Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 158, No. 52, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 Page: 1 of 18
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500
eeai)
WEDNESDAY
February 20, 2008
mm
D
Vol. 158, No. 52-18 pgs.
www.thecherokeean.com
Rusk, TX 75785
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper
Just the
Ticket
For information on the
Little Engine That Could,
see pg. 9A
Coming to the
TEXAS STATE RAILROAD
Departing the Palestine Depot
March 7, 8, & 9, 2008
m
SHOOTING STARS
The Rusk Eagles concluded the basketball season
against Hudson. Meanwhile, the Rusk Lady Eagles
opened softball season in Hudson.
page
23 for
moni
Neches debate isn t 'water under bridge
Angelina-Neches River Authority wants to be a party in request to change LNVA permit
By Terrie Gonzalez
Managing Editor
The recent dispute between the
Angelina Neches River Authority
(AN RA) and the Lower Neches
Valley Authority (LNVA) is not ex-
actly "water under the bridge."
The ANRA board of directors
met Feb. 12 and voted to file le-
gal papers necessary to become a
party to the LNVA apphcation to
a mend i Is Sam Rayburn Reservoir
water rights.
Sixteen cities, counties and
municipalities with a stake in
AstroAir
will pink
slip 390
Jacksonville
loses 2nd major
employer
By Leland Acker
Staff Writer
The Astro Air plant on N.
Bolton Street in Jackson-
ville will close in August,
said officials from the
plant's parent company,
Luvata. Some of the jobs
will be moved to Grenada,
Miss., while others will be
relocated to Mexico.
The Jacksonville Luvata
Electrofin (formerly AST
Electrofin) plant will not be
affected by the closure.
DarrellPrcin. president of
the Jacksonville Economic
Development Corporation
(JEDCO). said the closure
will have a ripple effect on
the local economy as 890
jobs will be lost.
"It's very upsetting,"
he said. "As local busi-
nesses grow and become
successful, they become
attractive to national and
international corporations.
Unfortunately, this makes
Jacksonville vulnerable to
decisions that are being
made in other states and
overseas. These decisions
will have a direct impact
on families in Jackson-
ville, and ultimately our
economy."
Mr. Prcin said officials
from Luvata cited rapidly
changing global markets
and pricing pressures as
the reason for the closure.
See ASTRO AIR, pg. 6A
Weather Outlook
the Lake Columbia project joined
ANRA in filing protests last Octo -
ber with the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (T('K(}).
The proposed changes in the 1963
water rights agreement had the
potential to give LNVA sweeping
control over water rights in the
upper basin.
State Sen. Robert Nichols,
who represents both water enti-
ties in his district, brought the
quasi- state agencie s together for a
meeting Oct. 18, 2007, and LNVA
agreed to write a new draft of the
amendment.
LNVA recently told members of
the East Texas Regional Water
Planning Group in Nacogdoches
that the authority does not seek
to control water rights in the up-
per river basin, but does want to
protect its existing rights to serve
planned industrial development
in the Beaumont area.
Robert Stroder, LNVAs general
manager, and members of his staff
told the group, "It was never our
intent to damage existing water
rights in the upper basin, but we
don't want to step back from our
own rights."
Kenneth Renneau, ANRA gen-
eral manager, told the Cherokeean
Herald this week that he has seen
the revised document.
"It's a better document than it
was, but there are still issues,
he cautioned. "We want to be
protected."
One of his concerns involves
converting municipal rights to
industrial rights and what impact
that would have.
"It doesn't do anything for future
water needs in the upper basin,"
See WATER DISPUTE, pg. 6A
V'
THURSDAY
rain, thunderstorms
70% chance of rain
High: 65
Low: 48
OLDIES RADIO
KWRW - FM and KTLU-AM
LelandAcker
Staff Writer
F ederal fun ding Issues have resulted in the Texas
"'department of Transportation (TxDOT) shifting their focus from
new highway construction to old highway maintenance. The effect on Cherokee
County means three major highway projects are still without funding.
x" -'
' ;; -
. - . ' t
Larry Ivrantz, public information officer
for TxDOT s Tyler District, said the federal
government has been: rescinding federal
funds that were allocated to t he stale for
highway projects.
"We had $666 million rescinded lasti
yenr." he said. "So far; We've had $1.1;
to jjífif billion rescinded by the federal
government. That s Si. I to Sl.2 billion in
|projects that won't happen."
State and federal highway funds come
from gasqli n.e it a.xek Tex-as ehai'ges a tax
of 20 cenisjier gallon, while the federal
government chnrgéj-"Í!"i cellls per gallon.
"The st ale has not ra i sed gas taxes since;
1991." Mr. Krant/. said. "How much did
Things co:y..baek then?
WHERE THE RUBBER
MEETS THE
3 major highway projects
in Cherokee County are
ready to go... except
for money
| He went on to explain that roads are
constructed out of steel, concrete and
asphalt.
