October 10, 2008
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FORT
STOCKTON – David Michael Meyers, 30, was in the Pecos County Jail at press
time, charged in the murder Friday of Drew Aaron Slater, 25, of Fort Stockton. Slater,
a son-in-law of Malone Mitchell III and an employee of the Longfellow Ranch,
was found with multiple gunshot wounds at his home at 1505 Hornbeck Ave. two
blocks north of WalMart Friday morning. Slater’s
pickup was missing and someone called “a person of interest” was seen driving
a vehicle matching that description Saturday near Midland. Police
Chief Juan Castro told the News Leader Monday the vehicle was later
identified as belonging to the victim. He
said Meyers was arrested on a warrant for unauthorized operation of a motor
vehicle and was returned to Pecos County later where he was arraigned on a
murder charge before city magistrate Sylvia Hernandez. Bail was set at
$500,000. Police
Lt. Louie Hernandez told the News Leader Wednesday the suspect had confessed.
He declined to provide a reason for the killing. Castro said the murder was the first in the
city in about ten years. By ARLENE GRIFFIS MNL Editor MARATHON
– I was really glad this week that Marathon is located west of Sanderson. I
was eating lunch at Johnny B’s with my husband Tuesday when Jim Street called
me on my cell phone and said that a caravan of Model A Fords had passed
through Sanderson. He
said he had missed them but thought maybe I could catch them when they came
through Marathon. About
an hour later, Steve and I found them at the Marathon Motel where they were
camping for the night on the grounds.
The
group was from the Victoria Model A Club and the men were driving seven Model
As, which ranged from year models 1928 to 1931. Each
of the vintage vehicles contained its original 40 horsepower engine and all
were painted in colors of gray, dark blue, black and dark green, some with
yellow or other accent colors. Club
spokesman Gaylon Vaughn said the club takes one or two trips such as this
each year “just to see if we can make it.” After
spending the night in Marathon, the group was headed to Fort Davis for a
short stay, after which they will head back to Victoria. When
asked how difficult it was to find parts for the cars, Vaughn said that,
believe it or not, parts are readily available. The
Victoria club has about 50 members who collectively own about 25 Model As. MARATHON
– The Chamber of Commerce reviewed the numbers for the 2008 West Fest Monday
and expected the event would yield a “slightly positive” financial outcome. The
event operated this year without a beer company sponsor. Advertising
in the Big Bend Sentinel and The Alpine Avalanche was the biggest expense of
the festival. Persons
interested in chairing next year’s West Fest should contact the Marathon
Chamber of Commerce. Burnt
Biscuit operates next door MARATHON
– After being in the same location for nine years, Shirley’s Burnt Biscuit
has moved, but not by far. The
new location is right next door at the Purple Sage. Owner
Don Boyd and wife Jackie still offer the same goodies including pastries,
breads and the like, only they’re now made using brand new equipment. They
acquired the popular eatery from Shirley Rooney in 2006, a business Rooney
had owned for seven years before deciding to retire. Rooney
is now working part time at the Marathon Library. MARATHON
– Volunteers are needed for tomorrow’s one and half hour Town Clean-up,
starting at 10 a.m. in front of the Community Center. “There
should be plenty of time to clean-up 90,” Marathon Chamber of Commerce
President Hal Henthorne said. “We’ll break up into small groups and work both
ends of town, starting just east of the Shell Station to the Oasis.” He
said safety vests will be provided. SANDERSON - The 11th
Annual Prickly Pear Pachanga, one of the red-letter days on the Sanderson
calendar will be tomorrow at St. James Hall. The
Sanderson Arts & Education Alliance is responsible for Pachanga each
year to commemorate Sanderson's designation as the "Cactus Capital of
Texas." All
funds from the dinner, silent auction, photography and cactus crafts contest
will benefit arts and education programs for the citizens of Terrell County.
