The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 3, 1986 Page: 1 of 8
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Winter Texan
Column,
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THE RIO GRANDE HERALD
Serving Starr County For Five Decac
H.E.B.
Specials,
Page 6
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Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
No. 23 THURSDAY, APRIL 3,1986
FIFTEEN CENTS
F
Drought Conditions
Becoming Critical
Grande Garbage Collectors has acquired a new used truck and 50 commercial
containers in its hid to expand services. One of the containers, purchased from a
Beeville firm, is pictured above.
By KENNETH ROBERTS
The extended period of dry
weather is beginning to take its toll
on area forage, thus causing
serious problems for cattle.
Soil Conservation Service District
Conservationist Silvestre Gonzalez
said, "It's awfully dry. We haven't
had a significant rain for the past
seven months or so. Our forage
really is down to nothing due to
drought conditions. The slight rains
we had caused the grass to grow a
little bit, and then it quit."
Gonzalez warned that the situa-
tion, which is already quite bad,
will worsen considerably unless
substantial rains are forthcoming
soon. He added, "It is very critical.
Farmers and ranchers are begin-
ning to hurt."
The conservationist's assessment
is echoed by County Extension
'Garbage CollectorsPurchase
New Containers, Trucks
Agent Enrique Perez, who stated,
"It's getting critical for ranchers.
If it doesn't rain, we'll be hurting.
Pastures and rangeland start pro-
ducing more new growth during the
spring, but since the moisture isn't
there," this growth hasn't oc-
curred.
Perez added, "You find some
areas that don't show any green
growth. Some areas are over-
grazed. A large number of ran-
chers are feeding hay, and some
are feeding as many as 15 bales
per day, depending on the size of
operation or animal unit opera-
tion."
Gonzalez said, "With the excep-
tion of some narrow strips around
La Copita, north of Rincon, the
grass is in bad shape You see
some grass stands about four
inches high, with seed heads, which
means that's all the growth that it
will make. The grass is beginning
to turn brown."
The SCS official added, "The
feeding of cattle is on the upswing,
with a lot of bales of hay and sack
feed being bought. There's a lot of
supplemental feeding taking place
right now ..Some cattle have died;
others are having miscarriages or
difficulties with calf birth. Cows
are being so deficient in minerals
that they'll die."
He noted, however, that "it's
fairly good feed what's there; if
there's rainfall, the plants will
green up and grow "
About the outlook for rain,
Gonzalez said. "April should be a
pretty good month We usually get
showers, if not some significant
rainfall Unexpectedly, sometimes,
we do get some heavy rains in
April. When we do expect signifi-
cant rains is in May."
Perez commented, "There hasn't
been much seeding of buffelgrass
There has been some brushwork
done. There has been some sprig-
' ging of coastal grass in the north
part of the county where there's
been a little more moisture "
About the outlook for crops,
Gonzalez commented that "we
have some crops like grain
sorghum that are up and holding
their own now, but these crops are
going to be hurting if there aren't
rains in the next two weeks." He
said this situation also applies to
watermelons and cotton
Perez said that at this time,
"vegetables are progressing well.
The ones in irrigated lands have
minor insect problems. We should
have some melon harvesting by the
first week of May."
Perez added, "Dryland melons
(See DKOl I. HI. Ptigr H)
Grande Garbage Collection, who
▼ has a contract with the county to
collect garbage from residential
and commercial locations, has
purchased 50 new commercial
containers and a used truck in the
past week
The 50 containers were ordered
at a cost of $269 each from May
Fabricating Co., based in Beeville.
The used truck, said Grande
Garbage owner-operator Patricio
^ Hernandez, was purchased from
^ Hart's Trucking and Equipment of
McAllen. Hernandez added,
"That's the second truck we've
bought from them."
The garbage collection subject
has been in the forefront lately due
to the effort of a Mission collection
firm, A & L, to begin providing
commercial containers on a large
scale. That firm questioned the
legality of Grande Garbage's con-
^ tract, signed in 1981, with the
county.
On March 14, the County Com-
missioners voted to give Hernandez
90 days to abide fully by the
contract by providing commercial
containers. Hernandez said then,
and repeated this week, that he
was basically pleased with that
commissioners' action
Hernandez emphasized, "We
A work in a voluntary fashion on the
domestic side It's important for
the domestic side that we continue
the commercial services. That's
where most of the money is
generated. It's essential that we do
both."
Hernandez added, "I have to
have the commercial in order to do
the domestic We have to maintain
that stability in order to continue
thejob."
^ He insisted, "I kind of resent it
that these people (the Mission
firm) were allowed to entertain the
notion that there's something for
them here They (the county)
should have come to me, and I
would have explained where we
stood financially." Hernandez said
if that had happened, he would
have told the county that Grande
Garbage was close to providing
commercial containers.
