Daily Newspaper and Tourism Guide for Reeves County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

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Monday, October 13, 1997

Prize livestock, art shown at fair

Some repeat winners in jackpot show

PECOS, October 13, 1997 - The TCLA Lamb Show, Steer and
Heifer Jackpot at the Reeves County Fall Fair opened
Saturday morning with the lamb show.

There were 115 lambs shown. Prizes echoed last year's
results, with Post, Tx. resident J.C. Stelzer's entry taking
home the prize for Grand Champion Lamb. Stelzer's lambs
placed first in fine- and medium-wool categories and second
in the cross category.

"He has entered 25 shows since June," J.C.'s mother, Diane
Stelzer, said. Staying busy on the livestock circuit keeps
J.C. from having "time to get into trouble," she said.

In the steer show, Samantha Yates' entry won Grand Champion
out of 34 steers, and Reserve Champion went to Katie Jo
Yates' steer. Cody McCahn showed the Grand Champion heifer
and Cody Dulaney showed the Reserve Champion. There were 20
heifers entered.

In the showmanship category, which included both steer and
heifer contestants, Jack Bradley won for Juniors
(13-year-olds and under) and Katie Jo Yates won for the
Seniors (14 and older).

Showmanship prizes in the lamb category went to Cody Strube
(Juniors division) and Tara Strube (Seniors division).

Don Richardson, from Big Spring, judged the event and
congratulated the children saying, "others can fix up (your
lambs and cows) for you, but nobody else can show them for
you. Some of you have demonstrated outstanding showmanship."

He said one mistake several children made was not pulling up
in the line. "Don't make old judges like me walk so far," he
said.

"The quality I see here today is outstanding," he said,
"These boys and girls are working hard and enjoying
themselves." Congratulations, he said, were in order for all
the children who participated.

Hot peppers, quilts win at fair

PECOS, October 13, 1997 - There were many winners in several
homemaking and art categories at the Reeves County Fall Fair
last weekend.

In the Canned Goods category, Margie Williamson's hot
peppers took Best of Show, and her seasoned tomatoes netted
her first place as well. Sally Perry won big in this
division as well. Her cantaloupe preserves won second place,
her prickley pear pancake syrup took third, and her
cantaloupe-pineapple-lemon jam received an honorable mention.

In Quilts, Jerry Neeley's sampler quilt was Best of Show,
and her cowboy quilt won first place. Ana Falcon won second
place with her yellow doll quilt. Third place went to Roy
Prewit with his quilt and matching bear, and honorable
mentions went to Alberta Sims for her quilt and to Ava Gerke
for her red grease rag comforter.

In Division 3 - Adult Hobbies and Crafts, Best of Show went
to Eliza C. Mendoza for her three grannies, and she won
first place as well with her raffa angel. Roy Prewit took
second place with his bear and matching quilt, and Brandy
Owen won third place with a cinnamon ristra.

Tommy Williamson got an honorable mention for his wooden
bird house.

In Division 4 - Adult Needleworks, Knitted/Crocheted
Articles, Best of Show went to Lois Roach for her crocheted
tablecloth.

Homerlain Shaw won first place for her white tatted doily.
Doris Moorman won second place for her latch hook pillow and
third place for her plastic canvas welcome.

All places in Division 4 - Afghans were taken by two ladies.
Pamela Starck won Best of Show for her matte colored afghan
and first place for her cream block afgan. Sharon Gooding
won second place, third place and an honorable mention for
her baby blankets.

In Youth Clothing, first place went to GeNelle Willis for a
vest and skirt, and second place went to her as well for a
school print jumper.

In Adult Clothing, first place went to Laura Teal for a
Bargello rainbow vest, and she took second place as well
with a Bargello vest and skirt. Debra Martinez won third
place with a Christmas decorated sweatshirt.

In Division 4 - Adult Needleworks and Creative Stitchery,
Pamela Starck won Best of Show with her beaded angel. First
place went to Naomi Marquez for her mother and baby. Vera
Sellers won second place for her roosters and Doris Moorman
received third place for her needlepoint entry.

In Adult Photography, Margie Williamson's "Indian blanket"
won Best of Show. Crissy Dominguez won first place for her
rocking chair photo, and R. L. Tellez won second place with
a photo of a cow in the brush. Margie Williamson also won
third place for her Balmorhea sunflowers photo, and an
honorable mention for her "Reflections of the Frio."

First place in Division 1 - Youth Cookies went to Justin
Owen for his brownies, and second place went to GeNelle
Willis for peanut butter bars.

In Division 1 - Adult Breads, Grace Box won first place for
her banana nut bread, and Sharon Rodriguez won second place
for her pumpkin bread.

