The MONAHANS NEWS

Weekly Newspaper for Ward County

TOP STORIES

June 12, 1997

Thurman quits Grandfalls city post

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Marlyn Thurman, the city administrator of Grandfalls for 14 years, has
quit..
Thurman, who literally ran every facet of Grandfalls city government for
more than a decade, says she quit "for health and personal reasons."
Her resignation came on Wednesday, June 4, at a meeting of the
Grandfalls City Council called to consider the resignations of two
Grandfalls Council members and the Grandfalls mayor. There weren't
enough council members present for a quorum, according to state law.
The focus of the meeting was to call a special election for Aug. 9, the
next date that a municipal election can legally be held in Texas. The
reason was to fill the vacant council and mayor's positions.
Mayor James Norton and Council Members Paul Armstrong and Mark Kuhn are
the Grandfalls city fathers who have quit.
The departure of Thurman now leaves one more position to fill at
Grandfalls. But this one is an appointive rather than an elective one.
Grandfalls City Council is expected to begin a search for a city administrator to succeed Thurman as soon as possible.
Building permits up

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Building permits issued by the city of Monahans in May exceed $200,000,
according to reports from the office of City Inspector Bobby Sinclair.
Sinclair reports the May total of $212,281 is nearly half the total of
building permits issued for the year, $521,276. In all of 1996, the
city issued $1,308,783 in building permits.
Sinclair says the major factors in the May building permits were:
1. A $65,000 residential permit to Lesley Eason. That permit, according
to city records, is for the construction of anew home at 901 South Allen
Street.
2. A !00,000 commercial permit to the firm of Meaders & Tatum to erect a
canopy and install fuel pumps at 310 South Main. The site currently is
being renovated and modernized to house Downtown Chevron. One of the
features of the new Chevron will be a brushless automatic car wash.
3. A $16,000 institutional permit issued to Rosa de Sharon Church for
reconstruction and repairs to the church at 103 West 12th Street. The
church was damaged by fire earlier this year.
The total value of residential issued in May was $96,281, Sinclair
reports. Commercial permits totaled $100,000, the one designated for the
work on Downtown Chevron. Institutional permits were $16,000, that issued for Rosa de Sharon.
Shooting, computers camp focus
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Summer camps focused on shooting sports, computers and West Texas water
use are scheduled this Summer in Monahans.
Ward County Extension Agent Andy Stewart made the announcement. The
annual 4-H Horse Camp was in progress this week.
The camps scheduled are the 1997 Cyber Camp from June 22 through June 25
to be held at the George and Opal Bentley 4-H Center; the Texas 4-H
Water Camp from July 6 through July 11 at the Bentley Center; and the
Texas Youth Shooting Sports Camp from July 13 to July 18 at the Bentley
Center.
For information on the Texas Agricultural Extension Service camps,
contact the Ward County Extension Service at 1900 South Stockton Street,
Suite J, in Monahans.
The Cyber Camp is a cooperative effort among the extension service,
Monahans-Wickett, Pyote School District computer teachers, Ultravision
Internet and Mike Cotton.
Water camp is an effort of the extension service and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
Shooting sports is coordinated by the extension service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Sandhills Archery Club and shooting sports leaders.
DWI tops indictments

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Five of the eight persons indicted on Friday, June 6, by the 143rd
District Court Grand Jury in Monahans face charges of driving while
intoxicated, according to court records.
Those indicted, all male, were:
Jose Angel Vargas, charged with DWI on April 17. Bond was set at $5,000.
Federico Ramirez Olivas, charged with DWI and possession of a controlled
substance (cocaine, less than one gram).
The charges were based on an incident on April 21. Bond was set at
$5,000. Olivas, according to the indictment against him, has two
previous DWI convictions.
Oscar Sarabia Arcides, charged with DWI.
The indictment was based on an incident that occurred on May 4. Bond was
set at $5,000. Arcides has one previous DWI conviction, according to the
court record.
Earnest Ray Whitlow, charged with DWI, based on an incident on May 4.
Whitlow has two previous DWI convictions, according to the court record.
Marty Carl Hollock, charged with DWI. The charges are based on an
incident on May 5. The court says Hollock has two previous DWI
convictions.
The other indictments handed up by the District Court Grand Jury.
Michael Paul Carnegary, charged with aggravated kidnapping, based on an
incident on May 2.
Bond was set at $25,000 and a protective order was issued that
Carnegary cannot come within 1000 yard or communicate in anyway with the
identified victim if he is released from custody on bond..
Steven Allen Terwilliger, charged with delivery of marijuana to a minor
on April 23. Bond was set at $20,000.
Philip Talano, charged with delivery of marijuana to a minor on April
23. Bond was set at $20,000.
The Terwilliger and Talano cases involved the same incidents, according
to the court record.
Judge Bob Parks of the 143rd District Court set the bail bonds in all of the cases on which the grand jury issued the indictments.
Property tax relief pleases Monahans

