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Hereford BRAND Volume 118 | Number 28 WHAT'S INSIDE
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Schools have few options on facilities
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Fire recovery proves water is life Page 5
Lightning results in no decision in Andrews Page 7
Taylor wins fifth as Lady Herd runs on Page 7
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a four-part series taking a closer look at Hereford Independent School District’s $22.4 million bond proposal on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. This first installment looks at what alternatives there were to calling another bond.) For some, Hereford Independent School District (HISD) is beating the proverbial dead horse. For the third time since 2015, HISD is putting a bond proposal before voters with a $22.4 million measure included on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Those in the beating-the-deadhorse camp are probably perplexed HISD is trying to get another bond passed after proposals for $42.6 million and $45 million were soundly
Although identified for repairs in the bond proposal, structural failures at Bluebonnet Elementary had to be repaired before the school could safely open for 2018-19. HISD photo
Surrounded
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Today
For incumbent Deaf Smith County Judge D.J. Wagner, running for a second term is not about politics or power or prestige, but about doing something he wants to do. Wagner, a Republican, is facing a challenge for his seat from Democrat Mona Hernandez in the Nov. 6 general election. Wagner is seeking his second term in office after defeating Hernandez in 2014 and advanced to the November election when he easily bested Murray Hazlett in the GOP March primary. “I enjoy the position,” Wagner said of why he chose to run again. “I enjoy helping the citizens of Deaf Smith County, and I really enjoy the people I work with.” Taking over a relatively smooth-running ship from WAGNER retiring county judge Tom Simons in 2014, Wagner has kept it on course with minimal tax increases and stretching of county dollars. Ironically, his noted biggest accomplishments of the term were things that virtually no citizens could see and even fewer would even think about – in addition to being matters over which his control could be little more than reactionary. “I think we’ve done a wonderful job keeping up with the unfunded mandates handed down from the state legislature,” Wagner said. “We’ve also brought the technology side up in offices to meet those mandates and established long-term projections for moving toward goals.” Arguably the biggest bane upon local governments, unfunded mandates are edicts handed down by state lawmakers requiring a local government to provide a service or office without providing any
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Friday
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Saturday
Rain High: 62º Low: 41º
Sunday
AM Showers High: 45º Low: 32º
Monday
Partly Cloudy High: 47º Low: 33º
Tuesday
Partly Cloudy High: 56º Low: 37º
INDEX
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GET IT IN YOUR
PLEASE SEE HISD | 3
Incumbent wants to keep riding bench
FORECAST
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defeated by voters in 2015 and 2017, respectively. While the most-obvious difference between the current proposal and its failed predecessors is the total amount, the reason for a bond remains the same – upgrading aging and decaying facilities. Therein lies the fundamental reason why a third school bond proposal in as many years looms before voters. Because of the extreme age and condition of a majority of HISD facilities, school officials have been left with little avenues to address the pressing problems in a timely fashion. “We have no other alternatives of dealing with these problems other than a bond,” HISD Superintendent Sheri Blankenship said. “Over the past 10-12 years, the district has
There’s beef all around as Whiteface defenders Gilbert Ramos (17), Jaden Cano (30), Alexis Delval (22) and Mitchell Carnahan (40) corral a Mustang ball carrier for a loss Friday. HISD photo by Bryan Hedrick
PLEASE SEE ELECTION | 3
Hereford lands nurse among Panhandle Great 25 From Staff Reports
When awards were doled out Tuesday touting the top nurses in the Panhandle, Hereford was again represented. Hereford Independent School District RN Lisa Formby was one of 27 area nurses honored
Tuesday during the third annual Panhandle Great 25 Nurses ceremony. The award was given for the third year by District 2 of the Texas Nurses Association in collaboration with
FORMBY
the Panhandle Organization of Nurse Executives. Formby is one of five nursed in education to be named among the Great 25. The others were from Borger and Amarillo ISDs, as
well as two from Region 16 Educational Service Center. Awardees are selected by the Panhandle Great 25 Nurses Review Committee after being nominated by peers, family members, patients, former teachers, physicians and administrators.
The winners are chosen through a blind process based upon established criteria of nominee accomplishments in the areas of leadership qualities, service to the community, compassion as a caregiver, and significant PLEASE SEE NURSE | 3
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