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| Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide for Pecos Country of West Texas Top Stories Monday, July 27, 1998 Big Spring bid lands meteorite from Monahans MONAHANS (AP) - A Big Spring man is the proud owner of a soccer ball-sized space rock today after placing the high bid of $23,000 for the meteorite found by seven West Texas boys. Mike Craddock bought the object in an auction held via the Internet on Sunday, said Cathi Casper, a spokeswoman for the auction company. Ms. Casper said Craddock has no apparent scientific interest in the rock but wanted to help the boys who found the meteorite and then had to fight with Monahans city officials to keep it. ``He said that he is a native Texan and he apparently was pretty upset when he read about the rock being taken away from those boys,'' Ms. Casper said. ``He just wanted to help them out.'' A telephone listing for Craddock got no answer early today. Craddock's bid, submitted 10 minutes before the auction ended late Sunday night, was far below what the boys had hoped to reap. The $23,000 sale price was only three bids higher than the $20,000 starting price set by the auction house, www.Naturalhistoryauction.com. Orlando Lyles, father of two of the youths who found the stone while playing basketball, had guessed the rock would bring up to $60,000. But on Sunday night, Lyles said he was happy with the final price. ``I was kind of surprised at it,'' he said. ``The kids are happy with it and I'm glad it's over.'' Lyles and Steve Arnold, a broker who represented the boys for a 25-percent cut of the proceeds, said the price was affected by the opinion of a NASA scientist who said last week that the rock was likely contaminated. The boys were playing basketball in front of the Lyles home when the meteor plunged to Earth in March. Firefighters took it for analysis and promised it would be returned as long as NASA determined it was not radioactive. Days later, the Lyles family telephone began ringing off the hook as university science departments offered to buy the meteorite, with bids reaching as high as $31,000. But when the family asked the city to return it, the mayor sent a letter politely declining. The meteorite, he wrote, was city property. After a hearing in May, city council members ruled ``finders, keepers,'' giving the rock to the seven boys. The boys, Flavio Armendariz, Eron Hernandez, Javier Juarez, Patrick Lyles, Alvaro Lyles, Jose Felan and Neri Armendariz - will share equally in the proceeds, Orlando Lyles said. He said his sons would put their share away for college. Rallies earn Pecos trip to Abilene By JON FULBRIGHT Staff Writer BIG SPRING -- Coming back to win the subsectional tournament title after being no-hit in their opener was quite an achievement for the Pecos Junior League All-Stars in Big Spring over the weekend. But in order to get to the state tournament, they'll have to do it again starting tonight in Abilene. Pecos, no-hit in five innings by Lubbock Southwest on Friday, 10-0, came back that night to beat Big Spring, 7-4, then rallied from a 7-6 deficit in the sixth inning on Saturday to beat Southwest, 8-7. Sunday night, the Junior Leaguers came from behind again, scoring twice in the sixth inning and once in the eighth for a 7-6 victory in the finals of the double-elimination tourney. The win moved the Junior Leaguers into tonight's 7:30 p.m. sectional final against Abilene at Rosebud Park in Abilene. However, because subsectional losses carry over, Pecos must win both tonight and on Tuesday to advance to the state semifinals, while Abilene -- undefeated in their subsectional -- needs just one victory. "You have to have a lot of heart to come back, and these kids do," said coach Timmy Garcia. "We lost the first game and got (10) run ruled, then came back yesterday and beat them and tonight we came back twice." After two errors allowed Lubbock to take a 6-4 lead in the fifth inning, they gave them right back with three errors of their own in the top of the sixth, while the winning run scored when catcher Adam Mole couldn't hold a throw home in the eighth inning. Pecos' defense, meanwhile, improved in the final innings of both weekend games, though Southwest was able to get some unearned runs in all three games. They scored nine unearned runs with two outs in the second inning on Friday off Barney Rodriguez, while Jamin Speer kept Pecos off-balance on the way to his no-hitter. He struck out just three, but got help from his defense, especially shortstop Darby Brown, who was also 3-for-3 with 3 RBI in the win. Brown would again be at the center of the games on Friday and Saturday, but not the way he or his Lubbock teammates would have liked. After Pecos rallied to take a 7-6 lead on Freddie Torres' two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, Southwest put runners on first and third with none out against reliever Patrick Fuentes. Tucker Brown then sent a grounder to Matthew Levario at shortstop, and he was able to throw home to Ontiveros, who tagged Speer for the first out. That brought up Darby Brown, and for the third time in a row, he sent a shot to center field. Unfortunately for Lubbock, for the third time in a row it was right at Pecos' center fielder -- Fuentes the first two times, and this time to Rodriguez, who then threw a strike to Tony Aguilar as Tyler Mattson tried to move up to third base. Mattson was able get his foot on the base before