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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Families helped with basic winter needs
By Jennifer Galvan
Staff Writer
Helping with the basic necessities has been the goal of
a new program in Reeves County this Christmas season.
With local unemployment rates hovering around the 20 percent
level since this summer, due to the closing of the Anchor Foods plant at
the end of May, Reeves County Hospital has been leading
an "Adopt-A-Family" program this year, according to Director
of Program Development/Community Services for the hospital,
Nancy Ontiveros, and have received donations both of money
and needed items from businesses and individuals in the community.
"We started the `Adopt-A-Family' program because so
many families in need have used up their unemployment," she said
this morning, while accepting a $150 donation from the Pecos
Chamber of Commerce's Women's Division. Overall, the group has raised
about $1,200, which Ontiveros said would go "not just for clothes, but
for paying for utilities and assistance with heating, along with
basic household supplies.
"We're having propane heaters filled and are providing
clothes, blankets and other supplies," she said. "Some families
requested shoes and clothing, and some families requested basic
cleaning assistance, because they didn't have soap for cleaning or bathing."
As of now, the program is helping 30 local families, with deliveries of
items scheduled to 20 homes today.
"Several families have been adopted by different organizations, and
they take the items directly to the homes," Ontiveros said. "Many
other organizations have donated to `Adopt-A-Family" to pay for the many
items that have been purchased."
She said the organization has gotten money through fundraisers and
local contributions.
"We hope that this assistance will get them through the cold
winter months, and at least give them a comfortable Christmas,"
Ontiveros said. "The project has been a
success and we're hoping to be able to continue the program next year."
Rec department registering kids for youth hoops
The Reeves County Community Sports and Recreation Department
is signing up boys and girls for the winter Pee Wee basketball
program, which will begin in January at the old Pecos High School gym.
Parents can pick up their registration forms at the
recreation department office during regular hours now through Saturday, Jan. 4,
2003. Registration is $10 per child and a birth certificate and signatures
must accompany registration forms from both parents on the form.
For further information, contact the recreation department at 447-9776.
Jobless rate down, but still above last year
From Staff and Wire Reports
Unemployment in Reeves County and the Town of Pecos
City dropped in November, but remains almost 10 percent higher than a
year ago in the wake of May's closing of the Anchor Foods plant.
The Texas Workforce Commission released
November unemployment numbers today, and they showed the county's
jobless rate for the month stood at 16.9 percent. That's down nearly
two percent from October, but still 9.9 percent higher than a year ago.
The closing of the Anchor plant, which represented 10 percent of
the county's workforce, was the main cause of the increase, which
began with the June unemployment numbers. TransPecos
Foods purchased the plant from McCain Foods this summer and has
resumed operation, but with about 30 percent of the 700 workers the plant
employed at this time a year ago.
Even with the reopening, the number of jobs in the county is
down by over 10 percent in the past year. The number of workers in
Reeves County is only down by 29 from November of 2001, the TWC said,
but the number of jobs in the county declined by 655, from 5,910 to
5,255, resulting in the jump in the jobless rate.
Compared to October, the number of jobs declined from 5,338 to
5,255, but the labor force fell even more, dropping from 6,566 to 6,326,
leaving 1,071 people without jobs.
For the Town of Pecos City, the number of people in the
local workforce is actually up from a year ago, despite the loss of over 500
jobs, the TWC said. Pecos had 5,013 people in the labor force in
November, up from 4,958 a year ago, while the total number of jobs in the
city dropped from 4,560 to 4,054.
Combined, they caused the jobless rate to soar from 8.0 to
19.1 percent in the past 12 months. However, November's 19.1
percent figure is still down two percent from October, when there were 1,099
people unemployed out of 5,218 in the city's labor pool.
Unemployment in the Permian Basin was unchanged
during November and dropped .1 percent overall in Texas, according to
the TWC. For the two largest counties in the area, Midland County saw
its jobless rate drop from 4.2 to 4.0 percent, while unemployment
in Ector County remained unchanged at 7.1 percent.
For other neighboring counties, Ward County jobless rate
jumped half a percent, from 8.3 to 8.8 percent, as a decrease in the number of
jobs surpassed a decline in the county's workforce. Pecos County
reported an increase in jobs, but that was offset by a bigger jump in
the county's workforce, which lifted its jobless rate from 6.8 to 7.1
percent, while Winkler County's rate fell three-tenths of a percent, but
remains in double-digits at 10.4 percent.
