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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Friday, April 30, 1999
Council agrees to join new drug task force
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- Pecos City Council this morning voted to join
the Trans-Pecos Drug Task Force for the 1999-2000 grant year, accepting
responsibility for $32,845 in matching funds.
Before the vote, City Attorney Scott Johnson quipped, "With the job
(narcotics investigation Paul) Deishler is doing, I don't know that we
need a task force."
Deishler and Reeves County Sheriff's Deputy Ernest Lazcano are involved
in an investigation that so far has yielded $1 million in marijuana, five
weapons and numerous arrest warrants.
Johnson said he has talked with Sheriff Arnulfo Gomez about the task
force and the reason why Ward County and the city of Monahans opted out
for the new grant year.
"It appeared there may be some personnel problems," he said. "I recommend
we execute it if you want to stay in it."
He said he would like to omit a provision in the resolution that makes
the city council liable for the full grant amount of $1 million if something
goes wrong.
District Attorney Randy Reynolds said the wording is standard with the
state, and they will not accept any entity that deletes that provision.
The resolution makes each participating entity jointly and severally
liable, he said.
"That's the form Austin puts out to all task forces...If someone steals
the money, they may look to participating bodies."
But he said the chances are slim that could happen, since the grant
money is paid out only as it is used.
"It is never drawn all at once," he said. "Our first draw was $77,000
for salaries and equipment. Always at the end we do an accounting check
and let them know what it was spent for."
Reeves County Auditor Lynn Owens is the financial officer, and Bruce
Salcido "says where it is to be spent," he said. "All the checks and balances
are here, but they want protection if there is a thief."
Councilman Randy Graham said the city has liability insurance to cover
a loss if it should happen.
Councilman Johnny Terrazas asked what kind of reports the council is
entitled to.
Johnson said that all the records except for sensitive information used
in undercover work are available.
Reynolds said that Owens could provide a monthly financial statement
to the city.
Police Chief Clay McKinney said that the task force budget includes
$27,000 for housing seized vehicles, and that would be paid to the city
of Pecos for storage in the city yard.
"How will we get rid of all the drugs we are acquiring?" asked Councilman
Gerald Tellez.
McKinney said they are forfeited by a judge and incinerated by the Department
of Public Safety in Midland.
"We could have a courthouse property sale," Terrazas quipped.
McKinney said that defendants arrested in connection with the 720 pounds
of marijuana confiscated this week by local officers will be prosecuted
in federal court, and the marijuana will be held until the case is complete.
Johnson said that federal court cases are moving slowly right now because
of the recent surgery of Senior Judge Lucius Bunton, who is recovering
at home.
"Usually the feds just keep representative samples and destroy the rest
pretty quick," he said.
PHA seeks answer to gang problem
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- Gang-related activities, and families living
at the Pecos Housing Authority apartments who have children involved in
gangs, were the topics at Thursday's meeting of the PHA's board of directors.
"They (police) have provided me with a list of alleged gang members
with about 35 members on the list," said PHA Director Nellie Gomez, who
added that out of the list there are about five families residing at PHA
apartments who have children "supposedly" involved with gangs.
"It's a very delicate matter and something we want to take care of without
hurting innocent people," said Gomez.
Gomez has reported several incidents of vandalism at buildings owned
by PHA, including graffiti and one incident of physical abuse.
"One of our tenants was badly beaten by members of the gang that were
attending a party given by another tenant," said Gomez.
The tenant hosting the party was allegedly providing alcohol to minors,
some of whom reportedly were members of the BPG (Brown Pride Gang), a group
known for vandalism, graffiti and other offenses.
"The gang members went next door to the other tenants apartment and
beat him up severely," Gomez said.
As a result the tenant hosting the party was asked to leave, according
to Gomez.
She told the board that she has talked to all five families of the alleged
gang members residing at the apartments. "The parents were very cooperative,
however, the youngsters denied being in the gang or having anything to
do with it," she said.
