Amarillo, Potter County | featured news

“If you always vote for the lesser of two evils, you will always have evil and you will always have less.” — Ralph Nader

Most Christians I know will be voting in this country’s general election on Tuesday.
For a variety of reasons and motivations, with a mixture of hopes and concerns, most Christians are heading to the polls. To those who are deciding whether to vote, I generally say something like this: I believe it’s OK for followers of Jesus to vote; just don’t pretend it’s an act of righteousness.

“Hello, ladies! How are you? How is church?” asked Margaret Heyde, who was standing near a large table loaded with food at the Salvation Army’s Amarillo headquarters Friday morning.
More women trickled into the autumn-decorated room where they helped themselves to the bounty and chit-chatted about church events. Many were decked out in pantsuits, sweaters and “I voted!” stickers.
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A pair of traffic stops by Potter County Sheriff’s Department deputies Thursday and Friday led to the seizure of 96 pounds of marijuana, valued at a combined estimated street value of $336,000.
On Thursday, the Potter County Sheriff’s Department arrested a man on Interstate 40 who was transporting 16 pounds of marijuana.
It was discovered when a deputy stopped a Mercury that was westbound on Interstate 40 near mile marker 58.

A Borger man died Monday morning following a single-car accident on Highway 152 just outside Borger.
Texas Department of Public Safety reports that Cedrick Dickson, 42, of Borger was driving a 1994 Lincoln at approximately 5:30 a.m. when he veered off to the left of the road and lost control of the car near the Dixon Creek bridge.
The car went down the center median embankment at the bridge and crashed into a cement barrier, according to DPS investigators.
Dickson was pronounced dead at the scene by Hutchinson County Justice of the Peace Yadie Rodriguez.

Legal Aid of Northwest Texas will offer free legal counseling for military veterans on Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day.
Texas has the second-highest number of veterans in the U.S.
Attorneys, intake workers and other nonprofit personnel will be stationed at the Amarillo VA Health Care System from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
Additionally, the same services will be offered from 8 a.m. to noon on Thursday at 1314 Polk St.
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation will hold similar free sessions across the state as part of Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week.

ben.egel@amarillo.com
Baker Brothers American Deli has closed its Wolflin Square location within the last month, leaving Westgate Plaza as the Dallas-based chain’s only Amarillo location.
The store on Georgia Street appeared untouched late Friday afternoon. Salt and pepper shakers rested on top of tablecloths, ready for diners who would not be walking through the locked doors.
Loyal customers haven’t been deterred by the closure, said Chuck Stephens, the general manager for Baker Brothers’s Westgate Plaza store.

As deer hunting season gets underway this morning, there will be fewer shots heard and bucks bagged in one popular hunting spot north of Amarillo.
The Potter County Sheriff’s Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are cracking down on hunting and firing guns near the Canadian River.
They plan to more-tightly enforce laws that are already in place regarding guns and hunting in public areas, they said Friday at a news conference, following an increase in recent complaints about shooters in that location.

A little more than a year after clashes with Amarillo’s City Council forced Jarrett Atkinson to suddenly resign as City Manager, today he now appears to be the top contender for the same spot in Lubbock’s city leadership.
“We think we need to spend a little more time with him, but right now we think he’s the best candidate for the job,” Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope said Friday.
Atkinson as emerged as the favorite from a field of four finalists, according to a Friday report from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

The fate of a natatorium at the center of a $65.6 million bond proposition, known as Proposition 7, that would fund athletic facility upgrades and additions may lie as much in the hands of the school district and a special-interest group as the city’s voters.
Amarillo ISD and a community group previously expressed their intent to contribute $8 million and $17 million respectively to the aquatic center when it was originally presented to the city as part of a nearly $100 million athletics package in the spring.
But that was a different plan.

An inmate who had been in the Potter County Detention Center died at an area hospital Friday evening.
Marlene Gonzalez, 31, died at Northwest Texas Hospital at 4:48 p.m. on Friday, Potter County Sheriff’s Office officials said.
Gonzalez had been under treatment for other medical issues at the time of her death, PCSO deputies said.
Gonzales’ next of kin have been notified, and autopsy to determine the cause of death was ordered by a Potter County Justice of the Peace. It is scheduled for Monday.