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Top StoriesFriday, April 3, 1998Senate OKs low-level radioactive compactBy MICHELLE MITTELSTADT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) April 3, 1998 - An agreement allowing Maine and Vermont to ship their low-level radioactive waste to Texas is a step closer to reality now that the Senate has signed off on the controversial deal. Late in the night Wednesday, the Senate accepted the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact without debate or roll-call vote, passing the legislation under its "unanimous consent'' calendar. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who has been pushing for the legislation's passage since 1994, hailed the Senate action, as did Maine's other senator, Susan Collins. "This is good news for Maine, Vermont and Texas that will address our state's low-level waste disposal problems with this voluntary agreement,'' the two Republicans said Thursday in a joint statement. Snowe also termed the deal an "outstanding insurance policy for Maine.'' But anti-nuclear activists who have teamed with West Texans opposed to the proposed Texas dump, which the state of Texas wants to build near Sierra Blanca, denounced the bill's passage. "It's a gray day for West Texas,'' said Diane D'Arrigo of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The House last year approved the compact, which would allow the two New England states to ship their waste to Texas in exchange for payments of $25 million apiece. The dump, which Texas wants to build at a site seven miles southeast of Sierra Blanca and 120 miles southwest of Pecos, would house radioactive components from dismantled nuclear power plants and industrial and medical waste. The facility has been designed to take in 45,000 to 50,000 cubic feet of waste annually over its projected 30-year lifespan. Senate passage now paves the way for House and Senate negotiators to reconcile differences in the two bills. The compromise then must go back through both chambers and be signed by the president before it becomes law. The Senate's leading compact opponent, Democrat Paul Wellstone, who has thwarted consideration of the legislation for the last few years, expressed satisfaction Thursday that he was able to modify the legislation. "It's good news from my point of view,'' he said, "because for a year and a half or so I've said `Look, I'm not willing to agree to this unless we have a debate on those amendments.''' After Wellstone threw roadblocks in the path of the Maine and Vermont senators, as well as Texas Sens. Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison, the supporters agreed to accept two amendments. One would limit the senders of waste accepted by Texas to the states of Maine and Vermont, excluding all others. The other would make it easier for individuals to seek legal recourse if they feel their communities have been unfairly targeted for a dump because of poverty, ethnicity or race. Texas officials insist the dump would be limited to the three compact members. But critics note that the compact as originally written gives the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority leeway to open the dump to non-compact members. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, who expressed fears that Texas could become the "pay toilet for the country," tacked on the limiting language to the House bill and Wellstone did the same in the Senate. But compact supporters will be looking to strip the Doggett and Wellstone language out of the bills when conferees meet. The amendment is strongly opposed by the nuclear industry and has met with a cold shoulder from Texas, Maine and Vermont officials. "Our goal ultimately would be to see a clean bill come out as ratified by the states," Snowe spokesman Dave Lackey said. Compact proponents argue that any changes to the original language, already ratified by the three states' legislatures, would force a lengthy reratification process. Opponents say reratification is unnecessary. Wellstone made clear that he will renew his objections to final passage of the compact if his amendments are deleted. "It would be disingenuous at best, and maybe worse than that, to have had the House pass the Doggett amendment and also pass our amendment over here ... and then (have compact supporters) turn around and try to knock it out," Wellstone said. "I don't think people understand that kind of politics." The compact's main House sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, who last year agreed at the last minute to include the Doggett amendment in the House bill, declined comment Thursday. TNMP rates high on customer complaintsBy GREG HARMAN Staff Writer PECOS, April 3, 1998 - To be competitive in the utility market of the future, which continues to gird itself for a likely-to-be deregulated market, electric companies must be financially-lean and market-strong. The large number of companies that make-up the Texas electric utility industry, operating on the assumption that the 1999 state legislature will enact pro-competition legislation, are furiously pushing for settlements that will help pay off their large deficits generated by over spending in the previous decade. Texas-New Mexico Power Company, which recently found its common ground with the