Jonathan Keasey won first place in Division 1 - Youth Cakes
with a chocolate oatmeal cake.
In Division 1 - Adult Cakes, both Best of Show and first
place went to Peggy Dickson for her red velvet cake. Grace
Box won second place with her pound cake and third place
with her apple cake.

In Division 7 - Youth Art, Tommy Perkins received first
place for his Tigger, Jacob Sanchez won second for his
whales, and Honorable Mention went to J. Ross Busby for his
Army scene.

In Division 7 - Adult Art, Best of Show went to Margie
Williamson for her "Sonora Sunrise." Pearl Gustafson took
the other three places in this category, with first place
for an oil painting, second for "Survival" and third place
for "Path in the Woods."

In Christmas Crafts - Adult, Best of Show went to Christie
Blake for her Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Rose Mary Scroggins won
first place for her Christmas tree, Doris Moorman took
second place with her Christmas stockings, and Lucy Gonzales
won third place for her Christmas tree skirt.

Rose Mary Scroggins also received an honorable mention for
her Christmas magazine basket.

Local men joined Promise Keepers

By GREG HARMAN
Staff Writer

PECOS, October 13, 1997 - The Promise Keepers, a Christian
men's movement founded by former University of Colorado
football coach Bill McCartney, convened on Washington on the
4th of this month, and several area men were there to share
the moment. Matt Williamson, Greer Willis, and Sony Selaya
all attended the one-day conference.

Matt Williamson, pastor of Abundant Life Church in Pecos,
called the event a "holy gathering of men," with the mission
of interceding on behalf of the nation. Participants at
Promise Keepers gatherings generally believe that, despite
economic health, the United States is, in Williamson's
words, "morally disintegrating."

PK founder McCartney, in a recent article published in
Policy Review, charged that "America is suffering from a
lack of integrity, and men are behind some of the worst
manifestations...At least 94 percent of all inmates are
male." From drug abuse and violent crime, to pregnancies
that lead to welfare or abortion, McCartney calls these
social problems, "moral problems, which ultimately have a
spiritual cause."

The gatherings are inspired by the Bible passage, "If my
people who are called by my name will humble themselves and
seek My face then I will turn from my anger and heal their
land."

McCartney and his Promise Keepers have drawn considerable
fire in recent years, from both secular and religious
communities. Women's groups, particularly NOW (the National
Organization of Women), have declared that the Promise
Keepers' aim is to send women packing back to the kitchens
as second class citizens.

But several recent news articles have come to portray
Promise Keepers in a more positive light.

An Oct. 6 feature in U.S. News and World Report, entitled
"My wife told me to go," by Marci McDonald, is one such
view. According to McDonald, "despite NOW's contention that
Promise Keepers is designed to foster a new breed of
swaggering misogynists...scores (of wives) indicate the
movement is more likely to produce the opposite: a
generation of freshly sensitive husbands who are not afraid
to unload the dishwasher - or their tears."

Williamson agrees with this assessment. "I've heard from my
wife, and others' wives, nothing but positives. The Bible
says to love your wives as Christ loves his church. If we
(men) could do that, we could erase these other problems,"
he said.

Estimates on the size of the meeting vary, and there may not
be an official crowd count since the controversy over the
park services count at the Million Man March (they recorded
only 400,000), but attendees estimate that more than a
million men participated.

Greer Willis, pastor of First Baptist Church, who also
joined the men at the capitol in repentance and prayer, said
the crowd could have totaled 1.5 million.

Willis emphasized that Promise Keepers conferences bring
unity to Christians of various racial and denominational
backgrounds. "In our day, we as anglos tend to believe that
things are fine, and that stuff has been taken care of.

But it really hasn't." Willis said that he and several
others who attended a Promise Keepers meeting in 1996 sensed
that God "really dealt with (us) on the racial issue," and
as a result they experienced a reconciliation with each
other.

A Promise Keepers group has been formed in Pecos, which
Williamson leads, and will be meeting at the Pecos Community
Center on Monday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. Participants from the
Washington D.C. rally will be there to share their
experiences.

Judge makes accident records available

By JUAN B. ELIZONDO Jr.
Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) October 13, 1997 - Information about traffic
wrecks in Texas is available to the public again after a
state judge expanded an injunction against a new law that
would block release of the information.

The court's order applies to local law enforcement agencies
as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety, Attorney
General Dan Morales' office said Friday.

State District Judge Paul Davis put the entire new law on
hold late Wednesday after earlier blocking part of it from
taking effect Sept. 1.
A hearing on whether the law should remain on hold is
scheduled for Oct. 24.

