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June 30, 1997
Gail Taylor Wins 1997 Golden Girl crown
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By CARA ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 30, 1997 - Gail Taylor was crowned 1997 Golden Girl of the
Old West and Jordan McNeil was named Little Miss Cantaloupe for the next
year during the two pageants Friday night at the Pecos High School
auditorium.
The pageants were combined for the first time this year, and all who
attended enjoyed a very entertaining show.
First-Runner-Up in the Golden Girl pageant was Stefanie Pharaoh, while
Gabriella Bafidis won the Miss Congeniality award, as well as the
advertising scholarship.
All three Golden Girl award winners will receive college scholarships at
their senior awards banquet next spring.
Taylor sang "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" by Frankie Lymon and the
Teenagers in the talent competition. Stefanie Pharaoh sang "One Way
Ticket" by LeAnn Rimes and Gabriella Bafidis performed a traditional
flamenco dance.
The theme of the thirty-fifth annual Golden Girl of the Old West Revue
was the decade of the '50s. The Golden Girl contestants' production
number was a dance and song performance of "We Go Together" and the 17
Little Miss Cantaloupe contestants sang and danced a spirited rendition
of "High Hopes."
The 10 incoming high school seniors who competed in the Golden Girl
Revue are Erica Rodriguez, Ivi Brossman, Olivia Lara, Stephanie Sherrin,
Lorie Marquez, Stefanie Pharaoh, Ivy Thorp, Gail Taylor, Gabriella
Bafidis and Cynthia Almanza.
Out-of-Town Belles at the 1997 Golden Girl Revue were BiAnca Baeza of
San Antonio, Briana K. Bradley of San Angelo, Cherry Ann Garcia of
Balmorhea, Stephanie Marie Inglis of Lubbock, Vanessa Ivey of Lubbock,
Kristen Stocks of Gilmer and Racshel Aaron Young of Fort Stockton.
The 17 Pecos-area first, second and third grade girls who participated
in the Little Miss Cantaloupe Pageant this year are Lyndsay Michelle
Chowning, 6; Sarah Elizabeth Cross, 6; Kendra Lynn Garcia, 7; Kayla Jen
Herrera, 7; Kristen Shaunnay Ikeler, 6; Dorothy Lara, 7; Andrielle
Martinez, 6; Stormy Tairie McCoy, 6; Jordan Taylor McNeil, 6; Amie Marie
Morgan, 6; Lyndsie K. Natividad, 8; Janette Megan Perea, 5; Jesseca
Daniell Perea, 8; Amber Rodriguez, 6; Katherine Anne Tipton, 6; Samantha
Valeriano, 7; and Claire Weinacht, 6.
The Golden Girl Revue is sponsored by the Pecos Rotary Club and the
Women's Division of the Pecos Chamber of Commerce.
Golden Girl pageant winners can go on to compete in further pageants,
such as the Miss West Texas and Miss Texas pageants.
Special entertainment during the event featured musical selections
starring 1973-74 Golden Girl Mary Ella (Meek) Cummings of Nashville,
Kathy Garlitz, Craig Hill, Jeanine Ivy and Connie McAlister.
The Golden Girl Revue Band showcased the musical talents of Judy Love,
Fran Meek, J.T. Paz, Alan Russell, Dennis Harris and guest artist Cris
Ortiz. The band provided back-up music for production numbers, special
entertainment, and some of the contestants' talent performances, and
kept the crowd well entertained. The young ladies who competed for the
coveted title of Golden Girl of the Old West were scored in five
different areas.
Each contestant was first interviewed by the out-of-town judges for 35
possible points of their score. Another 35 points of their scores was
based on the talent portion of the competition. The remaining possible
30 points came from 10 points each in the categories of poise, and the
modeling of 1890s ball gowns and western wear.
Little Miss Cantaloupe contestants each introduced themselves, as well
as participated in their group musical production.
Bill Hubbs served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening. A special
thanks went out to Dave Thomas of Radio Shack for supplying sound
equipment to make the evening a rousing success.
A surprise presentation of a plaque honoring Ben and Fran Meek for their
many years of service and work on the Revue was made to the couple early
during the show.
Proceeds from the Golden Girl Revue benefit the West of the Pecos Museum.
The Golden Girl contestants are featured on a special picture page in
today's issue of the Pecos Enterprise, and will appear on floats in
Wednesday morning's Fourth of July Parade, so anyone who missed the
talented young ladies at the Revue Friday night still has a chance to come out and see them.
Border shooting called "a mistake"
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HOUSTON (AP) June 30, 1997 - A high-ranking military official called a
Marine's fatal shooting of high school student Esequiel Hernandez Jr. "a
mistake," but then took it back, the Houston Chronicle reported in
Saturday's editions.
