March 28, 2008
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By R.M. GLOVER MNL Editor ALPINE
– Who will serve as the next 83rd district attorney remains cloudy. Election
results are pending and Jesse Gonzales, Jr., who ran against incumbent Frank
Brown, has sued Democratic Party Chairman Dale Christopherson and Election
Coordinator Jerri Jones to cloud things up even further. “It’s
not a suit about misconduct,” Rod Ponton, attorney for Gonzales, said. “We
just want to ensure that all the votes cast in the March 4th primaries will
be counted.” Meanwhile,
394th District Administrative Judge Steve Ables in Kerrville will preside
over the election result hearing at 10 a.m. today, March 28, at the Brewster
County Courthouse. “Judge
Kenneth DeHart cannot preside over the hearing because he was on the March
ballot and opposed,” County Attorney Steve Houston said. Since
the March 4 primaries, several sets of election results have been posted but
all have been nullified due to previously uncounted ballots showing up late. At
Wednesday’s special Brewster County Commissioners Court meeting, Judge Val
Beard was asked about the election postings. “What
was posted and what was done is a party matter,” Beard said. Three
ballot boxes found after the first count in Terlingua reduced Frank Brown’s
lead from 17 to 6. Then
it was discovered that not all the electronic balloting votes were counted in
Alpine. This
is the first year for electronic balloting in Brewster County. St.
Jude’s MARATHON
– Marathon Elementary students in grades pre-kindergarten through six will
participate in an annual bike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s
Hospitals, based in Memphis, TN. The
kids get pledges or outright donations, then ride around the school raising
money for a good cause. The
event sometimes helps children realize that not all kids are as fortunate as
they are. Some can’t ride their bikes on a cool spring day. It
also teaches them that it does feel good to help those in need. St.
Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility anywhere. Discoveries
made there have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer
and other catastrophic diseases. It
is where some of today’s most gifted researchers are able to do more science
more quickly. It
is a place where doctors around the world send their toughest cases and most
vulnerable patients. It
is a place where no one pays for treatment beyond what is covered by
insurance and those without insurance are never asked to pay. “We’ve
built America’s third largest health-care charity with a model that keeps the
costs down and the funds flowing so the science never stops,” the St. Jude
web site proclaims. It
is not too late to make a contribution to this fun and healthy way to help
kids help those in need. SANDERSON
– Easter brought many visitors to town, some visiting family and friends,
some just passing through and some running for a cause. Tom
Bassano was here with wife Kim, 12-year-old daughter Nicole, nine-year-old
daughter Page and seven-year-old son Tavi. The
Bassano family is on an excursion as dad is running across the country for
children advocacy centers. Bassano
hopes to bring awareness to child advocacy issues by running from California
to Florida. In
his “run for the innocent” he is raising funds for an advocacy center to be
called “Jessie’s Place” in memory of Jessica Marie Lundsford, a nine-year-old
girl who was kidnapped, rapped and buried alive only to be found dead 60
yards from her home. The
perpetrator was sentenced to death in the case. Bassano
left San Diego on March 3 and plans to reach Daytona on April 19. He
averages 58 miles a day and said he takes his mind off of the pain by
focusing on his purpose and checking out the scenery. The
ex-high school track star believes he can use his gift to help. “Everyone
can make a difference,” he said. Wife
Kim and three kids follow behind him in a van and everyone has a job to do. Kim
drives and makes protein shakes, Page has clean dry socks ready at rest stops
and takes pictures and Nicole helps with shakes and acts as weather liaison. Page
celebrated her ninth birthday on the road and the kids colored Easter Eggs in
the cold at a rest stop in between Alpine and Marathon. Page
describes what her dad is doing as “awesome” and said she is “very proud of
him.” Nicole
thinks her dad is “a little nuts, but not for this run.” Lundsford’s
father Mark has dedicated himself to helping change the predator laws and has
done so in 34 states to date. It
is called Jessie’s law and keeps child predators in prison for 25 years and
makes background checks for school employees mandatory. It