Despite the temporary ruling against the law, lawmakers and
newspaper officials say traffic wreck information remains
elusive in some areas of the state.

That's because all law enforcement agencies haven't been
informed that the law now isn't in effect, said Dolph
Tillotson, editor and publisher of The Galveston County
Daily News and co-chairman of legislative committees for the
Texas Daily Newspaper Association and Texas Press
Association.

"The injunction applies to everyone," said Morales spokesman
Ron Dusek.

The TDNA and the TPA filed the lawsuit that led to Davis'
ruling.

The groups are considering a plan to expand the lawsuit to
include all Texas law enforcement agencies in order to make
clear that the law isn't in effect, attorney David Donaldson
said.
Donaldson and Texas newspaper officials met Friday with
representatives from Morales' office to discuss plans for
keeping the law from taking effect until after the 1999
legislative session, the first time lawmakers could formally
revise it.

Another meeting between Morales and newspaper attorneys is
scheduled next week.

"I hope at that time we can be shaking hands over the way we
are going to resolve this issue," Donaldson said.

Dusek said it would be improper to comment on the suggestion
raised by the newspaper groups. "We have to do legal
research to determine what we can do under the law," he
said.

In part, the 1997 traffic wreck records law says anyone who
wants information from a traffic accident report must know
the name of at least one person involved, plus either the
date or the location of the wreck.

Lawmakers who support that say it's an effort to keep
attorneys and chiropractors from harassing people involved
in traffic wrecks.

Another part of the law requires that information from
Texans' motor vehicle records remain confidential unless an
individual driver agrees to allow personal information to be
made public. That information includes a person's date of
birth, driver's license number and address.

State lawmakers approved that provision in response to a
federal law making it a crime if states don't designate the
records secret. Under the federal law, state workers who
give out the information could be fined $2,500 each time
they do so.

Courts in Oklahoma and South Carolina have ruled the federal
law invalid in their states.

The Texas Department of Public Safety interpreted the ban on
releasing information from motor vehicle records as another
bar to releasing traffic wreck reports, saying the same
information is included.

The department had offered news media a form to sign,
allowing them to gain access to the information despite the
new law. News outlets were reluctant to sign that waiver,
now made moot by the broader injunction.

Donaldson said the newspaper groups are not considering a
court fight against the federal law but have made their
objections to it clear in the state lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Tillotson and lawmakers are stressing that
withholding traffic wreck information is a problem for more
than the news media.

Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, said a person in his
district has had difficulty getting information from a fatal
wreck involving a family member. Tillotson said even some
government agencies that need information from the reports
are having difficulty getting it.

"Shouldn't people ... be able to find out how often
accidents happen in their neighborhood," Donaldson asked?
"That kind of information is what accident reports tell us
about."

RCDC budget analyst dies of heart attack

PECOS, October 13, 1997 - Jerry Bridges, the new Budget
Analyst at Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC), suffered a
heart attack Friday around 12:30 a.m. and died, according to
Assistant Warden Charles Marmolejo.

"It's kind of a shocker for us," he said, "He was very
kind." Marmolejo could offer no details about the death.

Bridges, who was raised in Lubbock, joined the RCDC staff
August 25, this year.

His body is to be cremated at the Wilson Funeral Home in
Odessa. There will be no service.

Brothers walk fine legal, financial line

DALLAS (AP) October 13, 1997 - Some state leaders are
wondering if Texas's first private prison developers got
them to buy into an innocent entrepreneurial effort or a
flimflam scheme.

For more than a decade, Michael and Patrick Graham have gone
from one financial problem to another in numerous business
ventures, many of which were supported by top state leaders,
The Dallas Morning News reported in Sunday editions.

"Everyone who's gotten involved with these guys in some sort
of business relationship has come out burned," said Robert
Madden, an attorney who sued the brothers on behalf of
private prison investors.

In May 1988, the Grahams found a new business opportunity
after failures in Houston real estate and oil-field
equipment industry. The opportunity came from the
overflowing county jails and state prisons of Texas.

Patrick founded N-Group Securities, which would become the
brothers' biggest bust.

After scouting out six rural Texas counties, Patrick sold
the idea of building jails with bonds. Soon after, Michael
became vice president of N-Group.

Former Gov. Mark White helped promote the proposal, in which
N-Group would supply building contractors, designers and
administrators for the lockups.

The idea allowed the counties to boost their economies by
owning the jails and charging other counties $45 a day to
house inmates from other jurisdictions trying to reduce
overcrowding in their facilities.

By October 1989, the brothers were millionaires after $73
million in bonds were sold to finance jails in Pecos,
Swisher, LaSalle, Angelia, San Saba and Falls counties.

