Amarillo | featured news

Of the approximately $300 million in new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grants to nonprofits across America aimed at helping to end veteran homelessness, none of that money is coming to the Texas Panhandle.
Verlene Dickson, the director of Amarillo-based Veterans Resource Center, a veteran-staffed drop-in facility that provides support to those served in the U.S. armed forces and their families, was surprised to hear the news when it was announced this week.

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is hosting a National Park Service centennial celebration today and Sunday that will feature teachers and historians portraying historical characters from Texas Panhandle history.
Events will start at 9 a.m. each day on the grounds of Alibates Visitor Center. Programs will conclude at 4 p.m., said Tim Cruze. chief of interpretation, education and visitor services.

Charles Mason Walker IV, 27, Crime Stoppers’ fugitive of the week last week, was apprehended Tuesday during a traffic stop near Interstate 40 and Coulter street.
Police responded to a call of a possible theft in progress in the 8000 block of Simpson Drive. Witnesses described a suspect vehicle as a grey Dodge Durango.
When located near Coulter Street it was occupied by two males and two females. The driver was identified as Sterling Ash Stephens, 25.

With hopes to reinvigorate all colors and denominations of Amarillo’s faith community, Temple of Praise Community Church will be hosting the Back-2-School Revival starting Sunday evening.
Isaac Butler, an elder at TPCC, said seeing the broken, segregated pockets of community throughout the nation is what led to the idea of creating a “unity revival.”

A war memorial honoring Texas Panhandle veterans is coming to West Texas A&M University.
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Thursday authorized WT to accept and place the memorial on the campus in Canyon.
Retired U.S. Army Col. Don R. Watson is leading efforts to create something similar to the Panhandle War Memorial, located on South Georgia Street in Amarillo, on the east lawn of the university’s Old Main building.

State Sen. Kel Seliger, R. Amarillo, said Thursday the issue of whether a person can carry firearms in a courthouse is a Second Amendment issue that will have to be decided by the courts.
Speaking at a Judges and Commissioners Conference organized by Texas A&M8 Agrilife Extension, Seliger responded to an attendee’s question about courthouse firearms by saying that he believes in “local control” and made reference to a situation unfolding in Potter County.

“Kids’ lives matter,” Keith Grays said.
Grays said that’s why he’s helping to support his friend Sheree Wilson’s coat drive this October.
“It takes a village to raise a child and living in a community where you see the need, responsible people always step up to the plate,” Grays said. “It’s an Eveline Rivers concept: When you see the need, if you can’t meet it, ask somebody to help you to meet it. The community is being asked — the city of Amarillo is being asked to help meet the needs of these kids standing on the bus stops with no winter gear.”

The state Health and Human Services Commission saw the first wave of its massive restructuring on Thursday with a new website that consolidates services in one place and the shifting of 4,000 employees and 120 programs into a more central office.
“This is a monumental effort that’s happening behind the scenes. Most people won’t notice a change, other than hopefully it’s easier for them to find what they need,” said HHSC Executive Commissioner Charles Smith. “It’s a work in progress, and we’re putting the system together in a way that puts Texans first.”

Tori Brooke Patrick, a key witness in a 2003 cartel murder case, and her lawyer, James Wooldridge, accused local law enforcement officers, a district attorney and a church of conspiring together to retaliate against them in a letter requesting Interim Amarillo Police Chief Ed Drain reopen the 2003 case.
Wooldridge claims there is new evidence pointing to what they allege is a coverup.

So far, just 10 lockers have been rented at West Texas A&M University residence halls to store weapons or valuable items after it became lawful Aug. 1 for a student with a concealed handgun license to carry a gun on four-year university campuses.
Vice President of Student Affairs Mike Knox estimates that fewer than 10 percent of students in the residence halls are of legal age to get a CHL.
In an event sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, university representatives met with students Thursday to discuss the new gun law.