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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Winter weather causes crashes, one area death
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Dec. 24, 2002 -- Weather conditions were blamed for an accident
that claimed the life of a Dallas man just before sunrise on Monday
and bad weather has caused several other accidents on Interstates 10
and 20 in western Reeves, northern Jeff Davis and eastern Culberson
County as of early this morning.
This morning's area accidents have occurred on I-10 mile markers 184 and
186 and on I-20 mile marker 3. The accidents, and Monday's fatal crash, were
all around the I-10 junction with I-20, where the highway elevation rises
by 1,500 feet from the Pecos area.
One vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe, reportedly went partially through a guardrail
barrier near the Springhills exit on I-10 in Jeff Davis County before sunrise
today, while Pecos EMS personnel were called out to the accident at Mile
Marker 3 in western Reeves County. Details of the accidents were unavailable
at press time.
The accidents were caused by winter storm that moved into Texas on Monday
and brought snow, ice and freezing temperatures to sections of northern and
western Texas. The snow and ice did not extend into the Pecos Valley, where
road conditions today were normal, but were affecting roads going east, west
and north out of Pecos, and were blamed for Monday's fatal accident.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety in Pecos, Jesus Gonzales
Rivas, 55, out of Dallas was killed in the one-vehicle rollover, which occurred
40 miles east of Van Horn on I-10 a mile marker 180 at 6:50 a.m. Monday in
Jeff Davis County.
Rivas was driving a 1987 Nissan while traveling westbound on I-10, the
report said.
As Rivas traveled a crossover covered in black ice he lost control and
spun 180 degrees causing him to leave the roadway into the medium and overturning
once.
Rivas was wearing his seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene at
9:40 a.m. by Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace George Grubbs of Jeff Davis
County.
Trooper James Davis out of Marfa is investigating the accident.
The worst winter weather was reported in the Texas Panhandle, but the
Texas Department of Transportation issued travel advisories for drivers on
I-10 in Culberson County, and I-20 in, Mitchell, Nolan, Taylor and Eastland
counties between Colorado City and Ranger.
Temperatures dropped into the teens in the Texas Panhandle at midmorning
Tuesday and most of the region remained covered by a half-foot or more
of snow, but roads were passable and traffic was moving.
Monday night, the parking lot at the Flying J Travel Plaza truck stop
just east of Amarillo was full of vehicles and customers who had pulled
off Interstate 40 were milling around inside, trying to stay warm.
But by Tuesday morning, the state highway department had cleared the
roads. More light snow fell overnight, but had stopped by daylight.
Icy, snowpacked roads in Amarillo caused almost two dozen collisions
on Monday, said police Sgt. Randy TenBrink. He said some businesses
and most schools are closed for the holidays.
The National Weather Service said the snow had pretty much ended,
giving way to cloudy skies and subfreezing temperatures across the Panhandle.
State troopers were kept busy Monday, working at wreck sites, said
Department of Public Safety Trooper Wayne Beighle.
Although most wrecks were minor, One man was in critical condition
after being thrown from a vehicle.
Other Panhandle cities reporting snow amounts were Dalhart with 8
inches and Miami, Pampa and Perryton with about 7 inches.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Needy families are given gifts by "Workshop"
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Dec. 24, 2002 -- Children from low-income families in the Pecos
community received a pleasant surprise when members from Santa's Workshop
showed up on their doorstep bearing gifts this week.
"We do this every year and try to help the children in the community by
providing a few gifts for them," said Joann Lira, program director of Santa's
Workshop.
Santa's Workshop is located inside the Reeves County Detention Center.
"This is something like the Angel Tree," said Lira. "We place ornaments
on the tree with children's names and the employees pick out a name, get
a gift for that child, we wrap them and then deliver them," she said.
Lira said that the employees have been doing this for several years and
this year they received some added help.
A group of youngsters who call themselves the "Team Z-Racers" picked up
several ornaments with names on them, bought the gifts, helped wrap them
and deliver them.
Two of the members of the group are employees at the facility. "They just
took it upon themselves to help us out like this and we really appreciate
it," said Lira.
She said a dozen children were helped by the Team Z-Racers. "This was
just a genuine, nice gesture on their part," said Lira.
The names placed on the tree come from the schools. "They are the ones
that know which kids need these items, so they have been providing us with
the names," said Lira.
She said that this year Santa's Workshop helped out 15 families, with
a total of 54 kids. "We usually provide at least three items for the kids,
we place three separate ornaments for them," said Lira.
Lira said that the gifts include clothes and always a toy.
The Team Z-Racers said that they wanted to do something for someone else
and to help Santa's Workshop make this a better Christmas for some children.
"We just wanted to help out and we thought this was a good way," said
RCDC employee David Ramirez, who is vice-leader of the group.
"It feels good to help out and we were excited about helping out this
year and plan to do it again," said Team Z-Racers leader and RCDC employee
Chris Gabaldon.
"We want to thank Noe De Los Santos, manager of La Tienda and the Pecos
Housing Authority for helping us with this project," said Ramirez. "We also
had a lot of support from our families and together we can make this work."
Silent day for most local business on Christmas
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Dec. 24, 2002 -- Most businesses, utility companies, government
offices and banks will close Wednesday in observance of the Christmas
holiday, and many stores and offices will also be shutting their doors earlier
than usual today.
Town of Pecos City offices and personnel never even opened their doors
today _ city workers got both today and Wednesday off in observance of Christmas.
Regular hours for all city employees will resume on Thursday.
Security State Bank closed its doors at noon today and will be closed
Wednesday. The bank will resume their regular hours on Thursday and be open
until 6 p.m., Friday. West Texas National Bank closed at 1 p.m. today and
will also resume their regular hours on Thursday.
Federal employees will take the day off Wednesday and resume their regular
hours on Thursday.
The Pecos Post Office will be open until 4:30 p.m. today, but will close
Wednesday for the holiday. Regular hours will be held on Thursday and Friday.
Both Bob's and La Tienda Thriftway supermarkets plan to close their doors
tonight at 7 p.m. and remain closed on Christmas Day, though most local convenience
stores will be open on Christmas for some shopping needs.
Another store that will remain open for the holidays, as it always does,
is Radio Shack, which will sell batteries that are needed for Christmas toys
and electronics. Store owner Dave Thomas said he would be open all day Christmas
for people either needing batteries or who wanted to make last minute purchases
for the holiday.
Most other businesses in Pecos will close Wednesday for the holiday and
resume their regular hours on Thursday. The Pecos Enterprise will close its
doors at 5 p.m. today and will not publish a paper on Christmas Day. The
office will reopen for regular hours on Thursday.
SBC phone network troubles blamed for outages
From Staff and Wire Reports
A problem on SBC's local phone network that affected callers in a five-state
area was resolved early Tuesday, a company spokeswoman said.
SBC, formerly Southwestern Bell, has 57 million access lines serving
13 states. The problem affected SBC's southwest service area - Missouri,
Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.
Pecos residents were also affected by the problem, even though the city
is not part of SBC's service area. The phone problems affected Valor Telecom
customers, as well as those using Allcomm Long Distance in the Pecos area.
Officials from Valor were not available for comment today, but Allcomm
employee Don Alligood said when the outage occurred on Monday, "Valor put
the finger on Southwestern Bell and said that it was Southwestern Bell's
fault."
Alligood said that the problem was in one Southwestern Bell's main switches
and that the problem had affected everyone in the state. "It wasn't just
here in Pecos," said Alligood.
All 800-outbound calls and cellular to land lines were not working. "Cell
to cell phone calls were going through, but not the others," said Alligood.
The problem started around 10 a.m. and was corrected by 7:30 p.m., yesterday.
"According to Valor and NTS, it was Southwestern Bell's fault," said Alligood.
The problem caused many callers to be greeted with busy tones, dead
air or the recording: "We're sorry, all circuits are busy now. Will
you please try your call again later?"
Landline-to-landline calls that were tried again eventually went through.
But many landline-to-wireless calls simply would not connect.
Officials with Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, Cingular Wireless and
T-Mobile all said land line calls made to their wireless customers in
the Kansas City area were persistently blocked.
Wireless-to-wireless calls did not appear to be affected because they
did not have to connect with the SBC landline network.
Nancy Pollock, a spokeswoman representing SBC, said the problem began
when connections between SBC's network and Telecommunications Services
Inc. went out. TSI provides signaling services to wireless and wireline
carriers. TSI's remaining links were unable to handle the load, Pollock
said. Workers began restoring traffic to TSI links about 1 a.m. Tuesday,
she said.
"No one completely lost service, but there were sporadic congestion
issues," Pollock said Tuesday. "We were one of several carriers that
were affected."
Other phone companies said they had been informed that a large fiberoptic
line, which carries phone traffic from point to point, had been cut
in Missouri. But SBC officials said that did not appear to be related
to problems on the network.
Pollock said the company did not know how many customers were affected.
People throughout the Kansas City area were losing patience Monday.
"Oh my gosh, it was awful," said Jenna Grey, a legal secretary who
works near Crown Center. "People tried to dial out and they wouldn't
get anything, or they were talking and they'd just get cut off."
Grey said that when they tried to call back, the callers would run
into the "all-circuits-are-busy" recording.
Emergency service providers throughout the metropolitan area and Missouri
reported some hassles tied to the phone troubles, but nothing that was
serious.
Kansas City Fire Department dispatchers noted there seemed to be some
problems with the clarity of calls as well as the "all-circuits-are-busy"
message.
"It's not crippling us at any rate," a fire dispatcher said.
Though Springfield emergency dispatchers didn't believe the phone
problem had caused anything catastrophic, in a municipality buffeted
by snow and its associated hazards, tensions were running a bit high.
"We've had trouble with phone lines, trouble with cell phones, trouble
with traffic, trouble with weather," a police dispatcher there said.
"People are having a real tough time getting through on their cell phones.
You name it, we got it."
Eagles place seven on all-district football team
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Dec. 24, 2002 -- Four members of the Pecos Eagles were voted
onto the first team All-District 2-4A football team by the district's
five coaches, while three others were named to the second team squad.
The voting was done last month, and the list was released following Midland
Greenwood's 27-24 double overtime loss to Bandera in the Class 3A-Division
II title game on Saturday in Waco.
Senior running back Matthew Levario and junior receiver John Parent were
named to the first team on offense, while two seniors, defensive lineman
Hugo Rodriguez and linebacker Will Armstrong, were chosen to the first team
on defense this season.
Named to the second team were two underclassmen on defense; junior lineman
Victor Reyes and sophomore end Chad Evans, with one senior, tight end Joey
Ortega, named to the second team squad on offense from the Eagles.
After four playoff appearances while members of District 2-4A, the Eagles
ran into problems this season. Pecos won their season opener against Alpine,
but then dropped their final eight games, to finish with a 2-8 mark, with
the other win coming by forfeit over Presidio. As a result, the number of
all-district picks were down sharply from 2001, when the Eagles had 12 first
team players selected and 19 players overall on the first two teams.
Levario and Reyes were repeat first team selections from last season,
while Parent and Armstrong moved up from second team picks in District 2-4A
to a first team selection in District 4-3A. Ortega was a first team pick
last year on the 2-4A team, while Reyes and Evans were first time selections
to the all-district team.
Levario made the first team despite the problems with Pecos' offense,
which resulted in his rushing total falling from 1,041 yards in 11 games
last season to 411 yards in nine games this year, two of which he played
in only briefly due to injuries. He led the team with seven touchdowns and
also caught six passes for 95 yards and a TD this season.
