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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Monday, July 8, 2002
Saturday storm hits Pecos area, hampers rodeo
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- Rain was a welcome sight this weekend even
when it delayed the start of the final night of the West of the Pecos
Rodeo by 45 minutes.
Rodeo fans and contestants patiently waited for the start of Saturday's
show, as well as the dance, which had been rained on twice earlier in the
week. The show was delayed about 15 minutes during the heaviest of the rains
when the lights went out at the Buck Jackson Rodeo arena, and finished up
about 45 minutes behind schedule.
The rains were part of a storm front that caused flooding last week in
the Austin and San Antonio areas, and on Saturday in the Abilene and Brownwood
areas.
According to KIUN, downtown Pecos received .60 inches of rain on Saturday
night while the Texas A&M Agriculture Experiment Station received .50
inches over the whole weekend.
"We got rain this morning sometime," Experiment Station employee Jaxie
Young said.
However, it seems that Pecos is the only part of Reeves County or nearby
areas, with the exception of Toyah, that received a significant amount of
rain over the past week.
Robert Gamboa of the Coyanosa Food Mart reported that the small town received
only seven-tenths of an inch of rain on Saturday.
"We didn't get a lot of rain total," he said.
Although there wasn't much of it Gamboa said that the rain was welcomed.
It did not hurt any of the onion or cantaloupe crops in the area.
All the rain might have hurt was the cantaloupe harvesting.
"It was nice," he said. "It didn't hurt anything expect maybe the cantaloupe
picking."
The people of Balmorhea were upset yesterday after not receiving any rain
over the weekend. However, they did get a small amount early this morning.
Park Manager of the Balmorhea State Park Tom Johnson said that they received
about three-tenths of an inch of rain at approximately 5:45 a.m., this morning.
"That's the first rain we had all weekend," he said.
Johnson said that they could see storms surrounding the little town yesterday
but was not hit.
"We were just depressed yesterday because we could see the storms," he
said.
That three-tenths of rain is the only rain Balmorhea has seen since May
2.
Toyah was the big winner this weekend after receiving 1.5 inches of rain
on Saturday, according to Toyah resident Gary Ingram.
Ingram said that they did receive a small amount this morning as well.
"It was sprinkling when I left for work," he said.
The strongest of the storms on Saturday hit about 300 miles to the east
in Brownwood and Abilene.
A 2-square-mile swath of downtown Brownwood was under 3 to 4 feet of water
Sunday afternoon, and Lake Brownwood was rising to a record 7.7 feet above
the spillway before slowly starting to go down.
Meanwhile, Texans some 150 miles to the south in flood-ravaged New Braunfels
returned to their homes to survey the devastation left by the Guadalupe River.
Soggy carpets were piled on driveways in one neighborhood.
In New Braunfels, Fred Maxwell's home, the only one left standing from
the 1998 flood, withstood the latest flooding as well. At the height of the
flooding, it had 3 feet of water on the top floor of the two-story structure.
"We're going to stay, I'm sure," Maxwell said, then hesitated. "I'm at
least going to rebuild. I can't sell it like this."
More than 30 inches of rain fell in parts of south-central Texas during
the week, causing tens of millions of dollars in property damage. Eight people
have died.
Preliminary damage assessments show at least 48,000 houses have been affected
_ double the number of cases reported after Houston's Tropical Storm Allison
last year, according to the American Red Cross.
Thirteen Texas counties have been declared federal disaster areas by President
Bush. Gov. Rick Perry, who took a helicopter tour of the swollen Guadalupe
River, asked for declarations Sunday for 17 counties.
On Monday, Perry toured a flood-damaged home in San Antonio. He said he
expected the president to decide today on disaster status for additional
Texas counties.
"Once all of these floodwaters recede, we'll see the impact," Perry said
afterward. "It's going to be substantial."
Flood waters started receding Sunday in Abilene, Buffalo Gap and other
West Texas towns hit by a thunderstorm early Saturday. More than 1,500 people
had been evacuated.
B.J. Flynn, 70, waited Sunday at a temporary shelter at the Abilene Civic
Center for word on whether her street had reopened. She said she didn't care
about the condition of her house of 30 years because her most precious possession,
a 7-year-old poodle named Chris, was at her side.
"I told them, `Wherever I go, that dog goes,'" Flynn said, recalling her
conversation with National Guard troops who told her to evacuate. "Do you
think I'd abandon that little thing? Not on your life. He's been the best
dog here."
Brownwood didn't get much rain, but the Saturday morning downpour in the
hills south of Abilene flowed south into Lake Coleman and then into Jim Ned
Creek, which feeds Lake Brownwood.
Brownwood's worst flood was in April 1990 after storms dumped 17 inches
of rain in a short period of time. Dozens of businesses were damaged with
costs exceeding $1 million.
