January
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SANDERSON – A
plan for a $400,000 “revolving line of credit” to help small and emerging
businesses expand in Terrell County took two steps toward reality Monday. The US
Department of Agriculture presented the county with $200,000 for its half of
the program, the rest to be provided by the county. And
Commissioners Court approved a plan to set up the program with the Rural Business
Enterprise Grant. Commissioner
Charles Stegall voted against the action, saying he
had been against the plan when it was first brought up last year. A committee
has been set up to oversee the program consisting of County Judge Leo Smith,
Randy Baethge, Donna Muñiz
and Steve Forest. In a ceremony
in the District courtroom, US Rep. Ciro Rodriguez,
State US Department of Agriculture Director Paco Valentin and other US and state officials presented a
“ceremonial” check to County Judge Leo Smith and Commissioner Della Fuentes. Under the program, a business can get a
low-interest loan for expansion. Smith said the
applicant must own the property and needs to have at least one employee for
every $20,000 sought. Part time employees qualify the business for up to
$10,000. As the money
is paid back, it will then be available to other applicants. “This money will
be used for a revolving loan fund that will create approximately 20 new jobs,
provide valuable capital investment and lending,” Rodriguez said. “This
lending will finance and facilitate small business funding while also
strengthening the local economy and providing valuable economic development.” Rodriguez said
he has seen improvements in Sanderson since he was elected to the Congress
about three years ago. “People have
painted and cleaned up their buildings,” he said. “There is a lot of
potential here and you have done a good job of bringing that about. I
congratulate you.” Smith said the
grant would provide the infrastructure as a “stepping stone” to get to economic
development. He said three
businesses have applied for a loan but declined to name those businesses. Smith said
opponents to the program have said if borrowers were a good risk, banks could
provide the funding and, if not, the county should not be in the business of
lending money. But Smith said
Sanderson Bank is in favor of the revolving credit program and one of the
members of the committee, Donna Muñiz, is an
officer of that bank. Valentin said the USDA
can provide funding for a variety of rural community programs including libraries,
infrastructure, economic development, convenience stores, clinics, broadband
network connections and even a civic center. FORT STOCKTON
– The City Council here approved two resolutions this week opposing plans by
oilman Clayton Williams and his Fort Stockton Holdings to export some 41
million gallons of groundwater daily from its property west of here to Midland/Odessa
and elsewhere. One resolution
putting the city on record as opposing the efforts notes that Williams and
FSH told the Midland City Council in two December meetings they wanted to
create the Midland County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1, “which would
unrelentingly create opportunities to transport or export large amounts of
water from the Edwards Trinity Aquifer and or any other aquifers located
within the region of Fort Stockton/Pecos County’s water source.” The other
resolution authorizes City Manager Rafael Castillo, Jr., County Attorney Martin
O. Adams “and outside legal counsel” to oppose any action on the water
district “until such time as the application includes all information
necessary for the district to evaluate the permit application including the
purpose and place of the proposed beneficial use.” The announced
plan was for Williams and FSH to export some 41 million gallons of water per
day from the 17,482 acres it “owns or leases” in the Leon-Belding area west
of here. The resolution
opposing the plan notes it would “devastate Pecos County’s economy, livelihood,
the quality of life of our residents and make the
land uninhabitable.” SANDERSON –
Two more work days are planned for this weekend to get the Fair Hall ready
for the 31st Annual County Fair next week, one of the biggest “red letter”
days on the county calendar. Workers have
been asked to again show up at 8 a.m. tomorrow, Jan. 16, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan.
17, to prepare for the fair, which will be all day Saturday, Jan 23. The Fair Board
used proceeds from earlier fairs to buy a new set of pens to double the
amount of space available for animals. There also
will be a Pee Wee goat practice at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Pee Wee event is for
children age 8 and younger. Ranchers
“donate” an animal for the child to raise. It is
sold at auction with the child keeping the money but the animal is returned
to the rancher. County
Extension Agent Mark Carroll said some 80 animals have been validated and the
fair could set a new record this year. The event
starts with check-ins on Thursday, Jan. 21, and ends with a dance at 8 p.m.
Saturday at Fair Hall. Little Bud
Nelson and Southern Comfort of Del Rio will play for entertainment and
dancing. The band was arranged for the fair by Alan Askins. The Terrell
County 4-H Club also plans to raffle off a 12-gauge Remington 312 over/ under
shotgun with proceeds going to the club. Tickets will
be $5 each and the winner will be announced at the Saturday evening auction. Arts and
crafts entries, 4-H and school projects, food and displays will be accepted
starting at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, and continuing into Friday, Jan 22.