Public Utility Commission of Texas in an eight month-long rate case, has some ground yet to travel on that road to fiscal competitiveness and customer satisfaction. The Public Utility Commission released a list Wednesday of the electric companies with the highest customer complaint ratios. Texas-New Mexico Power Company ranked number four, behind Cherokee County Electric Co-op (1), Entergy Gulf States Inc., (2), and Trinity Valley Electric Co-op (3). TNMP spokesperson Valerie Smith said the blame for the many complaints filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas may rest on the aggressive tactics of competing power companies and high winter bills. "We have a couple of areas next to co-ops that are taking aggressive efforts at competition (with TNMP)," said TNMP spokeswoman Valerie Smith. "We're not sure if those are really complaints. I suspect some may be high bill complaints." Smith said the total number of complaints filed with PUC by Texas customers against Texas-New Mexico Power Company was 26 out of a total customer base in the state of about 180,000. By this morning, the company had identified thirteen of the 26 complaints as associated with what Smith referred to "aggressive tactics of a competing company" in North Texas, and involved the meter disconnect fee charged by TNMP when a household switches electric companies. "We do our own customer satisfaction surveys every year and by and large we get high marks on everything but rates." There was also disagreement, or a "non-unanimous stipulation," in the recent settlement with PUC, according to PUC spokesperson Saralee Tiede. Those in agreement on the company's Transition-To-Competition plan and restated stipulation included, but was not limited to: the general council of PUC; TNMP itself; a majority of the cities served by TNMP; and an association representing low-income customers. Those against the restated stipulation included The Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, representing a handful of Gulf Coast cities, the Office of Public Utility Council (OPUC), representing residential and small business interests, and several businesses. Said Tiede of OPUC's rejection of the stipulation,"They felt that the agreement stretched too far into the future and were concerned that rate payers would be stuck paying too large a share of the company's stranded costs." Plainly put, Tiende said, OPUC was concerned that customers may be paying off "the cost of the company's coal plant." Completed in 1991, TNP One, TNMP's coal plant cost the company about $650 million to construct, according to TNMP Treasurer Patrick Bridges. And the ECOM, or "stranded costs" (the costs for TNMP to be competitive in a deregulated environment), associated with the plant, as of Jan. 1, is estimated at about $272.1 million. "We were not in agreement with several of the main issues," said Jim Rourke, assistant public council for the Office of Public Utility Council. One of those issues was the length of the proposed transition period. TNMP is requesting a transition period of five years, with another five-year period following for recovery of any remaining stranded costs in the form of Competitive Transition Charges, or CTC's, charged to its regular customers. OPUC advised a two-year transition period, similar to what was adopted by both Houston Lighting & Power and Texas Electric, ending when the state legislative session begins in 1999. OPUC also disagreed with TNMP's decision to eliminate its Power Cost Recovery Factor. The PCRF originally passed company savings to its customers. The elimination of it will pass those savings to the company. According to Rourke, OPUC also believed that the TNMP proposed rates are too high. "There should be deeper reductions," he said. And on a final note, the Office of the Public Utility Council was in sharp disagreement over how TNMP proposed to handle its stranded costs. "We think there is less ECOM than what they are claiming," said Rourke. Under the proposal, he said, customers are responsible for paying 100 percent of the stranded costs incurred with the construction of TNP 1 and purchased power contracts. "We believe that should be determined by the (Texas) Legislature." According to Rourke, the association representing low-income customers had been against the restated stipulation throughout negotiations until the night before the final vote. "(TNMP) cut a deal with them," he said. That deal, according to Randy Chapman, legal representative for the Low-Income Interveners, came in the form of a promise by TNMP to institute low-income weatherization programs. "They promised this to the Public Utility Commission two years ago," said Chapman, "but they never got it off the ground." This program, constituting 0.12 percent of the total TNMP operating budget, will go into effect next year and will be funded, at first, by its stockholders, said Chapman. The Transition-To-Competition plan, filed by TNMP with PUC on July 31, 1997, promises a series of rate reductions for customers over a five-year transition period that would total about nine percent in residential customer reductions and three percent reductions for commercial customers by Jan. 1, 2002. These reductions were originally to have begun for customers on Jan. 1 this year. With the proposal still