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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
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Top Stories

Friday, March 31, 2000

Odessa workers at RCDC jailed on drug charges

By ROSIE FLORES
and
JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writers
PECOS, Mar. 31, 2000 - Two construction workers from Odessa who were employed on the Reeves County Detention Center expansion project were arrested on their way to work this morning on charges of transporting drugs to sell at the facility.

The two were arrested on Highway 17 just south of Interstate 20, following a 7:15 a.m. traffic stop by Pecos Police and Trans-Pecos Drug Task Force officers, according to investigator Paul Deishler. The arrest was made less than a mile from the RCDC, where the two men were working on construction of the new 1,000-bed addition to the prison.

"We received information that the two gentlemen were transporting narcotics out to the prison here and selling on prison grounds," Deishler said. "They're from Odessa and were stopped by officers Oscar Machuca and Billy Hull."

Hull said the driver gave consent to search the pickup they were in, and Deishler said, "Once we got consent we found what was believed to be cocaine and marijuana inside the vehicle."

The two construction employees were identified as Jhonny Chris Tarango, 29, of Odessa and Ronny Tarango, 32. They were sub-contractors employed with M.D. Construction Company of Odessa.

Banes General Contractors award bids to sub-contractors to help at the facility site.

"This has been an ongoing investigation," said Pecos Police Investigator Paul Deishler, who said, "Hopefully, other arrests are pending."

Machuca and Hull found about 10 grams of cocaine and two ounces of marijuana in the Tarangos' possession during the search of the cab of the pickup, according to Deishler.

Both were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Deishler contacted the West Texas Narcotics Team in Odessa and shared his information with them. "At this time they obtained a search warrant and are searching Jhonny's house in Odessa," he said.

Officers in Odessa had already found a half-pound of marijuana and half an ounce of cocaine inside the residence, according to Deishler.

"They just called me back and told me they had found more drugs and are still there," said Deishler. "They said they will be there awhile, because there are drugs throughout the residence."

This is just what they've found so far, according to Deishler.

Street value on the confiscated drugs had not been assessed yet.

Reeves County Detention Center Warden Rudy Franco stated that he was aware of the ongoing investigation into the construction workers.

"We were made aware of the investigation, Andy (Gomez, Reeves County Sheriff) had told me about it," said Franco.

"The individuals were selling the drugs to other co-workers and not to inmates," said Franco.

Franco stated that the construction employees currently working on the 1,000-bed expansion at the prison have no contact whatsoever with the inmates.

"We have our employees carefully guarding the situation, so that they do not have to have any contact with the inmates and they don't," said Franco.

There are at least three staff members and a fence dividing the on-going construction at the facility and the inmates.

"The possibility of any workers on the site of coming into contact with an inmate is very remote," said Franco. "Added security has been added to separate them from one another."

The investigation is a combined effort with the Pecos Police Department, Reeves County Sheriff's Department and the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force.

A two-month investigation on another case ended Thursday night with the arrest of a Barstow resident, according to Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Commander Gary Richards.

Pecos Police, aided by the task force, executed a search warrant in Barstow last evening.

"We had received information that an individual in Barstow was in possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and based on that we obtained a search warrant, which we executed last night," said Deishler.

A quarter of a pound of marijuana was located inside the residence and an undetermined amount of cocaine.

Louis Elliott Rico, 20, was arrested and transported to Ward County Jail.

"We were also assisted by the Ward County Sheriff's Office, Monahans Police Department and Parks and Wildlife," said Richards.

Rico was charged with possession of marijuana over four ounces and under five pounds and possession of cocaine under one gram.

Hospital hopes turnout good for Health Fair

By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Mar. 31, 2000 - Health and preventive medicine will be objectives Saturday at the 13th Annual Reeves County Health Fair.

The Health Fair will start at 8 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m., at Reeves County Hospital. A free pancake breakfast for everyone will kick off events for the health fair.

"We realize that there are other activities scheduled for Saturday, such as the Little League kickoff, track meet, but we would still like for the parents and children to come by the health fair, so they can take advantage of the low tests or free screenings that will be available," said director of special services for Reeves County Hospital Nancy Ontiveros.

"We're very excited that we're having several new services this year such as, the Desert Springs Hospital, which will be offering depression screenings and eating disorders," she said.

Also new this year will be the Odessa Eye Clinic, with Dr. Rick Munoz, who is a former Pecos native, and will be providing free cataract and glaucoma screening. He will also be doing vision screenings for adults and children.

Aerocare of Lubbock will be bringing their helicopter, which should be arriving at the hospital at 10 a.m.

"We would like to encourage the public to take advantage of the blood profiles, for $20; EKG's for $7 and prostate testing for $20," said Ontiveros.

These exams are usually offered with a doctor's order and are very costly. "And Saturday, they will be available at a reduced price with no physician's requirement," said Ontiveros.

"It is the goal of the Reeves County Health Fair Committee to promote good health and encourage practicing preventive medicine for the residents of Reeves County," said Ontiveros.

Friends of Ward County will have a museum bus parked outside the facility, which individuals can go through. "It will contain a display of the effects of radioactive hazardous material in West Texas," said Ontiveros. The group are among a number of area residents opposed to bringing a low-level radioactive waste dump to a site northeast of Barstow in Western Ward County.

A special feature will be Healthy Kids Art Contest, which will be displaying the art of elementary students and prizes will be awarded at 2 p.m.

A barbecue lunch will be offered for $4 and door prizes will be awarded throughout the day.

Pre-registration for lab work will be available this afternoon, from 2-6 p.m., at the hospital lobby.

"Individuals can register in the morning, the day of the health fair, if they are unable to pre-register today. `

"The Reeves County Health Fair is a great benefit to everyone and we encourage the community to participate," said Ontiveros.

