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Top StoriesApril 7, 1998Group works to bring park to BalmorheaBy GREG HARMAN Staff Writer PECOS, April 7, 1998 - Looking to generate interest and all-so-necessary funds to bring a full-fledged children's park with a playground to the center of her town, Balmorhea resident Karen Pogue has announced the first ever in a series of planned fund-raisers to be held in the Trans-Pecos area. From 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade Balmorhea Elementary students will scrub your car or pickup to a high shine for $5 per car and $7 per pickup. The event is being held at the Balmorhea Grocery, which has agreed to donate the water, with Rosendo Carrasco donating lunch. "They are so excited about this," said Pogue of the students. BISD Superintendent Carl Hoffmeyer has also been valuable to Pogue by helping search for sources of "free" money. "I've been surfing the net looking for grant stuff," he said. Hoffmeyer said Pogue's persuasiveness brought him into the plan. The Balmorhea community group working for the children's park, comprised of about 10 local members and as yet unnamed, also has plans for a booth at the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Alpine; a talent show and beauty contest in the summer; and a five kilometer run to be held in September. "We've also thought of hosting a trail-ride and barbecue in July," said Pogue. Since the proposal would ultimately turn into a city park, Pogue had to secure the official thumbs-up from the Balmorhea City Council. "They gave me the go-ahead," she said. To secure the grant money to construct the park, Pogue said that the group must form a non-profit organization and raise half of the potential cost of the park, roughly about $20,000. But, the physical labor of such an endeavor may be eased, she said, by importing inmates from the Reeves County Detention Center. "We're still looking at several properties," said Pogue, "and I have to butter up (the property owners), but I want it to be in the center of town." Pogue said she was indebted to Brenda Harrison, who got the Town of Pecos City to bring in Kids City at Maxey Park, for guiding her through the sometimes-complicated process. Kidstruction, the Austin company which designed and constructed Kids City, has already been selected by Pogue as the designer of the future Balmorhea park. Kidstruction, an 18-year-old company, began as a one-man private landscaping company, and now designs, delivers and builds its playgrounds from Mexico to Canada. It is also moving into the world of international business, having recently received requests from as far away as England and Jordan. The company uses redwoods, treated pine, metal and recycled plastics in its playgrounds. It still does landscaping, but mainly for large companies such as McDonald's and Dairy Queen. Pecos man drownsBy CARA ALLIGOOD Staff Writer PECOS, April 7, 1998 - A Pecos man drowned in the San Antonio River in a work-related accident Wednesday. Alfredo "Freddy" Chabarria, 32, was a lead man for Trace Ventures Exploration Inc. and was running seismograph cable when the accident occurred, according to Sgt. Stephen Monsivais with the Karnes County Sheriff's Department. The company had been using a helicopter to take the cable back and forth across the river, but Chabarria became impatient, according to what fellow workers told sheriff's department investigators. He walked out into the river despite warnings by the others not to do so. Monsivais said that Chabarria's fellow workers were trying to reach Chabarria when he went under the surface for the second and final time. Monsivais said that the emergency call came in at 1:01 p.m and the first rescue workers arrived on the scene at 1:05 p.m., but by then it was too late. "It happened so fast," he said. "It's a dangerous river. We've had drownings in past years," said Monsivais. "It has an undertow, and it is worse in some spots than others." Chabarria's body was not discovered until it surfaced Saturday, Monsivais said. Chabarria left behind a wife and four children. Graveside services were held this morning at 9 a.m. at Fairview Cemetery. Search begins for Little Miss CantaloupeBy ROSIE FLORES Staff Writer PECOS, April 7, 1998 - It's time for area girls to sign up for the annual Little Miss Cantaloupe Pageant. Entry forms can be picked up at Norma Jeans, 1227 S. Eddy or at the West of the Pecos Museum. Deadline for application is Friday, April 24. Girls who want to participate must be between the ages of "exiting kindergarten" through "exiting second" grade. Contestants must attend Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD. The winner must be willing and available to represent Pecos in local functions as "Little Miss Cantaloupe" for the following year. An entry fee of $25 and a photograph must be submitted with the application. The fee may be paid by parents or a sponsor. Checks will be made payable to the Women's Division of the Pecos Chamber of Commerce. "All girls will model in the Style Show on May 9," said Brandy Owen. The Golden Girl/Little Miss Cantaloupe pageant will be held Friday, June 26, in the Pecos High School Auditorium. "All contestants will be required to attend rehearsals the two weeks prior to the pageant," said Owen. All contestants will be judged on interview and stage presence, according to organizers of the event. "Judges will not be from Pecos," said Owen. For more information contact Owen at the