February 22, 2008
|
FORT
STOCKTON – The Big Bend Open Road Race between here and Sanderson is apparently
no more. The
race board of directors voted this week to discontinue the popular race that
brought hundreds of racecars and fans to the two communities each year. The
Road Runner Open Road Race between here and Marathon was already in jeopardy,
partly because of increased oilfield activity along US Highway 385 and partly
because it had not been profitable. Sources
said it would have been discontinued this year regardless of the latest flap. Race
Director Randy Archer, Coordinator Kenda Furman, Furman
earlier left the city and went to work for Pecos County State Bank. Bank
President George Hansard said Furman asked to be able to continue working on
the race, which she considered important. He
denied the bank had offered to support the race, other than to allow Furman
as much time as she needed to work on it. “The
city got all mad and I understand they had an agenda item concerning legal
action against the road race,” Hansard said. “We
believe the race is a good thing for the community and it’s a good for our
customers,” he said. “We have no interest in stealing the road race. We want
to keep it going. “We
did not say we were pulling the plug,” he said. “The problem is, it has
turned political.” The
race was actually run by a non-profit corporation and headed by a
three-person board consisting of former Mayor Tony Villarreal, Terrell County
Judge Leo Smith and one vacant position that had been held by then City Manager
Danny Valenzuela. But
there was confusion over who actually was on the board. next
week ALPINE – Poets, musicians and storytellers
will descend on Alpine and the Big Bend starting Friday, Feb. 29, for the
22nd Annual Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering at 10 a.m. Friday in Marshall
Auditorium at Sul Ross State University. Michael
Stevens will be the master of ceremonies and, after a welcome by SRSU
President Dr. R. Vic Morgan, Charley Chambers, the Gillette Brothers and Don
Hedgpeth will perform. Folks
who were not invited but would like to recite or sing are invited to an open
session at 9 a.m. Friday in Room C of the University Center. The
popular “Tribute to Marty Robbins” session by Jeff Gore with Washtub Jerry
will follow at 11 a.m. in Marshall. After
lunch, at 1 p.m., Don Cadden will host a preview of the Gathering with
Michael and Dawn Moon, R.P. Smith, Chuck Milner and Ray Fitzgerald. There
will be multiple sessions simultaneously at various places at 2 p.m. on the
campus. All
the daytime sessions Friday and Saturday are free. The
Friday evening show at 7 p.m. in Marshall Auditorium will be hosted by Joel
Nelson and will feature Charlie Chambers, Michael and Dawn Moon and others. Michel
Stevens will be the master of ceremonies at 7 p.m. Saturday featuring Guy and
Pip Gillette and R.P. Smith and friends. The
two evening shows cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. Lap babies are
free. A
pair of spurs specially made for the Gathering by Cotton Elliott will be auctioned
off to support the event. Tickets
for the drawing are available from any member of the Steering Committee and
at event. The
drawing will be during the Saturday night stage show. The headquarters during the event is in the Sul Ross University
Center where tapes and books by the performers will be on sale. PTO
to join council for cleanup MARATHON
–The Parent Teacher Organization will join forces with the Marathon student
council tomorrow, Feb. 23, and clean up the Elementary playground. Volunteers
are encouraged to show up, bringing their own gardening tools, work gloves
and appetite. Work
will include expanding the garden perimeters, moving gravel and railroad
ties, painting and basic clean up. Lunch
and refreshments will be provided. Volunteers ages 12 and under need to be
accompanied by a parent or guardian. “You
don’t have to have to have kids to be involved,” said PTO president Judy
Briones. Those
with questions can contact Rhonda Garlick at TransPecos Banks. great help MARATHON
– The Marathon High School golf team had its first practice this week with a
special volunteer to help Coach Gracie Galindo and Marathon School Board President
Don Fuéntez. Retired
Alpine High Coach Joe Valenzuela came out to help smooth the players’ swings. “Golf
is one of my passions and I love to help kids,” Valenzuela said. “Golf is
probably one of the hardest sports to learn. It takes time, equipment and
hard work.” Valenzuela
led the Alpine High golf team to the state tournament in 1985, 1986, 1987,
1998 and 2001. “One
of my best players, Arlene Garcia, received a scholarship from St. Mary’s
University in Lincoln, NE,” he said. “She played four years there and was
their No. 1 player. “I
use the Moe Norman method of golf,” Valenzuela said. “He was a recluse from
Canada, a little different. “Dressed
kind of crazy,” he said. “He was run over by a car when he was a kid. “They
didn’t like him much in the US but he won 57 tournaments,” Valenzuela said.
