SLAB IN – Work is proceeding on the Terrell County ISD’s $14 million bond issue. Here the slab has been poured for the new vocational
building just east of the existing junior high building. Bids for a new field house and other work should be let soon, perhaps as
early as the April 20 School Board meeting.
SANDERSON – It came as a shock to some but not really a surprise.
The economic downturn has hit the oil and gas industry in Terrell
County and valuations in the current year will be down by as much as a third.
Steven B. Campbell, vice president of Thos. Y. Pickett
& Company, Inc., of Dallas, told a combined meeting of the Terrell County Commissioners, Terrell County Appraisal District and
the Terrell County Independent School District Monday that the taxing entities could see a loss in value of 30 percent or more.
The
county gets about 60 percent of its revenues from oil and gas, primarily gas, and the school district gets almost 85 percent.
“People
won’t remember that their taxes went from 54 cents [per $100 valuation] to 24 to 28 cents,” County Judge Leo Smith said. “But they
will notice when we raise it 12 to 13 cents like we might have to.”
But Smith said other counties may have been hit harder than Terrell
County.
He said Gaines County anticipates a 50 percent drop in county values.
County Attorney Marsha Monroe said Pickett’s warning
allows the county to consider the reduced revenue at budget time.
“We can see, do we have some items we can do without,” she said. Read more...
Brewster County Judge
Val Beard
P. O. Box 1630
Alpine, TX 79831
432/819-2412
Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson
201 W. Ave
E.
Alpine, TX 79830
432/837-3488
County Commissioner
Ruben Ortega
P. O. Box 233
Marathon. TX 79842
432-294- J 096
Marathon
ISD Superintendent Conrad Arriola
N. 5th Street
Marathon. TX 79842
432/386-4431
Terrell County Judge
Leo Smith
P. O. Box 4810
432/345-2421
Terrell County Sheriff
Clint McDonald
P. O. Box 320
Sanderson, TX 79848
432/345-2525
Terrell County
ISD Superintendent
Gary Hamilton
P.O. Box 747
Sanderson, TX 79848
432/345-2515
‘Robin Hood’ bonds mulled
SANDERSON – The Terrell County School Board plans to explore a “Robin Hood Bond Issue” to protect school tax receipts from “recapture,” thus allowing the school to pay “dollar for dollar” for some purchases.
The School Board Monday asked business manager Blain Chriesman and Superintendent Gary Hamilton to contact First Southwest Co. of Dallas to prepare a bond issue of $1.5 million to $2 million.
Read more...SANDERSON – Ted Sexton, assistant secretary for state and local law enforcement for the US Department of Homeland Security, met with area sheriffs here Wednesday.
Sexton said he is “just here to get the perspective of local law enforcement” and could not comment
Read more...Veteran plan raises ire
SANDERSON – The American Legion here and across the country has expressed dismay over a plan by President Obama to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries.
Legion Commander John H. “Butch” Gibson of Sanderson said people should write their Congressional representatives asking them to squelch the plan.
Read more...City ‘anxiously’ awaits plant
FORT STOCKTON – Officials here are “anxiously awaiting” the start of construction on the $1.1 billion “Century Plant” between here and Sanderson.
A formal groundbreaking officially marked the start of construction last week on the plant near US 285 and Puckett Road about 30 miles south of here.
Read more...Band to visit Jackalopes
ODESSA – The Sanderson Eagle band will perform at the Odessa Jackalope hockey game Saturday, March 21.
Several band members will be busy at track in Buena Vista, or tennis in Monahans and will need transportation from one event to the other.
Read more...SANDERSON – Cort Tanner is the newest edition to our sheriffs department.
The 44-year-old bachelor came to us from Snyder in Scurry
County where he taught Criminal Justice.
He holds five degrees, including a masters in Criminal Justice and law.
