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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Friday, September 24, 1999
Lack of entries threatens Fair's cookoff
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Sept. 24, 1999 -- With only a week to go and fewer than 10 applications
returned, plans for the 27 th Annual World Championship Barbecue Cookoff
are up in the air.
"We don't know if this event is going to take place this year," said
Pecos Chamber of Commerce Director Tom Rivera.
The cookoff has annually been part of the Reeves County Fall Fair, but
Rivera said the chamber has set a deadline of 5 p.m. next Wednesday for
all those who would like to participate in the event.
The event has been held in early October in the Reeves County Sheriff's
Posse arena, "But we need a minimum of 25 entries and at this time we only
have nine," said Rivera.
"We need at least the 25 to break even," said Rivera.
In all the years the event has taken place, there have never been fewer
than 25 entries. Last year there were 40 entries in the popular yearly
event. As many as 106 teams have been entered in the past, with a major
drop-off occurring in the early 1990s, when the cookoff was moved to late
October for two years and changed from the posse arena to the Buck Jackson
Rodeo Arena.
Entries have averaged in the mid-30s and lower 40s since the event was
returned to early October, and the posse arena is currently set up to accommodate
88 entries, according to Rivera.
Rivera said that about $1,200 in prize money is awarded and money is
also spent on trophies, electricity, port-a-potties and other expenditures.
"We just can't afford to lose that kind of money," he said.
Rivera is asking the community to participate and help out in this yearly
event, to keep the tradition of the cook-off alive.
Entry fee for the event is $75, and trophies and prize money are awarded
to the winners in each division.
"Some people do wait until the last minute," said office assistant Rachel
Orona. "We're hoping that's the case now," she said.
Trophies are awarded in the Amateur, Club and Pro Divisions, along with
prize money.
The cookoff is scheduled for Friday night, Oct. 1, and Saturday, Oct.
2, and will be followed by the Reeves County Fall Fair Concert Saturday
night at the Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena. Headlining the event will be Pete
Astudillo. Other groups scheduled to perform include Los Jinetes Del Bravo,
Alianza Nortena, Expresiones and La Distancia. Tickets are $10.
Other events that are part of the Fall Fair, including the livestock
show and other judging events inside the Reeves County Civic Center, will
go on as scheduled.
Walnut Street sites again hit by arsonist
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Sept. 24, 1999 -- First it was on Sunday. Then Saturday. Then
Friday. Each week arsonists set a fire in the 1100 block of Walnut Street
a little earlier. This week it was on Thursday, said Jack Brookshire, fire
marshal.
"This is the 10th time in three weeks," Brookshire said of
Thursday's fire in the back yard of an occupied house. Debris in the back
yard had been set on fire.
"There's not much left to burn," he said.
The first fire was in a vacant house at 1124 Walnut, next door. First
a bedroom, then the whole house was pretty well gutted. So the fire bugs
moved into the neighbor's yard, which Brookshire described as a dump gound.
"I will try to get the code enforcement officer to go by there and do
something about it," he said.
A six-foot metal fence surrounds the back yard and the junk, he said.
"It keeps starting up on fire. If it were kids, I don't think it would
keep starting in the same place," he said. "They set whatever they find
that will burn. One time they poured gasoline on an old recliner."
The burned-out house is on Brookshire's list of condemned buildings
to be demolished.
"We are waiting on a Type IV landfill," he said. "We don't have any
place to dispose of the debris. Last year it cost $30,000 to dispose of
the buildings we tore down."
The Pecos City Council has begun the process of getting a new trench
permitted and dug for a landfill that will contain only construction debris,
tree limbs and similar dry waste.
Balmorhea area faces WTU surcharge
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Sept. 24, 1999 -- Balmorhea residents may see an increase in
electricity costs this winter if West Texas Utilities Co. gains approval
for a surcharge to recover past fuel costs, plus an increase in future
fuel costs to be passed through to the customer.
WTU claims it has under-collected fuel costs in 52 Texas counties by
$6.4 million over the past year. And an increase of 21.2 percent in fuel
costs projected for this winter would add another $15.9 million annually.
The Public Utility Commission has yet to rule on the two requests, which
will affect 183,000 customers from Presidio on the Rio Grande to Childress
in north Texas.
Utility companies are allowed to pass on the full cost of fuel to customers.
Investor-owned utilities must estimate what the annual cost will be and
add that amount to customers' monthly bills. If they undercharge, they
may collect a surcharge the next year. If they overcharge, they must refund
the excess.
