David Pantoja to Open Tire Store Downtown

Preparations are underway to open another new business downtown, this one by David Pantoja.  The VP Tire Service will be located on 702 East Broadway in the building where Jesse Faust’s Garage was located for many years. 

The VP Tire Service will sell both new and used tires, do general maintenance such as oil changes, flats,  and brakes, and make minor repairs.  There are also plans to have a service truck. 

For a while now, the business has been open on Saturdays and by appointment, but after the grand opening, it will be open six days a week.  The exact times are not yet certain, but they will be something like 7:30am-5:30pm Monday through Friday and 8:00am-2:00pm on Saturday.

The grand opening is tentatively set for Labor Day weekend with refreshments for all.  For more information, contact David Pantoja at 325-280-1917.

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PLOWBOYS MAKE READY FOR OPENING GAME AGAINST ALBANY

The Roscoe Plowboys prepared for the upcoming football season with a scrimmage against the Grape Creek Eagles at Plowboy Field on Thursday evening.  They looked sharp on both sides of the ball and after all the hard work of football camp, appear to be ready to go. 

The 2011 schedule is unusual in that the Plowboys will open the season with four away games.  They won’t play at Plowboy Field until they face Munday on September 23. 

One of the toughest games of the season will be the one they play this Friday night against the Albany Lions in Albany.  A perennial powerhouse, the Lions are ranked ninth in the state in Division I of Class A. 

Roscoe Plowboys 2011 Football Schedule:

     Aug. 26      Albany
     Sept. 1       Hawley
     Sept. 9       Stamford
     Sept. 16    Merkel
     Sept. 23    MUNDAY
     Oct. 7        HAMLIN*
     Oct. 14      Roby*
     Oct. 21      CROSBYTON*
     Oct. 28      RALLS*
     Nov. 4       Rotan*

Home games in all caps; * denotes district games.

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PLANS MADE TO BEAUTIFY DOWNTOWN PARK

At the B (Community Improvement) Board meeting last week, the City of Roscoe solidified plans to improve the little downtown park across the street from the Roscoe State Bank on Cypress Street .   

MasterScapes of Abilene will be involved in the landscape design and placement of trees, seating, and pedestrian walkways.  This is the same company that previously worked with the City on the Veterans’ Memorial Park downtown.

Funding was also approved for the construction of a seven to eight foot tall brick wall running from the southeast corner of the  park along Cypress to 2nd Street and another one running from the southeast corner all the way back to the alley between Cypress and Bois d’Arc Streets.  

Plans were also discussed for the painting of a mural on the store wall facing the Veteran’s Memorial Park on the corner of Cypress and Broadway.  

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WEATHER REPORT

Roscoe had another week of consistently hot, dry, and sunny weather with few clouds.  Winds were from the south or southeast at 5 to 15 mph.  High temperatures were 100°-103° and lows were 77°-80°.  The forecast for the coming week is for more of the same with little possibility of precipitation.

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ISABEL MENDEZ LUEVANOS

Funeral services for Isabel Luevanos, 67, were held on Saturday at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Sweetwater and followed by interment in the Roscoe Cemetery.  She died at home on Thursday.

Born November 6, 1943, in Karnes City, she was married to Eusebio Luevanos and had lived in Nolan County since 1980.  Survivors include her husband; daughters Patricia Rangel, Mary Gutierrez, and Isabel Velesques of Sweetwater, Gloria Chavez of Roscoe, and Irene Chavez of Edinburg; sons Danny Chavez of Lubbock, David Chavez of Abilene, Ramon Chavez and Andy Chavez of Sweetwater, and Mike Chavez of Roscoe; a grandson Harvey Flores of Roscoe; 20 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

New Business to Open Downtown

Site of new stores opening soon.

Roscoe will soon have a new feed and seed store across the street from the Lumberyard, where the Ag Center is currently located. 

Owned by Bruce McGlothlin and Chuck Harvey, it will be operated at least initially by Chuck Harvey.  They plan to be open for business sometime in mid-September.

McGlothlin and Harvey also intend to open a general store next door, where they will sell hardware and other items.  It will be where Dandy Fence was formerly located. They expect to have it up and running by the end of the year.   

This is good news for downtown Roscoe, and we wish them all the best in their endeavor. 

