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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Renovations shift Mass from Santa Rosa to St. Catherine's
JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- Robert Munoz will be working for the
next two weeks under the watchful eye of the Lord, literally.
Munoz, an employee with Airlawn Furniture, is working on the renovations
at Santa Rosa Catholic Church.
Munoz had been an employee with Budweiser before going to work with
Airlawn Furniture three months ago, where his experience as a carpenter
has come in useful.
"I worked for Budweiser before but I have had five or six years of experience
(as a carpenter)," Munoz said. "We do a little bit of every thing here."
Munoz said that his experience came from working with Perkins Construction
here in Pecos.
Munoz said that the reason for leaving Budweiser was because he enjoyed
the challenge of building things as a child.
"It is something I used to do as a little kid," Munoz said. "I missed
the challenge of building things."
Building the new alter for the church is different from anything else
he has had to build, he said.
"We are trying to finish as soon as possible, before Sunday, hopefully
by Friday," Munoz said. "We want to finish so that there can be Mass on
Sunday."
Munoz said that he and his partner Joey Villanueva started Monday after
lunch and hope to finish the tile by Friday. If they finish by then, they
will begin laying the vinyl on Monday.
Because of the construction Masses scheduled at Santa Rosa Catholic
Church this weekend have been canceled.
The schedule has been revised so that Saint Catherine's Catholic Church
can accommodate parishioners of both churches.
Confession will only be held at St. Catherine's on Saturday, June 22
from 4 p.m. till 5:30 p.m.
Mass at St. Catherine's will be in Spanish on Saturday, June 22, 7 p.m.
and in English on June 23, at 10:30 and at 12 noon.
Santa Rosa will be back on their regular schedule June 29 and 30.
Title I federal funding meeting scheduled
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- Parents of Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD
students along with other community members are invited to attend a meeting
for the school district's Title I program tomorrow.
The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Technology Center on Eddy
Street.
Newly appointed Special Programs Coordinator Juanita Davila said that
the meeting is to discuss the Title I program, which involves all programs
provided throughout the district other than regular curriculum.
"We're going to be talking about the Title I programs that the district
has," she said. "We are looking for ways to include the parent in the planning
process."
Title I is a federally funded grant program that allows school districts
to assist students including migrant and delinquent students. Pecos currently
has Title I programs that deal with drug issues, child abuse, delinquency
and the education of migrant students.
"We're trying to give the parents an opportunity to provide input for
all Title programs," Davila said.
These programs are taught to all students in the district.
Davila said she hopes many parents and community members would attend
the meeting to develop the Title I programs for the 2002-03 school year.
She said that these programs benefit all the students and help with
their overall school career.
"These are programs that will help improve our basic programs," she
said.
Task Force makes pot bust
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- A load of marijuana that was en-route
to Houston never made its destination thanks to the efforts of officers
with the Trans Pecos Drug Task Force.
At about 11 a.m., Monday, officers with the local task force working
HITA, (High drug Intensity Traffic activity Area) in Culberson County observed
a red Chevrolet S-10 blazer truck eastbound on I-10 at mile marker 150,
said Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Sergeant Investigator Kevin Roberts.
The officers stopped the truck for making an unsafe lane change and
spoke to the two individuals in the pickup truck.
The driver, Rene Martin Fierro, 27, and passenger, Hector Ismael Gloria,
both of El Paso, gave officers conflicting stories. The two admitted that
they were headed to Houston from El Paso, Roberts said.
Officers asked for consent to search the vehicle, after speaking to
the two. A Border Patrol Agent and his canine, came out to the scene. "He
ran his canine through the truck and immediately the dog jumped into the
pickup through the back window," said Roberts.
Roberts said that the dog quickly alerted to something in the back seat
of the SUV.
The truck was then taken into Van Horn for a more thorough search.
Officers located a bundle under the carpet in the rear portion of the
blazer. "They started drilling into the floorboard, which revealed the
marijuana bundles," said Roberts. "We used the Jaws of Life to extricate
the bricks," he said.
Roberts said they had drilled for a while when they ran into the trap
door. "We had already cut and cut when we finally found the trap door,"
he said.
The officers uncovered 16 bricks, totaling 83.70 pounds of marijuana,
with an approximate street value of $41,500. The charge is a second-degree
felony and both the driver and the passenger were transported to the Culberson
County Jail, he said.
Roberts and Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Sgt. Mike Henderson were assisted
by Border Patrol Agent John Urias and his dog, "Black," from Marfa.
