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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Friday, May 3, 2002
Voters to decide city, school RCH elections Saturday
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Friday, May 3, 2002 -- The big day is drawing nearer for candidates
in the area school, city and hospital elections, with voting taking
place Saturday at five different sites in Reeves County andone in Ward
County
Voting in Pecos will be conducted from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at the Community
Center, 508 S. Oak, next door to the Pecos Police Department in Balmorhea
at the Balmorhea Fire Hall for Balmorhea for city, school and hospital elections;
the Multipurpose Center in Saragosa and Toyah City Hall for those individuals
in Toyah for those voting in both the school and hospital races.
Voters in Barstow will only be casing ballots in the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah
ISD election, and can do so at the Barstow Community Center.
Pecos voters will have both school and city elections to cast ballotsfor,
and voters in part of Pecos and southern Reeves County will also bedeciding
the only contested hospital board seat.
Early voting closed on Tuesday for Saturday's elections. A total of 1,295
people voted early in Pecos, which is down 107 from the same early voting
period two years ago, the last time that mayor and council seats were upfor
election.
The Town of Pecos City mayor's race is a rematch of two years ago, when
Ray Ortega defeated Dot Stafford in her bid for a third two-year term. Stafford
is seeking to regain that seat, while Ortega is trying for two more years
in office.
Along with the mayor's race between Stafford and Ortega, four candidates
are seeking the two available seats in the city council race. IncumbentsDanny
Rodriguez and Ricky Herrera are challenged by Angelica Valenzuela andMichael
Benavides in their bids for new two-year terms.
In Balmorhea, Mayor Ruben Fuentez is 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 RosendoGalindo.
City elections in Toyah and Barstow are uncontested this year, and under
state law, both Toyah and Barstow can cancel their city elections in order
to save money.
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 schoolboard
seat.
Connie Herrera and Paul Deishler are challenging for the seats. It's Herrera's
first run for office, while Deishler was defeated last year in his bid for
a full-term on the school board after being appointed to an unexpired term
in 2000.
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.
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 memberChel
Florez are unopposed for re-election, but voters can still cast ballotsin
both those races.
In the Toyah race incumbent Toyah Mayor Ann Marsh is the only candidate,
while incumbent Sharon Sanchez and Shaina R. Enmon are the only two people
seeking the two available council seats. In Barstow, Mayor Benny Hernandez
and council incumbents Robert Ortega and Carol Gonzales are unopposed intheir
bids for new two-year terms.
OC campus hosting conference on aging
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Friday, May 3, 2002 -- Individuals can learn more about their health
and ways to live longer at a conference scheduled for Saturday in Pecos.
The inaugural Aging Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., atthe
Odessa College _ Pecos Campus. Theme for the special event is "LivingLonger
Living Better" and everyone is invited to attend.
"The focus is to provide information and resources to people approaching
40 and above," said one of the organizers for the event Nancy Ontiveros."This
will be to help them have a better quality of life."
Dr. Anne Acreman will address women's health concerns and will talk about
menopause, hormones and other women's issues. "They will also be able toask
questions personally," said Ontiveros, who added that notepads wouldbe provided
for those who wish to ask personal questions and have them answeredby the
professionals who will be on hand.
Other topics to be discussed will be men's health concerns, which will
be addressed by Dr. Haitham Jifi. "He will be talking about prostrate, high
blood pressure, diabetes and sexual problems affecting men 40 and over,"said
Ontiveros.
"We'll be having a legal adviser, Cindy Oglesby, who will be talking about
power of attorney, wills and other legal topics," said Maribel Alvarez, another
organizer of the event.
Dr. Mark Fredrickson, is the Medical Director of HealthSouth Rehabilitation
Hospital in Midland/Odessa and will cover such topics as the benefits ofactivity
and exercise as we grow older and the importance of a yearly physical.
"He will be discussing the early detection and exercise and the importance
of getting a yearly physical," said Ontiveros. "Which is something we don't
always think about," she said.
Christina Little will discuss diabetes and how to cope with it. "Her discussion
will focus on diabetes, living with it, keeping the mind and spirit, happy
and healthy," said Ontiveros.
Dr. James Cam has some excellent guidelines on how to communicate with
your doctor, according to Ontiveros.
"We have an excellent program planned for the aging population with some
topics geared toward the younger aging group and the older aging group,"said
Ontiveros.
Advocare will have product samples and a display and Alzheimer's willprovide
valuable information on the disease, according to Ontiveros, AmericanHome
Health will provide blood pressure checks and Basin Detox system willhave
information, along with the Area Agency on Aging.