Read more...SANDERSON – An ad hoc “sign committee” Monday agreed to a general list of bid specifications for an “electronic message” sign to be
erected in front of the proposed “Convention Center” here.
The Commissioners Court agreed last week to call for bids after looking at two samples of signs that can display moving messages of events and activities.
Read more...Tree sale to support Cub Scouts
SANDERSON – The Cub Scout Troop 432 will have a tree sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 28,
and Sunday, March 29, at The Tumbleweed Co. Gardens at 102 E. Oak Street.
The scouts will receive the proceeds but the sale is sponsored by the Sanderson Lions Club.
Read more...Snake rule change supported
AUSTIN – Roy Engeldorf of Sanderson testified at a meeting last week of the State House Committee on Culture,
Tourism and Recreation on a bill that would allow the “capture, trapping or hunting of a reptile, amphibian or insect from a public
road or right-of-way” in the state.
Engldorf, owner of the Outback Oasis, said he bought the motel in 2003 so he could be closer to his hobby of collecting snakes. But a change in the law in 2007 made it illegal to hunt reptiles along public roadways.
Read more...Economy blamed in closure
SANDERSON – The tough economic times in the country and even around the world has caused at least one business
casualty in Sanderson.
Anna’s Bakery, which was just named the Business of the Month by the Chamber of Commerce last month, closed Monday.
Read more...
Community to see One Act Play
SANDERSON – The community will get a chance to see the Sanderson High School One Act Play, “Our Lady
of the Tortilla,” at 3 p.m. Sunday in the High School Auditorium.
It will go to contest Tuesday, March 24, at Rankin.
Superintendent Gary Hamilton, who dusted off his thespian talents after lying dormant for several years, served as this year’s OAP director.
Read more...Dr. Freed performs own work
ALPINE – Sul Ross State University Associate Professor of Music Dr. Donald Callen Freed performed his original compositions at concerts in Holdrege, NE, and the University of Oklahoma at Norman last week.
Freed, a native of Loomis, NE, sang “I Sought the Wood,” based on a poem by Willa Cather, at the Holdrege High School March Madness concert March 10.
Read more...Kids do well on TAKS tests
SANDERSON – Sanderson srtudents did well in the annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and skills test, the
results announced this week.
Superintendent Gary Hamilton said all third and fifth graders passed the reading test and seven of eight eighth graders also passed.
Read more...SANDERSON – Danell Graham, the 2008 Sanderson High School valedictorian, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the 2008 Terrell County
Hunters Feast.
Graham, the daughter of Perry and Monica Graham of Sanderson, also received full tuition for two semesters at any state university by virtue of her top rank, a $1,500 scholarship from Sanderson State Bank, $1,400 from Cinco de Mayo, two $1,000 awards each from Sams/Wal-Mart and the Tucker W. McLauglin Memorial Scholarship and the $600 Rob McClellan Memorial Scholarship.
Read more...
Some smarter than fifth grader
SANDERSON – Sanderson School Board members and others in the audience took a fifth-grade test administered
under the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills program Monday.
Board President Ada Lee Robbins circulated the ‘TAKS” test to demonstrate what school children need to know.
Read more...DHS HELP – Ted Sexton, assistant secretary for state and local law enforcement for the US Department of Homeland Security, right,
met with area law enforcement officers including Terrell County Sheriff Clint McDonald this week. Sexton said he was here getting
“perspective” of local law enforcement about problems along the US-Mexico border.
PASSING THROUGH – First Calvary Baptist Church of Sanderson hosted a cyclist and his family Sunday. Wayne Cagle is riding for
cancer research from his home in Chipley, FL, to San Diego, CA. He has completed about 1,400 miles, with his wife Julia and
son Jack following in the support vehicle. They are members of Berea Baptist Church in Chipley where Wayne’s father is the founding
pastor.
DEGREED DEPUTY – Cort Tanner, the newest Terrell County Deputy, was interviewed this week by News Leader Production Manager Kim Rapp.
