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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Friday, October 20, 2000
Local jobless rate for city, county continues decline
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - Reeves County's unemployment continued its
downward trend in September, while the Town of Pecos City finally saw its
jobless numbers dip below the 10 percent level, according to figures released
Thursday by the Texas Workforce Commission.
The city's jobless rate for September was 9.6 percent, after falling
to 10 percent in August, the TWC said. Reeves County, meanwhile, saw its
unemployment rate also drop by four-tenths of a percent, from 8.8 to 8.4
percent last month.
The conclusion of the cantaloupe harvest season contributed to a reduction
in the local job market, but it was outpaced by a decline in the number
of people in the city and country workforce as the heart of the harvest
season ended.
Reeves County's workforce dropped by 187 last month, to 7,738, while
the workforce was down by 146 to 7,087 in September. The 651 people without
jobs is the low so far in 2000, while the jobless rate is the lowest is
2½ years.
Pecos saw its workforce drop by 150, to 6,051 last month, while the
number of people with jobs slipped by 113, to 5,468. The 9.6 jobless rate
is also the lowest since before the downturn in the Permian Basin oil industry
in late 1998.
Both the city and county jobless rates remain above those for the Permian
Basin as a whole, the TWC reported. The regional rate was 5.5 percent last
month, down a tenth of a percent from August, with Midland-Odessa's combined
rate at 5.4 percent, down .2 from August.
Overall, the job picture was mixed for area cities. Ector County and
Odessa matched Reeves County and Pecos with a .4 percent drop in joblessness,
but Midland County and the city of Midland were up .2 percent. Ward County
had the biggest overall drop, falling from 8.5 to 7.6 percent, as the number
of jobs in the county was up slightly while the workforce declined, and
Howard and Andrews counties also saw September unemployment rates fall.
Pecos County and Crane County saw their jobless rates increase by .2
and .4 percent last month, and Presidio County, which continues to have
the region's worst unemployment rate, saw its jobless rate jump by two
percent, to 30.4 percent in September.
Annual anti-drug rally held for P-B-T kids
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - A sea of red could be seen at the Pecos Eagle
Stadium this morning as all Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD students participated
in the Annual District Drug-Free Pep Rally.
Students bore red in honor of Red Ribbon Week, which will be observed
next week. Red Ribbon Week is dedicated to slain Drug Enforcement Agency
officer Enrique Camarena.
All law enforcement agencies were invited to the special event, along
with the elected officials from Reeves County, the Town of Pecos City and
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah school board members.
Those who were at the rally included the school board, Precinct 4 Commissioner
Hivi Rayos, city council member Larry Levario and interim city manager
Octavio Garcia. Law enforcement officials included Police Chief Clay McKinney
and members of the department, the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force crew, Border
Patrol, SWAT Team, and the S.O.R.T. Team from the Reeves County Detention
Center.
The rally consisted of several activities, including the reading of
the history of Red Ribbon Campaign, skits and cheers from the different
cheerleading groups.
The S.O.R.T. team did a presentation and drawings were held from each
school for bicycles. The names were chosen at random during the rally and
were the names of students with perfect attendance. The high school winner
received a television set.
Thursday raid nets heroin possession arrest
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - A day before today's District Wide Drug-Free
Pep Rally, a Pecos man landed in jail on a possession of heroin charge.
At 9:27 a.m. Thursday, officers from the Pecos Police Department, Reeves
County Sheriff's Department and the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force, executed
a narcotics search warrant at the home of Raul Fuentez Martinez, 616 S.
Sycamore St. After executing the warrant two male subjects were found inside
at the residence by the officers.
"After the two subjects were secured the officers proceeded to search
the residence for narcotics or other contraband that might be found," said
Pecos Police Investigator Paul Deishler.
During the search of the premises the officers located material that
is commonly used in the packaging of heroin and also located a substance
believed to be heroin, according to Deishler.
This contraband was found inside the residence.
Officers completed their search of the residence and arrested Raul Martinez,
47. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance (heroin) and
possession of drug paraphernalia.
The other individual was released, according to Deishler.
Bond for Martinez has been set at $1,500 for the possession of controlled
substance charge and $250 for the possession of drug paraphernalia.
RCDC construction issues top commissioners' agenda
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - Requests by Banes General Contractors, Inc. for
payment on additional items, change orders and a time extension will be
the topics of discussion at the regular meeting of the Reeves County Commissioners.
The group will meet at 9:45 a.m., Monday, to discuss Banes and several
other items. The public is invited to attend.
