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Martin has been involved with boxing in both Pecos and around the
Permian Basin for years, both as manager for local boxers, and with the
West Texas Golden Gloves team.
Now, Martin is putting the final touches on the first West of the Pecos
Golden Gloves Tournament, which begins a three-night stand this evening
at 7 p.m. at the Reeves County Civic Center.
Ticket for each night of the tournament are $5 and $8 for adults and $2
for children, and are available at the Civic Center box office.
Martin spent Wednesday afternokon in Odessa. "I was on Ch. 9 for a
little bit, then went to Sam's and bought some stuff," he said. "Then
when I got back to town I stopped at KIUN and talked to Ricardo Coralez
about the tournament."
Odessa is where the area's Golden Gloves Tournament had been held since
the 1940s, mostly at the Ector County Coliseum. However, higher rental
costs and declining attendance there resulted in only the first of last
year's three rounds being held there.
Pecos hosted the second round and Lubbock was given the finals, but two
months after the tournament, Martin was able to win the right to host
all three rounds of the 1995 competition.
"It's been hectic. I was up until about 3 o'clock yesterday getting the
brackets done," said Martin, who's turned over the main duties of
handling the Warbird fighters to Roy Juarez and Jesse Rayos.
The Pecos Chamber of Commerce has helped in attracting the tournament
here and in promoting it in the Permian Basin and surrounding areas.
"Sheriff Andy Gomez also has been a lot of help," Martin said, since
Reeves County Jail inmates have helped set up the ring at the Civic
Center for the three-day event.
Martin said many of the details of staging the tournament aren't new to
him. "I've been involved in the Odessa thing for the past 20 years, and
the last 10 of 12 years I've more or less been the head coach in taking
the team to Fort Worth," he said. Open Division winners at the regional
level move on to the state finals in Fort Worth, which are usually held
in mid March.
"I've been the manager, and the PR man. Over there, they've left the
whole enchilada up to me. There's a whole lot of work involved," he
added.
Still, he said there are some new things to deal with in actually
hosting the event. "I'm learning as I go along. We've had smokers
(tournaments) here for years, but I've never put on something of this
magnitude before," he said. "In the future, we'll make some changes.
"One of the bad things right no is this is coming right at (school)
six-weeks test time. If we continue to hold this here, I'll try and make
arrangements to avoid that conflict," Martin said.
Small details like that could be critical for Pecos, since it's by far
the smallest of the nine Texas cities hosting the regionals. Tyler, with
a population of 75,000, is the next on the list, while other regional
Golden Gloves sites are Fort Worth, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston,
Austin, El Paso and Corpus Christi.
"This would be a feather in our cap if Odessa was unable to handle it,
and we're able to pull it off," Martin said. "And it would be for the
whole community, not just for our boxers."
"Hopefully, we can make a success of this, if the local people come out
and support the fights. Then we can make this an annual event," he said.
"But it will depend on the people of Pecos.
"I know boxing is not for everybody, but if you've never been to a
Golden Gloves tournament, you ought to at least go to one, because
things can get pretty exciting when you have a good fight. And I know
it's cheaper than going to Odessa to see a movie," Martin added.
A total of nine Pecos fighters are scheduled to compete in the
tournament, with three on tonight's card. Eight are members of the
Warbirds, though Martin was unsure of the status of 10-year-old Jose
'Kiki' Rivera, due to the death of his grandfather of Tuesday.
"I'm not sure whether or not he'll fight because of that. Whatever he
does, my heart goes out to him and his family," Martin said.
Most of the other Warbirds fighters also are in the 9-10 year old range.
The only older one, Julian Rayos, will compete in the Novice Division,
though Martin said he had to go out-of-state to get Rayos a match.
"Julian won't fight until Saturday, and the only way to get him a fight
was to call the coach at Hobbs, and he agreed to bring an opponent
(Raymond Valadez)," Martin said. "In fact, he'll be fighting the same
kid as in Lubbock when the decision went against him, so it will be kind
of payback time when they fight."
