Despite the ongoing COVID pandemic, shoppers turned out this weekend to the Moore County Community Building for the annual Dumas Noon Lions Club Arts and Crafts Festival.  According to many of the vendors, they were in a buying mood.  Rhonda McDaniel and Lisa Green of Dumas were on their fou…

A Moore County jury sentenced Drew Don Hugg to 10 years in prison for Possession of a Controlled Substance, that substance being methamphetamine.After evidence was presented, the jury deliberated for less than thirty minutes before finding Hugg guilty. During the punishment phase, the State …

With shortages of blood and blood products resulting from the COVID pandemic still adding to the stress on the health care system, Coffee Memorial Blood Center, the organization that supplies all of the hospitals and medical facilities of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, has scheduled a bl…

Members of the Dumas Police Department (DPD), Moore County Sheriff's Office, Dumas Fire Department, and other local first responders turned out Sunday, September 12, to escort through Dumas more than 20 of their colleagues from Houston who were on a bicycle ride from Houston to Colorado Spri…

Early voting by mail has begun for the upcoming November 2 election.  According to Moore County Clerk Brenda McKanna, residents wishing to vote by mail and who meet the criteria established by state law can now submit an application to receive a ballot to the clerk's office in the Moore Coun…

By the time Cariann Holgens of Amarillo crossed the finish line of the Moore County YMCA's Texas Tumbleweed 100 Bike Race/Ride at 4:00 pm Saturday, the temperature outside had cooled to 98.78 degrees Fahrenheit, down from a high of over 100 degrees an hour before.  The wind was blowing at 23…

"I think it is very important that we as a country, as a community, never forget that day," said Dumas Independent School District Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Brett Beesley.  He was at Dumas Intermediate School (DIS) Friday where the entire student body of fifth and sixth graders,…

When the more than 150 bicyclists take off Saturday, September 11 on their ride/race of up to 100 miles around Moore County and the Texas Panhandle for the Moore County YMCA's annual Texas Tumbleweed 100, they will not be leaving from or returning to McDade Park as in years past.  This year'…

The Moore County Health Foundation's (MCHF) annual Harvest Celebration returned Saturday evening in the Hacienda Garcia Event Center.  This year's event was a party to thank all the donors who have contributed to the foundation's capital campaign to raise funds to furnish and equip the new p…

"We had a good turnout, considering all the other events this weekend," said Natalia Purcell of the Panhandle Children's Foundation (PCF).  More than 40 bikers and 19 barbecue teams showed up to take part in the organization's biggest annual fundraising event, Hoggs at the Point, Saturday at…

Coffee Memorial Blood Center, the organization that provides blood and blood products to the 29 hospitals and medical facilities of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, will conduct a blood drive in Dumas on August 25 from noon until 7:00 pm in the Moore County Community Building at 1600 South…

"Come get tested.  Get vaccinated.  Let's stop this so we don't end up with more people dying unnecessarily," said Moore County Emergency Management Coordinator Tommy Brooks.  Brooks and his team, along with personnel from the Dumas Fire Department and Moore County Emergency Medical Services…

"We live in a different world now, but responders are still responding," said Larry Copelin, who until his retirement this year was chief of the Valero Fire Department at McKee Refinery.  He was speaking Thursday in Fire Station 19 at the refinery to fellow first responders, company official…

"Cactus is growing," said Cactus City Manager Aldo Gallegos Tuesday.  He was speaking to a group of City of Cactus employees, JBS and Moore County officials,  Cactus residents, and others who had gathered in a vacant lot between the recreation center and Catholic Church in Cactus to break gr…

Hartley County was founded by cattlemen.  They were drawn to the Texas Panhandle in the years after the Civil War by the abundant grazing land and a booming market for beef cattle in the United States.  They created ranches, some of  which exist to this day.  Some, like the XIT and Matador, …

The new format for this month's Sip and Shop seemed to give a boost to Dumas Avenue businesses, with one reporting at least 84 customers coming in during the two hours of shopping Friday evening.  "I thought it went pretty great," said Dumas Downtown Association Executive Director Irene Delg…

The investigation into  the death of an inmate in Moore County Jail is ongoing, according to Moore County Sheriff Morgan Hightower.

The Bustin' Buns for Boobs Virtual Walkathon fundraiser for the non-profit organization Panhandle Breast Health (PBH) that was the subject of an article in the weekend edition of the News-Press has been postponed until the spring of 2022, according to a press release.  No reason for the post…

"The Little Libraries show that as a community we care about early literacy," said director of Storybridge Dumas and early literacy activist Kinsey Bellar on Thursday, July 8, as she opened the newest Little Library in Moore County in the waiting room on the second floor of the new patient c…

In an effort to increase the COVID vaccination rate in Moore County, JBS USA will be conducting a company-sponsored, free COVID vaccination clinic during the Dumas Downtown Association's July 23 Sip and Shop event in downtown Dumas.  To sweeten the deal, the company is offering everyone who …

The D'Town BBQ Cook-Off, cancelled in 2020 because of COVID, returns this weekend, July 16-17, to McDade Park in expanded form with the addition of live music, food trucks, and beer vendors, according to Dumas/Moore County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carl Watson, host for the event.  