moving through the legal channels, Senior Vice President Jack Chambers appeared before the City Council of the Town of Pecos City on March 26, 1998, to state that the company expected to be able to offer the first three percent reduction to customers in June, which would be retroactive back to the originally-proposed date of Jan. 1. According to the proposal, customers would also be able to choose what company would supply their electric power at the end of the five-year transition. TNMP would remain the power deliverer. This plan differs from TNMP's Community Choice plan, which was filed with PUC in 1996 and later abandoned when it became apparent to TNMP officials that settlement of several key issues was unlikely. The proposal now sits with the State Office of Administrative Hearings, where the pros and cons of the agreement will be discussed. The Administrative Law Judge order will then be drafted, giving all parties time to file their briefs. Then the three PUC commissioners will call an open meeting, to be held in Austin, in which their final decision on the proposal will be announced. TNMP, at this point, along with the other parties involved, will be able to accept or reject the commissioner's decision. On March 31, PUC commissioners made their final decision to approve, with modifications, both Houston Lighting & Power Company and Texas Utilities proposals, even though they each had non-unanimous stipulations. HLP and TU now have until April 21 to accept or reject the commissioners' offer. The difference with TNMP's case lies in the fact that OPUC approved the stipulations of both HLP and TU, but not that of TNMP. The City Council of the Town of Pecos City voted to support TNMP's proposal on Sep. 11, 1997, despite the recommendation of City Attorney Scott Johnson that "the city would benefit more if (the council) did nothing" about the proposal. How do your electric rates stack up?PECOS, April 3, 1998 - Compare these residential rates for 1000 kilowatt-hours of service for the month of March. Southwestern Electric Power out of Longview sat at $55.62 per kilowatt-hour; Upshur-Rural Co-Op based in Gilmer charged customers $56.84; City Public Service out of San Antonio was at $58.23; and the Bluebonnet Co-op out of Giddings was at $62.32. In Amarillo, Southwestern Public Service charged $63.04 per kilowatt-hour; Tri-County Co-Op in Azle was at $63.72; Victoria Co-Op in Victoria rested at $67.03; the City of Austin charge was $68.40; Kerville PUB sat just shy of the $70 mark, at $69.10; and Guadalupe Valley Co-Op out of Gonzales charged its customers $70.07. Lubbock's South Plains Co-Op in Lubbock took $71.70; West Texas Utilities out of Abilene charged $72.13; Entergy Gulf States out of Beaumont sat at $73.22; in Huntsville, Mid-South Co-Op charged $74.39; Texas Utilities charged $74.67; and the Erath County Co-Op passed along its $75.88 per kilowatt-hour charge. Denton County Co-Op cost $78.64; Houston Lighting and Power charged $79.10; Pedernales Co-Op out of Johnson City had a rate of $79.72; and Jacksonville's Southwestern Electric Service charged its customers $87.22. Texas-New Mexico Power vied for the highest rates by charging customers $87.24 per kilowatt-hour, but El Paso Electric took those honors by charging customers $101.96 per kilowatt-hour of service. Groups to help poor with medicationBy CARA ALLIGOOD Staff Writer PECOS, April 3, 1998 - Many people in the Pecos area have low incomes and no insurance or governmental aid program to cover their needs for prescription medications. Many of those people turn to the Texas Department of Human Services (TDH), the Community Council of Reeves County, the Reeves County Hospital or local churches for help. The hospital has an indigent program, but the program has to follow very strictly legislated guidelines. The hospital's program can only help the very poorest people in the county. Rey Carreon, manager of the Pecos TDH office, said that many times, there is nothing that his office can do to help such people because TDH case workers must abide by state regulations. The community council hasn't had a program to cover this need in the past, but the executive director of the council, Caprice Cox, has formed a committee called the Reeves County Medicine Chest which will be devoted to searching for grants, finding private organizations concerned with assisting people who can't afford their medications, and coordinating church groups and other concerned citizens who want to work together in finding a way to help provide people with the medication they need. Applications for help in obtaining prescription medicine through one private company will become available locally by Apr. 6 at the community council's offices at the Reeves County annex building. That program requires applicants to pay $5 for each prescription requested. The application fees can be refunded if the applicant does not qualify for any free medication, if the applicant requests the refund in writing. There are a few churches in the area that are helping people to purchase the medications they need, but most only do so on an intermittent basis, dependent upon their financial capability. One local church, Abundant Life, regularly helps to buy anti-seizure medicine for a member of its congregation. They spend $135 to help pay