The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 71, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 18, 1991 Page: 1 of 8
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Lino's
Pharmacy
Specials on
Page 2
Book
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^princjpor^ michicjan
USPS 466-200
The Rio Urainde Herald
Published weekly in Rio Grande City, Texas every Thursday by The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
Vol. 80, No. 71, Thursday, April 18,1991
Inserts
Inside
25 cents
I
$
U.K. 15. Food Store in Rio Grande City has promoted six checkers to full-time
status as employees. From left to right are Store Director Ricardo Benavides,
Produce Manager Joe Mayorga, checkers I'atsy Rocha, (elia (iarcia, Sandy Saldana
and David Pena, and Market Manager Fli Mendoza. Checkers Johnny Valdez and
Maria l/aguirre, not pictured, weie also promoted to full-time status. The
management and partners of U.K.It. in Rio Grande City congratulate these employees
on their promotion.
Court focuses on San Juan
Plaza renovation; Roma poo!
At their continued regular
meeting Friday, the County
Commissioners focused on the
renovation project ai San J uai.
Pla/a and the need lor repairs at Lhe
swimming pool ol the Roma
Service Center, with both matters
being the subject of intense debate.
As tlic San J cum Plaza renovation
Diojcct, nwiiily 'crool 'ig work,
cairn up lor discussion. Precinct
I'hrcc Commissioner Floy Garza
said, "1 don't think it's fair that this
was re-bid, and someone from
outside the county got the low bid "
Precinct Two Commissioner
Amando Pena said, "I suggest to
re-bid it again."
Precinct One Commissioner Jos*.
Maria "Chema" Alvarez asked
"What's wrong with awarding Mi
(Eusebio) Saenz the lirst bid?"
County Judge J.M Martinez, Jr.,
said, I think Mr. Molina (the
County Attorney) should check
with people in the grant area. I
don't feel comfortable with what
we're doing We need guidance,
perhaps Iront die Attorney General's
01 lice."
Eusebio Saenz, who was awarded
the bid initially, said, "I've put in a
loi ol time. I don't think it would
be lair to re-bid again " Martinez
indicated I he county has U.i, righi
to i jeet any and all bids."
i "ommissioncr Garza commented
I think everything should be
reconstructed a different way." Pena
moved dial the court reject all bid1-
pending die opinion of the Counts
Attorney, and then look into tin
piocess ol reworking die project.
Precinct Four Commissioner
Rcynaldo "Moreno" Alaniz argued,
"We don't want to get lawsuits on
either side " Pena's motion was
seconded by Judge Martinez and was
passed, widi Alvarez abstaining.
County Attorney Romero Molina
told I he Rio (irande Herald, "The
county was getting a federal grant
lor improvements at San Juan
Plaza. I saw some technical
problems with some of tire bids."
Molina added, "I was unaware
that the court had approved the bid
on l7eb 12. Since I was unaware
that it had been approved, 1 asked
them to put it out on bids again.
We checked the minutes (Friday)
and found dial the first bid had been
awarded to Eusebio Saenz llie bid
was awarded; the second bid was
cancelled out."
Molina concluded, " The minutes
did clearly indicate that the bids
were approved."
l he commissioners reached a
consensus that an emergency
meeting be held early that afternoon
to deal with the matter. At dial
meeting, following an executive
session of about 20 minutes, the
commissioners votod to reaffirm
their actions of Feb. 22, in which
Eusebio Saenz v as awarded the bid.
Pena then discussed the condition
of the swimming pool at the Roma
Service Center. He said, "The filter
of the swimming pool has gone
out. 1 he filter needs to Ik replaced,
lo replace the metal filter would
. ost S10,000. To use lour
fiberglass filters would cost
$5000."
Pena contended, " The solution
would be to use the (countywidc)
Emergency Eund. This pool is
serving children from Midway to
Falcon. There have been far fewer
drowning accidents in the Rio
Grande River since this pool was
built."
Alvarez asked, "Why wasn t diis
budgeted since we knew we would
need this?" Pena replied, It went
Grand jury indicts
Munoz in 1985 slaying
Enrique Munoz, currcndy serving
in the Texas Department of
Corrections after pleading guilty to
involuntary manslaughter in an
unrelated case, has been indicted for
murder in connection with a 1985
homicide.
Munoz was indicted in
connection with die Aug. 23, 1985
slaying ol Martin Martinez, a
.31-year-old Mexican national who
was found shot to death in an
unoccupied ranch house near
Escobarcs.
L.ater in 1985, Munoz was
indicted on a murder chargc in
connection with the Marline/
slaying, but the chargc was
dismissed in district court
proceedings on Oct. 7, 1987.
Ricardo Carrillo, the assistant
district attorney at that lime, filed a
motion to dismiss thai was granted
by District Judge Ricardo Garcia.
