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Index
NEW MCMURRY
FOOTBALL COACH
Lance Hinson, a former
University of St. Mary
coach, is taking over the
War Hawks program.
SPORTS, 1C
STANDOFF ENDS
IN ONE DEATH
A man remains in jail
on drug charges after
a trafc stop by Cisco
police results in a chase
through Big Country
communities and a
standof with the driver
near Dublin. Ofcers
shot and killed the
driver.
LOCAL, 2A
SOON YOULL
CALL HER DOC
Leila Rubio graduates
from HSU on Saturday,
and by the time shes
23, she may be known
as Dr. Rubio.
BIG COUNTRY, 4A
TECH UPGRADES
FOR YOUR MOM
Stuck for a Mothers Day
gift idea? Technology to
the rescue.
LIFE, 1B
On reporternews.com
YESTERDAYS
POLL
Which Texas team
got the best rst-
round pick for the
NFL draft?
A. Dallas Cowboys
10%
B. Houston Texans
50%
C. Both scored good
picks 7%
D. Neither made
good picks 32%
BUSINESS 9C
COMICS 8B
LOTTERY 2C
NATION/WORLD 6D
OBITUARIES 7D
PUZZLES 10C
SPORTS1C
TELEVISION 2B
Staf report
Weeks of campaigning
and as much as six-digit
expenditures all wrap
up Saturday as voters go
to the polls for city and
school elections.
Polls will be open
throughout the Big
Country from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m.
Topping the list
of races is the may-
oral contest in Abilene
pitting 10-year incumbent
Norm Archibald against
two-term Abilene City
Councilman Robert Briley.
Combined, the candidates
have raised more than
$100,000 on the election
and spent almost $95,000.
Archibald is a vice
president at Hen-
drick Medical Cen-
ter and Briley owns
the Aarons franchise
in Abilene and some in
other Texas cities.
Incumbent Place 3
Councilman Anthony Wil-
liams is being challenged
by Joseph Cochran. Wil-
liams is the chief business
services ofcer at Abilene
Christian University.
Cochran is a former
businessman and Army
veteran.
Jay Hardaway, 31, is run-
ning unopposed for the
Place 4 post, currently held
by Briley.
Water issues top all the
candidates list of what
needs to be handled. Most
also listed street improve-
ments as a high priority.
ABILENE SCHOOL
BOARD
In the Abilene Inde-
pendent School District,
there are three contest-
ed races and one that is
uncontested.
Its election day in Big Country
Bond votes,
Abilene mayor
race in spotlight
See ELECTION, 10A
By Sandhya Kambhampati
Scripps National Desk
When Laura Gillis
looks at Lake Nasworthy,
she sees a sea of brown,
parched land.
If we dont
get rain soon,
I fear San An-
gelo is going
to blow away
and be a ghost
town, she
said, her voice
trembling.
H o p i n g
each day for
rain, Gillis prays.
One day, God will pro-
vide maybe hes trying
to teach us something,
she said. Im not giving
up.
Gillis is not alone. On
the afternoon of April
12, more than a thousand
people from 17 diferent
churches intertwined
hands in the city of San
Angelo to pray for rain.
Shirts donated to the
event read, Ive been
around the block a time
or two with the Lord in
downtown San Angelo,
Texas.
The group united with
hopes that droplets would
soon fall from the sky.
But Gillis said praying
once wont do the trick
when the lakes are so dry.
Her photography stu-
dio depends heavily
on the rain to keep the
backgrounds lush and
presentable for pictures.
Sigh and
dry: Grit
tested by
drought
Texans pray
for relief, focus
on conservation
See DROUGHT, 8A
By Stephen Ohlemacher
Associated Press
WASHINGTON When it
comes to baby names,
blending in is out, and
standing out is in.
Noah and Sophia top
the Social Security Ad-
ministrations list of most
popular American baby
names for 2013, but they
dont begin to approach
the popularity of past gen-
eration favorites like John
and Mary.
Noah sailed past Jacob
to claim the top spot for
boys, ending Jacobs 14-
year reign. Sophia was No.
1 for the third straight year
in the list released Friday.
