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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Alvarado, Herrera win commissioners races
By BRENDEN BRIGGS
and
ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writers
Reeves County voters decided Tuesday that Roy Alvarado and Saul Herrera will be their Democratic Party nominees for the commissioner’s court in the November general election..
Runoff elections were held for both commissioners’ seats up for election in November, and Alvarado won the nomination for Precinct 1, which makes up of most of eastern Pecos and the eastern section of Reeves County. A total of 359 voters supported Alvarado, while 263 voted for Robert Natividad, giving Alvarado a 57-43 percent victory.
Alvarado had finished first with 377 votes to 209 for Natividad in the March 9 primary election. Five candidates were entered in the original primary race, with the top two finishers earning spots in Tuesday’s runoff.
A total of 628 voters turned out to vote in both early and on Election Day.
In the Precinct 3 race, 629 people cast ballots, with Herrera winning by a 58-42 percent margin, after placing second to Wheeless in the March 9 primary. Herrera received 368 votes too 255 for Wheeless. In the nine-candidate primary election on March 9, Wheeless picked up 202 votes to 174 for Herrera who is set to represent Balmorhea, Saragosa and southern Pecos over the next four years.
“I plan to work together to make this a better community,” said Herrera, who added he ran for the position because of his concern about the state the county is in right now.
“I have a lot to learn first and then I plan to work closely with the other commissioners and county judge to solve the county’s problems,” he added.
Herrera thanked God, his family, friends and supporters for helping him through this and helping him win the election.
“I want to congratulate Bailey Wheeless for a good, clean race,” said Herrera.
Both candidates still have to win in November to be elected to the commissioner’s court, but are currently unopposed. The only Democratic primary nominee in recent years not to win election in November was Precinct 1 incumbent Lupe Garcia, who lost in 1996 to Felipe Arredondo, who ran as a write-in candidate. Arredondo, who was seeking a third consecutive term as commissioner, lost by one vote in March to Natividad in his bid to get into Tuesday’s runoff election.
Election day turnout totaled 250 in Precinct 1 and 404 in Precinct 3, with early voting making up the difference. The counted totals were released at 9:30 last night after the election workers spent an estimated 3 hours judging the validity of certain ballots.
“We had to call the attorney general on a few of the situations that came up,” election worker, Linda Clark said. “We had the situation arise where a wife and husband had signed each other’s card, and we had to go through all the ballots to match up the right card with the correct ballot.”
Box totals reflected the overall trend as the votes came in for the Precinct 3 race, with the box located at the Reeves County Annex, totaling 156 votes, 89 for Herrera and 67 for Wheelis. The box in Balmorhea contained 176 ballots, with 100 for Herrera and 76 for Wheelis. The final Precinct 3 box in Saragosa totaled 72 votes with 45 for Herrera and 27 for Wheelis.
Precinct 1 boxes gave Alvarado the victory, but not quite as decidedly as the Precinct 3 race. The Pecos Elementary box yielding 107 ballots cast, 65 for Alvarado and 42 for Natividad. However the box located at Bessie Haynes, accounted for 143 of the total votes, with Natividad receiving 76 and Alvarado receiving 66.
Early voting went on to reinforce the results from the election day ballots, with Precinct 1 coming in at 228 for Alvarado and 145 for Natividad, and Precinct 3 coming in at 134 for Herrera and 88 for Wheeless.
County elections are held every other year with commissioners serving four-year terms. The next election cycle with bring up races in Precincts 2 and 4, in addition to the county judge seat.
The only other area runoff election was in Loving County, where residents chose current deputy Billy Hopper over Tom Jones for the sheriff’s seat, after both received 41 votes in the March 9 primary election.
Hopper will be replacing incumbent sheriff Richard Putnam, who did not seek reelection this year after three terms in office.
Loving County Clerk Beverly Hansen said that they had received 47 votes from early ballots last week, and 42 during election day voting yesterday. Hopper received 51 votes, giving him 57 percent of the vote.
Pageants to have 188 entries, Chamber told
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
Seven young ladies will compete for the title of Golden Girl and 11 little girls for the title of Little Miss Cantaloupe in late June, according to a report submitted by the Women’s Division during the regular Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce Directors meeting held Tuesday at noon.
“We now have 35 volunteers in our group, it had been down to half of that,” said Women’s Division President Michelle Workman.
Workman said that the group had held a membership drive, which had boosted the number of women in the club.
“I’m glad to say that we have a chair and a co-chair for the Golden Girl Pageant,” said Workman.
Shonah Lozano will be the chairperson for the June 25 event, with Maria Villanueva serving as co-chair.
Workman said that the group had cleaned and “fixed” up the window in the old Carlton Shoe Store in downtown Pecos. “We put old pictures that the Pecos Enterprise has taken over the past two to five years and I’d like to thank all the ladies that donated their time,” she said.
Workman also updated the group on the Golden Girl/Little Miss Cantaloupe Pageant scheduled for June. “I think we have a good number of girls that will be participating,” she said. “We had our mother-daughter tea and everything came out great,” she said.
