The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 11, 1987 Page: 1 of 8
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1
Rains Pose Hardship Fo
i
The constant heavy rains of
recent days in Starr County are
proving to be a debacle for
cantaloupe and honeydew melon
O farmers struggling to harvest their
crops.
James Peterson of Starr Produce
commented, "It's posing a very big
problem. It's hurting the farmers
of Starr County. We've had over
eight inches of rain at Starrco since
Sunday, May 31."
Peterson breaks down the rain-
fall totals at Starrco as follows:
Monday, June 1- 3.3 inches; Wed-
(§ nesday, June 3- .2 inches; Friday
night, 2 inches; Saturday, 1 inch;
Sunday morning, l inch, Sunday
afternoon and evening, .8 inches.
SCS District Conservationist
Silvestre Gonzalez indicated Mon-
day, "We've received six or seven
inches. It's been averaging .7 to .8
a day. Rainfall is uniform
throughout the county."
On Tuesday, Gonzalez expressed
this hope, "If it stays cool the way
it has been, the mature melons
might survive. They're still
harvesting at a pretty good pace.
But if it warms up, the cantaloupes
will be rotting."
Gonzalez added, "If this rain
continues, we'll be concerned about
some of the mature grain crops
The seedheads might resprout. It
hasn't been a problem so far."
On Tuesday night, Rio Grande
City melon farmer John Shuford
told The Rio Grande Herald, "It's
looking worse and worse. We're
still picking, but we're still losing
melons. We've been picking 150 to
the acre; in a normal year, we
should be picking 400 to the acre.
Probably two-thirds of the melons
are still in the fields."
Shuford added, "The loss will be
half (of the melon crc
This has been the bi,
memory caused by the v
Shuford concluded, "It's been a
rough year. The weather just
hasn't been conducive to melon
growing."
Peterson commented, "We
(Starrco Farms) had probably
harvested 25 percent' I'll be lucky
to get 40 to 50 percent of the melon
crop harvested. We've had four
pumps running to keep water out of
the fields, but we haven't been able
to keep it out...The melons haven't
started rotting yet, because it's
stayed overcast."
Other (Starr
-ucei farms had harvested a
higher percentage of melons. The
melons are mature, but not com-
pletely ripe They need sunshine
and hot weather to ripen up...If the
weather stays cloudy, we'll proba-
bly be able to salvage a few mon
melons."
Peterson lamented that this
year's weather has been unfavor
able from the beginning, with the
worst blow being the freezing
temperatures in late March. He
commented, "It's still spring
weather."
The Elder P. Neie residence west
•mers
of Rio Grande City has reported
the following rainfall totals in
recent days Monday, June 1 (as of
7 a.m.)- 2.64 inches; Thursday- .33
inch; Saturday- .16 inch; Sunday-
.08 inch; Monday, .44 inch; Tues-
day, 28 inch
Local weather observer Frank
Anderson told The Herald on
Tuesday morning that in the past
week, "we've had around 4 1/4
inches. We had 3/4 of an inch on
Sunday night Everything is very
saturated "
Periodic heavy showers con-
tinued to fall throughout the day
Tuesday.
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Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
NO. 33 THURSDAY, JUNE 11,1987
FIFTEEN CENTS
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I
Court Votes To Seek
New Voting Precinct
r
The Starr County Law Enforcement team defeated the Federal Officers team (Of
Border Patrolmen and U.S. Customs officers) 39-19 Friday night at the Rio High Gym
in a game to raise money for the Starr County Crime Prevention Unit. On June 19 at
7:30 p.m. ;it the Rio High Gym, the Start Lawmen will again play the Zapata
Lawmen.
By KENNETH ROBERTS
The County Commissioners, at
their special meeting Monday,
voted to work for the creation of a
new voting precinct that would be
carved out of the area from Los
Villarreales to Garceno.
Also, at Monday's meeting, the
court voted to name Adalberto
Garza as chief of the Volunteer
Fire Department on a permanent
basis. Garza will hold the position
that was held by the late O F.
