PECOS ENTERPRISE
Daily Newspaper and Tourism Guide
for Trans Pecos, Big Bend, Far West Texas
Tourism|__|News|__|Sports|__|Scores|__|Lifestyles|
Golden Years|__|Living off the Land|__|Subscribe Enterprise|
Advertising|__|Alpine Avalanche|__|Monahans News|__|E-Forum|__|Lotto
Links|__|Photos|__|Archives|__|Classified|__|ENTERPRISE HOME PAGE DDDD
TOP STORIES
June 9, 1997
McVeigh presented as model soldier by defense
Skip to next story
By STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) June 9, 1997 - In the final days of the Oklahoma City
bombing trial, attorneys for Timothy McVeigh will use his friends,
teachers and family in a plea to jurors to spare his life.
The witnesses will paint a starkly different picture of McVeigh than the
prosecution's portrait of an angry bomber with a twisted sense of
patriotism. To the defense witnesses, he was a model soldier who earned
distinction in the Gulf War, a friendly neighbor and a hard worker. He
was shy around women, even socially awkward, but politically devout.
The sentencing phase in the trial was expected to end this week, after
the defense calls dozens of witnesses to try to humanize a convicted
mass murderer and provide some explanation for the horror of the
bombing.
The final decision - whether McVeigh should be sentenced to die or to
life in prison without parole - will go to the same jury that convicted
him a week ago on murder and conspiracy charges in the April 19, 1995,
blast that killed 168 people.
Testimony was to resume today.
The defense intends to call McVeigh's father, William McVeigh, to
discuss how his son always considered himself an underachiever. He
reportedly will narrate a 15-minute videotape depicting his son's
childhood in Lockport, N.Y., a Buffalo suburb.
Other witnesses were expected to include three of McVeigh's former
teachers from New York, experts on the government siege of the Branch
Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, and white supremacists, defense
attorney Richard Burr has said.
Defense witnesses have already described McVeigh as a perfect soldier
who quickly rose to sergeant and excelled as a gunner. A former
neighbor, Jan McDermott, recalled a young McVeigh has a hungry little
boy before telling jurors in a choked voice: "I can't imagine him doing
anything like this. I can't."
To help them understand more about McVeigh, the defense has promised to
put jurors in his boots, to read to them from the pages of his favorite
magazine, Soldier of Fortune and show them videotapes that validated his
fear that something terrible happened near Waco.
The jury will be brought into the home of James Nichols, a friend of
McVeigh's and brother of McVeigh's accused conspirator, Terry Nichols,
on the day the fires raced through the Branch Davidian compound. McVeigh
blamed the deadly catastrophe on the federal government.
Army buddies will be called to describe McVeigh as more than just an
excellent soldier, but a good friend who would pick up pals at bars
because they had too much to drink. He didn't drink.
The defense is seeking to counter 2½ days of emotional testimony by
bombing survivors, rescuers and victims' relatives for the prosecution.
Some jurors wept as the witnesses spoke of their lost loved ones and of
their lingering pain.
"The defense will clearly focus on McVeigh's absence of criminal history
and his military record and they'll hope that his family can speak as
eloquently as the many victims of the blast," said Denver defense lawyer
Scott Robinson. "But one doubts that."
The jurors are mostly white and middle-class, ranging from young adults
to retired. Several are religious, and some have military backgrounds.
All jurors acknowledged during their selection that they could impose
the death penalty, but several said they would consider a lesser
sentence if the offender showed remorse.
They also may recommend that U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch impose a lesser sentence.
Tranquility shattered because of standoff
Skip to next story
FORT DAVIS, (AP) June 9, 1997 - This isn't the life Joe and M.A. Rowe
wanted when they chose the isolation of the Davis Mountains: Always
keeping guns within reach, glancing warily over their shoulders and
dreading the day some armed radical might come up their gravel driveway
and open fire in the name of the Republic of Texas.
"I didn't come here to lock myself in," said Joe Rowe. "It's ridiculous
to have to live like that because of some ragtag militia."
But peace of mind was the first casualty when Republic separatists
stormed the Rowes' home in late April and took the couple hostage,
touching off a week-long standoff with hundreds of state troopers.
The siege that ended May 3 with the surrender of group leader Richard
McLaren and three followers shattered the tranquility of the Davis
Mountains Resort, a remote and rugged community 175 miles southeast of
El Paso.
The Rowes worry that someone seeking revenge on McLaren's behalf will
try to hurt them. Rowe said that early this year, McLaren sent a message
via the Internet and by fax identifying Rowe as a government informant
and suggesting he be dealt with.