Tickets
for the catered dinner are $20 per person and seating is limited to the first
150. There
will be a silent auction and pre-dinner time at 7 p.m. with live music by Alpine
violin and guitar duo "Stillwater," Marina Azar and Betty McGehee,
who played for the Arts & Education Alliance "Toe Tappin
Tuesday" concert at the Bicentennial Park Pavil ion Sept. 23. Dinner
will be at 8 p.m. The
photography and cactus speci~;t .£ontests will be ex-pande& to
include a "Cactus :Crafts Contest" for arts and
crafts with-a"cactus theme. The
prizes have been increased to $100 for first place, -$50 for second and $25
for third. "We
still encourage photography but also want to include other forms of art,
whether paintings, clothing items, crafts, sculpture, books, furniture, gift
items and even cooking - with as many being cactus-themed as
possible," President Henry Beth Hogg said. The
Cactus Specimen contest will provide prizes for several entries including
best, biggest, and/ or brightest cactus and" native plants from the
region. Winning
bids and the contest winners will be announced immediately following the
dinner. Art
contest for ‘fishy’ entries set ATHENS
– Texas students in grades four through 12 are invited to enter the eleventh
annual Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest. Deadline for entries is March
31, 2009. Contestants
must create an illustration of an officially recognized state fish and write
a one-page composition about its behavior, habitat and conservation. One
Texas winner will be selected from each of three grade levels, four to six,
seven to nine and ten to 12. Those
winners will then compete at the national level for best of show and art of
conservation stamp honors. Texas
contest coordinator Zoe Ann Stinchcomb said past winners in the Texas contest
have come from small towns and big cities and have included home-schooled students
as well as private and public school students. For
details on the contest and how to enter, visit the State-Fish Art Contest
page on the TFFC web site. The
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is a facility of the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department that incorporates a visitor center, educational programming
and a production fish hatchery. For
more information call 903/676-2277 or the web site at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishart. Marathon
Library News By ARLENE GRIFFIS Library Friend MARATHON
– If you have been reading this column for a while, you already know that the
Rotary Club of Alpine hosted the very first Way Out West Texas Book Festival
at Sul Ross in August. Due
to the success of this inaugural event, Rotarians hope to make it an annual
event. Since
I was one of the contacts, during the weeks immediately following the festival
I was contacted by several authors who expressed an interest in being
included on the program for 2009. One
of these authors was Stephanie Elizondo Griest, who also sent me a complimentary
copy of her book, “Mexican Enough.” Isn’t that a great title? I
put the book on my shelf for a few weeks as I had several others in my queue
but, this past week, I had the pleasure of reading it. The
subtitle of Griest’s book is “My Life Between the Border Lines,” which gives
the reader a clue as to its subject matter.
The
purpose the author had in writing is a fairly common one. She wanted to
explore the land and the language of her maternal ancestors. “Despite
being a third-generation Mexican American (on my mother’s side) and growing
up 150 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, my Spanish is best described as
‘Tarzan Lite,’ a primitive vocabulary spoken entirely in the present tense,”
the author states in the first chapter. “My
mom faced so much ridicule for her accent growing up that she never taught me
or my sister to speak the language properly,” she wrote. This
is a statement that I have often heard from friends and family who have roots
in Mexico. In
fact, statistics show that only 17 percent of third-generation Mexican
Americans speak Spanish fluently. After
spending several years as a writer in New York City and living for a time in
Moscow where she got the material for her first book, Griest is approaching
her 30th birthday and wishes to embark upon her quest for a deeper
appreciation of her cultural identity in conjunction with this landmark
birthday. So
on New Year’s Eve, 2004, she lands at Mexico City International Airport where
her journey begins. From
the moment Stephanie steps off the plane, the reader will be caught up in a
wild ride as colorful and varied as the country of Mexico itself. Many
of us who live in the borderlands equate our vision of Mexico with the cultural
flavor of Ojinaga, Juarez or Acuña when, in reality, those cities are not all
that much different from their sister cities on this side of the river. Through
Griest’s stories about her experiences in places such as Queretaro, Guadalajara,
Chiapas and Oaxaca, the reader gets a tantalizing taste of the true flavor of
this diverse nation with its interesting, yet often troubled past along with
its even more troubled present. Although
the time spent in Mexico was an adventure of unparalleled excitement for Griest,
there were times when she was exposed to dangerous situations, which could
have cost her her freedom or even her life.
