PECOS ENTERPRISE
Daily Newspaper and Tourism Guide
for Trans Pecos, Big Bend, Far West Texas
Tourism|__|Opinion|__|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
TOP STORIES
July 8, 1997
Head Start remains under
direction of community council
Reeves County Community Council
given until November to comply
Skip to next story
By CARA ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 8, 1997 - The Reeves County Community Council has a little
more time to iron out problems with compliance with paperwork and
procedures in order to keep control of the Pecos Head Start program,
according to community council board president Linda Clark.
"We have an extension until November first," Clark said. "We have a
deadline of September 30 on paperwork that needs to be redone.
The Pecos Head Start program has been in trouble since last year, when
evaluators from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families came from Region VI, located in
Dallas, and found deficiencies in the program.
There have been both policy and personnel changes in the Head Start
program since the regional administrators found deficiencies in the
program and recommended that changes be made.
"We started working on updating the procedures in January," Clark said.
Evaluators came back to Pecos late this spring, and recommended further
changes, which must be completed by the end of September, to "fine tune"
the written procedures in a few areas. Those areas are training
procedures, administrative procedures and community needs assessment.
However, getting the paperwork done on time is only one step. The
procedures must actually be implemented, and only then will evaluators
know if they are actually working out.
"School starts in August, and they're going to give us until November 1
to see if we can implement these new procedures," said Clark.
Clark, along with the executive director of the community council,
Caprice Cox, and president of the policy council board for Head Start,
Laura Carrasco, went to Dallas June 4 to meet with Head Start
administrators.
The community council is working to implement the recommended changes in
order to maintain control of the program.
Funding for the Pecos Head Start program is provided by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Through the Administration for Children and Families, the department
offers a broad range of programs to encourage full development of
children.
As one of those programs, Head Start provides both health and academic
services to pre-school children with the goal of enhancing their ability to learn and develop during their early school years.
Chamber director completes
management training program
Skip to next story
By SHANNON BRYER
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 8, 1997 - Tom N. Rivera, Executive Director of the Pecos
Chamber of Commerce, is a recent graduate of the Institutes for
Organization Management. Rivera completed all requirements after
attending the program June 22-28 at Southern Methodist University in
Dallas, Texas.
Institute is a professional development program specifically designed to
address the unique challenges facing chamber executives.
"I am very proud of Pecos. I am the only Institute graduate in the whole
area. That is impressive, especially for a city the size of Pecos. The
nearest graduate is in El Paso," Rivera said.
Institute participants learn the latest techniques in membership
retention, quality management, volunteer leadership development and
non-dues revenue enhancement, among others. Prior to attending,
enrollees receive reading assignments and must complete a home-study
examination.
"It takes about three months to prepare for the examination. It requires
a lot of midnight studying. I burned a lot of midnight oil," Rivera said.
"I learned so many things over the past six years. The Institute
stressed how important it is to show members that they're receiving
something tangible," Rivera said.
"The services we provide are numerous. We are a clearinghouse for
business information of import to our businesses. We are a
conglomeration of members promoting Pecos and the community. No other
organization on Pecos does this," Rivera said.
Institute is nationally recognized by the chamber community for its
standard of academic excellence. Rivera spent one week a year for six
years studying on the SMU campus. Sixth-year graduates receive a
certificate of chamber management and earn points toward the Certified
Chamber Executive (CCE) designation.
"It was a great opportunity to network with other chamber directors and
share thoughts and ideas," Rivera said.
Rivera will go through the CCE certification process this year. The
chamber will be audited to determine whether it is being run according
to principles taught at Institute.
Institute courses are taught by recognized leaders in the chamber and
academic communities. Participants learn the fundamentals of chamber
management during their first years at Institute. Each year of
programming is designed to complement and build on the participant's
learning experience from the previous year.
The SMU program is one of eight Institutes held at different U.S.
college campuses each year. Founded in 1921, Institute is made possible
through the Center for Leadership Development, a program of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. More than 2,200 individuals
participate in the program annually.
Rivera moved to Pecos in 1985 after retiring from the army, where he
worked in intelligence. "I don't plan on ever leaving Pecos," Rivera said.
Texas responds to welfare reform
Skip to next story
AUSTIN (AP) July 8, 1997 - Applying for welfare in Texas soon could be a
lot like applying for a job.
The concept, known as "work first," will be tried in a Corpus Christi
pilot project. If it succeeds, job counselors and wage subsidies could
play a leading role in Texas welfare.
Under the idea, when people apply for welfare benefits, information
about their work history and employability would be considered as well.
Those considered employable would be sent to a job counselor for work
placement.
To help welfare applicants find jobs, the state would subsidize wages.
Instead of giving a cash grant and food stamps to applicants, the state
would give the money to a business to help it pay three-quarters of the
applicant's wages.