for $300 worth of a medication that is needed on a continuous basis. Only one local religious organization, Zion Ministries, has set up a program to help provide medicines to people of the community. Since the founder of Zion Ministries, Elder Billy R. Woodard, began the program a couple of weeks ago in response to learning about the need for medication through a newspaper story, members of the ministry have helped several people in Reeves County with their medicinal needs. During the 13-day period of March 19-31, Zion Ministries spent $322.14 on 13 prescriptions for 5 people. One young man received eight of the prescriptions, an eight-month supply of medicines to treat the cancer he suffers. One other person received two prescriptions, the other three were supplied with one much-needed prescription medicine apiece. Zion Ministries provides the medications by taking applications from people who are referred to the church through the indigent program at Reeves County Hospital and having those prescriptions that are approved filled at a local pharmacy. They are billed for the prescriptions they provide on a monthly basis. The Reeves County Medicine Chest, with the help of Cox, is being created by a group of local citizens concerned with filling the gaps in medical care between government programs and private insurance that many people fall through when they become ill. The RCMC's organizational committee meets at Cox's office at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and is looking for a few more members to balance and guide the committee. They are specifically seeking a doctor who would be willing to work with the group to share knowledge of medical resources, a lawyer who would be willing to sit on the committee and assist with legal issues the organization may encounter to be able to effectively help people and a member of the business committee who is experienced in dealing with financial matters and community relations. According to Jim Soto from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Cox can use $1,500 from the Community Services Block Grant to get the RCMC started. The committee also plans to hold various fund raising activities in the coming months, and to work with programs that pharmaceutical companies already have in place to sponsor low-income individuals with long-term needs for the medicines that the companies produce. "Cramming" scams target Spanish speakersBy GREG HARMAN Staff Writer Just back in the office from campaigning to alert Spanish speakers in the Brownsville and San Antonio areas to several on-going telephone scams that seem to target Hispanics, Katie Bohuslaz, spokesperson for the Public Utility Commission, is asking phone customers to be wary. Complaints filed with the Public Utility Commission, a state agency regulating telecommunications and investor-owned electric utilities in Texas, by Spanish-speaking customers have increased 595 percent since September 1997. "Cramming," a practice where some unethical phone companies add unauthorized charges to one's phone bill, is not unique to Hispanic customers. But it does happen. Bohuslaz's advice is to read your phone bill carefully. "A lot of problems happen when you don't understand what your bill says," said Bohuslaz. Be suspicious of collect calls from Mexico. Some long-distance companies offering "free calls to the U.S." actually dump heavy bills on the U.S. recipients of the call, said Bohuslaz. "First of all, you do not have to accept the call," she said, "and you can demand how much the call will cost you before you agree to accept the call." Also, it is a good idea to ask out-of-country family to shop around for a good rate before calling. There have been reports of prisoners in Mexico making numerous collect calls out of boredom. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Univision, a Spanish language broadcaster, the Hispanic market is virtually exploding and the "average Hispanic's phone bill accounts for 40 percent of all their monthly utility spending." "The PUC will not tolerate the fast-buck artists who target Hispanic or low-income citizens for their get-rich-quick schemes," said PUC Chairman Pat Wood III. "We will do all we can to make sure they don't do business in Texas." There are Spanish-speaking PUC employees who can help you with any phone bill questions you may have, said Bohuslaz. The toll-free number is 1-888-782-8477, or 1-888-PUC-TIPS. Remember, when looking at your bill, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. PBT board lowers cheerleader standardsPECOS, April 3, 1998 - The Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board lowered its standards regarding eligibility for the cheerleading squad during its special meeting last night. In the past, students had to be passing during the current six-week grading period as well as the previous period and have no more than one bad conduct mark per grading period to be able to try out to be a cheerleader. Now, they merely have to meet UIL (University Interscholastic League) requirements. District superintendent Don Love recommended changing the eligibility requirement so that more students would be able to try out for cheerleading. Pecos High School cheerleading sponsor, Sheryl Wyles, addressed the board and stated that cheerleading tryouts were