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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
January 20, 1999
Galindo offers county plan on Post Office
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
A meeting tonight will focus on ideas about where a new United States
Post Office should be located in Pecos, and the public is invited to come
out and share their views.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., at the Pecos Community Center,
510 S. Oak St., located next to the Pecos Police Department.
The U.S. Postal Service announced plans last week for expansion of the
Pecos Post Office, and are searching for a site or building to replace
the current 63-year-old structure.
The current Post Office, at 106 W. Fourth St., has limited parking outside
and is no longer adequate to serve the needs of postal customers in our
community, according to Pecos Postmaster Ramona Sterling.
"The Postal Service will seek to lease or purchase an existing building
or a suitable site to build a new Post Office for Pecos," she said.
Sterling added that the Postal Service wants input from the community
and will consider all recommendations and other comments received within
the next 45 days.
One of the proposals will come from Reeves County, which County Judge
Jimmy B. Galindo said would essentially benefit the community.
Galindo said under his proposal that the county would build the new
Post Office and look at the locating it on a site south of the Reeves County
Civic Center, across the street from Wal-Mart.
The positive aspects of the proposal would be that the county would
not have any land acquisition costs, the building would be along a major
thoroughfare, and in a section that is developing and gaining more businesses.
A new Town and Country convenience store is set to be built in the area
and the Post Office will be closer to Interstate 20, giving visitors an
opportunity to utilize the facility if the need arises, according to Galindo.
Galindo said that the county would look the current post office on
a cost-basis and would try to set up an inter-governmental agreement on
the purchase of the Postal Service's current facility.
"Instead of looking at this as for-profit it would be at a lower cost,
from that perspective," said Galindo, who added the proposal would ulitimately
benefit the whole community if it could be arranged.
The Post Office building was also formerly home to Pecos' Federal Court, and is a sister building to the Reeves County Courthouse across
the street, which was also built in 1935. The federal offices on the second
and third floors have been empty since the new courthouse on Cedar Street
was completed in 1995.
The county would look at uses for the old Post Office, and possibly
relocate some staff to that building, according to Galindo.
The building remains one of the largest in Pecos in terms of office
space, and extra parking would available in the rear area, where postal
vehicles currently are parked, once the new Post Office is built.
County officials have talked in the past about expansion of the Reeves
County Library, and community leaders have also been seeking a building
to house a proposed Pecos campus for Odessa College.
Working against the county's proposal is that the land offered is outside the area preferred
by the Postal Service. The area is bounded on the north by Third Street
and on the south by Walthall and 14th streets, while its east and west
boundaries are Cedar and Eddy streets. The county site would fall about
five blocks south of that area.
The site size needed is about 1.5 acres, and the facility should contain
at least 6,500 square feet of usable area.
Trio jailed after searches by S.W.A.T. team
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
Reeves County Sheriff's Department and Pecos Police Department S.W.A.T.
teams were busy again Tuesday and this morning, executing several narcotics
search warrants.
Three narcotics search warrants were executed by the team and as a result
three people were arrested and charges on two more are pending.
Police said the first search warrant was executed about 9:33 p.m., Tuesday,
at 1604 Johnson St. Investigator Ernest Lazcano said items seized from
the residence included 15 individual bags of marijuana ready for sale;
two marijuana cigarettes; one homemade marijuana pipe; U.S. currency and
drug paraphernalia.
Arrested at the house was Petere Moralez, 17, who was charged with possession
of marijuana over two ounces and under four ounces, a Class A misdemeanor.
"Charges are pending for another subject who was also in control of
the drugs, but who was not present during the narcotics search warrant,"
said Lazcano.
Moralez is currently in the Reeves County Jail awaiting arraignment.
The second search warrant was executed at about 12:26 a.m. today at
105 S. Plum St. Police said items seized from this residence included one
metal canister containing marijuana and paraphernalia; one canister containing
marijuana residue; one gas mask used to smoke marijuana; one 12-guage shotgun
and one 22 caliber pistol.
Arrested at this residence was Pam Dixon, 30, who was charged with possession
of marijuana under two ounces, a Class B misdemeanor. Charging are pending
on another subject who was also in control of the drugs, but who was not
present during the narcotics search warrant, according to Pecos Police
Investigator Paul Deishler.