Also, one of the Rowes' accused abductors, Richard F. Keyes III, remains
at large after escaping during the standoff. McLaren and four others are
held in the Presidio County Jail in Marfa. Their cases were scheduled to
be presented to a grand jury Monday.
Although most residents express relief that McLaren's group is gone,
some lament that they now live with two new neighbors: suspicion and
fear.
"When we first moved here, it was kind of the Old West mentality of live
and let live," said Michele Behrent, a resident for five years. "You
can't do that (anymore). You have to be aware when you see a strange
face. You need to know who they are, why they are here and where are
they going.
"That's really sad. I enjoyed the trust that we had for our fellow man
and it's not there anymore."
Residents are particularly concerned with keeping the Republic from
trying to reestablish itself in the area and preventing similar groups
from moving in. The Republic, a group that believes Texas is still an
independent nation, had a headquarters in the resort - a so-called
"embassy" housed in a crude wooden cabin attached to a trailer.
Some locals are floating the idea of creating an urban-style
neighborhood watch or sealing off the resort entrance with an electronic
security gate.
"I don't think the majority of us have unloaded the guns yet," said Ms.
Behrent.
All this in a community where folks once felt secure leaving their doors
and cars unlocked.
"I think we're extremely defensive right now," said Sandra Holzheuser,
another resident. "We're not happy campers yet and I don't know how long
it will take to get over that. The atmosphere is not the same at all."
Complaints range from the more obvious fears to irritation over the
Postal Service's decision not to resume mail delivery inside the resort.
The service was discontinued in December because of the Republic's
activities. Now residents have to drive four miles or more to reach
mailboxes outside the community entrance.
The Rowes' situation may best illustrates the emotional and physical
consequences of the Republic siege.
Rowe, a vocal critic of McLaren's activities, and his wife were held
hostage for 12 hours by three McLaren followers after the local sheriff
had arrested another faction member on a weapons charge.
Rowe was also injured by flying debris when one Republic member fired
three rounds from a semiautomatic rifle through the back storm door.
Rowe's wounds have healed and he is waiting for a glass panel to repair
the door. Another round pierced the metal door frame and tore a ragged
hole in an interior wall.
The couple has yet to find a remedy for the mental wounds.
Mrs. Rowe remains uneasy and said she doesn't know whether she wants to
stay in her home, a soaring adobe house designed by the Rowes with a
panoramic view of the forested slopes rising around it.
"I want to get everything back to normal," she said, pausing pensively,
"and see how I feel about it over a period of time."
Joe Rowe said he carries a gun even when he goes to the garage.
Mrs. Rowe said she is concerned about Keyes because he seemed determined
to kill her while she was a Republic captive. "I don't have a clue why,"
she said.
Like most people here, though, the Rowes seem more inclined to stick it
out.
"If M.A. can stay here, there isn't any way I'm leaving," said Rowe.
"I'm not going to run away and I'm not going to crawl, not because of Rick McLaren."
Feds investigate firm that hired
14-year-old cut in two on job
Skip to next story
SABINE PASS (AP) June 9, 1997 - Two federal agencies are investigating
whether a construction firm violated federal laws when it hired a
14-year-old who was cut in two in a pile driver accident.
Alexis Jaimes, a Port Arthur seventh-grader, died Saturday while working
at his summer job with Sabine Pass-based Eldridge Construction on a job
for Texas Drydock Incorporated Offshore.
He was working with his father at a construction site where piles -
heavy timbers to support a structure - were being driven using a crane.
The brakes on the crane failed and the pile driver was dropped on top of
him.
Jeff Darby of the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division in
Beaumont said he is conducting an investigation into whether the company
violated labor laws by employing the boy.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, another Department of
Labor branch, is conducting its own investigation.
Department of Labor regulations prohibit anyone under 16 to work in jobs
involving heavy or dangerous machinery.
Penalties for violating federal child labor laws usually carry a $10,000
fine, Darby said.
On the day of the accident, Alexis' job was to help drag hydraulic
cables behind the crane holding the pile driver, officials said.
R.L. Eldridge, the construction firm's president, said Sunday his firm
is cooperating with authorities.
Juan Jaimes, Alexis' father, brought the boy to the construction site.
The site foreman knew the boy was working, Eldridge said.
"Our foreman didn't like it ... He should have made him go home right
then," he said. "He'd never been on that job had we (company officials) known about it."
Two guilty, one dismissed in district court today
Skip to next story
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 9, 1997 - Two persons pleaded guilty Friday in 143rd
District Court to possession of a controlled substance, and charges
against a third were dismissed.
Pedro Mendoza pleaded guilty to possession of heroin on March 7 and was
sentenced to 18 months in state jail. He was placed on community
supervision for four months, fined $1,500 and $164.50 court costs.