Booth and vendor set ups will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Judging of
arts and crafts will be from 1 to 4 p.m. and livestock check in for lamb,
goats, pigs and cattle will be from 12 noon to 6 p.m. The big event
will be Saturday, Jan. 23, with check in for rabbits, chickens and horses
from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and the livestock and arts and crafts shows from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. Animals in the
show will include rabbits, chickens, goats, lambs, pigs, cattle and horses. There will be
a pet show at 2:30 p.m. Instead of a
noon barbecue meal at the hall, judging of animals will continue into the
afternoon with the meal moved to 4:30 p.m. The auction will be conducted
during the evening repast. There will be
vendors for those needing to eat during the day. By
KIM RAPP Production
Manager SANDERSON –
The race for Terrell County judge got a little busier since our roundup last
week, “Politics 2010 shaping up,” News Leader, Jan. 8, 2010, Page 1. Dean Autrey joined the race as a Libertarian. He said he filed
before the Jan. 4 deadline but there was a problem with the paper work that
has since been cleared up. Autrey faces Pete
Sanchez, Jr., for the Libertarian nomination. The winner will face the winner
of a race in the Democratic Primary between incumbent Leo Smith and
challenger Terry “Tex” Toler. Names were
drawn for places on the ballot this week and Smith drew the first spot on the
Democratic ballot with Toler second. US Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez drew an opponent in the Democratic
Primary that we missed last week. The incumbent will be listed first and
challenger Miguel Ortiz will be second. The winner
faces the winner among two Libertarians, Martin Nitchschke
and Jessie A. Bonley, and one of six Republicans. Will Hurd drew the top spot on the Republican ballot, Joseph
Mack “Doc” Gould will appear second, David Aguilar will be third, fourth will
be Robert “Doc” Lowry, fifth will be Francisco “Quico”
Canseco and Mike Kueber will be sixth on the
Terrell County ballot. Libertarians
do not have a primary. The nominee will be chosen at a county, district or
state convention later. In the Democratic
race for the open position of county treasurer, Leila K. Cash will be first,
Ana Barron second, third will be Cindy Kelso and Anna Garza will be listed
fourth. Incumbent
Treasurer Lynda Helmers has chosen not to run for
re-election. In the
Democratic Primary for county commissioner in Precinct 2, Michelle L. Marquez
will be first, followed by incumbent Della Fuentes. The winner of
that race will face Libertarian Jan Patrick Baker in the November General
Election. County
Commissioner Kenn Norris is unopposed in his bid
for the Democratic nomination in Precinct 4 but he will face Republican Donna
Smith in November. Democrat Martha
Allen is unopposed for her job as District and County Clerk. Justice of the
Peace Abby Roberts will run unopposed for Precincts 1, 3 and 4 and JP Corina Olivares Castro will run unopposed for the position
in Precinct 2, both in the Democratic Primary. Lea Hawn will
be the County Democratic chairperson and Consuelo Galvan will run unopposed
for Democratic chairperson in Precinct 1. Statewide,
Terrell County voters will find US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison first in the
Republican primary for governor, followed by incumbent Rick Perry and Debra Medina. On the
Democratic side, Alma Ludivina Aguado
will be first on the ballot, followed by Clement E. Glenn second, Felix (Rodriguez)
Alvarado will be third and Star Locke is fourth on the ballot. In the fifth
spot is Bill White, Farouk Shami will hold the
sixth spot and Bill Dear will be seventh on the primary ballot. In the Democratic
race for lieutenant governor, Ronnie Earle will be first, followed by Marc
Katz and Linda Chavez-Thompson. The winner
will face incumbent Republican David Dewhurst in November. Places for
statewide races are drawn in each voting district so places will not be the
same throughout the state. In the State
Senate race for District 19, incumbent Carlos Uresti
will be first on the Terrell County ballot, opposed by Luis C. Juarez, Jr.
The winner will face the victor in the Republican primary between Robert Sol
Mayer first on the ballot, followed by Dick Bowen. Pete Gallego will be the only Democrat on the ballot for state
representative in District 74. Seeking the
Republican nomination to Gallego’s seat are Thomas “T.C.” Kincaid, Jr., first, and second on the
ballot will be Yolanda Sotelo Garza. Republican
District Judge Carl Pendergrass is unopposed in his bid for re-election to
the 83rd Judicial District. In the race
for commissioner of the General Land Office, Hector Uribe
will be first on the ballot, followed by Bill Burton. The winner
will face incumbent Republican Jerry Patterson. In the commissioner
of agriculture race, Hank Gilbert will be first, opposed by Richard “Kinky”
Friedman. The winner
will face incumbent Republican Todd Staples who is unopposed. Republican
David Porter is listed first for the title of Railroad Commissioner, followed
by Victor G. Carrillo. The winner
will take on Democrat Jeff Weems. Attorney
General Gregg Abbott is unopposed in the Republican Primary, as is his
Democratic opponent Barbara Ann Radnofsky. Susan Combs of
Marathon is unopposed in her re-election bid to comptroller. Longtime
Sanderson resident Maudie Gray died Tuesday night.
Funeral services were scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church
in Sanderson. An obituary
was incomplete at press time. It will run next week in the News Leader. SANDERSON –
There were an even dozen Sanderson High School students on the all-A honor roll for the first six weeks of the second
semester, it was announced last week. Fourteen
junior high schoolers and ten elementary students
also had perfect grades. Seniors who
made all “A” honor roll were Clarissa Brotherton, Vicky Busch, Jessica Garza, Chris Marquez and
Darren Seidel. Casey Couch, Brianna Johnson, Cordell
Lawson, Kelly Lomas, Noemi Nuñez and Valeria Orozco
were eleventh graders who aced their grades. The only tenth
grader who made the list was William Roberts and there were no ninth graders
with perfect grades. Eighth graders
Jalen Chriesman and
Daniel Luevano made the all “A”
honor roll list. Luis Garza and
Grace Jahn made the list for the seventh grade. Jesse Roberts
is the only sixth grader on the “A” honor roll. Fifth graders
Kenney-Mae Pacheco and Mikie Shoemaker both made
all “As” for the cycle. Noah Aguilar,
Luke Carroll and Hunter Truesdell were the fourth
graders listed. The third
graders were Elijah Carrasco and Kailey Dominguez. Taryn Mitchell and
Brooklyn Zuniga were the two second grade students who made all “A” honor roll. Dohnavon Anaya was the
only first grade student to achieve this honor. The “AB” honor
roll seniors were Jacob Benavidez, Blakeney Chriesman, Travis Roberts, Sarah Sivils
and Hector Urias. Juniors who
made this list were Cameron Baker, Amber Bon, L.A. Galvan, Ernestina
Gonzales, Julianna Larrinaga, Alan Marquez and
Roxanna Rodriguez. Joseph Hopkins was the only tenth grader who
made “AB” honor roll and there were no ninth graders on the list. Mason Blackmon
and Kayla Fuéntez were the only two eighth graders
on the list. Seventh
graders with all As and Bs were Christopher Berkinfeld,
Abby Carrasco, Brianna Lozano, Alexis Olivares, Megan Seidel and Cassie Woosley. Mayra
Rodriguez and Valentine Shindel were the sixth
graders who made “AB” honor roll. Sonya Keyser
was the only fifth grade student who made the list. Lauryn Carroll,
Chris Ibarra, Jesus Lopez, Jacob Luevano and Daniel
Rodriguez-Guadarrama were the fourth grade students
who made the “AB” honor roll. The third
grade students were Lexie Coe, Justin Flax,
Christian Franco and Wyatt Mills. In the second
grade, Isaiah Aguilar, James Bon, Cori Hilton, Jayden Montalvo,
Ian Perez, Analise Galvan Rubio, Kate Roberts and
Jason Woosley, were all on the list for the “AB”
honor roll. First graders
on this list were Teja Anderson, Cisco Fuéntez, John Michael Guadarrama,
Josie Harrell, Mark La Fleur and Anthony Rodriguez. Students with
perfect attendance were Kenney-Mae Pacheco, Kira
Smith, Chris Ibarra, Buddy Imboden, Daniel Rodriguez,
Elijah Carrasco, Justin Flax, Josie Harrell, Mark La Fleur, Alonzo Lopez and
Anthony Rodriguez. Galvan recalls
old gravesites behind motel By
KIM RAPP Production
Manager SANDERSON – Last
week, the News Leader ran a story on old cemeteries in town and asked for
input. Well, we got some. Paul Galvan
clearly remembers three gravesites on the east side of Lunar Street, which
would have been behind the Budget Inn, then known as the Western Hills Motel. Our initial
estimation of the site was off by about 150 yards or so. Galvan said he
bought his house on Lunar Street in 1952 or 1953 and remembers the burial
sites because he walked past them every day on his way to his roping arena
behind his house. He described
them as “probably children, because of the size of the mound.” There were no markers or names on the sites,
though he seems to remember a wooden cross. “If they were
dug up and moved, I would have noticed,” said Galvan. He figures the
flood in June of 1965 washed away any evidence of the plots. “The water
here was four feet high,” he said as he held his hand about waist high. This is still
a work in progress. If anyone else remembers anything, please let us know by calling
432/345-2676. SANDERSON –
Terrell County Airport should get about half of the total deer-proof fence it
needs soon to help keep stray animals off the runway. Terrell County
Commissioners Monday agreed to let Odessa engineer John Landgraf
prepare bid documents for about half of the total fence to be provided under
the current year’s federal Routine Airport Maintenance Grant with the balance
to be accomplished next year. The county has
been approved for $50,000 in matching funds under the RAMP program to be
matched by an equal amount by the county. Smith said that will provide for
$100,000 for the current year. Nearly $5,000
was already spent to repair the rotating beacon federal rules require to be
on every night and Smith said he would like to use $5,000 to provide weed
control, ground control and fertilizer for the airport, something that the
county has always provided out of its pocket. He said that
would leave $90,000 for the fence that should mostly go halfway around the
one-mile-square airport. Smith said if Landgraf can get the fence built on two sides for the
$90,000, the action will give him permission to go out for bids. If it will not
complete the half, Smith said, he will come back to the commissioners with an
estimate for what it would cost the county to pay for the rest. Envisioned is
an eight-foot, deer-proof fence of a design approved by the Texas Department
of Transportation. It would be topped with barbed wire. Smith said it
has to follow TxDOT specifications. He said the county
will qualify for next year’s funding starting in September so the entire
fence could be provided “pretty quickly.” The Airport Board also has expressed an
interest in improving airport runway and taxiway lighting, additional
pavement and hangars in the future. But the fence was the first item on a
list of priorities. AUSTIN –
Terrell County received $3,820.90 for its share of the state sales tax in the
first reporting period for the new year, down 93.61 percent from $59,820.88
in the same period last year. Sales taxes
reported in January were collected in December on sales that occurred in November. Comptroller
Susan Combs said the state collected $1.65 billion in sales tax revenue in
December, down 11.6 percent compared to December 2009. “Declining
sales tax collections, beginning in February, 2009, have now extended through
December, 2009,” Combs said. “As has been seen the past several months,
collections are down across most major sectors of the Texas economy,
including oil and natural gas, construction, manufacturing and retail trade. “It is
expected the double-digit declines in tax collections seen over the last half
year will first moderate with collections returning to growth during the
first or second quarter of 2010,” she said. Combs sent
cities, counties, transit systems and special- purpose taxing districts their
first sales tax allocations of 2010 — $405.2 million, down 11.8 percent
compared to January, 2009. Combs sent
January sales tax allocations of $274.4 million to Texas cities, down 11.4
percent compared to January 2009. Texas counties received sales tax
payments of $24.3 million, down 16.1 percent compared to last January. In addition,
$16.2 million went to 163 special purpose taxing districts around the state,
down 11.5 percent compared to last January. For details of
January sales tax payments to individual cities, counties, transit systems
and special purpose districts, locate the Monthly Sales Tax Allocation
Comparison Summary Reports on the Web site at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/allocsum/compsum.html.
The
Comptroller’s next sales tax allocation will be made on Friday, Feb. 12. Gallego to chair
efficiency committee AUSTIN - State
Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine has been named chairman
of the House Select Committee on Government Efficiency and Accountability. Speaker Joe
Straus created the committee this week, putting Gallego
and ten other legislators in charge of making recommendations for eliminating
inefficiencies in state government. They will also
look into the purchasing practices for state goods and services and the efficient
spending of limited tax dollars. "The
creation of this committee is vital to our state as our country has been facing
difficult financial times" Gallego said. "This
committee gives me a great opportunity to evaluate our state funds at a level
I'm familiar with after serving years on the House Appropriations Committee.” Gallego said he hopes
to make the best of his time with the select committee which will operate
from now until the 82nd Session starts in January 2011. "We have
a difficult task ahead of us because we will be operating on a much tighter
budget next time we convene," Gallego said. “This
committee will allow us to weigh our options and evaluate best state practices
on how to spend our money wisely." Gallego will serve on
the committee with Rep. John Davis of Houston as vice chair and Reps. Alma Allen
of Houston, Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Dawnna
Dukes of Austin, Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, Tim Kleinschmidt of Lexington, Rob Orr of Burleson, Diane Patrick
of Arlington, Chente Quintanilla of Tornillo and Burt Solomons of Carrollton. Hutchinson
campaigns in Alpine By
MARK GLOVER Contributing
Editor ALPINE - Seeking
the Republican nomination for governor in March 2 primaries, US Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison spoke at a luncheon Monday hosted by the Brewster County Republican
Party at the Granada Theatre here. “I’m running
for governor because there are so many issues being overlooked in our great
state,” Hutchison said at a round table discussion after her stump speech. The senator
hopes to upset Governor Rick Perry’s run for a fourth term. “Education,
transportation and more sunshine in government are my top three priorities,”
Hutchison said. The senator noted
that the Texas high school drop-out rate, the highest in the nation, was a
disgrace. “We have to
import workers because we don’t have an educated work force ourselves,” she
said. “We owe a high school diploma to every student who attends public
school.” She also called
Texas Department of Transportation an “arrogant agency that talks down to the
local transportation divisions” and suggested road, bridge and mass transit
infrastructure is far behind fu-ture needs of the
state. Although Hutchison
voted for a federal law allowing states to create tollways
on federally funded roads, she got an amendment passed that eliminated Texas