To the south, both Brewster and Jeff Davis County jobless rates
remain among the lowest in the area, at 2.4 and 2.3 percent, while
Presidio County has the area's highest jobless rate, at 20.7 percent, though
that represents a 1.9 percent drop from October's 22.6 percent figure.
Statewide unemployment dropped to 5.6 percent in November
as government and construction job growth helped boost the rate from
6.2 percent in October, the TWC said. Overall in Texas, a drop in the
state's labor force offset a loss of 700 jobs in November, which compares with
a loss of 10,900 jobs the previous month.
The widely cited statewide unemployment rate is
adjusted for seasonal hiring and firing patterns, which economists
believe gives a better picture of the underlying job market.
There were 671,100 unemployed Texans in November, 500
fewer than in October. The number of working Texans fell to 10.07
million from 10.09 million.
Following are the November unemployment rates
for Texas metropolitan areas, with October rates in parentheses.
The local figures were not seasonally adjusted.
Abilene 3.9 (3.9); Amarillo 3.5 (3.6); Austin-San Marcos 5.1
(5.1); Beaumont-Port Arthur 7.9 (7.7); Brazoria 6.9 (6.8);
Brownsville-Harlingen 10.9 (10.3); Bryan-College Station 1.7 (1.7); Corpus Christi
5.8 (5.7); Dallas 6.6 (6.5);
El Paso 8.7 (8.5); Fort Worth-Arlington 5.8 (5.7);
Galveston-Texas City 7.1 (7.1); Houston 5.7 (5.6); Killeen-Temple 5.2 (5.0); Laredo
6.6 (6.5); Longview-Marshall 6.3 (6.2); Lubbock 2.7 (2.6);
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 13.3 (11.8);
Odessa-Midland 5.6 (5.6); San Angelo 3.7 (3.6); San Antonio
5.0 (4.9); Sherman-Denison 6.0 (5.9); Texarkana N/A (4.7); Tyler 4.4
(4.0); Victoria 4.7 (4.8); Waco 4.2 (4.1)
CJC expansion on hold
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
Two months shy of it first birthday, the Pecos Police Department
Criminal Justice Center has no plan of expanding anytime soon, despite
talk of doing so just after to the facility's opening.
City Manager, Carlos Yerena said that they do not plan to expand
the jail until they receive some kind of indication from the United
States Marshal's Office of some commitment like a long term or permanent contract.
"We are waiting to hear from the U.S. Marshal's Office," Yerena said.
He also added that they are looking to see if there will be more
of a demand for the expansion.
The Marshal's Service worked with the Town of Pecos City to
build the facility in order to house federal inmates closer to the U.S.
District Court in Pecos. The level of cases in Pecos federal court has
risen significantly since the new Lucius D. Bunton Federal Courthouse
opened seven years ago, and marshals were having to house most
prisoners awaiting trial at out-of-town facilities.
So far is 2002, the federal court in Pecos has handled 389
cases, according to federal court clerk Johnny Terrazas. That's
down slightly from the past two years.
A total of 443 cases were heard, involving 569 defendants, in
2001, while 460 cases with 640 defendants were handled by the Pecos
federal court in 2000.
Dedication ceremonies for the 96-bed facility were held on Feb. 6,
and the following week, then-Pecos Mayor Ray Ortega said that the
city plans to take a look at possibly expanding again in six months but
not before then.
Both Yerena and Finance Director George Bejarano said that they
are currently on the learning curb of the project.
"We are getting to the tope of the learning curb," Yerena said.
When the time comes to expand the facilities, Yerena said that
they would look at it and see how it had done during its first several years.
Currently the facility is equipped with a large kitchen and laundry
room that would with hold the expansion and all that would be added would
be the bed space, Yerena said.
Pecos Police Chief Clay McKinney was not available for comment
at press time.
Weather
High Wednesday 61. Low this morning 40. Forecast for tonight:
Clear. Lows in the upper 20s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Friday:
Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Friday night: Clear.
Lows in the mid 30s. Saturday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 50s. Sunday:
Increasing clouds. Lows in the upper 20s. Highs in the mid 50s.
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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