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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Farm land, equipment auctions on rise
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Aug. 18, 1999 -- Ted Godfrey is holding an auction Aug. 27 to
sell tractors, equipment, irrigation motors and pipe, and fertilizer trailers
with tanks.
Caison Auction Service will conduct the one-day sale, beginning at 10
a.m., two miles north on FM 2119 (Duval Road).
Foreclosure auctions on the front steps of the Reeves County courthouse
offer farmland, ranchland and numerous residences for sale Sept. 7 to the
highest bidder with cash in hand.
Included are several farm tracts owned by Joe Lee McMahon farms and
the former Banky Stocks ranch in Reeves, Jeff Davis and Culberson counties,
now owned by the John and Doris Moore Family Partnership, Ltd.
In the Godfrey auction, an International Harvester and two John Deere
tractors are for sale, along with planters, land plane, sprayer, cultivators,
breaking plows, disc, Bush Hog tandem, ditcher, shredders and ditch filler.
Irrigation equipment includes motors, pipe, pumps and gear heads.
Cotton strippers, module builder and a cotton pickup are listed under
harvest equipment.
Two fertilizer trailers, one fertilizer tank, one chemical tank and
pump, a utility trailer, shop equipment and various tools complete the
sale inventory.
Cash, cashiers check or checks with accompanying bank letter of credit
will be required for all sales.
Marfa checkpoints report big seizures
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
MARFA, Aug. 18, 1999 -- Drugs and undocumented aliens are pouring over
the Mexico border into Texas, the U.S. Border patrol reports this week.
Agents for the Marfa Sector seized over $5 million worth of narcotics
last week, including 5,662 pounds of marijuana and 17.76 pounds of cocaine.
So far this month, the sector has apprehended 600 undocumented aliens
as the result of checkpoint operations, linewatch and traffic stops. This
year, 13,257 aliens have been apprehended, as compared to 12,196 the same
time period last year, Chief Border Patrol Agent Simon Garza Jr. said.
The largest narcotics seizure occured Aug. 11 when agents of the Sierra
Blanca station found 4,400 pounds of marijuana hidden among wooden pallets
in the rear of a tractor-trailer rig.
Later that day, agents found another 350 pounds of marijuana in a different
rig.
On Aug. 3, agents of the Alpine station seized 467 pounds of marijuana
from a hidden compartment of a Dodge pickup.
In all of August last year, the sector seized less than $300,000 worth
of narcotics, said Garza.
"Last fiscal year (Oct. 1, 1997 to Sept. 30, 1998) we seized 47,000
pounds of marijuana that would have wound up in our schools," Garza said.
"So far this year we have seized over 53,000 pounds. With a month and a
half to go, we should seize close to 60,000 pounds for the year."
CCRC unable to get quorum at Pyote
Community Council board members had to cancel their regular meeting scheduled
for Tuesday evening due to a lack of a quorom.
The group will meet on Aug. 31 and discuss several items that were on
the agenda.
A WTU contract will be considered and acted on at the re-scheduled meeting
which will be held at the Pyote Community Center in Pyote. Other items
include an EMP contract, Texas-New Mexico Power Weatherization Program
conference and filling vacancies on the board.
City endures 10th straight 100-plus day
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Aug. 18, 1999 -- August started off hot and has pretty well stayed
that way, with at least 12 days of high temperatures over 100 degrees.
The lowest high temperature this month was 91 on Aug. 2, and the high
was 106 on Aug. 10, as reported by the Texas A&M Research Station six
miles west on Interstate 20.
Tuesday's high of 103 was the 10th straight day of 100-plus temperatures.
Last year, August was comparatively cool, with a 79, 88 and 89 for highs
and only nine days of 100, 101 or 102 degrees. Rains early and late in
the month accompanied the low temperatures, and 2.40 inches was recorded
for the month.
Rains have come close to Pecos this month, but only a few drops have
fallen in town.
Average rainfall for August as reported by the National Weather Service
is 1.23 inches, with a high of 4.37 inches reported in 1987. Average maximum
temperature is 98, with a high of 113 reported in 1972.
Odessa lawyer to be new ed board leader
DALLAS (AP) — A West Texas lawyer and Gov. George W. Bush's appointee on
the state board that regulates the teaching profession is the next commissioner
of education, according to a published report.
Associates of the governor told The Dallas Morning News that Bush was
expected today to name James E. Nelson of Odessa to the post. Nelson will
replace Mike Moses.
Moses announced last month that he was resigning from the job he had
held for more than four years. He will take a $190,000 deputy chancellor's
post at the Texas Tech University System in Lubbock after Sept. 3.
Nelson's appointment would come as a surprise to many, according to
the newspaper's editions today, because most candidates interviewed for
commissioner were school superintendents.
All but three of the 11 candidates who interviewed or applied for the
job were current or former superintendents.
Nelson, who serves as chairman of the State Board for Educator Certification,
was appointed to the position by Bush in March 1996. He earlier was president
of the Texas Association of School Boards and served on the Ector County
School Board in Odessa from 1984 to 1995.
Also, he was president of the school board for two terms.
A telephone number for Nelson in Odessa was not listed and he could
not be reached today by The Associated Press for comment.
Bush's choice of a successor to Moses, for which Senate confirmation
is required, was expected to attract attention in light of the Republican
governor's presidential run.
Speculation had surfaced that Bush's leading choice for the job would
be Deputy Education Commissioner Felipe Alanis, one of two deputies under
Moses, because of his close working relationship with the outgoing commissioner.
Nelson would now serve the remaining 3 1/2 years of Moses' current term.
But if Bush is successful in his current White House bid, Lt. Gov. Rick
Perry would become governor and may then seek his own appointee for the
post.
Moses' move from public into higher education means a $33,987 raise
and a return to the city where he served as a public school superintendent
before becoming commissioner.
Lotto
AUSTIN (AP) — Results of the Cash 5 drawing Tuesday night:
Winning numbers drawn: 3-9-18-21-39. Number matching five of five: 2.
Prize per winner: $39,799. Winning tickets sold in: Amarillo, Oenaville.
Matching four of five: 240. Prize: $498.
***
AUSTIN (AP) — The winning Pick 3 numbers drawn Tuesday by the Texas
Lottery, in order: 2-6-4 (two, six, four)
Weather
High Tuesday 103. Low this morning 68. Forecast for tonight: Fair. Low
in the lower 70s. Southeast wind 5-10 mph. Thursday, mostly sunny. High
in the upper 90s. Southeast wind 5-15 mph. Extended forecast, Thursday
night, fair. Low in the lower 70s. Friday through Sunday, mostly sunny
days and fair nights through the period. Highs from the mid 90s to near
100. Lows in the lower 70s.
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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