“Lee Trevino called him the genius of golf.” Valenzuela
taught for 20 years at Alpine High. In addition to golf he also coached
football and taught biology. “Mr.
[Superintendent Conrad] Arriola called me last week to come out and help his
team,” Valenzuela said. “He was my principle in Alpine. I enjoyed working
with him.” Three
sets of golf clubs were set up to the side of the golfers. The players
smacked the shiny new club heads against soft practice bags as the coaches
looked on. Nobody is quite sure
yet who funded the new equipment but, without it, there would be no golf
team. MARFA
– Greasewood Gallery at the Hotel Paisano will host a new exhibit, “Large Landscapes of the Big Bend” by
Richard Fenker, in the Hotel Paisano Ballroom beginning Friday, Feb. 29. Fenker
is an artist, photographer, author and entrepreneur from Santa Fe, NM, and
Fort Davis whose work has been featured in Greasewood Gallery and at the
Hotel Paisano for several years. For
the past ten years, the majority of Fenker’'s landscape work has been in
panoramic format using a Fuji landscape camera that takes a negative roughly
two by seven inches in size. The
prints are typically two to three feet in length – large prints by many photographic
standards but not large enough, given the detail in the negatives. “I
started the 'large landscape series' in the spring of 2007 as an experiment
to move the viewer from ‘looking at a framed photograph of a natural scene’
to actually ‘participating’ in the scene – and to take advantage of the enormous
detail in the negatives, Fenker said. Although
Fenker’s work covers many areas of New Mexico, Utah and West Texas, the
prints in this show come only from the Big Bend region. The
large Big Bend landscapes are approximately 30 by 96 inches and framed. The
pieces appear more like paintings than photographs as Fenker’s way of
‘seeing’ and style of printing moves them in that direction. As
the artist, Fenker attempts to control and soften the light throughout the
scene in the printing process and choice of materials – ink on watercolor
paper. The
result, Fenker said, “comes closer to capturing the ‘sweet light’ that is so
characteristic of the Big Bend area, dramatic at times and yet, in the early
morning and late afternoon, filled with softness and warm hues that enhance
the desert’s subtle color palette.” There
will be an artist’s reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 29 in the hotel
ballroom. For
more information, contact Vicki Lynn Barge, gallery director, at
432/729-4134. |
Smith
was appointed to the board by his Commissioners Court after original Board
Member, former County Judge Dudley Harrison, died. Sources
close to the situation who asked not to be identified said a problem arose
when the city wanted to add several more board positions. Mayor
Ruben Falcon told the News Leader the city wants to help but the race
is conducted by a private, non-profit organization. “The
city’s position is that we are a facilitator of this event,” Falcon said. “We
help every way we can but we are not in position of running the event. “We’ll
support with in-kind help to the Convention and Visitors Bureau whose job is
to help with events,” he said. “They are charged with putting tourists back
in the community. “We
will gladly help the BBORR organization if they want to do it,” Falcon said. He
said the city provided about $35,000 each year in services such as road
closures, dumpsters in the park, employee time and the like. “The
bank tried to get a board of directors meeting and nobody showed up,” City
Councilman Steve Hampton said. “A lot of egos have got to be stroked.” draws ire By
R.M. GLOVER
MNL Editor ALPINE
– Presidio could see as many as 739 trucks daily crossing the border into the
US from Mexico by 2030 if dreams of some exporters are realized. Another
round of hearings on “La Entrada al Pacifico” was served up to Big Bend
residents by the transportation lobby group Midland-Odessa Transportation
Syndicate, aka MO-Trans, at Marshall Auditorium on the Sul Ross State University
campus Tuesday night. A
big crowd filled the auditorium floor and overflowed into the balcony seats
to hear, not TxDOT or MO-Trans, but a consultant working on their behalf. Brian
Swindell of HDR of Dallas presented trade and traffic facts and figures projected
to the year 2030. Provided
US import trade from the Far East continues at a steady clip and the Mexicans