Jay Chancellor Office Supply Business Company, 404 N. Main St., owned by
Mark Stephens caught fire about 3 a.m. this morning, according to Fort
Stockton Fire Chief Don Lannam.
"The fire was spotted by a police officer during his route," said
Lannam. "The building itself is destroyed about 80 percent, but the
contents were all burned."
"What wasn't burned, was consumed by smoke and beyond repair," he added.
The business was housed in Fort Stockton's old Safeway building. Lannam
said the structure, "was fully involved when we got there, and it went
out very quickly, but there were a lot of hot spots, especially in the
attic area."
"The fire itself didn't take long to put out, about 10 or 15 minutes,
but the smoke took hours to get out of the building," Lannam said. "We
were there for a long time, just trying to clear all that smoke, since
it was office supplies."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and firefighters were
still out at the scene at about 11 a.m. this morning.
The business was one of three owned by Stephens in the area. He also
operated Hubbs Office Supply in Pecos, as well as an office supply
company in Monahans.
"Nothing new is happening right now, since we are waiting for the grant
money," said Town of Pecos City Water Superintendent Octavio Garcia. "As
soon as we find out something about the grant, we'll be able to start
laying the foundation for the wells," he said.
"Water was found out at the field, but until they finish studying the
grant we won't be able to continue with drilling the wells," Garcia said.
City Council members approved funds to find a new city water supply last
January, after reports showed the current Worsham Field and Ward County
Field sites would be able to supply enough water only through the year
2008.
U.S. District Judge Lucius D. Bunton III issued the ruling Monday in
Midland in a case pitting San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores against
the city of Boerne.
Boerne is trying to use a historical preservation ordinance to prevent
the tearing down of part of the old St. Peter's Catholic Church building
in the city, located 25 miles north of San Antonio.
However, Flores claims the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, known as
RFRA, should allow the church to avoid the city restrictions.
The city of Boerne challenged the constitutionality of the law, which
states in part that "government shall not substantially burden a
person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of
general applicability."
The law requires a "compelling government interest" be demonstrated
before a person's religious exercises are substantially restricted.
Bunton ruled the act unconstitutionally usurps powers traditionally
granted to the courts.
Bunton said there has been insufficient case law so far construing RFRA,
which was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993.
Bunton has forwarded his ruling to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
in New Orleans and ask for speedy consideration of the matter so the San
Antonio case can continue.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry said Tuesday the Justice
Department supports an appeal.
Before the Texas case, no court had found the law unconstitutional,
McCurry stressed. A federal judge in Hawaii last month upheld the
constitutionality of the law, and the Justice Department is supporting
the act in four other pending federal court cases.
"The Clinton administration is committed to the act's full
implementation in order to protect the religious liberties of all
Americans and will continue to defend its constitutionality in the
courts," McCurry said in a statement.
Until 1990, legislation was considered largely uneccessary to protect
religious practices, given the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee
of freedom of religion. But the Supreme Court in 1990 upheld a lower
court ruling that had sanctioned the denial of jobless benefits to an
Oregon man fired for using an illegal drug during a religious ritual.
Edward Prieto and Felipe Villalobos were approved at the LEC as
correction officers at an annual salary of $15,000 each.
Other appointments today included Laura Cazares, who will work in Bill
Weinacht's office as his secretary at an annual salary of $13,000, and
Rodolfo Reyes, who will work part-time at Reeves County Jail at a salary
of $6.73 per hour.
A resolution to authorizing the submission of a Texas Community
Development Program application to the Texas Department of Housing and
Community Affairs for the Colonis Fund was amended to add that Reeves
County will provide $25,000 of in-kind services as part of the project.
"The reason I'm here is to review the resolution to get approval and
authorization of application for Colonias funds," said Carlos
Colinas-Vargas, who is handling the grant applications for Reeves
County. "The resolution is to make the application for funds for septic
tanks in areas that otherwise don't have any right now."