Noah was followed by
Liam, Jacob, Mason and
William. Sophia was fol-
lowed by Emma, Olivia,
Sophia, Noah are most common of uncommon names
Daleyza and
Jayceon make
biggest leaps
TOP BABY NAMES IN 2013
GIRLS
1. Sophia: 21,075 girls
named
2. Emma: 20,788
3. Olivia: 18,256
4. Isabella: 17,490
5. Ava: 15,129
6. Mia: 13,066
7. Emily: 13,044
8. Abigail: 12,313
9. Madison: 10,529
10. Elizabeth: 9,345
11. Charlotte: 9,232
12. Avery: 9,121
13. Soa: 9,108
14. Chloe: 8,714
15. Ella: 8,370
16. Harper: 8,222
17. Amelia: 7,979
18. Aubrey: 7,927
19. Addison: 7,677
20. Evelyn: 7,616
BOYS
1. Noah: 18,090 boys named
2. Liam: 18,002
3. Jacob: 17,976
4. Mason: 17,591
5. William: 16,495
6. Ethan: 16,127
7. Michael: 15,366
8. Alexander: 14,771
9. Jayden: 14,656
10. Daniel: 14,140
11. Elijah: 13,626
12. Aiden: 13,527
13. James: 13,416
14. Benjamin: 13,373
15. Matthew: 13,226
16. Jackson: 12,488
17. Logan: 12,270
18. David: 12,226
19. Anthony: 12,164
20. Joseph: 12,095
Source: Social Security Administration
See BABY NAMES, 10A
INSIDE
Where to vote in Taylor
County. 10A
By Brian McCormack
Special to the Reporter-News
Horse competitions,
cowboy poetry and mu-
sic and the Ranch Rodeo
helped celebrate West
Texas frontier roots as the
Western Heritage Classic
continued Friday.
The celebrations runs
through Sunday at the Tay-
lor County Expo Center.
The Western Heritage
Classic plays an important
role in keeping cowboy
spirit alive, one organizer
said.
Its a great event, said
Jay Evans, WHC commit-
tee member and Chuck-
wagon Cookof chairman.
It preserves whats kind
of a dying heritage. We
work very hard to make
this event as authentic as
it can be. Its a great place
to bring your family and
have a good time.
Authenticity is a high-
light of the Ranch Rodeo.
Most of the competi-
tions are modeled after
work that ranch hands
regularly encounter while
wrangling livestock.
The Ranch Rodeo is
what started this whole
thing. Each one of the
WESTERN HERITAGE CLASSIC
PHOTOS BY NELLIE DONEVA/REPORTER-NEWS
Bob Skinner (left) visits with Wayne Snider at his Waynes Wagon Works setup during the Western Heritage Classic on Friday at
the Taylor County Expo Center.
Cowboy spirit lives
Celebration
strives to be
authentic
NELLIE DONEVA/REPORTER-NEWS
The lunch crowd listens to live music during the Classic. The celebration continues today and
Sunday.
See HERITAGE CLASSIC, 10A
ELECTIONS
2014
E
LECT
ION
S
2
0
1
4
INSIDE
Governor
candidates
Abbott and
Davis react
with caution
on climate
report. 4A
FOLLOW THE ELECTIONS
Join us this evening at reporternews.com, Twitter, Facebook and our
other social media outlets for Big Country election coverage,
including the latest results, a live chat, stories and more.
STATE OF GRACE
See how Big Country athletes fared at 1A and 2A
state track and eld meets in Austin. SPORTS, 1C
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ReEIect
PoIiticaI Advertising Paid by NormArchibaId for Mayor Campaign, Marty Anderson, Treasurer, 602 Scott PIace, AbiIene, TX 79601
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8A Saturday, May 10, 2014 ABI L E NE RE PORTE R- NE WS

FROM THE COVER
Inuenced by her moth-
er, who is 93 and lived
through the Dust Bowl,
she pours water from her
bath and her washing
machine directly into her
outdoor studio to keep the
trees alive. Gillis is hope-
ful others will follow suit
and conserve water when
they can.