dredge Topolambompo for bigger ocean-going container vessels as well as
blasting straight cuts through the Copper Canyon to provide a commercially-feasible
highway to Chihuahua, as many as 739 trucks daily could enter the US at
Presidio. Although
this increase in traffic would put a strain on the present highways,
especially US Highway 67, Swindell’s study did not see the need to increase
the number of lanes. However,
the entire region’s highway infrastructure would need to address a number of
safety issues including passing lanes, clearance issues, curb heights and
shoulder widths, alternative routings, wreck control, increased policing and
hazardous chemical and waste spills. Public
feedback at the end of Swindell’s presentation was overwhelmingly and exclusively
anti-La Entrada. Joe
Wotowicz of Marfa challenged the overall concept of La Entrada. “It
makes no sense. It’s never made sense,” he said. “It has a heartbeat only
because MO-Trans is well connected with Governor [Rick] Perry. They couldn’t
even get the Midland City Council to approve La Entrada. “I
say, ‘Stop terrorizing the Big Bend and tear down your signs,’” Wotowicz
said, referring to the TxDOT-installed “La Entrada al Pacifico” highway signs
seen throughout the Big Bend corridor. He
walked away from the microphone to a standing ovation. Sul
Ross English Professor Dr. Barney Nelson suggested La Entrada would work
against one of the university’s major educational assets – the pristine nature
of the Big Bend. Many
speakers encouraged Swindell’s group to study rail as an alternative to
trucks. Alpine
City Councilman Avinash Rangra suggested that nobody at MO-Trans or TxDOT was
listening to the people. A
trucker from Fort Davis reminded the crowd that 739 trucks coming in meant
739 trucks going out. Fifteen-year-old
Wren Keyes was also in attendance. “I’d
pay an extra quarter for my T-shirt to keep the freight going through Los
Angeles,” she said. “The Big Bend is fine just the way it is.” ‘Big
Bang’ cosmos start first hurdle By R.M. GLOVER MNL Editor ALPINE
– It is hard for most to grasp the concept that everything started with the
“Big Bang” some 14 billion years ago but, after one gets past that, it all
begins to make sense. “Heaven’s
Kitchens: Primordial Soup, Stellar Entrees and Galactic Desert,” was the
title of Dr. David L. Lambert’s presentation at the 20th annual Mary Thomas
Marshall Lecture at Sul Ross State University here Tuesday. “In
the initial three to 10 minutes of the Big Bang, the tremendous heat and
energy produced three basic elements of the universe, hydrogen, helium and
trace amounts of lithium,” said Lambert, director of the McDonald Observatory
at nearby Fort Davis. Cosmologists
tell us the Big Bang exploded into existence approximately 14 billion years ago.
Prior to this singular point in time, scientists cannot say how or from what,
if anything, it came. Theologians
suggest that if there was nothing then there should be nothing now. But such
human-generated logic is not a sure bet anymore. Quantum
physics, the Heisinberg Principle, the origination of the Big Bang and even
the study of free will directs our paths of discovery into a mystery zone
that Dr. But
once scientists get past the Big Bang, things become clearer, Lambert
indicated. The
most abundant element in our universe is hydrogen. It has one proton and one
electron as its atom and is the lightest and simplest among the 146 known
elements. Lambert
said helium, also produced during the Big Bang, was created from hydrogen by
nuclear fusion. Lithium
has an atomic number of three – the number of protons in the nucleus – and
was also produced during the Big Bang. Lithium,
however, was produced later in the universe’s history through a process
called “spallation,” in which cosmic rays crashed into nuclei in interstellar
gas. From
the Big Bang fall-out, gas condensed into stars under gravity and nuclear
reactions deep in a stellar interior led to new elements. Our
own star the Sun is relatively new, having an age of approximately 4.5
billion years. In
its core, hydrogen burns and eventually converts to helium. The energy
remains in the core for approximately a million years before it percolates
outward through the Sun’s gaseous plasma and releases as light and energy. It
takes eight minutes for this light to reach Earth. Lambert
explained that stars initially burn hydrogen for billions of years.
