News

At the monthly Roby City Council meeting, City Manager, Jack Brown reported to the council concerns on the Roby Community Center. Despite the prior renovations of a new $12,000 roof and the $4,000 for new carpet installation, the center still suffered a loss of $3,500 over the last year. With the city now having to replace 2 broken windows, the City Council discussed whether it might be in the best interest of the city to sell the Community Center.

   Mayor Sepeda made the suggestion to consider donating the property instead of selling. If the city could find a deserving individual or organization that could put the building to good use for the community, it may better serve the community than its current function.

The Fisher County Hospital Board met last month discussing a variety of issues, the first of which was to approve the First National Bank Loan Resolution. Being blindsided by program dues owed to Hendrick Medical Center, Fisher County Hospital took out a short term loan in order to meet overhead expenses opposed to dipping into CDs other funds. As part of the program, all hospitals in the outlying areas, pay dues to the Abilene health provider, but the inconsistent billing cycle of Hendrick makes preparing for the payment virtually impossible. The dues for this cycle were $200,000, and both the dues to Hendrick as well as the bank loan

At the monthly Commissioners’ Court earlier this week, Grantworks representative, Gary Smith was present to hear the official outcome of the court’s consideration of Grantworks’ proposal to perform grant writing for the county. The court voted unanimously to accept the proposal. Smith informed the court the county will be receiving the contract in the upcoming days and will soon be assigned a project manager. 

Some local veterans shared their experiences and thoughts with those of us at the Fisher County Chronicle, and to say the least: It was a humbling experience. Below are two of those interviews. There are many more in this county like Mr. Daniel and Mr. Elkins. We can only hope that the citizens of Fisher County become as inspired by their tales as we have been.

Clear Fork Crimestoppers Coordinator, Billie McKeever made a presentation at the Rotan Lion’s Club luncheon last Tuesday afternoon.  McKeever told a brief history of how the Clear Fork Crime Stoppers organization evolved out of the remnants of the Stamford Neighborhood Watch program, and has now grown to serve 6 counties, one of which is Fisher County. She then talked about how Crimestoppers works.

   The organization subscribes to an answering service, which is based in Canada, and is utilized by other organizations such as the Los Angeles Police Department, New York Police Department, and Scotland Yard. The main focus with Crimestoppers is that tipsters remain anonymous. This is accomplished through a...

The 32nd judicial District Attorney’s Office presented a portion of drug forfeiture money to Sherriff J.A. Robinson last week. A percentage of all money confiscated by district investigators through drug busts is placed into a separate account for the D.A.’s office. This is a discretionary fund, allowing the D.A. to use the money in a way that will best benefit the counties throughout the district. In recent years the D.A.’s office has simply purchased items such as computers, radio equipment, safety equipment, or vehicle tire replacements, however, the funds can be donated to the departments as part of fund discernment. This year D.A. Reid has elected to provide a donation disbursement to Fisher County in the amount of $50,000.

 As we approach the upcoming hunting season, hunting leases can grow increasingly difficult to find. There have been several arrests on charges of fraud. A recent arrest, in Nolan County, involved an individual leasing land they did not own to hunters. Hunter’s looking to lease land should be wary before turning over their money, as the lease just may be a cleaver scam.

   “These people post this low price, luring in hunters that are still looking for hunting land. These criminals create a believable story about the land, so it sounds legit when you read the ad,” says Game Warden George Paisley. 

After a several weeks of polling the county, after counting the ballets, after contest winners were notified, the Fisher County newspaper officially changed its name from The Rotan Advance/Roby Star Record to Fisher County Chronicle. So why after so much effort to change the name is the newspaper staff bringing the old name back? The answer is:

 Just about everyone who came into Rotan last Friday was curious about the industrial dumpster parked in front of the Lance Theater. And what’s going on is the first step in the renovation process for the theater. “We’re going to try to reopen the theater for public use. I don’t know if the theater group will use it, but it will be functional anyway,” said Economic Development Corporation [EDC] board member, Jim Gruben. 

Fire departments from Fisher, Kent, Scurry, and Stonewall counties along with the Texas Forest Service were dispatched to a grassfire that broke out on the Fisher and Kent County lines. The fire burned through grass and mesquite, threatening a group of oil tanks and catching several round, hay bales on fire. 

It burned an estimated 100 acres in the shallow canyons north of Rotan, burning into Kent County, burning on both sides of Hwy 70. Texas Forest Service fire investigators were on scene, and the probable cause of the fire was officially labeled as a mechanical malfunction. Eyewitness reports claim...