The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1987 Page: 1 of 10

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THE RIO GRANDE HERALD
Serving Starr County For Five Decades
H.E.B.
Specials,
Pgs. 6,7
Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
NT 10 THURSDAY, JANUARY 1.198/
FIFTEEN CENTS
A Herald Editorial
Starr County has just concluded a momentous and
event-packed year in its history, and 1987 seems to
promise more of the same.
New Year's Day will mark the swearing-in of new County
Judge Jose M. Martinez, Jr. The Rio Grande Herald wishes
the best for Mr. Martinez's administration, and hopes he
will offer many new ideas for making county operations
more efficient and productive, and work to maximize all
the assets and strengths of this county.
The Herald believes that Starr County's main need is for
economic development and job crcation to reduce the very
high unemployment rate, and offer an incentive for young
people to stay and develop their full potential here.
Aggravating the situation is the fact that Starr County is
now caught in a buzzsaw by adverse state and national
economic trends, especially the rapid decline in oil
valuations.
The Herald recognizes that Judge Martinez will have his
work cut out for him, and that solutions will be hard to
come by and tedious. Overnight "quickie" solutions are too
much to expect.
The Herald t'eeis that outgoing Judge Bias Chapa has
handled the transition period with much class and
goodwill, and in a way that will only help the county.
In conclusion, and most importantly. The Herald strongly
believes that Starr County has tremendous potential for
economic growth in many areas.
This is especially true in the tourist area, where this
county has strengths that would make other locations
green with envy. There are numerous types of hunting, a
great historical tradition, and a spectrum of wildlife for the
naturalist to enjoy.
We take note of the expanding "Winter Texan" interest
in this county, and advocate that this trend be encouraged
to a much greater extent.
The Herald finds it strange that the national media is
singling out Starr County for harsh censure concerning a
drug problem that is very critical throughout the U.S. We
regret that the national media doesn't seem interested in
the many Starr County citizens who have been successful,
and often brilliant, in a wide variety of fields.
The year 1987 may be a lean one for Starr County, but
The Herald believes that if the current storm is weathered,
and wise and farsighted plans and actions are carried out,
this county will start to realize its vast potential.
KENNETH ROBERTS
Herald Managing Editor
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1986 Watershed Year
t or Starr County
By KENNFTH ROBERTS
Managing Editor
The year of 1986 that ended
Wednesday, Dec. 3t, proved to be a
turning-point year for Starr County
in numerous respects
There were numerous events that
affected the lives of Starr County
residents in 1986, but seven stories
stand out as most important
Among these are the upset defeat
of the incumbent County Judge in
the June runoff, inflammatory
accusations of very shaky credibili-
ty made by Mexican authorities
against the Starr County sheriff,
the activism of Starr County
educators in opposing the TECAT
test, changes at the County Ap-
praisal District, layoffs of or pay
cuts for county personnel in the
wake of a financial crunch,
scrutiny into the actions of the
County Clerk concerning im
poundment of primary runoff
ballots, and the death of the
longtime County Treasurer
The year's leading story is the
election of Jose M Martinez, Jt. as
County Judge, over two-term in-
cumbent Bias Chapa. Martinez, a
local rancher, trailed Chapa by
only 120 votes in the May Demo-
cratic primary, forcing the election
into a runoff
On Saturday June 7, Martinez
edged Chapa by a slim margin of
113 votes, or 4059 to 3946 The
challenger won with 50.7 percent of
the vote.
Martinez carried seven of Starr
County's 10 precincts. Chapa's
400-vote majority in the absentee
vote was not enough to pull out a
victory for him
In other elections, Precinct Four
Commissioner Reynaldo "Moreno''
Alaniz narrowly defeated longtime
Rio Grande City CISD trustee Abel
N. Gonzalez, Jr. in the June runoff.
Gonzalez had come within five
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Starr County was the beneficiary
of slow soaking general rains for
almost three days that dropped
three to four inches of moisture in
most areas of the county
SCS Range Conservationist Dario
Salinas said Tuesday, "Around the
hospital area, it's about 3'2 to 4
inches I think it's a little more
that It's pretty much general rain
Zapata and Falcon Lake are about
the same "
Starr Produce General Manager
Robert Peterson said that a little
less than four inches fell at the
Starr Produce shed east of Rio
Suntex Farms, west o( Rio. re-
ceived about 3.5 inches
Weather observer Elder P Neie,
whose residence is located three
miles west of Rio Grande City, said
3 22 of rain fell in a four-day
period, with 2 09 falling in the 24
hours ending at 7 a m Tuesday and
92 falling as of Monday morning
Weather observer Frank An-
derson, who lives within Rio
Grande City, said, "Since it started
raining, we've had about 3 9 inches
of rain We had 3 10 on Monday
Everybody I've talked to had at
least three inches "
Peterson exulted, "This weather
is giving us a lot of good moisture,
and washing a lot of the salt out of
the soil Salt hinders growth, and
holds back the plants Not much is
running off; it's all soaking in ."