Aguilar's tag, but he didn't slide, came off third base, and was re-tagged by Aguilar for the final out, ending the game. Sunday's game ended in equally close fashion. Levario relieved Rodriguez after Pecos tied the score in the sixth, and blew through the first six batters he faced, striking out three. But after Ontiveros' one out hit scored Ruvel Carrasco in the top of the eighth, Levario walked Aaron Parrott and wild pitched him to second with none out. He fanned Chris Williams and got Mattson to foul out after that, which brought up Tucker Brown. He bounced one past Levario and towards center field, but Rodriguez, now at shortstop, was able to cut it off and throw to first, just beating Brown for the final out. "Barney bounced back. In the first game, they got ahold of his fastball, but in the second game, he changed things up a little bit and threw his knuckleball. They still hit the ball a little, but he did better and Matthew came in and shut them down," Garcia said. Levario, with seventh inning relief help from Ontiveros, also had pitched on Friday, when Pecos eliminated Big Spring with a 7-4 win. The Junior Leaguers had problems handling Dustin Beauchamp's curveball, but he threw enough fastballs for Pecos to grab a 6-1 lead over the first four innings, before Big Spring tried to rally in their final at-bats. Levario had a trip and Joey Ortega a single in Pecos' two-run first, while Javier Ramirez and Ontiveros would later add RBI singles, as Pecos took advantage of seven Big Spring errors in the early going. While Pecos used Rodriguez, Ontiveros and Levario in two games apiece, Lubbock chose not to bring Jamin Speer back on Sunday, despite his Friday no-hitter. Chance Speer started and lasted until the fourth, when Pecos rallied from a 3-0 deficit. John Hodgins, who gave up Torres' game-winning hit on Saturday, came on after a base-loaded walk to Fuentes made it 3-1. He proceeded to walk Aguilar to make it 3-2, and then, after Matthew Vasquez failed on a squeeze bunt attempt, he blooped one over the drawn-in infield, to tie the score. A one out bloop single by Ramirez followed, and gave Pecos a 4-3 lead. Lubbock would tie in on a double-steal and error in their next at-bat, then took the lead when Rodriguez threw away Parrott's grounder in the fifth, trying to force Hudgens at third base. Pecos scored five times in their first at bat off Mattson on Saturday, with Torres again contributing a two-run single. Levario would have an RBI single an inning later, but two double plays in the first two innings allowed Lubbock to stay close, and they would get unearned runs in the second and third innings on the way to rallying for a 7-6 lead. The subsectional win for Pecos is their first since the playoffs went to the current format in 1997. Wins tonight and Tuesday would sent Pecos to the state tournament for the first time since Pecos' Senior League team advanced in 1995. Rain again bypasses city From Staff and Wire Reports The clouds build up to the west, moved closer, and even moved north and south of town. But once again, needed showers managed to bypass Pecos over the weekend. The city received less than a trace of rain this past weekend, as clouds built up west and southwest of town both Saturday and Sunday, but stayed outside the city limits. Pecos' rainfall total for all of 1998 remains at just 1.01 inches. Clouds on Saturday went both north and south of town, and showers were reported this morning to the northwest, in Culberson County and Eddy County, N.M. Forecasts today again call for a chance of evening thunderstorms. The clouds did serve to keep temperatures down to around the century mark over the weekend, after climbing to near 110 early last week. Saturday's high was 100, while on Sunday, the mercury reached 101 degrees in Pecos. The low this morning was 70 and lows generally have been in the upper 60s to mid 70s during the heat wave, which began in late May in West Texas. The hot weather took about another month to reach the Dallas area, and urban area heating there has kept nighttime temperatures about 10 degrees higher than in rural areas. This morning's 83-degree low in Dallas was the 25th time this year that the low temperature was not below 80, according to the National Weather Service. The old record of 23 was set Saturday. The low temperatures have not been this high since 1980's infamously hot summer, when the lows hovered above 80 for 22 days. That kind of sustained heat, without any respite in the mornings or evenings, can be deadly, said Charles Gaylor of the Dallas County medical examiner's office. ``It's like running a fever: You can't run a fever indefinitely,'' Gaylor said. ``If your body temperature was raised during the day when you didn't have air conditioning, it just stands to reason that if it doesn't cool off, you're not going to cool off.'' The heat wave has killed at least 94 people in Texas since June 1 and caused $1.5 billion in agricultural damage and more than 6,765 wildfires. The latest fatality was discovered Saturday, when agents in the Del Rio Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol found the body of Guadalupe Mendoza-Diaz in Maverick County. Her brother told officials they had been smuggled with a group into the United States, but fell behind, Border Patrol spokesman Carlton Jones said today. The brother told agents he stayed with his sister, who died around 9 p.m. Friday, Jones said. On Sunday, North Texans braved heat of 103 