Air Force pilots get lunch on the fly

By SMOKEY BRIGGS
Staff Writer
PECOS, Mar. 31, 2000 - An Air Force survey team of four pilots flew into Pecos Municipal Airport yesterday and had lunch before taking off in their rented civilian aircraft to finish up their work related to the planned Realistic Bomber Training Initiative.

Mayor Dot Stafford and City Manager Kenneth Neal met the team at the airport. The pilots were surveying the area around which B-1 and B-52 bombers are scheduled to fly low-level practice runs over electronic scoring sites to the south of Pecos.

"We found out they would be in the area when we were at Dyess Air Force Base a couple of weeks ago," Stafford said. "I suggested they drop by Pecos and they did."

Stafford and Neal bought the team lunch before sending them back into the wild blue yonder.

"We need to keep a good line of communication open with Dyess (Air Force Base). The bomber training can have a tremendous impact on us. The better we know each other the better we will communicate, and good communications is the first step to any good relationship," Stafford said. "Of course, inviting them to lunch was simply the hospitable thing to do."

Dwight Williams, airspace manager for the Air Force, explained that crews surveyed existing bomber training flight paths for new obstructions every year.

"People build things without telling us about it," Williams said. "Our pilots fly as low as 500 feet off the ground along these routes and if somebody builds a 1000-foot-tall tower that we don't know about it, creates a very dangerous situation."

The Air Force is already using the route through Reeves County for low-level training flights, but the RBTI would result in the construction of a manned electronic scoring site about 17 miles south of Pecos, along with several other unmanned sites in the area. The Air Force released their Record of Decision on Wednesday selecting the route around Pecos, and construction of the sites was expected to cost about $5 million, and add 31 new jobs and $1.6 million annually to the local economy.

After 22 years as an Air Force air traffic controller Williams is retired and holds the position as air space manager as a civilian.

The other three members of the survey crew are B-1 Bomber flight officers.

"We are all weapons system officers on the B-1," Major Rick Chapman of Gardiner, Maine explained. "We happen to also have our private pilot's licenses."

"We survey the routes in single engine civilian aircraft," Captain Doug DiFrancesco of Phoenix, Arizona said. "Today we're using a Cessna 182 and a Cessna 172. Usually we fly the routes at 300-400 feet at 120-140 miles per hour. That way we get a good look at the area."

"The routes can be up to 10 miles wide. We fly in two teams of two, one man flying the plane and the other surveying the route. With two aircraft we can cover the route pretty effectively," Captain Karl Fischbach of Rochester, N.Y., said.

Williams said that the team had flown about 150 miles of flight path before lunch and would fly another 150 before the day was done.

"The flight path is about 600 miles so it is a two-day job," Williams said. "Being met by Mayor Stafford and Mr. Neal is an unexpected treat. We don't usually get this kind of reception and this was very nice. We really appreciate it."

Time changes to move clocks forward Sunday

WASHINGTON (AP) - The annual ritual of moving clocks an hour ahead happens this weekend when daylight-saving time begins.

The official changeover occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday, though most people will likely adjust their clocks and watches before going to bed Saturday.

Those who forget to spring forward could be late for church, work or other events.

Daylight-saving time lasts until Oct. 29.

Safety officials say this is also a good time to install fresh batteries in smoke detectors.

Some parts of the country don't observe daylight-saving time. Those include Arizona, Hawaii, the part of Indiana located in the Eastern time zone, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

Lotto

AUSTIN (AP) - Results of the Cash 5 drawing Thursday night: Winning numbers drawn: 7-11-23-26-27. Number matching five of five: 1. Prize per winner: $78,951. Winning ticket sold in: Bryan. Matching four of five: 333. Prize: $356.

***

AUSTIN (AP) - The winning Pick 3 numbers drawn Thursday by the Texas Lottery, in order: 6-4-4 (six, four, four)

Obituaries

Miguel Matta, Jr.

Miguel Matta, Jr., 25, of Odessa, died Wednesday, March 29, 2000, in Corpus Christi, in an automobile accident.

A rosary will be held at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 2, at Martinez Funeral Home Chapel.

Services are scheduled for 10 a.m., Monday, April 3, at Santa Rosa Catholic Church with burial in Greenwood Cemetery.

He was born Jan. 5, 1975, in Pecos, was a pipe fitter-boilermaker construction worker and a Catholic. He was preceded in death by his father, Miguel Matta, Sr.

Survivors include his mother and stepfather, Pat and Lupe Medina of Odessa; paternal grandmother, Juanita Matta of Pecos; maternal grandmother, Carmen Diaz of Odessa; one brother, Gabriel Matta of Odessa; four sisters, Christina Martinez, Tammy Medina, Jessica Medina all of Odessa and Jackie Medina of Austin.

Martinez Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Celia McCree

Celia McCree, 62, of Dallas, died Monday, March 27, 2000, at her residence.

Graveside services were held at 3 p.m., today at Fairview Cemetery with Rev. Bruce Abbott officiating.

She was both Sept. 23, 1938, in Clovis, N.M., was a homemaker, helped with the Boys Girls Club of America and a Baptist.

Survivors include her husband, Wesley H. "Buddy" McCree of Dallas; two daughters, Marilyn Martin of Dallas, Lisa Matchett of Bloomington, Ill., one sister and four grandchildren.

Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Weather

PECOS, Mar. 31, 2000 - High Thursday 79. Low this morning 56. Forecast for tonight: Mostly cloudy. A 50 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. Low 45 to 50. East wind 10 to 20 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy and breezy with a 40 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. High 70 to 75. Wind becoming northeast 15 to 25 mph and gusty. Saturday night: Cloudy with a chance of showers or thunderstorms. Low in the 40s. Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers or thunderstorms. High 70 to 75.



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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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