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Monahans got what it wanted most from the 140 days of the 75th Texas
Legislature that ended with a whimper on Tuesday, June 3.
That was guaranteed property tax relief, which most of the rest of Texas
only dreams about.
State Rep. Bob Turner is proud of that. Turner, a Coleman Democrat,
represents the movie-monster shaped 73rd House District, which includes
Ward County, the beak of the district's configuration.
Turner and State Sen. Bob Duncan, R-Lubbock, in a non-partisan example
of coperation, were responsible for the coming property tax relief in
Monahans and Winkler County.
They sponsored and enacted legislation that resolves jurisdictional
problems between Monahans, the seat of Ward County, and Winkler County
which allows both jurisdictions to take advantage of voter-approved
half-cent sales tax increases.
Voters last year in both Monahans and
Winkler County had approved the sales tax to be used for property tax
relief.
Now the property tax relief can be implemented, probably on Oct. 1,
projects Monahans City Manager David Mills. The amount of relief will be
based on the amount of revenue collected in the special half-cent sales
tax.
That Monahans bill was one of five Turner bills of which he says: "I am
quite proud."
The other measures Turner moved include relief from liability for
industry contribuors of firefighting equipment to the Texas Forest
Service for redistribution to volunteer fire departments; consolidation
of herbicide/pesticide codes; establish responsibility for plugging
abandoned oil wells, and provide disability assistance for National
guard members who are state employees.
Overall, Turner was not pleased with this legislature's failure to act
on several major issues.
Says Turner: "The difference was that in the 74th there was consensus
before we even began and in the 75th there was not.
"Moreover, the governor's (failed) property tax relief issue consumed a
tremendous amount of time and effort which left little for other complicated issues."
Classic ups cable rates in July
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Classic Cable rates for basic service are scheduled to increase to
$26.95 a month with July billings, according to a company report to
Monahans City Council on Tuesday, June 10.
The increase raises basic cable rates by two dollars a month. Last
August, the basic monthly cable premium also went up by two dollars,
recalls Classic Cable Monahans manager Mark Hamlin. That increase came
shortly after Classic, headquartered in Plainville, Kan., purchased the
United Video Cable Co. which had served Monahans.
The announcement of the latest cable rate increases is scheduled to be
made in mailings to Monahans cable television subscribers in the weeks
ahead. Some report they already have been notified of the latest two
dollar a month increase.
Higher cable television premiums were announced to the council in a
statement that first included an announcement that a cable customer
preference survey had been finished.
From that letter to the council signed by Rowdy Whittington, the
regional manager for Classic Cable:
"We are pleased to announce the completion of our first-ever Customer
Preference Survey.
"Over 25,000 customers, or 13.5 percent of all customers, responded.
". . .Unfortunately, quality programming carries a price. Networks have
raised their rates aggressively and our programming costs have gone up
about 22 percent over the past two years.
"To continue to provide excellent programming while continually
upgrading our technical capabilities, we must increase our monthly
pre-tax basic cable rate to $26.95, effective with July's billing."
The survey to which Whittington refers was for Classic Cable subscribers
corporate wide, not just the subscribers Classic serves in Monahans and Ward County.

Running back survives lightning strike
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Roy Vasquez, the sophomore sensation running back last Fall for the
Grandfalls-Royalty High Cowboys, survived a lightning strike on Sunday
afternoon, June 8, near his home, authorities report.
The bolt did not hit Vasquez directly but apparently struck close to
him, according to reports.
Vasquez was injured in the midst of one of a series of violent
lightning, thunder and rain storms sweeping Ward County on Sunday and
Monday.
Those same storms turned streets in Ward County towns into running storm
sewers. In Monahans, water was hubcap deep and deeper in low lying
areas of some roads on Sunday.
Vasquez was the only reported injury attributable to the weather earlier
this week.
The football star was taken by the Grandfalls Volunteer Ambulance
Service to Ward Memorial Hospital in Monahans for treatment and then
transferred to Odessa Medical Center. By Wednesday, Vasquez was back
home and doing fine.
"He was lifting weights today," reports School Superintendent Charles
Carter, "and ate a big lunch."
Vasquez, 16, was one of the Cowboy stars that took Grandfalls deep into
the state high school six-man football playoffs last Autumn. They won
the regional championship and missed the Great Eight by two points, a
30-28 loss to Jayton.
Despite the Sunday brush with lightning, Carter says it appears Vasquez
will be back on the gridiron for the Grandfalls-Royalty Cowboys with his
team mates to help defend the various honors they won in their last
six-man football campaign.Hanna signs on with Loboes
Larry Hanna, who won a 2A state football championship in Iraan last
Fall, was hired by the Monahans-Wickett-Pyote School District Board in
an unanimous 7-0 vote late Tuesday night, June 10.
By mid-morning on Wednesday, June 11, the new district athletic
director and football boss was meeting with Lobo coaches at the Monahans
High School Fieldhouse.
Hanna was familiar with the quarters. He coached at Monahans as an assistant for nine years. |
Go fly a kite

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Hey! Why don't you go fly a kite this Saturday, June 14, at Monahans
Sandhills State Park?
The unique kite flying celebration starts at 10 a.m. and ends at noon.
There will be prizes. First and second place awards will be made for the
longest kite tail, most unusual or original kite, most colorful, best
homemade and the best stunt flying. First place $100 savings bonds will
be donated by First National Bank and FIrst State Bank.
Registration for the competition starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday. More information, call the Chamber of Commerce, 943-2187.

