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April 14, 1997
Jail expansion two months ahead of schedule
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By RICK SMITH
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 14, 1997 - County commissioners received a go-ahead last
week from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) to proceed with
the design development phase of an expansion of the Reeves County
Detention Center. The planned expansion of the jail is expected to add
30 new jobs at the facility and pump almost $4 million into the county's
economy, according to Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo.
A week of successful interviews with TCJS officials, Bureau of Prisons
authorities and representatives from a financial organization placed the
expansion of the jail about two months ahead of schedule, Galindo said.
As a result, the TCJS has given the go-ahead to county commissioners to
proceed to the design development phase of the expansion which they
discussed in today's commissioners' court meeting.
"This was a major hurdle for the project," Galindo said. "GDR (Gondeck,
Dailey and Rabke) has done such an excellant job of putting together the
design that we have been able to skip the variance process with TCJS.
That placed us two months ahead of schedule allowing us to begin the
design development phase now instead of in June."
Expansion of the jail is expected to be completed by April of next year,
according to Galindo.
The proposed expansion of the detention center will add 300 beds,
bringing the total number of beds at the facility to almost 1,000.
Commissioners hope to sell jail space to other law enforcement agencies,
such as the U.S. Marshal's office and Imigration and Naturalization
Services, for $36.50 per day to pay for the expansion. The
commissioner's court is expected to finalize plans for financing the
expansion later this month, Golindo said.
The current expansion plan is based on converting day-room space to
detention space and building separate day-room areas.
Once the expansion of the present county detention facility is completed
and paid for, county commissioners plan to construct an additional 1,000
bed jail adjoining the present facility.
Other topics covered in today's Reeves County Commissioners' court
meeting included:
An agreement between the county and the Toyah Fire Department.
An Interlocal agreement between the county and the City of Toyah.
Agreement between Reeves and Andrews County for the detention of
juvenile offenders.
Rental agreement between Xerox and the county for a copy machine.
Madera Valley Water Supply Corporation 1997-98 TCDP Grant Resolution.
Resolution to amend contract for additional septic tank installations.
Reports from county departments.
Budget amendments and line-item transfers.
Personnel and salary changes.
Minutes from previous meetings.
Semi-monthly bills.
CCRC expects good news on Head Start
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PECOS, April 14, 1997 - Directors for the Community Council of Reeves
County are expected to hear good news when they convene Thursday in
Monahans for the regular monthly meeting.
Mary Jane Ontiveros will report on the near-completion of projects that
should correct six deficiencies that threatened to shut down the Head
Start program. Barring complications, the deficiencies will be corrected
by the April 26 deadline.
Ontiveros has submitted her resignation as Head Start director, and the
council will consider that and a change in some personnel duties in
executive session near the end of the meeting.
They will also hear an update on the audit report, an update from
executive director Caprice Cox, a financial report from Dan Painter, a
report from the Head Start Policy Council and reports from each program
operated by CCRC.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Monahans Community Center.
Out-of-Town Belles needed for
1997 Golden Girl Revue court
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By RICK SMITH
Staff Writer
PECOS, April 14, 1997 - Do you know a high school junior or senior girl
who lives in a town close to Pecos? Then you need to get her signed up
now as an Out-of-Town-Belle to be part of the Golden Girl Court in the
1997 Golden Girl Revue.
"Out-of-Town-Belles are usually someone's granddaughter or niece or a
friend that used to live here," said Carolyn Baker, chairperson of this
year's Golden Girl event.
The Golden Girl Revue is an annual talent contest for junior and senior
Pecos High School girls. This year's revue will be held June 27 in
conjunction with the Little Miss Cantaloupe Pageant and kicking off a
week of events leading up to the July 4 West of the Pecos Rodeo.
While there are no more openings for girls to enter the revue this year,
the program is still signing up Out-of-Town-Belles for the Golden Girl
Court.
