Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1976 Page: 1 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 16 x 11 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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THE LARGEST PAID CIRCULATION GOING IN STARR COUNTY"
RIO GRANDE
TPA Award Winning Newspaper
Ten Cents
Vol. XXXIV
No. 11
Thursday, January 1,1976
Rio Grande City, Texas
THE COMPUTER KNOWS - Customs Inspector Norman Jordan is shown above, operating
a computer communication terminal at the U.S. end of the Roma International Bridge. Auto
license plates are checked here for stolen cars or known narcotic smugglers.
Computer At Roma Customs
Keeps Lawbreakers In Check
ROMA - Neither the honest
traveler nor the transient
lawbreaker suspects what
happens as his car pulls to a
stop at the U.S. Customs entry
point from Mexico in this
drowsy little village in the lower
Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Those who have driven
through here may recall the
courteous uniformed inspectors
who asked a few seemingly
innocuous questions after they
had crossed the bridge span-
ning the historic Rio Grande
River boundary between
Mexico and the United States.
However, a few knew that
before their cars came to a halt
at the Customs checkpoint their
license-plate numbers had been
keyed into a U.S. Treasury
Department computer 1,200
miles away in San Diego, Calif.
Within seconds, the in-
spectors knew if the vehicles
had been stolen and whether
their owners were suspected of
involvement in a crime just
about anywhere in the world.
Communications facilities
giving this remote Customs
outpost instant access to the
storehouse of worldwide in-
formation in San Diego are
provided by General Telephone
Company of the Southwest, a
subsidiary of General
Telephone & Electronics
Corporation.
A computer - com-
munications terminal manned
by an inspector is installed on a
lectern-like desk at the Customs
station on the U.S. end of the
bridge. When a vehicle ap-
proaches, the inspector presses
buttons on the terminal's
keyboard to transmit the car's
license number to the San Diego
computer.
Before the Texas-bound
driver can lower his window, a
small display panel on the
terminal flashes back signals
which advise the official to let
the car pass or detain its oc-
cupants for further questioning.
Simultaneously, another
inspector familiar with in-
ternational smuggling
techniques scrutinizes the auto
and asks its passengers a few
questions. Relying on what he
sees and hears along with his
own training and experience, he
quickly decides whether to
permit the auto to go on or delay
the travelers with additional
questions.
Either the computer's report
or the inspector's interview is
enough to detain travelers for a
secondary interrogation.
General Telephone of the
Southwest maintains high-
quality transmission on the
portion of the circuit it provides
ix tween here and San Diego.
Sophisticated test equipment
can be used to assist
technicians to locate and
quickly correct any problems
that might arise.
"We depend on the reliability
of the communications link with
the computer to support our
own experience in enforcing the
laws," said M. R. Blackwell,
Director of Customs at the
Roma port of entry. "We also
rely on the computer's rapid-
response capability to help up
avoid delaying travelers un-
necessarily."
The company has also in-
stalled communications
facilities at the U.S. Customs
Service entry points at Rio
Grande City 15 miles east of
here and at Del Rio, 240 miles to
the northwest.
The Roma and Rio Grande
City locations are connected by
a telephone teletypewriter
circuit which permits the ex-
change of information in
printed form. One of several
such circuits linking various
border checkpoints, GTE data
sets are installed in both
Customs stations to convert the
teletypewriter "language" into
audible tones for transmission
over telephone lines.
In addition, the company
provides portions of special
voice circuits linking Roma,
(See Computer, P. 3)
Marmolejo Enters
Hidalgo Sheriff's Race
EDINBURG - A former state-
wide investigator for the
Alcoholic Beverage Com-
mission (ABC) most recently
stationed in Starr County, Brig
Marmolejo, has announced his
intentions to run for the Hidalgo
County Sheriff's seat in the 1976
elections.
Marmolejo, who resigned
from the ABC on Dec. 12, held a
news conference at the Hidalgo
County seat and said his
decision had been reached after
much thought and con-
sideration.
Marmolejo read from a
prepared statement which was
met by applause from his
supporters. Current sheriff for
Hidalgo County is Claudio
Casta neda.
"I intend to run a campaign
which is based solely on past
and present issues and on my
qualifications for this office. I
wish to make it clear that I have
only the deepest personal
respect for the present Sheriff. I
harbor him no ill will, nor do I
wish to attack him personally. I
simply feel that I am the person
best qualified to do this job.
"The major issues of this
campaign are really very
simple. The Sheriff's Office, as
it is now organized, is just not
doing the job of law en-
forcement that the citizens of
Hidalgo County deserve. There
is no direction, no drive, no
pride in accomplishment. All of
this results from one thing only:
A lack of leadership along with
a lack of management, and a
iack of desire to serve the
public.
"My career in law en-
forcement stretches from City
Patrolman to Assistant Chief of
Police, and from Captain of the
County Highway Patrol to a
State Wide Investigator of the
Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission. For the past five
years, I have worked together
with Sheriffs Departments in
practically every County in this
State, I have seen the good ones
and I have seen the bad ones so
I feel that this experience
should serve me well in ac-
complishing the programs
which I have outlined.
"It is my sincere hope that
the news media and the citizens
of this County pay close at-
tention to the issues of this
campaign and that my abilities
and qualifications be given
serious consideration. And
finally," Marmojejo concluded,
"that all of you remember this:
This is a big job, in a big
County, and it's going to take a
big man to do it properly."
Services Held For
Former Rio Woman
Funeral services were held at
1:30 p.m. on Saturday,
December 13 for Mrs. Irmgard
Bradke Hinojosa. Services were
held at Shannon's South Chapel
with burial in Greenwood
Cemetery in Fort Worth.
Mrs. Hinojosa, a former
resident of Rio Grande City and
a native of Berlin, Germany,
died Thursday, December 11, at
the age of 49 in a Fort Worth
Hospital. She had lived in Fort
Worth for the past fourteen
years.
She was a member of the
University United Methodist
Church. She is survived by her
husband, Pete T. Hinojosa; a
son, Peter Hinojosa of Fort
Worth; three daughters, Mrs.
Barbel Hurt, Mrs. Ingrid
Ruscoe, and Miss Christel
Hinojosa, all of Fort Worth; her
mother, Mrs Luise Bradke of
East Berlin; two brothers,
Guenther and Wetner Bradke of
Cologne, Germany and four
sisters, Mrs Hilda Schubert,
Mrs. Trautchen Kawlleck of
West Berlin, Mrs. Marie Louise
Bescheof East Berlin, and Mrs.
Edith Kessell of Essen, Ger-
many.
lioi
Mrs. Hinojosa
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Rodriguez, Rene. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1976, newspaper, January 1, 1976; Rio Grande City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194540/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.