also requires placing Global Positioning Systems on offenders upon their
release. The advocacy centers provide a place to
bring a traumatized child instead of police stations, lawyers offices and the
like. “The
majority of offenders are repeat offenders,” Bassano told the News Leader. “What I want out of this
run is for everybody to have one good collective scream to say enough is
enough. Let’s start protecting these children better.” For
more information, to give a donation or to track Bassano’s run, go to the web
site at runfortheinnocent.com. black
scouts MARATHON
– The “Black Seminole Indian Scouts” will be the feature of a table-top
exhibit from two Marathon students at the annual history Monday, March 31. Elementary
teacher Andrea Johnson will accompany Zach Gonzales and Omar Grano to the
fair. “While
doing research for last year’s History Fair, they kept coming across names
and information regarding the scouts so they decided then that this would be
their project for this year,” Johnson told the News Leader. The
Black Seminole Indian Scouts served the US Army in the 1800s. Zach
and Omar dug up some local ties to the scouts. Blas Payne, a descendant of a
scout, is buried near the Post Park six miles south of Marathon. If
the duo advances at the fair Monday, they will head for Big Bend National
Park where they will hike to Camp Neville with Johnson and Park Ranger Rob
Dean for some additional research. The
purpose of the History Fair is to make history fun and interesting for
students while learning. The
boy’s have been busy with their project “off and on” since January, Johnson
said. |
“Electronic
voting requires specialized training to operate and is very costly
equipment,” Beard said. Item
two at the meeting was to include a performance review on Jones. But this
item was rescheduled. “The
salary of the election administrator is capped,” Beard said. “We don’t have
the resources that some of the oil counties have. Besides, nothing will be
solved by throwing money at it.” There
has also been concern that ballot box keys, which in Brewster are attached
directly to the ballot box, allow anyone in their possession to open them. mostly
gone FORT
STOCKTON – A 37-year-old Terrell County man was charged with reckless damage
and disobeying a fire ban this week in the massive Pecos-Terrell County
wildfire that broke out Friday, March 14. The Forest Service would not reveal the name. There was a name
in the Sanderson rumor mill but the News Leader was unable to confirm
it through official sources. Bill
Davis, fire coordinator for the Texas Forest Service, said this week that the
fire was traced to a welder’s torch. He said the fire started in Pecos County
but most of it was within Terrell County. The
range fires that blackened thousands of acres across Texas last week were
mostly gone this week after winds died down, humidity returned closer to
normal and a few places even recorded some rain. As
of Monday morning, the Texas Forest Service reported no fires in the state.
But one cropped up later in the day in Martin County north of Midland and
what was called the “Big Smoke Fire” had blackened 600 to 800 acres. Tank
batteries and oil wells were threatened but the fire was reported 50 percent
contained as of Monday evening. It was gone from the list of fires by Tuesday
afternoon. Another
in Jack County affected about 200 acres, threatening a hunting camp. Texas
Forest Service responded to 15 fires for a total 2,337 acres Tuesday. Helicopters
dropped 31 loads of water for a total of 24,986 gallons But, for the most part, the state was fire free this week. The 51,400-acre fire in northern Terrell and
eastern Pecos counties was one of the biggest in the state but, when it was
all done, no serious damage was reported. The
fire threatened several ranches including the Tommy Hayre, Porter, Thorn,
Word, Mitchell and Harkins Ranches and the Abilene Christian camp, among
others. No
structures were lost in the fire that burned through the weekend and into
early last week. The
Forest Service said support from citizens is critical in the battle to
eliminate a rash of potentially deadly wildfires. Not
only have firefighters been dealing with a major wildfire season that has
threatened communities across the state, but they are also battling fires in
which arson is suspected. “Law
enforcement and firefighting officials need your help,” Forest Service
Incident Commander David Abernathy said. “Putting a stop to arson can save
lives, homes and property.” “Arson
is a second degree felony, punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and two to
20 years in prison,” Chief Law Enforcement Officer Gary Bennett said. “The
offense becomes a first degree felony if someone is injured or killed as a
result of the fire. Punishment for a first- degree felony is a fine of up to
$10,000 and five to 99 years in prison. “Please
do your part by reporting any information regarding suspicious wildfires to
your local law enforcement officer,” Bennett said. A
reward of up to $2,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and
grand jury indictment of the person or persons responsible for arson fires. MARATHON
– Gilford Jones of Marathon and Thomas Olvera of Fort Stockton won Easter
baskets raffled off by the Parent Teacher Organization here last week. Elementary
students and their parents sold more than 1,000 tickets for the two Easter baskets
full of goodies. Isaac
Briones sold the most tickets and won a basket for himself by selling 271
tickets. The
PTO is currently raising money for an end-of-the-year trip to Fort Stockton
and for another clean up day at the Elementary School. The
trip to Fort Stockton includes a visit to Stockton Entertainment for a day of
bowling, pizza and fun. The
PTO has already had a clean up day at the school but needs supplies for another
one. “It
was a bigger job than we anticipated,” PTO president Judy Briones said. The
PTO had planned a barbecue lunch for the bike-a-thon this week, but had to cancel
due to lack of help. You
don’t have to have to have kids to be part of the PTO, just love them,
Briones said. to
be next weekend SANDERSON
– The “buzzards” will come home to roost next weekend as several hundred
bikers are expected for the Seventh Annual Buzzard Rally here. The
American Legion Post 160 took over sponsorship of the event this year but,
other than moving everything a few hundred feet west, it will be pretty much
the same as before. Unlike
last year’s rain, the weatherman is predicting sunny skies and highs in the mid
80s, just about ideal weather for bikers – if not for area farmers and
ranchers. More
than 400 motorcycles are expected to descend on Sanderson for the rally,
which begins Friday, April 4, with registration at
noon at the Legion Hall. There will be a Biker Party that begins “when you get here” and
lasts until midnight with a disc jockey starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 5, is the “main event, starting with breakfast
at 7 a.m. at the Legion Hall and a scenic “poker run” around the county with
the first bikes leaving at 9 a.m. Cyclists will make stops along the way, picking up cards for a
poker hand and the winner will receive a cash prize, to be determined based
on the number of entrants. At 2 p.m. Saturday, riders will participate in a series of games
at Legion Hall, competing for trophies in these events, including the “Straw
in the Bottle” contest, a “Slo Mo” race, the “Tennis Ball on the Cone” event
and a “Weenie Bite. There is also a “best of show” contest and the annual “Show of
Strength Parade” at 6 p.m. Saturday. There will be a barbecue dinner at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Legion
Hall and another Biker Party at 8 p.m. with live music until 1 a.m. Sunday. The event comes to an end Sunday, April 7 with breakfast at the
Legion Hall and a closing prayer service at 8 a.m. For more information, call Lindy Stumberg at 432/345-2189. |
Evidently, in most counties, there are two
keys issued per ballot box, one to the local sheriff and one to the election
administrator, ensuring – theoretically at least – that an official will confirm
their contents. “It’s
in the hands of the judge now,” Brown said. “The legal system will sort it
out.” MARATHON
– Buddy and Kristin Cavness formally applied to the Brewster County
Underground Water District Tuesday to sell water from a newly-drilled well at
their house on Highway 385 here. Tom
Beard, who presided at the Alpine meeting, made it clear that permitting the
sale of water was new territory for the district. The
district plans to conduct a workshop at their next meeting to help Brewster
County residents understand the process for selling and transporting water. “It’s
the precedent that I’m concerned with,” said Marcie Roberts, owner of the
French Grocery. She
attended and recorded the meeting and plans to have a town meeting soon to
discuss the implications of water export. “It’s
the first case permitting the sale and transport of water in the area,” she
said. ‘It’s an important issue and we better get it right the first time. “Buddy
was pretty forthright in presenting information about his enterprise, even
though Tom Beard advised him that he didn’t have to answer any questions,”
Roberts said. Beard
suggested at the meeting that he might need to excuse himself from voting in
this particular permitting process. “However,