"Of course they're going to deny it, but if they've been identified
by the police, it means they have something to do with it," said board
president Frank Perea.
The board discussed possibly evicting these families.
"I'd hate to lose my home because of one of my kids," said board member
Ken Winkles.
"I don't know what to do, because I don't want to evict the whole family,
because of one troublemaker," said Gomez.
She said one of the families with an alleged gang member has four children
currently enrolled in school, while another has five children in school.
"It just isn't fair to the rest of the family, to lose their home because
he wants to be involved in a gang," said Gomez. "It hurts me a lot to even
think about asking them to leave. But if the problems persist I won't have
a choice, I still have my other tenants to think about."
"I see no difference in them and the lady we asked to leave because
her daughter couldn't keep out of trouble," said Winkles.
Perea suggested that Gomez serve each family with a copy of the first
strike rule, from PHA and hand deliver it personally to each of these families.
"I also thought maybe if we showed up with a police officer and the
juvenile detention officer, this would make more of an impact," said Gomez.
"It's tough, but it has to be done," said board member Ray Golden.
"I know, but the graffiti problem is costing us a lot of money, we just
don't have those kind of funds to be fixing things when they destroy them,"
said Gomez.
She said she would make copies of the `Strike One' rule and hand deliver
it to each of the tenants with an alleged `troublemaker.'
"I'll also stress the consequences to each of them," said Gomez.
"I just hope that they realize what they'll lose if they can't reach
their children," said Perea.
In other business, board members approved merit employee wage increases
for all PHA employees. "With this new CIAP, we'll have a lot more work
to do, and the staff is already doing an excellent job," said Gomez.
"I think each of them deserve a raise and we have the funds for that,"
she said.
Gomez updated the board on the CIAP 96 grant and told them all the money
from that grant had been spent and it had been closed out.
"Now we'll start working on CIAP 98 and we have preliminary plans that
were sent to us from Ed Vaughn, the architect," said Gomez.
The plans include a community building and new offices that will be
located in the building where the old Airbase Apartments had been located.
"Our offices will be in that other building that has been vacant," said
Gomez. Only two of the old World War II-era buildings were kept standing
when the apartments were torn down nine years ago.
Gomez also told the group that the architect would be in Pecos Tuesday
and would be bringing a landscaper with him.
"We'll be working more on our landscaping, something we've already started
doing, to make the apartments more pleasant looking on the outside," she
said.
Monthly income, accounts payable and occupancy reports were approved
for both PHA and the Farm Labor Housing.
In the FLH portion of the meeting Gomez reported that 21 apartments
are currently rented out to non-eligibles. "We have 25 that we can rent
out to non-eligibles," said Gomez. "But we have about 20 applications from
migrants who will be coming in to town soon."
The units are rented out to migrant families, but local residents can
also live in the 25 allocated apartments designated for what Gomez terms
as "non-eligibles."
Saturday elections only affect Balmorhea
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- Most of the state will be going to the polls
on Saturday to elect city, school and hospital district candidates.
But in Reeves County and the Pecos area, only voters in the Balmorhea
area will be casting ballots, after all the other elections were canceled
to due to a lack of contested races.
That's not a problem in Balmorhea, where 15 candidates are seeking six
seats, three each on the Balmorhea City Council and Balmorhea School Board.
Balmorhea's school board election will be held from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
on Saturday, and voters can cast their ballots at the Balmorhea Fire Hall.
The three three-year terms that are up for election have attracted eight
candidates.
Those running for school board include Javier Lozano, Jesus Matta, Braulia
Natividad, Norman Roman, Diana Keeper, Dora Machuca, Jimmy Barragan and
Luis Contreras.
Natividad and Lozano are incumbents and were early filers for new terms,
while Matta, Roman, Kepper, Machuca and Barragan filed in the final days
before the March 17 deadline.