West of the Pecos Museum at 445-5076. Museum looking for a few good membersBy CARA ALLIGOOD Staff Writer PECOS, April 7, 1998 - The West of the Pecos Museum is still trying to fuel its membership drive and is seeking more local participation, according to Executive Director Brandy Owen. The museum now offers memberships to anyone interested in supporting the popular tourist attraction. Memberships are available at several levels to fit almost any budget, ranging from $25 individual memberships to $1,000 partner memberships, with perks varying among the different memberships. The Friends of the Museum group still exists though, with their focus being volunteerism, according to Owen. Last year, about 12,000 people toured the museum, according to Owen. That is about equal to the number of residents of Pecos, but most of the visitors were out-of-towners, she said. Last December the museum began a membership drive and the response from people who live in other states has really surprised Owen. Some current members of the museum live in places such as Oceanside, Calif., Vancouver Wash., Fremont, Neb., Paulsboro, N.J. and Falls Church, Va. Owen said that there also are many members from throughout Texas, from Monahans to Fort Worth and beyond, but there are not as many local members as she thought there would be. "We hope we can encourage more local people to participate and invest in the museum," Owen said. Money raised from memberships goes into the museum's operating fund which is used to pay for day-to-day operating expenses. "The museum receives absolutely no city, county or federal tax money," Owen said. "The tax money we do receive is from the local bed tax. We receive one and one half cents out of the seven cents per dollar tax, and the vast majority of that money comes from travelers," Owen said. The bed tax is a surcharge on hotel room rentals that is collected and distributed by the city. Where do local Catholic War Veterans meet?By GREG HARMAN Staff Writer PECOS, April 7, 1998 - A branch of the Catholic War Veterans has been active in Pecos since March 15, 1968, raising money at fund raisers that have helped send, according to former CWV Commander Arnie Calderon's estimates, 20-25 local high school students on to college. But to find a meeting of the veterans takes a good bit of snooping. The group, homeless since being forced out of Santa Rosa hall about 10 years ago, has been sharing the Veterans of Foreign Wars space on West Third. "At one time we were very active," current CWV Commander Ralph Hernandez told the Reeves County Hospital Board last month, "Now we are like orphans with no place to meet." The lack of a permenant meeting place for the organization, Hernandez emphasized, is limiting CWV's ability to attract new members and perform vital functions. "People don't know where we are meeting from one week to the next," he said. New CWV member Octavio Garcia, 45, said he thought he was the youngest member to join the group. But, perhaps, Garcia said, they may be able to start working to help the younger generation again. CWV could provide a positive link for a new generation. In the words of Calderon, "Catholic War Veterans are willing to push to help others, and are proud to do it. Kids just want somebody to relate to them." That's what prompted CWV to seek an abandoned, degenerating property at the corner of Mesquite and East Third Street, the former Mesquite Lounge. Three of the four taxing entities in Pecos, the city, county, and hospital district, have already approved the charitable sale of the location to CWV for the symbolic sum of $10. It was the CWV bid on the Mesquite Lounge that kept it off of the city demolition list. Only the school district has refused to accept the veterans group token bid, stating at the March board meeting that the district tax attorney advised against accepting the $10 bid because of a previous, higher bid of $1,100 from Paul Hinojos. But, Bernardo Martinez, Reeves County Commissioner in Precinct Four, claims that he has since called the school district's attorney and was told that the school board could do "whatever they want with the property." Fire Marshal Jack Brookshire said that whatever the holdup is on the part of the school board, "they need to go ahead and deal with it" while there's a chance to "get rid of the property." He estimated the cost to the Town of Pecos City for demolition of the property to be several thousand dollars. City Manager Kenneth Neal said the city wasn't interested in tearing down any more buildings. "It would be great if the War Veterans could renovate and use the building," he said. Catholic War Veterans was founded by Monsignor Edward J. Higgins in May of 1935. He received permission from Archbishop Thomas E. Molloy to begin the group, and in June of that year he received from Pope Pius XI an Apostolic Blessing for the new organization. Thus, the Catholic War Veterans was born. Of Higgins, Hernandez said, "next to his love for Christ and his church, came his love for our country and for those who dedicated their lives to our country's welfare in war and peace." The local post, the Gonzales-Garcia-Perea Post #1859, was named for the first three local boys killed in the Vietnam War. "We have a total of 14,186 members nationally, and a total of 662 in Texas," said Hernandez. The current list of officers includes Ralph Hernandez, commander; Octavio Garcia, first vice commander; Ben Natividad, second vice commander; Juan Salcido, third