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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, January 8, 2010
First 2010 baby for local couple born in Odessa
It might not have been the first baby in Reeves County, or Ector County for that matter, but it’s the first baby of 2010 for a Pecos couple.
Javier and Marisol Orona welcomed their first son, Jayce Nehemiah Orona, who was born at 1:13 a.m., Jan. 1, 2010. Orona was born at Odessa Regional Medical Center Hospital and weighed eight pounds and two ounces.
Little Jayce was not the first baby born in Ector County. He was beaten by another baby, who was born just 19 minutes earlier than Jayce.
Maternal grandparents are Saul and Maria Martinez and paternal grandparents are Alonzo and Margie Munoz, all of Pecos.
Reeves County Hospital is still awaiting the birth of their first baby of 2010. Hospital officials said they had one child born just prior to New Year’s Day, and as of this week did not have any women expecting in the opening days of 2010.
Fields set for March primary races
A few more individuals filed to run in the March Democratic primary election, submitting their forms in the final hours before Monday's deadline for the March 2 primary.
Among that group is a former Reeves County Commissioner, who will be seeking the position of Reeves County Judge, while a current member of the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD has filed to run for the State Senate against incumbent Democrat Carlos Uresti.
Dr. W.J. Bang filed to run for Reeves County Judge on the last day to file and will join two others including the incumbent. Bang served two terms as Precinct 2 Commissioner in the 1990s, and will be one of three candidates in the March 2 primary. Incumbent Sam Contreras has filed for a second four-year term, and will also be challenged by Al Gomez in the primary, while the winner will face Robert Hanks in November. Hanks is running unopposed in the March 2 Republican Primary election.
Contreras defeated Hanks in the November 2006 election for county judge, after beating Gomez in a contested runoff election that included a four-month court case over problems with the county’s vote-counting equipment.
Along with Dr. Bang, one more individual filed in the final hours on Monday to run in the March 2 election, for Reeves County Commissioner Precinct 2. Mario Flores became the fifth individual seeking the position, including first-term incumbent Gabriel Martinez. Ron Garcia, Paul Deishler, and Kyle Taylor are the other three candidates in the Precinct 2 race.
Four other races in the March 2 primary will be two-person races, with incumbents seeking new four-year terms in each of those elections.
In the Reeves County Commissioner’s Precinct 4 race, Ramiro “Ram” Guerra filed to retain his position and is being challenged by Tony Trujillo. Reeves County Clerk Dianne Florez also filed to retain her post, and is being challenged by Connie Levario, currently the county judge’s secretary.
For Justice of the Peace, all four incumbents have filed and two will have challengers in the March 2 election. Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, Jim Riley will be challenged by Olga Lopez; and Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 Eddie Rodriguez is being challenged by Jay Haney. Precinct 1 Cody West and Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Rosendo Carrasco had no opponents as of early Monday afternoon.
Also running unopposed in March are Reeves County Court-at-Law judge Walter Holcombe, Reeves County Treasurer Linda Clark and Bobby Dean, for the county Democratic Party chairman’s position.
Dean said ballot position selection will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Reeves County Civic Center for candidates in the Democratic Primary races.
In the area race for the District 19 Senate seat, Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board member Luis Juarez has filed to run against Uresti, a former San Antonio-area state representative who defeated incumbent Frank Madla in the 2006 Democratic Primary. Juarez is Uresti's only opponent in the primary election, while two candidates on the Republican side, Dick Bowen and Robert Sol Mayer, have filed in that primary election.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez will also have one primary challenger for his 23rd District seat on March 2, while six Republicans have filed to run in the March primary as well.
Rodriguez, who defeated Republican Henry Bonilla in a special election in 2006, will face fellow San Antonio resident Miguel Ortiz in the March primary. On the Republican side, the six candidates are Francisco “Quico” Canseco, Joseph Mack “Doc” Gould, Will Hurd, Robert (Doc) Lowery, David Aguilar and Mike Kueber.
The other congressman serving the Pecos area, Mike Conaway of Midland, faces two challengers in the Republican primary, in Chris Younts and Al Cowan. On the Democratic side, James Quillian of Monahans was the only candidate to file, and will face the winner of the District 11 Republican Primary in November.
In the State House race for the 74th District, incumbent Pete Gallego is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for a new two-year term, while two Republicans, Thomas (T.C.) Kincaid Jr., and Yolanda Sotelo Garza, will run on March 2 to face Gallego in the November general election.
Along with the county and area races, voters on March 2 will also be casting ballots in the races for governor and U.S. Senate, along with lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commission, agriculture commission, and seats on the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Railroad Commission.