from the bill. “They (TxDOT) fought me all the way on that,” the senator said. Sunshine in government
is also part of Hutchison’s campaign rhetoric. “I want more
sunshine legislation and a harder look at term limits and campaign
financing,” she said. On health care,
Hutchison said taxes on medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and insurance companies,
created by the health care bill, will ultimately be passed on to the consumer,
raising health care costs by “hundreds of billions of dollars. “Health care
in America needs reform, but this bill is not the way to reform it,” she
said. Hutchison joined
all Senate Republicans voting against the health bill on Christmas Eve. She took
questions on border issues including the Presidio Deportation program
recently enacted by the Border Patrol that buses illegal aliens apprehended
in Arizona to the international bridge at Presidio. “It’s
horrible. It’s illegal and outrageous,” she said. “That should be sent back
to the doorsteps of [Homeland Security Secretary] Janet Napolitano. “They need to
put them [illegal aliens] back at the location where
they were caught,” Hutchison said. Perry has also
opposed the program, enacted under the name of Alien Transit and Exit
Program. Hutchison was
asked about a high concentration of Department of Public Safety agents in the
Big Bend area and the subsequent high incidence of stops experienced by many
citizens. “The governor
placed a lot of DPS agents in the border region along with Texas Rangers,”
she said. “The rangers don’t even have the ability to arrest a suspect
engaged in a criminal act. “I voted for
more Border Patrol agents, DEA and better equipment for local law enforcement
to stop the very sophisticated drug cartels,” she said. The senator
suggested that La Entrada del Pacifico,
an initiative that would promote commercial truck traffic through the Big
Bend, was frail. “If local
people don’t want it, then don’t put it in place,” the senator said. She was asked
if she would support placing the Big Bend National Park under the Wilderness
Act of 1964, which adds an additional layer of protection to designated
federal lands to prevent further development and limit motorized vehicle
traffic. “It sounds
like something I would support,” she said. “It’s a wonderful place. We need
to keep it that way.” SANDERSON –
There has been a lot of interest shown in a new basic emergency medical technician
with the county supplying the training but the search has not ended. County Judge
Leo Smith said there have been 11 candidates who have expressed interest in
the position so far but he is still exploring ways to have the course be
college accredited. “I think it’s
great,” he said. “There surely has been enough interest.” Smith said
Sanderson is in the region for Odessa College and he hopes to get accreditation
for the EMT course through OC. He said the
Texas Legislature has put Sul Ross State University
at Alpine in another region. He said
failing an agreement with OC, students could also take a course on line. County EMS
Director Butch Maldonado said the state has increased the training period for
new EMTs from 96 to 140 hours but the county has agreed to pay for the
training for a qualified applicant. In a related
action, the commissioners agreed to increase the pay for a part-time EMS secretary
from minimum wage to the starting pay for a dispatcher, $9.72 per hour. The county has
had trouble filling the 20-hour position. In other
action, commissioners agreed to provide guard rails around new drainage
ditches going in on east-west streets between Wilson on the west and the east
end east of Fifth Street. Smith said the
guard rails, at “knee high or greater,” are a “safety issue.” The new
rock-lined ditches are steeper than the older grass ditches and a car could
get stuck in the ditch or even turn over. He also said
“one gentleman” had fallen into a ditch and EMS had responded to the
accident. School Street
at Hackberry was closed the early part of this week while county Road and
Bridge crews installed culverts under the street for the ditch. Persimmon at
Hackberry was expected to be closed early next week. Commissioners
took a break during the meeting to inspect a brand new fire truck and a new
backhoe. Smith said the
Texas Forest Service paid 90 percent of the cost of the new truck, paying $154,780.20
against the county’s $17,197.80. Fire Chief
Bobby Brotherton thanked Smith for driving the
vehicle home from Midwest Fire Truck Manufacturers in Luverne,
MN. He said that
saved him having to send one or two firemen for the truck, which would have
left the town without their services for several days. Brotherton said the new
truck is both a transport truck and a pumper. It has a water tank that can be
used to feed other trucks and other equipment as well. Firefighting
helicopters will be able to refill their tanks by siphoning water out of the
truck’s tank at 1,000 gallons per minute, he said. And he
demonstrated a “water cannon” on the front that could spray water on a fire. He said at
full power, it could have reached from the courthouse parking lot to the high
school across the street. SANDERSON –
Cost figures for repairs to Independence Creek Road were “not inflated,”