Eventually, this source of energy is consumed and the star begins to burn
helium but now its life is counted in hundreds of thousands of years. Once
the helium is consumed, a series of other elements fill the energy void until
iron becomes the star’s energy source but it lasts only a second. At
this point the star becomes a super nova and explodes outward, throwing off
trace elements that in turn form solar systems such as ours. Black
holes however, are formed when the dying star, because of gravity, folds
against itself. In
the black hole, time is elongated and nothing, including light, escapes. Betelgeuse,
the yellowish star at the top of Orion’s bow, is in the helium burning state
and its days are numbered. Scientists
know this through a process called spectroscopy. Each
element gives off its own particular color and, through telescopic light bending,
scientists can clearly make out the yellows of sodium, the reds of helium and
other elemental colors. Lambert
has been instrumental in the development of this field of science. Meteorites
that have landed on Earth, such as the Murchison Meteroite of 1969, provided
scientists with “pre-solar grains” or stardust, Lambert said. These
particles were dated slightly older than the Sun and suggest that our solar
system was formed by an exploding star or super-nova earlier in time. When
asked if meteorites contained the proteins necessary for life, Lambert replied. “It
is possible but highly unlikely,” he said. “I prefer the primordial soup
theory wherein, through a process of sub-atomic change, more and more complex
chemical compounds were formed on earth that eventually gave rise to life.” The
evolution of our universe continues to give scientists hints of who we are
and how we came to be but the pre-big bang epoch remains mysterious and
perhaps is best addressed theologically. The
Hebrew’s self-existent God who always was and is and yet to be, might be the
prime mover, the initial first cause and the best answer logic can offer. But
scientists like David Lambert will not be satisfied. “There is an end to knowledge,” Lambert said during the question and answer session. “And the goal of science is to discover all there is to know.” |
Hampton
said he would like to see both sides – or all sides – get together and try to
work out their differences. “If
we can work together, we can still have a race,” he said. “Some people just
have their own ideas.” He
said the race was “good for the community and fun. I don’t know why we can’t
get together. If not, we ought to pitch a big fit.” “It
saddens me that things could not be worked out,” Furman said. “The race has always
been a good event for those communities and it will be a great loss.” All’s quiet
from work at the Post MARATHON
– The big diesel machines are quiet this week at The Post. The
scraped dirt banks, like some industrial sculpture, hug the
still-trying-to-clear murky waters of the creek. Phase
I of the Post maintenance project has been completed. Phase
II is more about paper work. County Commissioner Ruben Ortega said this week
he hopes to have licenses in place from Texas Department of Parks and
Wildlife to stock The Post with sterile triploid carp. “It’s
a fish that’s had some genetic modifications made,” Game Warden Mathew
Bridgefarmer said. “The chromosomes have been altered to make it sterile.” “They’ll
help keep the weeds down,” Ortega said. Largemouth
bass will also be stocked. If
all goes well, both species of fish will enjoy their new home by March 15. By R.M. GLOVER
MNL Editor “Who
let the wild donkeys go free? Who untied his ropes?” Job 39:5-8. BIG
BEND – God may have initially let the wild burros go free but there is
growing suspicion that the wild burros of Big Bend State Park were released
by a former ranch manager at the old Saucedo Ranch. Local
talk suggests that he had been running his own herd of cattle and string of
burros on the ranch when the owner found out and fired him some 60 years ago.
Legend
says he took his cows but left the burros. In
1988, the State of Texas inherited the burros when the Big Bend State Park
was created from the old Saucedo Ranch and surrounding lands. Indigenous
species such as mule deer, mountain lion, javelina and the re-introduction of
big horn sheep have to compete for habitat with the burro. This
led the Texas Parks and Wildlife to start eliminating the burros by using
firearms. Public
outcry on this method was fierce and it resulted in a contract with Donkey
Rescue Inc., a private non-profit organization that specializes in catching
burros alive and finding homes for them. Mark
Myers, president of Donkey Rescue, and his team of burro catchers are
expected to arrive at the park this weekend. “We
trap them in big open corrals,” Myers said. “They can get in but they can’t
get out. There’s baited food, salt and water. “Low-stress
is the key to the game,” he said. “We don’t rope them or drag them or disable
them. “Catching
them is like bass fishing,” he said. “You’ve got to have the right lure, the
right conditions. “Mike
Hill [Regional Director of the TPW] gives me five years,” Myers said. “But I
hope to finish a lot sooner. “They’re
thick in Fresno Canyon and I’ll bring my own string of donkeys in,” he said.