"We don't accept mistakes like that," said Air Force Col. Henry
Hungerbeeler, chief of staff of Joint Task Force Six, a federal agency
that coordinates anti-drug efforts involving the military and civilian
law enforcement officials. "We're as anxious as anybody to know what
investigations have found."
It was the first time the armed services have said that a member of the
four-man surveillance team that killed the 18-year-old sophomore on May
20 near the Texas-Mexico border acted in error.
When pressed on the comment in an interview with the Chronicle last
week, Hungerbeeler retracted it. "I wish I hadn't called it a mistake,"
he said.
The military has backed the actions of the four camouflaged Marines who
were on a surveillance mission near Presidio when the teenager
inexplicably fired twice with a .22-caliber rifle. When he raised his
rifle a third time, investigators say, Cpl. Clemente Banuelos shot and
killed him with an M-16.
"The Marines in this case acted in accordance with the established rules
of engagement and were using lawful self-defense," Maj. Len Ryan said
last week from Camp Pendleton, Calif., where the four are stationed.
Hernandez's family and friends have refuted the military's story. They
say Hernandez carried a gun only to protect his goats and to shoot at
targets.
Civilian investigators have raised questioned about the series of
events. They doubt Hernandez, who was tending his family's goats at the
time, ever saw the camouflaged Marines. They say he initially fired from
a distance of 700 feet - suggesting he may not have known he was firing
in the direction of the troops - and then was followed "bush to bush"
before being shot dead.
The Texas Rangers served the commander of JTF Six with a subpoena in
hopes of gathering documents related to the shooting. Local prosecutors
hope to present evidence to a grand jury in July.
Hungerbeeler did not directly dispute the Marines' version. But he said
such a death usually can be explained by either criminal intent on the
part of the victim or error.
"I certainly haven't seen any criminal intent," he said.
Pressed further, Hungerbeeler sought to redirect the focus to the two
shots investigators say Hernandez fired.
"There's nothing that leads me to believe they made a mistake," he
finally said. "But a young man was killed. Why did he shoot at the Marines?"
Court hears bondsmen, burglars
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By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 30, 1997 - Prospective jurors gathered in 143rd District
Court this morning to hear a civil dispute between bondsman Pascual
Olivas and a former employee, Yolanda Salazar.
Olivas claims Salazar violated an agreement not to go into the bonding
business in competition with him. His attorney is Scott Johnson.
Jack Stern of Monahans represents Salazar.
District Judge Bob Parks on Friday accepted two guilty pleas and
dismissed charges against four defendants.
Adam Natividad pleaded guilty to burglary of a building and agreed to
pay $1,290 in restitution. A burglary of a habitation charge was
dismissed in the plea agreement.
Judge Parks sentenced Natividad to three years in prison, with
adjudication deferred, a $500 fine and restitution.
Jose Luis Galindo pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine on Jan. 18.
His four-year sentence was deferred, and he is to pay a $500 fine and
$140 restitution to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
District Attorney Randy Reynolds dismissed a felony charge of theft by a
public servant against Charlotte Waight. Waight pleaded guilty in county
court-at-law to misdemeanor theft and agreed to resign as mayor of Toyah.
Epifanio Baca Reyes' aggravated assault charge was dismissed because the
complaining witness requested it. Reynolds said the case would be
referred to the county attorney for consideration as a misdemeanor
offense.
Reynolds dismissed a charge of burglary of a building against Edwin Mark Anthony Brown because evidence is insufficient for conviction.
Alien visits recalled during Roswell bash
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By MARTHA MENDOZA
Associated Press Writer
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) June 30, 1997 - In an Old West ranching town, an
80-year-old man with bushy eyebrows sits in his tidy brick house and
talks about the time he saw the aliens.
Frank Kaufmann doesn't seem crazy. He smiles often and is warmly polite,
if a bit grumpy about the recent influx of UFO buffs.
"You've got these guys coming out of the woodwork," Kaufmann says.
"There's people who said they've been abducted, there's women claiming
they've given birth to alien babies. That's just a bunch of crap, see."
Kaufmann has his own story to tell.
This is a town where respectable folk - merchants, military veterans and
city officials - speak candidly about the day in 1947 they heard about
or were involved somehow in helping recover the remains of a flying
saucer and the bodies of aliens killed in the crash.
Their stories are part of a legend, commonly referred to as "The Roswell
Incident," that locals will cash in on this week with an anniversary
bash they anticipate will lift the local economy.
Party plans remain on track despite last week's commotion over an Air
Force report that said the wreckage came from a weather balloon and the
alien bodies were test dummies. The Air Force acknowledged it didn't use
dummies in survival experiments until the mid-1950s and explained the
apparent time discrepancy by suggesting locals had mixed up their dates.
Fifty years ago, Kaufmann says, he and several soldiers and other
civilians working at the Roswell Army Air Field were dispatched to check
on reports of a tumbling fireball that had crashed northwest of town.