Across the Texas Panhandle, hospitals and other medical facilities face a critical shortage of the blood and blood products used to treat trauma victims, mothers giving birth, and a variety of others who, without transfusions of blood or blood products, would likely die, according to Acacia …

Jagrut "JC" Shah, chairman and founder of an organization called Beyond the Call of Duty, along with 13 other people who "one way or another are related to law enforcement," made a stop at McDade Park in Dumas Wednesday.  Some were on motorcycles; some rode in trucks.  One of the trucks was …

Ruben Terrazas,  a 33-year-old Dumas man, was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday after a one-vehicle, roll-over accident on Dumas Avenue.

Nilsa Latoni, a young Dumas woman, was on the carnival midway Saturday night at McDade Park as Dogie Days 2021 was nearing the end.  She encountered her old friend and former neighbor, Allen Dean.  Latoni had known Dean and his late wife, Rose, for six years or so.  Dean is a member of the D…

JBS USA acknowledged Wednesday that the company had paid "the equivalent of $11 million" ransom during the recent ransomware cyberattack against the company that resulted in the temporary shut down of operations at many facilities in the United States, including Cactus.

People in the mood to travel to Lake Meredith National Recreation Area to do some fishing or boating or to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument to hike and other things will no longer have to wonder what conditions are like in the area.  They can go to www.nps.gov/lamr/learn/photosmulti…

Dogie Days returned live and in person this week offering everything Moore County residents and visitors alike have come to love:  curly fries, hamburgers and other carnival foods, a community barbecue, rides, games, a parade, fellowship, and the drawing for a new vehicle, among other things…

Members of the Dumas Independent School District (DISD) Board of Trustees, administrators, and others came together on North Maddox Avenue Tuesday afternoon at the site of the soon-to-be-built new Dumas North Elementary School  to watch 10 students in hard hats from Green Acres and Hillcrest…

JBS USA officials said in a press release Tuesday that they were making "significant progress" returning to normal operations at their facilities in the United States and Australia after a cyberattack over the weekend affected operations and  forced the company to halt production at beef pla…

The Moore County Health Foundation more than doubled its previous fundraising record of $14,000 Wednesday, May 26, from the organization's annual Nursing Scholarship Luncheon.  According to MCHF Executive Director Kathie Fuston, the more than 200 guests and other donors contributed nearly $3…

JBS USA was the victim of a cyber attack over the weekend by unknown persons that has affected operations at the JBS Cactus plant.  According to Moore County Judge Rowdy Rhoades, who has been in contact with local JBS officials, only shipping and maintenance operations would be performed on …

Former Dumas Police Department Chief Marvin Trejo, who died on May 10, 2020 from complications due to COVID, was recently awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor from the American Police Hall of Fame, according to current Chief Ray Resendez.  Resendez spoke to the Dumas City Commission during th…

The Dumas Rotary Club awarded seven Dumas High School (DHS) graduating seniors with $500 scholarships Wednesday during the club's regular meeting at The Art Center in Dumas.  The seven recipients were Broc Kinikin, Grace Jester, Cade Cox, Galylea Davila, Valeria Loya, Erin Davis, and Doe Mai Na.

"Everybody was ready to get out and do stuff," said Jackie Wiswell, executive director of the Moore County United Way.  She was talking about the 2021 United Way Day of Caring that took place Saturday.  "We had a great turnout.  It was a beautiful day."

Five generations of Lilia Castro's family, some coming from as far away as El Paso and San Antonio, turned out Saturday at Memorial Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Dumas to celebrate her life and wish her a happy 101st birthday.  The family members paraded by her in vehicles decorated w…

Many of the people responsible for educating generations of Dumas students came together Tuesday, April 20 at the home of Ruth Ann Grice, instructional coach at Dumas Junior High School (DJHS), to eat, reminisce, and renew friendships at the first DJHS faculty reunion.  Anyone who spent time…

The Sunray City Council and Sunray Independent School District Board of Trustees will each have one new face after Saturday's election.

Dumas Junior High School (DJHS) teacher and coach Rebecca Bonine recently realized a  dream she has nurtured since college:  after four and a half years of work, she completed her dissertation and was awarded a PhD.  Bonine, who teaches Texas history to seventh graders and is the DJHS coach,…

Early voting in person for the May 1 school board and city council election in Sunray gets underway Monday, April 19 at 8:00 am.  Those wishing to cast votes for city council candidates or for the single proposition on the ballot must vote at Sunray City Hall at 415 Main Street from 8:00 am …

Quita Jones, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Dumas was at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church Pastoral Center Thursday to present a check for $2,350 to Teresa and Cleo Castro of the Dumas Education and Social Ministries (DESM), a non-denominational non-profit organizatio…

"I drove a 1986 AMC Eagle.  It did not go in reverse.  It was a challenge when parking.  I promise you it was a big deal," said Audra Rea, Panhandle Community Services (PCS) Assistant Director for Family Development.  Rea was in Dumas recently to attend a ceremony marking the beginning of th…

"I love it. I love watching them learn. … I have taught so many people.  I have been pulled over by the police before.  This happened on a Mother's Day.  The lights are going.  I am just running to the store.  I have company in my house.  I am looking for my insurance.  I roll my window down…

"It is a beautiful show.  Everybody is really impressed and happy about it," said Risa Franco of The Art Center in Dumas.  Franco and others have recently finished hanging and arranging the works of 25 artists -- students and instructors -- from the Amarillo Art Institute for an exhibition t…