Carrillo contended at thai time that
lhe case would have likely resulted
in Munoz being found not gui.ty.
Assistant District Attorney
Carlos Garcia said, "Some new
evidence came up, and the grand
jury indictcd him."
Munoz was originally charged
widi murder in the Jan. 18, 1988
slaying of Claudio Garcia, Jr., near
Escobarcs. The case was brought to
trial in January 1990, and die jury
tailed to reach a verdict A lew
weeks later, Munoz pleaded guilty
to involuntary manslaughter and
was sentenced to 10 years in lhe
Texas Department of Correction.
Grand Jury Indicts 3
For Capital Murder
The Starr County 229lh District
Court grand jury returned capital
murder indicimcnis Tuesday, April
9 against three men for their alleged
involvement iri the murders of four
Donna men in eastern Surr County
in late January.
Eustorgic Guzman Rescndcz, 27;
Ovidio Garcia, Jr.., 25; and Juan
Gilberio Hinojosa, 24, were charged
widi lour counts of capital murder
in the slayings of Donna residents
Ruben Pina, Gregorio Pina, Juan
Arguelles, and Alejandro Garcia.
All three defendants are Mexican
nationals.
The charred bodies of lhe four
men were found inside a fire-ravaged
van in eastern Siair County early
on die morning ol Jan. 30 The
four men had been shot to death.
If convicted, lhe three men face a
mandatory penalty of eidier deadi or
life imprisonment. If any of the
three arc convicted in a jury trial,
the jury will conduct separate
deliberations on whether die penalty
should be death or life
imprisonment
An official with the District
Attorney's Ofrice indicated that
trials could take placc in four to six
months.
lhe three men will be arraigned
on the capital murder indictmenLs
within the coming week.
Following their arrests in March,
Hinojosa and Garcia were charged
with murder and were arraigned
before County Court-At Law Judge
Alex W. Gabcrt, who >ct bond at
SI million each.
The official with the District
Auornc) s OK ice indicated that the
capital murder indictments
supersede earlier charges.
hustorgio Gu/man Rescndcz and
Ovidio Garcia, Jr., have been
charged with murder in unrelated
homicides. Garcia is charged with
the murder of Gregorio Pena, Jr., at
the 83 Dance Hall in Roma in
February 1990 Rescndcz is charged
with the April 7, 1988 slaying of
Hcctor Sandoval in Roma.
Starr County namesake ship ys
reunion scheduled for May
out suddenly; it's an emergency."
Alaniz. said, "It's serving your
precinct; it should come out of your
budget."
Pena responded, "Precinct Two is
the biggest, most populated
precinct in the county." Alani/
insisted, "When I've had problems,
you're die first to fight me."
Alvarez told Pena, "About
one-third of your population
belongs to the city of Roma. Wc
(the other precincts) have to take
care ol Rio Grande City, and you
don't have to take care of Roma."
Pena argued, "It's ridiculous that
the county has to pay lo maintain
everything in Rio Grande City. Rio
(irande City should be
incorporated.' Alvarez countered,
I he people of Rio Grande City
don't want to incorporate, so what
e;in we do?
Maruncz commented, "I think the
swimming pool is a very worthy
thing. Entertainment facilities in
that part of the county arc scarce.
Roma has a way of getting a lot of
granLs because they're incorporated.
(See POOL, Page 5)
Wildlife Corridor
meeting planned
Rio Grande Wilderness, Inc., an
environmental and
wildlife-conservation non-profit
organization, will be holding an
informational meeting on Thursday
night, April 18 at 7 p.m. at the
K.C. Hall in Rio Grande City.
The main topic ol the meeting
will be the purchasing of land for
the Wildlife Corridor in Starr
County. Larry Ditto, the Rio
Grande Valley Director of the U.S.
Department of Interior's Tish and
Wildlife Service, will be the
featured speaker.
I hc general public is invited to
the meeting, which will Lake place
at the K.C. Hall in Rio Grande
City. Refreshments will lv served.
Anyone seeking further
information about the meeting
should call David Porras at
487-2614.
Ringgold Desert
Storm Assembly
Planned Friday
Ringgold Jr. High School will be
holding an assembly Friday
afternoon to honor veterans of
Operation Desert Storm in the
Persian Gulf.
The assembly will begin at 1
p.m. at the Auditorium. All
persons directly or indirectly
involved widi Operation Desert arc
invited and encouiagcd lo attend.
Anyone seeking further
information should contact Mis
Elia Ramos at 487-4794.