Commissioners will discuss the 2000 Reeves County tax roll appraisal
values; amendment to DRG Architectural Service agreement; DRG Architect's
request for payment invoice 206 and 207; computer software development
and installation professional services contract for RCDC Operation; Crime
Victims Assistance Program Grant acceptance and legal counsel professional
services contract for the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force.
In addition, the group will discuss and approve vehicle lease for district
attorney's office; state travel management program and bond and oath for
county auditor's office, Connie Levario.
Regular items on the agenda to discuss and take action on include:
· Reports from various departments.
· Budget amendments and line-item transfers.
· Personnel and salary changes (RCDC, county clerk, juvenile
detention center, recreation department).
· Minutes from previous meetings.
· Semi-monthly bills.
McKinney turned college job Into full-time career in Pecos
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of the stories saluting Business
Women's Week in Pecos. Other stories on local women in business are in
Section B of today's paper
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - Pride for Pecos and wonderful, friendly people
are what keep Pecos native Brenda McKinney in town.
McKinney has lived in Pecos all her life with the exception of her college
years at Sul Ross University where she started looking towards a career
in coaching but quickly changed her mind.
McKinney said while at Sul Ross she got a job with a bank in Alpine
and decided she would like to peruse a career in the banking business.
"After working in that bank I thought it was kind of neat," she said.
"I liked working with the people. I decided that's what I'd rather do."
McKinney then moved back to Pecos when her husband, Clay, got his first
job offer at the Pecos Police Department. "I didn't think I would ever
come back here but now I wouldn't go anywhere else," she said.
McKinney is currently Assistant Vice President at Security State Bank
where she has been working for the past 13 years, while Clay has been the
city's Chief of Police for the past four years.
She said she loves the people she works with and being able to help
the customers with certificates of deposit, safety deposit boxes and new
accounts.
When McKinney first came to Security she worked as a teller and moved
her way through various departments before getting the Assistant vice president
position.
McKinney is also involved in various activities around town.
She has been involved with the West of the Pecos Rodeo Committee for
11 years and is now serving as president She has also been on the Women's
Division of the Pecos Chamber of Commerce since the early 1990s and is
also an officer with the Catholic Daughters of America.
"I also try to stay active with my kids," she said. "The rest of my
life is devoted to them."
McKinney has two sons and a daughter, one of whom is away for college.
McKinney said she tries to stay involved in the community because she
is proud of Pecos and tries to help improve the city.
"I want to be able to voice my opinion because I care about Pecos,"
she said.
McKinney said she loves working at the bank and working with her co-workers
and does not have any plans for leaving.
"This is my hometown and I plan on living here the rest of my life,"
she said.
Funerals rites in region carry own traditions
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one in a continuing series of
features on historical graveyards and funerals in the Pecos region.
By The GHOST WRITER
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - Funerals, like graveyards, are in keeping
with racial traditions and customs. Some are quite formal with a preacher
telling the audience what they must do to go to Heaven as the one before
them in the coffin. You at times wonder if the person to be buried is the
same one the preacher is describing.
Then there is the sadist who, like some talk shows, loves to see the
children of the deceased cry and can prolong their suffering for extended
periods. And there are the funerals with mariachis and a friendly, hand-
holding atmosphere where they send the dead off on a happy note. (A Bible
teaching) I have attended a funeral where there was no mention of the person
and it ended in about fifteen minutes.
A most interesting funeral was recorded by J.O. Langford in his book
Big Bend A Homesteader's Story. Mr. Langford, his wife and daughter,
homesteaded at Hot Springs on the Rio Grande in 1906 and he described the
funeral of a friend's son who lived in San Vicente, Mexico. His friend,
Gregorio, was a rich man for that time and for that part of the country.
And the informant who told Lanford of the death reported that the boy was
just as dead as if he had been the son of a poor man.
As Mr. Langford approached Gregorio's door, he came out to greet him,
they shook hands and he said, "Senor, my son is dead," and returned to
his house. There were no tears from the many nearby, only silence. Four
men lifted the body to a litter and raised it to their shoulders, the jefe
fired his pistol and the funeral procession began; first the body, than
the family, than the friends and last the jefe with his pistol.
You heard only the sound their feet on the gravel, broken five times
by the report of jefe's pistol. The grave had been dug and the people gathered
around and four men got into the grave and eased the body into its resting
place. A board was placed over the head of the son and the father than
the mother took a handful of dirt and threw on their son and than the family
and friends did the same.