Seven Democrats – Alma Aguado, Felix Alvarado, Bill Dear, Clement E. Glenn, Star Locke, Farouk Shami and Bill White – will be running on March 2, while incumbent Rick Perry will be challenged in the Republican Primary by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and one other candidate, Debra Medina.
Contreras, Martinez say ‘OK’, ‘no way’ on candidate job rules
One county employee will not have to resign from her position while she seeks office, it was decided following a special meeting of the Reeves County Commissioner’s Court, while another will face the choice of resigning his job or running for election in the March Democratic Primary
Commissioners met on Monday to discuss several items, including the Reeves County Personnel Policy, Political Activity and the Reeves County Detention Center Policy and Procedure Manual Chapter: Personnel title: time off with pay.
During the morning session, the commissioners reaffirmed a policy that requires any Reeves County Detention Center employee that wanted to run for political office to quit their job in order to do so. The policy was adopted first in 1995.
The decision affects one current candidate, RCDC employee Ron Garcia, who is running for the Precinct 2 commissioners’ seat. However, the court then decided that the law does not apply to non-RCDC county employees, including the secretary of Reeves County Judge Sam Contreras, who has filed to run for the position of Reeves County Clerk.
Contreras said that under the 1995 policy, “It was the intention of the Reeves County Commissioner’s Court, by adoption of the Reeves County Personnel Policy, to prohibit Reeves County employees from running for office in a partisan election, as authorized by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas in Opinion No. JM-521 (1986). Therefore, it shall be the order of this court that a county employee, other than an elected official, may not be a candidate for elective office in a partisan election. (A partisan election is an election in which candidates are to be nominated or elected to represent a party whose candidates for presidential electors received votes in the last preceding election at which presidential electors were selected).”
He said that it was up to the elected official, but that the question was whether the RCDC fell under the sheriff’s department or not, and following a lengthy discussion, the group decided that the RCDC fell under the supervision of the Commissioner’s Court.
Because of that, a 2-2 split vote that followed left the 1995 law intact, so that any employee wanting to run for political office would have to quit their job in order to do so.
However, during the meeting, Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Alvarado – who along with Precinct 3 Commissioner Saul Herrera voted to change the law -- asked Contreras if his secretary Connie Levario, would have to quit her job in order to run against incumbent Dianne Florez for Reeves County Clerk.
“Oh, you mean Connie, well she falls under my department,” said Contreras. “Which means it would be up to my discretion to let her run or have her quit.”
The judge said that since Levario did not fall under the commissioner’s court, the rule would not apply to her.
“We have an attorney general’s opinion that states that elected county officers are exempt from this policy,” said Contreras. “So it means that elected officials or department heads can tell their employees whether they need to quit or not.”
Contreras said that the sheriff had said that the policy from 1995 should be enforced.
“Since we decided that the prison is under commissioner’s court because of our contract with GEO, that decision would fall under us,” said Contreras. “But if somebody in another department wants to run that would be up to the elected officials or department heads,” he said.
Contreras and Precinct 2 Commissioner Gabriel Martinez voted to maintain the 1995 law during Monday’s meeting, while Precinct 4 Commissioner Ramiro “Ram” Herrera was absent from the meeting. Garcia was the first candidate to file to run against Martinez in the March 2 primary, but since then three other candidates, Paul Deishler, Kyle Taylor and Mario Flores, have filed to run for the Precinct 2 seat.
January sales tax rebate totals plunge across area
After a one-month easing up in the rate of sales tax decline, the January rebate numbers for the Town of Pecos City and other taxing entities in Reeves County jumped back up again, according to figures released on Wednesday by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs’ office.
January’s tax rebate totals, based on sales made in November, showed Pecos received a $74,304 check for its 1½-cent share of Texas’ 8¼-cent sales tax. That’s a drop of 43.27 percent from a year ago, when the city received $130,985 back from Austin. Of this month’s total, one-sixth of that amount, or $12,384, goes to the Pecos Economic Development Corp. for its operations.
Balmorhea’s first tax rebate check of the year was down 46.88 percent, falling from $2,161 to $1,148, while Toyah’s 1½-cent sales tax netted $328 this month, a 64.05 percent decline from last January’s check of $912. And the Reeves County Hospital District’s ½-cent sales tax brought in $33,675 this month, a 58.06 percent drop from the $80,308 it received a year ago.
Sales tax revenues already were on their way down a year ago due to the drop in oil and natural gas prices. And while both have come up from this same time a year ago, rig activity in the Pecos area remains lower, as increases in natural gas – the main thing drillers are looking for in Reeves County – have lagged increases in oil prices over the past several months.