She doesnt believe in
global warming, but un-
derstands that weather
changes and perhaps the
city is just going through
a strange weather pattern.
Its really sad. I just
dont know where to go,
she said. This is our life.
We have property and
a business here. I know
that before it runs out, we
will get rain. I have faith
in that.
FARMERS HOPE
FOR CHANGE
Retired Taylor County
extension agent Gary
Bomar, who owns a 600-
acre ranch near Abilene,
is one who is feeling the
pain of the dry spell. If it
doesnt rain, he said he
may have to cut his cattle
herd by 50 percent.
Bottom line, I spend
more money on feed and
the possibility of income,
he said.
At 68 years old, Steve
Young has seen some of
the worst Texas droughts
and weather, but he said
its getting tougher and
tougher to deal with the
arid situations around
Wichita Falls.
For 17 years, Young has
sold pecans, peaches and
apples from his 104-acre
farm, Youngs Orchard.
Fifty acres are in full
production. In total, the
drought has damaged
2 percent of his trees,
leaving limbs broken
and some dead. He said
the damage to the trees,
many of which are around
his age, is going to take
70-plus years to restore.
That wait isnt feasible,
he said, especially with
the regular demand for
his fruits and vegetables
at the Wichita Falls Farm-
ers Market.
In January and Feb-
ruary, Young plants the
trees and said the roots
wont dry out as long as
they are put in the ground
and watered as quickly as
possible. Because of irri-
gation wells, hes able to
keep his fruits and vege-
table plants thriving, but
this isnt the case for many
farmers.
Young said hes seen
people selling water in the
area to make money. Each
week, he buys three cases
of 16-ounce water bottles
and understands that his
resources are precious.
We dont want to be-
come a desert because
somebody else took all of
our water. I believe that
greed and gluttony, well,
they would absolutely de-
stroy our farms, whether
it be for their own needs
to go swimming or to sell
it, he said.
Young said hes frus-
trated with the lack of
consideration in Washing-
ton among politicians for
the emotions that people
like himself have regard-
ing this drought, which
has taken a toll not just
physically, but emotional-
ly on those living through
the situation.
As for the future, Young
said he will continue to
pray and hopes that one
day, rain will come.
A DRY LAND
Texas has some of the
most extreme weather in
the country. More rain
falls in the eastern part of
the state (a little less than
60 inches a year). That
number slowly decreases
moving west, with less
than 10 inches in the far
west near the borders of
New Mexico and Mexico.
Steve Lyons, meteorolo-
gist in charge at the Na-
tional Weather Service in
San Angelo, which also
serves Abilene, said Tex-
as has a problem climate,
built around the drought
threat.
According to the
Texas Water Develop-
ment Board, the hot and
dry spring of summer
2011 caused most of the
dryland crops in West
Texas to fail and a record
pumping of groundwater
to irrigate crops on the
High Plains.
In San Angelo, around
this time, theres usu-
ally more than 5 inches of
rain. This year, there has
been less than an inch of
rain. Similarly, in Dallas,
around this time, theres
usually more than 12 inch-
es of rain. Now, there has
been a little less than 4
inches of rain.
Global warming is rap-
idly changing Americans
daily lives, according to
the latest federal report
on climate change. The
report points out extreme
weather such as storms,
heat waves and droughts,
which are expected to get
stronger.
Climate has and al-
ways will change. Our
understanding of how
long-term changes, or
those changes that occur
over hundreds of years, is
based on science, or the
physics of how emissions
from our cars, our ren-
eries, cement production
interact with the air, said
Kathy A. Hibbard, one of
the lead authors for the
National Climate Assess-
ment chapter on Energy,
Water and Land Use. Its
important to understand
that weather events, or
wondering if it is going
to rain tomorrow or not
is diferent from climate,
which is the study of how
long-term events, such as
El Nio, impact tempera-
ture, wind, and rainfall.
Meteorologists predict
a strong El Nio in 2014,
which may mean greater
rainfall in parts of Texas.
El Nio is an area of warm
ocean water temperatures
that periodically devel-
ops of the Pacic coast
of South America. The
National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administra-
tion predicts persistent
drought throughout the
summer.
