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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide for Reeves County, Trans-Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

TOP STORIES

February 20, 1998


Candidates line up for city elections



By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer

PECOS, February 20, 1998 - Another incumbent has filed for
re-election in the Town of Pecos City elections set for May
2.

Councilman Ricky Herrera has joined Danny Rodriguez, also an
incumbent, in a quest for at-large positions on the council.

Rodriguez filed with city secretary Geneva Martinez on the
first day to file to seek re-election to his council seat.

Along with the two council positions, the position of Town
of Pecos City Mayor is also up for election. The seat is
currently held by Dot Stafford.

Elections will be held on the same date for seats on the
Town of Pecos City Council as well as for council seats in
Balmorhea, Barstow and Toyah.

Pecos-Barstow-Toyah and Balmorhea school board filings also
started yesterday, as do those for the Reeves County
Hospital District board of directors.

In the Pecos-Barstow-ISD race, positions up for election
include three full-year terms currently held by Linda
Gholson, Earl Bates and Frank Perea.

The hospital board seats will be open for Districts 1 and 3,
along with the at-large seat for which all Reeves County
voters are eligible to cast ballots. These positions are
currently held by, respectively, Chel Flores, Jesus Prieto
and Greg Luna.

The last day to file for the May elections is March 18, at 5
p.m.

In Balmorhea, school positions up are those currently held
by Paul Ward and Armando Mondragon. In the city elections,
positions available are those of mayor, held by Ismael
Rodriguez, and two council positions, held by Rosendo
Carrasco and Rosendo Galindo.

In Toyah, positions open are those of the mayor, a position
unoccupied at this time, and council positions held by
Howard Dennett and Linda Compton.

Water pressure drops at RCDC



By GREG HARMAN
Staff Writer

PECOS, February 20, 1998 - An unexplained drop in water
pressure at Reeves County Detention Center, that began
around 2 p.m. Wednesday, had inmates eating off paper plates
and drinking bottled water. Twenty four hours later the
water pressure was back up "almost to normal," said RCDC
Warden Rudy Franco.

Despite working closely with the Pecos Water Department,
Franco said, the cause of the 24-hour drop in pressure is
still undetermined.

"We had about 500 gallons of bottled water brought in last
night as a precautionary measure," said Franco. "We didn't
find any water leaks."

A few meals have been served on paper plates at the facility
to prevent dirty dishes from stacking up. Fortunately,
Franco said, the restrooms remained operational.

Pecos Water Superintendent Octavio Garcia said that the
Water Department performed tests at the RCDC yesterday and
could find nothing wrong. "We shut off the valves and
checked the water pressure farther up the line and it was
all fine," said Garcia. "I don't have any idea what went
wrong."

But he did speculate that perhaps air had gotten in the line
when Winkles Trucks, located near the RCDC on Highway 17,
vacuumed water from the water line for transport on
Wednesday.

Four indicted in illegal alien transportation



By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer

PECOS, February 20, 1998 - Four persons arrested on I-20
west of Toyah Feb. 8 were indicted yesterday by the federal
grand jury in Pecos, along with six others.

Maria Guadalupe Rodriguez de Cruz, 45, and Luis Exequio
Carrillo, 18, both of El Paso, are charged with four counts
each of transporting illegal aliens.

Jesus Machado-Griego, aka Jose Vega, is charged with making
a false claim to U.S. citizenship and with possessing a
fraudulent immigration document.

Jose Carmen Baylon-Espino, 35, of Mexico, is charged with
illegal entry after being deported.

Reeves County Sheriff's Deputy Damon Compton stopped the van
carrying the defendants and others as it traveled east on
I-20 about 14 miles west of Toyah. Occupants of the van fled
into the surrounding countryside, but were rounded up by
U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Others indicted Thursday are:

--Luis Rico-Urita, 27, of Chihuahua, Mex., and Rogelio
Cano-Leija, importing and possessing 275.76 pounds of
marijuana on Feb. 6;

--Martin Gonzalez, 29, of Chihuahua, Mex., importing and
possessing with intent to distribute 62.4 pounds of
marijuana on Feb. 16;

--Arthur Lloyd Rodriguez, 29, of Lovington, N.M., importing
and possessing 53.8 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 9;

--Denise Lujan-Sauceda, 19, of Odessa, possession of 83.70
pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute on Dec. 23,
1997;

--Joselito Diaz, 32, of Hobbs, N.M., possession with intent
to distribute 74.76 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 8;

--and Juan Manuel Gardea-Rubio, 32, of Delicias, Chih.,
Mex., importing and possessing with intent to distribte
marijuana on Feb. 10 (28.4 pounds).