vice commander; Ben Madrid, adjutant; Felipe Arredondo, treasurer; Isabel Florez, judge advocate; Frank Sanchez, welfare officer; David Vejil, historian; Faustino Acosta, officer of the day; Tom Rivera, service officer; B.L. Natividad, director/three-year trustee; and Severo Jaquez, director/two-year trustee. PBT ISD board meets MondayPECOS, April 7, 1998 - The Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District Board of Education will hold its regular meeting for the month of April at 6 p.m. Monday, April 13 in the board room at 1304 Park Street. After approval of minutes from the regular meeting on March 17 and the special meeting on April 2, candidates for Teacher of the Year will be presented and the announcement of Teacher of the Year will be made. Correspondence will be heard on the Natural Resources Foundation of Texas essay contest, and the 1998-99 school calendar will be discussed. The school board will also discuss a summary of finances for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 school years. Items up for discussion/approval include revising attendance committee for grades K-8, summer school, request to use PHS auditorium for Golden Girl Revue and waive fee, investment policy CDA (Local) change, resolution approving independent sources of instructions relating to investment responsibilities, 1997-98 budget amendments, changes in student council constitution, 10 percent local option homestead exemption, interlocal agreement between P-B-T ISD and Reeves County Detention Center for GED testing and professional personnel appointments, resignations, retirements and transfers. Other items to be discussed include reviewing the district's investment policy CDA (Legal and Local), investment transaction report, depository securities report, Pecos High School minimum attendance for class credit report, tax report, cafeteria report, commodities report, approval of payment of current bills and financial report, date for the next regular meeting, calendar of events and request for items for next agenda. The meeting will also include a closed session to discuss personnel or hear complaints against personnel. Appraisal board meets tomorrowPECOS, April 7, 1998 - The Board of Directors of the Reeves County Appraisal District will meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, at 403 S. Cypress St. The board will consider or take action on expenses and balances for Jan., Feb. and March, Card, Graham & Co.'s 1997 audit, public officials liability insurance, progress report and federal surplus property program. The board will hold an executive session on personnel then return to open session to discuss designation of surplus and other business. Other agenda items include receipt of public comments, Chief Appraiser's response, and consideration and action for the next board meeting on July 8, 1998. No car, no suit, go to jailBY PEGGY McCRACKEN Staff Writer PECOS, April 7, 1998 - An El Paso man who had transportation problems and "no tuxedo" to wear to federal court Monday will be a guest of the Reeves County Jail until his appearance before Senior Judge Lucius Bunton Wednesday. Luis Exiquio Carrillo, 18, is charged with transporting illegal aliens. His attorney, Anthony Foster of Alpine, told Judge Bunton Monday that his client called to tell him he had no means of transportation and no tuxedo. Foster said he told Carrillo he could borrow a coat and tie to wear to court, but he failed to show up for docket call. Judge Bunton said he would take Carrillo's guilty plea Wednesday, but if he showed up before then, he should wait in jail. His co-defendant, Maria Guadalupe Rodriguez-de Cruz possibly failed to appear because she didn't receive notice of the court setting, Foster said. Judge Bunton said he would take her plea Wednesday, when he will be back for a hearing and three sentencings. Sentenced Monday were Serbando Galaz-Bustos, 12 months and one day; Antonio P. Murrillo, 37 months; and Melody Kathryn Leard, 12 months plus one day, all for possession with intent to distribute marijuana in October 1997. Judge Bunton found two other defendants guilty of possession with intent to distribute marijuana after denying their motions to suppress evidence. Rachel Benavides and Joselito Diaz, 32, of Hobbs, N.M. will be sentenced May 18. Jesus Machado-Griego, aka Jose Vega, pleaded guilty to making a false claim to U.S. citizenship. Jose Carmen Baylon-Espino, 35, of Mexico, admitted illegal entry after being deported. Others pleading guilty were: -Luis Rico-Urita, 27, of Chihuahua, Mex., importing 275.76 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 6; -German Booker, importing marijuana; -Denise Lujan-Sauceda, 19, of Odessa, possession of 83.70 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute on Dec. 23, 1997; -and Juan Manuel Gardea-Rubio, 32, of Delicias, Chih., Mex., importing marijuana on Feb. 10 (28.4 pounds). -Martin Gonzalez, 29, of Chihuahua, Mex., failed to appear on a charge of importing and possessing with intent to distribute 62.4 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 16, and Judge Bunton issued a warrant for his arrest. CRIME OF THE WEEKPECOS, April 7, 1998 - Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 in reward for information leading to the arrest and Grand Jury indictment of person(s) responsible for the incident described below. Anyone having any information on this crime or any other crime including narcotics can call "Crime Stoppers" at 445-9898 and you will remain anonymous. April 24, 1997, at approximately 10:22 a.m., the Pecos Police Department received a call from Pecos Autoplex, advising that sometime between April 22 and April 24 a person or persons had taken a white, 1992 Chevrolet pickup from the parking lot. The pickup was recovered in the 600 block alley between Palm and Oleander. Broken glass was found on the front bumper. It is believed that this vehicle was used in a burglary at Anthony's two nights prior and an attempted burglary of Ernie's Smoke shop that same night. POLICE REPORTPECOS, April 7, 1998 - EDITOR'S NOTE: Information contained in the Police Report is obtained from reports filed by the Pecos Police Department, Reeves County Sheriff's Office, or other officers of those agencies. The serving of warrants by an officer for outstanding fines of either traffic citations, animal control violations or other court costs are considered arrests and will be printed as such unless indicated that the fines were paid. In such instances we will indicate payment and release. *** Nelson Lee McGrew, 34, 811 E. 11th St., was arrested at 11:25 p.m. Mar. 23 at 9th and Cedar on an outstanding warrant. *** Jesus Manuel "Chapo" Martinez, 20, 915 S. Cherry St., was arrested at 5 p.m. Mar. 22 at 8th and Palm for assault under the family violence act and evading arrest. *** Abel Alvarez, 38, San Angelo, was arrested at 9:30 a.m. Mar. 23 on outstanding warrants from Ector County. *** A 1998, Toyota Tacoma pickup was damaged in Balmorhea sometime between 10:30 p.m. Mar. 28 and 8:30 a.m. Mar. 29. The right front fender was scratched with a sharp object, the plastic under the fender had been broken off and a tire was flattened. *** Sylvia Roman, Balmorhea, was arrested at 3:55 p.m. Mar. 29 for assault causing bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. *** Arturo Gallegos was arrested at 11:26 p.m. Mar 25 at 4th and Cedar for public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia. *** Manuel Edmundo Nunez, 31, 1102 Veterans, was arrested at 9:46 p.m. Mar. 28 for public intoxication. *** Elias Best, 42, 1102 Veterans, was arrested at 9:46 p.m. Mar. 28 for public intoxication. *** Antonio C. Salmon, 53, was arrested at 10:47 p.m. Mar. 28 in the 200 block of S. Locust for assault under the family violence act. *** Raul Garcia was arrested at 9:20 p.m. Mar. 29 during a traffic stop in the 200 block of W. 3rd for driving while intoxicated. *** Osvaldo Garcia was arrested at 3:59 p.m. mar. 31 in the 500 block of Mesquite for public intoxication. *** Oscar Dominguez was arrested at 12:19 p.m. Apr. 1 in the 200 block of N. Pecan on a warrant service. AREA NEWS ROUNDUPApril 7, 1998The Fort Stockton PioneerFORT STOCKTON, Thursday, April 2, 1998 -The trial prosecuting Greg and Karen Paulson, two Texas separatists associated with The Republic of Texas and Richard McLaren, began with jury selection taking place Monday, March 30, in Fort Stockton. The Paulsons are charged with burglary of a habitation, a felony. The indictment states they did intentionally and knowingly enter a habitation, without the effective consent of the residents Joe and M.A. Rowe, and committed the felony offense of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon on April 27, 1997. The Alpine AvalancheALPINE, April 2, 1998 -An Alpine coalition was formed Tuesday night to revitalize the fight against drugs in the community. To start off the program, law enforcement from the city and county, along with residents from Alpine and the surrounding community, joined in on a discussion that shocked members of the community. The Sanderson TimesSANDERSON, April 2, 1998 -Complications have arisen in the financing of the proposed sewage disposal system for Sanderson that are causing some concern to the members of the board of directors of the Terrell County Water Control and Improvement District #1. The Texas Water Development Board will not accept the engineering contract on the project as it is currently set. The McCamey NewsMcCAMEY, April 2, 1998 - U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will be at the Upton County Courthouse in the Commissioner's Court Room on Wednesday, April 8, at 3 p.m. for a town meeting. This is an opportunity for the residents of Upton County to speak out on issues that are important to them. The Monahans NewsMONAHANS, April 2, 1998 -The only health care firm that made a legitimate offer to lease and save Ward Memorial Hospital has withdrawn its offer, reports Ward County Judge Sam G. Massey. Massey said the confirmation of withdrawal by Community Health Care Systems Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn., came in a late Tuesday afternoon telephone call from Bob Hardison, a top executive of the for-profit health care agency. WEATHERHigh Monday, 78, low this morning, 46. Skies will be clearing across most of Texas today and forecasts promise pleasant weather across the entire state tonight and Wednesday. It will be fair tonight and mostly sunny across West Texas. Lows tonight will be in the 30s in the Panhandle and in the 40s and 50s elsewhere in West Texas, highs Wednesday will be in the 60s in the Panhandle and in the 70s and 80s elsewhere around the state. Strong thunderstorms roared across much of Oklahoma during the night, but th storms stayed north of the Red River. Only a few brief showers dampened scattered areas of North Texas Monday evening.
Pecos Enterprise
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