Peterson added, "The drylands
are really benefiting, it should help
start a good cotton or grain crop
It's giving us a good start for our
spring crops "
He indicated that "the harvest of
lettuce has been delayed, but cool
weather holds back the maturing
process. It's not really hurting "
Salinas said, "We get more
penetration of the soil with these
types of rains because we've had
little runoff We should start out
the growing season with a lot more
moisture than last year This
should benefit the ranchers
Salinas concluded. 'The soil was
already moist before these rains
These rains should help the dryland
farmers and help out range
grasses."
votes of winning an outright victory
in the May primary, but a third
candidate forced a runoff.
Precinct Two Commissioner
Amando Pena of Roma, in the May
election, defeated challenger
Adrian Gonzalez with roughly 55
percent of the vote.
Aurelio A. Sanchez was elected
County Treasurer over Homero
Salmon in a tight June runoff race
Those two candidates had reached
the runoff after a hotly contested
primary battle against three other
candidates.
On the weekend of Aug. 23-24, the
year's second most important story
began to develop when Reynosa
police officials insisted that Starr
County Sheriff Gene Falcon, Jr.,
was a suspect in the slaying of a
prisoner in a hospital there.
Margarito Piedra, a leading
suspect in a triple murder near Rio
Grande City in June 1985, was shot
•>arly on the morning of Aug. 23
v bile lying in his hospital bed.
Another prisoner, supposedly in
tha same room, charged that
Falc >n was one of the four
memtk rs of the assassination team
that killed Piedra.
Falcon strongly denied any in-
volvement in the killing, saying
that his association with Piedra
was strictly professional, and re-
t to the
triple-murder which Piedra was
suspected of committing.
The sheriff contended then that
an attempt to negate bad publicity
resulting from the brutalization of
U.S. drug agents in Mexico was in
back of the Reynosa police's
accusations against him Falcon
asked for an investigation of the
episode by such U.S. authorities as
the U.S. Attorney's Office, the
State Department, and the Justice
Department.
An arrest warrant was issued by
Reynosa police for Falcon's arrest
After a week or so, Mexican
authorities began to backpedal on
their accusations against the Starr
County lawman, saying that direc
tors of two Mexican prisons along
the border may have been in
volved.
In October, a Valley television
station said that Reynosa
authorities were still insisting that
Falcon was a suspect in the killing
svc#**. 2*
This full drainage ditch on the east side of Rio Grande City illustrates the effects of
the almost four inches of rain that soaked the county over a three-day period early
this week.
Starr County Gets
Three-Inch Soaking
Falcon told The Rio Grande
Herald at year's end that he would
avoid Mexico for the foreseeable
future. He expressed hope, howev-
er, that time and the ascension to
power of new officials in
northeastern Mexico would proba-
bly heal the wounds caused by the
episode.
The third most important story is
the activism of numerous Starr
County teachers and educators in
opposing the statewide TECAT
competency test as administered.
The opposition began to crystalize
about March 10, the date the test
was administered.
Local Jr. High Principal Walter
N. Watson was one of the leading
critics of TECAT. He, and many
others, contended that teachers
should have been tested in the field
in which they were currently
teaching, and that teachers holding
valid certification at that time
should have been ' grandfathered"
from taking the test.
On March 17, hundreds of Starr
County teachers traveled by bus to
Jourdanton to lend moral support
to Iris Porter, a Pleasanton Special
Education teacher who had been
the subject of a temporary re-
straining order allowing her not to
take TECAT
At the March 17 hearing in
Jourdanton. a state district judge
ruled against Mrs. Porter on the
"grandfather clause," but sug-
gested that teachers must fail both
subject matter and reading and
writing tests before losing their
certification.
Later, the same judge denied
Mrs. Porter's request for an
injunction, because he said evi-
dence was lacking that the state
didn't intend to give a subject
matter test
A number of Starr educators
banded together and took the
matter to the local 229th District
Court On May 2, Judge Ricardo
(See YEAR, Page 4}
Martinez To Be
Sworn In Thursday
Jose M. Martinez, Jr , will take
th oath of office for a four-year
term as' -itan County Juug.. at
a.m. Thursday, Jan. 1 in the Starr
County Courtroom
Martinez, a Starr County ran
cher, will succeed Bias Chapa.
whom he defeated by a narrow
margin in the June 1986 Democrat-
ic runoff.
The other first-t-ne official who
will take his oath of office
Thursday is incoming Treasurer
Aurelio A Sanchez.
