Amarillo | featured news

Amarillo City Council members have approved a vital step toward updating area senior services and moving them into the 21st century.
During their Tuesday meeting council members unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance to create a 15-person advisory board to pinpoint gaps in senior services and to help create programs that will provide comprehensive senior adult services.
The City will contribute $200,000 to help implement a two-year plan, primarily to cover personnel expenses, and area foundations will contribute $300,000, according to the city ordinance.

The Canyon Police Department has been called out on 12 different cars being broken into over the past two days, including two on Tuesday, according to a department news release.
CPD reports said the majority of vehicles broken into were unlocked, with valuable items left out in plain view.
Some of the items that were taken include guns, backpacks and money.
CPD advises car owners to lock their cars and remove all valuables.
Anyone with information on the series of burglaries is asked call CPD at 806-655-5005 or Crime Stoppers at 806-374-4400.

The Amarillo Police Department is searching for two men involved in a robbery that occurred Monday night in the parking lot of the River Falls Apartment Complex.
At 9:15 p.m. APD officers were called the apartments, located at 6040 Belpree Rd.
According to reports, the victim, a 23-year-old male, was in the parking lot when he was approached by two males.
The male suspects came up to the him, hit him in the face and knocked him to the ground.
While on the ground the suspects grabbed personal items from the victim and left the scene.

Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) said Monday he intends to address sanctuary campuses through a bill he filed ahead of the upcoming legislative session beginning in January.
This comes in response to students on various campuses like the University of North Texas, Texas Woman’s University, and Texas State University pushing administrators to protect undocumented students.
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Amarillo property tax rates have increased about 28 percent over the past decade. During the same time period the median household income has teetered its way up to a nine percent increase. And now a Republican senator from Houston has introduced a bill to address that imbalance — a bill that has local leaders unnerved.
Written by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Harris County), Senate Bill 2 would reform the rollback process by which local taxing entities — which includes schools and cities — can approve annual property tax rate increases.

“If you build it, they will come.”
That iconic “Field of Dreams” quote has stayed in the back of Jess Evers’ mind ever since she and Johnna Pointer founded Amarillo Netplex in 2015.
And an upcoming $625,000 retail expansion scheduled to be completed in early summer 2017 is the next step in that rationale.
“When you go to the larger cities like Dallas, Houston (and) San Antonio, there’s always areas where these multi-sport facilities originate, where you kind of see a hub,” Evers said. “That’s what we’re trying to develop.”

Antonio Lara stood outside the Generation Next Worship Center on Monday night in Amarillo, children in tow, a pink diaper bag slung over his shoulder. One-year-old Sofia was held in his arms, and five-year-old Diego, in a puffy jacket, stood quietly at Lara’s feet.
Sharing their spot on the sidewalk were fellow Amarilloans — some homeless, some disabled, some immigrants — all in some sort of need, waiting to receive free health screenings, a hot meal and clothing at the Inner-City Health Fair.

With the Christmas holidays approaching, Texas State Parks are helping friends and families get into the spirit by offering gift items and hosting holiday events statewide.
With 72 events scheduled at 47 state parks in the weeks ahead, there are plenty of options for holiday fun, including: Candlelit tours, night walks with Santa Claus, taffy pulls, Christmas light displays and a traditional Mexican American Las Posadas celebration, to name a few.

Police suspect speed and alcohol contributed to a rollover wreck on Interstate 27 that sent two people to the hospital with life-threatening injuries early Sunday.
About 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, police were sent to the crash in the 7600 block of South Canyon Drive, according to an Amarillo Police Department news release.
Alvin Garza, 42, of Amarillo, lost control of a maroon 2007 Dodge Ram while driving south on I-27, the news release said.

National Steak and Poultry has recalled nearly 2 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products because they were not fully cooked.
The company previously recalled 17,439 pounds of chicken packaged on Oct. 4 and 5. The new recall includes chicken packaged between Aug. 20 and Nov. 30; a total of 1,976,089 pounds of chicken.
The two chicken entrees being recalled are:
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