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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, June 18, 2010
Golden Girl, Cantaloupe Pageant to kick of Rodeo Week on Friday
Six Golden Girl nominees and 16 Little Miss Cantaloupe hopefuls will compete for their titles on Friday night, at the Golden Girl/Little Miss Cantaloupe Pageant at the Pecos High School Auditorium.
The pageant will be start at 7 p.m., Friday, and is the first event of “Rodeo Week”, with the 2010 West of the Pecos Rodeo set to begin next Wednesday at the Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena
Theme this year for the Golden Girl/Little Miss Cantaloupe Pageant is “The 70’s.” Tickets are on sale at the Pecos Chamber of Commerce office, located at 111 S. Cedar or by calling 445-2406.
Golden Girl nominees this year include Makayla Hernandez, the 17-year-old daughter of Jackie Hernandez and Corina Hernandez; Amanda James the 16-year-old daughter of Rhonda James of Pecos and Terry and Sheri James of Litchfield, Arizona;
Krystle Ramirez, the 17-year-old daughter of Alex and Norma Ramirez; Alyson Reynolds, the 17-year-old daughter of Randy and Lisa Reynolds; Sabryna Saenz, the 17-year-old daughter, of Ana Saenz; and Tatum Windham, the 17-year-old daughter of Tim and Jamie Windham.
This year’s Little Miss Cantaloupe entires are Kayleen Anchondo, Adeline Bien, Jessenia Chacon, Lauren Conger, Monique Dominguez, Aubrianna Garcia, Laci Hill, Courtney Hollon, Amanda James, Chassidy Jurado, Calleigh LeBeouf, Ariel Melendez, Bailey Rodriguez, Delilah Rodriguez, Miray Rodriguez and Kenzie Valenzuela.
Profiles of the nominees and other information on this year’s pageant and West of the Pecos Rodeo is in Section B of today’s Enterprise.
Council backs Suit contesting T-NP charges
Town of Pecos City Council members agreed to allow a civil suit against Texas New Mexico Power Co. over alleged overcharges to proceed, after hearing from company officials and the man the city hired to look into any possible overcharges, during the council’s regular meeting on June 10 at City Hall.
The council also heard an update from Pecos Economic Development Corp. president Rob Tobias on the PEDC’s recent operations, and finalized an agreement to sell 110 acres of land to Reeves County for use as part of an expanded golf course and new baseball and softball field complex.
Joe Seeber of Tri-Stem, the company retained by the city, and Jeff Kitner of Jackson, Walker LLP of Dallas, the law firm representing the T-NP, both made presentations similar to those done in a hearing before city officials back in April. At that time, Seeber
said a check of records over a 10-year period showed the city had been over-billed $109,000 by T-NP, though either costs for non-existent street lights, lower wattage street lights that were billed at higher wattage rates, and flat rate street lights that were double-billed on metered lines.
However, Kitner said that the company only owed Pecos $6,300, going by state law on recapturing overcharges and undercharges, and if those laws weren’t in place, the city would owe the utility over $37,000 worth of undercharges for the period from May 1999 to June 2009.
City manager Joseph Torres said T-NP has changed the amount it has said Pecos is owed since November of 2009. In a form prepared for council members, Torres said the company originally told city officials they owed Pecos $35,000, but two months later faxed a new calculation to the city, saying T-NP only owed $7,551.95, but was willing to settle the dispute for $10,000.
Seeber recommended in April the city seek civil action in court, before taking any action within its jurisdiction as the governing entity overseeing local rate disputes under its franchise agreement, while attorneys for the company are seeking a decision before the Texas Public Utilities Commission. The action taken last week by the council, at the recommendation of city attorney Scott Johnson, affirmed the decision to take the case to court rather than go through the PUC.
“I recommend we take no action until the civil suit is over,” Johnson told the council.
The city entered into the deal with Tri Stem in 2009 to see if the city had been over-billed in the same way the company found utilities had over-billed the city of Fort Stockton over an 11-year period. Fort Stockton and Tri Stem are claiming that the city was over-billed almost $1 million between August of 1998 and May of 2009.
Seeber said the over-billing in Pecos was far lower, but alleged that T-NP deliberately made changes to certain billing rates, while billing the city for around 415 street lights, when just over 280 lights were actually in use. T-NP said there were other lights in use during that time that the company never sent Pecos bills on over the past 11 years. “Pecos had an overcount and an undercount,” Kitner told the council.
“We believe our interpretations are correct,” he said of the T-NP estimates on the amount of money owed to Pecos. He said the numbers were based on records dating back to October of 1999, when T-NP went to computers. “You may have records yourself, but our records only go back to 1999,” he said.
Seeber told the council Kitner already has alleged the city has violated the Open Records Law in its counter-filing, and told council members because T-NP has regular dealings with the PUC, it would have a better chance there of getting a favorable ruling than it would in civil court.
“Mr. Kitner would like you to go to the PUC, where they talk to those people every day,” he said. “Civil court is the place for this to be.”
“I disagree wholeheartedly with what Mr. Seeber said,” Kitner replied. He told the council a court case could take 2-3 years, during which time the city would be facing payment of legal fees.
“It seems Tri-Stem is wrong about going to the PUC. Tri-Stem is worried a lot about its interpretation of the rules,” he said.
“A quick resolution is not necessarily a good resolution,” Seeber said.
Councilman Cody West asked Kitner why T-NP was concerned about the city saving money. “We’ve never had anybody stand up for Pecos like that,” he said.
“It would be less expensive for everybody,” Kitner said, while Seeber said Tri-Stem would bear the extra cost to the city for any extended court case.
“If we take this case in Reeves County, no one is going to take 2-3 years with Judge (143rd District Court Judge Bob) Parks,” Johnson said.
Tobias talked to the council about the current project proposals for the area, including the Texsand intermodial rail yard, to be located on the Union Pacific railroad line two miles west of Pecos off Interstate 20. His report on that was mixed, noting that Reeves County Commissioners have taken steps towards creation of a rural rail transportation district. But at the same time he said the project was “on life support, but still there.”
“UP is supportive about the concept. Now we just have to get all the people together,” he said.
“Next week we’ve got the new rail services manager for TxDOT who’ll be here,” he said. William Glavin will tour the proposal rail yard side as well as taking a tour of the Pecos RTC test track site in eastern Reeves County.
Tobias said the new rural rail transportation district board would probably have five members, but that he’d like to see a few different faces on the board than the normal ones who serve on multiple boards and in elected positions. Councilman Frank Sanchez later said he’d also like to see county represenatation on the PEDC board.
“I think it would be a step in the right direction, as far as mutual cooperation, because most of our projects are out in the county,” Sanchez said.
Tobias said a number of renewable energy companies have been looking at the Pecos area for projects. Most would involve 600-800 acres and 15-20 jobs, while the largest would involve several thousand acres and up to 500 jobs.
“We’re going to have to do some political work to move some of these activities forward,” he said, including seeking a Chapter 313 tax abatement allowance from local schools on the solar energy projects, similar to ones grated by the Fort Stockton ISD to the windmill energy projects in eastern Pecos County.
Tobias also said Sul Ross State University is moving forward with its small business technical center for Pecos, and that more businesses and individuals need to become informed about the office and the help it can provide in starting or expanding a business.
One other negative Tobias mentioned was that due to the over 30 percent drop in sales tax receipts between the end of 2008 and the first few months of this year, the PEDC currently does not qualify for access to the Texas Capital Fund loan money used last year to provide funds to Trans-Pecos Foods for buying new equipment for their plant. “We need to talk to the state about more flexibility,” he said.
“We have to do a better job of presenting our community. Maybe we can make our town a little cleaner in presenting our community better to potential investors,” councilman Cody West said. “And when someone comes to invest, lets make them feel more welcome.”
Following the presentation, the council voted to replace former mayor Dick Alligood with new mayor Venetta Seals on the PEDC board. They also discussed removing and reappointing three of the board’s seven members at the beginning of October, to better stagger the seven two-year terms on the board.
Dr. Sterling plans to retire and travel
Dr. Fredria Carter Sterling, the daughter of Daisy and the late Saul B. Roquemore, will retire from a 37 year career in education.
Sterling grew up in Pecos and attended George Washington Carver School, in elementary and junior high. She graduated from Pecos High School in 1967.
The fall of that same year, she attended Huston-Tillotson College, the alma mater of her mother and aunt, Billie K. Sadler. She remained there for two years, then transferred to Sul Ross State University, where she received, where she received her B.S. degree in elementary education in 1971.
She accepted a teaching position in San Antonio and remained there until 1976. During her years in San Antonio, she met and married her husband who was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, in the U.S. Army.
They spent a tour of duty in the Republic of Panama, where he was stationed at Fort Clayton; Canal Zone. While there, she taught in a school on base for pre-kinder to first grade students of service men on the base.
After 18 months, she returned to San Antonio with her husband.
To this union a baby girl, Anika Rashawn, was born.
The couple moved to Houston and remained there for several years. Ms. Sterling was employed with the Houston Independent School District as a special education teacher.
In 1979, Sterling moved to Pecos and taught at Bessie Haynes, and worked as Educational Diagnostician.
In November of that year, 1979, her second daughter was born, Ayanna Kalisha. After two years she returned to Houston and was rehired by the H.I.S.D.
At this time, Sterling worked as an Educational Diagnostician at a Deaf and Hard of Hearing School. In April of 1984, her third and last child, a daughter, Adamis Nicole, was born.
