full. Abilene hospitals have now had 165 total Covid-19 deaths, up from 129 last week and 117 two weeks ago.

Also, the Big Country trauma service area has now had 14 straight days in which over 15% of its hospitalizations are Covid-19 patients. The governor’s executive order closes bars and restricts restaurants and other businesses to 50% capacity until the area has seven consecutive days under 15%. It is currently running at a little over 17%. Yesterday. it was 17.25%.  

The good news is that the area expects to receive about 3,500 vaccines tomorrow. About 2,900 of the doses manufactured by Pfizer will go to Hendrick in Abilene while 600 from Moderna will go to Brownwood. The Pfizer vaccine is two-dose with the second dose coming three weeks after the first. The first recipients will be healthcare workers and rest home staff.
 
Locally, the numbers also continue to increase. Nolan County now has 250 active cases, which is 15 fewer than last week’s 265 but 48 more than the 202 of two weeks ago. Once again, the little chart for Nolan County in the Hard Times’ right-hand column warns of a high infection rate. Mitchell County now has 74 active cases, a drop from the 97 last week but still more than the 31 two weeks ago. Fisher County has 31 active cases compared to 22 last week. In Scurry County, on the other hand, the numbers are still trending in the right direction with 58 active cases reported yesterday compared to 93 last week and 118 two weeks ago. However, they do report 27 total deaths, three more than last week.

On the Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital Facebook page, a letter to the citizens of Nolan County was posted on December 11 saying the current situation here is critical and worse than in El Paso and other counties. It warns that a worsening situation may cause another economic shutdown and implores residents to 1) wear masks, 2) stay home if sick, 3) socially distance, and 4) wash hands frequently. It is signed by all the major county officials including the CEO of the hospital, the County Judge, the Chair of the Hospital Board, the Presidents of First Financial Bank, Roscoe State Bank, and Texas National Bank, the Mayors of Sweetwater, Roscoe, and Blackwell, the Superintendents of the Nolan County schools, the Director of the Chamber of Commerce, and several others. The letter is available here.

Here are the Big Country’s county totals for the year as of yesterday (with last Tuesday in parentheses): Howard, 2,260 (2,264); Scurry, 1,777 (1,686); Erath, 1,754 (1,514); Jones, 1,708 (1,656); Brown, 1,135 (991); Nolan, 987 (861); Comanche, 675 (563); Runnels, 478 (405); Eastland, 464 (408); Mitchell, 405 (380); Stephens, 364 (343); Callahan 293 (256); Coleman, 218 (192); Fisher, 199 (173); Coke, 198 (199); Knox, 139 (125); Haskell, 118 (105); Shackelford, 68 (59); Stonewall, 34 (31); Kent, 26 (26); Throckmorton, 26 (25);
 
Selected west Texas counties yesterday (with last week in parentheses): Lubbock, 36,933 (34,722); Wichita (Wichita Falls), 8,795 (7,766); Midland, 8,564 (8,109); Ector (Odessa), 6,343  (5,771); Tom Green (San Angelo), 3,690 (3,494).

Texas now has had a total of 1,352,489 cases (1,258,124 last week), 259,293 of them active (200,050 last week), and 24,142 total deaths (22,627 last week).

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WEATHER REPORT: CHILLY AS WINTER APPROACHES

Yesterday's sunrise.

Winter doesn’t officially arrive until this coming Tuesday, December 21, but the weather these past few days has already been feeling like it’s already here.

Last Wednesday and Thursday were pleasant with sunny skies and afternoon highs of 74°F on Wednesday and 79° on Thursday, but then the wind shifted to the north, and the temperature dropped under cloudy skies to a high of 62° on Friday, 55° on Saturday, and 45° on Sunday. Monday and yesterday were a little warmer at 51° and 53°, but it didn’t really feel that way as the winds were sharp and chilly. Lows ranged from the mid-forties last Thursday and Friday down to freezing or below since then—31° Saturday, 28° Sunday, 26° Monday, 32° yesterday, and 31° this morning. There was a slight bit of misty moisture in the air on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough even to get the sidewalk wet.

The forecast is for more cool weather today. Skies will be sunny with an afternoon high of 54° with a light southwest breeze. Tomorrow will be slightly warmer with a high of 63°, more sunshine and stronger southwest winds. Friday’s high will be 66° with strong southwest winds under partly cloudy skies, and on Saturday both the temperature and the wind will drop with a high of 55° and a light north breeze. Sunday and Monday will climb back into the sixties with highs of 66° and 67° respectively. Then on Tuesday, winter officially begins.

There is no precipitation in the forecast.

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