it won’t keep me from participating, otherwise,” he said. Kristin
Cavness is a third cousin to Beard. He is also the husband of Brewster County
Judge Val Beard. The
Cavnesses did not obtain a drilling permit prior to drilling last month’s
water well. Beard
suggested it was an error made in “good faith” and that there was “no harm –
no foul.” Cavness
plans to mix the well water with bentonite clay at his home in an open earth
tank to make drilling mud for an un-named petroleum company who will be
drilling “east of town.” “There’s
a lot of water under this ground,” Clyde Curry of Marathon said. “If they
were building a pipeline, I’d be worried. But a few trucks isn’t going to
hurt.” ‘Forgotten River’
MNL Editor Where
the pavement ends for Highway 170 near Candelaria, 25 miles west of a snow-covered
Chinati Peak, this writer watched a buzzard circle in the sky. Its
extended black wings with white trailing edges soared sentiently against a
mountainous backdrop – the Cerros Colorados on the Mexican side of a
trickling Rio Grande. Known
as the Forgotten River in this segment of its journey to the Gulf of Mexico,
the slim waters of the Rio Grande slither past one of three gauging stations
set up between Fort Quitman and Presidio, a 186-mile stretch that showed
signs of a bigger flow in its past. The
breadth of the river at the Candelaria Gauge is no more than ten feet but the
valley width here is probably 1,000 feet. It’s
been a dry winter but, more importantly, El Paso and Juarez, with a combined
population in excess of two million humans, lies 250 miles up stream and suck
up nearly every precious molecule of water released from the stingy Elephant
Butte Reservoir in New Mexico. “The
Rio Grande ends in El Paso,” said Mike Hill, regional director of Texas Parks
and Wildlife. The
Rio Grande starts in Colorado, absorbing the spring run-off of melting snow
in the Rockies. It
meanders through New Mexico where, in 1916, the Elephant Butte Dam was built
five miles east of Truth or Consequences to provide hydro-electric energy and
irrigation water. Under
a recently revised agreement, the Elephant Butte Reservoir is required to
release more water to Texas. But
even under this new agreement, this stretch of river is likely to remain
forgotten and more ditch than river. “It
doesn’t start again until the Rio Conchos flows into it at Ojinaga,” Hill
said. The
buzzard wings started to flap again. It sought food and the next set of air
currents to ride. It
floated high above the river valley, steely eyed, combing the desert
geography for the dead. The
Army Corp of Engineers reports that 101 arroyos feed the Forgotten River. Annual
rainfall is said to be 14 inches but the closet weather station is in El
Paso. The
evaporation rate is high, especially in the summer where temperatures bake
over 100 degrees for weeks straight and humidity, dried by west winds, can be
as little a five percent in the afternoons. Salt
Cedars, also known as Tamarisk, cover the rocky valley in a swath of
yellow-green. The
tree imported from Asia in the 19th century as an ornamental plant and spread
nationwide by government programs to contain stream erosion, now devastates
the native Cottonwood and Desert Willow trees along the Forgotten River. It’s
a thirsty tree too, guzzling water at perhaps a rate five times that of a
native. “The
Tamarisk changes the PH of the soil,” Hill said. “It changes the ecosystem.
The only way out may be fire or the beetle.” The
salt cedar has no natural predators in the area and so its growth goes
unchecked. But
the Crete Beetle from Khazakstan has shown promising signs that it can slow
the growth of the intrusive tree. Thousands
of these beetles were released into the Forgotten River reach last year. “It’ll
take three years to get hard results on the beetle’s progress,” Hill said. More
buzzards join the scavenging circle high above. They swoop and pull up,
riding waves of air like a giant roller coaster in the sky. Farmers
on both sides of the river divert water to irrigate crops. Thirsty Pecan
groves and alfalfa hug the river on the US side. On
the Mexican side, where labor is cheaper, truck crops such as cantaloupe and
onions grow. “The
river is completely plumbed,” Hill said. “It’s one sick puppy.” One
of the goals of Texas Parks and Wildlife in the Big Bend is to restore the
state lands and watersheds to their pre-European form, “1491” as some refer
to this condition. Bringing
back the Rio Grande may be their biggest challenge. Last
week’s snow has melted from Chinati Peak. A little water has flowed down the
San Antonio Valley and into the Forgotten River. Nature may be the only one who remembers. |