WEATHER: (January 23, 2021) SATURDAY - High yesterday was 41° at 4:00; this morning’s low was 26° at 8:00. KPANcast: Cloudy with fog in the morning, clearing with a high near 62.

LOCAL: Friday afternoon Hereford Police, Hereford Volunteer Fire Department, EMS and Atmos Energy were called to the 1000 block of Plains. A large ground saturation of natural gas had been detected and needed to be extracted. Authorities blocked Plains from Douglas to Greenwood for several hours. Some homes were evacuated but were allowed to return during the 4:00 hour……Hereford city officials Friday reported 8       new cases of the coronavirus in their daily update. Deaf Smith County had 29 cases this week, 6 less than last week. Two weeks ago the county had 76 new cases in the 5 day reporting period. There are currently 63 active cases of COVID-19. The Amarillo Area Hospitalization Rate which includes Deaf Smith County is at 17.9%……Hereford basketball teams dropped a doubleheader in Canyon Friday night. The #2 ranked Lady Eagles defeated the Lady Whitefaces 55-23. Hereford drops to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in district play. The Herd lost to the Eagles 53-48 after leading most of the way. Aiden Arias scored 11 points to lead the Whiteface offense. The Herd is 15-4 overall and 3-1 in district play……A virtual grief support group will meet for 6 consecutive Tuesday’s beginning this week. “Grief during the Pandemic” is for adults, call 350-1352 for a Zoom link……Texas A&M Agrilife has two meetings this week. Randall County will have Producers Pre-Plant Conference on Wednesday. The deadline to sign-up is 5:00 Monday. There is no charge to participate. AgriLife will also have the Master Marketer Seminar Series beginning on Wednesday through March 3^rd.