She is currently at Reeves County Jail awaiting arraignment.
At about 1:27 a.m. today the third search warrant was executed, at 513
S. Walnut.
"There were no drugs found at this residence, but a Sony stereo with
the serial number removed (and) believed to be stolen was recovered," said
Deishler.
Arrested was Damian Orona, 20, who was charged with tampering with identification
numbers, a Class A misdemeanor.
Two minors at the resident were also given citations. One for possession
of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, and the other for curfew
violation because he arrived at his residence at about 2 a.m, also a Class
C misdemeanor.
Orona is currently in Reeves County Jail awaiting arraignment.
Smuggling suspect held after highway chase
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
U.S. Magistrate Stuart Platt on Tuesday ordered a suspected marijuana
smuggler held without bail for a hearing on Thursday.
Oscar Ortiz-Venegas was arrested Sunday night by Border Patrol agents
following a highway chase in Jeff Davis County. They found 14 bundles of
suspected marijuana weighing 352.98 pounds in the extended cab portion
of the pickup Ortiz was driving.
Agents first spotted the white Chevolet pickup and a tan/red pickup
crossing the Rio Grande at the Paso del Cubano crossing and turning onto
Chispa Road about 11 p.m. Sunday. The trucks then turned onto U.S. 90 toward
Valentine.
Jeff Davis County Sheriff's Deputy Tom Roberts was notified, and he
attempted to stop the Chevrolet near Valentine for an expired registration.
The truck stopped, then made a U-turn and headed north on U.S. 90.
During the pursuit, the truck forced Roberts off the road before Border
Patrol agents intercepted and stopped it, reported FBI special Agent Michael
J. LaPlante in an affidavit accompanying the complaint filed Tuesday with
Judge Platt.
Platt and District Judge Royal Furgeson accepted a number of guilty
pleas and sentenced five defendants Tuesday.
Sentenced were:
* Baltazar Pasqual-Juan, 46, of Monterey, Tenn., 18 months for transporting
an illegal alien;
* Adelita Valenzuela-Reyna, 40, of Big Spring, 30 months for possession
with intent to distribute marijuana;
* Bobby Joe Leos of Alpine, 12 months for importing cocaine;
* Julian Baeza-Islas, 42, of Aldama, Chih., Mex., 24 months for possession
with intent to distribute marijuana;
* Humberto Saenz-Torres, 27, of Cuauhtemoc, Mex., 18 months for possession
with intent to distribute marijuana.
Pleading guilty were:
Martha P. Esquivel-Garcia, possession with intent to distribute 512.66
pounds of mrijuana;
* Betty Jo Hernandez, 21, of Amarillo, transporting an illegal alien;
* Irene Anita Rodriguez, possessing marijuana with intent to distribute;
* Pedro Cisneros-Bouche, 44, and Rosalio Villa, 45, both of Juarez,
Mex., possession with intent to distribute cocaine;
* Martha Gutierrez-Quintana, 29, of Chihuahua, Mex., possession with
intent to distribute 354.06 pounds of marijuana.
School board candidates offered workshop class
Area school board candidates and interested citizens can learn more about
the demands and rewards of school board service at a candidate workshop,
Thursday, Feb. 25, 7-9 p.m. at the Region 18 Education Service Center,
2811 LaForce Blvd. at Midland International Airport.
The workshop will provide interested community members and individuals
thinking about running for the board with a better understanding of what
is involved in being elected and serving as a trustee. Experience school
board members will explain board members' key responsibilities and outline
the qualities necessary for effective service.
Topics to be covered include the school board's duties and responsibilities,
important ethical practices during board service, how board members are
accountable for the education of students, and keys to responsible campaigns.
Participants will also view "A Call to Service," a Texas Association of
School Boards' video highlighting many aspects of board service and featuring
several experienced school trustees.
The workshop is open to anyone. Admission is free. For more information,
call Lisa Carothers at TASB, 512-467-0222 or 1-800-580-8272, extension
6161.
WIPP foes seek to block `pre-permit' shipments
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The federal government shouldn't be allowed to
open its radioactive waste storage site in southeastern New Mexico without
a state permit — and if it does, the state should shut it down, opponents
argue.
