Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 9, 1995 Page: 1 of 10
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shed weekly in Rio Grande City, Texas every Thursday by The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
VOL. 82, NO. 06, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9,1994
25 cents
110*
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wo more face charges
about Jan. 30 slaying
The Sheriffs Department has
arrested two Los Morenos
individuals in recent days on
charges related to the early morning
shooting in Rio Grande City on
jan. 30 that killed one man and
wounded two others.
On Monday, Feb. 6, Benjamin
Orta, 32, surrended voluntarily to
the Sheriffs Department and was
charged with murder in the death of
Erasmo Ozuna
Sheriff Gene Falcon told The Rio
Grande Herald that Benjamin Orta
"had been interviewed early last
week. He turned himself in
voluntarily at 9:50 a.m. on
Monday...He allegedly drove the
Ford pickup that was chasing the
deceased.''
Falcon stated that Orta's bond
was set at $10,000 by Justice of the
Peace Jaime Alvarez. The sheriff
declared Tuesday that Orta had been
released after posting bond.
The first arrest in the case
occurred on the afternoon of Jan. 31
when Eduardo Orta, 26, was arrested
at the home of a relative in
Garceno.
Orta was arraigned later that day
before Justice of the Peace Jose
Adan "Coche" Garcia and charged
with one count of murder and two
counts of attempted capital murder.
Falcon indicated that Eduardo Orta's
bond was set at $200,000 and he
remained incarcerated as of Tuesday
morning.
Erasmo Ozuna, 37, of La Casita
was shot to death shortly before
1:30 a.m. on Jan. 30 at the
intersection of Charco Blanco Road
and U.S. Highway 83 in Rio
Grande City. Wounded in the
incident were Ricardo Garcia, 24, of
Rio Grande City, and Arturo
Qlivarez, 31, of Rio Grande City.
Ozuna was the driver of a
Chevrolet pickup that was allegedly
pursued by a Ford pickup from
Garceno all the way into Rio
Grande City. Garcia and Olivarez
were passengers in the Chevrolet
pickup. Sheriff Falcon stated on
Jan. 30 that shots were fired at the
occupants of the Chevrolet pickup
all the way from Garceno into Rio
Grande City.
Falcon said last week, "The two
occupants were able to exit the
vehicle (after two tires blew out at
the Charco Blanco intersection) and
run for cover. Ozuna stayed in the
vehicle as he had apparently been
shot already."
Alberto Garza, 30, of Los
Morenos was arrested on Sunday
and charged with two counts of
tampering with witnesses. Falcon
said, "These are felony charges. He
allegedly has tampered with
witnesses, trying to hinder the
investigation." Falcon indicated that
Garza was arraigned before Justice
of the Peace Garcia and that bond
was set for Garza's personal
recognizance.
Falcon said, "We have recovered
an AK-47 assault weapon in this
case. The investigation is moving
along and will be presented to the
grand jury in the near future."
Rattler players win honors at
Quarterback Club banquet
BY CHRISTOPHER BUSH
Senior tight end Celso Garza was
named Most Valuable Player of the
1994-95 Rio Grande City High
School varsity football team at the
annual Football Banquet on
Thursday, Feb. 2.
Head football coach Jorge Pefta
presented nine awards to his
players, and two special awards
Former Rio athletic standout
John Lerma, now head football
coach at Brownsville Hanna,
addressed the crowd of 250 people,
including 200 athletes and some 50
parents at the Multipurpose Center.
Lerma, a stocky 200-pounder
today, was a lean and mean, top-
rated quarterback for the Rattlers in
the early 60's. He quickly had the
audience laughing and comfortable
in his opening remarks
"I know what you're thinking
right now," Lerma said "You're
probably thinking, he played
quarterback?' You know, as big as I
am right now they can't believe it
cause I'm about 80 pounds heavier
than I was in high school, so a lot
of people tlunk I played guard in
lugh school."
Lerma, who graduated from RGC
High in 1965, said he was glad to
be back home
"It's really an honor to be back
in Rio Grande City and, really,
back home because I've always
considered Rio Grande City as my
home because tlus is where I was
educated," Lerma said.
Tic guest speaker related how his
father had survived" as a coach
here for more than a decade,
allowing him to attend elementary,
junior high and high school here
Lerma recalled some of his liigh
school teachers, including Miss
Lopez (speech), Miss Garza
(English) and her husband
(industrial arts), Mr. Viliarreal
(math), Paco Zarate (biology),
Ruben Saenz (government) and Mr
Salinas (history)
"They were all excellent teachers
who prepared me to go on to
college," Lerma said.
He praised Rio coach Jorge Peiia
for having a competitive team last
year and remembered how a Pena-
coached team had kept lus McAllen
Memorial squad out of the playoffs
with a stirring 31-2X win a few
years ago.
Lerma told the audience, "1 have
a lot of fond memories (of Rio
Grande City) I remember vividly
sitting where you arc tonight, and
it was a very, very nice experience
and I hope you arc experiencing
that tonight.
"We had a lot of great times at
the football field (RGC) and 1 have
never forgotten them "
Lcrma's teams finished second or
third in a district that at the time
had powerful PS.IA (a state finalist)
and San Benito (state semi-
finalist)
"So you can see we were in a
very, very competitive district Rio
Grande City competed very, very
well with those people."
Lerma said the Rattlers stnvcd to
frustrate opposing teams
"(RGC's opponents) knew they
were in a ballgamc when we played
them," he said The most
motivation we had was we knew
/ /
CHAMPIONS
" CHILDREN
"■v-ifKaammS.
Many Rio Grande City Rattler varsity football players were honored for their
achievements during the 1994 season at Thursday night's Quarterback Club Banquet.
Pictured left to right are Jose "Wolf" Garcia, Heart and Hustle Award; Eddy
Martinez, Best Offensive Back; Salvador Hernandez, Lino Carrion, Danny Garza;
Antonio Ramirez, Best Defensive Back; Cary Caro, Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Chapter President; Kennedy Salinas, Student Council President; Humberto Gonzalez,
Most Improved; Joe Garcia, Best Linebacker; Lacho Bazan, Best Receiver; Danny
Garcia, Best Offensive Lineman; Celso Garza, Most Valuable Player; and Eloy
Garcia. Not pictured is Roy Marichilar, Best Defensive Lineman. (Photo by Dora
Rodriguez)
Aldermen okay financial
report for seven-month period
Senior tight end Celso Garza was nonored as the Most
Valuable Player for the 1994 Rio Grande City Rattler
football team at Thursday night's Quarterback Club
Banquet. (Photo by Dora Rodriguez)
people hated to lose to Rio Grande
City because we're really isolated
over here We're 40 miles from
McAllen, Mission and that part of
the Valley, and they had a hard
time accepting dc.r ■ ft us.
"So that motivated us. We took
a lot of pride in our ballclub and
we were united And I know that
motivates you people to have them
hate losing to you, and you all
liave been doing it pretty regularly
throughout the years
Lerma then recognized the
athletes, coaches and the players'
parents.
Because they had the foresight
to let their sons play football "
He said there are four keys to
building and maintaining a
successful football program
commitment, unity, discipline and
a good off-season program.
On commitment, Lerma said you
have to make some tough
decisions, such as studying hard to
make the grade Tlus in turn would
prevent you from doing many
things with friends or family
"Football is an up and down
game. Life is an up and down
game, and when you are down you
want to get back up and be
competitive That's important,"
Lerma said
He said football players will be
tempted by friends to use drugs,
alcohol and tobacco.
He said a committed person
would avoid all contact with these
vices.
A second key was unity.
"You've got to stay together,"
Lerma said. "You win together.
You lose together, but you're
together There's no room for envy.
There's no room for jealousy.
Everybody has to go in the same
directioa
"You're a family You've got to
have that family atmosphere if
you're going to be successful. You
have to take pride in being a
Rattler"
He said unitv ext<*"Hc to the
(See RANOUET. Page 8)
Hospital plans
20th anniversary
merienda
Starr County Memorial Hospital
will be celebrating its 20th
anniversary with a special merienda
on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 15.