District Attorney Randy Reynolds dismissed a charge of heroin possession
against Amy Lee Barbosa for lack of sufficient evidence to proceed to
trial.
Angie Nunez Jasso pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine on Oct. 12,
1996 and was sentenced to three years in state jail, adjudication
deferred. She was credited with 14 days spent in jail and ordered to pay
$140 restitution to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Reynolds dismissed an indictment for tampering with government records
against Gloria Molina, who pleaded guilty in Pecos Municipal Court to misdemeanor theft of AFDC benefits under $50.
DDDD
Fund to defray medical expenses established
Skip to next story
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 9, 1997 - A special fund has been established for a young
Pecos man who was involved in a motorcycle accident last week.
The fund to help defray medical bills is established at the First
National Bank of Pecos in the name of Dominique Franco.
The accident occurred about 10:10 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, according to a
preliminary accident report submitted by Department of Public Safety
Trooper Shannon Gray of Monahans.
Dominique (Candy) Granado Franco, 22, of Pecos, was driving a 1993 black
and purple Kawasaki motorcycle on the I-20 service road outside the
Pyote city limits at the time of the accident. The accident occurred at
mile marker 65 of the service road, six miles west of Pyote.
Franco was travelling west on the service road when the he lost control.
The motorcycle then left the roadway to the right, slid about 60 feet
and struck a wooden post.
Franco continued to travel west, struck a post, coming to rest about 30
feet from where the cycle had stopped.
The motorcycle received extensive damage to the entire frame, while the
driver was first taken to Ward Memorial Hospital.
Franco was later transferred to Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, where
he is currently listed in critical condition in the ICU unit of the
hospital.
The accident is still under investigation by Trooper Gray.
Lawmakers debate incarceration
methods for juvenile offenders
Skip to next story
By CAROLYN SKORNECK
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) June 9, 1997 - Rodney Hulin haltingly read the letter
from his 17-year-old son, imprisoned as an adult for arson: "Dad, I'm
really scared, scared that I will die in here."
After repeated beatings and sexual abuse by older inmates, Rodney Hulin
Jr. hanged himself in his Texas cell. The teenager died after four
months in a coma, his father told a Capitol news conference.
Even as the nation's crime rate subsides, the Clinton administration and
Congress are preparing to confront juvenile "predators" with tougher
sanctions.
Minors were responsible for 14 percent of the nation's violent crimes
two years ago, up from 10 percent in 1980. That includes 9 percent of
murders, 15 percent of forcible rapes, 13 percent of aggravated assaults
and 20 percent of robberies. And the number of juveniles is growing.
Despite the congressional consensus to get tough with the violent youth,
some lawmakers say treating young perpetrators as adults - and housing
them even within earshot of adult criminals - should be avoided.
"It's dangerous and potentially life-threatening" to incarcerate
juveniles in adult facilities, said Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass. He
called adult prisons "a graduate school of crime for children."
Proponents of adult treatment say the most violent of America's young
forfeit their right to be treated as children by the heinousness of
their crimes.
The Clinton administration opposes a Republican plan to overturn
long-standing federal policy requiring states receiving certain federal
funds to separate incarcerated juveniles from adults.
It's not a strict philosophical position. Juveniles tried by states as
adults are treated as adults without federal interference. The
administration itself wants to ease the transfer of violent youths to
adult federal courts.
But the question of housing less-dangerous youth in closer proximity to
adult criminals is one of the issues separating the administration and
the GOP-led Congress on pending juvenile crime legislation.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a sponsor of the evolving Senate bill, said
he objects to juveniles sharing cells with adults. But he wants federal
requirements eased to prevent release of young offenders when juvenile
cells are not available.
"It creates the impression in a young mind that you can commit a crime,
and there won't be a price to be paid for it," Sessions said.
Kent Markus, a top aide to Attorney General Janet Reno, said rule
changes last December alleviated many of the problems rural
jurisdictions had finding space for young offenders.
A House-passed bill would automatically transfer most youths 14 and
older to adult court for federal violent crimes and serious drug
offenses. The administration wants greater flexibility for federal
prosecutors.
To persuade states to try more juveniles 15 and older as adults, the
bill offers $1.5 billion in incentive grants over three years. To get
the money, states would have to increase penalties gradually on young
repeat offenders and keep juvenile records, potentially making them
public and ending the practice of expunging juvenile records on
adulthood.
The Justice Department believes the bill lacks safeguards on
transferring state cases to adult courts, and while it supports
graduated sanctions, it opposes requiring them for federal funds. It
also does not want to override state policies on expunging records.