They found the site easily - even in the afternoon sun, he says, the
glow was visible from the shoulder of Highway 285.
"We were 200-300 yards from the impact area and it didn't look like a
plane, it wasn't anything like a missile," he says. "It was kind of a
strange looking craft, kind of a horseshoe, almost a Stealth bomber-type
shape," referring to the Air Force's bat-winged, radar-evading B-2.
"When we saw what it was, this strange craft and the bodies, we were
just shocked," he says. "We radioed in to have body bags sent out, and
they were carted off to the base hospital. The craft itself was loaded
on a flatbed with a tarp on it and driven right down Main Street to the
base."
He describes five dead aliens.
"One was thrown out, it was up against the arroyo; one was half-in,
half-out, and the other three were inside," he says.
They had neither big eyes nor long, stringy fingers, he says, but were
"trim, good-looking people."
"They were hairless and had kind of ash-colored skin. They were maybe
5-foot-3 or 5-foot-4," he says.
Kaufmann says he and his colleagues "for security reasons took a monkey
oath" the evening after visiting the site: "We saw nothing, we heard
nothing, we will say nothing."
For 47 years, Kaufmann kept the vow.
Three years ago, as alleged witnesses began speaking up, Kaufmann told
his story to authors Kevin Randle and Don Schmitt. He insisted, at
first, that his name not be revealed, and in their book, "The Truth
About the UFO Crash at Roswell," Kaufmann is named Steve MacKenzie.
These days, after repeating his tale a number of times, Kaufmann is more
candid.
"I'm not going to be around much longer," he says. "Folks might as well
know."
The first UFO stories out of Roswell came in early July 1947 after the
military reported it had recovered a flying disc. Higher authorities
refuted the press release the following day, saying the "disc" was a
weather balloon. But word was out, transmitted on news wires and printed
in papers around the world.
Forty-five miles to the east and within a week of Kaufmann's find,
rancher Mac Brazel told reporters he'd found a crumpled mass of strange
metal while checking livestock after a particularly stormy night.
It wouldn't tear. It wouldn't ignite. Brazel put it in boxes and took it
to the sheriff.
Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox thought the debris might be from one
of the air field's planes and contacted the post.
According to period news accounts, officers who went to the site
recovered several large pieces of the unusual metal - along with four or
five alien corpses.
Theories abound to explain how wreckage and aliens could have been seen
and recovered in different places. One contends two flying saucers
collided, showering debris on a ranch and leaving two demolished
aircraft and seven alien bodies at two other sites. The General
Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, determined in 1995
that records concerning the Roswell base from the late 1940s had been
destroyed.
Lt. Walter Haut was the Army Air Corps public information officer who
issued the "flying disc" press release. Now 74, Haut says he has never
seen a UFO.
Yet he remains a believer.
"There must have been something in the skies at that time," he says.
"There's just too much evidence."
Glenn Dennis, 72, is a retired mortician. After lunch one day in the
first week of July 1947, he says, he got a call from a man at the
military base, asking for several hermetically sealed baby coffins.
"He also wanted to know about procedures for picking up bodies that had
been left in the elements for several days, possibly mutilated by
predators," Dennis says.
"I asked if I could help. He declined."
115th West of the Pecos Rodeo Schedule of Events
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PECOS, June 30, 1997 -
June 30
Rodeo Slack - 7:30 a.m. - Buck Jackson Arena
July 1
Rodeo Slack - 7:30 a.m. - Buck Jackson Arena - Calf Roping, Team Roping
and Steer Wrestling
"Stop That Villian" - 8 p.m. - Pecos Learning Center
Rodeo Slack - 7:30 p.m. - Buck Jackson Arena - Steer Roping, Barrel Race
July 2
West of the Pecos Rodeo Parade - 10 a.m. - Starts at SH 17 and West
Third St., east to Cypress St., south to Fifth St., east to Oak St.,
north to First St., east to Cedar St., south to the Buck Jackson Arena.