Jury to hear traffic case

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A six-person jury will be selected for a misdemanor traffic trial
scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, at the Thorntonville City Hall building,
reports Municipal Judge Sue Carter.
Carter says the panel is chosen by a random drawing from the current
Thorntonville voter registration list.
From the judge's statement:
"The following 20 names were mailed summons and should appear with their
jury notices by 10 a.m., June 17, at 2414 West Second Street in
Thorntonville.
"Listed in numerical order as drawn are those that should appear:
"Katherine Janell Bigham, Betty Harvick Smith, Gwen Price Wilson.,
Jenaro N. Fuentes, Mary Tonche Porra, Penny Lackey Ulrich.
"Dan Don Westerman., Julius William Smith, Nancy Hayes Wells, Stacie
Dianne Nelms.
"Emmie Chailland Hash, Gracie Abila Acosta, Daniel Wilson Moore, Alvin
Dean Martin, Doretta Denise Price, Cheryul Cook Wheeler, Cecil Edgar
Watakins, Randy Joe Davis, Michael Keith Mitchell and Grady Russell Wallace.
Walker names band leaders

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New drum majors and twirlers have been named for Walker Junior High
School in Monahans for the Fall, reports band director Jim Rhodes.
They are:
Drum Majors:
1. Ashley Bean
2. Marty Lewallen
Twirlers:
1. Christie Bates
2. Lauren Gray
3. Shara Dane
4. Kristin Hall
5. Marynelle Clayton6. Emily Berringer
Obituaries

Robert McNutt services today
Services for Robert C. McNutt,
84, are scheduled for 10 a.m. today
(Thursday) at Harkey Funeral Home
Chapel with Dr. Allie Balko officiating. Burial will be in Monahans
Cemetery.
Mr. McNutt was born Aug. 10,
1912 and died June 9, 1997 in Mon-
ahans. An area resident since 1973,
he was a retired machinest and a
Baptist.
Survivors include a son, Tom
McNutt of Wickett and a daugther,
Bobene Burrow of Monahans; three
brothers, Thomas McNutt of Rock-
port, Harley McNutt and Floyd Mc-
Nutt, both of Bentonville, Ark.; a
sister, Lois Bradbury, also of Ben-
tonville, Ark.; eight grandchildren
and nine great-grandchildren.
His wife, Bernice, whom he married June 27, 1943 in Rockwall,
preceded him in death in December,
1996.
Longtime resident buried Wednesday
Services for Francisca Ramirez
Gonzales, 78, were held Wednesday
in Grace Fellowhsip Church officiated by Pastor Mark Bristow. Burial
was in Monahans Memorial Cemetery under direction of Harkey Funeral
Home.
Mrs. Gonzales was born April 2,
1919 in Ballinger and died June 8,
1997 in Ward Memorial Hospital.
A homemaker, she moved to Mon-
ahans in 1946 and was a member of
Grace Fellowship.
She married Gabriel M. Gonzales
April 23, 1925 in Stanton. He preceded her in death Feb., 1995.
She is survived by six sons,
Hilario Gonzales, Eustecio Gonzales, Domingo Gonzales, Jesus Valentine
Gonzales, all of Monahans,
Francisco Gonzales of Natalia and
Felipe Gonzales of Midland; two
daughters, Amelia Flores of Crane
and Celerina Gongales of El Paso;
two brothers, Joe Ramirez of Kermit
and Gabriel Ramirez of Denver,
Co.; two sisters, Carlota Garza and
Tanis Garza, both of Hobbs, NM;
48 grandchildren; 69 great-grandchildren and two
great-great-grandchildren.
Former resident interred in Andrews
Private graveside services for
former Monahans resident, G.A.
Ragsdale, 87, were held Tuesday in
the Andrews Old Cemetery under
direction of McNett Funeral Home.
Mr. Ragsdale was born Dec. 29,
1909 in Coleman County and died
June 9, 1997 in a Lubbock hospital.
He had served as deputy and chief of
police in Monahans before moving
to Andrews in 1961. He had been a
DPS officer for six years and served
in the Andrews Sheriff's Department for 15 years and as a Justice of
the Peace for 12 years before retirement. He was a member of First
Christian Church.
He married Nila Pearl Bodine in
Big Spring Feb., 1943.
Survivors include his wife of the
home; two sons, Ron Raglsdale of
Elm Springs, S.D. and Danny Rags-
dale of Del Rio; a daugther, Mary
Musgrove of Fort Worth; two
grandchidlren and one great-grandchild.|
Copyright 1997 by Ward Newspapers, Inc.
107 W. Second St., Monahans TX 79756
Phone 915-943-4313, FAX 915-943-4314
e-mail news@bitstreet.com
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