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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Police still seeking suspect in store robbery
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Nov. 12, 2002 -- Pecos Police are continuing to search for
the man who robbed an Eddy Street convenience store early Monday morning.
According to Pecos Police Lt. Kelly Davis, they received a call at 12:44
a.m. in reference to a robbery at the Allsup's Convenience Store in the 2200
block of South Eddy Street.
Davis said that a male suspect came into the store and had displayed a
gun to clerk Eduardo Fuentes, the only employee in the story at the time.
The amount of money that was taken had not been determined, Davis said.
Fuentes, who was working the midnight shift at the store, described the
robber as a medium weight male, in his mid twenties, with green eyes and
a height of about 5-foot-7 to 5-foot 11, Davis said.
He also said that it was unclear on whether the male suspect was White,
Hispanic, or Black.
The Pecos robbery was one of two robberies that occurred Sunday evening
and early Monday morning in West Texas. The other involved the shooting of
a store clerk in Ozona, though Davis said that he did not believe that the
three incidents had any relation.
"No," Davis said. "Right now we don't think so."
In the Ozona incident, a clerk at the T&C Grocery store was shot twice
by the robber, who held up the store around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Les Hale of Ozona said that
a man entered the store, armed with a 22-calibre rifle and demanded money.
"In the incident, the clerk was injured. He was shot twice during the
robbery," Hale said yesterday.
The clerk, whose name had not been released, was taken to the Crockett
County Hospital for treatment.
"The clerk is in stable condition, he was shot twice in the lower leg,
which is not life-threatening," Hale said.
"We have a description of a couple of possible vehicles," Hale said.
Another robbery initially was reported about 10:45 p.m. on Sunday just
off Interstate 10, at a Kentucky Fried Chicken-Taco Bell restaurant in Ozona.
However the Pecos County Sheriff's Department later determined that robbery
had been a hoax.
Gibson in Pecos not affected by ex-company's shutdown
From Staff and Wire Reports
An announcement Monday that the parent company of the Gibson's Discount
Stores chain will close all of its remaining stores does not affect
Pecos' Gibson True-Value store, which ended its affiliation with the
Gibson's chain in the 1980s.
Gary Chaffin, president of Chaffin Acquisitions Inc., blamed the soft
economy in a release announcing the closing of the Gibson's stores, along
with the company's distribution center in Dodge City, Kan.
"With the general condition of the economy, it has been difficult to
achieve the sales that would allow the stores to continue to operate," Chaffin
said.
Gibson's was one of the largest discount store chains in Texas in the
1960s and 1970s, but suffered from increased competition from larger discounters
such as K-Mart and later Wal-Mart, which would force many stores out of business.
In Pecos, Gibson True-Value owner Larry Windham said the local store ended
its affiliation with the parent company 17 years ago. "We got out of the
affiliation in 1985 and have been True-Value ever since," he said, though
the store maintained the Gibson name.
Windham said the company was also under different ownership from Chaffin
Acquisitions when they ended their association.
The closing could take effect as early as Jan. 1, said Mark Pingsterhaus,
manager of the Dodge City Gibson's store.
"Closing will depend on how our sales are going, but we will definitely
be open through the holidays," Pingsterhaus told the Dodge City Daily Globe.
Chaffin Acquisition owns and operates 17 Gibson's stores in Kansas, Montana,
South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. In mid-October, the company announced
the closings of the last stores in Montana and Nebraska.
"I think they still have a few stores (in Texas) up in the Panhandle,
in Perryton and Dumas," Windham said.
"Most of the communities that we operate in are ag-based communities,
and with the drought and the stock market, the stores have not been able
to meet our business plan," said Ron White, director of human Resources for
Gibson's.
The closing will not include Gibson's Pharmacy, located in the Dodge
City store.
In Lamar, Colo., on Thursday, store officials announced over the public
address system that the company's official liquidation was under way.
"We hate to see Gibson's go," City Administrator Jeff Anderson said.
They have been a vital member of the community for a long time, and we feel
bad for the employees who are losing their jobs."
Chaffin purchased Gibson's from GFC Acquisition in the fall of 1999.
Commissioners set afternoon hearing
PECOS, Tues., Nov. 12, 2002 -- Reeves County Commissioners will hold a
public hearing at 5 p.m. today at the Reeves County Courthouse concerning
the Office of Rural Community Affairs/Texas Community Development Program's
colonia fund and application request planned by Reeves County.
The hearing is on the application for funds to build low-income housing
under the state's colonias program. Commissioners originally planned to hold
the hearing at this morning's commissioner's court meeting, but it was moved
back to 5 p.m. in the third floor courtroom at the Reeves County Courthouse.
Following the hearing, commissioners will discuss/take action on passage
of a resolution authorizing the submission of a TCDP Construction Fund Application
and authorizing Reeves County Judge Jimmy B. Galindo to act as the county's
representative in all matters related to the TCDP program.
Weather
PECOS, Tues., Nov. 12, 2002 -- High Monday 75. Low this morning 44. Forecast
for tonight: Clear. Lows in the mid 30s with light and variable
winds. Wednesday: Mostly sunny and warmer. Highs 70 to
75. South winds 10 to 20 mph. Wednesday night: Mostly clear.
Lows near 40. Thursday: Partly cloudy. Highs near 70. Friday:
Partly cloudy. Lows 35 to 40. Highs 65 to 70.
Obituaries
Arcadio Baeza, Sr., Maria Victoria Garcia, Mildred Hoefs and Luciano Mata
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 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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