Old Timer's Reunion - 8 a.m. until noon - West of the Pecos Museum
West of the Pecos Rodeo - 8:30 p.m. - Buck Jackson Arena
"Texas Express" Free Dance - after the rodeo - Reeves County Civic
Center
"R. U. Redy" Dance - 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sheriff's Posse Barn
July 3
Trade Show - 1-8 p.m. - Reeves County Civic Center
Children's Clown Contest - 3 p.m. - Reeves County Civic Center West of
the Pecos Rodeo - 8:30 p.m. - Buck Jackson Arena "Little Rock" Dance -
after the rodeo - Reeves County Civic Center
"R. U. Redy" Dance - 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sheriff's Posse Barn
July 4
Pioneer Families Honored - 9:30 -11:30 a.m. - West of the Pecos
Museum Trade Show - 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. - Reeves County Civic Center
Kid's Roping Contest - 10 a.m. - Reeves County Civic Center
"Stop That Villian" - 3 p.m. - Pecos Learning Center
Tae Kwon Do Demonstration - 4 p.m. - Reeves County Civic Center
West of the Pecos Rodeo - 8:30 p.m. - Buck Jackson Arena
"Prairie Fire" Dance - after the rodeo - Reeves County Civic Center
"R. U. Redy" Dance - 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sheriff's Posse Barn
July 5
Trade Show - 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. - Reeves County Civic Center
Kid's Stick Bull Riding Contest - 10 a.m. - Reeves County Civic Center
Kid's Roping Contest - 3 p.m. - Reeves County Civic Center West of the
Pecos Rodeo - 8:30 p.m. - Buck Jackson Arena "Emilio" Dance - after the
rodeo - Reeves County Civic Center "R. U. Redy" Dance - 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sheriff's Posse Barn
Light turnout for tax appraisal reviews
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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 30, 1997 - The Reeves County Tax Appraisal District review
board had a quiet three days last week, during the period for hearing
appeals of 1997 mineral and real estate valuations.
"We had a very light turnout," said Chief Appraiser Carol King Markham.
"We only had two mineral appeals and in real estate we had 32."
She said the mineral appeals came from DSI Transport, which appealed a
double assessment from a previous year, and from Freeport Sulphur, which
complained that vehicles listed on the Reeves County registration roles
were actually registered in Culberson County.
"We'll have to get a copy of the registration list to see if it's double
registered in Culberson County," Markham said. "Pritchard and Abbott
appraise minerals for both of us, so we'll get a copy of their report."
She said the real estate appeals were mostly over property which was
recently sold. "We needed to add some depreciations and there were also
some ag appraisal exemptions."
Markham said of the four late agriculture exemption applications, one
was granted by the board.
Along with the 34 appeals heard, Markham said there were five no-shows
during the three days of hearings, while six others withdrew their
appraisal appeals.
"Now we can close out the books. Hopefully, we'll get all the records
corrected this week and can certify them the following week," she said.
The appraisal review board is scheduled to formally certify the 1997 tax
roles on July 14, after which local taxing entities can begin drawing up
their fiscal 1998 budgets.
Markham said last month that rising mineral valuations, thanks to higher
oil and gas prices, have boosted valuations in virtually all local
taxing districts. The increase in mineral valuations was the first in
over a decade and offset a decline in rural real estate valuations.
Reeves County, the Reeves County Hospital District, the
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah and Balmorhea school districts all are expected to
show increases of about 5 percent in their net taxable valuations over
1996's figures. Valuations for the Town of Pecos City and Balmorhea were also up slightly, according to preliminary figures.
13 indicted in federal court on drug charges
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By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, June 30, 1997 - Fourteen of 27 indictments returned Thursday by
the federal grand jury were sealed. All those not sealed charge the
defendants with drug importation and/or possession.
Wade Wiggins, 20, Chad Taylor, 19, Justin Davis, 19, and Ronald Emanuel,
18, all of Henrietta, are charged with importing and possessing cocaine
on June 14.
U.S. Customs inspectors said the four had 8.2 grams of cocaine in their
possession when they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico.
Charged with importing and possessing with intent to distribute
marijuana are:
* Eduardo Hernandez, 21, of Andrews - 74.10 lb. on June 21;
* Yazmin A. Maldonado-Ballasteros, 20, of Sundown, 44.92 lb. on June 15;
* Dannie Yevette Mendias, 24, and Maria Bernadina Arredondo, 32, both of
Van Horn, June 13;
* Braulia Navarrete-Sanchez, 51, of Ojinaga, Mex., June 13;
* Minerva Jones-Garcia, 51, 23.98 lb. March 29;
Indicted for alleged possession with intent to distribute marijuana are:
* Uvaldo Ruiz-Ramirez, 19, Chihuahua, Mex., June 18;
* Ricardo Burciaga-Jimenez, 36, of Odessa, 177.88 pounds on June 18;
* Jose Efrain Orozco-Tinoco, 40, of Los Angeles, Calif., 274.78 lb. on
June 15.
The indictments were assigned to Senior Judge Lucius Bunton.
WEATHER
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PECOS, June 30, 1997 - High Sunday, 103, low this morning, 72. There was
a trace of precipitation over the weekend. Precipitation for the month
has been .18 of an inch and for the year-to-date, 3.73 inches. Skies
will be sunny during the day today and fair tonight with a slight chance
of thunderstorms over the low rolling plains through this evening. Lows
tonight will be in the 60s and 70s. Highs tomorrow will be in the 90s
except in the Big Bend area where readings will climb to near 105 by
mid-afternoon.
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, 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@bitstreet.com
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Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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