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Archive 2002

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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Top Stories

Thursday, May 9, 2002

New council, mayor sworn in; Ortega planning for future run

By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, Thurs., May 9, 2002 -- The Town of Pecos City officially has a new mayor and two new Council members after the three winners in last Saturday's election were sworn into office this morning during the regular Council meeting at City Hall.

Notary Lisa Reynolds swore newly elected Mayor Dot Stafford into her newest term at office during the meeting.

Stafford has previously served on the Council and had served two terms as mayor before being defeated by Ray Ortega in the mayoral election two years ago. Stafford won the position back from Ortega on Saturday.

Once officially taking office, Stafford got down to the business of swearing in the two new Council members, Michael Benavides and Angelica Valenzuela.

Benavides and Valenzuela are replacing former Councilmen Ricky Herrera and Danny Rodriguez.

However, before Ortega, Herrera and Rodriguez relinquished their offices Ortega made it a point to say he plans to run again in the city elections in the near future

Ortega never quite revealed his plans for the future but left the room stating he would be back, hinting that he plans to run for a council seat in next year's election.

"It would be interesting to have three mayors on the council," he said.

Councilman Frank Sanchez is also a former Pecos mayor. His two-year term will be up for election next year, along with those held by council members Gerald Tellez and Johnny Terrazas.

Before the swearing in ceremonies, one of the final actions of the old council was approval of the second reading of the ordinance that would allow the city to re-open the portion of 10th Street between Willow and Cherry Streets. The one-block section of street is being reopened after the closing last year of Pecos Elementary, which is located on the north side of the street.

The outgoing council also approved the resolution canvassing the election on May 4 as well as the municipal court reports, the juvenile monthly report and the accounts payable.

As their first official business the new council appointed a new Mayor Pro Tem, since Rodriguez previously held that position.

"May I recommend Councilor Gerald Tellez," Stafford said.

Stafford explained that she believed it would be wise to have a senior member of the council in that position.

Sanchez took Stafford's recommendation and nominated Tellez for the position, which the council approved.

"Thank you for your support," Tellez said. "I'll do the job to the best of my ability."

Once the council appointed Tellez as the new Mayor Pro Tem, Pecos Police Chief Clay McKinney gave members a status report on the new Pecos Municipal Law Enforcement Center.

McKinney reported that everything at the new jail is running smoothly, they are fully staffed and at full capacity.

"We're full," he said.

In fact, McKinney reported that they have been housing just over 96 federal prisoners, which is the number of beds the jail has.

"We have a few on the floor right now," he said.

McKinney explained that the police department plans to move the remaining staff to the new facility on Friday. The police department had to maintain communications facilities at their old headquarters on South Oak Street pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission of the relocation of the transmission antenna.

The council ended this morning's meeting in executive session to discuss the duties of director of the Pecos Emergency Medical Service.

Juries acquit, convict pair in drug trials

By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Thurs., May 9, 2002 -- One Pecos man was put on probation while a second man was found not guilty by Reeves County juries this week in separate drug trials in 143rd District Court.

Adan Padilla, 53, of Pecos, was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, four grams or more, but less than 200 grams in a trial held Wednesday in 143rd District Court.

Padilla was sentenced to five years probation and had previously been out on a $25,000 bond.

He was arrested on Jan. 11, 2002, in the 1100 block of East Third Street for possession of a controlled substance-cocaine, a first-degree felony, resisting arrest and inspection refusal on licensed premises.

The Chavez Law Firm of Odessa represented Padilla, while District Attorney Randy Reynolds was the prosecutor for the trial.

In the other trial, which was held on Monday and Tuesday of this week, Herbey Garcia Armendariz, of Pecos, was found not guilty of a drug possession charge.

Armendariz was arrested May 11, 2000, and charged with possession of a controlled substance, heroin.

He had been out on a $10,000 bond and was represented by Brian Chavez of Odessa.

Judge Bob Parks 143rd District presided over the trials in District Court at the Reeves County Courthouse.

City's tax rebate check down slightly for May

Sales tax rebate figures for the Town of Pecos City were virtually unchanged for May, in a month when most other area cities saw either sharp increases or declines in their tax rebate checks from State Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander's office.

Figures released today show Pecos received $74,010 back from Austin this month, as its 1½-cent share of Texas' 8-¼ cent sales tax. That represents a drop of 1.82 percent from May of 2001, when the city got back $75,384 in tax rebates from Rylander's office. For the first five months of 2002, the city has gotten back $326,983 from the comptroller's office, an increase of 4.33 percent from a year ago.

The May rebate checks are based on sales made during March. One-sixth of the city's total, or $12,335, goes to the Pecos Economic Development Corp.

Across the Permian Basin and Trans-Pecos region, most other cities saw their rebate checks either increase or decline by five percent or more, with the majority of towns reporting double-digit changes from a year ago.

Andrews, which saw a sharp jump in their tax rebate total last month, had another major increase in May. It's rebate check for $142,475 was up 62.42 percent from last year. No other city has as big a change, but Presidio and Van Horn also reported increases of 10 percent or more in their rebate checks.

Going in the other direction, Alpine, Big Spring, Midland and Monahans saw their rebate checks drop by more than 10 percent, while Crane, Fort Stockton, Kermit and Odessa's checks declined by over five percent.

Reeves County's other two cities that collect sales taxes, Balmorhea and Toyah, also reported similar changes, as did the Reeves County Hospital District.

Balmorhea's check for May was $1,399, which was up 10.57 percent from last May's $1,265 total, while Toyah's check for $407 was down 28.18 percent from last year, when the city got back $568 from Austin. For all of 2002, Balmorhea has gotten $5,663 in tax rebates, up 72.14 percent, while Toyah has gotten $2,211, a drop of 40.29 percent.

The May tax rebate check for the hospital district, based on their ½-cent sales tax, was $33,553, which was up 28.42 percent from the $26,126 check from May of last year. The hospital has gotten back $154,339 for the first five months of 2002, an increase of 26.37 percent from last year.

Statewide, sales tax rebates dropped 5.93 percent from last year, Rylander's office said, from $276.2 million to $259.8 million. Houston's $32.7 million check again was the single largest one in the state, but was down 5.6 percent, while Dallas had the second largest check, of $19.5 million, but that was 14.13 percent less than a year ago.

Mother's Day dance at Reeves County Sheriff's Posse Barn

PECOS, Thurs., May 9, 2002 -- Reeves County Sheriff's Posse will be hosting a Mother's Day dance faturing RimFire on Saturday, May 11, 2002 from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. at the Reeves County Sheriff Posse Barn, Pecos, Tx. $5.00 per person and children under 12 free.

Beer and setups will be sold.
 

Weather

PECOS, Thurs., May 9, 2002 -- High Wednesday 94. Low this morning 58. Forecast for tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows 55 to 60. East winds 5 to 15 mph. Friday: Mostly cloudy and breezy with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs 90 to 95. South winds 15 to 25 mph. Friday night: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows 55 to 60. Saturday: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Highs 90 to 95. The chance of rain is 20 percent. Sunday: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Lows 55 to 60. Highs 90 to 95.



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