Hernandez said, "We are going
to start with $35 per month per
container, with a once-a-week
pickup. We will adjust our rates
according to the frequency that the
businesses require tha pickup."
He stressed, "We are not forcing
anybody to do business with us by
the use of the containers. In places
where convenient, I wouldn't have
any problem with businesses shar-
ing a container and costs.''
Hernandez expressed the opinion
that the Beeville firm has "a very
good operation. They're not the
cheapest, but they can provide
what you need faster."
The containers, Hernandez sr-id.
were scheduled to arrive in the Rio
Grande City area on Wednesday
afternoon, April 2.
The used truck that was
purchased was built in 1977, but
Hernandez added that "it has been
rebuilt and is in really good shape
Most of this truck's history is in a
larger city."
Hernandez offered this con-
clusion, "All of our funds stay here
within ihe community. It's irnpro
tant to do business locally. It's
important for us to do that in order
to continue "
School, Water
Elections Saturday
Starr Educators Meet
With Governor's Wife
Three Starr County educators
were among 25 from the Valley
that met with the First Lady of
Texas in Weslaco Tuesday in an
effort to open communications with
the governor and effect changes in
the educational reform plan
Late Tuesday night, Walter N
Watson told The Rio Grande
Herald, "I don't think anything
real big happened today, other than
the fact they are beginning to listen
to us. They were the ones who
asked for the meeting."
Watson added. "The purpose of
the meeting was to open doors that
had been closed before, and start a
dialogue between educators and the
governor's office Everybody
asked her (Linda Gale White) for
the governor to clarify his stand
The feeling of everybody is that
he's still hard-line "
Watson offered the opinion that
"opening up lines of com
municatino was an accomplish-
ment in itself."
Also present at the meeting, said
Watson, were Sabas Ozuna a Rio
Grande City High School math
teacher, and Raul Munoz, principal
at Roma Jr High
Watson said, "We met at a
private home in Weslaco It was a
very informal gathering which
lasted about 2'z hours The main
« Trevino Candidate
For Water Board
Mrs. Maria Elena G Trevino of
Rio Grande City is a candidate for
board members in the Starr County
Water district election
Mrs Trevino, 48. has been a
resident of Rio Grande City since
1945 A businesswoman since 1970,
^ she is presently restaurant manag-
er of House of Raphael She
attended school in Texas and
California, and says her education
is based on experience.
Maria Elena is married to Rafael
Trevino. Jr The couple has four
children; Mrs Joseph Connell of
San Marcos, Yvette Trevino of
Weslaco, Stefan Trevino of
Kingsvilie; and Luis Rafael
^ Trevino of McAllen
The family has lived within the
water district for the past 26 years
Mrs. Trevino said h<?r primary
goals have been to educate her four
children,, two of which hold de-
grees, while the other two are
enrolled at different universities
She has been a member of the
Rio Grande City Garden Club She
has done volunteer work for
M H R. and the American Cancer
Society. She is a member of the
Catholic Daughters of Immaculate
Conception Church, and of
Woodmen of the World
Mrs Trevino said she feels that
her background and experience
serve to make her a worthy
candidate for member of the Water
Board She stressed that as a
concerned citizen, she is ready,
eager, and willing to serve the
Citizens of Starr County as a
member of said Board
discussion was what could be done
about TECAT, and other issues like
discipline, career ladder, and no-
pass no-play "
The Ringgold Jr. High principal
added, "The crux of the thing was
what is the governor going to do
between now and September. No
firm commitments were given
because he wasn't there. Messages
were sent back to him."
Accompanying Mrs. White were
two of the governor's staffers, Tom
Walker and Larry Yawn. Watson
expressed the belief that "she
made her points well Their main
defense was that he couldn't veto
II B 72; even if there were some
parts he may have considered
undesirable. The tone of the
meeting (by Mrs. White and the
staffers) was don't blame the
governor for everything."
As for himself, Watson said,
"Right now, I don't speak for
TSTA I speak for my personal
convictions and those of the Starr
County Educators Political Action
Committee."
He stressed, in the strongest
terms, that "neither TSTA nor the
PAC will get involved in school or
county elections. We have no
reason to do so at this time."
On another matter late last week,
Pleasanton teacher Iris Porter was
denied her request for a temporary
restraining order Her attorney,
Tom Brite, told The Herald, "The
judge denied our request for a
temporary restraining order
because of a lack of evidence that
the state did not intend to give the
subject matter test He felt he
needed more evidence."
Brite added, "He (District Judge
R.L. Eschinburg) did write a
two-page opinion that it appears to
him the state must give both tests
before certificates can be taken
away. He said it appears to him the
state must give both parts by June
30."
