Amarillo | featured news

A fire burned two apartment units Sunday night and the American Red Cross arrived to offer emergency assistance to at least one family, according to a news release.
At 9:48 p.m., the Amarillo Fire Department responded to a fire at the Oakridge Apartments on Virginia Circle.
Firefighters began evacuating the two-story complex after smoke and fire was seen on the front of one of the buildings.
About 20 people were taken to safety. No injuries were reported.
The fire was called under control at 10:19 p.m.

If you were saddened when you heard the Center City Light Parade got canceled last week, fear not.
Even thought the parade has not been rescheduled, several of the other festivities tied in with it have been.
Center City executive director Beth Duke said the kiddos will still get their chance to talk to Santa and watch the Mayor light the city’s Christmas tree Wednesday, December 7.
Through special arrangements with the Amarillo Civic Center, Santa will arrive at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts at 4 p.m.

Several of Amarillo’s downtown streets were filled with a colorful and joyful procession of marchers on a clear and beautiful December afternoon as participants in the 20th annual Our Lady of Guadalupe festival marched Sunday from the church at 1210 SE 11th Ave. to the Civic Center Complex for a mass with Amarillo’s bishop, wrapping up this year’s three-day celebration.
Deacon Pablo Morales of St. Laurence Catholic Church said this tradition began locally two decades years.

As Texas legislators prepare for their fifth attempt at trying to ban texting while driving, the City of Amarillo is more than ready — thanks to rule it has had in place since 2012.
Senate Bill 31, proposed by Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), seeks to make it illegal to text in your car unless the car in completely stopped.
Texas is one of four states without a statewide ban on texting and driving.
Amarillo has had a similar rule on its books since September of 2012.
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Texas county jails have seen an almost 60 percent decrease in suicides from last year.
Texas county jails have seen a sharp decline in inmate suicides since they began using a revised mental health screening tool last December.
Since December 2015, 14 county jail inmates have taken their own lives, a drop from a record 34 suicides between December 2014 and November 2015. In the five years before that record, inmate suicides averaged 23 a year, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which monitors county lockups across the state.

For the 16th year, the BSA Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit hosted a holiday reunion for the families of babies who had been extended guests of the hospital.
“It’s nice to be able to reconnect with the people you spent practically 36 days with,” Aimee Hensley said. “You don’t see them for a year almost and you just fall right back into loving on each other.”
Hensley’s 16-month-old son Ash was a patient in the NICU for 36 days.

A perceived bomb threat Sunday at the Walmart in Borger at 1501 Roosevelt Street to be evacuated for about an hour before shoppers could return.
Borger Assistant Police Chief Brandon Strope said a bomb threat was in writing, but said he could not provide further details.
“The business was briefly evacuated. Our teams checked the building and the decision was made to reopen the store,” he said.
An investigation is ongoing.

Two people are hospitalized with life threatening injuries following an early morning motor vehicle crash in the 7600 block of S. Canyon Drive (Interstate 27).
Police said the driver of a 2007 Dodge Ram that was southbound on the outside late of I-27 lost control of the vehicle and veered into the inside lane, sideswiping a southbound 2001 Buick LeSabre in the inside late. The Dodge then crossed the grassy median and the northbound lanes before striking a guardrail, rolling over, and ejecting both occupants.

A low unemployment rate can signify economic progress in a region, but Amarillo’s has shown infinitesimal signs of growth in recent years, slowed by the oil and gas industry’s depression.
Amarillo’s state-low unemployment rate has dropped back down after a slight rise in September, according to preliminary data from the United States Census Bureau.
Unemployment in the Amarillo metro area grew from 3.2 percent in September 2015 to 3.5 percent in September 2016, but retreated to 3.2 percent in October as about 450 residents found jobs within the month.

The hands that once helped assemble 250-pound bombs at Pantex Plant during World War II do something all together different 70 years later.
The hands that pulled cotton, drove a tractor, drove a grain truck and then put a meal on the table as a farmer’s wife are still busy.
Mildred Snider turned 96 Saturday, and it’s not so much the birthday gifts she might receive, but the gifts she’s about to give. It’s taken her hands about a year to finish, but these things take time.
“I just enjoy helping other people,” she said, “doing things for other people.”