Parent was the team's leading receiver in terms of number of catches,
with 18 for 211 yards and one touchdown, while Rodriguez was the team's top
player on the defensive line and Armstrong was the top tackler among Pecos'
linebackers during the 2002 season.
Reyes ended up among the leading tacklers on defense, while Evans earned
his all-district spot after taking the place of his brother Justin, who earned
all-state honors last season. Ortega led the team in total pass receiving
yards in 2002, gaining 268 yards on 16 receptions while scoring one touchdown.
Armstrong and Parent were also named to the Academic All-District football
team for the Eagles, along with five other Pecos players. They were senior
lineman Dallas Goff, senior linebacker Bobby Valenzuela; senior quarterback
Freddy Torres; junior defensive back Oscar Parada and junior defensive back
Jose Reyes.
Greenwood, which went through the 2002 season undefeated until their overtime
loss to Bandera in the state title game, dominated the all-district selections
with 11 first team picks, including junior quarterback Dawson Wilbur, the
Most Valuable Player on offense, senior linebacker Cody Hollums, who tied
Fort Stockton's Joseph Lauderdale for defensive MVP, and head coach Bob Purser,
who received Coach of the Year honors.
Wilbur was also named first team kicker, while Monahans' senior Keith
Balderez was a first team selection at three different positions _ on offense
at tight end, on defense at defensive end and as punter on special teams.
Along with Hollums, who was also named at running back to the first team
squad, teammate Tyler Ogden was a two-way pick at center and defensive end,
while Monahans' Joey Aguilar was a two-way first team pick, at quarterback
and defensive back and Ronnie Robledo was a two-way pick on the line and
Fort Stockton lineman Adam Elrod also was a two-way first team choice.
Monahans had six first team players chosen at nine positions, third place
qualifier Kermit put two players on the first team and fourth place Fort
Stockton joined Pecos with four players named to the first team squad.
All-District 4-3A Team
First Team
Offense
MVP _ Dawson Wilbur, QB, 5-10, 185, Jr., Greenwood.
Quarterbacks _ Joey Aguilar 5-10, 170, Sr., Monahans.
Running Backs _Matthew Levario, 5-7, 140, Sr., Pecos; Jeremy Audas,
5-9, 160, Jr., Greenwood; Cody Hollums, 5-11, 185, Sr., Greenwood.
Wide Receivers _ John Parent, 6-0, 185, Jr., Pecos; Kevin Rossler,
5-10, 165, Sr., Greenwood.
Tight Ends _ Keith Baldarez, 6-0, 195, Sr., Monahans; Kyle Maskell,
5-11, 175, Sr., Greenwood.
Center _ Turner Gill, 6-2, 220, Jr., Kermit; Tyler Ogden, 5-9,
168, Sr., Greenwood.
Offensive Linemen _ Luke Frasier, 5-11, 205, Sr., Greenwood; Jason
Patterson, 6-0, 195, Jr., Greenwood; Adam Elrod, 6-1, 185, Sr., Fort Stockton;
Ronnie Robledo, 6-0, 255, Sr., Monahans.
Defense
MVPs _ Cody Hollums, LB, 5-11, 185, Sr., Greenwood; Joseph Lauderdale,
LB, 6-1, 180, Sr., Fort Stockton.
Defensive Line _ Hugo Rodriguez, 5-10, 225, Sr., Pecos; Erbey Saucdeo,
5-8, 180, Jr., Kermit; Ulyssis Reynosa, 5-8, 200, Jr., Greenwood; Ronnie
Robledo, 6-0, 225, Sr. Monahans.
Defensive End _ Keith Balderez, 6-0, 195, Sr., Monahans; Adam
Elrod, 6-0, 185; Sr., Fort Stockton; Tyler Ogden, 5-9, 168, Sr., Greenwood.
