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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Thursday, March 18, 1999
Herrera's bond set at $25,000
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, March 18, 1999 - Bail for bail bondsman Joey Herrera Jr. was
set at $25,000 this morning following a hearing in Reeves County Court-at-law
on a writ for habeas corpus.
Herrera was arrested Monday on a governor's warrant on a six-count indictment
in Nashville, Tenn., alleging he fabricated evidence, laundered money and
conspired to do both.
Pecos attorney Scott Johnson claims in the writ that the governor's
warrant is defective in that it alleges Herrera committed a crime in Tennessee,
then fled to Texas.
District Attorney Randy Reynolds agreed that was not the case; that
Herrera was accused of committing acts in Texas that resulted in crimes
in Tennessee.
Reynolds obtained a corrected warrant from Texas Gov. George Bush this
morning via FAX, which he presented to the court.
He agreed that Herrera would be eligible for bail if Judge Green denied
the writ and Johnson appealed.
Judge Green denied the writ, and Johnson immediately filed notice of
appeal.
Reynolds said he and defense attorneys had agreed to $25,000 bail with
the terms that Herrera remain in Reeves County at all times except when
traveling to Ector County to see Brian Chavez, who is assisting Johnson
as his attorney; that Herrera appear at a hearing in Nashville, Tenn. at
9 a.m. March 29, accompanied by a licensed attorney from Texas or a law
enforcement officer; and that this attorney should notify Reynolds when
they leave.
Chavez said that Herrera has business in other counties, and he may
ask that the bond terms be modified later as needed. He said that he would
work that out with the D.A.
Reeves County Sheriff Arnulfo Gomez said that A Liberty Bonding posted
bail.
The indictment, returned Feb. 19 by the Davidson County, Tenn. grand
jury, alleges that Herrera presented false and fictitious birth certificates
for three defendants bailed out by Paul's Bonding Company; that he laundered
money by sending Paul's Bonding Company more money than was needed for
the bail bond; and that he conspired with co-defendants to do fabricate
evidence and to launder money.
John Zimmerman, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case,
was in Pecos Monday for the arrest and search of Herrera's office and home.
He and other officers then went to El Paso, where Herrera has an office
and apartment.
Balmorhea has lone contested election
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, March 18, 1999 - Balmorhea voters will be the only ones in the
area going to the polls on May 1, unless write-in candidates materialize
in the other local city, school and hospital board elections.
City council seats are up for election in Toyah, Balmorhea, Barstow
and Pecos, along with seats on the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah and Balmorhea school
boards, and for two precincts on the Reeves County Hospital District board.
But when the filing deadline closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the only race
that was uncontested was for the Balmorhea City Council.
Incumbents Sammy Baeza, Richard Hoefs and Olga Lopez all filed for new
two-year terms, and will be challenged by Anna Contreras, Rosa Dominguez,
Diana Roman and Ike Ward. The seven candidates were scheduled to draw for
positions on the ballot at 1 p.m. today.
Several other area races will only have as many candidates as there
are seats up for election, while only one individual has filed for city
council in Toyah, Diane Tollett, where three seats were scheduled to be
chosen on May 1.
Also short of candidates is the Balmorhea School Board, where only two
of the three incumbents, Braulia Natividad and Javier Lozano, filed for
new three-year terms.
If no candidates file for write in positions in those races, the remaining
members can appoint people to fill the vacancies after the May 1 elections.
In the Town of Pecos City Council election, incumbents Gerald Tellez
and Johnny Terrazas have filed re-election, and they will be joined by
Larry Levario, maintenance director for the Texas Department of Transportation,
who will seek the seat currently held by Randy Graham, who opted not to
run again.
"I've been on the council for seven years and I think there needs to
be new blood in there," said Graham. "It's been a great experience and
I think I've given back to Pecos a little of what it's given me."
All three incumbents in the Barstow City Council filed to retain their
positions. Olga Abila, Lucio Florez and Dora Villanueva will run unopposed
for new two-year terms.
In the Reeves County Hospital District election, only one of the two
incumbents, Marcella Lovett, is seeking a new two-year term.
Lovett, who represents Precinct 2 on the board, will be joined by Holly
Key, who filed Wednesday to run for the seat from Precinct 4 currently
held by board president, Jeannette Alligood.
