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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
City's plans in place for Main Street Program
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Oct. 21, 2003 -- Town of Pecos City Main Street Program
Coordinator Tom Rivera already has plans for the next few months
sketched out, after the city was approved last Friday to become part of
the state's Main Street program.
Pecos was accepted along with three other cities as the newest
members of the program, which is sponsored by the Texas Historical
Society. The 22-year-old program is geared towards revitalizing
historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts, and has over
70 cities currently as participating members.
"Needless to say we were excited about being selected. Now the work
starts," Rivera said.
The program is based on a four-point approach organization, design,
promotion and economic restructuring, all within the context of
historic preservation. As part of that, Rivera said committees would be
set up to deal with those four aspects of the project.
"One of the first things we plan to do is have a board of directors
meeting on Thursday," Rivera said. "We're going to get a new board put
together, and once we do that we've got to set up design, organization,
promotion and economic restructuring committees.
"The board will consist of nine members. Once we get the committees
going they'll be chaired by a board member, then we will look to get
volunteers to serve on those committees," he added.
"The state will be conducting board member training in Alpine next
month (Nov. 17), and we're trying to get as many people to attend that
session as possible," Rivera said.
Acceptance to the program includes free technical assistance, design
assistance and training from the THC's Texas Main Street Program staff.
Rivera said the first visits should come within the next six months,
prior to the visit Texas First Lady Anita Perry to officially kick-off
the program.
"One of the main projects the new board will be working on first is
getting ready for the first lady's visit. They normally conduct these
things around mid-April to late April," said Rivera. "We've really got
a lot of work to do before her visit, which will include a ceremony
downtown for the official dedication."
Aside from preparing for Perry's visit, Rivera said the board will
also designate a community project that will be the first to receive
help from the THC's staff. "The most likely project we'll work on first
is the Texas Rodeo Hall of Fame project at the (Union Pacific) depot.
Since it is a downtown location, that's a good place to start."
The Rodeo Hall has been in the planning stages for the past four
years, about a year before Pecos first applied to join the Main Street
Program. Rivera said there are also other local downtown projects in
place aside from the upcoming work with the Texas Historical
Commission.
"We've already got a program in place that hasn't been taken
advantage of. The two local banks have come together to establish a
low-interest loan program," Rivera said. "There's about a half-million
available to businesses in the downtown area at very attractive rates.
"Something else we're trying to implement is a small grant program
for downtown business owners. It's not much, but they can get the money
to work on their facades to improve the front of their buildings," he
said.
Rivera said the effectiveness of the program will depend on
participation by Pecos residents outside of those on the committees.
"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "I can't stress enough the
importance to the community not only in supporting the program, but
also in getting involved."
Arson eyed in east side house fires
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Oct. 21, 2003 -- Pecos volunteer firemen were able to put
out a fire on a mattress in an abandoned east side home Monday night
before the fire had a chance to do serious damage to the structure.
Town of Pecos City Fire Marshal Jack Brookshire said arson was the
likely cause of the fire at 705 S. Almond St., which was reported
shortly before 9 p.m. on Monday.
"There is not supposed to be anybody in the house," Brookshire said.
"It was probably intentional. There's no electricity, no gas and no
utilities at all there."
He said the fire was set on a mattress in the front bedroom, located
on the northeast side of the home. "The back door was kicked in, and
the middle front window had some BB holes," Brookshire added.
The fire was the second in the past several days in an abandoned
home on the east side of Pecos, though Brookshire said the first, on
South Magnolia Street, began outside the building.
"Some kids set some weeds on fire, and it caught the house on fire,"
he said. "You could tell where the grass was set on fire, because it
just burned up to the house."
NMMI mourns student's death north of Pecos
From Staff and Wire Reports
PECOS, Tues., Oct. 21, 2003 -- Students and faculty at New Mexico
Military Institute in Roswell are mourning the death of a fellow
student in a one-vehicle rollover Sunday north of Pecos, in an accident
that left three other persons injured.
Mauricio Fourcade, 19, of Hermosillo, Mexico, was thrown out as the
car overturned. He was pronounced dead at Reeves County Hospital in
Pecos following the accident, which occurred at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday on
U.S. 285, 131/2 miles north of Pecos.