degrees, the region's 21st straight day of triple-digit weather. The high today was forecast at 105 degrees. High demand and heat-stressed pipes caused downtown water mains in Fort Worth to rupture Saturday for a second time. Repairs were made and a total ban on outdoor watering has been modified. Lawns on one side of the street will get a drink today. Lawns on the other side must wait until Tuesday. Odd-even outside watering went into effect at midnight after crews patched broken mains and replaced some treatment plant pumps damaged by flooding. ``We're going from a ban to a modified ban'' on sprinkling, city spokesman Pat Svacina said Sunday night. ``If it's an even day and your house number ends in an even number, you can water,'' he said. ``If your house ends in an odd number ... and it's an odd day, then you can water.'' ``By Sunday we hope to lift the whole ban.'' The alternate-day plan applies to Fort Worth and 24 surrounding communities that get their water from the city system, Svacina said. Saturday's rupture of a 36-inch water main came just a few feet away from Thursday's break. Cities face influx of Texans seeking prize From Staff and Wire Reports Residents of Loving, N.M. can expect to be seeing a lot of Texas visitors heading up U.S. 285 over the next three days, is it and other cities at the borders of states prepare for an influx of lottery players seeking a shot at Wednesday's record drawing. Ticket buyers are dreaming big while stores face reality and call in extra workers to handle the frenzy whipped up by a $250 million Powerball lottery jackpot. In Scottsbluff, Neb., the Express Mart sold hundreds of tickets Sunday to the surprise of Georgia Trump, who works at the convenience store. ``I usually don't hardly sell any on Sundays,'' she said. In Greenwich, Conn., a suburb of New York City, residents did not welcome the news that nobody had won Saturday's $183 million Powerball jackpot. Thousands of New Yorkers have crowded into the town in recent days hoping for a chance at beating the 80-million-to-1 odds and winning the jackpot. The game is not offered in New York state. Texas is also a non-Powerball state, but for people in Pecos and the surrounding areas, the nearest sites where the game is played are just 75 miles away, in Loving, N.M. Other border cities in southwestern New Mexico, such as Jal, Eunice and Hobbs, can expect to attract other lottery players from the Permian Basin between now and Wednesday. Tickets for the drawing will be sold at convenience stores and other lottery dealers in those towns until about 9:15 p.m. CDT time on Wednesday. Ashok Sheth, owner of the Greenwich Cigar Store, said people have waited up to eight hours in line to buy tickets there. ``This has created a lot of chaos and a lot of aggression towards us,'' he said. ``It is growing absolutely out of control. This is not our primary business and people are afraid and scared to come into the store to buy other things.'' Wednesday's estimated jackpot is the largest ever available to one player, breaking the record set in May - a $195 million Powerball jackpot. Only one lottery game has given away more money. Last year's Christmas lottery drawing in Spain - named ``El Gordo,'' or ``the Fat One'' - had a $270 million purse, but the grand prize was only $2 million. In Powerball, players choose five white numbered balls from a pool of 49 and a red Powerball from a pool of 42 numbers. A ticket costs $1. The game is overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association, based in West Des Moines. Players in Wednesday's game can choose $250 million in annual payments over 20 years or take a one-time cash payment of $137 million. Tracy Lewis of Des Moines took advantage of a short line at a Dahl's Foods store Sunday to buy a ticket. He said he plays just for fun because he's sure he won't win. ``How can you not try for a quarter of a billion dollars? The possibility!'' he said. ``It's the first time that I've ever really had any perspective of what a billion is. Before, it's always kind of been out of my realm.'' Peggy Downing, a convenience store manager in Bettendorf, near the Iowa-Illinois border, was expecting a ``wall-to-wall'' rush of would-be millionaires. ``We have plenty of people scheduled. We don't mind, it's fun. People are patient because they're all here for the same reason. They'll talk to each other in line,'' Downing said. ``It does get stressful, but you have a good time.'' In Indiana, Hoosier Lottery officials have delivered extra terminals to lottery retailers in cities near the Ohio, Michigan and Illinois state lines. Powerball isn't played in those states. George Brucks of Des Moines bought early, picking his own numbers Sunday at Dahl's Foods. ``It's fun to just be in it with everyone else,'' he said. Brucks said he could not fathom the impact $250 million would have on his life. ``I have no idea what it could buy or what I would do with it,'' he said. ``I'm sure it would be a pain. I don't play really with the intention of winning it. I think it's more of a conversation piece at work.'' Powerball tickets are sold in Washington, D.C., Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin. PECOS VALLEY CRIME STOPPERS Red Bluff Water Power Control District is offering $1,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of person(s) vandalizing gates and outlets, gages and gage houses in Reeves, Ward and Pecos Counties. Person(s) have been shooting the gates and outlets used to control the flow of water. On April 12, 1998, person(s) gained entry into the "Gage House" located on the diversion canal near the Imperial Reservoir in Pecos County by breaking the lock on the door. Once inside person(s) destroyed the "Gage" inside the house. Damage was estimated at $2,500. Then again on May 4, 1998, person(s) shot up the gates at the "Upper Diversion Dam" on the Pecos River where the river is diverted to the Imperial Reservoir in Ward and Reeves Counties. Amount of damage is placed at approximately $2,500. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON THIS CRIME OR ANY OTHER CRIME, CALL "CRIME STOPPERS" AT 445-9898 AND YOU WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS . . . THANK YOU. ***** On June 28 at approximately 8:26 a.m. Pecos Police responded to a Burglary of a Motor Vehicle located at 1748 Jackson Blvd. Upon arrival complainant stated that between June 28 at 10 p.m. and 6/29/98 8:26 a.m. person(s) had gained entry into a blue 1992 Dodge pickup that was parked outside the residence and had taken a purse from inside the vehicle. Inside the purse was approximately $80 in cash, credit cards and four checks totaling $3,700 that were already made out to the complainant. ANYONE WITH ANY INFORMATION ON THIS CRIME OR ANY OTHER CRIME, CALL "CRIME STOPPERS" AT 445-9898 AND YOU WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS . . . THANK YOU. ***** On 6/13/98 Pecos Police responded to a Burglary of a Motor Vehicle that had occurred in the Reeves County Civic Center parking lot earlier. Complainant stated that person(s) had taken a cellular phone out of his work truck. The phone is described as a NEC talk time 800 and belonged to the City of Pecos. ANYONE WITH ANY INFORMATION ON THIS CRIME OR ANY OTHER CRIME, CALL "CRIME STOPPERS" AT 445-9898 AND YOU WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS . . . THANK YOU. POLICE REPORT EDITOR'S NOTE: Information contained in the Police Report is obtained from reports filed by the Pecos Police Department, Reeves County Sheriff's Office, or other officers of those agencies. The serving of warrants by an officer for outstanding fines of either traffic citations, animal control violations or other court costs are considered arrests and will be printed as such unless indicated that the fines were paid. In such instances we will indicate payment and release. *** Christopher Rodriguez, 20, was arrested at 5:09 a.m., on July 22, in the 2400 block of South Eddy Street, for assault under the Family Violence Act and resisting arrest. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Jacob Natividad, 18, was arrested at 7:47 p.m., on July 22, at 701 S. Pecan St., on a warrant service. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Nicholas Hernandez, 17, was arrested at 10:46 p.m., on July 22, at 904 S. Pecan St., on a warrant service. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Ramon Ybarra, 19, and Ruben Villegas, 19, were arrested at 7:08 a.m., on July 23, in the 1200 block of Scott Street, for public intoxication. They were transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Nellie Dunn, 38, was arrested at 9:12 p.m., on July 23, at the corner of Seventh and Mesquite streets, on capias pro fine warrants. She was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Rafael Medina, Jr. was arrested at 3:18 p.m., on July 24, at the corner of Jackson and Eddy streets, on capias pro fine warrants. He paid the fine at the Pecos Municipal Court and was released. *** David Fuentes, 55, was arrested at 7:11 p.m., on July 24, at the corner of Fifth and Ash streets, on a capias pro fine warrant. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Armando Armendariz, 40, was arrested at 8:34 p.m., on July 24, at the corner of Fourth and Peach streets, on a warrant for criminal trespass. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Nellie Dunn, 38, was arrested at 12:30 p.m., on July 24, at the Pecos Municipal Court, on a warrant for driving without a license. *** Jesus Romero, 29, was arrested at 10:20 a.m., on July 26, in the 800 block of South Eddy Street, for theft. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Dorothy McGrew, 69, was arrested at 11:00 a.m., on July 26, in the 800 block of East 11th Street, for assault under the Family Violence Act. She was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Domingo Jimenez, 45, was arrested at 6:44 p.m., on July 26, in the 1000 block of East Eighth Street, for assault under the Family Violence Act. He was transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Elva Talamantez, 30, was arrested at 9:49 p.m., on July 26, in the 100 block of East Eighth Street, for driving while intoxicated. *** Ricardo Tavarez, 17, and Eduardo Gonzales, 22, were arrested at 11:37 p.m., on July 26, at Pecos High School, for public intoxication. They were transported to Reeves County Jail. *** Julian Rodriguez, 36, was arrested at 12:15 a.m., on July 27, in the 500 block of Hickory Street, on a warrant for criminal mischief. He was transported Reeves County Jail. WEATHER High in Pecos Sunday 101. Low this morning 70. Forecast for tonight: Mostly fair, with a slight chance of showers near the mountains. Low in the upper 70s. Southeast wind 5-10 mph. Tuesday, partly cloudy. High around 105. South wind 10-20 mph. Search Entire Site: 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@pecos.net Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise