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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

TOP STORIES

May 1, 1998

Winners announced in Student Art Festival


By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, May 1, 1998 - The West of the Pecos Museum courtyard was
overflowing with parents, students and local artists last night for the
11th Annual Student Art Festival.

Texas Pride is the theme for this year's Student Art Festival and
students were encouraged to interpret their meaning in the artwork from
the Alamo, bluebonnet or anything they are especially proud of from
Texas.

The reception and awards banquet proved to be a success with a large
number of parents and students out for the occasion.

Museum curator Dorinda Millan welcomed everyone and encouraged those
attending to stop in and look at the student's artwork which is on
display until May 8.

"The artwork is limited only by the students imagination," said Millan.
"We are very proud of all the entries submitted and want to congratulate
them."

Laura Teal, president of Friends of the Museum, told those assembled to
participate in all museum events. "We have a wonderful place here and we
encourage everyone to come by and visit," she said.

Guest speaker for the event was Joyce Morton, who recently received the
Hidden Hero Award at the Annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet. Morton is
also responsible for the artwork painted on some Pecos buildings along
Oak and Third streets.

Morton spoke to the group about different painting techniques and
encouraged everyone to take an interest in painting and their community.

"Best of Show" awards went to two local students. Valerie Millan won in
the elementary division and Daamaris Perez won in the secondary division.

Other winners included first place winners, Valerie Millan, first and
second grade division; Alfonso Munoz, third and fourth grade division;
Manuel Florez, fifth and sixth grade division; Daamaris Perez, seventh
grade division and Thomas Foster, high school special education division.

Second place winners were Matthew Florez, first and second grade
division; Felicia Licon, third and fourth grade division; Salvador
Garcia, fifth and sixth grade division; Mario Rangel, seventh grade
division and Margie Rayos, high school special education division.

Third place winners were, Jeremy Florez, first and second grade
division; Jamie Gallego, third and fourth place division; Carissa
Sparks, fifth and sixth grade division; Will Armstrong, seventh grade
division and Ramon Rayos, high school special education division.

Honorable mention winners were Joseph Ontiveros, Valerie Millan, Crystal
Hernandez, in the first and second grade division; Vance Mondragon,
Michael Lee, Christa Escovedo, third and fourth grade division; Rene
Quinonez, Jo Gina Gallego, Nikki Reyna, fifth and sixth grade division;
Austin Alvarez and Nabor Franco, seventh grade division and Javier
Ortega, high school special education division.

Don't forget to vote Saturday


By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, May 1, 1998 - Everyone is reminded to cast their ballots in the
city, school and hospital elections scheduled for Saturday, May 2.

Voters in Pecos will vote at the Community Center, 508 S. Oak, next door
to the Pecos Police Department.

Voters in Saragosa will vote at the Multi-Purpose Center; Balmorhea will
cast their votes at the Senior Citizens Center; Orla, at the Red Bluff
Office; Toyah individuals will vote at the Toyah City Hall and Barstow
residents will go to the Community Center to cast their votes.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Town of Pecos City Mayor Dot Stafford has filed for re-election in the
city elections and has a challenger, Robert Hernandez.

Incumbents Ricky Herrera and Danny Rodriguez are both seeking another
term on the city council. Herrera and Rodriguez are seeking at-large
positions and are unopposed.

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

In that race, five candidates are seeking a place, including Frank
Perea, Louis Matta, Earl Bates, Brent Shaw and Frank Rodriguez.

The Reeves County Hospital District Board seats are 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.

Reeves County Hospital District Board Vice President Greg Luna is
unopposed for the at-large position on the board. Precinct 3 incumbent
Jesus Prieto faces challenger Mike Stallard. Chel Flores is unopposed in
Precinct 1.

In Barstow, city council incumbents, Robert Ortega and Benny Avila have
filed, while Salvador Villalobos has filed for mayor.

In Balmorhea, school positions up are those currently held by Paul Ward
and Armando Mondragon. Both Ward and Mondragon have filed along with
Virgil Ray Gage.

In the Balmorhea city elections, positions available are those of mayor,
a position held by Ismael Rodriguez and two council positions, held by
Rosendo Carrasco and Rosendo Galindo.

In that race, incumbent Ismael Rodriguez is unopposed in his bid for
re-election. Two positions on that council are available with three
candidates including Rosendo Galindo, Tami Marmillion and Danny Reynolds.

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.

The mayor's position is being sought by Paul Budlong and Jack Osborn.

Four people are vying for the two positions available. Those include
Howard Dennett, Jana McHorse, Bart F. Sanchez and Clara McConnell.

Cinco de Mayo observed locally


PECOS, May 1, 1998 - Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church will sponsor a
Cinco de Mayo fiesta from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, at the
Barstow Community Center. Music will be provided by DJ Ricky Barreno and
Mariachi Perla. All are invited to attend and witness Folklorico
dancing, Tai Kwon Do, a talent show and a skit performed by the Barstow
Elementary School Dancers. Menudo, hamburgers, gorditas, desserts and
drinks will be served.

The Santa Rosa Food Bank and United States Postal Service will host a
ceremony at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, on the second floor of the U.S.
Post Office in Pecos to celebrate the release of a Cinco de Mayo
commemorative stamp.

Two injured in one-car accident


By CARA ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
PECOS, May 1, 1998 - Two juveniles were taken to the hospital and one
adult was arrested last night as a result of a one vehicle accident near
Lamar Elementary on the north side of town.

Gary Wade Herrera, 22, 2212 Country Club Drive, was the driver of a
1994, black Ford flareside truck that crashed into a Texas -New Mexico
Power Co. utility pole in the 500 block of North Oak Street at 9:26 p.m.
Thursday, Apr. 30. Damage to the utility pole was estimated to be over
$500.