Most area cities also saw declines in their January checks, though most of those drops were less than reported for Pecos.
Midland received the single largest check for the region, $2.42 million from its 1½-cent sales tax, which was down 17.7 percent from last year. Odessa’s 1¼-cent share of the state’s sales tax share brought in $1.53 million, down 19.08 percent from last year.
For other cities collecting the 1½-cent sales tax, Alpine received an $87,611 check, which was down 6.07 percent. Crane received a check for $32,607, a 43-19 percent drop for the month. Lamesa got a check back this month totaling $78,147 which was down 8.27 percent, while Seminole received a check for $93,314, which was down 9.94 percent.
Among cities collecting a one-cent sales tax Kermit got $38,623 back from Austin, a 12.62 percent decrease. Wink received a $10,617 check, down 27 percent this month; Wickett received a check for $8,638 a 13.83 percent decrease, and Pyote received $206 from the comptroller’s office, an 81.2 percent drop from a year ago
For area cities collecting a 1 3/4-cent sales tax, Andrews received a check for $253,716, a 19.29 percent drop for the month; Marfa got a check for $19.134, a 4.45 percent drop, and Van Horn also was down for January, getting a $26,788 check this month, which was 17.13 percent behind 2009’s total.
For cities collecting the maximum two-cent sales tax, Fort Stockton received $171,043 this month, down 25.57 percent. Big Spring received $380,592 in its check, down 25.15 percent for the month. Monahans received a check for $101,021, which was down 31 percent. Grandfalls got a $1,536 check, which was down 4.86 percent for the month, and Presidio received $30,476 this month in rebates, down 15.58 percent from last January
Statewide, Combs’ office sent out rebate checks totaling $274.5 million, compared with the $309.9 million rebated last year, a decrease of 11.43 percent. Houston’s check for $33.9 million again was the largest single check and was down 18.5 percent from last year, while Dallas’ check was next, at $14.5 million, which was down 20.46 percent from last year.
Feds OK 16 percent rise in city’s CJC payments
The Town of Pecos City has received a 16 percent increase in payments from the U.S. Marshal’s Service for housing federal prisoners at the Pecos Criminal Justice Center. However, City Manager Joseph Torres said it will be another three months before officials will know how much the new rate will help the city’s financial situation.
Torres said the city received official notice on Dec. 23 of the increase in the man-day rate, paid by the Marshal’s Service for housing prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing in U.S. District Court. “It was a substantial increase. We were at $56 and they raised it to $65,” Torres said. “It’s fixed for a period of 24 months, and they raised the guard rate (starting CJC jailer salary) from $21.34 (per hour) to $23.”
Torres said the Marshal’s Service also agreed to compensate the city for guard transportation services, at the federal rate of 50 cents per mile.
The Marshal’s Service helped finance the construction of the CJC a decade ago. The 96-bed facility opened in 2002, but the city was almost immediately beset by losses on the original contract, after the U.S. Department of Labor ordered Pecos to retroactively raise the starting salary of CJC jailers.
Torres said budget cuts and wage freezes allowed the facility to post a $176,777 profit during the 2008 fiscal year, with operating revenues of $1.78 million and $1.6 million in expenses, but past losses still leave the CJC seeking to repay a deficit of just under $1.37 million.
Torres said the additional funds should help the city pay down the debt and help with maintenance and operations of the CJC. However, he added officials won’t know exactly how much the new rate will bring in for at least a couple of months.
“It’s very difficult to say. We don’t know if we’re going to get 90, 94 or 95 prisoners, so it’s difficult to estimate it,” Torres said. “The budget is still based on $56, and until we start looking at how many prisoners we have on a daily basis, I can’t say.”
He added that the city is just starting it’s quarterly budget review, and will look at the CJC under its new rate for the full second quarter, which began on Jan. 1 and ends on March 31.
“By the six-month review in April, we should know exactly what that number is,” Torres said.
“We’ve been controlling costs and freezing wages and try to run it lean and mean, but with the new rate we expect to run it with better margins,” he added.
Meet the Candidates event set
The Reeves County Democratic party will be having the drawing for places on the ballot and a meet the candidates forum at 7 p.m., Friday at the Reeves County Civic Center.
Each opposed candidate will be given five minutes to speak at the time of the drawing.
A chili bowl supper, with all the trimmings, just right for this weather will be offered for $5. This will help cover the cost of the meeting and donations will also be accepted.
Balmorhea students competing in annual stock show Saturday
Balmorhea area 4-H and FFA students will have their animals in competition on Saturday at the annual Balmorhea Livestock Show.
