Jenny, I've got your number

In all those stores that want a phone number to check out with, I use Jenny's famous digits. There is always an account for 867-5309, with any area code. I even got a good discount at Yesway using it as my rewards number. To tell the truth, I've set up a few myself. I think I'm hilarious.

Rain and a homecoming

- A lot of water -

The season has finally changed. Overnight storms dropped 2 1/2 inches of rain here, and the dry creek bed and tanks next to my house overflowed. What a relief.

The Hobbs Homecoming will be this Saturday at the old school. Just a get together, nothing formal. Contact Pat, Peggy or Jerry to get details.

Update: The dogs that were mentioned previously ran away. The cats, chickens and I couldn't be happier.

Finding shade

- Desert Oasis -

It's the deepest part of summer and the doldrums have set in. It feels like it will never rain again. It feels like it has never rained. But it eventually will, and fall will follow, after a few false starts. Then jackets will come out of the closet. Hang on, it's coming.

A couple of dogs were dumped on me a few weeks ago. Since there is not much of a choice to be made when this happens, they will be staying around here. They seem to not be furtive, not jumping at the cats and chickens.  They're okay. I'm just not much of one for dogs. I've noticed that abandoned dogs never run away, unfortunately.

I've seen a few coveys of quail, lately. The adults were whooping it up last month, so I guess this is the result. I am the idiot that stops my car in the middle of the road to let them cross. I also stop for roadrunners, dove, ground squirrels, horny toads and mice. And, of course, turkeys. Oh, and pigs and deer. I have to stop for them or they will stop me.

My oasis doesn't look like much, but there is some shade. The big mimosa tree in the back yard died last summer, so I had to relocate the lawn furniture. I sure do miss that tree, it was 25 years old. I knew it when it was just a stick.

Sweetwater, Texas July 2026 auction

The City of Sweetwater has announced an auction scheduled for July 20 through the 24th. 

Items can be viewed on the René Bates Auctioneers site.

The auction house lists the location as the City of Sweetwater Armory, 1501 Elm. 

The city message indicates it will be online.

There are phone numbers on both sites to obtain more information.

Vehicles and equipment will be up for bid at 10 a.m. on the 20th.

Get a job in Scurry County, July 2026

There are some unique and profitable jobs out there this month. Jump fast to snap these up before they close.

• USPS.COM: Scroll down to Careers>Rural Carrier Associate>Apply Now>Continue and use keyword Snyder or pick Texas and scroll down to Rural Carrier. This is a very rare opportunity to get on with the post office as a career employee. It comes with all the benefits, including insurance, vacation time, sick time and eligibility to subscribe to the Thrift Savings Plan, the po version of a 401(k). You'll need a good sturdy vehicle and the desire and abililty to work hard. It'll be worth it when you get your paycheck!
• Scurry County: Home>Departments>Maintenance>Courthouse Maintenance Job. Work hours are from 4 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. The chosen applicant would be responsible for cleaning the courthouse, the annex, the library and the health unit, as well as other areas. It would be interesting to get to be in those spaces with no one else around. There are also county openings for a health unit clerk,  a park laborer and a senior center bus driver.
• Western Texas College: Home>Faculty/Staff>Human Resources. I think the part-time library assistant is the most lucrative job, but there are many others that may be of more interest to you, like being a security guard, bus driver or college groundskeeper. There are also quite a few instructor openings.

That oughta get ya started! Get to filling out those applications!

Nolan County Sheriff's Sale July 2026

An auction for following tax foreclosed properties will be held July 7, 10 a.m., at the Nolan County Courthouse in Sweetwater, Texas.

• 202 West Arkansas
• 1010 West Louisiana
• 308 West Louisiana
• 318 Patterson
• 2012 Douglas
• 612 Bell
• 1009 West Avenue C
• 609 Ninth Street

More information can be found on the Perdue Brandon website.

Local paper subscriptions

A good way to keep up with what's going on is to have a current newspaper subscription. For those who enjoy the tactile feeling of a paper and turning pages to see what's next, you'll get the bonus of also having a digital copy, which is handy for quick referencing.

Here is information for obtaining your weekly papers around this little area of Texas:

Double Mountain Chronicle - news for Fisher and Stonewall Counties (Rotan, Roby, Sylvester, Aspermont)
114 E Sammy Baugh Ave, Rotan, TX 79546, 325-735-2562 
$88 yearly for in-county and surrounding counties subscription
$94 yearly for other Texas residents
$100 yearly for out of state

Sweetwater Reporter - Nolan County news (Sweetwater, Roscoe, Blackwell)
112 West Third Street, Sweetwater, TX 79556, 325-236-6677
$125 yearly for in-county subscription
$135 yearly for out-of-county, out-of-state 

The Snyder News - Scurry County news (Snyder, Hermleigh, Ira)
3201 College Avenue, Snyder, TX 79549, 325-573-5486
$105 yearly for in-county subscription
$135 yearly for out-of-county, out-of-state 

All of these subscriptions include print and digital versions of the newspapers. 

Visit the websites for other options. 