The merienda will be held from 3
to 5 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the
Hospital's Conference Room.
Anyone seeking more information
should contact the hospital at
487-5561.
Starr County Memorial Hospital
first opened its doors to patients on
Feb. 15, 1975.
At their regular monthly meeting
Thursday evening, the Rio Grande
City Board of Aldermen heard and
approved the financial report
covering the period from March
1994 through September 1994.
CPA Jose A. Hinojosa of Rio
Grande City indicated, "It was a
short year. We arc rendering an
unqualified opinion."
Hinojosa stated that the city's
total assets as of Sept. 30, 1994
amounted to approximately
$443,000. Cash totaled roughly
$28,000 and receivables amounted
to approximately $26,000.
Hinojosa indicated that the
receivables were basically the
previous month's franchise tax.
As of Sept. 30, 1994, the fund
balance in the general fund
amounted to slightly more than
$384,000, indicated Hinojosa. He
noted that the fund balance in the
special revenue fund totaled
$52,000.
Hinojosa told the aldermen tha'
Fund Equity totaled $459,454 as oi
Sept. 30, 1994. Sales tax proceeds
in the general fund amounted to
$106,000, while (economic
development) sales tax proceeds in
the special revenue fund totaled
$52,000.
Franchise fee revenues amounted
to $379,715, all of which went to
the general fund. Total revenues
amounted to more than $538,000,
with $486,780 in the general fund
and $52,000 in the special revenue
fund.
Hinojosa indicated that expenses
from March through September
amounted to slightly more than
$101,000. The excess of revenue
over expenditures totaled more than
$384,000, with actual revenues
$244,109 preater than had
originally been projected.
Hinojosa noted, "The reporting
period began in March." The
aldermen then unanimously voted
to approve the report as presented.
The aldermen heard a detailed
report on the progress of the Stan-
County Public Library from
Assistant Library Director Norma
Fultz.
Fultz told the aldermen, "I want
to thank you (the city) for
supporting the library (with a
financial contribution). Because of
your efforts, we did receive state
accreditation for 1995."
Fultz noted, "To maintain
membership, there are a number of
state standards tha' lyive to N> jnrt
We are required to have one item
per capita, or 40,000 items because
Starr County has a population of
40,000. We're nowhere near that.
Inventory such as books, videos,
magazines, etc. is basically 10,000
to 15,000 items."
The Starr County Public Library
has branches at Roma, La Rosita
and La Grulla, in addition to the
main library in Rio Grande City.
(See ALDERMEN, Page 8)
Volunteer cleanup
effort termed success
By JERRY LOZANO
Freelance Writer
The recent cleanup campaign
conducted by a group of volunteers
along Rio Grande City's portion of
Highway 83 was an unqualified
success.
Local volunteers from all walks
of life; business and professional
people, city and county officials,
entire families, children and adults
took part in the massive effort to
draw attention to the need to clean
up Rio Grande City and maintain it
that way.
The Clean Rio Committee, who
were joined by the volunteer
braved the cool early morr .g
temperatures and began a hi u
trek armed with bright orar . ..ty
vests; spears with which piwk up
trash, cans and other debris; giant
trash bags and a whole lot of pride.
As one member put it, "We're
here because we leve our city, but
everyone must do thei: pan by not
littering and by the proper disposal
of solid waste material. Otherwise,
they will be faced with laws or
codes to be enacted by the
municipal government along with
fines."
BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF LOVE* Pictured with Rio Grande City Mayor
Basilio Viliarreal at a program celebrating Catholic Schools Week are, left to right,
Ana Elizondo, Sarah Cantu, Daenna Guerra, Cassandra Guzman, and Immaculate
Conception School Principal Sister Christine Garcia, SSND. (See related story on
Page 3).
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 9, 1995, newspaper, February 9, 1995; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195483/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.