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The critics also say the Sierra Blanca site is environmentally,
diplomatically and geologically unsound - located just 16 miles from
Mexico and the Rio Grande watershed. The site is in an area rattled in 1995 by the most violent earthquake to hit the region in 60 years.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 26, 1997 - Federal court jurors took only 35 minutes
Wednesday to agree that Jeffrey William Howard of Dallas is guilty of
possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
Howard, a member of the Republic of Texas, was arrested April 30 at
Flying J Travel Plaza along with six companions.
Traveling in two vehicles, the group was suspected of responding to an
order by the "commander of the defense forces" for the ROT to go to Fort
Davis to defend Richard McLaren and others in a standoff.
McLaren claims to be the ambassador for the ROT. He and a handful of
"citizens" holed up at the "embassy" in the Davis Mountains Resort after
kidnapping a neighbor.
Surrounded by Department of Public Safety and other officers, McLaren
sent out the call for help from organized and unorganized militias
throughout the United States.
DPS received a tip from a confidential informant on April 29 that a
militia group was leaving the Greenville-Dallas area in a tan Suburban
loaded with weapons.
Watching I-20 for such a vehicle, Pecos Police Patrolman Cosme Ortega
spotted the Suburban and a blue Oldsmobile at about 5 a.m. April 30.
When the two vehicles exited I-20 and parked at Flying J, Ortega called
for backup.
Five Texas Rangers enroute to Fort Davis were at the DPS office just
west of Flying J, and they joined city police in arresting the seven.
Howard was asleep in the back seat of the Oldsmobile, said Ranger
Marshall Brown. When Brown looked into the car, he didn't see Howard at
first, but did see a rifle.
Even with the weapon in sight, neither the rangers nor Ortega could give
a "probable cause" for arresting Howard and his companions.
They were "detained for investigation," they said.
Howard refused to give his name, but a fingerprint check identified him
as a convicted felon.
A Dallas County sheriff's deputy testified that Howard was convicted in
1991 of aggravated marijuana possession over five pounds.
Ricky Fontanilla of Dallas testified he sold one of the Norinco rifles
found in the Oldsmobile to Howard in August, 1996.
Bob White, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
testified that all of the nine firearms found in the two vehicles were
manufactured outside the state of Texas, which makes their possession by
a felon a federal violation.
Defense Attorney Scott Johnson argued in a unsuccessful motion to
suppress evidence that none of the weapons, nor the other battle gear
shown to the jury, should be allowed in as evidence because officers did
not obtain a warrant to search the vehicles.
"It is tough for me to say this, but this is a time in our history of
government over-reaction to situations, and that's exactly what we have
here," Johnson said in his closing argument to the jury.
"Maybe it was over-reaction," said prosecutor Jim Blankinship. "If it
is, send a message to your law enforcement officers, and they will quit
looking into this kind of stuff and go on to other things.
"He had his rifle in that car with helmets that had Republic of Texas
insignia...traveling with another bunch in another car with all their
weapons and they think it was just interfering with people out for a
little dirve?"
A lot of the evidence is "very dangerous, dangerous weaponry that had
fallen into the hands of a convicted felon," he said.
"People ask `Why don't they do something about felons who keeping
breaking the law?'" Blankinship said. "These law enforcement officers
are the `they.'
"Today `they' is you. Ask yourself now, `While I am "they," is the
evidence there? Am I satisfied?'
The trial closed out Senior Judge Lucius Bunton's docket.
During the noon recess, Judge Bunton took time for an interview with Joe
Nick Potoski, a writer for Texas Monthly magazine.
Potoski said Judge Bunton's rulings in the Edwards Aquifer case piqued
his interest in the controversial judge, who is known for having more
cases overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals than any other
federal judge.
However, on Wednesday, Judge Bunton learned the U.S. Supreme Court
agreed with him on the religion issue related to a Catholic church in Boerne, overturning a Fifth Circuit decision against Bunton's ruling.
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By CARA ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 26, 1997 - Kids, cars and the summer heat can be a fatal
combination. Concerned citizens and the Pecos Police Department urge
everyone not to leave children by themselves in the family vehicle, even
for just a little while.
Legally, it is a Class "C" Misdemeanor to leave a child seven years old
or younger unattended in a vehicle for more than five minutes, unless
there is someone at least 14 years old with them. Pecos Police Chief
warns that leaving a young child unattended is a jailable offense,
punishable by a fine of up to $200.
"With the heat as hot as it is now, it doesn't matter what age a child
is, they shouldn't be left alone in a car," said Moore.
No formal complaints about this problem have been made yet this year,
but officers will be watching to make sure that it doesn't happen, he
said. Animals are also at risk of suffering health consequences, and
should not be left in a vehicle, either.
Reeves County Hospital Assistant Administrator Iris Rives explained the
symptoms of and treatments for heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which
can result from prolonged exposure to intense heat.
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are two dangerous conditions that can
result from being left in a hot car, or from other situations that may
occur during the hot summer months, she said.
Heat exhaustion, the less severe of the two conditions, can be treated
at home by soaking the sufferer in a cool bath or covering them with wet
cloths, and having them slowly drink fluids, preferably those which
contain some sodium, such as sports drinks or broth. Symptoms to watch
for include pale skin, clammy (moist) skin, headaches, weakness,
possible nausea and body cramps or muscle spasms. If the person's
temperature is taken, it should still be normal, according to Rives.
Heat stroke is a more dangerous condition, which can result in death if
not treated immediately by medical personnel. When a person's condition
progresses to heat stroke, their skin will get very hot and dry, and they will have a high temperature, she said.
"I'm past the point of no return," Keyes told a free-lance writer for
Mother Jones magazine, according to the magazine's on-line edition, The
MoJo Wire. Keyes' comments were posted Wednesday night on the World Wide
Web.
"We are people with nothing to lose. If the United States is comfortable
with going to war with people who have nothing to lose, then so be it,"
Keyes said.
The writer, Joel Dyer, says Keyes contacted him on June 17 and would not
say where he was hiding except to say that he is "out of the country."
Keyes bolted from the separatist group's mountain hideout on May 3, the
day Richard McLaren and five followers surrendered to state troopers
after a week-long standoff. Keyes is wanted on charges stemming from the
brief hostage-taking of a neighborhood couple that began the stalemate
on April 27.
Another separatist, Mike Matson, fled with Keyes and was killed in a gun battle with troopers two days later.
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
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Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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