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RAIN LAST WEEK?  IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU’RE ASKING ABOUT

Roscoe witnessed a spectacular display of thunder and lightning last Friday night, but rainfall on Friday night and Saturday morning was scattered, and the amount received depended on the location. 

Lyndall Underwood’s weather station on the west end of Roscoe got nothing, and at my house in the middle of town there was only a trace, enough to get the sidewalk wet, but no more than that.  Kenny Landfried, on the east side of town, registered .4”. 

On the other hand, at Scott Etheredge’s house a couple of miles northwest of town, it rained an inch and a half, and two miles west of him the Wiman place got 2.7”.  Brownlee School  received 1.3”, and two inches fell at Pyron. 

On Saturday, the high temperature for the day was only 90°F, the lowest maximum recorded for at least a couple of months.  Since then, however, temperatures have returned to this summer’s normals of 100° or better for the high and high 70°s for the low, with the forecast for the coming week being more of the same.  

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PLOWBOYS TO SCRIMMAGE GRAPE CREEK HERE TOMORROW EVENING

The Roscoe Plowboys will continue preparations for the upcoming football season tomorrow  (Thursday, August 18) at 6:00pm when they scrimmage the Grape Creek Eagles, a 2A school in the same district as Colorado City and Kermit.  The Plowboys scrimmaged with Haskell at Haskell last Saturday.

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, recognized as the authoritative source for Texas high school football for the last fifty years, predicts the Plowboys to finish fourth in District 7-A, DII, this year.  Here is their predicted district outcome for 2011:

     1.    Hamlin
     2.    Crosbyton
     3.    Ralls
     4.    Roscoe
     5.    Roby
     6.    Rotan

Here’s what they have to say about the Plowboys:

Coach: Jonathan Haseloff.  Lettermen R/L: 4/12.  Starters returning O/D 3/3.  2010: 4-7, bi-district finalist, 3-2 district. 
Players to watch: OL/DE Devon Freeman (5-11, 182), C/NG Corey Hatcher (5-11, 240).  Top junior TE Landon Jones (5-11, 180, 5.0).  Other prospects: RB/LB Eric Padilla, TE/DE Matthew Cuellar, WR/DB John Hermosillo. 

The Plowboys play their first game of the year against the Albany Lions in Albany next Friday, August 26.  They will have their work cut out for them as Albany is ranked ninth in state in Class A, Division 1.

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MIKE CONAWAY HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETING IN COMMUNITY CENTER

U. S. Representative Mike Conaway (R)  addressed Roscoans at the Community Center last Wednesday afternoon.  Introduced by Larry Williams, he discussed several topics, including the debt ceiling controversy and the upcoming presidential race.  He predictably espoused current Republican positions on all points and said he would support Texas Governor Rick Perry for President.

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BRAND RE-REGISTRATION PERIOD APPROACHES

The Nolan County Clerk's Office reminds all ranchers and farmers that every ten years Texas requires brands and marks to be re-registered.  Re-registration begins August 31 and concludes February 29.  The cost is $16 per location.  

For additional information, phone the Clerk's Office at 325-235-2462 during business hours.

Game Room Opens Downtown

Roscoe’s newest business is the Reel Deal Game Room, which opened for business last Wednesday.  Located near the corner of Broadway and Main Streets where Doc Daily’s office used to be, it is run by Ollie Monroe and Lori Falcon.

Hours of operation are from noon to midnight Monday through Thursday, noon to whenever on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2pm to midnight on Sundays.

Patrons play for tickets that can be redeemed at the Lumberyard, Dandy Western Wear, Doris’s Sweet Shop, and the Check Mart convenience store on Lamar in Sweetwater.  Gift cards for Stripes, Wal-Mart, and the Sweetwater Subway are also offered when available.  

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CONSTRUCTION DATE SET FOR WATER TREATMENT PLANT

At the City Council meeting last night, City Manager Cody Thompson announced that construction of Roscoe’s new reverse-osmosis water treatment plant is now scheduled to begin next May or June and be completed six or seven months later.  

Before construction begins, invitations for bids must be issued, applications must be reviewed, a pilot study must be done and approved by the state, equipment must be procured, and other steps must be carried out. 

When completed, the plant will convert Roscoe’s water, which is currently six times harder than normal, to pure water, free of the unwanted minerals it now contains.  