"The vision is to have a system where the very first option is work. In
the past, what we've had is people come in wanting to be signed up for
benefits, and work is not a consideration," said Texas Workforce
Commissioner Bill Hammond, who is guiding the project.
The Austin American-Statesman reported Monday that Corpus Christi was
chosen as the site for the pilot project, which officials hope to launch
by fall, because its population represents a cross-section of the state,
there are jobs available and the city has a moderate unemployment rate.
Work-based programs, which have been put in place by other states, have
taken on added significance in light of the federal welfare reform law.
It requires states to move welfare recipients to work quickly, imposing
penalties if they don't meet quotas.
A decline in Texas welfare case loads, due largely to a good economy and
low unemployment rate, is expected to help the state meet federal
requirements.
Some officials, however, are concerned about meeting work requirements
for two-parent households because the number of such families on Texas
rolls is increasing. Federal work requirements for such families are
more stringent than for single-parent families.
Under welfare reforms approved in Texas in 1995, welfare recipients are
limited to one to three years of monthly cash benefits, depending on
their work history and education.
As the work-first concept is tried in Texas, the state will face
labor-market issues, such as ensuring that welfare recipients with
taxpayer-subsidized wages don't replace workers who aren't on welfare.
A bill that would have prohibited employers from replacing other workers
with welfare recipients was approved by lawmakers this year but vetoed
by Bush, who said it would hinder moving welfare recipients to work.
The Corpus Christi pilot project would say no more than 10 percent of a
business's workforce could be made up of welfare recipients with subsidized paychecks.
Change hard for family operated general store
Skip to next story
By ZEKE MacCORMACK
San Antonio Express-News
COMFORT, Texas July 8, 1997 - Change is always an unwelcome visitor at
Ingenhuett's Store, the oldest continually operated general store in
Texas.
It just began accepting credit cards last year, and grudgingly made room
for a computer as the state automated its system for issuing hunting
licenses.
"We didn't like it very much at all, but we've always kind of been the
hunter's headquarters," said Gregory Krauter, 47, store manager.
In recent years he's seen more change at the High Street store than the
four previous generations who ran the family business founded in 1867 by
Peter J. Ingenhuett.
Complicated firearms legislation ended gun sales in 1995, and the
introduction of computerized "Lone Star Cards" that year halted the
acceptance of food stamps.
And the longtime practice of giving locals charge accounts was
curtailed, he said, "because people just aren't as dependable as they
used to be."
But the store's trademarks - personal service and a diverse inventory -
have so far resisted the forces of time and progress. "The battle ahead
is to not change the environment of the store," said Krauter. "We're
going to fight to stay the way we are."
More than a century before Wal-Mart and Kmart introduced their so-called
"superstores," the Ingenhuetts had filled that shopping niche. "If you
can't find it anywhere else, you can find it at Ingenhuett's," said
Josie Below, a regular customer since 1985. Shelves in the
2,500-square-foot store are stocked with everything from groceries to
pick-axes, from horseshoes to underwear.
Prices sometimes run higher than at large department stores, but Wallace
Beck keeps coming back after seven decades. "You get a wonderful feeling
when you go in there, like being in your own home," said Beck, who
counted Gladys Ingenhuett among his childhood friends. She gained
notoriety in 1940 as the Hill Country's first female pilot, and was a
fixture at the store until her death in 1995.
"The first airplane ride I ever had was with Gladys. She was a wonderful
pilot," recalled Beck, 73.
The general store was just one of several local businesses started by
Peter J. Ingenhuett, who helped settle the community in 1852. He opened
an eight-room hotel in 1880, an opera house in 1883 and the saloon built
in 1891, which also housed a drug store, the local telephone exchange
and, on Sundays, church services. The stately limestone buildings
designed by Alfred Giles, an English-born architect who lived in San
Antonio, still line Comfort's historic district along High Street.
James Krauter, Gladys' husband, said this could be the year the family
finally seeks a historic landmark designation for the store. "I think
it's a good thing, being that we're the oldest continually operated
general store in the state," he said.
Its frontier clientele reportedly included Judge Roy Bean, who bought a
windmill and buggy; and Pancho Villa, who offered to pay for water but
sipped for free. The store's best years were from 1890 to about 1917,
when it was run by Paul Ingenhuett, Gladys' grandfather. In those days
it also featured a bank and a post office, both of which had closed by
the mid-1930s.
A John Deere dealership was added after James and Gladys Krauter took
over the store from her father, Peter C. Ingenhuett, in 1955. But that
was phased out in 1964, Krauter said, due to problems with John Deere
headquarters.