Flash flood warnings were issued on Saturday for several areas of West
Texas, along with Eddy County, N.M.
The National Weather Service reports that today could be the last day
this week that Pecos might receive rain.
"You'll have scattered showers today with a high in the 90s and a 40 percent
chance of rain," Meteorologist Brian Curran said.
Tonight Pecos has a 20 percent chance of rain with a low in the 70s.
"Thereafter, it looks like it'll dry up," Curran said.
Through Sunday, Curran said that Pecos would see partly cloudy skies with
highs from 95 to 100 degrees.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Frazer earns All-Around title for 2002 rodeo
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- After dodging thunderstorms the first two
nights of competition, rains struck the West of the Pecos Rodeo head-on Saturday
night, driving fans underneath the stands for cover and making things
wet and muddy for cowboys during the final night of competition.
Rider Scott Frazer, who didn't have to worry about the rains, having competed
on Wednesday, earned the All-Around Cowboy title by tying for first place
in the Bareback Riding competition and placing second in the Bull Riding
event. The combined finishes earned the Wilmington, Tx., cowboy $7,008.37,
to finish about $2,400 ahead of runner up Brent Lewis.
Frasier scored 82 points on his bull to place second to Royd Doyal, and
tied James Boudreaux for the title in bareback, both with 79 points. Each
one took home $3,435.19, while Doyal won for his Tuesday night ride that
scored 90 points, and was worth $4,791.00.
That made Doyal the second biggest money winner for the rodeo, but Lewis
was second in the All-Around, after teaming with Clint James to win the first-go
round of Team Roping and placing third in the average in the Steer Roping
event. The Pinon, N.M., cowboy collected $4,655.93 for his efforts.
Howdy Cloud and Joaquin Garza tied for third place with 78-point rides,
while Austin Griffin took third and Lance Kelly fourth in the bareback standings,
with 75- and 74-point efforts.
Lewis was one of the few ropers in the finals on Saturday not to have
problems with the rain and mud, as heavy rains broke over the Buck Jackson
Rodeo Arena just after the start of bull riding and continued through a 15-minute
power outage up until the end of steer wrestling competition two hours later.
He placed fourth in the short-go of calf roping with a 12.6 time and was
third overall, with a combined 35.1 seconds for three attempts. Shawn Felton
of Stephenville won the short-go with a 11.5 time, while Cliff Kirkpatrick
of Post was second at 11.7 seconds and Matt Petrus of Skidmore was third,
at 12.1 seconds.
In the average, Texas high school calf roping champ Bradley Bynum of Snyder
won, with a combined 33.7 seconds for his three attempts, one second ahead
of Kirkpatrick.
In Team Roping, short-go winners Breck Bean of Fort Hancock and Shot Branham
of Midland also ended up first in the average. Their 8.5 second time in the
rain on Saturday gave them a combined 27.1 time, 1.4 seconds ahead of Kerrville
ropers Brady and Tom Wren. They placed third in the short-go with a 10.3
time, while Scott Accomazzo of Stephenville and JoJo Leonard of Andrews were
second, at 10.1 seconds and fourth in the average, at 38.3 seconds.
Jason Thomas of Canyon and Hollis Harris of Friona were fourth, with a
13.8 time and placed third in the average, at 33.9 seconds.
In Steer Roping, Abilene's Bryce Davis won the short-go with an 14.3 second
time, and took the average with a combined 41 second time. That was 4.1 seconds
ahead of Jay Sellers of Buffalo, Okla., who also was second in Saturday's
finals, with a 15.7 second time.
Sellers was ranked 10th in steer roping coming in, while Davis
was not ranked among the Top 20 going into the West of the Pecos Rodeo. Eleventh-ranked
Buster Record, also from Buffalo, and Larry Duggan were third and fourth
in the short-go, with 17.6 and 22.5 second times, and third and fourth in
the average, with times of 49.4 and 54.7 seconds.
Frank Davis of Menard took this year's belt buckle in steer wrestling,
winning the title with a combined 16.7 second time after finishing first
in the short-go on Saturday, with a 5-second effort. Jason Miller of Lance
Creek, Wyo., was next in both the short-go and the average, with 5.3 and
17.3 second times, while C.T. Fox of Keller placed third, with 5.9 and 18.1
time.
Current No. 2 in the national All-Around competition, Jesse Bail, added
to his earnings for the year with a win in the Saddle Bronc event. Bail,
who rode on Wednesday, scored 85 points to beat out Tom Reeves, who scored
82 points on another Wednesday night ride.
Steve Dollarhide and John Jones shared third, with 80 point riders, while
Brett Crowser and Robert Aragon were able to get into a tie for seventh on
Saturday, both with 75-point efforts.
