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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Monday, November 6, 2000
Final early voting below totals for primary
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, November 6, 2000 - Early voting ended on Friday in Reeves County
for Tuesday's General Election, with totals below those of the March Democratic
Party primary election, but above the number of voters who cast their ballots
early in the April primary runoff elections.
The remaining county voters will have one last chance to cast their
ballots on Tuesday, when Election Day voting is held at the 12 polling
sites in the county.
Voting will be held from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at the 12 polling sites
in Reeves County. Barstow voters can cast their ballots from 7 a.m. until
7 p.m. Tuesday at the Barstow Community Center.
A total of 1,237 individuals cast their ballots early at the Reeves
County Courthouse with a total of 147 mail-in ballots. That's well below
the 2,100-plus voters who cast ballots early in the March primary, but
above the 1,068 total who voted early in April's runoff elections.
The drop in early voting is due mainly to the fact that Reeves County
candidates remain almost exclusively on the Democratic side. There are
no contested local elections on Tuesday's ballot, and only one contested
one regionally, for the 23rd Congressional District, where incumbent
Republican Henry Bonilla is being challenged by Democrat Isidro Garza.
Bonilla's office said the four-term representative would be in Austin
on Tuesday night with Gov. George W. Bush, whose campaign will be awaiting
the results of his presidential campaign against Democrat Al Gore. Bush's
expected big win in Texas, combined with the big win Republican Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison is expected to get in her race against Democrat "Gene"
Kelly has held down voter interest in this year's election as well.
Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney are facing Gore and his vice-presidential
nominee, Joe Lieberman. Libertarians Harry Browne and Art Olivier, Green
Party candidate Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke, and independent (Reform
Party) candidate Pat Buchanan and Ezola Foster are the other names on the
presidential ballot
Along with Hutchison and Kelly, others on the ballot for U.S. Senate
are Mary J. Ruwart, Lib. and Douglas S. Sandage, Grn., while Bonilla and
Garza are also running against Libertarian Jeffrey C. Blunt, in the congressional
election.
In the race for District 80 State Representative, incumbent Gary L.
Walker, of Plains is unopposed in his bid for a fourth term in Austin.
Over in Ward County, the race is a little more interesting for Barstow
voters. They'll be casting ballots in the District 73 State Representative
race, where incumbent Democrat Bob Turner is being challenged by Republican
Steve Fryar for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives. District
73 includes Ward and part of Ector County.
One, former 143rd District Attorney Hal Upchurch, is running
against Kevin Acker for the position of Ward County Attorney. Upchurch
has been in private practice in Monahans since serving as DA for Reeves,
Ward and Loving counties in the late 1980s and early 1990s, while Acker
is running as a Democrat to retain the post of county attorney he's held
since the early 1990s.
All Ward County voters will decide the Upchurch-Acker race, while the
other write-in race will not involve voters in Barstow. Pablo Valles is
challenging incumbent Ron Widdess for the position of Precinct 3 Commissioner
in next Tuesday's election.
Voters in Ward and Reeves County will also cast ballots for 143rd
District Judge, where Democrat Bob Parks is unopposed, and for 143rd
District Attorney, where Democrat Randy Reynolds is unopposed.
Other Reeves County unopposed raced are:
County Attorney: Luis U. Carrasco, Dem.
District Clerk, Unexpired Term: Pat Tarin, Dem.
Sheriff: Arnulfo "Andy" Gomez, Dem.
County Tax Assessor-Collector: Elfida Zuniga, Dem.
County Commissioner, Precinct No. 3: Herman Tarin, Dem.
Constable, Precinct No. 3: Tomas "Tommy" Martinez, Dem.
Other state and regional candidates on Tuesday's ballot include:
Railroad Commissioner candidates are: Charles R. Matthews, Rep.; Carolyn
Fields, Lib. and Gary Dugger, Grn.
Railroad Commissioner, unexpired term: Michael L. Williams, Rep.; Anthony
Garcia, Lib. and Charles L. Mauch, Grn.
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 1: Nathan Hecht, Rep.; Mike Jacobellis,
Lib. and Ben G. Levy, Grn.
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2: Priscilla Owen, Rep. and Joe Alfred
Izen, Jr. Lib.
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 3: Al Gonzales, Rep. and Lance Smith,
Lib.
Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals: Sharon Keller, Rep. and
Bill Vance, Dem.
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3: Charles Holcombe, Rep. and
Rife Scott Kimler, Lib.
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2: Barbara Parker Hervey, Rep.
and William R. Barr, Dem.
Justice, 8th Court of Appeals District, Place 1: Ann Crawford
McClure, Dem.
Justice, 8th Court of Appeals District, Place 2: David Wellington
Chew, Dem.
