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Newspaper and Travel Guide
Best costumes are chosen by Goose parade’s judges
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
Spiders, pirates and witches were on hand for the Annual Mother Goose and Friends Parade held in Downtown Pecos Friday evening.
The parade began behind West Texas Bank and continued through downtown Pecos to the West of the Pecos Museum, where refreshments were served to all the participants.
In the birth to threes old category; first place went to Kaylah Lara, dressed as a spider; second place, Halle Sparkman, dressed as a little stinker and third to Kaelynn Salcido, a devil.
Four to six years old who placed in the parade included first place: Aaliyah Fuentes, dressed in an angel costume; second place, Corbin Dominguez, a pirate and third place, Chassidy Jurado, dressed as Tinkerbell.
In the seven to nine years old category: first place, Megan Contreras, twitches; second place, Iriana Hidalgo, a pirate and third place, Julia Castillo, dressed as Dr. Seuss.
Ten to 12 years old winners were, first place, Nathan Martinez, a clown; second place, Stephen Darnell, a clown and third place, Sergio Fierro, dressed as a doctor.
Group winners included, Adeline and Pace Bien and Dalton Box, dressed as witches brew bones; second place, the Russell Family, dark angels and third place, Tommy Millan III and Christopher Gomez Jr., dressed as Freddy Krueger and Saw.
Presidential race, $17m bond plan boost vote totals
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
A large number of Reeves County voters have already cast their ballots for Tuesday’s general election, and more are expected to vote on Election Day at the county’s 11 polling sites.
Early voting concluded Friday with a total of 1,540 casting their ballots early by personal appearance and 184 by mail, for a total of 1,724. That’s about 20 percent higher than when the last presidential election was held in 2004, when 1,453 people voted early. It’s also almost double the 904 people who voted early back in February, for the county’s primary elections.
Along from the presidential, state and local races on the ballot Tuesday, Reeves County voters will still have three propositions that are bond of the county’s $17.1 million revenue bond proposal, which is divided into three parts.
Most of the money being sought is for Proposition 1, which would raise $12.4 million for construction of a sports complex, along with golf course improvements, improvements to the Balmorhea Community Center and the creation of a North Side Splash and Fun Park. Proposition 2 would raise $4.4 million for the construction of a new Reeves County Library; and Proposition 3 would fund $500,000 in upgrades and improvements to existing facilities at the 4-H Grounds, south of Interstate 20.
Voters can choose to vote for or against one, two or all three propositions.
Voting boxes for the Nov. 4 elections include: Box 1- Pecos Community Center, 5th and Oak Street; Box 2 – Odessa College, 1000 S. Eddy Street; Box 3 – Pecos High School Gym, 1300 Iowa Street; Box 4 – Toyah Old High School Building, 120 E. 2nd Street; Box 5 – Balmorhea Community Center, Balmorhea; Box 6 – Saragosa Multi-Purpose Center, Saragosa; Box 7 – St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Hall, 416 S. Plum; Box 8 – Lamar Elementary, Room #1, Oak and “F” Street; Box 10 – Reeves County Annex North Side, 700 Daggett Street; Box 11 – Reeves County Civic Center, 1000 S. Cedar Street; and Box 12, Reeves County Hospital, Lobby area, 2323 Texas Street.
Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain and Libertarian Bob Barr are the three candidates on this year’s presidential ballot for county voters. In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Republican John Cornyn is being challenged by Democrat Rick Noriega and Libertarian Yvonne Adams Schick, while in the race for 23rd District Representative, Democrat incumbent Ciro Rodriguez is challenged by Republican Lyle Larson and Libertarian Lari Connelly.
The other regional legislative race is for District 74 Representative, where incumbent Democrat Pete Gallego is being challenged by Republican Thomas Kincaid, Jr.
All local races have candidates running uncontested on the Democratic Party line, and almost all of the early voting in the primary election this past February came on the Democratic side of the ballot.
Candidates who won in the Democratic primary and are now unopposed include sheriff Arnulfo Gomez; county attorney Alva Alvarez; county tax assessor-collector Rosemary Chabarria; county surveyor Tony Trujillo; Precinct 1 county commissioner Roy Alvarado; Precinct 3 county commissioner Saul Herrera; Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace (unexpired term) Grace Renteria; Constable, Precinct 1 Arturo Granado; Constable, Precinct 2 Jerry Matta; Constable, Precinct 3 Tomas Martinez, and Constable, Precinct 4 John Cole Armstrong. In addition, 143rd District Court Judge Bob Parks and 143rd District Attorney Randy Reynolds also are unopposed in their re-election bids in the three-county district that also includes Ward and Loving counties.
Meanwhile, Barstow voters will be casting their ballots for several different races involving Ward County and regional candidates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Barstow Community Center.
The local races in Ward County also are uncontested, including for sheriff, where Mike Strickland is unopposed; county attorney, with Hal Upchurch as the only candidate; Precinct 1 commissioner Julian Flores and Precinct 3 commissioner Dexter Nichols, county tax-assessor/collector Vicki Heflin and constable for Precincts 1 and 3, James P. Hammond.
At the regional level, Barstow voters will also cast ballots in the District 74 Representative race, but will vote for District 11 Representative for Congress, where incumbent Mike Conaway is challenged by Libertarian John R. Strohm.
