Clarence Bartlett Melton, also known by his professional radio name, Bart Taylor, died Tuesday, June 29, under Hospice care in Boerne, at the age of 70. Bart will be interred in the Melton family plot in Houston later this year.

Laura Jean Elledge, age 66, of Oklahoma City, passed away Tuesday, June 22, in Oklahoma City. Services were held at 2 p.m.

David Ray Schroeder, age 62, of Wichita Falls passed away Saturday, July 3, in Wichita Falls. Vigil service and rosary were held at 6:30 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) began accepting nominations for county committee members on June 15. Elections will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for these members who make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2021 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 2.

Independence Day! Planning on spending a nice comfortable day at home. Still, P.J. and I were up early for a Sunday and dropped a large dead section of one of our prized big mesquites. Ladder fully extended I was up maybe 20’ from the ground where the dead part was over a foot in diameter. I figure the top branches were near 30’ from the ground. Most of the triple trunked monster mesquite still lives and is healthy. Did any of you notice the mesquites are in bloom now? A full month to six weeks behind what we consider normal. Have you noticed the serious cold weather in February knocked the mistletoe back? There is good and bad in almost all weather anomalies.

Texas Senator District 30 Drew Springer (right) hosted a town hall with Archer County employees on July 1 to discuss issues the employees would like to see addressed in the next session. Also pictured County Judge Randy Jackson (left.) Photo/Jerry Phillips

Henry B. Gonzalez had a long and controversial career as a Texas politician.

The Summer Reading Contest has begun! If you haven’t already, stop by the library to pick up some reading logs or track your reading online at this link: https://forms.gle/8EbzRq- 1J6rAQRsnFA. Every hour you read is one entry in the raffle for the GRAND PRIZE Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet. This tablet comes with the library’s FREE reading app Libby, giving you access to our extensive catalog of e-books and audiobooks. Also, this year we will have prizes along the way! Can you achieve Reader of the Week status? Whoever turns in the most reading logs any week during the contest will receive a special prize! If you live in Archer County, you can sign up for the contest! For questions, call or visit the library.