Armed robbery suspect caught after scary chase
An attempted armed robbery of a Vernon pharmacy led to a high speed chase across Wilbarger County last Wednesday. Richard Vernon Fox, 38, of Clancy, Montana, was booked into the Wilbarger County Jail on felony charges of aggravated robbery and evading arrest with a motor vehicle. He is still being held on bonds totaling $70,000.…
Read MoreReady for the Roundup
The 75th Santa Rosa Roundup rides into Vernon this week for four days of rodeo action. The excitement starts on Wednesday, May 12, with the traditional rodeo parade. The parade will get underway at 4 p.m., with colorful floats, plenty of horses and other entries, all vying for prizes. Bringing up the parade will be…
Read More14 building permits approved
There were 14 building permits approved in the City of Vernon during April. A solar panel project was approved at 4401 Foster with Davis Electric as the contractor. A sign was approved for the Church of Christ at 2515 Wilbarger. There were three permits for HVAC, all with Fancher Electric as contractor. Five permits were…
Read MoreIncumbents fall: Craighead, Fraticelli and Parmer win elections
The local election Saturday saw two incumbents go down in defeat. For Wilbarger General Hospital board of directors, Place 5, Kathy Craighead beat incumbent and current board chairman Melanie Milner with 65 percent of the vote — 504 to 262. For Vernon Independent School District board of trustees, place 2, Patrick Parmer beat Allen Overby…
Read MoreMasks still required at VISD
The Vernon Independent School District board of trustees opted to keep the mask mandate in place for all students, staff and visitors – at least through the end of the school year, which ends in May. The vote was part of the Wednesday, April 21 VISD trustee meeting. But the trustees were divided about the…
Read MoreDistrict Court proceedings
Recent hearings in the 46th Judicial District Court resulted in prison and probation sentences. Jason Fry, 40, of Vernon, was sentenced to four years in prison when his probation was revoked in a case of assault family violence. The basis for the revocation was an allegation that Fry had committed the offense of burglary of…
Read MoreWGH update on Covid stats
In his CEO report, Wilbarger General Hospital’s Tom Siemers gave an update to the hospital board of directors on Thursday regarding how Covid had affected the hospital. He said 60 of 175 employees had contracted the illness with 522 work days lost. There were 4 staff that took FMLA and one that died. In the…
Read MoreFlowers, Thomas, McBride, Hildebrand win Area titles
Vernon crowned three Champions at last week’s Area track meet, and Northside had one Area champion . The Lady Lions advanced in six individual events and one relay to Region from Area. The Area meet was held at Mineral Wells’ Jackie Harvey Complex. The top four in each event advance to Region I-4A Meet in…
Read MoreWrestling: Czelusta advances to State with silver at Regional
Vernon High School junior Andrew Czelusta has qualified for the 5A UIL State Boys Wrestling Tournament after finishing as Region 1 runner-up in the 152 lb. class last week in El Paso. Ina flip from last week, Czelusta took 2nd at Region after also taking 2nd at District, while the District champion ended up falling…
Read MoreUnemployment scam targets Vernon city employees
A number of workers in Vernon have been caught up in a widespread fraud regarding claims for unemployment benefits. “Often the employees have no idea it is being done,” said Vernon Police Lt. Mickey Allen. The Vernon Police Department became aware of the issue last fall when several unemployment claims arrived at City Hall, but…
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