In the summer of 1984, she moved with her family to Atlanta, Ga. However, while in Houston she attended Prairie View A&M University in the summers and earned her Master’s Degree.
Dr. Sterling earned her Doctor’s Degree from Argosy University in Sarasota, Florida. She has been employed with Clayton County Board of Education for six years and 20 years with the Gwinnett County Public Schools. She has worked with special needs students with various exceptionalities.
After retirement, Dr. Sterling plans to spend time with her mother, grandchildren, and family. She plans to travel the world and open a Linguistic Preschool with the assistance of her three daughters, Anika, a licensed massage technician; Ayannah, a lawyer and Adamis, the nurse, with an associate nursing degree. Her husband is a retired postal employee for a number of years now, and does volunteer work with several organizations.
Slack played major role in UTPB’s creation
PECOS -- A lot of Texas history is personified by Richard Slack, a decorated World War II artillery officer and former state representative who served with five governors and helped pass the legislation that created the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
If anyone ever had staying power, it’s Slack, who turned 27 just after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 and celebrated his 95th birthday last December.
Grandson of Henry Slack, a cowboy in the first West of the Pecos Rodeo in 1883, he goes to work each weekday at 9 a.m. and sometimes takes off early at 4:30 p.m. “I could lay down at home, but I don’t want to do that,” he says.
“You live a lot longer if you stay active.”
Slack has degrees in petroleum engineering and law but primarily has worked in the oil business, farming, banking and real estate. His family has farms near Presidio and Balmorhea and owns the First Presido and Marfa National banks.
He put in a year as interim Reeves County attorney in 2005-06, returning to the courthouse in an official capacity for the first time since he was county judge from 1948-52. Elected to the Texas Legislature in 1952, he served until defeated by Monahans Republican Jerry Cockerham in 1980, having been speaker pro-tem and appropriations committee vice chairman.
Representing most of Ector County in the late ’60s, Slack joined Odessa Rep. Ace Pickens, former Texas Attorney Gen. John Ben Shepperd, liquor distributor Pinkie Roden, businessman Dan Hemphill and others to seek the establishment of a four year college.
Described by former House Speaker Gib Lewis of Fort Worth as “a charmer,” his friendship with then University of Texas Board of Regents Chairman Frank Erwin proved pivotal. “Frank and I got to be pretty good buddies at the 40 Acres Club,” Slack recalled.
“One night he asked, ‘How are you and Ace doing with your bill?’
“I said, ‘Not too good. Would you consider taking it into the UT System?’
“He said, ‘You know, we get so much of our money from out there that I’d like to do something for those people.’
“And I said, ‘You’ll never get a better chance.’”
Slack earned a Texas A&M petroleum engineering degree in 1936, worked as a roughneck for a year and with help from his dad Clay bought a Magnolia Oil distributorship. As an Army captain commanding a four cannon battery, he won a Bronze Star for valor during an artillery exchange near Villetri, Italy, in 1944.
He married UT Law graduate Charlotte Tonroy in 1955 and earned his law degree at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio the next year. They have three children, Anne Mackey, of Odessa, Clay Slack and Cynthia Shaw, of Austin, and seven grandchildren.
He was flying his Cessna 210 from Austin in the mid-1950s when a propeller blade broke and the propeller flew off at 9,500 feet elevation. “The first thing I knew was a giant shake,” he said.
“My maps and charts were in the air, the oil hit the windshield and then it was real quiet. The engine stayed in or I wouldn’t be here. I thought, I can land this thing. I saw a winding road with cars and didn’t want that. Then I found a dirt road west of McCamey and managed to land it. When I saw the front end of the plane, I knew how lucky I’d been.”
Lewis appointed Slack in 1992 to the newly formed Texas Ethics Commission, where he worked for 11 years and put in several terms as chairman. He and Slack also shared an enthusiasm for hunting expeditions.
“We hunted mountain goats and big game all over the world,” said Lewis.
“Dick was still bird hunting in Europe until five or six years ago. He’s the easy goingest guy I’ve ever seen. He has that dry wit and a great smile on his face that break down every barrier. We were trying to get out of Zambia one time and it was friction and high tension. I said, ‘Dick, I think we’ve got problems. I don’t know if we can get out of here.’”
“He goes over there and five minutes later comes back and says, ‘Come on, we got everything squared away.’
“I stayed like Velcro to him when I got to the Legislature in 1971 because he was one of those guys who made things happen. He never wanted credit, but his fingerprints were always on everything.”
Slack served with Govs. Allan Shivers, Price Daniel, John Connally, Preston Smith and Dolph Briscoe.
When Republican state Rep. Tom Craddick, of Midland, arrived in 1969, Slack was part of the powerful bloc known as the “Connally Democrats.” “Dick was very effective for his district and carried a lot of statewide legislation,” Craddick said.
“He is a really nice guy with a good sense of humor. I always enjoy visiting with him to see if he knows what other members are doing.”