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CITY STREET PAVING UNDERWAY

City and County workers have begun paving several Roscoe streets and will be busy this week and next laying down seal coating.  The City provides the materials while the County provides workers and equipment.  

Last week they repaved a large part of the old highway between Roscoe and Sweetwater, and yesterday they laid down a new coat of asphalt and gravel on Pecan Street.  Still to come is work on portions of Elm, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Streets.  

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 HEAT AND DROUGHT CONTINUE

The weather for the past week was once again sunny, hot, and dry, as it has been all summer.  High temperatures ran from 101° to 105°F and lows were around 79° or 80°F.  The forecast for the foreseeable future calls for more of the same.

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NEW ROSCOE POLICE OFFICER INTRODUCED

At last night’s City Council meeting, Roscoe Police Chief Felix Pantoja introduced new city officer Bill Hack to the Mayor and Council.  Officer Hack is currently also the security officer for TSTC.  

Highland Tops Rankings of Nolan County Schools

Roscoe Collegiate High School received a Recognized ranking.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released its school accountability ratings for 2011 and rated Highland School as Exemplary, the highest possible rating.  Roscoe High School was close behind with a Recognized rating, the second highest. 

Roscoe Elementary received an Academically Acceptable rating but came within a single percentage point in one category of maintaining its Recognized level of 2010.* 

Here are the TEA ratings for Nolan County schools: 

1.  Exemplary – Highland School

2.  Recognized
          Roscoe Collegiate High School
          Sweetwater Intermediate School
          Sweetwater East Ridge Elementary
          Sweetwater Southeast Elementary

3.  Academically Acceptable
          Roscoe Elementary School
          Blackwell School
          Sweetwater Middle School

4.  Academically Unacceptable – Sweetwater High School

Highland School and Roscoe High maintained their rankings from last year, but all the others dropped a level, primarily because of the new, tougher standards implemented this year. 

Statewide, the number of Academically Unacceptable rankings increased by over 400% from 2010, while the number of Exemplary schools fell by over half.   

Unfortunately, with the $4.8 billion cut in state education funding for the next two years, Texas schools will have a tough time just maintaining their current academic levels and an extra tough time in making any improvements.

For details, see the related article in Sunday’s Abilene Reporter-News by clicking here, and the complete TEA Accountability Report by clicking here.

*At least 15% of a school’s economically disadvantaged students had to make a Commended ranking (roughly equivalent to an A) on the test for the school to achieve a Recognized rating, and only 14% of Roscoe Elementary’s did.

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PEARLAND WOMAN KILLED IN CAR ROLLOVER NEAR WASTELLA

Cynthia Walsh Holman, 52, from Pearland was killed when she lost control of her 2008 Chevrolet HHR on US 84 at 11:57am on Sunday.  She was driving toward Roscoe when her vehicle reportedly went off the road into the median.  She then overcorrected, causing the vehicle to roll and wind up in a cotton field.  She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.  

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HEAT AND DROUGHT CONTINUE

The weather remained relentlessly hot and dry as it has for months.  High temperatures once again typically topped the 100° mark with the high for the week yesterday’s 105°F.  Lows were in the high 70°s.

There was actually a little rainfall last Friday when an afternoon shower briefly passed through.  Unfortunately, however, precipitation was minimal.  Lyndall Underwood recorded three-hundredths of an inch on the western end of town while other locales got as much as a tenth of an inch—and still others nothing at all.

The forecast for the coming week calls for more hot, dry weather with clear skies and highs between 101° and 104°.   

Construction Underway on New Railroad Siding

Union Pacific crane and bulldozer at work a mile west of Roscoe.

If you regularly cross the railroad tracks on Business US 84 in downtown Roscoe, you may be tired of the frequent delays caused by stopped trains blocking traffic.  If so, you may be happy to learn that the Union Pacific Railway is doing something to alleviate the problem by building a two-mile long siding just west of town.  Trains will use the new siding to allow trains coming from the other direction to pass, making stops on the siding downtown unnecessary.

The Union Pacific’s long range plans are to create a double track all the way to El Paso over the next decade so that trains coming from opposite directions can freely pass one another without the delays caused by waiting on sidings.  