Linebackers _ Will Armstrong, 5-9, 175, Sr., Pecos; Blake Higgins,
6-1, 220, Soph., Greenwood; Dennis Porras, 6-1, 190, Jr., Monahans; Ben Swenson,
5-11, 190, Jr., Monahans.
Defensive Backs _ Lupe Munoz, 6-0, 175, Jr., Kermit; John M. Hopper,
6-2, 195, Sr., Greenwood; Kris Ellis, 6-0, 180, Jr., Fort Stockton; Andrew
Galvan, 5-10, 170, Sr., Monahans; Joey Aguilar, 5-10, 170, Sr., Monahans.
Kicker _ Dawson Wilbur, 5-10, 185, Jr., Greenwood
Punter _ Keith Baldarez, 6-0, 195, Sr., Monahans.
Coach of the Year _ Bob Purser, Greenwood
Second Team
Offense
Quarterbacks _ Landon Forga., 6-0, 175, Soph., Kermit.
Running Backs _ Demis Porras, 6-1, 190, Jr., Monahans; Johnny Rodriguez,
5-6, 170, Jr., Monahans; Logan Hamm, 5-8, 150, Sr., Fort Stockton.
Wide Receivers _ Hunter Hardaway, 5-8, 140, Soph., Kermit; Ryan
Bruno, 5-10, 160, Sr., Greenwood.
Tigh Ends _ Joey Ortega, 6-2, 200, Sr., Pecos; Kris Ellis, 6-0,
180, Jr., Fort Stockton.
Center _ Heath Wilson, 6-1, 195., Sr., Monahans; Terrance Ellis,
6-0, 205, Sr., Fort Stockton.
Offensive Linemen _ Zack Evans, 6-0, 180, Soph, Kermit; Matt Bass;
6-2, 180, Jr., Greenwood; Ricardo Florez, 6-3, 365; Sr., Fort Stockton; Gonzalo
Arroyo, 5-6, 180, Sr., Monahans.
Defense
Defensive Line _ Victor Reyes, 5-8, 175, Jr., Pecos; James Bowen,
5-10, 225, Jr., Greenwood; Mitch Sanchez, 6-0, 230, Jr., Fort Stockton; Leland
Walker, 6-2, 215; Sr., Monahans.
Defensive End _ Chad Evans, 6-1, 220, Soph., Pecos; Turner Gill,
6-1, 220, Soph., Kermit; Luke Frasier, 5-11, 205, Sr., Greenwood.
Linebackers _ Eron Sanchez, 5-10, 185, Jr., Kermit; Bronson Harrison,
5-8, 140, Jr., Greenwood; Joey Parrish, 6-0, 220, Sr., Fort Stockton; Grason
Hiers, 6-0, 190, Sr., Monahans.
Defensive Backs _ Jeremy Velasquez, 5-10, 160, Jr., Fort Stockton;
Noah Miles, 6-2, 185; Sr., Monahans; Michael Akins, 5-10, 165, Jr., Kermit;
Brian Zachary, 5-10, 170, Jr., Greenwood.
Kicker _ Eron Sanchez, 5-10, 185, Jr., Kermit.
Punter _ Adam Elrod, 6-1, 185, Sr., Fort Stockton.
Catholic Daughters sponsoring ball on New Year's Eve
PECOS, Tues., Dec. 24, 2002 -- A New Year's Eve Ball is scheduled from
8 p.m. until 1 a.m. next Tuesday, Dec. 31, at the Reeves County Civic Center.
Advance tickets are $25 for a couple and tickets will be $30 at the door,
the night of the event.
The event is being sponsored by the Catholic Daughters. For more information
contact Rosie Salcido at 447-9683.
Weather
PECOS, Tues., Dec. 24, 2002 -- High Monday 47. Low this morning 31. Forecast
for tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 20s. West winds 5 to 10
mph. Christmas Day: Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. Southwest
winds 5 to 15 mph. Wednesday night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the
mid 20s. Thursday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Friday:
Clear. Lows in the mid 30s. 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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