Herrera's two juvenile passengers were transported to Reeves County
Hospital with possible injuries, according to the police department's
accident report, and Herrera was arrested on a charge of deadly conduct.
The juveniles were both treated and released, according to a hospital
spokesman.

Factors which contributed to the accident, according to the report, were
that the driver failed to control his speed and had been drinking.

The truck was towed by G&G Wrecker Service due to damage.

Boll weevil battle leaves few options for farmers


By GREG HARMAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, May 1, 1998 - Cotton growers in New Mexico plagued with boll
weevil infestation are waiting to see what measures their southernly
neighbors take this growing season.

Texan growers with a similar, though more severe, weevil assault on
their hands are anxiously watching and waiting to adopt a similar plan
as New Mexican's.

The advice of speakers from the United States Department of Agriculture,
Texas A&M Agricultural Extension Service and Texas Boll Weevil
Eradication Foundation to local growers is the same for each: don't just
spray, eradicate.

A boll weevil symposium was held at 1:30 p.m. yesterday in the Reddy
Room of Texas-New Mexico Power Company's Stafford Street regional
office. Local concerned growers filed in and out of the meeting room,
utilizing a few hours off from cotton planting to gather knowledge on
the voracious pests.

Charts citing the rise of Boll Weevils in the Trans-Pecos/El Paso area
and New Mexico were projected onto the screen through the first part of
the meeting. Encouraging news came when Dr. Osama El-Lissy of the Boll
Weevil Eradication Foundation shared the results of past eradication
programs in Arizona and Georgia. Each example showed the numbers of
weevils trapped went from infestation levels down to zero within just a
few years.

"The eradication program has three phases. The first year is a diapause
application; years two, three and four are season-long applications; and
the fifth year and on is maintenance -the `post-eradication' phase,"
said El-Lissy.

Under the eradication program, El-Lissy said, growers start spraying at
the beginning of diapause to reduce the number of pests entering the
over-winter habitat, in turn reducing the number that reemerge in the
spring.

The season-long applications, he said, involve field mapping, weevil
trapping and control measures. Benefiting from a Global Positioning
System, 21 orbiting satellites that can pin-point cotton fields from
above the atmosphere, the eradication program is able to monitor field
events for ultimate efficiency.

Trapping, an effective strategy for monitoring pest movement, also
serves to eliminate weevils.

"We have an on-going debate in Arizona," said El-Lissy, "about what
killed the last boll weevil. Was it the Malathion or the trap itself?"

The final measure in the eradication program, control, involves the
careful monitoring of crops and precise insecticide treatments.

A legal problem held up the proper process for treatment in the state's
first eradication zones, the result being two years of diapause
treatment in a row. With diapause alone the boll weevil population was
reduced by 90 percent between the springs of 1996 and 1997.

One grower asked if it was possible to control weevil population with
diapause treatment alone.

"The problem with diapause treatment only," said El-Lissey, "is that
each year you end up spraying the same amount year after year after
year." This, he said, wound up costing growers more per acre than the
diapause program, which eliminated the weevils allowing for greater crop
production.

Reporting the latest news on New Mexican growers, Jane Pierce, A&M
extension agent from Artesia, N.M., said that 93 percent of growers
there have voted for eradication.

There are still some "legal hang-ups" that may delay the implementation
of eradication as policy, she said. "Texas has an advantage because the
law has already been challenged and straightened out."

Mexia Valley growers reported few numbers trapped in 1992. Those few
instances skyrocketed to 174,000 weevils trapped in Mexia Valley and
Eddy County in 1997. "Areas around urban centers will be the biggest
problem," she said. Urban areas offer the pests more options for
spending a safe, warm winter, she said, with numerous structures such as
home, garages and gardens. "The attitude in and around Lea County," said
Pierce, "is they are waiting for Texas to do something. They want to try
and tie in with Texas."

Rex Friesen brought the local picture into sharper focus by running
through the trap numbers and presenting the Balmorhea, Saragosa,
Verhalen areas as the "hot" spots of higher infestation.

In Reeves County, 119 Boll weevils were trapped in 1996. That number
jumped to 927 last year. Specifically, Saragosa numbers went from 6 to
298, and Verhalen shot from 1.5 to 268 in the same period.

"Everyone is aware of the low cotton price," said Friesen, "It is hard
to find anyone willing to participate in a voluntary diapause program."

Saying that this will be the last year that USDA-APHIS funds the
trapping program in the county.

"If we drop the trapping program we'll just be shooting in the dark," he
said, "and we won't know what we are up against."

Growers are at an unattractive cross-roads, Friesen implied. "We've got
to do something, but it looks like a really bad year to do anything."

OBITURARY

Robert Hill


Robert "Bob" Hill, 87, died Thursday, April 30, 1998, at Crane County
Care Center in Crane.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at Evergreen
Cemetery.

Hill was owner of Hill's Thriftway in Pecos for many years.

Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

WEATHER


PECOS, May 1, 1998 - High Thursday, 89, low this morning, 52. Ample
sunshine and a dramatic warmup of the atmosphere's lower layers brought
temperatures in the 80s back into Texas after a couple of cool days in
midweek. Now that April is gone and May is here, Txans may want to think
about dragging out their sprinklers and not putting away their jackets.
Rainfall is below normal, and so is the temperature, the National
Weather Service says. Skies were clear across West Texas this morning,
with overnight temperatures mostly in the 50s. Winds were variable, but
under 15 mph. Mostly sunny days and fair nights are expected across West
Texas through Saturday. Afternoon and evening showers or thunderstorms
are possible over the mountains and north. Highs today and Saturday
should be mostly in the 70s and 80s, with readings in the 90s along the
Rio Grande.



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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@pecos.net

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Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise