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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Top Stories

Wednesday, April 2, 2003

Volunteers needed for annual 'Texas Trash-Off'

By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer

PECOS, Wed., April 2, 2003 -- As part of the 'Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off' campaign, Pecos and other Texas communities will be participating in a statewide cleanup this Saturday.

"There are more then 100 communities will be participating," President for Keep Pecos Beautiful Committee, Michael Benavides said. "And we just happen to be one of them."

In a press release sent out by the Texas Department of Transportation, more than 1,300 groups are expected to participate in the April 5 effort. It is one of the nation's largest single-day cleanups, TxDOT officials said..

Benavides said that the cleanup in Pecos would begin early Saturday morning, with volunteers meeting on South Eddy Street.

"It will start at 7:30 a.m. at the Odessa College parking lot," Benavides said. "I think I can say this with out getting in trouble ... the parking lot will become our headquarters from now on. It is a good central location."

He said that he went out on Tuesday and looked at possible areas for this weekend's cleanup.

"One area was off the access road out by the Farm Labor Housing," Benavides said. "That area I think would fill up 11/2 dump trucks."

He said the area, which is visible to drivers on Interstate 20, is filled with bags and beer bottles that need to be picked up.

Other areas scheduled for clean-up include in front of Wal-Mart and by the Pecos Nursing Home, both of which are littered with trash bags.

"Residents of the nursing home don't want to see that when they look out of the nursing home," Benavides said.

TxDOT said in 2002 one million pounds of trash was picked up by more than 70,000 Adopt-a-Highway and Keep Texas Beautiful volunteers all across Texas, making it one of the most successful years in Trash-Off history.

"This annual Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off brings people across the state together to clean up our roadsides and take pride in Texas," said Glen Larum, Texas Department of Transportation Public Information Officer for the Odessa District.

Though there are other events going on that same day, including the Reeves County Health Fair and the opening of the Little League Baseball season, Benavides hopes that he will have some volunteers to help with the effort.

"I need all the volunteers I can get for most of the morning especially," Benavides said.

With some help, he added that they would get done sooner allowing everyone else to enjoy the other events going on that same day.

"I would like to go to the health fair and take my kids and wife," Benavides said. "It will be after we are done."

So far he has asked some church members, youth groups and local organizations to participate in the cleanup but hopes that they come because they want a better Pecos.

Local labor force, jobs decline with unemployemnt

By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer

PECOS, Wed., April 2, 2003 -- The number of jobs and the number of workers declined in Reeves County in February, while the county's jobless rate declined slightly from January, according to figures released last week by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Unemployment fell from 14.5 to 13.7 percent, as the jobless rate remains well above the same time a year ago, prior to the closing of the Anchor Foods plant in Pecos. While the plant has reopened under ownership of TransPecos Foods, the number of employees is about 500 fewer than in late 2001, when the closing was announced, and the numbers released by the TWC still reflect the effect of last May's shutdown, along with a loss of other jobs during the last 12 months.

Reeves County had 5,939 workers in February and 812 without jobs, the TWC said. A year ago, there were 6,400 workers in the county and 499 without jobs, and an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent. There were 774 fewer jobs in Reeves County in February than at the same time in 2002, according to the commission's numbers.

Compared with January of this year, the number of workers has dropped by 125, while the number of jobs dropped by 60, which allowed the jobless rate to fall eight-tenths of a percent.

Unemployment in the Town of Pecos City was higher than in Reeves County, but was down nine-tenths of a percent. The city's jobless rate fell from 16.4 to 15.5 percent, as Pecos lost 104 workers and 46 jobs, falling to 4,683 people in the labor force with 727 unemployed. The city's unemployment rate in February of 2002 was 8.9 percent, with 5,000 workers in the labor force and 447 without jobs.

Area-wide unemployment was down .1 percent, while Texas' jobless rate for February fell from 6.8 to 6.6 percent. Ector County (Odessa) reported a drop of .4 percent last month, from 7.5 to 7.1 percent, while Midland County's rate rose from 4.4 to 4.5 percent.

Ward County unemployment dropped 1.4 percent, from 9.9 to 8.5 percent, as the number of jobs held stable while the labor force declined. Pecos County saw a slight increase in its labor force and employed workers, which kept the jobless rate at 6.1 percent, and Winker County's rate fell from 9.8 to 9.3 percent, as it also offset a drop in jobs with a decline in the county's labor force.

Meeting to discuss issues for seniors scheduled

PECOS, Wed., April 2, 2003 -- The Area Agency on Aging of the Permian Basin will be holding four town meetings focusing on the needs of the aging population throughout the region.

The group will be in Pecos, at 1:30 p.m., Monday, April 14, at the Reeves County Hospital, 2323 Texas St.

The agency hopes to increase local involvement and participation in the planning process; assess the capacity of local communities to meet the Area Agency's needs of the increasingly aging population, identify issues and un-met needs and answer questions.

The meetings will be specific to the needs of individuals age 60 and over. Individuals and professionals are welcome.

The Area Agency on Aging is funded by the Texas Department on Aging.

Weather

PECOS, Wed., April 2, 2003 -- High Tuesday 92. Low this morning 57. Forecast for tonight: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of showers or thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 50s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20 percent. Thursday: Windy. Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. West winds 20 to 30 mph. Thursday night: Mostly clear. Lows near 50. Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. Saturday: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s. Highs in the mid 80s.



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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
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e-mail news@pecos.net

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