Along with slowing things down for the ropers and wrestlers, the mud on
Saturday also slowed the times for the ladies' barrel racers. Snyder's Kassi
Mowery's time from Wednesday's show of 17.22 seconds held up through the
final three nights to take first place, while Benette Holt of Rotan was second
at 17.70 seconds and Laticia Duke of Merkel was third, with a 17.77 second
time.
The threatening clouds even before the start of Saturday's rodeo helped
hold down the final night's crowd, and many had already left by the time
the second of two local events, the Wild Mare Race, was decided. The team
of Shawn Clark, B.J. Clark and Jack Bradley won first place in that event,
while earlier Clay Taylor and Chris Peters captured the Wild Cow Milking
competition.
Total payout for this year's rodeo came to $160,801, which was down by
a little over $20,000 from a year ago, when bad weather stayed away from
the rodeo. The rains and flooding to the east also kept a number of competitors
from making the trip to Pecos, due to flooding in the Austin-San Antonio
areas of south central Texas, and in the Abilene-Brownwood areas to the
north.
DPS officer Moore recovering after heart transplant
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- After a long wait for a heart transplant,
Texas Department of Transportation's Corporal Emmit Moore, finally
received his new heart Sunday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas.
Moore received the news that a donor heart had been located at 1:45 Sunday
morning, but surgery would have to wait awhile because the donor had other
organs harvested from the person who had died.
He then contacted his wife, Louise, who arrived at the hospital with the
couples children and other family members before the transplant surgery began
later in the day.
Nancy Ontiveros, Director of Program Development and Community Services
at Reeves County Hospital, said Louise called the hospital today to inform
them that Moore would be taken off his ventilator this afternoon. She also
said that his vital organs and vital sign are doing well.
"We are relieved," Texas Department of Transportation Secretary, Becky
Gonzales said. "He is doing really well. He asked for our prayers not only
for him but also for his family. We need to keep him in our prayers."
Moore first had a triple bypass surgery in early November, said Gonzales.
After his bypass he made several trips to the Reeves County Hospital Emergency
Room where they would then transport him to Odessa.
In April, Moore finally made his trip to Baylor Hospital in Dallas were
he stayed while awaiting his transplant.
"I have been thinking about him since he has been gone," Moore's partner,
Trooper Terry Gilcrest said in a phone interview.
According to Gonzales, Moore has been with the department of transportation
for a long time now and is very well liked.
"He has been with DPS since March 1, 1982," Gonzales said. "He is very
well know and liked. And missed." Gonzales looks around and says, "It wouldn't
be quite if he were here. We are just holding on till he gets back."
Though Moore has received his transplant, Gonzales said that he would
still have to stay in Dallas for three or four more months to make sure that
his body does not reject the heart.
Gilcrest said that he was glad that Moore finally got his new heart.
"We are really glad he got his heart so he can get back over here," Gilcrest
said. "It has been nerve racking with out him."
Since Moore has been gone, Gilcrest said that he has missed his partner.
"He is a stable person," Gilcrest said. "He is someone you can go to when
you need to talk to someone. He is my best friend here."
While he has been out, Sergeant Damas Lopez from Van Horn comes into Pecos
to see how things are going.
On Thursday, July 11, 2002, the Texas Department of Transportation and
the Reeves County Hospital will be holding a blood drive from noon till 7
p.m. in the hospital's main lobby.
Appointments to donate blood will be taken with a 10 minute interval but
not necessary and free t-shirts will be given on a first come first serve
basis.
"We will be holding a replacement blood drive in honor of Emmit Moore,"
Ontiveros said. "He has used 20 units of blood."
According to Ontiveros, when a replacement blood drive is done four units
must be raised for every one unit used by the recipient.
"We need approximately 80 units to replace the blood he has used," Ontiveros
said. "He used 17 units in his first surgery and for his transplant he used
another couple."
Because this is a replacement drive all blood types will be accepted,
however a donator must be in good health, weight 110 lbs., be 17-years-old,
have a list of any medications and they must also bring some form of identification
with them, Otiveros said.
"The FDA requires identification for a proper ID match," Otiveros said.
"It helps protect recipients and it helps insure that the blood is safe.
Knowing the names of the types of medications you are taking is also important."
According to Ontiveros, there are certain medications that can cause an
allergic reaction to a recipient. Also if someone were taking some form of
blood thinners then of course a recipient coming out of a transplant would
not be able to receive that blood.
"The blood raised will be used on any patient in this area needing blood,"
Ontiveros said.
"We would really appreciate the support of the community," Gonzales said.
Gilcreast said that he would be donating blood on Thursday and hopes everyone
continue to pray for his partner.
