Check out our Top Ten Stories of 2021 and listen to our special edition of the TownTalk Show On-Demand about the Top-10 stories.
It has been a long year and lots of things have happened. Nationally, we watched a Democratic President be sworn in. We watched a storming of the US Capitol. We continue to watch fingers being pointed in this matter. We have watched gas prices rise. We have watched inflation climb. We have seen plenty on the National level. But what about locally? Those stories certainly matter to us, but it is those local stories that mean the most to us.
After reviewing the year, these are the stories that we deemed the top stories locally for 2021:
1. Who can forget Winter Storm Uri? A February freeze to beat all others. Schools even closed due to the freezing weather. We saw the Texas power grid struggle to keep up. Even in our neck of the woods, Lyntegar and our City crews had to work hard to keep our power going.
On February 12, 2021, TownTalk Media posted a warning from the National Weather Service about the dangers of the extremely cold weather expected. Highs in the low to mid-20s and wind chills in the range of -14 degrees. This blast lasted about a week and left many with frozen water pipes for the duration.
2. March came along and the Lady Cubs earned the gold medals at the State Championship Tournament in San Antonio. The last State Champs Lady Cubs from 1988 were on hand to honor and support the latest bunch.
The Lady Cubs worked their way through the post-season play, knocking off Idalou, Childress, Peaster, Shallowater, and finally Ponder to get to the big stage. They defeated #2 ranked Fairfield in overtime 68-64.
3. COVID continued to make news. The first COVID numbers of 2021 showed that Terry County had a total of 1450 cases, with 32 deaths. As we look at this week’s numbers, it shows that Terry County has now had 2473 total cases, and we have now seen 73 deaths.
We have seen the Delta variant and now the Omicron variant. We have argued back on forth over masks or no masks, and vaccines or no vaccines. Across our country, we have seen these same arguments. Mask and vaccine mandates remain lifted for Texas and look to remain that way.
4. We started the year in the grip of a drought. Our producers had been through a couple of bad crop years. Suddenly, in May, the rains began to fall. As the rains fell, cotton prices rose. We had one of our wettest summers in recent years. Then, harvest brought fields of solid white.
As we write this, gin yards are covered up with modules and round bales awaiting ginning. But, we are now back in need of moisture. Cotton prices remain higher than in the past, even though they have dropped somewhat.
5. 2021 brought the closure of the Rudd Unit Prison Facility and both dairies in Terry County. The guar plant has closed and no one knows for sure if this is a permanent closure. In an effort to answer the need for jobs, BIDCorp and BISD combined forces and hosted a Job Fair for locals looking for work.
The Rudd Unit announced to its employees that it would be closing and employees would be offered jobs in Lamesa. Later in the year, the quiet closing of the dairies seemed to go unnoticed, except by employees scrambling for work. Quar Resources continues to maintain that they will reopen, however it did represent lost jobs for the time being. Even with all these displaced by closures, “Help Wanted” signs continue to remain in windows in businesses throughout the county.
6. The building of the new high school began in 2020, and plans were for it to be completed for the start of the school year in 2021. However, delays in finding materials have delayed the opening of the new high school possibly until the end of January.
Currently, BMS students have their new home in the old BHS building. BHS students are attending classes in the old BMS building. Bright Beginnings was closed and the Pre-K program was moved to the newly renovated Colonial Heights building.
7. Will the pool open? Will it not? That was the question through April and May. April brought applications and training for Lifeguards. Then the pool was filled. A leak was found. The pool was drained. The pool was filled. Another leak was found. Bottom line is that the Aquatic Center did not open for the second year in a row.
Blame for this was passed around across social media, but in talking to one of the crew of repairmen (not from the area), he said he just wasn’t sure any of this could have been prevented with the freezing blast we endured in February. He stated they are having to do these same repairs on pools all across this part of the state. Repairs are being done and plans are to open the pool for 2022.
8. How ’bout them Raiders! Mark Adams, BHS 1974 grad was named as the head coach of the Red Raider Men’s Basketball team. He followed Chris Beard, who left town for that little school down in the Hill Country.
So far, Mark is having a great year with the Red Raiders. The Raiders have some signature wins already in this young season, and Mark has definitely been on the recruiting trail with great success.
9. In news that shocked most in Brownfield, Jerry Jasper, CEO of Brownfield Regional Medical Center resigned suddenly. No reason was given. Jasper was to remain on until the first of the year.
The BRMC Board has started the process of finding a replacement. A look through the Avalanche-Journal Classifieds shows one ad after another for employees needed at BRMC. No word yet on if any of this is related. We all know that running a rural hospital these days is getting harder and harder to manage.
10. Lastly, we saw the merging of two church congregations in Brownfield. One is an old established congregation over 100 years old. The other is a new more modern style of church.
First United Methodist merged with Faith Family Fellowship and is now known as United Family Fellowship. This new congregation is going strong. The Methodist church is in the process of separating from the Methodist denomination. The new non-denominational group meets in the former First Methodist building, with co-pastors Cameron Kirkland (formerly the FUMC minister) and Eric Martinez (formerly pastor of Faith Family Fellowship).
Honorable Mention:
The renovation of the facade of the old Rialto Movie Theater
Dealing with shortages at the grocery stores and other businesses
Petition started for Liquor Election in Terry County
Judge Butch Wagner, County Treasurer Karen Grigsby, and District Clerk Paige Lindsey announcing their retirement
Check out this special edition of the TownTalk Show as we discuss the Top-10 Stories of 2021!
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