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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Tuesday, April 11, 2000
County voters set to decide commissioners' races
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 11, 2000 - Reeves County voters were going to the polls
today to decide two commissioners' races and to help decide the Democratic
Party's nominee for U.S. Senate in November.
Incumbents Felipe Arredondo and Herman Tarin are seeking to win nomination
to their third four-year terms on the commissioners court, and are being
challenged in today's runoff elections by Jesse Baeza and David Patillo.
All 12 election boxes in Reeves County are open today, but voting was
expected to be heaviest in the five boxes that make up Precincts 1 and
3, where voters will be able to cast ballots in one of the two commissioner's
races. Early voting for the runoff election ended on Friday, with 807 persons
having cast ballots at the Reeves County Courthouse. Another 261 votes
were received by mail, according to the Reeves County Clerk's office.
Arredondo, who won as a write-in candidate four years ago after serving
as Precinct 1 commissioner from 1985-88, collected 385 votes in the March
14 primary election, while Baeza won a close race for second place and
a spot in next month's runoff. He collected 226 votes; three more than
Anita Baeza, while the fourth candidate, Roy Pena, received 202 votes.
In Precinct 3, Tarin, who was first elected in 1992, finished second
to Pattillo in the voting, collecting 376 votes to Pattillo's 387. The
other two candidates, Jimmy Gallego and James H. Thomas, picked up 204
and 45 votes respectively.
Voters in Boxes 2 and 11 will cast ballots in the Precinct 1 commissioner's
race today, while voters in Boxes 5, 6 and 10 will be voting for commissioner
in Precinct 3. County Democratic voters can cast ballots in the runoff
for U.S. Senate, where Gene Kelly and Charles Gandy.
The winners in Tuesday's runoff will be unopposed in the November general
election, unless a write-in candidate files following the April 11 primary.
Arredondo defeated Lupe Garcia as a write-in candidate in 1996 and is looking
to become the first candidate since Marcos Martinez Jr. in 1980 to win
consecutive terms as Precinct 1 commissioner.
Polls will be open until 7 p.m. tonight at the 12 election boxes in
Reeves County. The boxes are:
Box 1 _ Pecos Community Center; Box 2 _ Pecos Elementary; Box 3 _ Pecos
High School new gym; Box 4 _ Toyah; Box 5 _ Balmorhea; Box 6 _ Saragosa;
Box 7 _ Reeves County Library; Box 8 _ Lamar Middle School; Box 9 _ Orla;
Box 10 _ Reeves County Annex; Box 11 _ Bessie Haynes Elementary; Box 12
_ Texas New Mexico Power Co. Reddy Room.
Red Bluff board briefed on cloud-seeding project
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 11, 2000 - Getting water out of both trees and clouds
were two of the topics for the Red Bluff Water Power Control Board, during
their monthly meeting on Monday.
The board talked about Friday's scheduled tour of the salt cedar eradication
project along the Pecos River, which will involve Texas Agriculture Commissioner
Susan Combs and other state and federal officials. They also were briefed
by Brad Newton of the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission about
the possibility of resuming cloud seeding over the Pecos Valley, similar
to an effort being undertaken around Big Spring.
The salt cedars were put in along western rivers 90 years ago as a way
to control soil erosion. Since then, they have spread out along the banks
of the Pecos and other western rivers, and are believed to use as much
as 40 percent of the water in the river, while at the same time leaching
salt from their leaves onto the nearby ground, making it unusable for agricultural
purposes.
Under a test project, the herbicide Arsenal was applied to salt cedar
trees along the river last September, from south of Red Bluff Dam to the
Highway 302 bridge west of Mentone. On Friday, the tour will travel to
the bridge to see the difference between the sprayed side on the north,
and the unsprayed sections to the south.
"There's no question that Arsenal kills cedars. It killed them dead
as a hammer," said general manager Jim Ed Miller, who credited Barney Lee
with the Soil Conservation Service for getting the long-delayed project
going last year.
"I've worked a lot to get them to use that chemical in Texas, and I'm
glad they did," said Newton, who formerly served as Pecos River Compact
Commissioner. He added that the current project on the Pecos is being looked
at by officials for use on other rivers throughout the southwest.
"There are over a million acres of salt cedar on every river in Texas,"
he said, while board member Lloyd Goodrich brought up the question of what
will be done in the future about removing all those dead trees along the
river, for which there was no answer at this time.
On the cloud seeding plan, Newton said the Upper Colorado River Municipal
Water District in Big Spring has been spraying silver iodide into clouds
for the past 25 years. "They've been having very good success," he said,
with an average cost of nine cents per acre.
"It works, but you've got to have acceptable clouds to do it," said
board president Randall Hartman. "We used to do it, but it got too expensive."
Newton said John Grant, Chairman of the Region F Water Planning Group
and general manager of the Upper Colorado River Water District, was big
supporter of the cloud seeding plan, and that George Bowmar of the TNRCC
had talked with officials in New Mexico about joining in the project.
Board member Dick Slack said when the original cloud seeding was done,
there were concerns it would increase the amount of hail in the area. "Before
it got far along all the ranchers were all for it and the farmers were
all against it," he said. "They filed a lawsuit, and that's as far along
as it got."
"Cloud seeding actually discourages hail," Newton said. "There was a
time when that was believed, but it's been discouraged."
Board members took no action on a resolution dealing with the Malaga
Bend salt alleviation project. Miller said the latest problem with New
Mexico involves the name on the drilling permit Red Bluff needs to begin
work on a well to divert salt water from Malaga Bend away from the Pecos
River.
"The permit for the well is in the Interstate Stream Commission's Name.
New Mexico says it must be in Red Bluff's name," Miller said. He added
that officials told the district to put the Interstate Stream Commission's
name of the permit request when it was first filled out in Roswell, N.M.
Hartman said Red Bluff couldn't get a drilling company to work on the
project without a valid permit.
Board members also approved water reports for the first three months
of 2000, along with cash disbursements and accounts payable for March.
They were also given an update by board member Jay Lee on the status of
weir repairs along the river in Pecos County, and discussed setting up
boxes for May 6 elections in the two water districts where contested elections
will be held. All other water district elections set for May 6 were canceled,
since those races are uncontested.
RCDC project gets good report from auditor
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 11, 2000 - Several routine items were dealt with during
the regular Reeves County Commissioners Court meeting on Monday, including
payments for on-going construction at the Reeves County Detention Center
and a report from the independent auditor.
Commissioners approved payments to DRG Architect and Banes General Contractors.
Independent auditors, Smith, Wilson, Reeves and Company submitted their
audit report and stated that everything "looked very good."
"We have everything, except some information that we need from Carlisle,"
said a representative from the auditors, referring to the company that
helped finance the 1,000 bed addition to the detention center.
The auditor gave a brief report to the court and told commissioners
a final version would be available soon.
"Do you feel good about what saw?" asked Reeves County Judge Jimmy B.
Galindo.
"Yes, everything looks really good, and we appreciate all the hard work
that was put into getting things ready for the report," he said.
Commissioners approved a new copier for the Reeves County Sheriff's
Office with the a lease purchase with option to buy, for $149 per month.
During the meeting the group approved payment for an accident involving
a Trans Pecos Drug Task Force employee.
"Apparently he had an accident in Odessa and told our insurance not
to pay the claims, because it wasn't his fault," said county auditor Lynn
Owens.
There were two other vehicles involved in the accident, according to
Owens.
"We're probably at risk if we don't agree to pay them," said Owens.
The court agreed to let the insurance pay the claims as submitted.
A resolution for Madera Valley Water Grant and the Criminal Justice
Department Juvenile Accountability Grant were approved.
The Madera Valley Water Grant required two signatures, since the two
submitted earlier were not county employees.
"The names submitted were not acceptable, so I agreed to put my signature
along with Lupe Montoya's, who works for the county treasurer, on here,"
said Precinct 3 Commissioner Herman Tarin.
The two will sign forms for funds received through the grant.
The Criminal Justice Department Juvenile Accountability Grant is not
a competitive grant, funds have already been awarded, according to Galindo.
A veteran service officer for this area is needed, commissioners were
also told by Chamber of Commerce Director Tom Rivera, who has been providing
this service to the community, but said his job prevents him from continuing
to do so.
"I think we need this position, to provide these services to the veterans,"
said Rivera. "But I think I need to be replaced, because I just don't have
the time."
Commissioners approved paying Rivera for his services and trying to
find someone to replace him.
Reeves County Library Board and representative terms were approved.
Commissioners approved the membership for the 143rd Judicial
District Staff in the recreation department.
"Their list of employees isn't that long and I think they should go
ahead and be included," said Galindo. "There's a lot of different programs
that they can be involved in through the recreation department."
Galindo stated that so far, the recreation department has about 80 private
memberships. "Our original projection was 100, that's what we were shooting
for," said Galindo. "So, we're pretty close."
New hires included at the Reeves County Detention Center, Homero Pando,
Moses Martinez and Josephine Granado, as Correctional Officers 1 at an
annual salary of $19,000; at the recreation department, Julio Torres, as
a partime golf shop employee, at $8 per hour; in the recreation department,
Tijuana Sims, as a part-time program coordinator at $8 per hour and Maria
Consuelo Herrera, as an aerobics instructor at $8 for high-impact and $6
for low-impact.
Lotto
AUSTIN (AP) - The winning Cash Five numbers drawn Monday by the Texas Lottery:
6-10-11-15-30 (six, ten, eleven, fifteen, thirty)
***
AUSTIN (AP) - The winning Pick 3 numbers drawn Monday by the Texas Lottery,
in order: 3-5-7 (three, five, seven)
Obituary
Bonifacia Galindo
Bonifacia C. Galindo, 83, died Monday, April 10, 2000, at the Pecos Nursing
Home.
A rosary will be held at 7:30 p.m., today at the Pecos Funeral Home
Chapel.
Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 12, at Santa Rosa Catholic
Church with burial in Greenwood Cemetery.
She was born June 5, 1916, in Ruidosa, Tx., was a lifelong Pecos resident,
a homemaker and a Catholic.
Survivors include three sons, Eusebio Galindo of Hereford, Robert Galindo
of Pecos and David Galindo of Austin; one step-son, Jesus Galindo of Sheffield;
two daughters, Andrea Olmos of Ojinaga, Mexico and Consuelo G. Garcia of
Pecos; one step-daughter, Nieves Uribe of Houston; two brothers, Felipe
and David Corrales of McCamey; one sister, Celia Aguilar of McCamey; 17
grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Weather
PECOS, April 11, 2000 - High Monday 92. Low this morning 56. Forecast for
tonight: Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. Low
40-45. Northeast wind 10-20 mph. Wednesday: A slight chance of morning
rain: Otherwise decreasing clouds. High near 70. Chance of rain 20 percent.
East to northeast wind 10-15 mph. Wednesday night: Partly cloudy. Low near
40.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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