Town Hall meeting’s planners seek arena, Civic Center ideas
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Members of the Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena Venue Tax Committee will be taking suggestions from the public this Thursday for repairs and improvements to the arena and the Reeves County Civic Center, to be built out of the city’s new hotel-motel venue tax revenues.
Voters in 2005 approved a 2 percent hotel and motel tax to fund repairs to both facilities, but funds were not collected until this year, when members were appointed by the Pecos City Council and Reeves County Commissioners, who share in operating both facilities. The Town Hall meeting, set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Civic Center, will be to discuss ideas for fixing up the 71-year-old rodeo arena and the Civic Center, which was last expanded and refurbished 22 years ago.
“We’re real interested in having the public meeting so organizations and individuals using the facility will be able to say what they want to see,” said Pecos Mayor Dick Alligood, a member of the venue tax board. “We want to hear from the Livestock Committee, the Fall Fair Committee, anyone who uses the rodeo or the Civic Center.”
Some of the ideas already discussed include improved pens and electrical connections for trailers at the Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena, along with rebuilding the stands and making rest room facilities in both the arena and the Civic Center ADA compliant.
Alligood said he hoped to keep separate the suggestions for the two facilities and the current proposal to merge the venue tax funding with the bed tax funds currently being received by the Pecos Chamber of Commerce, West of the Pecos Museum, the Chamber’s advertising committee and the Pecos Main Street program.
“The venue tax is there to restore the rodeo arena and adjacent properties,” he said. “On the bed tax, you have to show the money is for bringing people in from out of town. On the venue tax, its strictly dedicated 100 percent to the facility.”
Supporters of the plan to combine the two taxes say it would allow 100 percent of the venue tax to be used for reconstruction and rehabilitation, while maintenance and operation of the buildings would come from the bed tax. That would be done by relocating Chamber offices from downtown to the Reeves County Civic Center, which would be changed to the Reeves County Convention Center.
The city council would retain oversight on use of the hotel occupancy tax, while it and the venue tax, currently overseen jointly by the city and Reeves County, would be supervised by a CVB board of directors which would provide quarterly reports to the city and county. Joe Keese, who made presentations to various elected boards about the plan during the past several weeks, said the CVB board would have seven members, four from the local hospitality industry and the other three from local businesses. There would also be non-voting city and county members and the board would meet quarterly.
Supporters of the plan say based on current estimates, the hotel motel bed tax will bring in about $400,000 this year, while the venue tax should bring in about $100,000 in its first year of collection. However, the plan would also require the renamed Convention Center and Visitor’s Bureau be used by out-of-town visitors for at least 51 percent of the events.
Alligood said officials already try to document the percentages of local and out-of-town use of local facilities, to fulfill state requirement for the bed tax.
“If they did stat in a motel or are from out of town, then it (bed tax) is being used appropriately. If not, it isn’t,” he said.
GED Testing scheduled this week
GED Testing will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4 and Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the Pecos High School.
Registration is schedule from 1-4 p.m., Monday, Nov. 3, at the Pecos High School, Room 2.
Examinees must present a Texas Driver’s License or Texas Department of Public Safety ID Card.
For more information contact Pat Cobos/Eva Arriola, Pecos High School Counselor’s at 447-7406.
Crime Stoppers
Pecos Valley Crime Stoppers and the Pecos Police Department need the communities help in solving a crime.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, at approximately 3:32 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 500 block of South Orange in reference to a burglary of a residence.
If anyone has any information about this crime or any other crime, contact Crime Stoppers at 445-9898 or leave a Secure Web-Tip at HYPERLINK "http://www.crimestoppersweb.com/pecos" www.crimestoppersweb.com/pecos.
As always the individual will remain anonymous and Crime Stoppes will pay up to a $1,000 cash reward if it leads to the arrest of the person(s) involved in this crime.
There is no caller I.D. on this line.
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Pecos Valley Crime Stoppers and the Pecos Police Department need the communities help in solving a crime that happened on Friday, Oct. 17.
Sometime between midnight and noon that day, three white red face Weather Boer show goats were taken from the pens of Paul Armstrong on County Road 202.
These goats are valued at $2,500. If anyone has any information of the whereabouts of these goats or the criminal(s) that took them, or any other crime, contact Campus Crime Stoppers at 445-9898 or leave a Secure Web-Tip at HYPERLINK "http://www.crimestoppersweb.com/pecos" www.crimestoppersweb.com/pecos.
As always the caller will remain anonymous and Crime Stoppers will pay up to a $1,000 cash reward if it leads to the arrest of the person(s) involved in this crime.
There is no caller I.D. on this line.
Crime Stoppers and the local police thank everyone for their help in solving this crime and others. Help keep our community safe.
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In addition, the Pecos Valley Crime Stoppers and the Pecos Police Department need help in solving another crime that occurred between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17, in the south parking lot of Pecos High School.
A pickup was scratched on the tailgate and entire left side of the vehicle with an unknown object. The paint was scratched all the way to the bare metal causing about $2,000 worth of damage.
If anyone has any information about this crime, or any other crime, call Crime Stoppers at 445-9696 or leave a Secure Web-Tip at HYPERLINK "http://www.crimestoppersweb.com/pecos" www.crimestoppersweb.com/pecos.
As always the caller will remain anonymous and Crime Stopper will pay up to $1,000 cash reward if it leads to the arrest of the person(s) involved in this crime.
There is no caller I.D. on this line.
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