"Our officers did an excellent job in working with other agencies,"
said Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Lieutenant Larry Arredondo. "In working
with other agencies, we have established a great relationship, because
we are all working towards the same cause," he said.
High school prom meeting
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- A meeting for all high school seniors
and their parents is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 25, at Anabel
Aguilar's home, 2100 Plum Street.
The meeting will cover topics such as the prom and the senior class
trip.
For more information call 447-6016.
Golden Girl tickets on sale
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- Tickets for the Golden Girl of the Old
West Revue are now on sale at the Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce Office,
111 S. Cedar.
Ticket price is $8 and the Golden Girl of the Old West Pageant will
be held at 7 p.m., Friday, June 28, at the Pecos High School Auditorium.
Tickets will be sold at the chamber office until June 27 and at the
door the night of the event.
Ghost Writer
Legend and superstition
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- How do you separate legend from superstition?
What legends and superstitions do you believe and what are their origins?
Our country is replete with stories, past and present that some people
believe and others scorn. Legends and superstitions are religious as well
as secular. Is "Water witching" legend, superstition or foolishness?
Water witching has nothing to do with witchcraft. The name came from
the name of a tree wic and the witch hazel shrub with limber limbs. The
practice goes back to the sixteenth century and came to this country early
on and is said to work more often than not. I watched a man wander around
the Davis Mountains, forked stick in his hand, witching for water. It cost
a lot of money to prove that he could not find water. Not believing at
first and certainly not believing after the failure. I talked to a geologist
and he thought that there was some value to the practice.
Mr. Elton Miles in his book, Tales of the Big Bend writes that he has
held one end of a wire and a water witch held the other end and the rod
in his hand twisted and the witch's hand never moved. Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas experienced the same thing while he was in Alpine.
Guy Fenley was a fourteen-year-old boy who could see through the surface
of the earth and tell where the water was and how deep it was. He successfully
found water on many ranches in the Big Bend country. Newspaper articles
told of the boy's ability and said the Honorable John Nance Garner, the
State Representative, from Uvalde and later Vice President under FDR, confirmed
it.
According to Mr. Miles book, Mr. Perry Cartwright was a noted water
witch. He said that it made no difference in the fork you used it was the
man. He used copper wire with a little loop in the fork end. The fork dipped
when he found water and a four-foot copper wire told him the depth. He
would sit on the ground and, with both hands, hold the four-foot wire in
front of him. The rod would dip for every foot of depth. When it counted
off the depth of a stream it would wave back and forth and start bobbing
again until it found another source of water.
When looking for oil, the fork dips and stays that way until you cross
the pool of oil. When looking for water, the fork dips and comes right
back up. If you want to know the direction the water flows in a stream
flows, turn the fork sideways and it will point the direction of flow.
Has this story changed you mind about legend or superstition? A Supreme
Court Judge and a U.S. Vice-President could not be incorrect.
One dead in I-20 accident
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tuesday, June 18, 2002 -- An Arizona man was killed and a young
boy seriously injured after a guardrail pierced through the vehicle they
were in early this morning at Wickett.
Albert La Mere, 57, of Huachuca City, Ariz., was pronounced dead at
Ward Memorial Hospital at 2:37 a.m., this morning and Andrew Gammon, 11,
is in critical condition with head injuries after being airlifted to Odessa
Medical Center after they were involved in a one vehicle accident.
The accident occurred at 1:25 a.m., today on Interstate 20 in Wickett
involving La Mere, Gammon and three other passengers.
According to the Department of Public Safety report La Mere was driving
a 1995 Chrysler 4-door with his wife Betty Jean, 56, and three minors including
Andrew Gammon, Kelsey Gammon, 5, and Joshua Gammon, 9, all of Junction
City, Kan.
La Mere, who was retired from the military, was driving in the westbound
lane of I-20 when the vehicle drifted right onto the shoulder of the roadway.
The report states that the vehicle then struck a guardrail before becoming
airborne and turning 90 degrees to the right.
A portion of the guardrail pierced the driver side door and penetrated
the driver in the chest before continuing to the rear passenger seats striking
Andrew in the head.
The other passengers are in good condition with cuts and bruises at
Ward Memorial Hospital.
La Mere and all the passengers were wearing seatbelts at the time of
the accident.
The DPS report said that all passengers were asleep when the accident
occurred and according to one passenger La Mere was sleepy and trying to
find a rest stop.
La Mere's body was taken to Harkey Funeral Home in Monahans.
DPS Trooper Rodney Tucker out of Monahans investigated the accident.
Obituary
Clyde Fortune
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 newsdesk@nwol.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 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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