"The Belles meet with the girls on the day of review," Baker said. "They
are included with Golden Girls in the revue and are introduced to the
audience."
All the girls participating in the revue will choose one
Out-of-Town-Belle and one Golden Girl to receive Miss Congeniality
awards, Baker said.
The Golden Girl Revue has its roots in the July 4 West of the Pecos
Rodeo. In 1963 the Women's Division of the Pecos Chamber of Commerce and
the Pecos Rotary Club decided to give the annual rodeo and parade a shot
in the arm by holding a Golden Girl of the Old West contest, according
to information supplied by the revue organizers. The talents of the
girls entering the contest were used to form the Rotary Rodeo Revue.
The first Rotary Rodeo Revue was presented at the high school auditorium
June 25, 1963. Kay Daniel was the first Pecos Golden Girl. She then
entered the Miss Texas Contest and won the talent award. Daniel was
runner-up to Miss Texas that year. Other Golden Girls have gone on to
the Miss Texas contest and have placed within the top five contestants.
Lindley Workman is the reigning Golden Girl and will crown this year's
winner.
During the revue this year the girls will model 1890s ball gowns and
western wear. They will also perform a talent. The production number
will be a tune from the hit musical Grease.
Judges for the event are chosen from out of town by a two-member judges
committee sworn not to let anyone know who the judges are, Baker said.
"The girls' first event will be a mother/daughter tea to be held April
17," she said.
The 10 girls signed up for the revue will also make appearances at the
senior citizen center, the nursing home, Pecos Talking and Night in Old
Pecos, according to Baker.
Contestants are judged by an interview process, on their talent, western
wear competition and ball gown competition.
"The most emphasis is placed on the interview and the talent
competition," Baker said.
First place winner in the revue will receive a $1,000 college
scholarship and runner-up will receive a $500 scholarship.
However, all the girls participating in the event benefit, according to
Baker.
"It teaches them self-confidence and gets them involved in the
community," she said.
Baker, who was last year's co-chairman, said the growth one girl made
last year stands out in her mind.
"She was very shy in the beginning but she worked on the production
every night. By the end she was really moving and dancing," Baker said.
"She experienced strong personal growth.
"Her mother was amazed by the end of the program at how well her
daughter did."
Golden Girl contestants this year are Ivy Thorp, Gale Taylor, Stefanie
Pharaoh, Ivi Brossman, Cynthia Almanza, Erica Rodguez, Gabriella
Bafidis, Olivia Lara, Lorie Marquez and Stephanie Sherrin,
Proceeds from the Golden Girl Revue benefit the West of the Pecos
Museum.
Jeanette Smallwood is co-chair of the revue and Ben and Fran Meek are
production managers.
For more information about the Golden Girl Revue or Out-of-Town-Belles
call the chamber at 445-2406.
Bill would relieve judges of open
meetings requirements in some duties
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By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) April 14, 1997 - Meetings of district judges
overseeing the state's county probation departments would become closed
under a little-known piece of proposed Senate legislation.
Sponsoring Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, said the bill relieves judges
of entangling requirements the open meetings law carries.
``There's a concern that, especially in the rural areas, it's difficult
to comply with the routine sort of things,'' said Duncan, who said
complaints from rural jurists in his far-flung West Texas district
prompted the bill.
Probation departments are unusual in that their oversight comes from
local district judges rather than state or local governmental bodies,
like county commissioners' courts.
The Texas open meetings law doesn't apply to the judiciary, but an
attorney general's ruling stated that judges are subject to the law in
their administrative gatherings.
``I think it's bad public policy to allow a probation department to be
governed by judges meeting in private,'' said Dallas attorney and
freedom of information advocate Paul Watler. ``Open government is not
always the most efficient way of doing business, but the public has an
interest beyond mere efficiency in seeing that provisions for spending
taxpayer money in public policy is open to public inspection and
participation.''
