Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 28, 2001 Page: 6 of 6
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The Rio Grande Herald-Thursday, June 28,2001, Page 6
Concept
Continued from Page 1
(7) Provides for an equitable
balance of personnel due to a
balance in student enrollment.
(8) Provides for equitable TAAS
accountability.
(9) Facilitates vertical alignment
of the curriculum.
(10) Facilitates distribution of
textbooks.
(11) Allows for equal
participation in extracurricular
Congressman Rodriguez
continued, "Beyond the bricks and
mortar, we must remember that
infrastructure also includes human
capital. Poor water resources
threaten South Texans, inadequate
access to health care plagues our
communities, and, as we can all
attest, the problems don't just stop
there. The current state of the water
and waste disposal infrastructure
contributes significantly to air
pollution, water contamination and
wasted natural resources."
Congressman Rodriguez, added,
"Phase One of the City of Roma
Wastewater Treatment Plant project
is an essential step in addressing the
health concerns that we all share,
but we should not stop here. 1 look
forward to continuing our work on
behalf of the citizens of Roma."
State legislators also noted their
support of the project. "How
wonderful that the citizens of Roma
will enjoy improvements to their
wastewater system, " said Sen.
Judith Zaffirini. "The project
demonstrates the importance of the
Texas Water Development Board's
programs to so many of our
communities. 1 was pleased to
sponsor Senate Bill 312, which
ensured the continuation of this
important agency."
State Rep. Irma Rangel offered
her support: "I appreciate the Texas
Water Development Board for
recognizing the need in this
community and granting approval
— for the funds that made all this
possible. It is absolutely wonderful
that the City of Roma will now
have access to better water and
*f- wastewater services."
The new state-of-thc art
wastewater treatment plant,
constructed at a cost of $3.8
million, involved over 35(X) man-
hours of labor, 180 tons of steel
and approximately 2900 cubic yards
of concrete. The wastewater
treatment plant was completed
ahead of schedule and approximately
$300,000 under budget. The
construction was completed by
R.P. Constructors, Inc., and was
designed by Starr Engineering
Company. Turner, Collie & Braden
Inc. serves as the Project Manager
and provided construction
inspection. The TWDB Project
activities.
(12) Decreases student discipline
due to a uniform discipline
management system.
(13) Raises the standards of
achievement at each campus
throughout the district.
(14) Eliminates the overcrowded
conditions of one campus versus
another.
(15) Provides accommodations
for migrant students at home
Treatment
Continued from Page 1
Engineer was Jose Rodriguez, P.E.,
and the TWDB Project Inspector
was Zeke Mercado.
The TWDB is the state agency
charged with collecting and
disseminating water-related data,
assisting with regional planning
campus.
(16) Improves leather morale
throughout the district.
(17) Complies with the stale
mandate of pupil/teacher ratios.
Smith commented, "Some of the.
cons perceived by this committee
were few; however, the ultimate
consideration for all of our
decisions will be to keep our
children's best interests in mind."
and preparing the State Water Plan
for the development of the stated
water resources and administering
cost-effective financial programs for
the construction of water supply,
wastewater treatment, Hood control
and agricultural water conservation
projects.
Court upholds PUCT ruling
allowing CPL to securitize
Austin, Texas (June 7, 2001) - The
Texas Supreme Court on Wednes-
day upheld an earlier decision by
the Public Utility Commission of
Texas (PUCT) allowing American
electric Power's Central Power
and Light (CPL) subsidiary to se-
curitize approximately $764 mil-
lion of regulatory assets. Securitiz-
ing the amounts will results in cus-
tomers savings of at least $95 mil-
lion during the 14 years following
introduction of retail competition
The PUCT in March
2000 gave final approval to a set-
tlement allowing CPL to securitize
approximately $764 million. How-
ever. several parties appealed the
decision to the Texas Supreme
Court.
Utilities can refinance, or
securitize, regulatory assets and
other qualified costs with lower
cost transition bonds. Securitiza-
tion allows the costs, which arc-
being collected from customers
through current rates, to be paid
off sooner, resulting in lower fu-
ture prices for customers. Securiti-
zation is similar to a homeowner
refinancing a home mortgage to
take advantage of a better interest
rate and a much earlier mortgage
payoff. Plans are being finalized to
issue the securitization bonds prior
to the end of the year.
Texas Senate Bill 7 on
electric Utility Restructuring pro-
vides the mechanism for recovery
of costs left stranded as a result of
implementing retail competition
I he mechanism is the securitiza-
tion. or the subsequent refinanc-
ing. of the debt and equity associ-
ated with facilities built under a
regulated market structure.
CPL customers will not
see any change in current rates as
a result of the securitization. Sen-
ate Bill 7 froze existing base rates
until Jan I. 2002. At that point,
residential and small commercial
customers (those having an elec-
tric load of less than 1 megawatt)
who remain customers of CPL's
affiliate retail electric provider
will see an overall price reduction
of 6 percent from the price levels
charged on Jan 1, 1999, plus ad-
justments for the significant in-
creases in the price of natural gas
since that time. The investor-
owned utility's retail electric pro-
vider must continue to offer this
"price to beat" for five years or
until 40 percent of the customers
in that rate class switch electric
providers.
American Electric Power
is a multinational energy company
base in Columbus, Ohio. AI P
owns and operates more than 36.
000 megawatts of generating ca-
pacity, making it America's larg-
est generator of electricity. The
company is also a leading whole-
sale energy marketer and trader,
ranking second in the U.S. in elec-
tricity volume with a growing
presence in natural gas ALP pro-
vides retail electricity to more
than 7 million customers world-
wide and has holdings in the U S
and select international markets.
Wholly owned subsidiaries arc
involved in power engineering
and construction services, energy
management and telecommunica-
tions.
Common indoor plants absorb
contaminants in the air, thereby
helping to combat airborne stim-
uli that cause asthma.
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THE RIO GRANDE HERALD
P.O. Box 452
Rio Grande City, TX 7H5H2
Phone: (956) 4H7-2H19- Eax (956) 4HH-H252
Sorority Installs New Officers
lexas Laureate Zeta Theta of Beta Sigma Phi installed officers for the chapter year 2001-2002 at their
final meeting of the year held in the home of Diana IVna in May. Installed were, left to right, Ella Perez,
president; Flda II inojosa, vice-president; Nelda Laurel, recording secretary; Vangie Anderson, treasurer;
Kosario Pope, corresponding secretary; Rosie Garcia (not pictured), extension officer; and Frances
Ramirez, parliamentarian. Josie Gucrra conducted the installation, during which Frances Ramirez
passed the gavel to Flia Perez.
Wildlife can be
attracted to your yard
by Jim Seeden
President,
Rio Grande Wilderness Society
l or many different reasons,
some of you don't get out into the
wild areas,
bill you
might still
like to ob-
serve wild-
lilc Here are
some sugges-
tions for at-
tracting them
to your vard.
The easiest
to attract and
certainly among the most beautiful
are the birds and butterflies
Tor all wild things the following
four tilings are necessities food,
water, shelter, spacc. You prob-
ably can't do much about the
amount of space in your yard but
you can provide (he other three
Let's consider the needs of birds
lirst II you want to attract a wide
variety of birds then you need to
supply a diverse diet Try the fol-
lowing hen scratch and w hole ker
nel corn (available from the local
feed store), oily black sunflower
seeds (available from most large
shopping centers), marshmallows
(yes, the birds love them), a mix
Hire of equal parts of lard, com
meal, and peanut butter (it's a mess
to mix but brings in birds other
foods don't), grape jelly (stick to
grape since they seem to prefer it,
spoon it into a jar lid), beef suet
(wixxl|xxken will love to find a
hardware cloth container filled
with it), ;tnd a hummingbird feeder
filled with one part sugar to five
piirts w atei
The seed can ix: scattered on the
ground <>r placed oil raised feeding
for easier viewing
.tars1 mallows can lx- stuck on the
c I ! twigs I lie corameal mix
tun should be sp<x>ncd into about
one inch deep and one inch di-
Endangered
Continued from Page 1
neglect. In Rio Grande City, for
example, more than half of the
town's historic properties arc vacant
and deteriorating.