WTU produces 68 percent of its electricity using natural gas or purchases
from other companies affected by the price of natural gas, which has escalated
recently.
If the PUC approves the surcharge, the cost for 1,000 kilowatt-hours
of electricity would cost $1.84 per month for six months. The fuel factor
change would increase the average monthly bill by another $3.25, beginning
in December.
Goat auction commissioners agenda
PECOS, Sept. 24, 1999 -- The ongoing saga of the Pecos River Livestock
goat farm may get another step closer to conclusion on Monday, after Reeves
County Commissioners discuss an auction of the farm south of Pecos, during
their regularly scheduled meeting.
The goat farm defaulted on its $131,000 loan from the Reeves County
Revolving Loan Fund four years ago, and dissolution of the property has
been tied up in court since then. In conjunction with the goat farm auction,
the group will meet behind closed doors to discuss pending litigation.
Along with the Pecos River Livestock situation, commissioners also are
scheduled to discuss resolution and cooperative agreement between Reeves
County and the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force during the meeting, which will
begin at 9:30 a.m. on the third floor of the Reeves County Courthouse.
Commissioners will also discuss Reeves County Sheriff's Office fees,
a contract between Jim Claire and the Commissioners Court and a copier
replacement at the Reeves County Annex under state contract pricing with
Xerox Corporation.
Also on the agenda for discussion will be Trinity Engineering Testing
Payment, 1998 Dayroom Support Buildings at the Reeves County Detention
Center, wages for the Nov. 2 general election and deputation of Ruben Dominguez.
Regular items for discussion are:
* Reports from various departments.
* Budget amendments and line item transfers.
* Personnel and Salary changes.
* Minutes from previous minutes.
* Semi-monthly bills.
* Spread on minutes: Dianne O. Florez certificate of education and Notice
of General Election for Nov. 2.
Fuentes gets win in Power Points
PECOS, Sept. 24, 1999 -- Orlando Fuentes of 1004 S. Elm St. won a tie-breaker
to claim first place locally in the second week of the Pecos Enterprise
Power Points contest.
Fuentes beat out Imelda Guerrero for the first prize, after both scored
107 points out of a possible 136 this past week. He won tickets to the
Oct. 2 Reeves County Fall Fair Concert, courtesy of the Pecos Chamber of
Commerce. Fuentes picked his ticket at Big A Auto Parts, one of the contest's
sponsors.
Overall, the statewide winner was Martha Leitch of El Paso, who won
$1,000 for scoring 124 points last week.
Lotto
AUSTIN (AP) — Results of the Cash 5 drawing Thursday night: Winning numbers
drawn: 19-28-34-35-38. Number matching five of five: 1. Prize per winner:
$97,232. Winning ticket sold in: Alice. Matching four of five: 252. Prize:
$579.
***
AUSTIN (AP) — The winning Pick 3 numbers drawn Thursday by the Texas
Lottery, in order: 8-5-9 (eight, five, nine)
Obituaries
Maria Sauceda
Maria Sauceda, 54, died Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1999 at Medical Center Hospital
in Odessa.
Mass is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Santa Rosa Catholic Church with
burial in Greenwood Cemetery.
She was born July 2, 1945, in San Antonio Del Bravo, Chih., Mexico,
was a housewife, a life-long Pecos resident and a Catholic.
Survivors include her husband, Tomas Carmona of Pecos; four sons, Jesus
Armando S. Martinez, Jesus Manuel S. Martinez and Rosalio S. Carmona of
Pecos, Roberto Martin S. Martinez of Odessa; two daughters, Denette S.
Carmona Aguilera and Diana S. Carmona of Pecos; four brothers, Manuel,
Trinidad and Jose Angel Sauceda of Pecos, Eladio Sauceda of Ojinaga, Mexico;
three sisters, Vicenta S. Carrasco of Ojinaga, Mexico, Rosa S. Madrid of
Odessa and Elia S. Lujan of Pecos and six grandchildren.
Martinez Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Victor Ybarra Saldana
Victor Ybarra Saldana, 62, died Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Time of
services is pending.
He is the brother of Juana Jaquez and Conrad Saldana of Pecos.
Weather
PECOS, Sept. 24, 1999 -- High Thursday 96; low last night 67. Tonight,
partly cloudy. Low in the upper 50s. Southwest wind 5-10 mph. Saturday,
partly cloudy. High near 90. West to northwest wind 5-15 mph. Extended
forecast, Saturday night, partly cloudy. Low in the mid to upper 50s. Sunday
through Tuesday, mostly sunny days and fair nights through the period.
Highs in the mid 80s to near 90.
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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