Potter County | featured news

Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton gave an optimistic keynote address Tuesday at the opening of the Panhandle Producers & Royal Owners Association 2016 convention in Amarillo.
The speech came just hours after oil prices fell in the light of the International Energy Agency forecasting a decline in petroleum demand.

Residents of Hillside Terrace left disappointed and with little to no new information about recent hikes in their water bills following a city-led discussion Tuesday evening.
Members of the community, along with others living in the southwest quadrant of the city, are reporting water bills double, triple and quadruple normal usage. While the city has continually reaffirmed that the spiked bills are not a repeat of last year — when city staff was estimating usage rather than actually reading the meters — solid reasons on why bills have increased are still unknown.

Federal agents, supported by local police, conducted raids on at least two Amarillo locations on Tuesday and two men were seen being detained in association with the sweeps.
Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration appeared to lead the raid, along with officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Department of Homeland Security Investigations, when they converged on an automobile repair shop shortly after noon near the intersection of North Fillmore Street and Northeast Seventh Ave.

A local man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a body that was found in a barrow ditch north of Amarillo last month.
Nicholas Benjamin Tafoya was booked into Potter County jail after he allegedly killed 30-year-old Gary Romero Garcia. Tafoya shot and killed Garcia on or about July 30, according to a criminal complaint.
Tree trimmers discovered Garcia’s body Aug. 25 on the north side of the 400 block of West Cherry Avenue, according to police.

Texas' rate of uninsured people fell to 17.1 percent in 2015 as part of a steady decline in the share of uninsured residents following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to new Census estimates released Tuesday.

Former Gov. Rick Perry brought some Texas flair to the Season 23 premiere of "Dancing With The Stars," but his footwork brought few plaudits from the judges.

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DUMAS — The small West Texas town of Dumas is reeling but united in solidarity after the hit-and-run death of a high school teacher and coach.
Ryne Erickson, Dumas High School 11th grade history teacher and a cross country and track coach, was killed early Sunday morning after being struck by a car driven by 19-year-old Kaden Lee Thornburg, a recent graduate of Dumas Independent School District and former wrestler there.
Erickson, 30, was beginning his ninth year at the district.

Diane Harrison and Kathy Fleming saw a need to fill in gaps for the homeless population in Amarillo, but they never quite knew what to do.
Then, a call to friends and family to help fill purses for just 10 homeless people at one Christmastime led to an overwhelmingly generous response of 300 hundred purses, both donated and filled.
It was more than just an inspirational moment for Harrison and Fleming. Looking back they say “God increased our bounty by tenfold.”

Potter County residents are invited to join Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas for coffee from 6 to 7 p.m. today at The Church at Bushland, 1800 Farm-to-Market 2381, Bushland.
Sheriff Thomas said he would like to meet residents to discuss current issues and concerns.

The 85th Legislature convenes January 10, 2017. A story that appeared on A8 of Sunday’s Amarillo Globe-News contained incorrect information.