High among administration demands are provisions requiring that safety
locks be sold with every firearm - opposed by the National Rifle
Association - and barring people convicted as juveniles of felonious
crimes from buying or possessing guns.
It also wants some of the $1.5 billion in new money earmarked for
courts, prosecutors and crime prevention. The only prevention funding is
in a House bill introduced last week covering the spending of under $200
million a year long designated for all juvenile justice efforts.
Sessions said the Senate bill will include prevention funding and some
administration-sought gun provisions, but not safety locks.
Delahunt, campaigning to keep incarcerated juveniles and adults apart,
said youths in adult facilities are "five times more likely to be
sexually assaulted, two times more likely to be beaten by staff, 50
percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon and eight times more
likely to have attempted suicide" than those in juvenile housing.
Sessions said suicides cannot be blamed on incarceration.
"You arrest 10,000 young people, many of them are troubled. They are
emotionally distraught, some of them have suffered from depression," he
said.
Youngsters in juvenile-only facilities also succumb.
Twelve-year-old Mariel Cheatham hanged herself last month in a Milwaukee
juvenile detention center cell. At least six others had attempted
suicide in the center since it opened in April 1996.
Juvenile Monthly Report for May
Reeves County Juvenile Court
Probation Department, Detention Facility
PECOS, June 9, 1997 - Number of juveniles detained (Reeves County) 13
(Out-of-county) 5
Detention hearings held 3
Juveniles currently on probation 20
Commitments to Texas Youth Commission 0
Cases referred by Reeves Co. Sheriff's Office 2
Cases referred by Pecos Police Department 7
Cases referred by Department of Public Safety 0
Cases referred by Municipal Court 0
Cases referred by other 6
Breakdown of referrals
Violation of lawful court order 5
Terroristic threat 2
Assault causing bodily injury 1
Crisis intervention, home related 3
Runaway 2
Curfew violation 1
Possession of marijuana, under 2 oz. 1
10 were male, 5 were female, 14 were Hispanic, 1 was white
El Paso loses most jobs to NAFTA
Skip to next story
EL PASO, (AP) June 9, 1997 - - El Paso, once a garment-industry
stronghold, has lost more jobs than any other U.S. city since the North
American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994, U.S. Department
of Labor statistics show.
In El Paso, 5,623 jobs have been lost. Coming in second is Washington,
N.C., which has lost 3,400 jobs because of NAFTA.
El Paso mayor-elect Carlos Ramirez said the losses show the city needs
to give selected industries strong incentives to come to the city and
stay.
"Our economic development areas have to be in jobs where not only we
have an economic advantage but also where we have an economic
multiplier, such as international trade, light manufacturing and
high-tech," Ramirez said.
No figures are kept on jobs created by NAFTA in El Paso. But Ramirez
said that from January 1994 to January 1997, El Paso's total number of
jobs grew by 13,200 to 236,500.
NAFTA lowered trade tariffs among the United States, Canada and Mexico
beginning in 1994. The Labor Department's numbers cover job losses
attributed to trade with Canada and Mexico from January 1994 until April
30, 1997.
Nationwide, the Labor Department counts 124,616 NAFTA-related job
losses, 45 percent of them from work moving to Mexico. Most of El Paso's
NAFTA-related layoffs occurred when companies closed plants and moved
operations to Mexico.
The majority of NAFTA layoffs, 77 percent, were in the garment industry.
Some analysts said the industry was moving production out of the country
before NAFTA anyway.
"El Paso concentrates on men's blue jeans, men's shorts, basically men's
clothing, which is very standard. And that is the easiest thing to move
offshore," said Raul Hinojosa, director of the North American
Integration and Development Center at the University of California at
Los Angeles.
Unlike the garment industry, the trucking industry has benefited from
NAFTA. More than 500 trucking jobs have been created in El Paso in the
past year alone.
When the Labor Department certifies jobs as lost because of NAFTA, the
displaced workers become eligible for government-paid retraining.
Armida Arriaga, 56, worked in the El Paso garment industry for 18 years.
In May 1996, she lost her job as a seamstress at Tex-Mex Sportswear when
the company moved work to Mexico.
"I've used the NAFTA benefits, I'm studying English like others. But I'd
prefer to have a job," she said.
Arriaga's benefits, which have included unemployment pay and paid
retraining, come to an end in August and she's worried she will not have
learned enough by then.
"I'll have to find work, and in sewing there aren't many jobs any more,"
she said. "That was my profession. I have little hope they'll take me."
Some efforts are under way to extend NAFTA benefits for displaced
workers:
-a worker's advocacy group, La Mujer Obrera, is pushing for bilingual
training programs.