The jails were completed but remained empty in 1990. Other
counties preferred to have inmates sleep on floors to paying
to send prisoners to a private penitentiary. It resulted in
an investigation being conducted in Fort Stockton by Pecos
County officials.

The Grahams tried to influence changes in state policies so
their private cells could house Texas inmates, but the
failed. Some wondered how they profited from the deal. But
in 1994, court testimony showed N-Group required some
project contractors to pay "contract fees."

Executives with building contractor H.A. Lott, which built
the Astrodome, testified the company agreed to build the
prisons for $48 million, including $4.8 million in fees to
N-Group. A steel company also paid $1.5 million in fees.

"The concept was ingenious," said Mark Achilles, a Houston
lawyer for the Grahams. "What brought them down is they
tried to suck more money out of it."

Bills began to accumulate and by October 1991 a Pecos County
grand jury indicted the brothers and their company for
alleged construction bid irregularities. The charges later
were dropped when the company agreed to plead guilty to a
misdemeanor and pay a $50,000 fine.

In early 1992, investors who had bought bonds from the
brothers' company decided to sue during a time when the
bonds were facing default. By April, the state decided to
buy the N-Group jails for 50 cents on the dollar.

A jury in October 1994 found the Grahams, N-Group and others
associated with the project liable for $70 million in
reparations.

Attorneys told the newspaper that investors have received
only a few thousand dollars from the Grahams, whereas other
parties in the lawsuit have paid substantially more.

Ray Hutchison, husband of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
represented the counties in the bond sale and said he wants
nothing to do with the Graham brothers.

"You don't want my opinion of them," he said.
Still ahead is the fallout from their guilty pleas to tax
evasion, a foiled prison escape, and real estate and
bankruptcy disputes. The FBI still is investigating business
contacts the two had with former Louisiana Gov. Edwin
Edwards.

Some associates say Michael can read tell a business
prospect wants to hear in the time it takes him to shake
hands.

"He's a showperson," Former San Saba County Judge Tom Bowden
said. Bowden met Michael on a jail deal in San Saba. "He'd
as soon climb a tree and tell a lie than stand on the ground
and tell the truth."

Patrick Graham acknowledges their former associates'
criticism, but he says he has an amazing story to tell that,
for now, must stay under wraps.

"I don't think I'm the monster everybody thinks I am," he
said.

Michael Graham also said he will remain tight-lipped "out of
necessity."

OBITS

Maria Briceno

Maria Marquez Briceno, 107, died Sunday, Oct. 12, 1997, at
Reeves County Hospital.

Viewing will be held all day, Monday, Oct. 13, and Tuesday,
Oct. 14, in Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in
Saragosa.

A rosary is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Catholic Church.

Mass will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Catholic Church, with burial in Saragosa Cemetery.

She was born Sept. 27, 1890, in San Angelo, was a lifetime
Pecos resident and a Catholic.

She was preceded in death by two sons, Santiago Briceno and
Natividad Briceno, Jr.

Survivors include two sons, Luis Briceno of Anthony, N.M.
and Fermin Briceno of Fort Worth; two daughters, Aurora
Briceno of Saragosa and Paulina Ortega of Anthony, N.M.; 23
grandchildren; 40 great-grandchildren; and 30 great-great
grandchildren.

Harold Holley

Harold Dee Holley, 72, of Odessa, died Saturday, Oct. 11,
1997, in the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14, at
Parkview Church of Christ with Charles Jones officiating.
Joe Cross will assist. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial
Gardens.

He was born April 29, 1925, in Wellington, and served in
World War II in the armed forces in the Phillipines. He was
a member of the Church of Christ for 61 years; was a farmer
in Muleshoe for 25 years and retired sales manager for
Odessa Spring Brake and Axle of Odessa.

Survivors include his wife, Patsy Ruth Holley; three
daughters, Ann Martin of Midland, Charlotte Benton of
Midland and Jan Davis of Houston; one son, Eddie Holley of
San Antonio and three grandchildren.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Odessa
Christian School, 2000 Doran, Odessa, Tx., 79761 or Leukemia
Society, 950 Isom, San Antonio, Tx., 78218.

WEATHER

PECOS, October 13, 1997 - High Sunday, 77, low this morning,
40. Widespread flash flooding continued across several areas
of South Texas early today. The heavy rainfall was triggered
by the arrival of a cold front. The front was located early
today along a line from near Texarkana to San Antonio to Del
Rio. It will be mostly fair and cooler across West Texas.
Lows tonight will be in the 30s and 40s in the Panhandle,
the 40s in North Texas and in the 50s and 60s in South
Texas. Highs Tuesday will be in the 60s and 70s in West
Texas.

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