Terrell County officials said Monday. They responded
at the Commissioner Court meeting to a letter last week in the News Leader complaining
that statements on how much it cost to maintain the road were “fabricated,”
“Road not a problem,” Jan. 8, Page 2. “The amount we
charge the county is way below normal charges,” Road and Bridge Supervisor
Mike Sanchez said. For example, he
said his “maintainer” is billed at $45 per hour compared to $125 per hour by
an area contractor. County Judge
Leo Smith said the county is trying to work out an agreement with landowners
at the end of the road but has not heard back from them. He said
attorney Bob Bass has offered an agreement but Smith noted a
crossing has been built over Independence Creek recently but he did not know
who did the work, saying it was not approved by the county. The heart of
the issue is the crossing of the creek at the far end of the road that has
washed out in heavy rains. Smith said the
creek changes course after a heavy rain, making a permanent crossing very
expensive. Smith also
said there are two “no trespassing” signs on the road, which is not
permissible on a county road, and someone has erected speed-limit signs. He noted only
four families live along the road and two of them are only there part time
yet it costs the county $15,000 per year to keep the road maintained. SANDERSON –
Top UIL award winners were honored at a special ceremony here last week.
Sponsor Becky Norris announced each category while Coach and Junior High
Principal Jerry Garza handed out the awards. Sanderson Junior
High School took first place as the academic district champions in the UIL
meet in Rankin last month with 800.5 points. Jalen Chriesman had the most awards for eighth graders. He placed
first in the social studies, dictionary skills and maps, graphs and charts. He scored second in calculator applications
and third in number sense, art, editorial writing, listening skills, oral
reading and mathematics. He took fourth
place in modern oratory, ready writing, and science and fifth in spelling. Grace Jahn took top honors for seventh grade, coming in first
in spelling, editorial writing, and impromptu. She tied
second in maps, graphs and charts, third in oral reading, fourth in ready
writing and sixth in number sense. Sixth grader Jesse
Roberts scored first in spelling, mathematics, and listening skills, second
in calculator applications, social studies, number sense, music memory and
maps, graphs and charts and third in art and dictionary skills. Kenney-Mae
Pacheco topped fifth graders by placing second in music memory, third in
spelling, ready writing and art, fourth in dictionary skills, fifth in social
studies and sixth in maps, graphs and charts. Luke Carroll was
the top winner for fourth grade, placing second in spelling, fourth in ready
writing and fifth in number sense. Third grade
student with the most awards was Elijah Carrasco, who was first in ready
writing, second in storytelling, fourth in spelling and sixth in music
memory. Sanderson second grade only placed in one
category with Jason Woosley winning first in creative
writing. First grader Cisco
Fuentes placed third in storytelling. Katy Jahn came in first in kindergarten storytelling. Wilderness Act
looms for Big Bend By
MARK GLOVER Contributing
Editor PANTHER
JUNCTION – If a grass roots coalition led by the Sierra Club and Texas Wild has
its way, the Big Bend National Park may become the nation’s newest federally-designated
wilderness. US Rep. Ciro Rodriguez’s press secretary Rebeca
Chapa said the congressman plans to initiate a bill within the next few weeks
that will seek to protect 596,215 acres of the 801,000 acre park as a wilderness
area. “In a sense
this land is already wilderness but the bill will formalize it,” Chapa said. Last week in
Alpine, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison gave her nod for the plan. “It sounds
like something I would support,” she said. “It’s a wonderful place. We need
to keep it that way.” At the White
House Rose Garden on a warm Washington DC summer day in 1964, President
Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law. On that day
over nine million acres of federal land was protected. The bill also
officially defined wilderness. “A wilderness,
in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape,
is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are
untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain,” it
reads. “The
Wilderness Act is the highest level of protection we can give land in this
country,” said Don Dowdy, president of the Big Bend Chapter of the Sierra
Club. “Without that protection, you’re at the mercy of developers including the
park superintendent. Fortunately the park superintendents at the Big Bend
have been managing the land as wilderness all along.” Not only does
the law restrict development, once the land has been designated “wilderness”
under the law, it requires another act of Congress to remove it from that
status. “It’s another
layer of protection,” said Steve West of Texas Wild and New Mexico Wilderness
Alliance. In 1978 during
the Carter Administration an attempt was made to protect the park under the
wilderness act. “The bill went
nowhere and basically sat idle for 30 years,” West said. Should the bill