Asked to identify the secret of the store's success, James Krauter said,
"Just staying after it, I guess. We don't do any advertising. Our
customers are our best advertisers." How long the store continues to
operate "all depends on our descendents," he said, noting, "I'm 73 years
old and I'm not going to be around too long."
Gregory Krauter has no plans to retire, and his sister, Tish Harle,
said, "If no one else in the family wanted to continue it, I would drop
everything in a heartbeat and go there to run it.
"It's part of all of us," said Ms. Harle, a paralegal in San Antonio who
helps out on weekends at the store.
And a sixth generation is standing by if they're needed at the cash
register. "I'd be kind of happy to keep running the family business," said Christopher Harle, 15.
11 juveniles referred to county court in June
Skip to next story
PECOS, July 8, 1997 - Eighteen juveniles were detained by the Reeves
County Juvenile Detention Facility last month, nine from Reeves County
and nine from other counties, according to the June monthly report from
the facility and the Reeves County Juvenile Court and Probation
Department.
Of the 11 juveniles referred to the court during the month one was
referred by the Reeves Co. Sheriff's Office, eight by the Pecos Police
Department, one by the parents of a juvenile and one by other sources.
Eight of those referred were male and three were female. All were
Hispanic.
Charges brought against those referred include: one for a terroristic
threat, one for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, two
for home related crisis intervention, one for criminal trespass, two for
unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, one for criminal mischief of at
least $20 but less than $500 damage, two aggravated assault with a
deadly weapon and one of theft of more than $50 but less than $500.
During June, 18 juveniles were on probation and five detention hearings were held.
Possible resignation of PBT ISD
superintendent addressed by board
Skip to next story
By CARA ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 8, 1997 - When school starts next month, there will be new
faces not only in the classes, but in front of them as well, and some
old faces will be in new places.
The Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD Board of Education held a special meeting
last night in which they discussed personnel issues. Much of the meeting
was held in closed session. All proposed personnel appointments,
resignations, and transfers were approved unanimously, according to
school board president Frank Perea.
Perea also addressed the concerns of local people about the possible
resignation of school district superintendent, Mario Sotelo, later this
month.
"I know there may be some concern in the community about the possible
resignation of Mario Sotelo, the superintendent," said Perea.
Sotelo is one of two candidates left in the running for the
superintendent position with the school district in Edinburg, Texas.
That school board will make their final decision on who to hire July 11.
"The board (P-B-T ISD) has a contingency plan ready to deal immediately
with the resignation of the superintendent," Perea said.
He continued, "We as a board are united that if Mr. Sotelo resigns, as
soon as we receive his letter of resignation, we will immediately take
steps to begin a search for an interim superintendent."
Another key P-B-T administrator, Pecos High School Principal Alice
Duerksen, has already announced her resignation.
"We don't have anybody in mind yet," (for either position) said Perea.
Other personnel actions approved last night are as follows.
Appointments include:
*April Blackwell, 6th grade Reading teacher and JV Coach;
*Jack Guame, Special Education teacher at Pecos High School;
*Vince Harper, 8th grade Social Studies teacher at Crockett Middle
School;
*Diana Rodriguez, 1st grade teacher at Austin Elementary;
*Debra Terry, 2nd grade teacher at Austin Elementary;
*Veronica Valenzuela, P.E. teacher at Pecos Kindergarten/Barstow;
*Cynthia Anne Velez, Special Education teacher at Pecos Kindergarten;
and
*Tammy J. Walls, P.E. at Pecos Elementary.
Resignations include:
*Colleen Coman, Computer Literacy teacher at Zavala Middle School;
*Alicia Dominguez, Computer Literacy teacher at Crockett Middle School;
*Alice Duerksen, Principal at Pecos High School;
*Reynaldo Garcia, 5th grade Bilingual teacher at Bessie Haynes
Elementary;
*Kathy Painter, English teacher at Crockett middle School;
*Kirby Rankin, Computer Science/Algebra Math teacher/Department Head at
Pecos High School; and
*Amy Wilson, 6th grade teacher at Lamar Elementary.
Transfers include:
*Angela Elliott, from 2nd grade at Austin Elementary to Reading at
Crockett Middle School;
*Rhonda Gallagher, from 4th and 5th grade at Barstow Elementary to 6th
grade at Lamar Elementary;
*Becky Granado, from P.E. at Bessie Haynes to P.E. at Pecos High School;
*Becky Patterson, from 6th grade at Lamar to 2nd grade at Austin; and
*Brian Williams, from 6th grade P.E. to History at Crockett.
WEATHER
Return to top
PECOS, July 8, 1997 - High Monday, 100, low this morning, 72. Most of
West Texas can expect some showers and thunderstorms today. Lows will be
in the 60s and 70s tonight. Highs Wednesday will be in the 90s, ranging
upward to near 102 in the Big Bend area.
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