"The county applied for $500,000 for septic tanks designated for
different areas," Colinas-Vargas added. The sites include areas on the
southwest side of Pecos.
County Judge Jimmy B. Galindo said when the first resolution was
approved, "The minutes did not have that the resolution states that the
county will provide $25,000 of in-kind services. We need to make sure
and put that in the resolution and the minutes."
"This will provide septic tanks to those people who don't have any right
now," Galindo said.
"The in-kind services will be removal of cesspools, digging the area and
can include all of what the city provides, such as inspections by Health
and Sanitation Director Armando Gil," said Colinas-Vargas. "All that can
be included in the in-kind services."
"We'll just have to make sure to document all the time and equipment and
everything used, for the in-kind services," said Galindo. "We may also
document the cash out-lay, but it doesn't necessarily have to be cash."
Commissioners also approved a resolution with the Pecos Tree Board to
provide $3,000 worth of in-kind services to include watering and
maintaining of trees at the Reeves County Golf Course, Saragosa Cemetery
and Reeves County Library.
"The tree board had earlier asked the court for $1,674 in terms of
cash," said Galindo. "In an effort to keep additional spending to a
minimum I have since spoken to the tree board members and they have
lowered the cash needed."
"I committed myself to raising $700 through private funds, which we now
have," Galindo added.
The county judge, along with Precinct 3 Commissioner Herman Tarin, have
each donated $100 of their own money to help with fund raising.
"Other individuals out oat the golf course who use the golf course have
provided us with $500, they want these trees out there," said Galindo.
Seventy-five of the trees will go to the golf course, with 40 treed
going to the Saragosa Cemetery and two at the Reeves County Library as
described in Pecos Tree Board's 1994 SBA Grant administered by the Texas
Forest Service.
"We'll have to document our in-kind services throughout the year, but
our Roads and Bridges Administrator Russ Salcido can do that," said
Galindo.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Bernardo Martinez voted against the resolution.
Contracts for juvenile offenders with Cameron, Andrews, and Gray
Counties and the deputation of a reserved deputy were approved.
Michael Dominguez, who is currently a dispatcher for the Pecos Police
Department was approved as a Reeves County Reserve Deputy.
Reports from various departments were approved, along with budget
amendment and line-item transfers.
"I received a lot of compliments on the Little League field on how great
it looks," said Commissioner Lupe Garcia, who also is league president.
Tryouts were held Friday night for the 1995 Little League at it's field,
which the county helps maintain.
Law Enforcement Center Addition Change Orders was tabled until 2 p.m.
today when commissioner's court will resume.
"Frank Spencer is in Marfa to day and unable to attend this meeting,"
said Galindo. "He is on his way back now, so when we resume at 2 p.m. we
can discuss the LEC Addition change orders," he said.
The approval came Thursday night, during the board's regular monthly
meeting, held in the library at Zavala Seventh Grade Middle School.
The 'Inclusion' special education program has shown great results at
Pecos Kindergarten, Barstow Elementary and on the Zavala Middle School
campus, Howard said, and plans are to expand the program to the Austin
Elementary, Pecos Elementary, Bessie Haynes, Lamar and Crockett Middle
School Eighth Grade campuses.
'Inclusion' is a program where special education students are merged
into regular classrooms and are expected to learn the regular curriculum.
"The program is not for all special education students," said Howard,
but it is an attempt to educate "only those that would benefit from it,"
in a less restrictive environment.
Inclusion funds are come through a state grant, and Howard believes that
"the program will pay for itself."
Board member Jaroy Moore voiced his concerns about how legislative
changes may affect funding for the program. But Superintendent Mario
Sotelo assured him that he "did not anticipate too many changes in the
funding formulas," and the program will prove a success.
The board's meeting was held at the seventh grade school this month,
which allowed Zavala Principal Anna Bolin to make a video presentation
of her campus' six goals for improvement. Bolin outlined what is being
done at Zavala to meet those goals.