New officer on patrol



By CARA ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer

PECOS, February 20, 1998 - Arnulfo Rivas, 33, is the Pecos
Police Department's newest patrolman. The Pecos native who
was recently hired to patrol our streets grew up in
Seagraves and returned to Pecos about eight years ago.

Rivas worked at Fred's Body Works before being hired by the
police department, and has been a reserve police officer for
the past four years. He graduated form the Odessa College
police academy in the spring of 1993.

"I'm looking forward to working under Chief Clay McKinney
and thank him for his decision in hiring me as a patrolman.
There are a lot of good people in the department and I look
forward to working with all of them," said Rivas.

Of his philosophy on law enforcement, Rivas said, "One thing
I try to be strict on is kids and alcohol. In the past four
years, a lot of the times I've seen parents having trouble
with kids, it's because they've been under the influence of
alcohol -sometimes drugs, but mostly alcohol."

Rivas has a wife, Carla, and a 14-year-old daughter, Stacy.
In their spare time, Rivas said he and his wife enjoy
outdoor activities such as swimming, horseback riding and
skiing.

AREA NEWS ROUNDUP


The Fort Stockton Pioneer



FORT STOCKTON, Feb. 19, 1998 -When the Fort Stockton City
Council voted unanimously earlier this month to endorse an
agreement on reduction of electric utility rates, it
represented a major step in nearly a year of negotiation -
proposals and counter-proposals - between the city and
Texas-New Mexico Power Company. "We started this about a
year ago," said Fort Stockton City Manager Chuy Garcia.
"Last April, they (TNMP) proposed what they called a
community choice plan,' and they invited us to a meeting in
Pecos to discuss this plan."

The Alpine Avalanche



ALPINE, Feb. 19, 1998 -On Thursday night, Feb. 26, the
movers and shakers of the Big Bend region will gather at
Marathon's historic Gage Hotel to hear the announcement of
the winners of the Big Bend Quarterly's reader's poll, the
Best of the Big Bend. Selected from a ballot printed in the
winter edition of Big Bend Quarterly, the Best of the Big
Bend selects the best places, services and people who live
west of the Pecos and north of the Rio Grande.

The Sanderson Times



SANDERSON, Feb. 19, 1998 -Two elections are scheduled for
May 2, in Terrell County. There will be an election for
three posts on the board of trustees of the Terrell County
Independent School District. Rolando Rodriguez presently
holds a spot on the board of trustees from Trustee District
#1, which is comprised of County Commissioners Precinct 1
and 2. This board member will be elected for a three-year
term.

The McCamey News



McCamey, Upton County, Feb. 19, 1998 - April Alexander,
daughter of Robin and Ronny Alexander and granddaughter of
Peggy and Bob Kelton, recently participated in the Fort
Worth Livestock Show. She entered her Duroc pig in the
middle weight class where he placed eighth. She was the only
representative from Concho county. This pig had placed first
in the Concho county show in early January.

The Monahans News



MONAHANS, Feb. 19, 1998 -Fiscally troubled Ward Memorial
Hospital may be one step closer to putting up an "under new
management sign." Ward County Commissioners are expected to
decide next week on a plan that would salvage the hospital's
finances by leasing the facility to a third party health
corporation. Ward County Judge Sam G. Massey plans a strong
recommendation at the Monday, Feb. 23, commissioners court
meeting in favor of Community Health Care Systems (CHCS).

WEATHER



PECOS, February 20, 1998 - High Thursday, 62, low this
morning, 32. It will be a rainy weekend in northern and
western areas of Texas while South Texas will have mostly
clear skies through Saturday. There's even a chance of sleet
or snow in the higher elevations of the mountains of
Southwest Texas. Another in the lengthy series of
upper-level storm systems was moving eastward toward Texas
on Friday. West Texas will have mostly cloudy to cloudy
skies tonight and Saturday. There will be rain in most areas
with a chance that the rain may be mixed with sleet or snow
in the mountains. Clouds will be increasing over western and
central areas of North Texas tonight while the eastern area
will have partly cloudy skies. There is a chance of some
showers in western area. On Saturday, it will be cloudy and
windy with a chance of showers or thunderstorms in western
and central areas. Lows tonight will be in the 30s and 40s,
highs Saturday will be in the 40s and 50s in West Texas.



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Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
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324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net

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Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise