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Top StoriesApril 24, 1998Interstate accident causes power outagePECOS, April 24, 1998 - Pecos businesses south of Interstate 20 near Country Club Drive lost power for more than nine hours yesterday, and traffic along the interstate was detoured twice after a oilfield truck traveling on I-20 caught and pulled down power lines over the highway. Tommy Terry, planner-scheduler for Texas-New Mexico Power Co., said three utility poles were also pulled down in the accident, which was reported to the Department of Public Safety at 4:18 p.m. The oilfield truck was being hauled on top of a flatbed truck that was westbound on the interstate, when it caught the power lines that span the highway on the east side of Country Club Drive. "A car or truck hit the guide line, and that lowered the power lines," Terry said. The accident shut the interstate from 4:30 to 5 p.m., while TNP workers removed the downed lines from the roadway. I-20 was closed again from 11:15 p.m. to 12:54 a.m. while local TNP crews replaced the poles and restrung the lines over the highway. "The highway patrol, highway department, police department and sheriff's department all cooperated in rerouting traffic through town while we pulled the lines across the interstate," Terry said. Vehicles on I-20 were detoured along U.S. 285, Business I-20 and Highway 17 to get around the repair site, while some cars and trucks familiar to the area used West County Road and Stafford Boulevard as a high-speed detour. Employees at Town and Country on Palmer Road, which lost power from about 4:35 until 1 a.m., were able to lock up shop and watch the repairs being made along the interstate last night. "We stayed open until it got too dark," said store manager Manuela Abila, "and just stayed inside until the power got back up. We were watching all the guys putting up those poles." No citations were issued to the truck driver, and Terry said damage to guide lines on one or two poles along Country Club Drive created the conditions for the accident. PHA, Community Council disputes continueBy ROSIE FLORES Staff Writer PECOS, April 24, 1998 - Ownership of the property located at 1001 E. 10th Street was the topic of conversation at the regular Pecos Housing Authority Board meeting last night. A resolution was adopted at the meeting to hire an abstract company to do a title search for the property in which the Pecos Day Care Center is located. A problem began when Community Council of Reeves County attempted to sublease the property to Greater Opportunities. Greater Opportunities has the use of classroom space at the day care for the Pecos Head Start program. PHA Board President Frank Perea stated, "We don't want to hurt the day care and anything we can do to help it, we as a board will do our best. "We certainly aren't going to close it down, either." Perea stated that PHA board wants to do what is best for the community and keeping the day care open is something they want to help with. Community Council Executive Director Caprice Cox wrote to Betty Carter, of Greater Opportunities, that the organization would be assessed a "rent" fee of $1,500 per month for the use of the facility. In addition, in her correspondence she mentioned that the organization owed, $11,200 for the period of Jan. 1, 1998, through April 1, 1998. This amount included fees assessed for the use of the Multi-Purpose Center in Saragosa which also houses Head Start classes. "I don't see how she can sublease buildings that do not belong to the community council," said Perea. Perea stated that his concern was who had the title for the Pecos Day Care Center building. PHA Director Nellie Gomez told the board that in a city council meeting, in 1973, the city had deeded the property to the Pecos Housing Authority for the purpose of constructing a day care center. "However, I think this was never recorded at the courthouse," said Gomez. Gomez also told the group that she has the original plans of the construction of the day care center, which was built by HUD. "We have that much information stating that we are the owners of the property, that we have the deed," said Gomez. "Our next step, if a deed cannot be found or if it was never recorded, is to hire a lawyer and have the property deeded to us," said Perea. "It was built by HUD, so it should belong to PHA," he said. Board members also read a letter addressed to them, from Community Council Board President Bill Wendt. The lengthy letter ended with a series of questions addressed to the board. "I don't want to get into petty bickering, we just want to find out about the property and get that straightened out," said Perea. "All this letter is, is a personal opinion," he said. "They need to understand that all the decisions made are made by the board, not just Frank himself," said board member Yvonne Martin. "Frank is not the only one on this board," said board member Debbie Flores. "We make all the decisions together and to attack Frank personally is wrong," she said. In his correspondence Wendt stated, "In our searching for the lease on the day care building, we found that there never has been a lease. At the same time the building was built for community council as long as we have a day care and then the building and property would revert to the Dean Family. The property is deeded to the city of Pecos and cannot be deeded to anyone else as the original donation of the property states that a day care center would be constructed on the property. Any agreement other than with the city, who holds the deed, and stating that the property reverts back to the Dean Family would be the cause for the property to immediately revert back to the Dean Family." Wendt further stated, "It is with deep regret that the Pecos Housing Authority is not trying to help the very people who they are to be serving. We are attempting to operate programs for the needy of our area. First you kick us out of the offices we had at 902 E. 10th using false information and pretenses as we had the same or greater need for the offices. We were restructuring and needed the space and use