The U.S. Department of Energy contends it can ship purely radioactive
waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant before it receives a state permit
to bury mixed waste — which contains hazardous chemicals as well as radioactive
elements.
WIPP opponents disagree.
"You put any waste into WIPP, and the permit is over," said Don Hancock
of the Southwest Research and Information Center.
His Albuquerque-based group and the Santa Fe-based Concerned Citizens
for Nuclear Safety filed comments on the state's draft permit Tuesday,
the last day for written comments to be filed.
The groups argue that any permit issued after waste has been shipped
to WIPP would be invalid because the presence of the waste would hamper
the state's ability to regulate it.
DOE spokeswoman Anne Elliott in Washington, D.C., said the department
doesn't agree.
"The shipment would have no impact on (WIPP) or the permit," she said.
The state has jurisdiction over mixed waste, but not over waste that
contains no hazardous chemicals.
The DOE wants to ship a limited number of drums of waste from Los Alamos
National Laboratory to the $2 billion repository near Carlsbad as soon
as a federal judge lifts an order that has prevented waste from going to
WIPP. The site is located 75 miles north of Pecos.
No court date has been set, but the DOE hopes to get the order lifted
next month.
The state Environmental Department plans to issue the mixed waste permit
between July and September.
Hancock said the final state permit should prohibit disposal in WIPP's
Panel 1, a complex of seven football-field size rooms excavated in a vast
salt bed 2,150 feet underground. Those rooms, excavated about a decade
ago, are unstable and unsafe, Hancock argues.
Once the DOE moves waste into Panel 1, the state permit no longer will
be able to prevent disposal there, he said.
Thus, any permit issued after waste is buried in WIPP would be invalid
and WIPP should be closed, Hancock said.
Kent Hunter, WIPP's assistant manager for operations, said Panel 1 is
safe.
"It's stable. We can continue to make it stable for the indefinite future,"
Hunter said.
If Panel 1 could not be used, it would take between 10 months and a
year to excavate a new complex of disposal rooms, he said.
Public hearings on the state permit are to begin Feb. 22 in Santa Fe.
Hearings are set to begin in Carlsbad March 8. Hearings are expected to
last several days each.
Obituaries
Christina Tarin
Services for Christina Tarin, 58, of Fort Stockton, are set for 2 p.m.
Thursday in Christ the King Catholic Church in Balmorhea. She died Monday,
Jan. 18, 1999, in Memorial Hospital, Midland.
Burial will be in Balmorhea Cemetery, directed by Martinez Funeral Home.
Rosary will be at 7 p.m. today in Christ the King Catholic Church.
Mrs. Tarin was born July 24, 1940, Balmorhea and was a cook for the
Fort Stockton ISD cafeteria. She was Catholic.
Survivors include her husband, Ramon Tarin of Fort Stockton; one daughter,
Joann Tarin of Fort Stockton; her mother, Tomasa Contreras of Saragosa;
two brothers, Carlos Contreras of Fort Stockton and Inez Contreras Jr.
of Monahans; three sisters, Olivia Perez, Natalia Ramirez and Elvira Ontiveros,
all of Saragosa; and four grandchildren.
Eulalia Ramos Vasquez
Eulalia Ramos Vasquez, 73, of San Antonio, died Monday, Jan. 18, 1999,
at Providence Health Center in Waco. Services will be at 12:30 p.m. Friday
in Good Shepard Catholic Church in Schertz. Burial will be in Fort Sam
Houston in Universal City.
Mrs. Vasquez was born Feb. 12, 1925, in Barstow and was a longtime
Monahans resident before moving to San Antonio.
Survivors include five sons, Erasmo Vasquez, Alfredo Vasquez, Ernesto
Vasquez and Raul Vasquez, all of San Antonio, and Robert Vasquez of Odessa;
two daughters, Luisa Pena of Monahans and Elfida Terrazas of San Antonio;
27 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.
Weather
High Tuesday 82; low last night 44. High wind watch for Thursday, Tonight,
partly cloudy. Low in the mid to upper 40s. West wind 10-20 mph. Thursday,
partly cloudy and very windy.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, 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
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.
Copyright 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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