She
found the Mexican government is so unstable and corrupt that it was difficult
to tell the “good guys” from the “bad guys.” Always
the trooper, however, Griest never let danger or living conditions detract
from her experience. The
reader will remain engaged from beginning to end, always cheering her on as
she progresses from one situation to another. As
far as her goal of understanding more about her heritage and improving her
Spanish, the trip was a success on both counts. As
the book draws to a close and Griest reflects upon both her mother’s family
from Mexico and South Texas and her father’s people who settled in rural
Kansas, she concludes that, “there is history, culture, and identity on
either side of my heritage. “It
is time to embrace each,” she said. “Like the seven million Americans who
claimed to belong to more than one race in the 2000 census. “That’s
only 2.4 percent of our nation but we’re growing, organizing, forming committees,
striving to believe that – whatever we are – it’s enough.” If
you decide to read “Mexican Enough” and enjoy the author’s style, her other
works include “Around the Bloc: My
Life in Beijing, Moscow and Havana” and “100 Places Every Woman Should Go.” Happy
Reading. Arlene
Griffis is a volunteer at Marathon Public Library, which is a branch of
Alpine Public Library. ALPINE
– Faculty member Patricia Wood Dickerson of the University of Texas at Austin
will deliver a lecture Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Sul Ross State University as
part of National Earth Science Week. Dickerson,
of the American Geological Institute and Jackson School of Geosciences at UT,
will address “The Tobosa and Marathon Basins and The Great American Carbonate
Bank Robbery” The
lecture will be at 2 p.m. in Room 101 of the Warnock Science Building, Room
101. It is free of charge and the public is invited. Dickerson’s
visit is sponsored by the Sul Ross Department of Earth and Physical Sciences
. The similarities of the Marathon area rocks and those of
Argentina will be presented along with evidence that part of Argentina
originated in West Texas but moved through “plate tectonics.” Dickerson's current research involves geological field research
in the Big Bend region, NASA astronaut field training in northern New Mexico
and Mars science exploration strategy. |
“At
11:48 a.m. Friday, Fort Stockton Police Department received a 911 distress
call that an individual was hurt at a residence at 1505 W. Hornbeck Ave.,”
Castro said. “EMS responded and the subject was unresponsive. They didn’t
transport and he was dead at the scene.” He
said a crime scene was established and Justice of the Peace Robert Gonzales
pronounced him dead. The family-owned Stockton’s Entertainment
Center was closed until Tuesday. By MARK GLOVER Marathon News Leader MARATHON
– Voters in the Marathon Independent School District have approved a “rollback,”
which will have the effect of raising school property taxes by 13 cents per
$100 valuation. Brewster
County Elections Judge Ike Roberts confirmed the yes vote in Monday’s special
election. The
approval will help fund the school’s $1.1 million budget for the 2008-09
school year. The
tax rate will increase from $1.04 to $1.17 per $100. The district is expected
to gain about $80,000 from the increase. “There
are no special projects,” Marathon School Board Chairman Don Fuéntez said.