Nolan County Sheriff's Sale June 2026

Yet another tax sale for Nolan County, to be held June 2, 2 p.m., at the courthouse, 100 East 3rd, Sweetwater, Texas.

The properties up for auction are listed below. All are in Sweetwater, unless otherwise noted:

• 401 East Broadway
• 801 West 7th 
• 703 SW Georgia
• 2100 Bristol Drive
• 114 Fisher
• 1200 Mulberry
• 118 CR 204, Blackwell
• 2204 Pease
• 610 West 5th
• 1212 Kiowa & mobile home
• 1800 Hubbard
• 304 East Ave A
• 501 East Ave B
• 2001 Bristol

 More information can be found on the Perdue Brandon website.

Nolan County Sheriff's Sale May 2026

Nolan County will conduct their sale on May 5, 10 a.m., at the courthouse. The following are the properties up for auction:

• 202 West Arkansas
• 1010 West Louisiana
• 308 West Louisiana
• 318 Patterson
• 2012 Douglas
• 612 Bell
• 1009 West Ave C
• 609 West Ninth
• 911 West New Mexico

This and other tax sales are listed on the Perdue Brandon website.

There will also be a foreclosure sale on the same day, at 1 p.m., at the courthouse. The property to be sold is 217 County Road 217. Details can be found on the Nolan County Clerk page. 

The courthouse address is 100 East Third in Sweetwater, Texas.

Rotan spring farm auction

The Fisher County annual Whitley May auction will be held next weekend, April 11, at the Rotan rodeo grounds. It will start around 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

Nolan County Sheriff's Sale 2026

The Nolan County Appraisal District has done an excellent job on posting and listing for the March 3 sheriff's sale. Not only have they made the list available online, there are addresses for each property. The information can be found on the Nolan CAD site.

Here are the properties up for auction:

• 1400 Mason
• 209 Robert Lee
• 108 East New Mexico
• 1306 Pease
• 703 Coke
• 505 Elm
• 303 Tom Green
• 1307 Elm
• Six lots in Maryneal
• 303 Poplar
• 300 East 14th
• 1405 Burch
• 114 West Broadway
• 110 West Broadway
• 310 Main Street in Roscoe
• 707 Pease
• 1010 Woodruff
• 205 Hickory
• 323 West Ave A
• 1211 Vine
• 105 Bell
• 104 Alexander
• 109 East Texas
• 205 West Alabama

The sale will be held at the Nolan County Courthouse in Sweetwater at 2 p.m. 

Wait, where?

The Fisher County Commissioners showed surprise when a citizen speaking at the monthly meeting expressed concern about new construction by IREN on FM 540, about 3 miles north of where it junctions with SH 92. The court appeared not to be aware of the project.

This is the Sweetwater 2 project, set just to the west of Hamlin, within the Fisher County bounds.

KTAB TV in Abilene reported on the project March 10, 2025. Specific site information was not given, other than it was to be located 28 miles from the Sweetwater 1 project. 

Sweetwater 1 is located on FM 611 in Fisher County. 

Both sites are in Fisher County. The city of Sweetwater is in Nolan County.

The commissioners' meeting can be viewed on the Fisher County Courthouse Texas YouTube channel.

The KTAB article can be viewed on Big Country Home Page. 

Longworth Community Center to be auctioned

At 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, parcel 32152 will be sold by auction at the Fisher County Courthouse.

The county owned property consists of 1.36 acres and a 2,040 square foot building. It's appraised at $46,320 by the appraisal district.

It is located just off FM 57, on the north-east side of Longworth. 

There is no minimum bid. 

 

Update:

The Longworth Community Center property was sold to Alexandria Rivas of Roby for $23,500. 

This 'n' that

- Hobbs School,  2005  -

I found myself talking to the laundry this morning. Not out loud, but I sent a thought to a pair of fuzzy pink socks that keep shredding into the load. "You better watch out or you'll go in the trash!" I told them. It was probably an empty threat, as they're very comfortable to wear. I leave tissues in pockets all the time and wash them, leaving bits on everything. I haven't quit using Kleenex, so the socks are probably safe.

I hashed over IREN changing from bitcoin mining to artificial intelligence. Sometimes it's called crypto mining, which doesn't seem like a word interchangeable with bitcoin mining, but I don't know what either one is, so potato, potahto. I also don't know what AI cloud is, but it's not important to my point. If this helps IREN to pay off their debt earlier, I would think that's good for the county. I'm not going to hurt my mind by thinking about it more deeply at this time. 

IREN's Sweetwater 1 site is out on FM 611 in Fisher County, by the old Claytonville gas plant. It seems like they're in a good position to change since it's still in the building phase. What do I know? Nothing.

I hit a benchmark in December. I've been writing on this here website for 20 years. I posted the first photo used on the blog, taken in 2005. It's of the Hobbs School, which was being used for a multi-county GED program at that time. It was sold in 2012 to the Gordon Family, who continue to own it.

