Regional

Mayor Pam Gosline issued a Disaster Resolution on February 23 for the City of Vernon in response to damage done by the most recent winter storm from Feb. 14 – 22. This state of disaster declaration was issued to allow for the city and its citizens to be eligible for FEMA aid. That declaration must…

  Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced today that the State of Texas will provide a “hold harmless” to Texas school systems for the rest of the 2020-2021 academic school year only. This means funding will be made available to school systems in Texas that have seen enrollment and attendance declines…

Governor Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced two new policies this week aimed at helping low-income Texans recover food lost during last week’s severe winter storm. Texans participating in SNAP are now eligible to replace food that was lost or destroyed due to power outages by requesting replacement benefits. SNAP…

The filing period for local elections ended on Friday with three contested races set. At the Vernon city commission, Place 4 incumbent Britt Ferguson is seeking re-election, but he is being challenged by Dustin Fraticelli for the two-year term on the commission. Don Aydelott, the incumbent for City Commission Place 3, filed for re-election and…

  AEP Texas restored electric service to approximately 150,000 customers overnight late Wednesday into Thursday morning as more generation came online in ERCOT. We are actively working to restore power to customers throughout our service territory. Crews are working around the clock to restore power to all impacted customers. We know many of our customers…

The Vernon College board of trustees appointed Betsy Smith to fill the unexpired term of Anne Spears, who resigned from her place on the board in January. The action was part of the February board of trustee meeting last Wednesday. The trustees accepted a bid of $140,001 from Joe Rogers, of Rogers Lodging, to purchase…

WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM WEDNESDAY… * WHAT…Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches. * WHERE…Portions of central, east central, northern, northwest, southeast, southern, southwest and western Oklahoma and northern Texas. * WHEN…Until 6 PM CST Wednesday. * IMPACTS…Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could…

At 1:25 Monday morning, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) directed transmission and distribution companies to begin controlled rotating outages as an emergency procedure to avoid a sustained large-scale outage and prevent long-term damage to the electric system. AEP Texas began rotating the areas affected so that consumers are impacted for a limited amount…

Gov. Greg Abbott has set Feb. 23 as the date for the House District 68 special election runoff to replace former state Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, who is now in the Texas Senate. Early voting for the House District 68 runoff will begin Tuesday, Feb. 16. Wilbarger County Clerk Jana Kennon said that early voting…