"I believe in term limits and have imposed one on myself," said Alligood,
who has served on the board for six years, and as president for the past
two.
The hospital is in good shape right now and a new perspective is needed
for it to keep viable, according to Alligood.
"It's a good time to leave, in the next election the majority of the
board will be up for re-election and this will give Holly Key a chance
to learn more about the board," said Alligood. "A new outlook and ideas,
fresh perspective, is what is needed at this time."
In the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD election, neither incumbent Daisy Roquemore
or Alberto Alvarez filed for new three-year terms. Former board member
Billie Sadler and Frank Apolinar, Jr. are the only candidates in the race.
Alvarez said that he has served on the school board for 10 years and
that it's time for others to serve. "We need new blood with individuals
that have new ideas and a different perspective," said Alvarez.
"I also have other priorities at this time, both personally and professionally,"
he added. "With someone new on the board, more can be accomplished."
Individuals who would like to run as write-in candidates can pick up
forms for the city election from Geneva Martinez, city secretary, at City
Hall; from secretary Jo Allgood at the school administration office; and
from administrative assistant Nadine Smith at Reeves County Hospital.
Prospective write-in candidates have until 5 p.m., Monday to decide.
If no write-in candidates file, a state law passed in 1993 allows the local
governing bodies to cancel the elections in order to save money.
Study questions Andrews waste dump
ODESSA (AP) — University of Texas researchers say western Andrews
County, part of which sits atop the the Ogallala Aquifer, may be unsuitable
for radioactive waste disposal.
The report, released late last month and made public this week by UT's
Bureau of Economic Geology, said the aquifer is located beneath land owned
by Envirocare of Texas and may also lie beneath Waste Control Specialists'
hazardous and low-level radioactive storage facility, the Odessa American
reported.
Both companies have proposed their facilities be used to dispose of
low-level radioactive waste from Texas, Maine and Vermont after a state-owned
site seven miles southeast of Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County was rejected
last year.
UT scientist Alan Dutton questions the methodology behind a recent report
by Texas Tech University scientists, paid for by Pasadena-based Waste Control
Specialists.
WCS site is located on the Texas-New Mexico state line, just north of
State Highway 176 in Andrews County, while Envirocare's site is six miles
to the southeast in Andrews County.
None of the area around either sites is currently in use for farming,
but land is in cultivation along State Highway 176 about five miles east
of the Envirocare site and 10 miles east of WCS's land.
The Tech research concludes that the Ogallala aquifer was not beneath
the WCS site and is often cited by proponents of the nuclear waste facility
who say Andrews County is a safe site.
"(Tech researchers) state that Ogallala is absent at the WCS site,"
Dutton's report said. "No scientific description or documentation were
included with the text . . . to substantiate these interpretations."
Tech researchers could not be reached for comment by The Associated
Press.
The UT report also states that "the description of core materials" at
the WCS site resemble those found at Envirocare's 888 acres, located eight
miles southeast of Envirocare's lands.
Wet core samples taken from the Envirocare of Texas site reflect the
presence of groundwater, the report said.
Core samples taken from the WCS site for the company's 1993 application
for radioactive waste disposal also were wet.
Both companies have touted the presence of the Red Bed Ridge, a thick
bank of "impermeable" clay, on their lands as suitable for disposal of
radioactive materials.
Dutton's report said the ridge itself may not be as old as previously
reported, and that the thickness of the High Plains aquifer increases along
the ridge by 1.25 feet per mile to the southeast.
Groundwater "recharge" may be occurring at either location, the report
says.
"A saturated section can develop and build up across the `Red Bed Ridge'
in a given area that is presently unsaturated," the report reads.
The report said the "conditions" at the WCS location "might at a later
time come to resemble" those at Envirocare of Texas lands.
Texas law forbids either site from being considered for radioactive
waste disposal unless it can be proved that the Ogallala aquifer is not
"recharged from or discharged to" either site area, a 1987 letter by Rick
Jacobi, former manager for the Authority states.
The report said further study of the WCS site and lands in the south-central
part of the county, near the border with Ector and Winkler counties, is
needed.
The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Disposal Authority, the state agency
charged with operating a low-level radioactive waste dump in Texas for
wastes from Texas, Maine and Vermont, requested the report from the Bureau
of Economic Geology in January.
