The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 8, 2001 Page: 1 of 20
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AFGHANISTAN
TEXAS
Taliban ousted
Regime collapses,
flees Kandahar
* PAGE 10A
Electric deregulation
State approves 17 percent
rate cut for Reliant Energy
PAGE 7A
NATION
Peart Harbor anniversary
Survivors gather for Hawaii ceremony;
Bush: No truce or treaty with terrorists
PAGE 3A
SPORTS
Girls basketball
Lady Rangers play in
semifinal match today
PAGE1B
®Paptoton !§>un
SATURDAY
December 8, 2001
Volume 80 No. 12
SINCE 1922
Baytown, Texas
www.baytownsun.com
50 cents
‘Save the BrunsonTheater petition drive under way
By WHIT SNYDER
Contributing writer
BAYTOWN — In an effort to influence
city leaders, local preservationists are circu-
lating a petition which advocates the
restoration of the Brunson Theater.
A number of residents have long main-
tained a renovated theater would serve as a
cornerstone for the revitalization of Texas
Avenue.
The petition effort has almost 1,500 sig-
natures thus far. “Preservation of our city’s
history, Including revitalization of the
Goose Creek Historic District is Important
to the future of Baytown," reads the peti-
tion. “We support the Historic Goose Creek
Association and efforts to restore the
Brunson Theater. We are opposed to demo-
lition or sale of this historic landmark."
“We are circulating this petition to let
City Council know that there are a lot of
people who would like to see the Brunson
revitalized and not tom down,” said Joe
Wheat, president of the Historic Goose
Creek Association. “Baytown Mayor Pete
Alfaro once said that (Councilman) Scott
Sheley was the ‘Lone Ranger’ on this issue.
This petition is meant to show him and oth-
ers that there are a lot of people in this city
who feel the same way."
Wheat said, when the effort is completed
the group planned to present the signatures
to City Council. However, just when that
presentation would take place has not yet
been determined.
Opened in 1949, the Brunson was
Baytown’s first post World War II
moviehouse. Many Baytonians have fond
memories of sitting the the plush seats and
watching a Saturday matinees.
Closed 19 years ago, the city acquired the
old theater by foreclosure in August 1997.
In October, what remains of the 5 2-year-
old movie theater was placed on the Harris
County auction block for a minimum bid of
See BRUNSON on Page 7A
Crosby
overpass
deadline
nearing
By MATTHEW COOK
Staff writer
CROSBY — Monday is the deadline
for Crosby residents to submit com-
ments to the Texas Department of
Transportation regarding a proposed
overpass on FM 2100.
The deadline had originally been set at
Nov. 30, however Highway Department
officials extended to the deadline to
Dec. 10 to accommodate for a new com-
ment form.
During an informal public hearing
Nov. 8, Crosby residents were presented
with four options for an overpass at the
intersection of FM 2100 and a set of rail-
road tracks.
The four options are to either do noth-
ing, or “no build,” or to construct an
overpass with either one-way access
roads, two-way access roads or a turn-
around.
Comment forms passed out during
the hearing did not list the first option,
the “no build” option.
Project Manager Sam Ainabe said one
individual wrote a letter to the main
office of the Texas Department of
Transportation complaining about the
omission.
“Because of him we decided to come
up with a new form and mail it out
between the Kith and 19th of
November,” Ainabe said.
Department of Transportation offi-
cials mailed out new forms to everyone
who commented and left an address at
the November hearing, totaling about
200 forms.
Several people have already returned
those forms, Ainabe said.
“We received them,” he said.
Ainabe said he expects to have the
comments reviewed by January. “We’ll
see how many people are for (option) A,
r B, C, or D and generally, we should be
able to determine what TXDQT will
do,” he said.
Comments should be mailed to Mr.
Lance Olenius, Environmental
Coordinator, Texas Department of
Transportation, 7721 Washington
Avenue, Houston, Texas 77007.
Contact Matthew Cook by e-mail at
matthew.cook@baytownsun.com or by
phone at (281) 425-8031.
Lights, camera
...Christmas
Ag chief
to speak
at forum
By M.A. BENGTS0N
Staff writer
Photos by Carrie Pryor-Newman
Top: Doug Wallace sings with the other members of the Second Baptist Church Choir before the tree light-
ing ceremony at City Hall on Friday. Above: Mayor Pete Alfaro lights the Christmas tree as his three grand-
children help, from left, Marissa and Austin Yarborough from Henderson and Alexis Kennedy from Hawaii.