“They’ll hook up with the wilds at night. That’s what they do. “And
maybe I can get the wild ones comfortable in the less rugged terrain,” Myers
said. “Once we get them trapped, getting them out is another problem.” “It’s
going to cost us about $1,500 per animal,” Scott Boruff of Texas Parks and
Wildlife in Austin said. “After they’re caught, they have to be quarantined,
checked out by the Feds and us. “They
are tested for seven or eight diseases,” Boruff said. “Some of them will have
to be disposed of anyway. “Some
of the burros may be coming in from Mexico,” Myers said. “Crossing the river
at low spots and climbing up Fresno Canyon. “We’ll
do blood work and determine where they came from,” he said. “Some of them
could be Spaniards.” The
question of whether the burros should be considered a feral or an endemic
species remains a question. “I
think too much has been made out of pitting the burros against endemic
species,” Boruff said. “From a land management perspective they’re like the
wild feral hogs. “They’re
extremely damaging to the ecosystem, especially the watering holes,” he said.
“They make it undrinkable and destroy habitat making it hard for endemic
species to survive.” “We
began destroying America’s ecosystem when the first earthworms came over by
ship from England,” Myers said. “The notion that we are going to restore
habitat to its original version is not going to happen. “America
has its own special problems and we have to manage it the best we can,” Myers
said. “As far as I’m concerned, the burros are as much American as we are.” I
gave him wasteland as
his home, The
salt flats as his habitat. He
laughs at the commotion in
the town; He does not hear a driver’s shout. He
ranges the hills for
his pasture And
searches for
any green thing. Jackson
returns with new ‘Ranger’ ALPINE – Retired Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson
will present his new book, “One Ranger Returns,” with a talk and autograph
reception from 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 22, at Front Street Books Reading
Room at 201 E. Holland Ave here. The public is invited, and refreshments will
be served. Published this month by University of Texas
Press, “One Ranger Returns” continues the saga of Jackson’s exploits
chasing criminals and keeping the peace across a wide swath of west and south
Texas from 1966 to 1993. It also covers his career as a private
investigator since that period. The popular “One Ranger: A Memoir,” published in 2005 also by Jackson is the
fastest-selling title in UT Press history. Now in its seventh printing with 40,000-plus
sales, “One Ranger” continues to be a bestseller in Texas bookstores and has
reached a sizable national audience, UT Press marketing data state. That book was co-authored by David Marion
Wilkinson, who played a vital role in its success. Accomplished novelist and historian James L.
Haley worked with Jackson on the new book, “another successful collaboration
that has produced a highly readable, absorbing narrative,” Front Street owner
Jean Hardy said. “It seems Jackson had many more gripping tales to tell and a
lot more to say about his family and his Ranger friends.” Some of the stories Jackson recalls include
his five-year pursuit of two of America’s most notorious serial killers,
Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole. He also describes the frustration of trying
to solve a cold case from 1938 – the brutal murder of a mother and daughter
in the lonely desert east of Van Horn. Jackson describes the role of the Texas
Rangers during the United Farm Workers strike in the lower Rio Grande Valley
in 1966 and 1967. “In all my years of . . . Ranger service, the
incident that caused the most controversy and damaged the reputation of the
Rangers more than any other, was la Huelga ‘the Strike,’ the United
Farm Workers strike of 1966-1967,” he wrote. “Since I am the only Ranger
involved in the affair who is still alive . . . I have some issues to take up
with the way this episode has been related by historians.” Jackson sets the record straight according to
his own lights, finding a more complex truth than what he calls a
“shrink-wrapped” version, a “passion play of social stereotypes, of
potbellied, bullying Rangers swinging nightsticks and pistol-whipping
hapless, terrified Hispanic farmworkers, who were only seeking to better
their destitute and exploited lives,” Jackson writes. “As reinforced by many
politically-correct writers, this view was quickly extended back into Ranger
history.” Elsewhere, he presents a rogue’s gallery of
cattle rustlers, drug smugglers, and a tee-totaling bootlegger named Tom
Bybee, a modest, likeable man who became an ax murderer. And in a concluding chapter, Jackson pays tribute
to the Rangers who have gone before him, as well as those who keep the peace
today. For more information, contact Front Street
Books at 432/837-3360, or by e-mail at amazons@fsbooks.com “One Ranger Returns” is also featured on the store’s website at www.fsbooks.com. |