scheduled for the next day (today) and asked the board, if they decided to change the standard for next year, not the next day. She also pointed out that the students have known about the standards all year long. Kim Calhoun, eighth-grade cheerleading sponsor, agreed that timeliness was important, and stated that students at her campus also have been aware of the standards throughout the school year. She also pointed out that cheerleading is not a UIL activity. However, the board, in action reminiscent of last year's mid-year dress code changes, opted to adopt the UIL standards for cheerleading. When the board changed the district's dress code during the school year last year, the action caused much confusion and debate, even a student protest. "I feel like we need to be as consistent and fair with all our kids as possible," said Love. One board member, vice president Alberto Alvarez was absent from the meeting and one trustee, Freddy Lujan, abstained from the vote. All other members of the board voted to make the change. So, anyone who was passing all of their classes at the end of the last six-weeks grading period is eligible to audition to cheerlead. If they fail a class after making the squad but are passing at the three-week mark, they will regain eligibility after an additional one-week grace period. The school board officially decided not to renew the contract of probationary employee Phillip Garrison, an eighth-grade history teacher and coach, at the end of the contract period. The board also voted unanimously to approve the resignations of six current employees: Manuela Allen, AEP teacher; Mike Farrell, PHS health teacher; Jim Jennings, earth science teacher at Zavala Middle School; Alicia Leal, second-grade teacher at Austin Elementary; Allen Wyles, algebra teacher at PHS; and Sheryl Wyles, PHS special education teacher. The board also voted to approve the sale of two used coach buses, Eagle 1 and Eagle 2. Eagle 1 is a 1977 MCI Crusador and Eagle 2 is a 1976 MCI Crusador. Eagle 3 will not be offered for sale at this time. Heater burns womanBy ROSIE FLORES Staff Writer PECOS, April 3, 1998 - An elderly Pecos woman was listed in fair to stable condition this morning at Reeves County Hospital after she caught herself on fire Thursday evening, according to assistant hospital administrator Nadine Smith. Willie Mayes, 84, was to be transferred to a Lubbock hospital today, according to Reeves County Hospital reports. She was injured in an accident at her home late Thursday evening. According to her niece, Willie Shorter, Mayes was trying to light a heater when the fire flamed up setting her hair on fire. "She put the bedspread over her head, which was good, but it still caught fire and burned her head and face," said Shorter. Mayes suffered first- and second-degree burns to both her head and face. The family will be waiting to see what Lubbock physicians have to say before establishing a fund for Mayes, who is a life-long Pecos resident. She was also a Pecos Enterprise employee for many years, along with her husband Arthur, who died in 1987. ObituraryApril 3, 1998Wayne DoggettWayne Doggett, 58, of Lubbock, died Wednesday, April 1, 1998, in St. Mary Hospital. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, at Westmont Christian Church with the Rev. Keith Strain of Ada, Okla., pastor of Westmont, officiating. Private burial will be under direction of Sanders Funeral Home. Doggett was born July 13, 1939, in Winters and grew up in Pecos. He worked at Southwestern Bell and AT&T for 32 years, was area manager for many years and retired in 1989. From 1989 to 1996, he owned and operated Rio Pecos Trading Co. in Lubbock. He was an elder at Westmont Christian Church and a member of the South American Explorers Club and the Telephone Pioneers of America. Survivors include: his wife, Jonny Hankins Doggett; two daughters, Julie Wright and Stacey Blackburn of Lubbock; his parents, W. C. "Bill" and Inez Doggett of Lubbock; two brothers, Ronnie Doggett of Giddings and Bob Doggett of Lubbock; and three grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be made to the Chorus of Angels program at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center, to Hospice of Lubbock, P.O. Box 53276, Lubbock 79453, or to a favorite charity. WEATHERPECOS, April 3, 1998 - High Thursday, 69, low this morning, 40. A slow-moving Pacific cool front was two-thirds of the way through South Texas this morning, extending from the Rio Grande plains through the central coastal plains to the College Station area. Behind the front, skies were clear with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Ahead of the front, skies continued partly cloudy, with areas of dense fog and temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The National Weather Service said the weak front would be out of the state before noon today. The weather service said skies should continue sunny with temperatures warming into the 70s and 80s for most of the weekend. Temperatures were generally in the 40s and 50s across West Texas with mostly cloudy skies over the panhandle and northerly winds 20 to 25 miles an hour and gusty. Skies were clear over the remainder of West Texas with westerly winds 10 to 15 miles an hour.
Pecos Enterprise
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