Fisher County Sheriff's Sale 2026

Tuesday, January 6th at 2 p.m. there will be a public auction at the north door of the Fisher County Courthouse, located at 112 North Concho in Roby, Texas. The following properties will be up for sale:

• Parcel 5741 - 202 East Burnside in Rotan - .241 acres - a house and land
• Parcel 7793 - 205 North Walton in Roby - .344 acres - a house and land
• Parcel 7594 - 805 West South 1st in Roby - .586 acres - commercial property, a motel
• Parcel 6318 - 401 East McArthur in Rotan - .241 acres - a house and land
• Parcel 6611 - 611 East 6th in Rotan - .482 acres - a house and land
• Parcel 5385 - 258 County Road 713 (6th St) in McCaulley - .482 acres - a house and land
• Parcel 5724 - 202 East Johnston in Rotan - .273 acres - a house and land  
• 8 tracts of working interest in oil leases - 

1. Jonisue Stiff lease, operator Ohlhausen Oil Company
2. J. W. Cave "D" lease #20126, operator Ohlhausen Oil Company 
3. Jonisue No. 2 lease, operator Ohlhausen Oil Company
4. Morris -B- lease, operator TCS Petroleum Company  
5. Jonisue Stiff lease, operator TCS Petroleum Company
6. W. B. Wetsel lease #3715, operator Ohlhausen Oil Company 
7. James "A" Cave lease #20469, operator TCS Petroleum Oil Company
8. J. W. Cave lease #20064, operator TCS Petroleum Company 

I searched hard for those Jonisue leases, but didn't come up with much. It's a mystery to me where they're listed on the Fisher CAD. On the Railroad Commission website, it looks like the wells were never developed, due to crowding, or the operators have changed. I'm not even 100% sure on the other lease numbers. I was just stabbing in the dark there. I didn't try very hard at all to find the Morris -B-.

For more information on the Cave and Wetsel leases, on the appraisal district site go to Search>Ohlhausen, choose any of them, then click on Notice of Appraisal>View. 

Sources: Double Mountain Chronicle December 19, 2025 issue; Fisher CAD website; RRC website; Google earth

More candidates file, jail closed for good

 Four more potential candidates for Fisher County offices have filed "Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer by a Candidate" forms:

• Jackie Terry for Republican chair
• Brad Boyd for precinct four commissioner
• Robert Terry for precinct four commissioner
• Shelton Waldon for county judge

In other news, the commissioners court voted to decommission the jail. 

"It's a money pit," said Precinct One Commissioner Gordon Pippin. 

Precinct Four Commissioner Micah Evans did not vote for the closure.

The vote was taken during the monthly meeting on Monday.

Terms expiring in 2026

Fisher County offices up for election:

• county judge
• county clerk
• district clerk
• sheriff
• justice of the peace
• treasurer
• precinct 2 commissioner
• precinct 4 commissioner

Local offices with expiring seats:

• Rotan City Council
• Roby City Council
• Rotan ISD
• Roby CISD
• Fisher County Hospital Board

There are no candidate filings for Fisher County on the Texas Secretary of State site.

Sources: Fisher County Election Page; Texas Secretary of State Candidate Page; Double Mountain Chronicle online archives; Roby CISD website; Rotan ISD website; Fisher County Hospital website

Candidate update

Joy Dennis, former Rotan City Council member, and administrative assistant and court coordinator for Fisher County Judge Ken Holt, has submitted an "Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer by a Candidate" form for the office of district clerk.

If this is carried forward, Dennis will be running against incumbent Gina Pasley, who is seeking another term. 

Pasley has been Fisher County District Clerk since 2016.

Sources: Fisher County Texas Election Page; Fisher County District Clerk Page

County news: property sells, possible candidates for 2026

The county owned Sylvester Community Center was sold to Norman Dozier of Abilene for $40,000 at the November 10 public auction. The  minimum bid was set at $25,000 by the commissioners. There is no record online, at this time, of the sale of the Longworth Community Center.

The Fisher County Election page, on the county website, has a list of thirteen people who have submitted an "Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer by a Candidate" form, indicating interest in running for office. 

Here are the names and offices sought:

• Pat Thomson, County Clerk
• Angie Pippin, Justice of Peace
• Jeanna Parks, County Treasurer
• Robert Castilleja, Sheriff
• Elvis Elrod (Dexter), Precinct 2 Commissioner
• Preston Martin, County Judge
• Gina Pasley, District Clerk
• Pat Dickson, Sheriff
• Elias Sepeda, Justice of Peace
• Brandon Arnold, Sheriff
• Ricky Spencer, County Judge
• Kerry Anderson, Republican Party Chairperson
• Casey Terry, County Judge

Rotan City Councilwoman Joy Dennis resigned from the city council at the last meeting, held November 10. She stated her intention was to run for a county office, and did not want to create confusion by holding a county and a city role at the same time. Dennis did not indicate which county office she would be pursuing.

The primary election will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline is December 8.

Sources: Local Government Solutions Online Records Search; Fisher County Texas Election Page; Double Mountain Chronicle Rotan City Council Meeting Video; Texas Secretary of State: Filing in the 2026 Republican or Democratic Primary Election

Rescheduled auction

Whitley May Auctioneers have rescheduled the Sweetwater sale. It will now be held on November 11.