“We need the funds for maintenance and operations. Austin took about $300,000
from our budget this year.” This year’s MISD budget is $1,000 less than
last year. “Even
though we increased teachers’ salaries, we still saved about $156,000 from
last year but need to make up the balance with the tax hike,” Fuéntez said. “Austin
made it clear that there is no additional state funding for schools this
year,” Fuéntez said. “Unfortunately, if you want more money, you have to go
to the taxpayer.” House
Bill No.1 approved by the state government in 2005, reduced the state school
tax rates maximum from $1.50 to $1.37 for school year 2006-07 and down to
$1.04 in 2007-08. However,
the reduction spawned “rollback” elections in a number of communities as
school districts went scrambling to cover deficits. There
were 130 special rollback elections in Texas in 2007 and 106 special rollback
elections this year, including Marathon and Alpine. Alpine
also approved a school district tax rate hike this week, matching Marathon’s
$1.17 rate. However
AISD taxpayers will pay $1.27 because of the interest in sinking fund for the
bonded indebtedness needed to finance the new Alpine Middle School, built
eight years ago. “Like
any consumer, you don’t want to dip into your savings. It’s hard to make up,”
new AISD Superintendent Jose Cervantes said. “We were in a deficit budget
and, had the rollback not passed, we would’ve had to go into our general fund
account.” AISD
has 1,054 students enrolled for the 2008-09 school year. “In
our case, the rollback will provide about $429,000 additional funds,”
Cervantes said. ‘The state will match it with about $289,000 that they generate
from higher taxes on cigarettes, business and the used car registration liar
tax. This will give us a total of $718,000 of additional funding. “It’s
all about the children,” Cervantes said. “You can’t make a better
investment.” In
Dallas, the school district is looking at a $6 million deficit for the
2008-09 school year and is expected to cut 700 to 1,000 jobs over the next
two years. Unlike
Dallas, Marathon has reduced costs by combining the superintendent and principle’s
job into one position as well as the school secretary and business manager
post. Marathon
also has hired retired part-time teachers, which eliminates the cost of
health care and retirement. There
are 50 students enrolled in the MISD 2008-08 school year. Three
years ago, the Texas Education Assessment graded MISD as “unacceptable.” For
the past two years the district has achieved a “recognized” status. “We’re improving education and educational
opportunity,” Fuéntez said. “Four years ago, we didn’t have a single penny in
college scholarship funds. Now we have close to $20,000 to help fund college
attendance for Marathon High graduates.” At
the Marathon Post Office, two circulars advocating a “no” vote on the tax
rate hike suggested that voters had not been adequately warned about Monday’s
special election. “We
have a school board meeting every month where we discuss the budget,” Fuéntez
said. “I’ve been talking to individuals around town about the shortfall and
our financial consultant, Dr. [Doug] Kerr, toured the area advising the
public of the situation.” “We
are grateful to the Marathon taxpayers for helping with this rollback to provide
quality education,” MISD Superintendent Conrad Arriola said. “It’s all about
the children and the future of Texas.” By MARK GLOVER Marathon News Leader MARATHON
– The Sixth Annual M2M foot race, sponsored by SandRidge Energy, is set to run
Saturday Oct. 17. The starting whistle will blow at 8 a.m. Last
year, 196 runners competed in the 26-mile Boston-qualified, nationally
sanctioned race. “People
who come out here to the race, want to come back, and that’s important,” M2M
Committee Chair Marsha Roberts said. “It’s great to fill up the hotels during
race weekend but my goal is get people back. Repeat customers are good for
the economy.” There
will be a spaghetti dinner prior to the race at the Marathon Community
Center. Plates are $8 and it starts at 6 p.m. Proceeds
from race weekend benefit the Marathon Chamber of Commerce. Last year, the
chamber was able to donate $2,500 from the race proceeds to help complete
construction of the Marathon Community Center. An
awards and post-race party will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Marathon Motel. Craig
Carter and the Spur of the Moment Band will provide entertainment. Volunteers
are needed for three water stops at Miles 8, 20 and 22. Help is also needed
at the Finish Line to hand out water, ribbons and to cut-off the tracking
chips from the contestants’ shoes. Two
hundred running bags will be handed out during the event. Those interested in
having their printed advertisement placed in the bags should contact Marsha
Roberts at Trans-Pecos Bank. Awareness
Month SANDERSON
– Breast Cancer Awareness Month this month has special meaning to several
area women who have suffered from the disease. An
estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to occur
among women in the US this year and about 40,480 deaths were expected. Studies
have clearly shown that early detection through mammography greatly improves