When the grave was one- third full, the strongest man of the village
got into the grave and lifted a large stone above his head and dropped
it on the loose dirt and repeated this until every inch had been packed.
The dirt was packed three times by the poor sweating man. The grave was
mounded and the men placed large stones on it, the women smaller ones and
the children even smaller stones until the mound was completely covered.
A cottonwood cross made of two limbs lashed together by rawhide was placed
at the head of the mound. Than the pent-up tears began to flow and the
anguish of spirit was released. The son of a rich man had been buried.
Visual color images dominate story line in Lopez' "The Cell"
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - Not since the tornado planted Dorothy into
Oz has a movie created such feeling and amazement with color film as New
Line Cinema's 'The Cell'.
This very vivid and colorful movie about a woman who goes into the mind
of a killer is one of the best visual movies ever made.
The movie stars Jennifer Lopez ('Selena') as child therapist Catherine
Deane.
Deane uses her talents as a child therapist to try and find out where
Carl Stargher played by Vincent D'Onofrio ('Men In Black') has placed his
latest victim by entering his twisted and frightening mind.
Lopez gives probably the best performance since her portrayal as the
late-Tejano superstar Selena. She is able to make the audience fear for
her and understand her love of helping people.
D'Onofrio also gives a convincing and creepy performance of his role
as the psycho killer.
Vince Vaughn ('Psycho') who plays the FBI agent Peter Novak also gives
a good performance making the audience wonder what has happened to him
in the past to make him so intent of helping Stargher's victim.
Making his movie directorial debut, Tarsem Singh does a wonderful job
with his choice of camera shots and angles.
Singh, who also directed R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" video had to
have had a wonderful crew of set and costume designers and make-up artists.
The dream sequences are so vivid and real that make the audience think
twice about going to sleep after watching the movie.
The choice of so many contrasting and complementing colors are so amazing
that one might wonder why people still love black and white movies.
In fact, the sets and costuming are so wonderful and amazing that 'The
Cell' will surely receive many Academy Award nominations.
'The Cell' is definitely worth watching because everyone should see
at some point in life the beauty of color but do not watch it alone.
'The Cell' is rated R.
Computer classes at OC's center start next week
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - The Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce in conjunction
with Odessa College Technical Training Center in Pecos will be sponsoring
computer classes for Windows 98, MS Word and MS Excel.
These are eight hours, daytime classes and will start on Tuesday, Oct.
24. The tuition will be $39 for Chamber members and $59 for non-members.
Textbooks are not required, but are available in the OC-Pecos bookstore.
Registration will be at the Odessa College Technical Training Center
in Pecos.
For scheduled times and information call the chamber office at 445-2406
or go by the chamber office at 110 S. Cedar St.
Obituary
Heustacio Hernandez
Heustacio F. Hernandez, 71, of Odessa, died Friday, Oct. 20, 2000.
A rosary will be held at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, at Martinez Funeral Home
Chapel.
Mass is scheduled for 2 p.m., Monday, Oct. 23, at Santa Rosa Catholic
Church with burial in Greenwood Cemetery.
He was born April 29, 1929, in Balmorhea, was a lifetime resident and
a Catholic.
Survivors include his wife, Gabina P. Hernandez of Pecos; four sons,
Alfonso P. and Johnny P. Hernandez of Pecos, Robert P. Hernandez of Carlsbad,
N.M. and Henry P. Hernandez of Midland; seven daughters, Carolina H. Hajera,
Margarita H. Sanchez, Delma Russell, Lydia Davis, Sylvia Garcia, Amelia
H. Cameron and Rosa Maria Hernandez, all of Odessa; one sister, Juanita
Cuevas of Portales, N.M.; 43 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.
Martinez Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Weather
PECOS, October 20, 2000 - High Thursday 64. Low this morning 51. Rainfall
past 24 hours at Texas A&M Experiment Station .34 inch. Forecast for
tonight: Rain likely with a few embedded thunderstorms. Cloudy with areas
of fog. Heavy rain possible. Low in the mid 50s. Southeast wind 10-15 mph.
Chance of rain 70 percent. Saturday: Rain likely with a few embedded thunderstorms.
Mostly cloudy with a high near 70. Southeast wind 10-20 mph. Chance of
rain 60 percent. Saturday night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers
and thunderstorms. Low in the mid 50s. Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a chance
of showers and thunderstorms. Low in the 50s. High in the lower to mid
70s.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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