Courtesy photos
Shown with sticker, l-r, Capt. Michael, Eddie Morton, Ashley Vasquez, Rene Hough, Steve Cline (Allied Waste), Teresa Garth, Adam White (Allied Waste), Alison Esqueda, Sharon Caro, Officer Chad Stephens.

Deaf Smith County Crime Stoppers is partnering with Allied Waste Services in order to place the CLUE LINE number on local dumpters, using bumper stickers. 

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Tropical Storm Hermine began to lose its punch as it pushed north Tuesday, after causing landslides in northeast Mexico and leaving one Texas town almost entirely without power.

As when Hurricane Alex lashed the same flood-prone Rio Grande Valley in June, there was a feeling that Hermine could have been worse. There were no reports of serious injuries or major damage early Tuesday, and authorities ordered no evacuations.

Hermine dumped between 5 inches to a foot of rain after crossing into Texas late Monday. The storm made landfall in northeastern Mexico with winds up to 65 mph (100 kph), arriving near the same spot as Alex, which killed at least 12 people in flooding in Mexico after remnant rains from the storm.

But unlike Alex, which swiped Texas then plunged southwest into Mexico, Hermine was felt in more places.

“This is going to be much more of a memorable storm than Alex,” National Weather Service meteorologist Joseph Tomaselli said Tuesday.

Hermine left all but one block of Raymondville, about 20 miles off the Texas coast, without electricity and ripped roofs off several buildings. A 5-year-old girl was also cut by broken glass when gusts from the storm threw a trampoline through the window of her family’s home, said Robert Supulver of Willacy County’s emergency operations center.

“It was a lot of wind, a lot of rain coming real fast,” Supulver said.

As many as 30,000 homes were without power in the Rio Grande Valley early Tuesday, according to an online outage map of American Electric Power, the area’s power utility. A company representative did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Shelters throughout Rio Grande Valley were on standby but mostly kept their doors shut, and offers for sandbags saw relatively few takers.

Flash flood warning remained in effect Tuesday, but officials said first reports only indicated nuisances such as high water on neighborhood streets.

Hermine might have been no Alex in terms of strength, but it wasn’t taken lightly: Mexican emergency officials in Tamaulipas worked to evacuate 3,500 people around Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, and schools on both sides of the border canceled classes Tuesday.

By early Tuesday, the center of the storm had crossed the Rio Grande River. The National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 15 miles (25 kilometers) south-southeast of Falfurrias, Texas, and 65 miles (105 kilometers) southwest of Corpus Christi. It was moving north-northwest near 17 mph (28 kph).

A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande north to Port O’Connor, Texas. Tropical storm warnings that had been issued for Mexico were canceled early Tuesday.

Hours after Hermine made landfall, Coast Guard Ensign Scott Kimball said a fishing vessel had run aground at a jetty near South Padre Island. He did not have any more immediate details.

Hermine was expected to weaken into a tropical depression later Tuesday. Tomaselli said remnants of Hermine will be felt as far north as the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas in the coming days.

In Mexico, Hermine brought another unwelcome downpour.

Mexico’s northeast cattle-ranching region is one of the most dangerous hotspots in the country’s bloody turf war between two drug cartels. It is the same area where 72 migrants were killed two weeks ago in what it believed to be the country’s worst drug gang massacre to date.

Mexican emergency officials urged those living in low-lying coastal areas to move to shelters. Classes in Matamoros and several other Mexican towns were canceled, and authorities began releasing water from some dams to make room for expected rains.

“We urge the general population to be on alert for possible floods and mudslides,” said Salvador Trevino, director of civil defense for Tamaulipas, where Matamoros is located.

In inland Hidalgo state, authorities said heavy rains caused by the passing storm unleashed landslides that damaged 20 homes, left 120 people homeless and cut off small communities.

On South Padre Island, Hermine arrived too late to ruin another long weekend at the tourist hotspot. Alex plummeted Fourth of July hotel occupancies to about one-third of the normal rate, but most Labor Day weekend vacationers were already packing up for home by the time Hermine came into the  picture.

“It really crept up on us,” said Dan Quandt, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tornado watches were in effect for 16 Texas counties early Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Turns out politics, for all its focus on the gloomy economy, is a recession-proof industry.