pass this time around, it will not affect rescue missions and law
enforcement, including the Border Patrol, however,
it will keep them from building a station in the wilderness area.” West said New
Mexico has 26 wilderness areas including the Gila Wilderness, the first designated
wilderness in the country. Texas has four, including a portion of the
Guadeloupe Mountain National Park. “Many people make
wilderness areas a priority to visit,” West said. “I think it will be good
for business in the Big Bend.” Although the
Wilderness Act restricts off road motor vehicle access, no current roads will
be closed, West said. The Big Bend
National Park and its neighbor, the 310,000 acre Big Bend Ranch State Park,
limit motorized vehicle traffic to designated roads. “We have two-wheel-drive
and four-wheel-drive roads. Motorized vehicles must stay on the roads and
they must be street legal,” said Big Bend Ranch State Park Interpretive
Ranger David Long. “Like the national park, we also have multi-use trails
that are restricted to hiking, biking and horseback riding.” The public is
invited to attend a wilderness workshop and work party at the Rio Grande
Village in the Big Bend National Park on Saturday, Jan. 23. Call Texas Wild
at 575/302- 6187 for more information. One Act Play ‘off
and running’ SANDERSON –
One Act Play is off and running with roles doled out this week. Leighton
Conway will direct the farce “The King Stag” by Carlo Gozzi. Playing the
part of King Deramo will be William Roberts while Tartaglia will be portrayed by his older brother Travis
Roberts. Casey Couch
will act the part of Pantalone, David Shoemaker
will play General Spavento and Leandro will be
played by Cordell Lawson. Norando the Great
will be portrayed by Joseph Hopkins, Truffaldino will
be played by Alan Marquez and taking the stage as Angela will be Amber Bon. Blakeney Chriesman will play the role of Clarice, Smeraldina will be played by Julianna
Larrinaga and David Bon will step up as the guard. Robert Montalvo will play the Old Hermit, Juliana Castro will
wow the crowd as the parrot, King Stag will be portrayed by Jacob Benavidez
and Tim Hopkins will play the statue. The tale brings to life King Deramo, the faithful Angela who loves him, his
treacherous prime minister Tartaglia, several
hare-brained members of his court, a magician, a parrot, magical stags and a
giant bear. It's a fairy
tale for all ages, a story of love and betrayal, intrigue and mirth, magic
spells and pageantry. The students
will practice and perform later this year, with a public performance after
the UIL competition is over. Serving on the
crew will be Angelina Hopkins and Isabelle Rivera. Conway said there will be
at least two more crew members added, to be named later. SANDERSON –
Elementary readers from grades 1 to 5 had an Accelerated Reader Party this
week. Students
acquire AR points for reading books. The level of difficulty determines the
amount of points. The theme for
the bash was popcorn, inviting readers young and old to “pop open a good
book.” Those in first
grade needed to accumulate 15 points to attend the event. Second graders
needed 45 points. Grades three, four and five needed to rack up 65 AR points
to attend the party. Librarian Pam
Deaton, along with Librarian Assistant Dora Benavidez, settled in with “about
28” students for movie and, of course, popcorn. “Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs” was on the big screen in the Elementary Library. This is an
“end of semester” party. At the year’s end, those with the allotted amount of
points will take a trip. In the past,
the trip has taken the bookworms to Midland for some ice skating and pizza. BIG BEND – The
Rio Grande Village Nature Trail, which was severely damaged by flooding more
than a year ago, is on its way back with the completion of a birding
platform. The flooding
in September, 2008, inundated large sections of the park and surrounding
territory. Big Bend
maintenance crews have completed installation of a new birding platform at
the Rio Grande Village Beaver Pond. The new
platform is a fixed 20-by-20-foot floating dock with a gangway access from
the shore. It is the
first in a two-phase process to restore access to the Rio Grande Village
Nature Trail that was interrupted after the flood. The new
viewing platform offers pond views and opportunities to enjoy birding and wildlife
viewing at the Rio Grande Village Beaver Pond. The pond is
located at the south side of the Rio Grande Village campground and can be
accessed by following the outer campground loop road and parking along the
far outside south loop of the Class A campground. A sign along
the loop directs visitors to the Nature Trail and viewing platform. The park is
still planning for the second phase to restore the permanent connection to
the existing nature trail. The trail
culminates with views of the Rio Grande and Boquillas,
Chih.,
from a hilltop summit. Currently,
visitors are able to access this trail by using an alternate route that is
available on the north side of the campground and along the paved road past
the camp-ground entrance. The park’s
maintenance crew has also completed work at nearby Hot Springs Historic Site,
which also was impacted by the flood. A bridge
damaged by the flood has been replaced.