"Speedy" Guffey for over 30 years
On the proposed new voting
precinct, County Clerk Juan Mills
noted that a petition had been
signed by 300 residents of the La
Rosita area. He noted that this
area is the far western part of
Voting Precinct Three. Balloting
for Precinct Three takes place at
Roque Guerra Elementary School
in Rio Grande City.
Mills said, "I've been in contact
with the Department of Justice.
There's already meets and bounds
drawn up. The only thing we need
is formal approval from the
Commissioners' Court."
Board Focuses On
Preliminary Valuations
At their regular monthly meeting
Thursday night, the Board of
Directors of the Starr County
Appraisal District focused on pre-
liminary figures for taxable valua-
tions for 1987
Chief Appraiser Ricardo Diaz
noted,"As of May 15, we are
required to pass out to entities
whatever values we have. The
concrete preliminary figures are
from mineral values."
In mineral valuations, said Diaz,
the following entities, according to
early figures, will sustain these
losses from 1986 to 1987: Starr
County, $97,058,690 (down to
$243,684,970); Rio Grande City
CISD, $37,655,350 (down to
$116,712,030); San Isidro ISD,
$50,040,900 (down to $1 10,209,560);
Roma ISD, $9,361,650 (down to
$16,763,380).
San Isidro ISD Business Manager
Jose Rodriguez said, "That con-
verts to $416,000 in losses of
dollars," for the San Isidro school
district.
Diaz said. "It was kind of
expected that this wouM happen
San Isidro took the biggest loss, 37
percent Again, this is prelimi-
nary."
Board member Arnoldo F.
Gonzalez asked, "Did they cite the
figure they used per barrel of oil?"
Board member Bias Pedro Saenz
noted that "$23 per barrel was used
for last year."
Concerning the proposed budget,
Diaz said. "I mailed a copy of the
proposed budget to the board The
budget prepared is $412 less than
last year." and totals approMimate-
Historical Societv
J
To Meet Sunday
The Starr County Historical Soci-
ety announces that their next
meeting will be held on Sunday.
June 14 at 4 p.m. at the Brass Bull
Steakhouse in Rio Grande City.
Rene Montalvo of San Isidro will
present the program on the his tory
of the San Isidro Church.
The Historical Society cordially
invites all interested persons to
attend A special invitation is
extended to all tourists visiting; in
the area.
ly $282,400
Board Chairman Hector Salinas
suggested, "We should come back
to what we agreed to last time; to
have a representative from each
entity represented work with us on
budget amendments " Gonzalez
responded. "If they have recom-
mendations. I hope they point to
specific items."
Salinas commented, "It's an
advisory role " Gonzalez stressed,
"The Appraisal District board
approves the budget" Attorney
John A. Pope, III, said, "They (the
entities) have negative power (to
overturn board decisions), and not
affirmative power."
Pope explained, "They (the Ap-
praisal Board) want to keep you
(the entities) advised of what's
going on."
Concerning the reappraisal,
Rafael Carrera, president of the
Rio Grande Citv CISD board of
trustees, asked when the reap-
praisal would be completed for the
entire county. Diaz responded, "We
have two taxing entities, Roma and
San Isidro, already completed."
Carrera insisted. "I don't think
one-half of the county should foot
the bill for the other half." Diaz
said, "If we j-^p over into Sep-
tember (with Rio Grande City), it
won't be by much " Carrera
worried that e\ r,n a slight delay
"will affect oursdiool district"
Diaz commervd. "We finished
Roma except for commercial This
may take two ani one-half weeks."
Appraiser supervisor Jaime
Trevino said, "They may be
completed with subdivisions in Rio
Grande City in two to three weeks.
Calcuation may take a month."
Gonzalez asked, "Will the Re-
view Board consider what you're
doing?" Diaz replied, "We
explained to them the approaches
that we're taking."
Fred Margo, a member of the
Appraisal Review Board, said,
"The Review Board should be kept
abreast of how these new valua-
tions were acquired, especially this
year, when total mineral values
are down. We want to feel
comfortable to defend these valua-
tions."
Diaz concluded, "Normally, the
majority of problems are taken
care of before it goes to the
Appraisal Review Board."