Craddick said Slack had accrued influence in the traditional way. “If you tell the members something and stand up for that no matter what happens, they say, ‘What he said he would do, he did,’ and they respect you for it,” he said.
Sheriff’s deputies kept busy with narcotics, cash seizures
Reeves County Sheriff’s Deputies have been busy this year and so far have obtained about $835,000 from narcotics seizures.
“We have been really busy this year and even with other things going on, our officers have been able to recover over $800,000 from illegal drugs,” said Reeves County Sheriff Andy Gomez.
Gomez said that his office has seized about six million worth of narcotics.
Officers have confiscated about 367.2 pounds of marijuana, from January to June; with 55 pounds of cocaine seized and five pounds of heroin.
The sheriff’s department made a total of eight arrests and a total of 22 cases were solved.
In addition the group also seized seven vehicles involved in illegal activities, according to Gomez.
Total currency seized was set at $834,631.00.
“This is really good considering we have had a lot of activity in Reeves County,” said Gomez.
Gomez said that the first half of 2010 also included the shooting of Deputy Jerry Millan as he was attempting to serve a warrant back in March. The sheriff said Millan is doing really well and back on the job. His attacker, 61-year-old Michael Douglas Hickey, took his own life after a three-hour standoff with local law enforcement officials.
“We also had an incident in which a body was found and we’re still working on that case,” said Gomez, referring to another March incident in which the burned body of what deputies believe is an elderly man was found inside a burned shed at a ranch southwest of Pecos.
Local board members attend summer board training
Several members of the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board joined local trustees from across the state at the Texas Association of School Boards’ (TASB) Summer Leadership Institute June 10-12 in San Antonio.
Approximately 2,500 new and veteran school leaders received in-depth training on every facet of effective board governance, heard keynote addresses from noted speakers, and gathered valuable ideas for programs that work.
Topics addressed during the two-and-a-half –day institute included effective community collaborations, college and career readiness, technology trends, dropout prevention, and special education law. Breakout sessions also examined social networking, school finance, bullying and gang prevention, facilities management, and the changing face of the Texas labor market, among others.
Thursday’s general session featured Manny Medrano, a reporter for KTLA News in Los Angeles and former trial lawyer. He delved into the themes of personal obstacles, the irrepressible human spirit, and the invaluable role of educators and mentors in his own personal and professional growth.
Jonathan Kozol, Friday’s general session speaker, shared his view on how teachers, given support and encouragement, can help students meet state standards without turning their classrooms into test-prep factories. Kozol is a writer, educator, and activist, best known for his books on public education.
Sessions for newly elected trustees and board presidents offered a combination of both breakout and in-depth formats. New board members focused on basics in district planning and budget, school law, boardsmanship, district policy, teamwork, and an introduction to the Texas Open Meetings Act. Board presidents explored meeting preparation, parliamentary procedure, key legal duties, team building, and facilitation skills.
Sewer, gas line problems force city street closures
Drivers traveling between downtown Pecos and Eddy Street have found their options a little limited over the past couple of days, with two of the main east-west streets shut down to through traffic due to emergency repairs.
Town of Pecos City crews were called to the 300 block of West Fourth Street on Tuesday after a major leak created a cavern under part of the street, forcing closure of the street between Elm and Hickory streets. Crews also discovered a gas line there that will need to be relocated, while Texas Gas Service crews also have been working this week on a line in the 800 block of West Fifth Street, shutting down that street between Palm and Oleander streets.
City Public Works Director Edgardo Madrid said they were originally called out to the site on Fourth Street on a report of a leak in the area that was creating a sinkhole on the south side of the street. “But when we excavated, we found the sewer line had collapsed over the total width of the street,” he said.
“We had one hole that was 15-by-30 feet and the other was 8-by-20 feet,” city engineer Chuy Silvas added.
Crews were called in to fill in the cavern created by the lead with dirt. “However, when we went in, we found a gas line that was too close to the sewer line,” Madrid said. The line was right above the sewer line, when rules require the line to be five feet away from the sewer.
He said the city notified Texas Gas Service that the line would have to be moved. “The gas company is going to do that, but in the meantime the street is closed,” Madrid said.
Silvas said it would be a couple of days before the gas company could get to the line. Texas Gas Service crews meanwhile were busy doing work the other gas line, in the 800 block of West Fifth Street. Madrid said the city was not involved with that project, which also closed the alleyway between Fourth and Fifth streets.
The emergency repairs for the city comes as work is set to begin on repaving Rancho Road on the far east side of Pecos, after sewer line problems on neighboring Martinez Street forced the city to install a larger line one block west to handle backflows into area yards and homes. The work is being done as part of a summer project to repair four streets and build a new stretch of Scott Street, to serve as the entrance to the new Hampton Inn on Interstate 20.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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