The crew has removed debris, mud and vegetation along the trail to the
Hot Springs, as well as making significant improvements to the dirt road
access. Also completed
is a new trailhead allowing visitors to easily find and access the Langford
home site on the bluffs overlooking Hot Springs. The home site
trail, which is now marked, starts at the newly-restored walkway just beyond
the Hot Springs Trail parking lot. This trail is
one mile in length and leads to the bluffs overlooking the Rio Grande and
then back to the Hot Springs on the river.
It provides views
of the Sierra del Carmen Mountains and Rio Grande. “The
completion of the new Rio Grande Nature Trail Platform is a milestone in the
park’s flood cleanup efforts and provides park visitors with the opportunity
to once again access the unique riparian habitat found at the beaver pond,” Park
Superintendent William Wellman said. “In addition, with the recent completion
of the cleanup at Hot Springs, the park’s efforts at restoring and improving
flood damaged areas are nearing completion.” By
ANNA La FLEUR News
Leader Writer SANDERSON – The
Sanderson varsity boys lost to Comstock in basketball here Tuesday 31 to 28. Travis Roberts
was the top scorer for the Eagles with 12 points. Cordell Lawson gave the Eagles
eight points. Darren Siedel scored five points and brother William Roberts
earned another three points for the team. In the Grandfalls Tournament last week, SJHS boys played against
Midland Trinity and won 48 to 24. Jalen Chriesman cleaned up the court with 30 points. Daniel
scored seven points. On his heels was Luis with six points and Jesse Roberts earned
the team another four points. Sanderson boys
played against Grandfalls B team in Grandfalls and
won 46 to 24. Jalen was high scorer
again with 18 points. Not far behind was Luis with 13 points. Daniel was on
his heels with 11 points. Jesse and Santiago
both scored two points each. St. Ann’s beat
the Junior Eagles 25 to 15 in that tournament. Top scorer in that game was Luis
with eight points. Jalen had three points to
contribute and Chris and Daniel each scored two points. The SJHS girls
lost to St. Ann’s 45-6 in the same tournament. Brianna Lozano, Grace Jahn and Abby Carrasco each scored two points. Sanderson also
lost to McCamey 28 to 22. Brianna scored ten points
in that game. Mariah Aguilar had five points and Abby scored four. Kayla Fuéntez scored two points in that game. Sanderson Junior
High boys played in Fort Stockton and won 42 to 4 recently. Mason Blackmon
had top score with 16 points in that game. Daniel Luevano
was not far behind with nine points. Luis Garza scored seven points more and Marco
Fuéntez had four total points in the game. Chris Berkinfeld, Santiago Gonzales and John Pierce tied with
two points each. Meanwhile, the
Junior Eagle girls hosted the Marathon Colts, losing to the visitors 31 to 6.
Mayra Rodriguez, Mariah and Kayla each scored two points in that game for the
Junior Lady Eagles. It was cold
but still not record SANDERSON – In
case you didn’t notice, it was cold here last week. Very cold. On Saturday
morning, the temperature gauge at the News Leader read 11 degrees. Thinking
that might be a record low, we checked and cold it was, but not a record. Back in 1930,
the low for the month of January was seven degrees and in 1935, it got to be
a cool nine degrees. David Hagelgans with the Terrell County Water District said he
was kept busy with “over two dozen” broken water pipes. “They started
calling me around 1 p.m. on Saturday when the pipes thawed out,” he said. The water will
freeze in an unprotected pipe but the trouble really starts when the
temperature moves above the 32-degree freezing mark. The now-liquid water
wants to escape but is blocked by ice.
Hagelgans recommended
everyone check their “outside pipes for insulation.” Most of us
leave a faucet dripping inside the house in the bitter cold, but most of the
broken pipes last weekend were outside breaks, he said. Another cold
front was anticipated for late this week but forecasters say it will not
result in the bitter cold of last week. |
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