Race for Odessa council also short of candidates
ODESSA (AP) — Elections in this West Texas city have been canceled after
only one candidate stepped forward.
Spring elections, scheduled for May 1, for City Council were called
off, according to City Attorney Joel Roberts.
"I've never seen this happen — at least not in the last 20 years," Roberts
told the Odessa American.
By Wednesday's deadline to file for City Council, only Larry Melton,
an accountant and former banker, had filed to run for the District 3 seat.
However, no one came to the City Secretary's office by Wednesday's 5
p.m. deadline to file for District 4 or District 5.
The council, by state law, must appoint someone in Districts 4 and 5
this year. The two positions will be up for election again in the year
2000.
In May, Melton will automatically take the District 3 seat. But District
4 incumbent Terry Witherspoon, who battled three rivals for his position
in 1997, decided not to run again.
Berta Calzada, District 5 appointee, said she failed to gather the required
50 signatures by the deadline.
Gary Johnson, chairman of the Ector County Republican Party, said the
lack of candidates was the result of many factors.
"And we were under the impression that Ms. Calzada had filed and we
had not heard from Terry Witherspoon," he said. "A lot of people assumed
that other people were going to run and they were doing a job ..."
Roman Brothers to perform at Tejano Awards this week
PECOS, March 18, 1999 - Andy Roman and the Roman Brothers, a multi-talented
group of Pecos, have again been invited to perform at this year's Tejano
Music Awards Fanfare in San Antonio, scheduled for Friday, March 19.
The 18th annual awards will be the third straight show in which the
Roman Brothers will perform. The six musicians, four of whom are brothers,
have been around for 19 years playing their energetic music from Texas
to California to Kansas.
The group spent five years on the Las Vegas Casino circuit opening for
such groups as Kenny G, The Cover Girls, Elvis The Impersonator and Zapp.
Closer to home, the Romans also performs jazz in and around the Odessa-Midland
area.
In 1996 The Roman Brothers teamed up with Barb Wire Production and released
a Tejano CD entitled, "Andy Roman and the Roman Brothers."
The groups' first release helped them gain a nomination as Up-and-Coming
Band at the 7th Annual El Paso Hispanic Music Awards. The band won second
at the Tejano Music Awards Talent Search in San Antonio and were invited
to participate at the 16th Annual Fanfare of the TTMA and 16th Annual Tejano
Awards in 1997.
The band is made up of Andy Roman on saxophones; Tito Roman on drums;
Arti Roman, on lead vocals and keyboards; Joel Roman, bass; Ernest Marquez,
guitar and Paul Briones, keyboards.
Ryan featured at Sandhills benefit dinner
MONAHANS, March 18, 1999 - Future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan will
be the featured guest on March 27 for events surrounding the dedication
of the Dunigan Visitors Center at Monahans Sandhills State Park.
Dedication ceremonies are set for 4 p.m., and Ryan will appear at a
dinner benefiting the endowment fund for the park at 7 p.m. at the Ward
County Coliseum.
An autograph session with Ryan will be held prior to the dinner for
the first 200 people who purchase benefit dinner tickets. The session with
Ryan, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame last month, will run
from 6 to 6:50 p.m., with tickets for the dinner $35 apiece.
Tickets are available through the Monahans Chamber of Commerce, 401
S. Dwight Ave., Monahans, Tx., 79756. For further information, call the
chamber at 915-943-2187.
Texas Lotto
AUSTIN (AP) — No ticket correctly matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday
night for the twice-weekly Lotto Texas game, state lottery officials said.
The jackpot was worth $10 million. The numbers drawn Wednesday night from
a field of 50 were: 5, 28, 38, 43, 44, and 45. Saturday night's drawing
will be worth an estimated $14 million.
***
AUSTIN (AP) — The winning Pick 3 numbers drawn Wednesday by the Texas
Lottery, in order: 3-5-8 (three, five, eight)
Weather
PECOS, March 18, 1999 - High Wednesday 79; low last night 42. Rainfall
.11 inch. March rainfall .11 inch. Year-to-date .16 inch. Tonight, cloudy
and windy with a chance of rain, rain may mix with snow late. Low in the
mid 30s. North wind 15-25 mph. Chance of precipitation 40 percent. Friday,
mostly cloudy with a chance of morning showers. High around 50. North wind
10-20 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.
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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