Board members also discussed Crockett Eighth Grade Middle School at the
meeting, and the cost of rebuilding the school's air conditioning and
heating system.
Charles Clark of Engineering, Inc. in Abilene presented to the board a
cost estimate for Crockett's system. The board was told last year the
underground ducts were in need of replacement, since there was no way to
easily get access to the system without digging up the school's floors.
Estimated were given for completing the project all at once and in
phases. Phasing the project would cost the district $31,427 more.
Board members agreed that finances should be looked at closer first
before permitting Clark to prepare a bid. Earl Bates, board member
suggested that a special meeting should be called when the district had
concluded it is financially ready.
In other action Thursday, three district policies were amended by board
members. The policies were all identified by letter instead of number
designations.
The change in policy FOB (a local district policy) recommended that
corporal punishment be administered only by certain certified
professionals.
Approval was given to change Policy EID (local) to allow deportment
(citizenship) grades "E" and "S" to be considered the equivalent to 93
or above for students receiving highest honors and honors. Before this
change, students academically qualifying for highest honors and honors
were no recognized if the were showing an "S" in deportment.
The last policy alteration came at the request of Pecos High School golf
and Crockett Middle School Eighth Grade volleyball coach Tina Hendrick.
She asked for a change in Policy FM (local), that allows students
participating in UIL events only six activity-related absences per
semester.
Hendrick proposed that this number be increased due to the fact that it
hurts students who participate in more than one UIL event, and more UIL
events are scheduled during the Spring semester. "We are punishing the
good students." Hendrick said.
The board agreed to nine excused absences for UIL related events saying
that these students deserve as much for representing our schools.
Pecos High School Principal Alice Duerksen asked for permission to apply
for $15,000 grant that is issued for staff development and parent
training for Campus Deregulation and Restructuring to Improve Student
Achievement. Duerksen was granted permission to submit grant application.
Board members approved dates and times for the P-B-T summer school
program. The program will run from Thursday, June 1 through Thursday,
June 29
Morning classes will be from 7:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. with a 15 minute
break. Classes will be offered in the afternoon from 12:30 p.m. to 4:45
p.m. Class available are U.S. and World History; all levels of English;
all levels of Math and Keyboarding.
Voting on school calendar was scheduled for next agenda. "The state is
going to do something about the calendar," Sotelo commented and
preferred that it be held off until then.
Daylon Whitehurst, P-B-T ISD Personnel Director, suggested that a fee
not be required for those wanting to participate in this year's summer
athletic programs. Whitehurst said there is enough money in the summer
athletic program budget to cover all expenses. The issue was set for
next month's agenda.
The board approved a blanket adoption for ordering school textbooks.
Cookie Canon, P-B-T ISD Business Manager, explained that by doing so the
district is left in a position to review all textbooks available for
classes taught and not taught in our district.
All textbooks ordered are approved by the state Board of Education.
School board members also approved appointment of Francisco Martinez to
replace Isa Martinez as alternate election judge in Orla for the May 6
election.
Issues on Drug Education and Deterrent Services and Drug Detection on
Campus were postponed for next board meeting.
The school district's Food Service department will once again join the
West Texas Food Service Cooperative for commodity processing.
Two new coaching assignments and one transfer were approved by the board
Thursday.
Alvino Garcia was assigned as the new PHS freshman baseball coach, while
Brian Williams will replace Felix Chavez as acting P-B-T athletic
trainer. Chavez's resignation was submitted and approved by the board
last month. Williams, who coaches freshman football and junior varsity
basketball, served as trainer during the 1987-88 school year.
In the Business Office, Carol Clark will take on Head Bookkeeper
responsibilities.
Board members also discussed personnel and complaints against personnel
by all campuses principals and administrators during a lengthy special
session. No action was reported taken following the session.
Copyright 1996 Pecos Enterprise
324 S. Cedar, Box 2057, Pecos TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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