"Los Caminos del Rio corridor is
a unique corner of America," said
Richard Moc, president of the
National Trust. "Many of its
buildings and neighborhoods arc
relatively unpretentious, but they
provide powerful links with the
past and give this region its
identify. That makes them
landmarks in the truest sense of the
word, and wc can't afford to let
them disappear."
n 7 ff
V/
ametcr holes drilled into a dead
branch or stump you've moved into
the yard for that purpose. If the
wood has natural crevices, those
will suffice
In hot weather the suet and sugar
water will become rancid and need
to be changed occasionally
The grape jelly and sugar water
mixture require another bit of spe-
cial care As well as orioles and
hummingbirds, they attract ants by
the zillion The best solution is to
place the jelly container and the
hummingbird feeder on bricks in
shallow trays of water Ants don't
like to swim The water acts like
the moats old castles once had, in
tins case the invaders are die ants.
You need to check the water level
periodically, since it will evaporate,
and find a way to keep the wind
from blowing the feeders oft the
bricks Hummingbird feeders are
available at nearly any large shop
ping center
Water can be in a typical bird
bath or may lx; in a shallow tray
placed on the ground. I lang a plas
tic jug with a tiny hole in it above
the tray and let it drip Not only
birds but small mammals and toads
will appreciate it
To provide shelter for birds,
plant borders of shrubs and trees,
preferably native species, near the
feeding stations and water supply
Some birds may nest in your area
and would appreciate pieces ot
string and finely shredded wcxxi as
nest building material You may
want to have some birdhouses in
your yard Hiere are many books
on the market which will tell you
how to construct them to suit par
ticular species
Attracting butterflies is simply a
matter of growing flowering plants,
to provide nectar for the adult but
terfhes, ;uid some native shrubs and
herbs, as host plants for the cat
erpillars They like parsley, dill,
guavacan and colima One of the
best plants for your yard is the pas-
sion vine It's the host plant for the
helicone (longwing) butterflies
julia, gulf fntillary, and zebra
They're among our most spec
tacular native butterflies.
There are several books avail
able which will tell you which
plants are most useful in attracting
butterflies Even if no butterflies
conic, you'll have a beautiful yard
If you ever have an overripe
fruit, for example a banana, don't
just throw it away, cut it into piec-
es, put it on a tray and set it out in
the shade for butterflies to enjoy
Male butterflies like to puddle
Make a bare spot of soil and occa
sionally soak it The males gather
and extract minerals they need
from the moist soil
There arc designs for butterfly
houses but experts in the \ alley
claim dial in this climate the)
aren't of any value
So you now have a yard teeming
with birds and butterflies, what
about other critters''
One thing you might want to do
is to install a rock pile or loose w all
of medium-size rocks You mav
get lucky and attract some blue
spiny lizards Rocks, in any case,
are attractive in a landscape.
There are ways to attract mam
m;ils such as rabbits, rats, mice, and
opossum but I'm not sure you want
to since they can be destructive and
invasive.
However, if your yard is large
enough, one option is to convert
some area into a small natural hab-
itat Purchase some native trees
and shrubs and plant a touch of
wilderness. Remember that trees
get large so avoid over-planting
If a sizable number of residents
m an area were to do as I've sug
gested there would be a distinct in
crease in wild things to lx: seen and
enjoyed There are many animals
which won't venture into an urban
area but others seem to be adapting
to living with us and many of them
are desirable neighbors!
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The devastating effects of an
earthquake last a long time.
Restoring hop< to v ictims of these
• i1 ' hose in I)"!i i
and before that I'll Salvador, may
tak>- years. But it can be done,
and many Americans are helping
in the effort To learn how to get
involved, call World Vision at I-
888-56-CHILI) or visit the Web
site at www.worldvision.org.
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light to rich, from clear to milky
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unfiltered sake brings out the taste
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unique sensation when it passes
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 28, 2001, newspaper, June 28, 2001; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195898/m1/6/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.