treatment options, the chances for successful treatment and survival. Early-stage
breast cancer typically produces no symptoms when the tumor is small and most
treatable, so it is important that women follow recommended guidelines for
finding breast cancer before the symptoms develop. On
average, mammography will detect about 80 to 90 percent of breast cancers in
women without symptoms. Self
examinations on a regular basis are also highly recommended. The
American Cancer Society has invested more than $352 million in breast cancer
research grants since 1972 and has been an important part of nearly every
major breast cancer research breakthrough of the past century, including the
use of tamoxifen to reduce the risk of first or second breast cancer
occurrences. The
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is also active in the fight
against breast cancer, mobilizing more than 100,000 volunteers to defeat
legislation that would have allowed insurance companies to remove laws
guaranteeing cancer-screening coverage for women who need it. ACS CAN continues to support legislation
that would improve the quality of treatment for breast cancer patients and
the quality of life for breast cancer survivors. The
ACS said it is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by
saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research,
education, advocacy and service. Founded
in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 13 regional
divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers
across the United States. ACS
CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan partner advocacy organization of the
American Cancer Society, dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health
problem. ACS
CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to
support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS
CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more
information, visit www.acscan.org.,
call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org. There
are many myths about the issue, here are some facts. The
myth, finding a lump in your breast means you have breast cancer. The
truth, if you discover a persistent lump in your breast or any changes in
breast tissue, it is very important that you see a physician immediately. However,
8 out of 10 breast lumps are benign, or not cancerous. Sometimes
women stay away from medical care because they fear what they might find. Women
are encouraged to take charge of their health by performing routine breast
self-exams, establishing ongoing communication with their doctor and
scheduling regular
mammograms. The
myth, men do not get breast cancer. The
truth, quite the contrary. Each year it is estimated that approximately 1,700
men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 450 will die. While
this percentage is still small, men should also give themselves regular breast self-exams and note any
changes to their physicians. The
myth, a mammogram can cause breast cancer to spread. The
truth, a mammogram, or X-ray of the breast, is one of the best tools available
for the early detection of breast cancer. It cannot cause cancer to spread,
nor can the pressure put on the breast from the mammogram. Tales
of other people’s experiences should not keep people from having a mammogram.
Decisions
should be based on a physician's recommendation. The
myth, having a family history of breast cancer means you will get it. The
truth, while women who have a family history of breast cancer are in a higher
risk group, most women who have breast cancer have no family history. Those
with a mother, daughter, sister or grandmother who had breast cancer should have
a mammogram five years before the age of their diagnosis, or starting at age
35. The
myth, breast cancer is contagious. The
truth, one cannot catch breast cancer or transfer it to someone else’s body. Breast
cancer is the result of uncontrolled cell growth in one’s own body. However,
people can protect themselves by being aware of the risk factors and following an early detection plan. The
myth, knowing of changes in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene can help you prevent
breast cancer. The
truth, while alterations in these genes in men and women can predispose and
individual to an increased risk of breast cancer, only five to 10 percent of
patients actually have this mutation. This is not an absolute correlation. Like
age or having a family history of breast cancer, it’s a factor cannot be controlled.
But
people can let their physician know, perform regular breast
self-exams and focus on the fact chances of not having this disease are
greater then 90 percent. |
Meyers
had worked at the International House of Pancakes next to the entertainment
center. A
memorial service was Monday here and there was a private burial later this
week. Grey
Ranch gas plant to reopen OKLAHOMA
CITY – Sand-Ridge Energy, Inc., here announced this week it expects to have
its Grey Ranch Gas Plant back in service November 1. A
major explosion at the plant north of Sanderson June 27 caused extensive
damage to the plant but quick evacuation resulted in no casualties. The