-U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, is proposing $12 million for
NAFTA's Transitional Adjustment Assistance program. Budget disputes in Congress have so far kept the proposal off the next budget.
Tax cut offers relief for families
with college-bound children
Skip to next story
By ROB WELLS
AP Tax Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) June 9, 1997 - - House Ways and Means Chairman Bill
Archer today proposed the largest tax cut since 1981, offering relief
for families with college-bound children, investors and businesses.
"The tax relief package we will consider represents a solid first step
toward a smaller government for bureaucrats in Washington and a larger
paycheck for workers in the heartland," Archer, R-Texas, told reporters.
The $85 billion tax-cut package is ambitious. It includes a
$500-per-child tax credit for children under age 17 and about $35
billion in tax relief to help families send children to college.
Democrats criticized the proposal as providing nothing for the working
poor, setting the stage for a heated partisan battle that's likely to
extend to the 1998 elections.
"Republicans have siphoned off many of the gains from our current
fertile economic climate and delivered them directly to the rich,"
Democrats on the Ways and Means committee said in a statement.
The GOP bill proposes reducing the 28 percent capital gains tax rate to
10 percent for couples making less than $41,200 a year, which Archer
said will benefit 5 million Americans. For those making more than that,
the rate goes to 20 percent.
Archer said his package has the same objectives as President Clinton's
plan but takes a different approach.
Archer proposed a tax credit of up to $1,500 to help parents pay for
college as well as a $10,000 deduction paid through educational
investment accounts. The Clinton plan negotiated with GOP congressional
leaders contains no investment accounts.
Archer also proposed relief on estate taxes, raising the credit to $1
million, up from the current $600,000 that is exempt from such taxes
paid on estates after death.
He also called for "American Dream Individual Retirement Accounts" to
encourage savings, but the details were not immediately available. His
plan also would shelter the first $500,000 from the gain on the sale of
a home, a proposal similar to Clinton's.
To pay for the tax relief, Archer calls for extending and modifying
airline ticket taxes to generate about $30 billion over five years. And
he would raise $19.2 billion by repealing the corporate alternative
minimum tax - originally designed to ensure businesses pay at least some
minimal tax - as well as increasing the individual exemption for the
tax.
And the plan calls for a new federal income tax on Indian gaming, which
would raise $1.9 billion through 2002.
Archer also called for raising a 24-cent-per-gallon tax on kerosene;
eliminating tax subsidies on ethanol; and ending a benefit that permits
corporations to sell subsidiaries without paying taxes.
Also on the list is a proposal to allow stock investors to lock in gains
while postponing taxes on capital gains profits from the sale of the
investments.
There also would be $321 million in tax breaks for the District of
Columbia aimed at shoring up the capital's sagging economy.
"When this bill is signed into law - and I expect it will be - we will
have completed virtually all the items in our Contract with America," Archer said.
OBITUARY
Skip to next story
Martin A. O'Neal
DALLAS, June 9, 1997 - Martin A. O'Neal, Jr., of Dallas, died
Saturday, June 7.
Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, in Cox Chapel of
Highland Park United Methodist Church with Rev. Bill Smith officiating.
O'Neal was born Nov. 12, 1920, in New Orleans. He graduated from Sunset
High School and attended Southern Methodist University before enlisting
to serve in the Navy during World War II. He later graduated from Baylor
University.
O'Neal was a businessman, a former Western Auto store owner, and at the
time of his retirement, president of five companies including Southwest
Wheel and Manufacturing Co. of Dallas. Following his retirement he was a
rancher.
He had served on the Reeves County Hospital Board, Deaf Action Center of
Dallas, State Bar Association District 6-A Grievance Committee, the
Texas Commission for the Deaf and state representative for AARP. He was
an active member of Highland Park United Methodist Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Mabel and Martin O'Neal, his
sister, Peggy O'Neal Cooke and great-granddaughter, Brittany O'Neal.
Survivors include his wife, Wilma O'Neal; three sons, Bill, Don and Bob
O'Neal; one sister, Virginia O'Neal Norman; eight grandchildren; and one
great-grandson.
WEATHER
Return to top
PECOS, June 9, 1997 - High Sunday, 87, low this morning, 62. Skies
are clear in the far west and in parts of the Trans Pecos with partly
cloudy to cloudy conditions over the rest of the region. Early morning
temperatures were in the 50s and 60s. Skies will be partly cloudy to
cloudy with possible showers and thunderstorms east of the mountains
through Tuesday. Lows tonight will be in the 50s and 60s.DDDD
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, 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@bitstreet.com
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. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
We support Newspapers in Education
Return to Top
Return to Home Page