of the building. This caused us additional expense and disruption in services to the needy. Then you try to extract "monies" that could be used for the needy living in the housing authority. To my knowledge this matter is taken care of. Now you are attempting to kick us out of the day care which is for the needy of our community, not the rich. There is a day care that is not for the poor and needy that charges considerable more than we do for our day care services. The poor and needy can not afford to send their children to such a day care. You will be forcing the poor to be poorer." "We are not trying to kick out anybody," said Perea. "We never said anything about kicking them out, we just want to establish who has ownership of the property," said Gomez. "We will do everything we can to help the day care," she said. "As for those questions at the end of his letter, it's just pettiness, that does not need to be addressed," said Perea. "Our main concern is finding the deed and taking care of that," he said. Greater Opportunities is a non-profit organization and other agencies should not try to make money by assessing them "rent" or whatever, according to Perea. Man arrested after shot fired at Red Bluff LakeBy CARA ALLIGOOD Staff Writer RED BLUFF LAKE, April 24, 1998 - An elderly man was arrested at Red Bluff Lake last night for alegedly trying to shoot a neighbor, according to Reeves County Sheriff Arnulfo Gomez. Gomez said that the man, Howard Snodgrass, 76, became angry, possibly because a neighbor was playing loud music, and alegedly went after him with a gun. However, Gomez said, "There wasn't a shooting. This man shot in the air and at somebody, but he missed. We took the SWAT team out and got him out of bed and brought him in" to the jail, Gomez said. According to the sheriff, Pecos police officers, Reeves County Sheriff's deputies and the SWAT team all arrived at Red Bluff Lake after the attempted shooting was reported. He said that once law enforcement officers arrived, several people from the area told the authorities they had seen Snodgrass go outside and shoot into the air for no apparent reason. Snodgrass, who was staying in a trailer in Orla at Red Bluff Lake but claiming to live in Kermit, was arrested at 11:23 p.m. Thursday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is currently in Reeves County Jail, and an appointment has been made for an MHMR (Mental Health and Mental Retardation) evaluation on him, according to the sheriff. Gomez said that the sheriff's department investigation is still underway. WIC worksProgram shines after Cornell University Study By GREG HARMAN Staff Writer PECOS, April 24, 1998 - Maria Alvarado has a lot of family in Pecos. With a shy, nervous laugh she conveyed that the actual number is unknown. But the most important family now is her own. This pleasant, bubbly woman of 22 wants to stress what is apparent in the healthy, glowing faces of her two daughters, what two of her older sisters knew before her, and what a recent Cornell University study recently found. Alvarado wants Pecos women to know that WIC works. Alvarado, married with two daughters, Karina, two, and Alina, four months, is the third woman in her family to benefit from the federally-funded program known as Women, Infants and Children (WIC). She says she learned a lot from the many WIC classes she has attended. Alvarado learned what foods are really good for her -and for her two children. Though she admits she still ate "a lot of junk food" during her first pregnancy, without WIC, she said, junk food is probably all she would have eaten. Alvarado said the program taught her about fruits and vegetables and to study product labels closely. "Some juices are only sugar and water," she said. Before she found out she was pregnant the first time those sugary foods were her favorite. "I ate high-sugar cereals and drinks like Tang, but here they give you foods high in vitamins." The vouchers distributed to needy mothers by WIC are very different from welfare checks. WIC requires the user to purchase very specific (and healthy) foods, and continues to provide for the infants after they are born. Women who qualify by income or demonstatable nutritional need in this program, administered by the Texas Department of Health, learn what foods are healthy to eat, why breastfeeding is better for the baby and how to raise well-nourished kids. Now she has plans on joining WIC in educating others of the necessity of healthy diets and the benefits of breastfeeding. "Breastfed children don't get sick as often. The milk is easier to digest, and they gain more weight," she said. The program endorses breastfeeding for additional reasons. According to WIC officials, breastfeeding also can offer a "special closeness" with your child, enhance post-pregnancy weight loss, is easier than bottle-feeding and more economical. A recent study by Cornell University supports what Alvarado and two of her seven sisters already understand about the program. The study has proven that low-income preschoolers whose families get federal food aid have much healthier diets than low-income children without assistance, especially benefiting from programs like WIC that help dictate the diets of the recipients. Doctor Jean-Pierre Habicht, Donald Rose of the USDA's Economic Research Service and Barbara Devaney of Mathmatica Policy Research, studied 499 low-income preschoolers, that were either enrolled in WIC or a food-stamp program or both. "The iron and zinc benefits from these programs are particularly important because iron deficiency is the single most prevalent nutritional deficiency in the U.S., with 20 percent of low-income preschoolers under two years of age suffering from anemia," said Habicht. "Zinc is also important because other studies suggest that zinc deficiencies are related to growth retardation." The Cornell study showed that iron and zinc levels were far below the Recommended Daily Allowance for low-income preschoolers not receiving aid, but WIC kids were found to be well above the zinc and iron RDAs. The study analyzed the amounts of 15 nutrients consumed over