Fourcade had attended the institute for five years and was ready to
graduate this year, said Chief Warrant Officer Carl Hansen, an NMMI
spokesman.
"It's hit everybody here very, very hard," Hansen said Tuesday.
"This kid, he was well loved and well respected by everybody."
Rachel Kingrey, 20, from Ruidoso, was airlifted to Odessa Medical
Center and was in stable but critical condition Monday. The driver and
one other passenger in the Chrysler PT Cruiser were treated overnight
at Reeves County Hospital and released on Monday.
According to the Department of Public Safety, the accident occurred
when the tread on the left rear tire came off and the tire blew out
while the car was northbound on U.S. 285, causing the car to enter the
bar ditch on the side of the road and roll over
Justice of the Peace Jim Riley pronounced Fourcade dead at 3:40 p.m.
at Reeves County Hospital; the body was transported to Pecos Funeral
Home.
Neither Fourcade nor Kingrey were wearing seatbelts at the time of
the crash, according to the DPS report.
Kingrey's mother, Nora Midkiff, said her daughter had a head injury
and was sedated and on ventilation.
"We are standing by and pretty optimistic," Kingrey told the
Roswell Daily Record on Monday.
Seth Wilson, who was driving, suffered a head injury and was
treated at Reeves County Hospital. Wilson, 19, of Belen, was released
Monday and returned to NMMI.
Regimental Commander John White, 19, received bruises and also was
taken to Reeves Hospital and returned to NMMI on Monday. White, from
Houston, was recently recognized as the first black regimental
commander in the school's history and has nearly 1,000 cadets under his
command.
NMMI spokesman Carl Hansen said the school is providing support for
the families and students.
"Counselors were called to the campus Sunday evening to help
faculty, staff and the corps of cadets deal with this tragedy that
affects us all," he said.
Validation session for lambs, goat Friday, Saturday
PECOS, Tues., Oct. 21, 2003 -- The Reeves-Loving County Extension
Office will be having lamb and goat validation for 4-H and FFA
participants this Friday in Balmorhea from 3:40-5:30 p.m. and Saturday
in Pecos starting at 8:30 a.m. in the high school AG building.
For information contact Sue Evans at 432-445-4321 or 432-445-4092.
Jeweler suffers small loss, damage from break-in
By BRENDEN BRIGGS
Staff Writer
PECOS, Tues., Oct. 21, 2003 -- Pecos police are investigating the
burglary of a downtown jewelry store that occurred over the weekend.
Fonville's Jewelers at 124 S. Oak St., was broken into early
Saturday morning. According to police reports, thieves broke the glass
out of the front door with a rock at around midnight. The thieves then
broke the glass out of the closest case to the door and took six items.
Owner Bill Cooksey estimates the value of the items taken to be
$500-$600. The cost of the glass replacement he says will cost
approximately $400.
Police notified Cooksey soon after patrol cars arrived on the scene.
The investigation was completed and the front door was secure again by
3 a.m.
"I had the door boarded up and the alarm attached to the makeshift
window, but I just couldn't sleep well knowing that the store was not
completely secure," Cooksey said.
By Saturday afternoon, the glass was replaced and the only sign that
there had been a break in was a few missed pieces of safety glass
around the front door.
This robbery doesn't necessarily go along with a spree; break-ins
have actually dropped slightly since summer according to police
reports.
Of the 47 years Cooksey has been working at Fonville's, this is
approximately the 20th break-in he has had.
"We actually had over 11 in one year, but they typically don't get
away with anything," Cooksey said, "The police response is usually so
quick that the sirens scare the thieves off before they can get
anything." "We have had people try to break in though about every
window in the place, we even had a guy try to cut his way in though the
roof," he added.
Weather
PECOS, Tues., Oct. 21, 2003 -- High Monday 90. Low this morning 50.
Forecast for tonight: Mostly clear. Lows 50 to 55. East winds near 10
mph in the evening becoming light and variable. Wednesday: Partly
cloudy. Highs 85 to 90. Light and variable winds. Wednesday night:
Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. Light and variable winds. Thursday:
Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 80s to the lower 90s. SW winds 10 to 15
mph. Thursday night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s to the lower
60s. Friday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 80s to the lower 90s.
Friday night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s.
Obituaries
William Talley, Ruth Clark and Conita Lester
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 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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