Autopsy shows stab wounds killed deputy
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, November 6, 2000 - Autopsy results confirm that Ward County Sheriff's
Deputy Lee Russ was killed by "sharp force injuries" according to Justice
of the Peace Ronold Ray.
Russ was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance
call on Sunday, Oct. 29, at a home on the south side of Monahans.
When Monahans police and Department of Public Safety officers arrived
at the trailer house they found the bodies of Russ, 48, Norma Sepulveda
Galindo, 24, and Jose Ignacio Galindo, 29.
Investigators initially reported that Russ and Norma Galindo died as
a result of stab wounds and Jose Galindo died as a result of gunshot wounds.
They speculated that Russ was stabbed by Jose Galindo while trying to protect
Norma Galindo, but was able to fire his service revolver at Jose Galindo,
killing him.
Ray pronounced the three people dead at the scene and ordered autopsies.
He said he has received autopsy reports for Russ and Norma Galindo but
has not received the results for Jose Galindo.
"It is my conclusion that Lee Russ, 48, white male died as a result
of sharp force injuries," Ray said.
He said Russ was stabbed 15 times with two of them being fatal stab
wounds that either one could have killed him.
"He died of multiple stab wounds," he said.
Ray said Norma Galindo also died of multiple stab wounds and both deaths
were homicides.
The JP added that there would be a grand jury meeting to discuss the
investigation.
"My understanding is there's going to be a grand jury convening this
week," Ray said.
District Attorney Randy Reynolds confirmed that there would be a Grand
Jury meeting on Wednesday.
"I will provide them with the information of what we've learned," Reynolds
said.
Reynolds said the Grand Jury was scheduled to meet last Thursday but
he canceled it because that was the day Russ' and Galindo's funerals were
scheduled.
Area's UP train tracks not on state's `bad' list
From Staff and Wire Reports
PECOS, November 6, 2000 - Track reconstruction along Union Pacific's
main line between Fort Worth and El Paso has kept the section through the
Pecos area off a list of allegedly unsafe tracks operated by the company
in Texas.
The report by the Texas Railroad Commission said Union Pacific Railroad
tracks statewide are in disrepair, and some of the worst sections of track
are those that handle high volumes of hazardous or toxic cargo in the Gulf
Coast area.
Union Pacific, the largest carrier in Texas, has about half, or 6,300
miles, of the state's almost 12,000 miles of mainline track. The commission,
which regulates rail operations as well as oil and gas production and environmental
safety, routinely inspects 1,455 miles. The Federal Railroad Administration
inspects the rest.
The state commission's third-quarter 2000 report states much of the
track it inspects overall is in "less than favorable" condition. Tracks
running from Bloomington to Algoa, through Gulf Coast counties, and the
yards and rail at Angleton and Sweeny, both in Brazoria County, are in
"very poor" condition, the report says.
Those tracks handle large volumes of hazardous and toxic chemicals.
The report also says Union Pacific's maintenance operations are inadequately
equipped, and the railroad doesn't have enough inspectors to maintain their
assigned territories. The report also said Union Pacific inspectors failed
to report actual track conditions after they inspect them.
Mark Davis, a spokesman for Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific, said state
officials overstated the problem and that the company had been diligent
in fixing problems in its rail lines, including recently replacing 600
ties in Angleton.
"We have an excellent safety record, which ties into the way we maintain
our track," Davis told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for Sunday's editions.
"It does not do us any good to ignore maintenance of a railroad," Davis
said. "Union Pacific would not be in business if we did."
The company will spend $248.5 million this year and $333.8 million in
2001 on maintenance in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and
Arkansas. Much of that will be spent in Texas, Davis said.
Union Pacific crews in late 1999 and early this year replaced a 30-mile
stretch of track running from Toyah to east of Barstow. The project involved
replacing the old rails and wooden railroad crossings with new rail and
concrete crossings, which would allow higher-speeds for trains along the
line, and handle the increase volume of trains that Union Pacific has added
on its Fort Worth-El Paso route.
The work also included construction of a new railroad siding west of
Pecos, and came a year after two derailments occurred within a two-month
span in Reeves County.
In October 1998, four cars of an eastbound Union Pacific train derailed
siding at Toyah and fell off their wheels. No one was hurt in the derailment,
which occurred just west of town when the train was headed off the siding
towards Big Spring, according to a train crew member.
In December 1998, 16 cars of a mile-long eastbound Union Pacific freight
train derailed at the Farm Road 2119 (Duval Road) crossing, a mile west
of Pecos.
No one was injured, and there was no release of dangerous chemicals.
Most of the 91 cars on the train were empty, and only one of those derailed
carried freight, said Mark Davis, media contact for Union Pacific. That
car carried Perlit, a form of blow-in insulation.