Events are set to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Balmorhea High School Ag Building with the pig show. Exhibitions will be on the west side of the Balmorhea ISD campus.
The group will break for a barbecue lunch at noon, sponsored by the Balmorhea Ag Boosters.
After lunch, the lambs will be shown, then the goat and steer show will be held, followed by the bidding.
The Balmorhea Livestock Show is held each year the week prior to the Reeves County Junior Livestock Show and Auction. This year’s show is scheduled for next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 15-16, at the Reeves County Civic Center.
R-III recognizes outstanding employees, officers
Reeves County Detention Center III recognizes its officers and employees throughout the year. Each month an employee and one officer are chosen for the honor of Officer of the Month and Employee of the Month.
Throughout 2009 both staff members demonstrated a high degree of professionalism, loyalty and superior work ethic and are well respected and held in high regard with their peers and supervisors. Following is the staff recognized as Employee’s and Officer’s of the month throughout the 2009 year. Other staff recognized throughout 2009 are listed below:
Officer Employee Officer
January Ray Cantu Fred Bullock
February Jose Olan Carmen Mendoza
March Priscilla Reyes Nyla Dominguez
April Hector Aguilar Juan Salcido
May Jose Hernandez & Edmundo De La Rosa Trina Amos
June William Cook Edgar Baeza
July Lee Roy Rodriguez Debbie Almuina
August Gilbert Rodriguez Dulces Payen
September Natividad Juarez Adriana Rocha
October Donna Gilstrap Benny Chabarria
November John Dolan Vicki Barrett
December Kassie Varela Ramon Cardenas
Detention Center recognizes outstanding employees, officers
Reeves County Detention Center I/II recognized its outstanding employees and officers throughout the year.
One officer and one employee was then chosen for the honor of Officer of the Year and Employee of the Year and announced at the annual Christmas gathering.
On Dec. 16, 2009, Warden Dwight Sims announced the Reeves County Detention Center I/II Employee and Officer of the Year. Ashley Contreras was selected as Employee of the Year and Daniel Marruffo received the Officer of the Year honors. Throughout 2009 both staff members demonstrated a high degree of professionalism, loyalty and superior work ethic and are well respected and held in high regard with their peers and supervisors. Following is the staff recognized as Employee’s and Officer’s of the month throughout the 2009 year. Other staff recognized throughout 2009 are listed below.
Month Employee Officer
Jan 09 Laura Contreras Travis Fisher
Feb 09 Adam Rodriguez Miguel Rayos
Mar 09 Angel Carrasco George Martinez
Apr 09 Ashley Contreras Ernesto Gonzalez
May 09 Raul Palomino Daniel Barron
Jun 09 Dianne Molina Daniel Marruffo
Jul 09 Janet Natividad Felipe Silerio
Aug 09 Evarista Garcia Cecilia Muniz
Sep 09 Elpidia Valdez Rodolfo Lozano
Oct 09 Yvonne Abila Daniel Marruffo
Nov 09 Brittany Rodriguez Blanca De La Cruz
Dec 09 Jose Maynez Elbert Benton
Reeves County Library has required IRS forms
The Reeves County Library has all the IRS forms that are required.
To purchase the forms or for more information go to the library located at 505 S. Park or call 445-5340.
Applications for ballots by mail being accepted
Reeves County Clerk’s Office is now accepting applications for an early ballot by mail for the March 2, 2010 Primary Election.
Applications can be requested by calling 432-445-5467 or by coming to the Reeves County Clerk’s Office, Room #101, Reeves County Courthouse.
Veteran’s town hall meeting set in Ft. Stockton
The West Texas VA Health Care System (WTVAHCS) invites interested Veteran’s, Veteran’s groups or friends and families of Veterans to attend and participate in a VA town hall meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. and be held at the Old County Court House, Court Room, 103 West Callaghan Street, Ft. Stockton.
WTVAHCS staff will provide information regarding newly implemented programs.
Previous VA Town Hall Meetings have proven very successful and informative to Veterans who may have questions or concerns regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs policies and procedures, benefits, and medical services. Following the presentations by VA staff, there will be a question and answer session. Questions of general nature will be discussed in open forum. Questions or issues involving a Veteran’s personal health care will be addressed by VA staff members in confidential sessions following the meeting.
Veterans who have questions regarding this Town Hall meeting are encouraged to contact Lauri Phillips, Acting Public Affairs Officer, West Texas VA Health Care System, at 432-263-7361 ext. 4824 or 1-800-472-1365 ext. 4824.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
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 2003-04 by Pecos Enterprise
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