Senior District Judge Larry Gist countered that records from judges'
administrative activity are public and would continue to be under
Duncan's bill.
``It's caused a ton of problems,'' said Gist, who coincidentally was
once Watler's scoutmaster. ``Every time I talk to my probation chief,
does that have to be an open meeting?''
Since the attorney general is loathe to issue advisory opinions, Gist
said he and other judges are afraid to conduct any private meetings for
fear that they'll commit a criminal offense.
Neither Gist nor Watler was familiar with Duncan's bill until contacted
by The Associated Press.
Gatherings with particular importance, such as annual budget meetings,
should be held in the sunlight, Gist said. However, he added, a law
similar to Duncan's merely would clear up the confusion many judges
face.
While conceding that Gist has the ``best interests of the state of Texas
in mind,'' Watler disagreed.
``District judges in Texas are all lawyers, and they're well-versed in
the law,'' Watler said. ``I don't think it's imposing too much of a
burden that we ask of them the same things we ask of school boards and
city councils, many of which are made up of non-lawyers.''
The open meetings law is SB1634.
OBITUARIES
April 14, 1997
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Lena Mae Cargill
Funeral services for Lena Mae Cargill, 89, have been scheduled for 2
p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Toyah with J.R. Wooten
officiating. Burial will be at Toyah Cemetery, under the direction of
Pecos Funeral Home.
Cargill died Saturday, April 12, at Pecos Nursing Home.
She was born on Aug. 2, 1907 in Shreveport, La. She was a retired postal
worker, a Baptist and a lifelong resident of Toyah.
Survivors include numerous nieces ad nephews, two grand-nephews and one
great grand-nephew.
Wilma Eunice Rupp
Wilma Eunice Rupp, 81, of Garden City, Kan., died Tuesday, April 8 at
the St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City.
Services will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, April 19 at Lake Havasu Memorial
Gardens Cemetery, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., with Bill Reed of Lake Havasu
Church of Christ officiating.
Rupp was born November 24, 1915 at Selma, Alabama. She was a bank teller
and had been a Garden City resident since 1987 when she moved there from
Lake Havasu City.
Survivors include two sons, Robert McPeak of Nausau Bay, Texas and
Michael McPeak of Wichita, Kansas; one daughter, Virginia Harms of
Garden City Kansas; one sister, Reba Jean Rowe of San Antonio, Texas;
six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
The family requests memorials be given to the Kearny County Historical
Society in care of Price and Sons Funeral Home, 620 N. Main, Garden
City, Kan., 67846.
Price and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Primo Tarin
A rosary for Primo Tarin, 65, will be held at 7:30 p.m. today in Pecos
Funeral Home Chapel. Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Santa Rosa
Catholic Church, with Father Antonio Mena presiding. Burial will be in
Greenwood Cemetery under the direction of Pecos Funeral Home.
Tarin died on Sunday, April 13, in Odessa.
He was born on Jan. 1, 1931 in San Antonio Del Gravo, Mex., ad had lived
in the Pecos area since 1977. He was a retired farmer and a Catholic.
Survivors include his wife, Socorro Tarin of Pecos; two sons, Raul Tarin
of Pecos and Primo Tarin, Jr., of Odessa; four daughters, Socorro Tovar,
Adia Tarin and Armida Tarin, all of Odessa, and Dora Carrasco of
Presidio; four brothers, Nerio Tarin of Midland; Jesus Tarin of Pecos;
Jose Tarin of El Paso and Jose Angel Tarin of Presidio; two sisters,
Manuela T. Rodriguez of Pecos and Manuela P. Rodriguez of Roswell, N.M.;
and nine grandchildren.
WEATHER
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PECOS, April 14, 1997 - High Sunday 59, low last night 35. Saturday morning low 28. Tonight, fair. Low 40-45. Southeast wind 5-15 mph. Tuesday, sunny. High around
75. Southeast wind 5-15 mph.
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_
Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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