Residues in some of the empty cars could be hazardous if spilled, but
nothing was reported escaping from them, Davis said. Among the residues
were a corrosive, denatured alcohol, imodium nitrate, aluminum dust and
anhydrous ammonia.
While the Texas Railroad Commission's report was critical of Union Pacific,
officials from the Federal Railroad Administration did not reach the same
conclusions about the company's tracks in Texas after reviewing the report.
"Upon closer examination, FRA has not identified systemic or ongoing
hazards related to Union Pacific's track maintenance in Texas," said Warren
Flatau, an administration spokesman in Washington.
The railroad administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation,
regulates the nation's railroads. It has 480 field safety personnel, 51
who inspect tracks nationwide. Texas has nine track inspectors and two
supervisors stationed in Hurst near Fort Worth.
Still, the report has worried some agency officials that a derailment
similar to a May accident in Eunice, La., could happen in Texas, especially
in a highly populated area like Fort Worth, where trains routinely transport
chlorine, sulfuric acid, anhydrous ammonia and propane.
A track running from Fort Worth to Big Sandy in East Texas was listed
in poor condition.
Over 200 people were evacuated from Eunice, La., about 80 miles west
of Baton Rouge, after a train carrying chemicals derailed and exploded.
Among the chemicals being carried were methyl chloride, acrylic acid and
dichloropropane.
Acrylic acid has vapors that can irritate the lungs, nose and throat.
Other chemicals on the train could cause dizziness, convulsions, lung irritation
and even death if people came in contact with large amounts.
Vence Haggard, the commission's Amarillo-based track safety supervisor,
told the newspaper he has been told by Federal Railroad Administration
officials that broken joint bars caused the derailment. Joint bars connect
sections of rail. After the accident, inspectors found an additional 440
broken joint bars, Haggard said.
"That puts the seriousness of track conditions into perspective," he
said.
But Davis downplayed the
Pot, coke, cash seized in busts by task force
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, November 6, 2000 - Several grams of cocaine and 54.8 pounds of
marijuana didn't make it to the buyers, thanks to the work of the Trans
Pecos Drug Task Force along with other law enforcement agencies in two
separate incidents, last week and in mid-October.
The latest incident occurred last Thursday at around 9 p.m., when officers
with the Pecos task force, Midland County Sheriff's Department, Midland
Police Department and the West Texas Narcotics Task Force, concluded a
two-month investigation.
Officers confiscated 28.4 grams of cocaine during that investigation
and arrested Jesus Acosta Benavides, 29, for possession of a controlled
substance (cocaine).
Also seized during this investigation was $17,089 in cash.
Benavides remains in Midland County Jail and other arrests may be pending,
according to Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Commander Gary Richards.
In the earlier incident, the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force assisted the
United States Border Patrol agents Chris Rickand Roger Lasmith in a routine
traffic stop at mile marker 150 in Culberson County, 10 miles east of Van
Horn.
During the traffic stop officers searched the vehicle, after receiving
consent from the owners and discovered 54.8 pounds of marijuana in a hidden
compartment.
The two subjects, both from Mexico were arrested. Jaime Diaz and Jose
Moreno, both of Juarez, Mexico were placed under arrest and a 1991 Ford
Explorer was seized, according to Richards.
Museum hosting annual fundraiser
PECOS, November 6, 2000 - The West of the Pecos Museum is hosting their
Annual Election Day Fundraiser from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., Tuesday
on the first floor of the building.
This year the museum will be having fajitas and all the fixings. Delicious
fajitas with all the trimmings will be available, along with dessert and
a drink for $7.
The annual fundraiser is sponsored by Texas-New Mexico Power Company.
Obituary
Lula Samples
Lula Mae Samples, 92, of Pecos, died Friday, Nov. 3, 2000, at the Pecos
Nursing Home.
Services were held at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5, at the Pecos Funeral Home
Chapel with Rev. Bruce Abbott and Rev. Joe Terry officiating.
A service is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Fort Worth with burial
in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth.
She was born Oct. 4, 1908, in Anderson, was a retired service employee
for Texas-Pacific Railroad and a Methodist.
Survivors include one daughter, Daisy Roquemore of Pecos; one sister,
Billie Sadler of Pecos; three grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren
and several nieces and nephews.
Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Weather
PECOS, November 6, 2000 - High Sunday 73. Low this morning 54. Weekend
rainfall at the Texas A&M Experiment Station .16 inch. Forecast for
tonight: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain after midnight. Low in the
mid 40s. East wind 10-15 mph. The chance of rain is 40 percent. Tuesday:
Cloudy with rain likely. High in the upper 40s. Northeast wind 10-20 mph.
The chance of rain is 70 percent. Tuesday night: Occasional rain, sleet
and snow. Low in the mid 30s. Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of
rain or snow. High in the mid 40s.
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
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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