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NO BREAK IN THE HEAT AND DROUGHT

Roscoe endured another week of dry weather and hundred-degree temperatures as Abilene reported its 47th day this year with a high of 100°F or more, a new all-time record since records began being kept in 1888.  San Angelo reported its 60th day, also a record—and we’ve still got several days left in July before even getting to August—so the old records will not be just broken, but shattered by the time summer is over.

This year will undoubtedly go down as the hottest on record not only in Abilene and San Angelo, but also in most, if not all, of Texas.  I have unsuccessfully attempted to find out how many 100°+ days Roscoe has had this year but am confident that it, too, like other cities in this part of the state, is experiencing its hottest summer ever.  Yesterday’s high of 104°F unfortunately seemed downright ordinary, and the forecast for the coming week is for more of the same. 

Many forecasters are now saying that the only break from the current weather pattern may be the arrival of a hurricane on the Texas coast. 

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Channel One's Shelby Holliday interviews Cliff Etheredge.

ROSCOE WIND FARM TO BE FEATURED IN CHANNEL ONE NEWS DOCUMENTARY

The Roscoe Wind Farm is once again the subject of a national news documentary, this time for Channel One, which broadcasts news programming via satellite to middle schools and high schools throughout the United States.  The documentary will be about alternative sources of energy in America and is due to be shown this fall. 

The current issue (September 2011) of Cowboys & Indians magazine also has a nice article on the Roscoe wind farm along with several photos. 

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IRA POKER TOURNAMENT TO BENEFIT OFFICER DARRELL CAMPBELL

A no-limit “Texas Hold ‘em” poker tournament will be held this Saturday, July 30, at 6:00pm in Fran Farmer’s barn at 11014 Farmer’s Lane in Ira, to benefit wounded officer Darrell Campbell of the Snyder Police Force and formerly a Roscoe policeman.  

Buy-ins are $50 with re-buys allowed, and late buy-ins will be allowed until 7:00pm.  All buy-ins go to the Darrell Campbell Fund.  Payouts will be $1000 for First Place and $500 for Second Place (donated funds).  Players of all levels are welcome.  The environment will be learner friendly, and soft drinks will be available. 

As previously reported in the Hard Times, Officer Campbell was shot in the head while answering a domestic disturbance call in Snyder on July 12.  He is currently recovering at University Medical Center in Lubbock and making progress daily but needs continuous non-stop support from his family.

The goal of the poker tournament is to raise as much money as possible to ease the burden on the Campbell family and to have fun while doing it.  For more information, contact the event coordinator, Corey Chester, at 325-574-0077, or send e-mail to corey.chester@alexanderspest.com.

Despite Shower, Roscoe Rainfall in Record Territory

On Saturday, it finally rained.  It wasn’t much of a rain, but it was rain—real rain, wet stuff from the sky.  Lyndall Underwood’s weather station on the west side of town recorded only .15 of an inch, hardly a gully washer, but you wouldn’t have known it from the excitement it caused around town.

I have a Facebook account, and a large percentage of my Facebook friends who live in Roscoe duly noted the unusual event in their status lines with announcements in all caps and/or multiple exclamation marks: “RAIN!” “It’s raining!!!!!!” and so on.

It’s hard to blame their enthusiasm.  There’s been so little precipitation this year that all the dryland cotton crops in the area have already been condemned and are in line to receive crop insurance, ranchers are keeping the auction barns open past closing time trying to sell their cattle, and people who are keeping their livestock are having trouble finding hay since grazing has been so sparse this year.  And the dry weather has been the cause of more destructive wildfires this spring than anyone can remember. 

The Abilene Reporter-News recently reported that this June was the hottest one on record, and a couple of weeks ago a New York Times article mentioned that since last October the state of Texas has experienced its driest nine-month stretch ever. 

All this talk of records made me wonder just how this year in Roscoe measures up to others  from the past, so I contacted Roscoe’s official record keeper for rainfall, Kenny Landfried, and asked him if he could supply me with statistics about rainfall in Roscoe over the years.  He was happy to do so, providing me with the monthly totals for the past 75 years. 

Official record keeping for Roscoe dates back to 1936 when E. M. Cooper began recording all the rains that fell and totaling them up at the end of each month and year.  He faithfully kept the books for the next forty years until his death in 1976.  Then, his son-in-law Harold Haynes took over the job and held it until 1992 when he passed it on to Kenny Landfried, who’s been keeping the records ever since.   

