PECOS ENTERPRISE

Daily Newspaper for Reeves County, Trans Pecos, Big Bend, Far West Texas

Main Menu|Archives Menu|Classified|Advertising|Monahans

OPINION

Aug. 6, 1996

SQUARELY

PEGGED

By Peggy McCracken

Summer cold sniffles

may be pollen allergy

Return to Menu

"I have a summer cold, sniff sniff cough cough," a friend told me the

other day.

Summer colds are somehow supposed to be worse than winter colds. And I
think I know the reason why. It is probably an allergy - not a cold at
all. I've argued that over and over, but people seem to ignore me. Well,
I'm certainly no expert, but I do have some experience with allergies.

Now I have some experts in both colds and allergies who seem to agree
with me. Linda Ford, vice president of the American Lung Association,
said that both colds and allergies occur in the summer. You can tell one
from the other in several ways, including the duration.

Colds generally last from three to seven days, getting worse before
they get better, but allergy symptoms may continue for many days or
weeks, she said.

Neither can be cured. For colds, you have to drink plenty of liquids
and rest as much as possible while waiting for the body's own defense
system to work.

Allergies usually result from grass, tree and weed pollens and mold
spores, which are abundant during June, July and August.

Here are some symptoms that help you determine which problem to treat.

Now if you have itchy red skin, itchy eyes, thick, white mucus, a sore
throat and a low-grade fever - with continuous sneezing - you must have
both. So drink lots of liquid, rest, wear a mask to filter out pollen
and take a bath and wash your hair after being outside.

You may also want to try an antihistamine and decongestant. If those
don't work, ask your doctor for help. Maybe he or she can give you
something stronger. And good luck.

"Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if
their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are im bloom..."
Song of Songs 7:12, NIV.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Peggy McCracken is an Enterprise writer and editor whose
column appears each Tuesday.

OTHER VIEWS

State jobs on line

in welfare reform

Return to Menu

Change in government is difficult, but resisting it is easy.

Consider a move by the State Health and Human Services Commission to
contract some state duties to private companies, which the Legislature
allowed in last year's welfare bill.

If the reform is approved at the federal level, state officials within
weeks could begin taking bids for most human services.

The move is opposed by state employees and some lawmakers. They say the
plan is being rushed, and they want more public input. That sounds like
a stall.

Employees fear they will lose their jobs and say they are concerned
about clients.

A key would be implementing new technology, namely a computer database,
to streamline information. This could reduce duplication of efforts, cut
fraud and give clients better access to service, all the while saving
taxpayers millions of dollars.

The concerns of state employees should be considered. And such a
massive project deserves a cautious approach.

After all, it involves handing such services as food stamps and Aid to
Families with Dependent Children, which serve about 4 million people, to
private organizations.

But the plan's size and scope should not be a deterrent to finding ways
to make government more efficient.

Texas should move forward in this pioneering role. The Lone Star Card's
replacement of paper food coupons already puts the state ahead of the
pack.

The Department of Health and Human Services has the right attitude
about the inevitable change. ...

- San Antonio Express-News

Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

YOUR VIEWS

Return to Menu

Sierra Blanca dump

affects Reeves County



Dear Editor:

This letter is provided as a clarification of the interview in the
Enterprise on July 29 regarding the preliminary hearing on the approval
of the radioaive waste site east of Sierra Blanca.

The preliminary hearing in Sierra Blanca today permmits public comment
by individuals without being designated a party to the subsequent
administrative proceeding.

The administrative law judges have recently designated additional
public comment sessions in El Paso on Sept. 9 and in Alpine on Sept. 11.

The Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission does not seek to
limit public comment in the preliminry hearings. The Texas Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority sought in a pre-hearing motion to
narrow the interpretation of who could become a party to the hearing.
Their interpretation would have eliminated Reeves County from
participation as a party to the proceeding. The TNRCC received 581
requests for a public hearing, an unusually high number, but the number
who will speak before the administrative judges is unclear.

I know of 11 West Texas county governments that have passed resolutions
opposing the Sierra Blanca site.

The Texas legislature, dominated by politicians representing large
populations in central and east Texas, decided to site the facility in
Hudspeth County. It is the nuclear reactors at Commanche Peak near Fort
Worth and the reactor in south central Texas that will dump 95 percent
of the radioactive waste generated within Texas. Unfortunately, central
Texas got the benefit of the lower utility costs and their political
representatives are expecting West Texans to bear the radiation risks
related to geology, seismology, and surface and ground water hydrology
for radioactive components from the interior of nuclear reactors and
from radioisotope generators with half-lives extending from 10 years to
10 million years.

The Transportation Risk Assessment prepared by the TLLRWDA does not
assess realisitcally the radiation hazard to the public when accidents
occur. Shipments will be passing through Reeves County regularly on both
Interstate 10 and 20.

Clark Lindley

Return to Menu


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. Neither these AP
Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for
personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for
any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the
transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages
arising from any of the foregoing.
_


Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
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
http://www.pecos.net/news
This page prepared in askSam
Return to Menu
Return to Home Page