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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Early voting starts strongly for local races
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Wed., April 17, 2002 -- Early voting for the city, hospital and school
board election has gotten underway today and already a good number
of individuals have cast their ballots in the Pecos elections.
"We've had a good turnout already," said elections coordinator for city,
school and hospital elections, Debbie Thomas.
As of 10 a.m., 45 people had cast their ballots and more were trickling
in, she said.
"It's been really good, it's been busy all morning," said Thomas.
Thomas said that about 300 application requests for a ballot by mail have
come in already.
Early voting is taking place at the Community Center, located at 510 S.
Oak St., next door to the former Pecos Police Department offices. Early voting
will continue until April 30.
Early voting is also underway in the Balmorhea city and Balmorhea ISD
elections, and will also continue through April 30.
Voting is scheduled for May 4 at the different polling sites, including
the Community Center for Pecos; the Balmorhea Fire Hall for Balmorhea; the
Multipurpose Center in Saragosa and Toyah City Hall for those individuals
in Toyah.
Both races in the Town of Pecos City election are contested this year,
as is the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board race.
In the city election, Pecos Mayor Ray Ortega is being challenged by former
mayor Dot Stafford, who he defeated two years ago. Ortega is seeking his
second two-year term, while Stafford is seeking a third term as mayor.
In the city council race, newcomers Angelica Valenzuela and Michael Benavides
are challenging Danny Rodriguez and Ricky Herrera.
In the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board election, both incumbents are seeking
new terms. Billie Sadler has filed for a new three-year term on the school
board, while Michele Galindo, who was elected last year to fill out an unexpired
term on the board, is also seeking a full three-year term to that school
board seat.
The two are challenged by Paul Deishler, who was defeated last year in
his bid for a full-term on the school board, and Connie Herrera.
In the Reeves County Hospital District Board of Directors race, only one
of the three races on May 4 will be contested. Jim Breese, of Pecos and Bill
Wendt and Janelle Ward, both of Balmorhea, filed for the two-year term on
the board for Precinct 3, currently held by Jesse Prieto. Prieto was unable
to file to retain his seat, since he now lives in Precinct 2.
Incumbent at-large board member Leo Hung, and Precinct 1 board member
Chel Florez are unopposed for re-election.
In Balmorhea, Mayor Ruben Fuentez will be challenged by Balmorhea ISD
Superintendent Elizabeth Saenz. In the city council race, Teresa "Terry"
Barragan and Yolanda M. Hernandez are challenging incumbent councilmen Eddy
Roman and Rosendo Galindo.
In the Balmorhea ISD race the three incumbents up for election are among
five people seeking three-year terms on the board. Regina Lozano and Dora
Machuca will challenge Jimmy Barragan, Jesus Matta and Javier Lozano in the
May 4 election.
Toyah and Barstow city races will be uncontested this year.
In Toyah, current Toyah Mayor Ann Marsh in unopposed in her re-election
as is incumbent Sharon Sanchez on the city council and the only other candidate
for the two available seats, Shaina R. Enmon.
In Barstow, Mayor Benny Hernandez and council incumbents Robert Ortega
and Carol Gonzales are unopposed in their bids for new two-year terms.
Under state law, both Toyah and Barstow can cancel their city elections
in order to save money. Although two of the three seats for the RCH board
are uncontested, the hospital district will have to hold elections for all
three positions on May 4 due to the Precinct 3 race. All county voters are
eligible to cast ballots in the at-large hospital board election.
Rodriguez to land on roof over TAAS wager
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Wed., April 17, 2002 -- No, it's not superman on top of the Pecos
High School, it's just the principal fulfilling a deal he made with
his students.
Pecos High School decided to challenge the students on their TAAS scores
and encourage them to better those scores, and principal Danny Rodriguez
is expected to be spending some time on the roof of the school this weekend.
"Our high school principal made a deal with the students, that if they
received a `recognized' this year, he would go on top of the school's roof
for 24 hours," said assistant principal John Fabela.
Fabela said that when he first came to Pecos at the beginning of the current
school year he had outlined that as one his goals. "I want to get the students
to do so well, that it becomes a `recognized' campus," he said.
Preliminary scores are in and it's not official yet, but Fabela said they
have an excellent change of getting the school recognized when the 2001 TAAS
results are released by the Texas Education Agency.
The scores indicate that the number of students that took the reading
portion of the TAAS test was 171 and the number that passed was 94 percent,
or 161 students.
A total of 172 students took the math portion of the test and 163 passed,
which equals 95 percent of the total. In writing, 96 percent passed, 161
out of the 168 who took the test, according to Fabela.
As a result, Fabela said Rodriguez, "will go on the roof at 8 a.m., Friday,
April 19, until 8 a.m., Saturday morning."
"This should be very interesting to watch and an experience for him,"
he added.
"We want to give all the credit to the students, kindergarten through
12th grade teachers and the parents who continue to support Pecos-Barstow-Toyah
ISD," said Fabela.
"Recognized" is one of four rankings given out by the state to schools
across Texas based on their TAAS results. "Exemplary" is the highest ranking,
followed by "Recognized," "Acceptable" and "Low Performing."
Several Pecos-Barstow-Toyah elementary and middle school campuses have
received the "Recognized" rating in recent years, but the high school has
always been given an "Acceptable" rating, since the TAAS-based results have
been released. Bessie Haynes Elementary and Zavala Middle School received
"Recognized" ratings in last year's TAAS report.
Fabela said he was very proud of all the staff and students, because this
was truly a combined effort.
"I know we can make this school a recognized and work on other campuses
to do the same there," he said.
Rabies clinic set next week for Mentone
PECOS, Wed., April 17, 2002 -- A rabies clinic will be held from 5-6 p.m.,
next Wednesday, April 24, at the Loving County Courthouse in Mentone.
Individuals both from Loving County and other surrounding communities
can take their pets for rabies shots on that day in Mentone.
Weather
PECOS, Wed., April 17, 2002 -- High Tuesday 91. Low this morning 66. Forecast
for tonight: Considerable high cloudiness. Lows near 60. South winds
10 to 15 mph. Thursday: Partly cloudy and breezy. Highs 90 to 95. Southwest
winds 15 to 25 mph. Thursday night: Partly cloudy. Lows near 60. Friday:
Partly cloudy with a slight chance of late afternoon thunderstorms. Highs
near 90. The chance of rain is 20 percent. Saturday: Mostly cloudy with
a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows 55 to 60. Highs 80 to 85.
Obituaries
Dulces Aguilar and Clara Sample
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 newsdesk@nwol.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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