On Monday, March 17, hundreds
of Starr County educators traveled
to Jourdanton by bus to lend moral
support to Mrs. Porter's legal
(Sve WIFE, fagr 8)
Elections will be held Saturday to
determine two places on the Rio
Grande City CISD board of trust-
ees, and two slots on the Board of
Directors of the Starr County
Water Control and Improvement
District No. 2.
Also, three places on the Roma
school board feature only one
candidate, as do two positions on
the San Isidro school board, and
two places on the Hospital Board.
In the Rio Grande City CISD
trustee elections, Place Four in-
cumbent Roberto "Bobby"
Gutierrez is opposed by Jaime M.
Ramirez. In Place Five, incumbent
Antonio "Tony" Falcon, M.D.,
faces a challenge from Juan M
Cantu and Leonel R. Lopez
A spokesman for the Rio Grande
City CISD said that as of 4 p.m.
Tuesday, 403 absentee votes had
been cast in Rio Grande City and
La Grulla in the school trustee
election. Tuesday was the last day
of absentee balloting Superin-
tendent Dr A.E. Garcia said that
the absentee voter turnout has
"been fair "
In the Water Board election this
Saturday, there are seven can-
didates vying for two positions The
top two votegetters will be elected
to the water board.
The seven candidates are: Eloy
Rene Garcia, Trinidad "Trino"
Galindo, James Peterson. Maria
Elena G Trevino. Ernesto Trevino,
Jr., Armando "Mando" Garcia,
and David Domingo Porras.
In the Roma school elections,
incumbents Baldemar A Chapa
and Lucidio Garza are running
unopposed for additional three-year
terms. Jose Amado Escobar is the
only candidate running to fill the
one-year remaining in the term of
Cesar Salinas, who resigned in
December
In the San Isidro ISD. incumbent
trustees Omar Olivarez and
Salvador Villarreal face no opposi-
tion in their quest for additional
terms
In the Hospital Board elections,
incumbents Noel Benavides (Place
Two) of Roma and Romeo Alaniz
of San Isidro (Place Four) are
running unopposed.
Educators File Suit Against TECAT
A group of Starr County educa-
tors filed suit Thursday afternoon
in 229th District Court in Rio
Grande City against the TECAT
competency test.
The suit was filed by Project
Principle, Inc., a non-profit cor-
poration recently formed. This
organization is comprised of ap-
proximately 300 teachers in Starr.
Jim Hogg, and Duval Counties
The plaintiffs are seeking an
injunction against the TEA, and
that the TECAT scores not be
released until litigation on the
matter has been completed Walter
N. Watson, one of the organiza-
tion's board members, said, "We
expect to hear something within
the week.
Project Principle says it exists
"for the purposes of organizing
individuals interested in the legal
ramifications of the teacher com-
petency testing, and for the
purpose of doing any act necessary
to protect teacher rights under the
law."
Named as defendants in the suit
were the State Board of Education
the Texas Central Education
Agency, and the Commissioner of
Education. The plaintiffs are
seeking declaratory relief regard-
ing the testing statute as applied to
their present contracts
The 10-page pleading alleging
various constitutional issues, how
ever, strongly asserts an actual
case or controversy presently
exists requiring the court to
interpret and construe the rights,
duties, and obligations of the
parties to certain contracts when
these contracts are considered in
light of 13 047 and other TEA code
articles mandating successful
completion of competency exams.
The pleading maintains that the
TEA has no authority to revoke
any certificate nor to compel local
districts to terminate any existing
contract on the basis of the TECAT
alone. The pleading adds that the
(Srf Tht I 1.1'uurH)
4 I If Ml
Little Lamb Grand
Opening Held
t . \ MlW
Ribbon-cutting ceremonies were
held Thursday morning for Little
Lamb's Children Shop and Private
Company (PVT) Beauty Salon
About 35 persons were on hand
for the ceremonies Among those
attending were Chamber of Com
merce President leonel Lopez The
benediction was given by Father N
Racette, O.M.I.
Also on hand were members of
the family of Delia Lopez, owner oi
PVT. and Diana Lopez Saldana,
owner of Little Lamb Children's
Shop
According to Mrs. Saldana, Little
Lamb's store stocks children's
clothes, shoes and accessories,
sizes infant to 14
According to Delia Lopez. PVT is
a full-service salon for men,
women, and children She added
that sterling silver and costume
jewelry will also be sold
Both say they are optimistic that
the new businesses will do well in
the community
The ribbon-cutting for Little Lamb Children's Shop and
PVT Salon was carried out Thursda> morning. Delia
Lopez (left), and Diana Saldana, standing in the
forefront, did the honors.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 3, 1986, newspaper, April 3, 1986; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195022/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.