Courtesy photos

Stanton has an updated, age-appropriate playground for Pre-Kindergarten students. Installation of new playground equipment was funded by a Community Impact Grant awarded to Stanton by Wilbur-Ellis Co. Pre-Kindergarten students had been playing on the same equipment for twenty years, but now have some new pieces.  Some of the old pieces of equipment were disposed of for safety reasons, while other original pieces were kept for continued use.

By Eddie Farrell, BRAND Staff Writer

The second of two meetings of the Deaf Smith County Hospital District board is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hereford Independent School District administration building.

BRAND/Eddie Farrell

Hereford city workers were busy Wednesday in Mother’s Park removing several trees killed by Dutch Elm Disease. Steve Gavina is shown wielding a chain saw on one of the larger trees being removed. Mayor Robert D. Josserand is asking for public input on the types of trees that should be used in the replanting effort. See special column from the Mayor on page 4A.

Leigh Anne Tuohy

The Amarillo Area Foundation Women’s Philanthropy Fund Advisory Committee has announced that Leigh Anne Tuohy (the individual played by Sandra Bullock in her Oscar winning role as Best Actress in the popular movie, “The Blind Side”) will be speaking at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts on the evening of Nov. 4, at 6:00 p.m. with a reception and book signing immediately following the program.   

Lesser Prairie Chicken

By Eddie Farrell, BRAND Staff Writer

A New Mexico-based environmental group has filed suit in federal court in its most recent attempt to garner federal protection for the Lesser Prairie Chicken – a ruling that could impact future wind farms in Deaf Smith County and throughout the Texas Panhandle.

BRAND/Rick Castaneda

Hereford defensive back Mark Maes drags down a Tascosa receiver during Thursday night’s football game at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo. Tascosa scored in the final minute to defeat the Herd, 29-26. See story and photos page 6.

The following Hereford dining establishments received no demerits as the result of inspections during the month of August – Hereford Meat Market, 411 N. 25 Mile Ave. (Aug. 3); Jazz’s BBQ Shack, 114 Clement St.. (Aug. 5); Nazarene Kid’s Korner, 1410 La Plata (Aug. 12); The Water Drop, 203 N. 25 Mile Ave. (Aug. 6).

BRAND/Tyler Jameson

Mike Schueler, president of FirstBank Southwest in Hereford, was a guest reader Wednesday afternoon at Hereford Junior High School. Schueler read from the book, Three Cups of Tea, as Principal Robin Rhodes shows students pictures from the popular book, which has been selected for the “One Book, One Community” program.

The Second Annual Bully Prevention Chili Cook-Off  and Open House has been set for parents and family of Hereford Jr. High School students.

BRAND/Skip Leon

Hereford linebacker Kegan Culp (50) recovers a fumble against Tascosa in the junior varsity football game at Whiteface Stadium Wednesday afternoon. Tascosa prevailed in a wild encounter, 32-27. The varsity Whitefaces will look for their second victory to start the season when they battle Tascosa at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo tonight at 7:30.

The BRAND office will close Friday at 3 p.m. for the holiday weekend.

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Earl blew toward the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday as a major storm with winds of around 145 mph as forecasters tried to pinpoint exactly how close the strongest gales and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina’s fragile chain of barrier islands.

McGREGOR, Texas (AP) — Rep. Chet Edwards, an imperiled Democrat deep in the heart of Republican territory, finds exiting American Legion Post No. 273 slow going. Supporters and well-wishers keep stopping him.

Panda Ethanol Plant shortly after initial construction, fall 2008.

By Eddie Farrell, BRAND Staff Writer

Murphy Oil Corporation of El Dorado, Ark., has finalized the purchase of the former Panda Ethanol facility outside of Hereford.

By Eddie Farrell, BRAND Staff Writer

Hereford police are asking local merchants in particular to be on the look out for a recent influx of counterfeit $100 bills.

By Eddie Farrell, BRAND Staff Writer

A 31-year-old man, being pursued by Hereford police investigating a complaint of a man in Dameron park with a gun, screamed at a police officer to “shoot him,” before other officers were able to subdue him.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Claiming no victory, President Barack Obama formally ended the U.S. combat role in Iraq after seven long years of bloodshed, declaring firmly Tuesday night: “It’s time to turn the page.” Now, he said, the nation’s most urgent priority is fixing its own sickly economy.