At the beginning of the meeting,
Diaz again discussed the District's
need for a new copier. But San
Isidro ISD Business Manager
Rodriguez insisted, "You have a
defective budget amendment...to
move money from an account
(depreciation) that doesn't exist."
Rodriguez continued, "(CPA
Jose) Hinojosa said the $10,000
(See VALUATIONS, Page 61
San Isidro ISD
Gets Good Report
The San Isidro ISD has received
a favorable report after a recent
monitoring visit from the Texas
Education Agency, with the dis-
trict's status staying as "Fully
Accredited."
The monitoring visit, chaired by
Larry Garcia of the TEA Accred-
itation Division, was made from
April 20-22
San Isidro ISD Superintendent
Carlos Lopez exulted, "When you
have a report that favorable, the
school staff, administration, and
everyone deserve credit The
school board is very responsive to
our needs We work as a team, all
of us ha ve the sa me goa Is "
Lopez added. "We're very close
to the kids We know what their
needs are We have people who
sacrifice and work long hours
They're interested in their work,
and in doing a good job '
Lopez said, "Everything was
acceptable," but certain improve-
ments were advised, mainly in the
area of maintenance The superin-
tendent added, "We're going to
repaint the school, put in new air
conditioning for certain wings, and
dosomereroofing "
Lopez added, "The two monitors
were very impressed with the
school Our kids score above grade
level on CAT On TEAMS, we were
above the state average overall "
Lopez said, "There's good in-
struction going on We teach some
classes by satellite, and do in-
service training by computer The
better trained the teacher, the
better they do in the classroom.
Even though we got a good report,
there's room for improvement, and
we intend to improve next year,"
The TEA report monitored 30
categories with three ratings
acceptable conditions, areas of
concern, or corrective action re-
quired
In the often overlapping ratings,
the San Isidro ISD received an
acceptable conditions rating in 28
of the 30 categories, and an areas
of concern rating in six categories
The district did not receive a single
"corrective action required" rat-
ing
Lopez said that the areas of
concern rating means that TEA is
advising that there is room for
improvement, but that the situation
is still passable.
The report says about CAT and
TEAMS scores, "All students were
tested on the CAT normed-
referenced test, and achievement
ranged from one-two grade
equivalents above published na-
tional norms TEAMS scores were
significantly above average for the
region and slightly above average
for the state All the graduating
seniors have successfully passed
the required TEAMS high school
exit test"
The report adds, "The team
commends the exemplary efforts of
the administrative and teaching
staff for establishing and main-
taining student achievement as the
district priority '
The report states. "The planning
process is strongly reflected in the
process used to involve staff and
(See REPOR f, Page 6|
Mrs. Hortensia "Tangie" Lent,
speaking for the La Rosita citizens,
said, "This is not only for conve-
nience, but for safety," as she
noted congested traffic and parking
around Roque Guerra.
Precinct Two Commissioner
Amando Pena commented, "I think
it's badly needed." He and Pre-
cinct One Commissioner "Chema"
Alvarez moved that the County
Attorney and County Clerk work
together for the creation of the new
Voting Precinct 11 in the La Rosita
area.
Mills noted, "The Department of
Justice wants a contact person. I
recommend the Democratic pre-
cinct chairman." Attorney David
Garza asked, "How much expense
would there be?" Mills replied, "In
the last few elections, we've had to
hire additional personnel for Roque
Guerra alone."
Tax Assessor-Collector Maria
Ofelia Saenz said, "We'll need i
map, and then we'll correct our
records and notify the voters Our
officewill takecare of it."
Alvarez contended, "Three to
five hundred people don't vote now
because of the long line " Saenz
noted, "There are 3500 registered
votflrs in Precinct Three."
Precinct Four Commissioner
Reynaldo Alaniz noted that at a
Fire Department meeting last
week, Adalberto Garza was named
as the new fire chief. Alaniz
suggested that Captain Jorge
Guajardo be put "in charge", with
the power to fire.