"We're paying premium prices for those
materials because we are now competing
with China and other nations where there
is development, whereas there wasn't
development in these countries before.
Because of growth in the other parts of
the world, construction costs aré grow-
ing larger."
In the pasjfc, the federal government has
allocated some of the funding obtained, by
th&fé'der al gas taxto the state to build and
maintainiiighwaya-Hbweyer, recently the
Please see TXDOT
Alto ISD hears principals reports
Administrative contracts renewed, board election called for May 10
By Leland Acker
Staff Writer
Alto High School students ex-
plored the option of taking the
academic route through college.
Principal Donald Patton told the
Alto ISD Board of Trustees during
Monday's regular meeting.
"We had a guest speaker," he said
during the high school principal's
report. "I asked, 'What job do you
think he does?' The students re-
plied, 'He's a basketball player."'
The guest speaker at Alto High
School turned out to be Fred
Brown, a former athlete from
('orrigan-Camden who quit sports
upon entering college before go-
ing to California to work in real
estate.
Mr. Patton said the message of
furthering their education was the
message he wanted the students
to get from Mr. Brown's presenta-
tion.
That presentation will usher in
college campus tours for Alto High
School seniors.
"Believe it or not,
therearest llsen ors
who have not
decided where they
will go to college."
-Alto High School Principal
Donald Patton
"Believe it or not, there are still
seniors who have not decided
where they will go to college," Mr.
Patton said. While the rest of the
student body at Alto ISD will be
taking TAKS benchmark testing
in preparation for the upcoming
TAKS test, Alto High School se-
nior s who have already p assed the
exit-level TA KS will visit Stephen
F. Austin State University, Sam
Houston State University and
University of Texas at Tyler.
Middle school principal's report
Kelly West, middle school princi- See ALTO ISD, pg. 6A
pal, told trustees that "Academics
First" is the theme of this six weeks
at Alto Middle School.
"We're having tutorials before
school, after school and even dur-
ing PE. time," she said. "We're
confident that on March 5. we'll
get good results on the TAKS
reading test."
Mrs. West bragged on her two
students who won the Bluebonnet
Reading Contest. Staeeson Myles
won secondplace while Mrs. West's
daughter, Elizabeth, won first.
Melody Witt, elementary school
principal, told the board that
the Alto Elementary School UIL
Academics team won second place
in district, and the teachers are
concluding their science curricu-
lum alignment. Dr. Ray DeSpain,
superintendent, told trustees that
March 11 has been designated by
the Alto City Council as Alto Pub-
lic Schools Appreciation Day. An
open house at Alto ISD has been
scheduled that evening.
Coming:
Televised
debate
at 7 p.m.
Thursday
on CNN
between
Clinton and
Obama
Former President Bill Clinton
Clinton
hones
message
Campaign targets college vote
with East Texas stump speeches
By Terrie Gonzalez
Managing Editor
NACOGDOCHES — In a campaign swing
through East Texas last Friday former Presi-
dent Bill Clinton targeted the college vote at
Stephen F. Austin University with a honed
message emphasizing the" solutions business"
and Hillary as an "agent of change."
The national delegate count remains close,
with Barack Obama holding 1,299 and Hillary
Clinton at 1.212'. Texas may
prove to be the Democratic
Party's battleground with
228 delegates at stake. To
win the nomination, 2,025
delegates are needed.
Former President Clinton
explained the opportunity
on March 4 to "legally vote
twice without breaking the
law." After casting ballots
in the primary, voter s should
attend one of the 8,000 precinct elections at
7:15 on election day and vote again, he said.
"It's a delegate race."
The audiencoparl idpaied in.the speech with
cheers and occasional outbursts of "Hove you.
Bill," mixed in with resounding boos directed
at the Bush administration when Mr, Clinton
spoke about the nation's $9 trillion debt.
"We have a lot of big problems, serious
problems," he said, citing the strain that
Please see CLINTON, pg. 6A
City of Rusk calls
election May 10
By Gloria Jennings
Staff Writer
Rusk City Council members called a city
election for 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, May 10,
at their meeting Thursday evening at city
hall. The city election will be held jointly
with Rusk ISD at the school administration
building. However, early voting for the city
will be conducted at city hall.
The city will contract with Cherokee County
for the use of voting equipment,
Three councilpersons to fill positions
now held by Don Jones, District 3; Donald
Woodard, District 4; andSamFlorian, District
5 will be: elected. Also, on the ballot will be
charter revisions.
City Attorney Larry Sinclair met with the
council and discussed the proposed revi-
sions.
The charter revisions were recommended
by a committee appointed by the council. The
committee was appointed on the recommen-
dation of then council member, the late Ruth
Ross. Mrs. Ross said she wanted citizens to
determine if the mayor should have the right
to vote. Voters gave the mayor this right at a
Please see CITY OF RUSK, pg. 6A
CM K
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 158, No. 52, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 20, 2008, newspaper, February 20, 2008; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152822/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.