The statistics have their own story to tell, and since this past week has been pretty slow as regards newsworthy events, now is a good time to present some of the more interesting ones.

The complete monthly and annual rainfall totals for Roscoe from 1936 to the present are available for viewing, downloading, and printing by clicking here.

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RAINFALL RECORDS FOR ROSCOE

Average Annual Rainfall 1936-2010 (75 years) – 22.15 inches

Most Yearly Rainfall:
    1. 1991 – 37.05 inches
    2. 1986 – 37.00 inches
    3. 1941 – 36.62 inches

Least Yearly Rainfall:
    1. 1998 – 9.35 inches
    2. 2003 – 10.86 inches
    3. 1956 – 10.89 inches

Most Monthly Rainfall:
    1. September 1980 – 17.62 inches
    2. August 1971 – 12.60 inches
    3. April 1957 – 11.62 inches

Most Rainfall in a 3-Month Stretch: April, May, June 1957 – 24.57 inches

Least Rainfall in a 3-Month Stretch: October, November, December 1950 – 0.00 inches 

(The following month, January 1951, had .09 inch, making for a 4-month total of less than a tenth of an inch, also a record.)

Least Rainfall in a 6-Month Stretch: October 1950 through March 1951 – 1.29 inches

Least Rainfall in a 9-Month Stretch: October 2010 through June 2011 – 4.78 inches   

Least Rainfall in a Year’s First 6 Months:
    1. 2011 – 2.62 inches
    2. 1984 – 2.68 inches
    3. 1952 – 4.52 inches
(Even with the official .18 inch recorded on Saturday, 2011 is still the driest year on record to this point, only 2.80 inches for the entire year.) 
 

Former Roscoe Police Officer Shot in Snyder

 Former Roscoe police officer Darrell Campbell is in critical condition at University Medical Center in Lubbock after being shot in the head in Snyder about 12:30 early Tuesday morning.  

He and fellow officer Lee Ortiz responded to a call of a domestic dispute in the 700 block of 26th Street and were talking to witnesses when a man produced a weapon and shot Campbell.  Ortiz and the man then exchanged shots, and the man was killed.   His name has not yet been disclosed, but he is reported to have a long criminal history.

Darrell Campbell was a police officer for the City of Roscoe in the 1990’s.  After leaving Roscoe, he went on to work in Mitchell County before being hired by the Snyder Police Department.

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ROSCOE FIRE DEPARTMENT HELPS FIGHT FIRES NEAR LAKE SWEETWATER

The Roscoe Fire Department has joined firefighting crews from Maryneal, Nolan, Lake Sweetwater, and Sweetwater to battle several blazes that broke out on Monday afternoon between Lake Sweetwater and Sweetwater.  Texas Forestry Service helicopters and airplanes flying from Abilene also fought the fires. 

Around 4000 acres have burned, and at one point on Monday afternoon several homes and businesses south of I-20 in Sweetwater were evacuated as the fire came close enough to threaten the city before being contained.  Interstate 20 was also closed for a short time because of reduced visibility from smoke, and the area around the Walmart was closed from the east. 

At last report the fires are over 40% contained but still burning.  Other fires burned in Howard and Scurry Counties this week.  It goes without saying that the area needs rain in the worst kind of way.

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CITY COUNCIL TENTATIVELY APPROVES A GAME ROOM FOR ROSCOE

At last night’s meeting, the Roscoe City Council tentatively approved Ollie Monroe's request for the operation of a game room located in the old Doc Daily office at the corner of Main and Broadway.  

City Attorney Zollie Steakley will draw up a contract in which the city receives a 5% cut of the gross revenue, and pending approval of the contract by both parties, the game room will begin operation.

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UNPAVED PORTIONS OF 3RD, 4TH, 5TH, AND 6TH STREETS TO BE PAVED

The City Council also gave City Manager Cody Thompson the go-ahead to seal coat approximately a mile of city streets, namely the unpaved portions of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Streets.  The operation is scheduled to begin later this month or early next month and will cost the city approximately $12,000-$15,000.  

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DON GRAHAM RECEIVES APPRECIATION AWARD FROM CITY

At last night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Pete Porter presented former City Council member Don Graham with a plaque of appreciation recognizing his decade of service on the Council and to the City of Roscoe.