Alaniz suggested this because he
indicated that Garza will be limited
to working on a part-time basis,
and because "we need someone out
there to tell them (the volunteer
firemen) what to do." But Pena
expressed opposition, and so did
Alvarez and Judge J M Martinez,
Jr.
Alaniz's motion giving Guajardo
the power to fire died when Pena,
Alvarez, and Martinez voted no.
But he simply changed his motion
to name Garza fire chief, and that
passed without dissent.
Alaniz said, "He's not going to
fire anyone, but that bunch of boys
need to know that he has the
power." Martinez worried about a
possible lawsuit. In conclusion,
Pena suggested. "He has the power
to come to us anytime anyone
disobeys an order "
At the start of the meeting, all
claims were approved as recom-
mended by Auditor Jose Guadalupe
Villarreal. who noted that roughly
$77,000 in payment claims were
okayed, while $46,000 was
postponed until a later date
Villarreal noted, "We have al-
ready received more than $50,000
extra over i80.000 projected) from
the bridge. We have already
received $20,000 instead of $12,000
(projected) from the Gas System. I
see a deficit of $96.113 in the
budget"
Therefore, the auditor suggested,
"We should all try to underspend
our budgets in the remaining part
of the year If we do that, we could
come very close to balancing the
budget, especially if collection of
current or delinquent taxes is 5 to
10 percent higher than expected "
Judge Martinez said, "For the
first time this year, I feel we can
come out with a balanced budget,
without any more changes- if
we're just a little careful on
expenditures."
Susan Schorer addressed the
court, expressing her strong con-
viction that the Roma suspension
(See PRECINCT. Page 7|
Food Pantry To
Observe 1st Birthday
The Starr County Food Pantry
will be celebrating its first anni-
versary this Friday, from 10 to 11
a.m.. at their facility at 500 East
Main in Rio Grande City.
Any interested person is en-
couraged to tour the facility at that
time.
Churches supporting the Pantry
include Immaculate Conception
Church, First Baptist Church,
Primera Iglesia Bautista, First
United Methodist Church, St. John
United Methodist Church, Templo
Cristiano of Roma, Mennonite
Church of Garciasville, Monte de
los Olivos of Santa Cruz, and
Templo Emmanuel of Rio Grande
City.
The Food Pantry opened its
doors as a non-profit organization
in June 1986 Work is done at the
Pantry by volunteers, who pick up
food contributions, and clean cans
and check them for spoilage
These volunteers keep the pantry
open Monday thru Friday from
8:30 a.m. to l p.m. These volun-
teers put in a yearly average of
5845 hours supporting 1485 families,
consisting of 6604 individual
persons
Dry and canned goods are
donated by local business estab-
lishments, with 90 percent coming
from H E B annually Special
donations are also received and are
welcomed from any person or
business.
The Food Pantry tries to operate
on a $115 monthly budget. This
amount covers gasoline, insurance,
the monthly fee to participate in
the Valley Food Pantry, the
telephone, and electricity The
building is provided rent-free by
John A Hinojosa, LTC Ret
Right now, the Pantry's goal is to
buy a truck to carry food supplies
from the Valley Center in Pharr
Longer range planning is geared
toward obtaining land, building,
and grow food crops to supply this
Pantry and other Valley Pantries
Ramirez Named To
Valley Water Authority
Gov Bill Clements has
nominated Roel R Ramirez of
Roma to fill a vacated position on
the Rio Grande Valley Municipal
Water Authority
Ramirez told The Rio Grande
Herald, "I am very honored to
have been appointed I will be
working to the best of my ability on
this commission "
Ramirez, 44 would replace Ig
nacia G Gutierrez of Rio Grande
City, whose term expired, and
would serve through April 30,1989
Ramirez is president of Ramirez
Firestone Tire and Appliance
Stores in Roma and Rio Grande
City, president and co-owner of
Ramirez Ford Sales, Inc., and the
owner of a 100-acre vegetable farm
near Roma He is on the board of
directors of First National Bank of
Rio Grande City
The nomination is subject to the
approval of the Texas Senate
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 11, 1987, newspaper, June 11, 1987; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195084/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.