Story on 10A
BAYTOWN — Texas Agriculture
Commissioner Susan Combs will make good on
her promise to speak in Baytown when she
appears Monday at the Eddie V Gray Wetlands
Education and Recreation Center, 1724 Market
St.
The city of Baytown will be hosting Combs’
visit from 6 to 8 p.m., highlighted by a presenta-
tion by Combs on the Go Texan marketing cam-
paign which encourages consumers to buy prod-
ucts that are grown and processed in the state and
other agriculture and marketing issues.
City spokesman Gary Smith said Combs is
expected to make a 30-minute presentation and
has agreed to a question-answer session with the
public immediately following.
Combs, 53, is a fourth-generation Texas ranch-
er and Austin resident who runs a cow-calf opera-
tion on the family's 100-year-old ranch in
Brewster County in far west Texas. She is the first
woman to serve as the state's commissioner of
agriculture.
Texas’ coastal production of oysters, fish and
shrimp, whether taken from the bay or being
farmed, fall under her jurisdiction, as well as the
areas devoted to rice farming, the raising of other
agricultural crops and the raising of cattle.
She holds a degree from the University of Texas
School of Law and served as an assistant district
attorney in Dallas before her election to the Texas
Legislature where she served from 1993 to 1996.
She is on the board of the Texas and
Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the
Texas Wildlife Association. She has previously
served on the boards of the Texas Beef Council
and the Texas Production Credit Association and
is a member of the Texas Farm Bureau and the
Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas.
Special guests being invited to participate in the
event include the area's elected officials in the
U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature, Baytown
Mayor Pete Alfaro and members of Baytown City
Council and judges and commissioners from
Harris and Chambers counties.
Combs presentation is open to the public.
Combs, originally slated to make a presentation
on Sept. 27, canceled when a senior member of
her staff died.
Contact M.A. Bengtson by e-mail at ma.bengt-
son@baytowhsun.com or by phone at (281) 425-
8023.
INSIDE
Business .......
,3B
Classifieds.....6B-9B
Comics.........
,5B
Community ......
,5A
Obituaries.......
,3A
Opinion.........
,4A
Police Beat ......
,5A
Sports .........
,1B
Television .......
,4B
LOTTERY
Friday drawings
TX 2 Step:3 817-27-10
Cash 5:10-18-22-25-39
Pick 3:6-3-2
Grandmother has hands full with family
By CHIEF GOODFELLOW
Bad news has come in multi-
ples for an older woman whose
husband was in an accident and
has been out of work for two
months.
In addition to having her hus-
band and her grandfather to
care for, she is now the backup
for two daughters with five chil-
dren whose ages range from a
baity to a 4-year-old,
Both daughters are divorced
and the grandmother takes the
Jm
role of baby-sitter, while the
daughters take odd jobs or look
for work. «
Christmas looks to be a dis-
mal affair with no extra funds to
buy Christmas presents for the
youngsters and the grandmother
is asking Goodfellows to lend a
hand this holiday season.
Last year, more than 2000
children in the Baytown area
received Christmas toys
because of Goodfellows. This
year’s goal Is $30,000.
Donations to support
Goodfellows may be mailed to
P.O. Box 90, Baytown, Texas
77520, or delivered to The
Baytown Sun, 1301 Memorial
Drive. For more information on
donating to Goodfellows, call
(281) 425-8026.
Goodfellows donations
Anonymous, $20
Tri City Grandmothers Club
No. 902, $50
Betty and Ronnie Callaway in
memory of LaVerne Matherne
and Viola Johnson, $50
Cecile Gieger, $50
Vernell Reed in memory of
John J,R. Reed, husband and
Vera and Charlie Caldwell, par-
ents, $100
Betty Camp in memory of my
husband Bill Camp and my
mother Ludie Young, 100
Don and Marsha Singletary
in honor of Alamo
Elementary School students,
staff and P.T.O., $100
Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur A.
Stavinoha in loving memory of
our granddaughter, Jennifer
Lynn Sutton and grandchildren,
Jake and Brady Sutton, Michael
and Julie Bartrip and Kyle Hill,
$50
The Lauraine Family in mem-
ory of Katherine Lauraine, $25
In memory of my husband,
$10
Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Fisher,
$50
Friday's total: $605
Total to date: $6,386
2001 goal: $30,000
1
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 8, 2001, newspaper, December 8, 2001; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1023587/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.