Potter County | featured news

A member of the Amarillo Fire Department was rescued from a house fire at 1402 N. Johnson on Wednesday evening.
Responding units arrived at the house just before 6 p.m. where heavy fire and smoke were showing. After AFD crews slowed some of the fire on the northeast side of the house, firefighters entered the house and the flames flared up again, forcing them to retreat.
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An Amarillo man has died Thursday after a one-vehicle all-terrain vehicle crash on Petersen Road, south of the city.
Daniel Cravy, 29, was killed when he disregarded a stop sign at the T-intersection of Petersen Road and Bell Street, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. The ATV he was driving continued westbound across Bell Street and crashed into a concrete culvert, flipping over.
Two passengers, Billee Daulton, 22, and Taylor Halstead, 21, both of Amarillo, were transported to hospital where they were treated and released.

The Amarillo Coffee & Kreme Breakfast Club is hosting its Coats for Kids Gala tonight, culminating a monthlong coat drive that benefits the Maverick Boys & Girls Club, Urban Project and Arrow Child and Family Ministries.
The Gala is scheduled at 7 p.m. today at In This Moment Parties & Events, 707 S. Polk St., and will feature dinner and dancing until midnight. The event is open to the public with tickets available at the door. Cost is $25 per person or $40 per couple.
The gala is also the final drop-off spot for those wishing to donate coats.

Frames of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides photographs to families with a terminally ill child under 18, a child who has recently passed away, NICU babies or special needs children in the Amarillo area, will host a fundraiser Oct. 8 at Cross Pointe Church in Amarillo.
The Bunco for Babies dinner is provided by 575 Pizzeria and a silent auction, baked goods auction and door prizes.
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Hunters, meat processors and others interested in tracking chronic wasting disease in the state’s deer and elk population during the coming hunting season can attend a training class in Amarillo to learn how to collect a post-mortem brain tissue sample for testing.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, along with the Texas Animal Health Commission, have partnered to teach residents how to take the tissue sample during a hands-on classroom session on Oct. 13.
The training is free, but space is limited to the first 50 participants.

Amarillo College plans to honor 2015 National Teacher of the Year Shanna Peeples and other educators next week.
From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, on the Oeschger Family Mall at AC’s Washington Street Campus, the college will hold an event titled Celebration of Education.
Peeples, an Amarillo Independent School District curriculum specialist and former classroom teacher, will receive the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award.
The college will also honor a group of educators nominated for special recognition and plans to showcase some of its academic programs.

Amarillo Fire Department is getting the word out early and expanding Fire Prevention Week into a monthlong affair, in the hopes of raising fire safety awareness and preventing fires across the city.
Texas had the most fire deaths of any state in the country in 2014, with 236 lives lost, according to the United States Fire Administration.
AFD Capt. Larry Davis reported that the department responded to 711 fires in 2015, nearly two per day.
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Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos stopped by Caprock High School on Wednesday as part of a statewide voter education campaign.
Texas’ chief election officer spoke to a auditorium of juniors and seniors about the importance of voting and continuing education beyond high school. Election officials were at the school to register eligible students to vote.
Cascos sought to inspire the largely Hispanic audience by telling them about his emigration from Mexico and his rise to county judge and, eventually, the executive department of the Texas government.

Tyson Foods, Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to more than 5,700 job applicants whom the U.S. Department of Labor alleged were systemically discriminated against, including nearly 2,000 applicants here at the Amarillo plant.
Applicants for labor positions in Amarillo and five other cities were rejected based on sex, race and/or ethnicity, according to the DOL.
Tyson disagrees with the allegations, but agreed to the settlement to avoid the cost of going to trial, according to a company statement.

Ardent Health Services, the parent company of Baptist St. Anthony’s Health System, has merged with LHP Hospital Group Inc. to form the second-largest private, for-profit hospital operator in the U.S., officials said Wednesday.
“This transaction does not affect day-to-day operations at BSA,” BSA president and CEO Bob Williams said. “It does strengthen Ardent Health Services, our parent company, which in turn strengthens BSA.”