Tanner holds five degrees, including a masters in criminal justice, and hopes to teach a course in that subject here.
SAMPLE SIGN – Terrell County Commissioner Kenn Norris inspected a sample electronic sign last week in front of the fire station. The
county is seeking bids for an “electronic message” sign with digital LED display to be mounted at the front of the proposed Convention
Center at Oak and Second in Sanderson.
LEGION BRASS – Top Officers of the American Legion visited the Sanderson Legion post Saturday. Shown from left were Sanderson Commander
Butch Gibson, Division Commander David Olson of Lueders, 16th District Commander Rubor Banks of El Paso, Vice Commander Roger Folmar
of El Paso and West Zone Commander Richard Britton, Sr., of El Paso.
By MARK GLOVER
Contributing Editor
BIG BEND – The stores and homes thin and eventually vanish into the Chihuahuan Desert as we drive
south out of Ojinaga on Ruta Camargo.
The vast open country now is only occasionally spotted with gray-wooded corrals and modest adobes. We’re enroute to San Carlos, Coah., in search of desert springs.
Read more...FERN FOILAGE – Ferns grow in the shade of the San Carlos Canyon in Coahuila south of Big Bend National Park. Contributing Editor Mark
Glover explored the communities in northern Mexico, investigating the affects of underground springs on the livelihood of the area.
GARDEN SPOT – The Canon de San Carlos in Coahuila south of Big Bend National Park provides an idyllic scene for the town of some 2,000
residents. Spring water from pockets deep below the scenic surface provides the lifeblood for the town and the nearby Los Alamos.
Cohen of SR wins
‘outstanding’ poster
ALPINE – Sul Ross State University student Samantha “Sami” Cohen of San Antonio, won the outstanding
undergraduate student poster presentation at the 112th annual meeting of the Texas Academy of Science.
Cohen was in a group of ten Sul Ross biology students and faculty attending the meeting this month in Junction.
Read more...Recognizing a Fraud
Thousands of people believed in Madoff’s false persona and “invested” billions of their hard-earned dollars in his pseudo investment company.
Read more...Chat stories ‘all in the family’
SANDERSON – Raquel Hinkley has been awarded the 2009 Sanderson Good Citizen Award by the Comanche Springs Chapter of the Daughters
of the American Revolution.
Raquel, the daughter of Deanna Seager of Sanderson, is secretary of the senior class at Sanderson
High School.
She participated in UIL spelling, played tennis and served as basketball manager.
She served on the Student Council for three years. She is a
Read more...Raquel Hinkley
Graham gets
Hunters Feast scholarship
By KIM RAPP
News Leader Production Manager
SANDERSON – Believe it or not, my family is in Cactus Chat again. I guess if you can’t find
news, the next best thing is to make it happen.
My daughter Bobbi & I took a long ride to Las Vegas, NV, getting back this week.
Bobbi wanted to make one last trip to Las Vegas before heading for boot camp in April. She is joining the United States Air Force.
Read more...VISITING – Bobbi Rapp, middle, visited with great grandparents Millard and Dottie Hurlburt in Casa Grande, AZ, on her way back from
vacationing in Las Vegas. Live it up Bobbi. Next month, you’re in the Air Force.
BACK AGAIN – Amber, left, Kenneth and little Alaina Stutes came calling on family for spring break. The trio belongs to John and Mary
Stutes of Odessa. They were visiting Aunt Corina Castro and other family.
CRAZY COUSINS – Jessie Vandermark, left, Brittney Myers and Christien Frazier of Las Vegas, NV, posed for the camera last week. They
are cousins of Jimmy Rapp of Sanderson.
Plans set for VBS
SANDERSON – The First Baptist Church has announced plans for its annual Vacation Bible School.
It will be from 4 to
6 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, to Friday, June 19 and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 20.
Students who attended pre-kindergarten through sixth grade are welcome.
Read more...