three days. The intake of 10 of the nutrients (vitamins E, A, B6, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, magnesium, iron and zinc) was significantly improved for WIC recipients, and only five (vitamin A, iron, zinc, thiamine and niacin) were improved in those in the Food Stamp Program. The final report states that "The beneficial effects, especially of the WIC program, on iron and zinc intakes are not only significant in public health terms but are also much greater than what would have been achieved with increases in cash income. It is also important to note that these benefits come without the potentially deleterious effects of increase in the intake of fat, saturated fat and cholesterol." Of her own children enrolled in the program, Alvarado said, "Neither has gotten sick much. They've had the flu, but that's it." The study was funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture, whose food assistance programs cost nearly $38 billion in 1995. PHS advances to UIL Academic RegionalsBy ROSIE FLORES Staff Writer PECOS, April 24, 1998 - Several Pecos High School students will be putting their academic skills to the test as they compete at a higher level in UIL Academic Competition. The students will be competing in Regional competition scheduled for today at Angelo State University in San Angelo. "We'll be up against some really tough competition, but we'll give it a good shot," said teacher Barbara Scown. The UIL Academic team attended the district meet at Howard College in Big Springs and several students did well enough to compete in regionals, according to Scown. The science team consisting of Jonathan Fuentes, Jeff Lam and Efrain Rodriguez will be attending the competition along with the accounting team, with Erik Barreno, Erin Paz, Dalila Valenzuela and Belinda Heard. "Some of these students will be competing with their team and also individually," said Scown. Others making the trek to San Angelo include Erik Barreno, accounting; Joshua Casillas, speech; Jonathan Fuentes, current events and science; Tye Graham, current events alternate; Brandi Harrison, journalism; Marisa Jasso, journalism; Jeff Lam, science; Eric Machuca, speech alternate; Erin Paz, accounting and journalism; Efrain Rodriguez, science and computer applications; and Dalila Valenzuela and Belinda Heard, accounting. The students have really been studying, the accounting and science team have been working really hard, according to Scown. "Actually, each and every student has gone out of their way in preparing for this competition," she said. Scown stated that she really admires these students because of their hard work, especially during this time of year when finals are coming up and end of school year activities. "We just hope we don't lose by three points," said student Erin Paz. Paz is a member of the accounting team and she was referring to the fact that last year, Pecos' accounting team lost by only three points and came in second at regionals. "We've been working really hard and plan to give it our all," said Jonathan Fuentes, who is a member of the science team. The students had a practice meet with other schools from the area this past week. "We practice at least twice a week," said Paz. "I come in every day to practice," said Marisa Jasso. "We just hope all our hard work pays off," said Brandi Harrison. Teacher sponsors include Charlie Wein, accounting; Priss McNutt, current events; Ben Price, speech; Peggy Jones, journalism; Jerry Workman is head of the science department with John Barfield helping out with chemistry; Barbara Scown, biology; and Jackeline Mandujan, computer applications. About 50 schools will be competing in the spring meet, in Region I, Conference 4-A. County commissioners meet MondayPECOS, April 24, 1998 - Reeves County Commissioners will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 27, on the third floor of the Reeves County Courthouse to discuss the formation of an underground water district for Reeves, Pecos, Ward and Loving counties; a traffic speed sign for Brogado area; award bid for a computer network for Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC); and declare unusable equipment and tools at RCDC as salvage and surplus. Also on the agenda is the donation by Jimmy Dutchover of trees for Reeves County Golf Course; Big Bend Coca-Cola's soda machine agreement and Reeves County; courthouse telephone service; expenses for JP, Precinct 2; elections hardware and maintenance agreement; selection of 1998 salary grievance committee members and various departmental reports. Banes General Contractor's claim for additional time for adverse weather conditions; RCDC salary changes and a recreation and civil engineering coordination architecht agreement; budget amendments and line-item transfers; payment of bills and notice of over-axle over-gross weight permit will also be discussed by the commissioners. ObituaryApril 24, 1998Bealah CopelandBealah Copeland, 90, of Pecos, died Wednesday, April 22, 1998, at Reeves County Hospital. Services are scheduled for 11 a.m., Saturday, April 25, at Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints with John Swanson and Robert Copeland, Jr. officiating. Burial will be Monday, at 2 p.m., at Coleman Cemetery. Copeland was born Nov. 9, 1907, in Gateville, Tx. She was a homemaker and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Survivors include: one son, Robert D. Copeland, Jr. of Pawnee, Okla.; two daughters, Helen L. Stephens of Pecos and Nancy Freeman of Ringold, La.; one brother, Robert E. Beeman of Visalia, Calif.; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. WEATHERPECOS, April 24, 1998 - High Thursday, 94, low this morning, 57. A clear morning should give way to another sunny, warm day across Texas. A wind advisory is in effect for West Texas today. Winds this morning reached 20 mph, with higher gusts over the Conhco Valley. Temperatures at 5 a.m. were in the 50s and 60s. Mostly sunny skies are in store for this afternoon. Highs should reach the 90s, with lows in the 50s ad 60s.
Pecos Enterprise
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