announcement came in a statement that recent declines in natural gas prices
has caused the company to reduce its 2009 capital expenditure budget in half
from $2 billion to $1 billion. The
2008 production guidance remains unchanged, the company said. SandRidge
Chief Financial Officer Dirk M. Van Doren told the News Leader Monday there
was no estimate of damage to the Grey Ranch Plant. But
it was estimated at the time that it caused a net loss to SandRidge of
approximately 16.5 million cubic feet per day of methane sales. Meanwhile,
Van Doren said the schedule is “unchanged“ for construction of the “Century
Plant” this fall. SandRidge
and Occidental Petroleum of Los Angeles, CA, announced plans earlier to build
and operate the $1.1 billion carbon dioxide extraction Century Plant near US
285 and Puckett Road in Pecos County. As
a result of the planned reduction in capital expenditures, the SandRidge
production guidance for 2009 was lowered to 120 billion cubit feet from 135
billion cubic feet equivalent. The
reduced 2009 production reflects a 20 percent growth over expected 2008
production of 100 Bcfe. SandRidge
has opened the data room to evaluate the potential sale of its East Texas and
North Louisiana Cotton Valley and Haynesville assets. A
decision will be made in the fourth quarter. If the company chooses not to
sell these assets, it plans to fund its 2009 capital expenditure program with
internally generated cash flow and its existing $1.1 billion revolving credit
facility. SandRidge
continues to maintain its production guidance of 100 Bcfe for the 2008 full
year 2008 and third quarter guidance due to strong drilling performance in
the West Texas Overthrust. The
company entered the third quarter with 25 million cubic feet per day shut-in
because of the Grey Ranch Plant fire and well work in the Gulf Coast. During
the quarter the company was also impacted by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Van
Doren said the company did not lose any of its facilities in the storms but
“infrastructure problems” caused a reduction in the flow. “We
didn’t have any damage ourselves but one pipeline [carrying its product] was
busted,” he said. Overall,
the company experienced about 3.5 Bcfe of shut-ins during the third quarter
and production in the quarter is expected to be flat to second quarter 2008. “The
WTO [West Texas Overthrust] continues to outperform our expectations delivering
healthy metrics in the areas of production growth, reserve growth, and
finding costs,” SandRidge CEO and Chairman Tom L. Ward said. “Due to strong
drilling results in the WTO, we will be able to meet our 2008 production target
after tremendous adversities in Q3. “Identification
of the three major thrust faults from the Piñon 3D seismic data continues to
play a significant role in our company’s future growth,” he said “The ability
to pick locations and drill shallow Caballos wells from 3D in the different
thrust faults enabled us to significantly cut back our 2009 capex [capital
expenditure] budget by $1 billion and continue with production growth
guidance of 20 percent. “As
we move into 2010 and 2011 with the start-up of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Century
Plant, we will be able to grow at a rate of 30 percent or more in those
years.” Strasen,
Okun at art exhibition MARFA
– A special art exhibition here
today will feature two internationally renowned artists, Barbara Strasen and
Jenny Okun, at the historic Building 98 at Fort D.A. Russell. The
event, sponsored by Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, also marks the
opening of the 20th Anniversary Chinati Open House Weekend, a major international
art event. Strasen
will exhibit a new group of six multi-part artworks in banner format. Her
works are contemporary riffs on iconic Texas imagery. She
will also exhibit a group of singular painted lenticular artworks. Okun’s
artwork consists of large-scale color photographic interpretations of
buildings by Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Richard Meier and other renowned
architects. “Okun’s
photographs go right to the soul of architecture, allowing us to share her
vision of the creativity of the architect,” Gehry was quoted as saying. “Marfa
is a serious and well respected arts community,” Grubb & Ellis Realty
Investors’ Regional Asset Manager Ross Crowe said. “The opportunity to
present this exhibition with Barbara Strasen and Jenny Okun is extremely
important to Grubb & Ellis. “It
reinforces our commitment to the visual arts and we are excited and proud to
be a part of this notable weekend,” Crowe said. In
conjunction with the opening, Grubb & Ellis will donate two sculptures to
Building 98, the works of the late George Sugarman. In
the early 1960s, Sugarman, along with Donald Judd, were among the first
artists to create large-scale sculptures and place them directly in the
viewer’s space – on the floor. These
sculptures have been fully restored and will be a permanent part of the
gallery’s collection. “We
are delighted to accept these inspired sculptures and add them to our
permanent collection,” Building 98 representative Mona Blocker Garcia said.