The race for Balmorhea City Council is almost as crowded. Incumbents
Sammy Baeza, Richard Hoefs and Olga Lopez are challenged by Anna Contreras,
Rosa Dominguez, Diana Roman and Ike Ward.
Voting in the city race will also be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Balmorhea
Fire Hall.
Races that are uncontested include those for the city council in Pecos,
Barstow and Toyah, along with the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah School Board and
the Reeves County Hospital District.
Under state law, those elections have already been canceled in order
to save money, and those candidates in the uncontested races will be officially
sworn in to their new terms at the next board meetings.
In the Town of Pecos City Council election, incumbents Gerald Tellez
and Johnny Terrazas will be joined by Larry Levario, maintenance director
for the Texas Department of Transportation, who will replace retiring councilman
by Randy Graham.
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, while only one individual has filed for city council
in Toyah, Diane Tollett, where three seats were scheduled to be chosen
on May 1.
In the Reeves County Hospital District election, only one of the two
incumbents, Precinct 2 representative Marcella Lovett, is seeking a new
two-year term. She'll be joined by Holly Key, who filed for the seat in
Precinct 4 currently held by board president, Jeannette Alligood.
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.
Storm brings wind, hail to Orla, Mentone areas
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- Wind. Wind. More wind. Some rain. Some hail.
That's the report from a storm cell that sat over northern Reeves County
for about an hour late Thursday.
The wall cloud was spotted west of Orla about 8:30 p.m., said George
Mathews of the National Weather Service in Midland. A few minutes later,
the cloud was reported to be rotating with a rapid motion, but no report
of a tornado had come in by mid-morning today, he said.
Dime size hail began to fall on Orla just before 9 p.m., and the cloud
moved toward Mentone, where nickel size hail was reported, Mathews said.
Loving County Commissioner Harlan Hopper said this morning that no hail
fell in Mentone, but that the east and south winds blew all night.
Orla Postmaster Susan Gahr said that the hail left no visible damage.
One ranch west of Orla reported .9 inch of rain, she said.
Gahr said that she saw "a lot of lightning" at the Lindley ranch headquarters
below Red Bluff Dam, where she lives. "We had a lot of tornadic clouds,
but nothing came down that we saw."
While that cloud never came close to Pecos, gusty winds continued throughout
the night. A cool breeze blew this morning under cloudy skies. Mercury
dipped to 68 degrees at dawn, after a high of 90 was recorded Thursday.
Clouds mostly stayed to the east of Pecos until Thursday evening, with
temperatures 20 degrees lower in the Midland-Odessa area, but clouds moved
into the area after dark and a light rain was falling in Pecos late this
morning.
Mistrial declared in trial of trucker
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- One lone juror held out for a guilty verdict
Thursday, causing a mistrial in the case of a Monahans truck driver charged
with criminally negligent homicide.
District Attorney Randy Reynolds said this morning that he has not yet
decided whether to re-try Daniel T. Arrieta, 61. Roddy Harrison represents
Arrieta.
Arrieta is charged in the death of Lisa Dawn Morales, 38, a Houston
programmer, who died when her 1994 Toyota plowed into the side of Arrieta's
truck on U.S. Highway 285 north of Pecos on Jan. 4, 1998.
Arrieta was westbound on County Road 402 in a 1994 Mack truck towing
a water tanker when he failed to yield right-of-way at a stop intersection,
said DPS Cpl. Emmitt Moore.
Heavy fog reduced visibility to about one-eighth to one-half mile, witnesses
said. One witness traveling behind the white van that Morales was driving
south on 285 said they were traveling at a safe speed.
The van struck the right rear of the water tanker, investigators said.
Jurors deliberated from mid-afternoon until 8:25 p.m., when District
Judge Bob Parks accepted jury foreman Christie Cook's note that they were
hopelessly deadlocked.
Earlier in the day, Cook's note said, "We have two very stubborn hard
headed people that will not change their minds. What happens now?