"I hope everyone in Pecos will keep praying for him," Gilcreast said.
Tennessee teenager killed in accident on I-20
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- A 16-year-old girl from Nashville, Tennessee,
died Saturday at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, while two others
suffered minor injuries after being involved in a one-vehicle roll
over on Friday.
Lisa Talent was pronounced dead at the hospital, about 16 hours after
the accident on Interstate 20 in western Reeves County.
According to the Department of Public Safety, Talent was traveling with
Charlotte Audine Rathbun, a 42-year old Exchange Student Program Coordinator
from Goodlettsville, Tennessee and Skyier Blake Powell a five-month-old baby
boy from Nashville, Tennessee. Both the baby and Rathburn were taken to Reeves
County Hospital and were treated for minor injuries following the accident.
Rathburn was released on Sunday, July 7.
The DPS said the accident occurred when the 2002 Chevrolet Blazer they
were traveling in veered off to the right while traveling in the westbound
lane on I-20, near mile maker four. The driver then overcorrected back to
the left causing the vehicle to go into a broad side skid before overturning
on its right side. The Blazer landed on its top causing the vehicle to stop
in near a ditch facing east.
Trooper Derek Evans investigated the accident.
Woman gets deferred sentence over accident
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- A Pecos woman was placed on deferred adjudication
after being indicted in February by the 143rd grand jury
in Reeves County on charges in connection with an accident involving
a teenager last August at the North Side Park on U.S. 285.
Suzanne Renee Brizzi, 38, at the time of Arlington, Tex., was arrested
following the Aug. 24 accident at the park and charged with deadly conduct,
a Class A Misdemeanor, after Kimbertly Matta, 15, of Pecos, fell off the
hood of the 1998 green Chevrolet Blazer she was driving.
Brizzi, who now lives in Pecos, was indicted on Feb. 27, by the grand
jury, which handed up their indictment to Judge Bob Parks in the 143
rd District Court.
On June 20, Brizzi, was placed on deferred adjudication for three years
and assessed a total of $3,000 for restitution.
According to the indictment, Brizzi allowed Matta to ride on the hood
of her 1998 Chevrolet Blazer while at the North Side Park. Matta fell from
the vehicle while it was in motion. The teen struck her head on the gorund
and was taken first to Reeves County Hospital, and then to Covenant Medical
Center in Lubbock with head injuries.
The report filed by Sergeant Danny Leos of the Reeves County Sheriff's
Department stated in his report that Matta and Brizzi were parked at the
picnic tables on the south side of the park, located just north of Pecos
on U.S. 285, when Matta climbed on the hood of the Blazer and Brizzi started
to drive around the park.
After speaking with Brizzi, Leos said that she informed him that Matta
told her to go faster, while talking on her cellular phone.
According to the report, when Brizzi was turning to go back south Matta
fell off the hood. After running to where Matta was lying Brizzi found her
to be unresponsive and called for help.
Matta is currently at her home in Pecos, but is still under a physician's
care.
Vets honored with Saturday DQ ceremony
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- Local honor guard members were on hand at
the Dairy Queen on South Eddy Street Saturday morning to participate
in a special ceremony.
In a show of patriotism and gratitude for our nation's military and veterans,
the Dairy Queen restaurant, located at 1226 S. Eddy, proclaimed Saturday,
July 6, as "American Legion/Military Day."
On that day, members of the American Legion Family, military personnel
and veterans showing proper membership or military identification cards,
received a free five-ounce sundae.
"We wanted to say `thank you' to those who have made and continue to make
tremendous sacrifices for our country," said Dairy Queen Manager Elsa Palomino.
"At the same time, we wanted to raise money for our charity of choice, Children's
Miracle Network (CMN)," she said.
The one-day event is just one element in the Dairy Queen system's Red,
White and Blue promotion, which runs throughout the month of July. The nationwide
restaurant chain is partnering with the American Legion Family to celebrate
America, honoring our nation's military and veterans, and raise $1 million
for Children's Miracle Network hospitals.
"We want to say thank you to the Honor Guard for attending on Saturday
and helping us with the ceremony," said Palomino.
The Honor Guard performed a 21-gun salute and former Pecos resident Mingo
Matta led the crowd in singing the National Anthem and accompanied them on
his guitar.
Bible School class for summer begin at church tonight
PECOS, Monday, July 8, 2002 -- Vacation Bible School is scheduled from
6-9 p.m. today through Friday, July 12, at Primera Iglesia Buatista, at Eighth
and Sycamore streets.
If anyone needs a ride they can call, 447-0809; 445-0101 or 448-0117.
All children are invited to attend.
Obituary
Matilde Cano, Miguel Chavz, Sr., Cristobal Martinez and Bianca Urias
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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