Workman said that the group of young ladies also plans to participate in the Relay for Life Event.
The Pecos Peddlers Show has been cancelled and will be re-scheduled at a later date. “We have postponed it because we want everyone involved and this was not going to be a good weekend,” said Debbie Thomas.
“It’s been a great event, we’ve done it four times, but we want everyone to be involved and they were involved in other things on the weekend that we had it planned,” she said.
Night in Old Pecos will be held an extra hour on June 26. “This event is always held the Saturday, during the rodeo events,” said Thomas.
Thomas said that the committee had decided to expand the hours and have it open one more hour. “Last year, we held it until midnight, but the lines at the vendors were still long and they were still busy,” said Thomas. “We decided to hold it one extra hour, but we still need to talk to law enforcement about the curfew for the kids,” she said.
Thomas said that a lot of people don’t turn up at the event until late, because the evenings are too hot. “It finally starts to cool off and more people come out,’ she said.
The committee is also looking for a D.J./Karaoke, said board member Kevin Duke.
Duke said that if anybody knows someone who can do this, to contact the chamber office.
A talent show, Folklorico dancers and other events are planned for the evening. “We need more games for the kids,” said Thomas.
Pecos Main Street Director Tom Rivera told the group that the recent visit by Texas’ First Lady Anita Perry was a huge success. Perry was in town on March 30 to dedicate the local Main Street program.
“She is a very nice lady, and she said she really enjoyed her visit,” said Rivera. “We had an ad in the paper thanking everyone personally. Everyone worked really hard and it was a success.”
He said Perry was very impressed with our little town and that he had received very positive comments from Austin on the recent visit.
Town of Pecos City Criminal Justice Center Administrator Tony Dawdy talked to the group about the chamber awards.
“The chamber gives out an award for to the officer of the year, but I think we should do something for the dispatchers, the jailers ,” said Dawdy, who asked the group if they could come up with another category to honor other employees with law enforcement and not just the officers themselves.
“I think it’s a great honor, but these other people do a lot of work too and they are well-trained as well,” he said.
Chamber President Al Gomez said that the Chamber would take that into consideration and see what could be done.
“Maybe when you submit the name of the person you want to nominate, you can make it one of those employees,” he said.
Clay McKinney told the group that the plans for the Annual West of the Pecos Rodeo are coming along great. “Last year we had a great person doing the scoreboard, unfortunately he died recently in a car accident, so we need to look for someone else,” he said.
McKinney said that everything else is coming along good and that vendors are already inquiring about the event.
Reeves County Judge Jimmy B. Galindo was guest speaker for the regular meeting and told the group that Pecos and Reeves County was not stagnant.
“We have done a lot for this community and continue to work toward its growth,” he said.
Galindo mentioned a few new things in Pecos, including the Main Street Program, the new water system and the new prison addition.
Hospital expansion to open on Thursday
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
A ceremony, ribbon cutting and tours are planned for Thursday afternoon, as part of the grand opening of the Reeves County Hospital addition.
The hospital is busy finalizing all the preparations for the opening of its expansion project, the first major addition to the facility since it opened in 1978. The festivities will be held beginning at 3 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the ribbon cutting, reception and guided tours.
Members of the Reeves County Hospital Auxiliary as well as employees will serve as tour guides for this special event. The guided tours will be available until 7 p.m. on Thursday and will also be conducted from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., Friday.
The new section will include the hospital’s first-ever kidney dialysis center, though it won’t officially begin operations until later this year. An expanded emergency room and Rural Health Clinic will also be part of the new facility.
The expansion is part of an $8 million dollar project, which also includes renovations to the existing facilities and those renovations are set to begin in a few weeks.
Reigning Golden Girl Maritza Sandoval and Little Miss Cantaloupe Bryce Salcido will be distributing programs prior to the ceremony and those in attendance will also enjoy Sandoval’s singing talents. Members of the Pecos Youth Advisory Commission will assist in serving refreshments during the reception.
“We are very excited about this grand opening and what these expanded services and the new dialysis center mean to our community,” said RCH Director of Public Relations Venetta Seals. “Our motto is, ‘Providing Modern Healthcare in Frontier Texas,’ and we are certainly making great strides to provide the most modern and the most needed services that are within our power and financially possible to provide.”
“We are always looking for ways to enhance our scope of services and this expansion is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Seals. “We appreciate the community’s enthusiasm and support for our hospital and hope the community will take this opportunity to participate in the guided tours,” she said.
New search for missing teenannounced
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
Another search for a missing teen is being planned for later this month, more than six months after she vanished from a relative’s home.
Sixteen-year-old Monica Carrasco disappeared from her uncle’s home in Balmorhea sometime between the late evening of Oct. 1 and the early morning of Oct. 2. Searches were conducted without success in the days and weeks following her disappearance.
“She’s the first thing I think about when I wake in the morning and the last thought I have at night,” said her mother Kathy Carrasco. “I wonder if she’s okay, is she warm, if she’s eatin.”
Carrasco said she has worked tirelessly since that date to try and find her daughter.
“It’s hard to focus on anything other than searching for Monica. I pray constantly for a miracle,” she said.
The most recent planned search for Monica Carrasco in mid-February was cancelled when ice and snow made it impossible to get search dogs into the area.
Kathy Carrasco recently contacted The Laura Recovery Center for missing children out of Friendswood, to coordinate a volunteer search for her daughter.
Other searches for the missing teen have been conducted by local law enforcement agencies and candlelight vigils were held for the teenager.
Before the new search begins, a town meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 22, in the Balmorhea School gymnasium located on First and El Paso Streets in Balmorhea.
At the meeting, the community will be introduced to the teams assisting in the search for Monica and learn how to participate in the search.
Volunteer searchers, ages 18 and older, are needed on Friday through Sunday, April 23-25. Volunteers should check in at the Volunteer Fire Department located at Fourth and San Antonio in Balmorhea between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Active searching will end before dark each day. Picture identification is required. Everyone is asked to wear protective clothing and sturdy walking shoes.
“We have been actively involved in cases where children have been gone over long periods of time and have come home, such as Elizabeth Smart,” said director, Robert Walcutt.
He emphasized the importance of volunteers. “When a community supports a search for their missing child, they increase the number of individuals looking for the child and increase the chance of finding that child. Volunteers do make a difference,” said Walcutt.
The Laura Recovery Center was formed after the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Laura Kate Smither in Friendswood in 1997. Since that time the Center has assisted over 800 families searching for their missing loved one.
If anyone has any questions contact the Laura Recovery Center at 281-482-5723.
The teen is described as 110 pounds, black hair with red streaks, brown eyes and 5-foot-5 in height. She has a small mole on her cheek and a chicken pox scar near her hairline on her forehead.
Individuals can call the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office at 432-445-4901 or the local Crime Stoppers, 432-445-9898, Midland Crime Stoppers at 432-694-TIPS or 1-800-7-LOCKUP or any local law enforcement agency with any information that might be beneficial to the investigation.
Crime Stoppers would like to stress that callers will remain anonymous and that no caller ID is ever used on a call.
Plate sale planned at Santa Rosa Hall
A gordita plate sale is scheduled for 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., Friday, April 16, at the Santa Rosa Hall.
Plates will be $4 and contain two gorditas, available in chili verde con carne or potatoes with meat, rice and beans.
Deliveries will be made on four plates or more.
For orders call 445-2302 on Friday.
Police Report
EDITOR’S NOTE: Information contained in the Police Report is obtained from reports filed by the Pecos Police Department, Reeves County Sheriff’s Office, or other officers of those agencies. The serving of warrants by an officer for outstanding fines of either traffic citations, animal control violations or other court costs are considered arrests and will be printed as such unless indicated that the fines were paid. In such instances we will indicate payment and release.
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Jerardo Chavez Juarez, 19, was arrested for public intoxication and theft less than $50 on April 11, at 7:18 a.m., in the 700 block of Cedar Street.
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Roger Matta Jr., 20, was arrested on two warrants, no driver’s license and violation of a promise to appear, on April 10, at 5:46 p.m., in the 1800 block of South Alamo Street during a warrant service.
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Marcurio Rodriguez, 18, was arrested on four warrants, three minor in possession and a curfew violation, on April 9, at 11:17 p.m., during a traffic stop in the 800 block of South Oak Street.
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William Donald, 56, was arrested for public intoxication on April 8, at 10:12 p.m., at the Town and Country store in the 900 block of West Palmer Street.
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Ruben Jimenez, 21, was arrested on a warrant for permitting an unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle on April 8, at 7:43 p.m., during a traffic stop in the 1000 block of South Cedar Street.
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Criselda Martinez, 36, was arrested on three warrants, speeding in a school zone, no insurance, and a violation of a promise to appear, on April 8, at 1:08 p.m., during a warrant service in the 1900 block of Hackberry Street.
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Jesus Barreno, 46, was arrested on two warrants, running a stop sign and expired registration, on April 7, at 4:52 p.m., at the Reeves County Juvenile Center.
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Eliseo Venegas-Lujan, 25, was arrested on a U.S. Marshal’s Service warrant for the importation/smuggling of marijuana on April 6, at 6:12 a.m., at the intersection of Third and Walnut Street.
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Criselda Maria Rayos, 41, was arrested on two warrants, both for no insurance, on April 5, at 3:23 p.m., in the 800 block of Plum Street.
Weather
High Tuesday 68. Low this morning 42. Forecast for tonight: partly cloudy. Lows near 50. South winds 10 to 20 mph. Thursday: mostly sunny. Highs near 90. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Thursday night: mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Friday: mostly sunny. Highs near 90. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Friday night: partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. Saturday: partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms. Highs near 90. Saturday night: partly cloudy. Lows 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 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
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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