A number of other officials,
re-elected to their posts last year,
will be sworn in Thursday. Among
them are: County Commissioners
Amando Pena and Reynaldo
Alaniz, County Court-At Law Judge
Alex W. Gabert, Countv Attorney
Heriberto Silva, County Clerk Juan
Mills, District Clerk Juan Erasmo
oaeiu, and justices 01 me i-Vace
Arnoldo Gonzalez, Jr., and Hector
"Ivo" Perez.
The County Courthouse will be
closed this Thursday (New Year's
Day) and Friday
The Starr County Water District
office in Rio Grande City will be
closed Thursday and Friday, while
CPL's local office will be closed
Thursday The Starr County Gas
System offices in Rio Grande City
will be closed Thursday and
Friday.
Classes of the Rio Grande City
CISD are scheduled to resume at
the regular time on Monday, Jan
Old Roma
Bridge
Discussed
Monday's special meeting of the
County Commissioners was called
for the purpose of okaying an
engineering contract for a rural
paving project, but focused instead
on the fate of the old Roma
suspension bridge
As the meeting began, only one
of four bidders for the engineering
contract was present A consensus
was reached that the matter should
be tabled, with Federal Program
Coordinator Javier Margo saying.
"The delay will have no effect "
Susan L. Schorer, an enthusiast
for South Texas history and culture
who has most recently resided in
Denton and Lockhart, led off her
presentation concerning the bridge
by saying, "I am making a
gesture, that I hope we can get
some assistance in saving the Lee
House and old Roma Bridge," and
rejuvenate the Roma historical
district
She insisted, "People up there
are so interested in what you have
down here Mr Marcus (of
Neiman-Marcus) said he is very
interested in such things I hope we
can work on historical tourism and
artistic tourism to make this area a
Riviera of the Rio Grande "
Schorer noted, however, that "we
recognize that saving the bridge
needs an engineering study and
adequate financing," just for
starters
Precinct Four Commissioner
Reynaldo "Moreno" Alaniz urged
(See HRIIH.E. Page 8)
Power Cutoffs
Show County
Financial Flight
The cutoff by Medina Electric of
power to two commissioners' of-
fices and the Sheriff's Department
radio antenna north of Rio Grande
City is a vivid illustration of the
county's worsening financial plight,
according to the County Auditor
Auditor Jose Guadalupe Villar-
real told The Rio Grande Herald
late Tuesday afternoon that power
had been cut off to the offices of
Commissioners "Chema" Alvarez
and Amando Pena, as well as the
Sheriff's Department radio antenna
about seven miles north of Rio
Commissioner Alvarez's office is
located at the County Airport
several miles northwest of the
county seat.
Villarreal said, "All county lights
serviced by Medina were turned
off In my opinion, they have no
reason to close it I've told them
already they will be paid by Jan.
10 We haven't paid them because
we don't have the money "
Villarreal contended, "This delay
is due to a $219,000 budget hole We
owe Medina $3700 This is only for
November and December Medina
should not have closed the lights "
Villarreal insisted, "$30,000 more
for utilities is needed to keep the
lights they (the county) now have
They need to appropriate $30,000
for utilities " He noted that utilities
are paid of the Countywide sector
of the General Fund
Incoming County Judge Jose M
Martinez, Jr.. said that "I have to
inherit a budget deficit of over
$500,000 "
Martinez said he is completely
opposed to a tax increase, and that
a rigid austerity program may well
have to be implemented He
concluded, "I'm expecting a good
year in making changes in the
right directions, but this should be
a lean year," as far as county
operations are concerned.
The auditor warned that "unless
the budget is amended, the deficit
for this year will be between
$350,000 and $500,000 We have the
burden of making up a $219,000
deficit from last year
Villarreal contended that "this
(1987) budget needs to be revised
and amended as soon as possible "
The auditor contended the big
"hole" is in revenue estimated for
the new Detention Center The 1987
budget, he said, projects just over
$744,000 in revenue from the new-
facility
But Villarreal said, "I do not
expect more than $430,000 (in
revenue- At the best, the jail could
pay for itself He indicated that
Sheriff Gene Falcon. Jr., and Chief
Deputy J.C Gomez "have told me
they do not expect more than
$500,000."
A total Of $429,722 was
appropriated for the Detention
Center on the expense side of the
ledger
Villarreal complained that the
jail estimate was an example of
"optimistic" budgeting by Judge
Bias Chapa He contended that the
1987 budget "was poorly pre
pared "
For his part. Judge Chapa
contended in September that the
county's financial situation was not
that bad. and had improved signifi
cantly in the previous year He
suggested that most of the budget-
ing overestimates had been caused
(Vp 11 IfPFy* Ptigf
)