The former shipmates of the
U.S.S. Slarr, an attack cargo ship
of World War II named for Starr
(> urit>, Texas, will hold a reunion
on Ma;) 22-24 in Sarasota. Florida
Louis B. (Lou) Miller of the
U.S.S. Stan* Reunion Association
informed The Rio Grande Herald in
a recent letter, "She (the Starr) was
a great ship and she earned two
battle stars for her performances in
the invasions of Iwo Jima and
Okinawa."
Miller stressed. At Okinawa, she
was struck by a Japanese suicide
boat, Lhe resulting explosion raked
her from stem to stern with only
minor damage. The damage required
that repairs be made before she'
could return to sea duty."
Miller continued, "She did return
to the Pacific after repairs were
made in the United States and was
on hei way to the invasion of the
Japanese homeland when the war
ended alter the bomb' was dropped
on Hiroshima."
Miller said, "Our purpose in
writing is to learn if die people of
Starr County are aware of this
ship's great history."
He indicated that die Starr was
officially commissioned on Oct.
21, 1944.
Miller asked, "Does Starr County
remember this ship in any way like
having a museum to display
memorabilia, etc? Sarasota County
in Florida, where I li e has a large
model of the USS Sarasota on
display on the ground floor of the
County Courthouse.
Miller continued, "Wc are aware
that several countics throughout the
U.S. received a plaque from the
shipyards where the ships were
built and named in their honor.
These brass plaques arc on display
at those county courthouses. Did
Starr County receive one for the
USS Starr?"
Miller said, "It is quite likely that
some prominent local official was
instrumental in getting the Navy to
name a ship alter his home
district."
He noted, "It is interesting to
note diat the keel for the Starr was
laid down on I 3 June 1944 and just
129 days later she was at sea ready
to defend her country Just four
months later she had sailed halfway
around the world lo participate in
one of the bloodiest battles of the
Pacific Theater, Iwo Jima."
Miller indicated, "We arc in
contact with 90 of our 350 former
shipmates and it is expected that
about 40 of those will meet with us
in Sarasota in May, coming from
all over die U.S Wc know of no
one from the Starr County, Texas
area, but wc do have several Tcxans
on our membership list"
According to the U.S S. Slarr
Reunion Association's newsletter,
the U.S.S. Slarr was 460 feet in
length with a beam of 65 feet arid a
draft of 26 feet. She carried a crew
of 385 olliccrs and men. Mourned
on her decks were 24 landing craft
10 whose length was 50 feet and 14
others with a length of Icet. In
(See SHIP, Page 6)
Airman Ouellette receives
warm welcome back to RGC
Rio Grande City native William
"Curt" Oucllcltc, who served with
the U.S. Air Force in Saudi Arabia
during Operation Desert Storm, was
honored with a homecoming party
by his parents and friends at First
Baptist Church in Rio Grande City.
Ouellette, the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Roland Ouellette of Rio
Grande City, is an Airman First
Class in the U.S. Air Force. He
was deployed to Saudi Arabia on
Sept. 30, 1990. He returned to the
United States on March 23.
Also attending Curl's
homecoming parly were other
families in the support group of
Starr County families that banded
together during the Persian Gulf
conflict. Many members of First
Baptist Church and other
well-wishers were also prcscnL
Ouellette stressed lo everyone
present that he was deeply
appreciative of all their prayers for
his safety and well-being during
Operation Desert Storm and
Operation Desert Shield. He
emphasized thai all American
servicemen were encouraged and
strengthened by the prayers and
support of the American people.
Ouellctlc stressed that he is proud
to be a native of Rio Grande City,
and delighted to be home for a
furlough lasting almost a month.
He noted dial he was stationed at
a laige air base near Jcddah in the
far western pari of Saudi Arabia
near the Red Sea. Jcddah is 600 to
700 miles away from Kuwait and
Iraq.
Ouellette indicated that the base
where he was deployed was out ol
range of Saddam Hussein's Scud
missiles. The Jcddah base, he said,
serviced giant B-52 bombers and
tanker planes that refueled olhcr
planes in (light
Curl noted that a tanker plane
was nearly involved in a disastrous
accident at his base alter the war
began. He said that the plane lost
two engines on one wing, which he
noted would make u virtually
impossible for the plane lo land
safely.
Ouellette indicated that the plane
did land miraculously and quickly
camc lo a stop in spite of several
tires being blown out. He
emphasized that ihc plane was
heavily loaded with jet fuel, and
added that if the plane had crashed,
"it would have taken out half the
(See AIRMAN, Page 5)
]
*
T
William "Curt" Ouellette of Rio Grande City, who
served with the U.S. Air Force in Saudi Arabia for six
months, was welcomed home Friday night with a party
at the First Baptist ( hurch's Bass Building. Curt is
flanked by his parents, Roland and (Jail Ouellette.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 71, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 18, 1991, newspaper, April 18, 1991; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195285/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.