Judge Parks told the jury to continue deliberations. At 7:55 p.m., Cook
wrote: "There's more discussion being done. We are set in our opinions.
"Tempers are starting to show. There will not be a unanimous decision
from this jury. I know, because I am the lone person who believes he is
guilty."
LaPlante finds Pecos not mean to ex-Green
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- Monahans native Lisa LaPlante was a little
nervous about working in Pecos as assistant district attorney because of
old rivalries between the Eagles and the Big Mean Green.
"Everyone has been very good to me," she said. "I am really enjoying
the work, and the people I work with."
LaPlante is assigned to the D.A. by the Trans-Pecos Drug Task Force,
and she will assist prosecutors with drug cases in other participating
counties, said District Attorney Randy Reynolds.
"She is appointed special prosecutor by the district attorney in those
counties," he said.
While her work will be primarily with task force cases, LaPlante has
worked alongside Reynolds in all prosecutions in Reeves, Ward and Loving
counties since taking the job in February.
This week she helped prosecute a murder and a manslaughter case in 143rd
District Court.
"It is a learning experience," LaPlante said. "Every day I learn something
new."
From Monahans High School, LaPlante went to the University of Texas
at Austin, then to law school at South Texas College of Law in Houston
and Santa Clara (Calif.) University.
She worked as a tax attorney in California and was a summer intern with
the FBI in Washington. Her husband, Michael, is an FBI agent.
Reynolds said that he became acquainted with LaPlante last fall when
she moved back to this area and was practicing as a defense attorney.
"She impressed me with her integrity, credibility, ethics and drive,"
he aid. And she's a worker!"
Two-month long `Walk' events begin Monday
PECOS, April 30, 1999 -- Put on your walking shoes. It's time for the `Walk
Across Texas' and more teams are needed to help out.
A Walk Across Texas sendoff will be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday at the
Reeves County Auxiliary Building, 700 W. Daggett St. Refreshments will
be served.
Walking, biking, running events are scheduled to start on Monday, while
the finish date is July 3. The starting point of the state-wide event is
El Paso and the ending point targeted in Paris, northeast of Dallas.
`Walk Across Texas' is a program that persuades and motivates people
of all ages to make that most important change...to get started. It is
a program that is simple, inexpensive, and safe. All you need is a team
of eight people and desire to get moving.
Teams do not really walk or ride together, although they may if they
want to; teams simply pool their mileage each week to work towards the
chosen destination on a map posted in a convenient place for people to
check.
For more information contact the Reeves County Extension office at 447-9041.
Lotto
AUSTIN (AP) — Results of the Cash 5 drawing Thursday night: Winning numbers
drawn: 04-05-06-25-33. Number matching five of five: none. Matching four
of five: 236. Prize: $928.
***
AUSTIN (AP) — The winning Pick 3 numbers drawn Thursday by the Texas
Lottery, in order: 8-2-4 (eight, two, four)
Obituary
Ruthe Sherrill
Ruthe S. Sherrill, 72, of Pecos, died Thursday, April 29, 1999, at her
residence.
Services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 1, at the First Presbyterian
Church with Dr. Jim Miles officiating. Burial will be in Mt. Evergreen
Cemetery.
She was born March 3, 1927, in Archer City, Tx., was a longtime Pecos
resident, a former office manager, a member of the Reeves County Hospital
Auxiliary and a member of the Mt. Evergreen Cemetery Board of Directors.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Pecos.
Survivors include two daughters, Kim and Kerry Stubblefield of Wink
and one son, Clayton "Clay" Stubblefield of Dennison, Tx.
Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Weather
High Thursday 90; low last night 68. Tonight, cloudy. a 50 percent chance
of thunderstorms. low 55 60. southeast wind 10-20 mph. Saturday, mostly
cloudy. a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. High mid 70s. southeast wind
15-25 mph.
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
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Copyright 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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