Since 2005, most of
the state has seen annual
rainfall decits every year
except for 2007. The year
2011 was especially dif-
cult with drought condi-
tions.
BREAKING DOWN
THE LATEST REPORT
For Texas, the biggest
concern is increased
evaporation from the hot-
ter summers, said Mark
Shafer, associate state
climatologist at Oklahoma
Climate Survey and one of
the authors on the Great
Plains chapter of the cli-
mate assessment.
Summer 2011 was ab-
solutely horrible, he said.
By the end of the century,
summer 2011 will be more
like an average summer
rather than an extreme.
These types of extreme
weather will impact en-
ergy production. The
biggest challenge is water
distribution, which takes
a lot of resources.
But its not all doom
and gloom, he said. If El
Nio develops, that could
come into play in the fall
and potentially do a lot for
Texas dry land.
Theres technology,
policy and economic
changes climate is just
a piece of this, he said
about those who remain
skeptical about the report.
All of these places will
nd a way to adapt. This
is just a road map. The
road map may not tell you
where all the bumps are,
but will tell when curves
are coming.
He urged people to be
optimistic and be pre-
pared. Instead of dwell-
ing on the past, its best to
focus on how to prepare
for the next spell, he said.
Locally, we can choose
to conserve water know-
ing that we will have
more challenges down
the road, he said. We
can pretend its not hap-
pening, but its still going
to happen. But in the end,
there are a lot of things
you cant predict.
PLANNING INSTEAD
OF HOPING
According to the Texas
Commission on Envi-
ronmental Quality, each
retail public water sup-
plier and wholesale pub-
lic water supplier in the
state of Texas is required
to prepare and maintain
a drought contingency
plan and to report to the
agency when mandatory
stages of their plans are
enacted. These plans aim
to conserve water where
it is needed most. For
example, a water system
may begin with asking
residents to voluntarily
reduce outside watering
followed by mandatory
limitations of watering
only once a week or once
every other week.
Additionally, every
ve years, the Texas Wa-
ter Development Board
publishes the state water
plan to look at the states
water supply for the next
50 years. The most recent
plan points to conserv-
ing 710 billion gallons
per year and develop 2.9
trillion gallons per year
of new water by 2060. In
2011, Austin used 53 bil-
lion gallons.
With growing popula-
tion and demand for wa-
ter, future droughts will
be more challenging, ac-
cording to the Texas Wa-
ter Development Board.
The board said people
can help by supporting
their water providers in
the development of a re-
silient portfolio of water
supplies.
Ofcials say people can
start conserving water in
several ways, including
reusing water used for
brushing teeth, washing
clothes and dishes. People
can also choose to opt for
no lawn.
Texans are no strang-
ers to extreme weather,
said Hibbard. The recent
drought, ood and hurri-
canes, even snow during
the 1993 Thanksgiving
football game are all a part
of what makes that state
so resilient. The more we
understand our past and
present, and clearly dene
where we want to be in the
future with an open mind,
the better prepared we
will be to make informed
decisions.
Since 2008, in coordi-
nation with the city of San
Angelo, Christy Youker,
education director at the
Upper Colorado River
Authority, has worked on
educating people about
the drought. The city has
a 13- month supply of
water left.
When your lakes are
dry, itll make you move
pretty fast, she said.
The city is working on
a plan to change the way
water is conserved.
Youker said the drought
began the churning of the
wheels in peoples minds,
and that they, along with
the city, need to step up to
have a plan in place for ad-
ditional resources.
I think weve always
learned its better to have
a plan than just hope, she
said. I think this requires
mobilizing people to take
better care and figure
out how to share this re-
source. Its a good com-
munity builder.
DROUGHT
from 1A
COURTESY PHOTOS
More than 1,000 people gathered in April one Saturday afternoon in downtown San Angelo to pray for rain.
Christy Youker, education director for the Upper Colorado River Authority, talks to students and adults in San Angelo about
water conservation efforts.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LAURA GILLIS
The lake bed of Lake Nasworthy is parched. Close to the property is where Laura Gillis holds a
day camp for special needs children.