Saturday, September 24, 2016 Volume 118 | Number 25 12 Pages www.herefordbrand.com $1
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County adds motto to vehicles, courtroom By C.E. Hanna BRAND Staff Writer In keeping true to the Deaf Smith County (DSC) Commissioners Court’s Oct. 26, 2015 resolution, the nation’s motto, “In God We Trust,” now adorns the walls of the county courtroom. The sentiment became the national motto on July 30, 1956 and has been used on the nation’s
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The national motto, “In God We Trust,” now adorns all Deaf Smith County vehicles, as well as the wall of the commissioners court meeting room. currency since 1865, the resolution said. “It harkens back to the
beliefs that this country was founded upon, and that’s why it is important,”
DSC Judge D.J. Wagner said. “It goes along with putting the motto on all
county vehicles.” The oak sign was carved and stained by Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) inmates in Huntsville, he said. According to TDCJ public information director Jason Clark, wellbehaved offenders can petition the warden to work in the craft shop – where they can make and sell anything from signs to belt buckles to key rings in a variety of mediums, PLEASE SEE COUNTY | 3A
EMS learns from regional disaster drill By C.E. Hanna BRAND Staff Writer
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Straightening out the washboard began Thursday as crews started repaving a brick portion of Main Street from Seventh Street to Park Avenue.
Smoothing a ro u u u u u u u gh spot By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Portions of downtown Hereford allow residents and visitors alike to go back in time to a degree with streets that are stilled pave with bricks – as they were in the early 20th century. As virtually all drivers who made the trek can attest, it does not take long for the experience became totally immersive and interactive. Whether you’re in a Mercedes, BMW, SUV, pick-up or dually, drivers felt as if they were in a 1930 Ford coupe with no shocks and solid rubber tires making their way across the washboard roadway. The first steps toward addressing that situation started Thursday when work began on repaving the portion of Main from Seventh Street to Park Avenue. The worst section of the city’s brick roadway in terms of driving PLEASE SEE PAVE | 3A
In an emergency situation, possessing and executing a plan for individuals and first responders alike is crucial to mitigating casualties. Hereford Regional Medical Center’s (HRMC) Emergency Medical Service (EMS) looked to solidify its plan in the eventuality of a tornado as part of a recent cooperative simulation between Regional Advisory Council-A (RAC), which services the Amarillo and Panhandle area, and RAC-B, which serves the Lubbock area, in Plainview. “These are mass-scale exercises to assure that we respond appropriately to a disaster or a major catastrophic event,” HRMC EMS Director Marcos Castro said. “It’s an opportunity for various responders from different regions to learn to work together.” CASTRO The simulation, hosted by the Plainview Fire Department, drew nursing staffs from HRMC, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Texas BSA Health System, University Medical Center, Covenant Health, Plains Memorial Hospital and Parmer Medical Center. According to Castro, HRMC EMS worked alongside crews from Lubbock, Plainview, Tulia, Pampa and Clovis, N.M. “For the simulation, we acted as if the tornado had traveled through town [Plainview] and that it had taken out the west wall of the hospital,” Castro said. “We started at about 8:15 [a.m.] and set up the tent, complete with physicians, paramedics and nurses, and simulated the whole event by 3 p.m.” The cooperating agencies were then evaluated on their performances in subsequent debriefings that yielded positives and negatives. The mobilization and response aspect of the simulation, including erecting a tent with requisite medical accoutrements in under three hours, went well, Castro said. “We do need to work better on communication,” he said. “Almost every group of first responders runs on different
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While most of the project will be repaving over the existing brick road, portions of the bricks did have to be completely removed to level the roadbed.
PLEASE SEE EMS | 3A
Library flexes its ‘Power’ By C.E. Hanna BRAND Staff Writer If she were to create a mantra for Deaf Smith County (DSC) Library, director Linda Perry would likely say, “We’re more than just books.” The Texas Library Association (TLA) shares the DSC Library’s assessment and its work to spread the message prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to declare Sept. 15 “Power Up Your Library
Day.” “It’s a struggle to overcome that image and to get information out,” Perry said. “Most people don’t know about all of the services and materials we offer.” According to TLA president Susan Mann, the “powered libraries” campaign is intended to illuminate the library’s evolution to meet the demands of a fluid, ambitious and technologysavvy population. The campaign’s intent is to advance three messages – libraries are essential to the creation and sharing of ideas in the community; libraries are vital, forwardthinking, technology-
driven institutions; and libraries’ endeavors reflect a diverse field of information work. DSC Library’s membership with TLA affords it – and patrons by proxy – access to numerous databases like TexShare and Sweet Search, both of which offer citations for high school and college students’ research projects. For children, the library has TumbleBooks, which reads the texts aloud and displays illustrations. “It’s a cool resource for kids,” Perry said. “It comes with puzzles, memory games, and National PLEASE SEE POWER | 2A
Contributed photo
Deaf Smith County Library assistant director Evelyn Taylor, left, give library patron Ofelia Mendez adult coloring books and bookmarks as part of the statewide “Power Up at Your Library” event Sept. 15.
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