“George Sugarman was a prolific artist and
his work is highly regarded.” Building 98 at Fort D.A. Russell was formerly an
officer’s club and bachelor officer’s quarters. The building still contains oil-on-plaster murals
painted by German prisoners of war interned at the camp between 1943 and
1945, some of the few murals of this kind still in existence. All of Fort D.A. Russell was designated a National
Historic Monument by the United States Department of Interior in January of
2007. BIG
BEND – The flooding long the Rio Grande from Presidio east to Lajitas and Big
Bend National Park has subsided this week but many have been devastated by
the high waters. The
International Bridge between Presidio and Ojinaga reopened this week but
State Highway 170, also known as the River Road, remained closed and is
expected to remain so for a considerable period because of extensive damage. The
Big Bend Baptist Association is coordinating an effort to assist the victims
of the floods in Presidio and Ojinaga. Marathon
residents who want to contribute to the effort may deliver goods to the Marathon
Baptist Church Fellowship Hall behind the church or contact T.J. Joyner at
432/386-4370 to have items picked up. Donors
can also contribute money. Items
required include flour and baking powder in ten-pound bags, beans and rice in
four-pound bags, eight-ounce jars of instant coffee, 25.6-ounce boxes of
powdered milk, 48-ounce bottles of vegetable oil, 26-ounce cardboard cans of
salt, 18-ounce bottles of oatmeal, one-pound packages of instant potatoes,
eight-ounce cans of tomato sauce and 15.25-ounce cans of corn. Items
or money should be turned in by the end of the day on Sunday, Oct. 12, so
they can be delivered to Presidio on Monday. Boxes
for individual families will be packaged with the multiple items. The sizes
stipulated will fit into the boxes. to
disadvantaged FORT STOCKTON – Specially targeted
farm loans known as Socially Disadvantaged Applicant Loans are now available
from the US Department of Agriculture’s
Farm Service Agency here. The
loan programs are designed to help farmers purchase and operate family farms,
Farm Loan Manager William H. McAnally said. He said FSA hopes to “help reverse the declining number
of farmers and ranchers across the United States and to encourage and assist
them in owning and operating their own farms and ranches, participate in
agricultural programs and become integral parts of the agricultural
community.” FSA reserves a portion of its loan guarantee funds each
year for SDA loans. McAnally said USDA defines socially disadvantaged
applicants as a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic or
gender prejudice because of their identity as members of the group without
regard to their individual qualities. For purposes of the program, socially disadvantaged
groups are women, African Americans, American Indians and Alaskan Natives,
Hispanics and Asians and Pacific Islanders. Direct loans are made to applicants by FSA and include
both farm operating and farm ownership loans. Guaranteed loans also may be made for farm ownership or
operating purposes and may be made by any lending institution subject to
Federal or State supervision and guaranteed by FSA. This includes banks, savings and loans, credit unions
and units of the Farm Credit System including the Bank for Cooperatives. Typically,
FSA guarantees 90 or 95 percent of a loan against any loss that might be incurred
if the loan fails. “Repayment terms for direct operating loans depend on the
collateral securing the loan and usually run from one to seven years and repayment
terms for direct ownership loans can be as long as 40 years,” McAnally said. Guaranteed loan terms and interest rates are set by the
lender. Interest rates for direct loans are set periodically
according to the government’s cost of borrowing. FORT
STOCKTON – The old jailhouse here is up for bids. County
commissioners voted last month to put out a call for bids on the old jail,
built in 1883. The
Longfellow Ranch was interested in leasing the old building for office space
but opposition developed to the Longfellow plan. Billy
Moody of Fort Stockton said he and others would fight just as hard if Texas
wanted to lease out the Alamo, he “just doesn’t understand wanting to lease
out history,” he told the Fort Stockton Pioneer. Allie
Slater, a spokesman for the Longfellow ranch, said the ranch had planned to
spend $200,000 on a new roof and other renovations on the old big house. The
building is currently the property of the Historical Commission, which voted
11-7 to reject the Longfellow proposal a little over a month ago. Bids
will be opened at 11 a.m. October 27. free
seminar on taxes ODESSA
– Texas Comptroller Susan Combs’ office will offer a free seminar here to
help area businesses with their tax obligations. “Operating
a business has many challenges but figuring out your taxes should not be one
of them,” Combs said. “Whether you are a new taxpayer or one who has been in
business for many years, this seminar will help you understand the laws that
apply to you and your business.” She
said the seminar will provide information on sales tax forms, taxability
issues, taxpayer responsibilities and services provided by the comptroller’s
office. Combs
said members of her office will be available for questions and to provide
assistance. The
seminar will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct., 23, at the Permian Basin
Small Business Development Center at 1400 N. FM 1788 here. For
more information on the seminar, call 432/550-3027. Those who are unable to
attend the seminar can call the comptroller’s toll-free tax assistance line
at 800/252-5555. Tax
forms and information are also available on the website www.window.state.tx.us |