"Better Living for Texans will have all kinds of recipes, featuring nutritious
tasty meals for diabetics," said Ontiveros.
Desert Springs will have depression screenings. "There's going to be an
area, if they need to discuss the topic further," said Ontiveros.
HealthSouth will have information on the services they provide.
Mary Kay consultants will have glamour consultations. "They'll be concentrating
on taking care of your skin," said Ontiveros.
Odessa College will be providing information on education, according to
Paula Howard, who is in charge of continuing education at the Pecos campus.
Pecos Nursing Home and Trans Pecos Lab will be doing lipid tests. "These
will be free of charge," said Ontiveros. "It will take about eight minutes
and you get the results there," she said.
Primerica Financial will be on hand to talk about financial planning and
will be setting up appointments for free financial consultations.
Reeves County Home Health will be doing free glucose testing and Drugand
Alcohol Abuse, Safe Place will have information available.
"The Texas Department of Human Services will be discussing Medicaid and
have applications available," said Alvarez.
"I think this conference will have so much information and we want the
community to come out and take advantage of this great opportunity," said
Ontiveros.
Keynote speaker will be Gary Barg who lives in Miami, Fla. and is Founder
and Editor-in-Chief of Today's Caregiver Magazine. He created "The Sharing
Wisdom conference, bringing together caregivers from across the country to
share their knowledge, experience and to honor the annual CareHeroes Award
recipients. His latest care giving tool is the book, "The Fearless Caregiver:
How to Get the Best Care For Your Loved One and Still Have A Life Of Your
Own."
"The Fearless Caregiver" offers tools and strategies for taking care of
your own physical and emotional needs while you care for someone you love.
Barg will be conducting a book signing after his session.
"We are a society that thinks you go to a doctor only when you are sick
and not to get routine checkups," said Alvarez. "If we want to live longer,
we need to live better," she said.
Odessa College is hosting the event and will offer continuing education
units. "If anyone is interested they can contact me at the college at 445-5535,"
said Howard.
"We believe we chose topics that the community wants to know more about,"
said Ontiveros.
Lunch will be provided and door prizes will be awarded.
"We're very fortunate to have this available, because of the sponsorsor
we would have to pay for this type of services," said Ontiveros. "Butbecause
of our sponsors we won't have to," she said.
Sponsors for the event include, Area Agency of the Permian Basin Regional
Planning Commission, Reeves County Hospital, Odessa College-Pecos Campus,
Texas Department of Human Services, Safe Place, Basin Detox Systems, Texas
Cooperative Extension, Better Living for Texans, HealthSouth, Anchor, Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals, Pecos Nursing Home and American Home Health Agency.
Presidio man jailed on heroin bust at truck stop
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Friday, May 3, 2002 -- An estimated $15,000 in heroin was seized Thursday
and a Presidio man was arrested and taken to Reeves County Jail following
an afternoon arrest in Pecos.
The three-month investigation was concluded Thursday at 1:30 p.m., aninvestigation
that included the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force, the Reeves CountySheriff's
Office and the Department of Public Safety officers.
"We seized three ounces of black tar heroin," said Trans Pecos Drug Task
Force lieutenant Larry Arredondo.
Arrested in the incident was Luis Rios Hernandez, 58, of Presidio, who
was charged with delivery of a controlled substance.
The arrest took place at the Flying J Truck Stop, off of Interstate 20.
"He wanted to meet there and do the transaction there," said Arredondo.
Street value for the illegal drug was set at about $15,000. "Of course,
they can break it down some more and make more money out of it, so that's
just the approximate street value," said Arredondo.
"We want to take these illegal drugs off the streets, before they getinto
Pecos," he said.
Arredondo thanked all the agencies that helped in the investigation and
subsequent arrest.
"It takes cooperation between the agencies and I'm glad we have a great
working relationship with all of them," he said.
Bands hold final 2001-02 concerts at PHS Monday
PECOS, Friday, May 3, 2002 -- The Pecos Eagle bands will perform their
final concert of the year Monday evening in the new gym.
The concert will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the sixth grade band followed
by the Crockett Concert and Symphonic bands and the high school concert and
symphonic bands.
Show your support for the students' hard work this year by planning to
attend.
Weather
PECOS, Friday, May 3, 2002 -- High Thursday 78. Low this morning 48. Forecast
for tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. Light and variable
winds. Saturday: Partly cloudy. Highs 90 to 95. Light and variablewinds:
Becoming southeast 10 to 20 mph. Saturday night: Mostly cloudywith a
30 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s. Sunday: Partly
cloudy with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s.
Monday: Partly cloudy. Lows 60 to 65. Highs in the mid 90s.
Obituary
Sarah Jaramillo
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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