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| - John Deere, Rotan - |
There were people on the Rotan Ace Hardware site this week, measuring and marking.
In Roby, there has been a major clear out around the old truck stop on the west side of town. There are workmen on big equipment getting down to the dirt.
In Sweetwater, it looks like they're building a major sports complex for the school. There are fancy new tennis courts west of the Mustang Bowl.
It's good to see things going outward and upward around the Rolling Plains.
Y'all, it's gettin' silly how many earthquakes there have been. I'll just say, if you are talking to someone who lives in this area, and if they are sitting, standing, breathing, feeding chickens or cows, driving down the road in a truck or tractor, you can take it for granted that there is an ongoing earthquake, one that has just happened, or one that is about to happen.
Oh, man, if only earthquakes were rain, they'd be calling us Seattle right now.
"The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has been investigating the earthquakes that have occurred this week in the Camp Springs area along the Fisher/Scurry County line in West Texas.
In efforts to reduce seismicity possibly caused by underground injection of produced water, several operators in the area have converted deep saltwater disposal wells to shallow saltwater disposal wells within the last year. (Disposal wells are used to dispose of produced water, which is water that comes out from wells during oil and gas production.)
RRC inspectors are out inspecting saltwater disposal wells within two and a half miles of the cluster of earthquakes this week and the RRC will evaluate next steps that can be taken to mitigate earthquakes.
We’ll continue to take measures necessary to protect the environment and residents in the area."
-This was in response to an email I sent them this morning. My original inquiry is posted below:
We had another big quake like the one on Monday. I'm in Fisher County in Texas. We've had multiple quakes between now and then. It is becoming very alarming. If saltwater injection is inducing the quaking, can you help in any way? It is frightening to feel like the house may be destroyed with me in it.
About 9:28 a.m., there was another strong quake. USGS graded it as a 4.8, but it felt stronger than the one on Monday. I was outside in the chicken coop and ran into the open because the ceiling in that old upside-down cotton trailer is rusty and could easily fall. The barbed wire on the fence was jumping up and down, and that stuff is pretty tight, normally. There was a long rumble after the shaking subsided, loud enough to override the sound of distant planes and vehicles.
I went inside and the cabinets were open, items had fallen off shelves, one little doll broken, and books were knocked over, pictures askew. I'm going to have to give up straightening them, in light of present circumstances.
Update: USGS had upgraded the quake to a 5.
Update: upgraded to 5.1. There was a 3.2 right after that one.
There was another hard earthquake about five minutes ago (9:58 p.m.). There have been at least 15-20 of varying degree since the 4.9 one Monday night. Paranoia has set in and the sound of a big truck driving by has me grabbing onto furniture to steady myself. There are some weeks, lately, where I've counted as many as 15 tremors, but nothing as jolting as what is now being experienced, with cabinets flying open and pictures on the wall jarred askew. Is this the new normal?
Update: USGS graded this quake as a 4.0.
One sale is for July 29, for the contents of two storage rooms at Rotan Self Storage. Details can be found in The Double Mountain Chronicle.
Tax and foreclosure sales scheduled for August 6:
Nolan County: two foreclosures, courthouse, 10 a.m. for 512 Locust St in city, and 1 p.m. for 1611 San Carlos St in city.
Mitchell County: tax sales, courthouse, 10 a.m. Properties in the city, at the lake and one in Loraine.
Scurry County: foreclosure, courthouse, 1 p.m. for 4516 Fredonia in city.
Texas Communities Group resales:
Loraine: Four properties - two end 8/5; one ends 8/6; one has no end date.
Colorado City: one property, ends 8/6.
Stamford: two properties - one ends 8/11, one has no end date.
Auction.com:
1008 Denison in Snyder, ends 8/6.
Links:
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| - Hobbs quake - |
There have been at least three more after shocks and quite a bit of trembling.
It's hard to get used to them when they're that big.
United States Geological Survey pegged it at a 4.9.
Here is the thought that jerked me out of sleep at 4:00 a.m. this morning: Do you really need a title company to make a property transfer?
As I lay there thinking, trying to follow the trail of selling and buying real estate and where the role of the title company fits in, I began to suspect that the answer was no.
I got up to do some research. After removing the latest gift from the cat (two mice in one night) from the living room floor, I sat down at the desk and let my fingers do some walking on the computer keys.
A contributor on Quora said that any document in writing, that specifically indicates the grantee and grantor, the property, consideration (usually payment), and is signed by the grantee, is all that is needed to transfer property. No lawyer, no real estate agent, no title company is mandatory for the transaction.
Notarize the document and file it with the county clerk's office and you've just completed a transfer of property.
To push my point further, there was a piece of property that I was interested in at tax sale, so I went to a title company to see if the deed was clear. I made it clear I wanted to pay for the service, but was told I could look up the title history myself in county records (Texas File). I ended up buying the property at the sale and the only thing needed to transfer it to me was to pay the appraisal office. The deed was then mailed to me.
I will concede that some properties are tricky, and I was glad to use a title company to track a particular parcel that I wanted to purchase. The owners lived out of county, making self-researching difficult, and a title search revealed that the property was tied up in a bunch of liens from the state. I decided that the low cost of the property was worth taking a chance on it if I ended up losing it. The title company drew up the deed transfer, as well as running the title search, for no charge. Unfortunately, the owner died before I could complete the transaction, further complicating the deal. After all was said and done, I didn't buy the lot.
The final answer is you can do your own land deal, if you are sure about the property history and can draft a simple document. There are other situations, more complicated and with more risk (higher price), where other legal foundations are needed for a sound investment.
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| - Includes Hobbs history - |
Population 45. In Fisher county, 14 miles from Roby, the county seat and 14 from Rotan, the usual banking and shipping point. Telephone connection. Henry C. Shanks, postmaster. Shanks Henry C, General Store.
Looking for a photo of the old store in high school annuals of the late fifties, only text ads could be found for Henderson's Grocery and Station.
An internet search for photos led to a book (and the usual barrage of Hobbs, New Mexico results), The Empty Schoolhouse by Luther Bryan Clegg.
Upon sampling the book, Buddy Burnett sprang to life as he spoke of Dallas, Grady, old Baird and Camp Springs in describing the history of the Hobbs School. It's interesting to note, according to Burnett, that the original school was called Chicken Foot.
Stanley Morris, the surveyor, told me years ago that there was a place that used to be called Dallas here in Fisher County. As close as I can ascertain, that was east of Hobbs, around the intersection of county roads 319 and 320. There used to be an old house there that we called The Buzzard House because my kids and I saw a buzzard chick living in it.
I've ordered the aforementioned book and I look forward to its arrival. It's a collection of stories from people who attended the first rural schools in Texas.
If you're interested, you can also purchase it by clicking on the book title link.
