Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 69, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 29, 1980 Page: 1 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Seminole Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Gaines County Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Water shortage:
City officials ask local residents to cut back,10-20% on usage
Although the hot, dry weather
forced city officials to keep a close
eye on the water situation, the
City of Seminole was not
experiencing any shortage of
water nearly two weeks ago.
In fact, City Administrator
Mike McGregor even went so far
to say that everything was okay
and he did not foresee any
immediate problems with distri-
bution and availability despite the
horrid heat wave that settled over
West Texas when contacted by the
Sentinel recently.
But, McGregor and recently-
appointed Director of Utilities
Randy Zelner were saddled with a
major problem Tuesday when
Well No. 15 at the city well field
went completely, forcing the city
to use one of its best wells-one
with the capacity of pumping 625
gallons per minute.
“A bearing went out in the
motor and we lost it completely,”
stated McGregor late Thursday
afternoon. However, by one
o’clock this afternoon, we had it
back on line.”
meeting the water demand by the
level of water in the tanks.
“And, Tuesday, it was very low.
In fact, we had very little left,”
explained McGregor. “We im-
mediately started doing some
spots on the radio station, asking
the people to cut back on their
water usage.”
McGregor has asked that local
citizens cut back on their water
usage as much as 10 to 20 per cent.
If that does not solve the problem,
McGregor said that he might have
to look elsewhere for a solution.
“At this time, I don’t feel like we
will have to ration the water.
Right now, we are just asking the
According to McGregor, the people to cut back 10 to 20 per cent
According to McGregor, the city
maintained its own last Wednes-
day, but he added that the
Seminole Independent School
District was shut down.
“We completely had the school
shut down. We asked them not to
water any of their property and
this had to help it,” stated
McGregor.
“As long as it stays this hot, it
will take more water for the
yards. And, it will gradually get
worse so that’s why we asked
them (citizens) to cut back on
their water usage now,” added the
city administrator.
McGregor stated that the water
water is pumped from the well
field to two ground storage tanks,
capable of holding 500,000 gallons,
at SW 14th and Avenue D and city
officials can tell how well they are
on watering their yards,” said
McGregor. “If we have no more
mechanical problems and people
cut back voluntarily, we should
have no more problems.”
consumption was up quite a bit in
May and June, but that was to
have been expected.
He said the majority of the
water was used from 5 to 9 p.m.
each evening and that the city was
using nearly four million gallons
per day.
“Our master meter is out at the
well field so we don’t have a true
way of telling, but we expect that
we are using nearly four million
gallons per day,” said McGregor.
“We had this same problem two
years ago.”
Due to some more-than-usual
rain, the city did not have any real
water problems last summer, but
1978 was a different story when
extremely dry conditions forced a
similar problem. But, it was late
July before the city experienced
any trouble that year.
Through last Monday. Seminole
has been stricken with no less
than 11 days of more than 100
degrees. And, it likely climbed
over that barrier the rest of last
See water Page 2
Thristy lawn
With no relief in sight, Seminole
residents have been forced to give their
lawns some much-needed moisture.
However, due to a semi-water shortage
in the community, City Administrator
Mike McGregor has asked local
residents to cut back some 10 to 20 per
cent on water usage, especially when it
comes to the yards. (Sentinel Photo)
Seminole Sentinel
Sunday
SEMINOLE (GAINES COUNTY) TEXAS
SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 1980
VOL. 73
(USPS 489-400)
12 PAGES
By MARSHALL DAY
Gaines County ranks 10th
in state peanut production
One moment of patience may
ward off a great disaster; one
moment of impatience may ruin a
whole life.
Last Tuesday’s action by the
hospital board regarding the
rejection of the new tax appraisal
district’s budget, came as
somewhat of a startling surprise.
We were unable to attend the
meeting, but were under the
impression that, while the
hospital board has not agreed with
the creation of the new tax
appraisal district by the state
legislature, they were willing to
go along with it.
Tuesday’s rejection, though not
directed expressly at the tax
appraisal district itself, but rather
its budget, could cause some
repercussions. The local hospital
district was the first taxing unit of
the six in the county to turn
thumbs down on the $496,000
first-year budget, citing it as
excessive by some 25 per cent.
The hospital district, along with
the city of Seagraves, city of
Seminole, Loop school district,
Seagraves school district and
Seminole school district, were all
scheduled to participate in the
funding of the new tax appraisal
board. The local hospital’s portion
of the total budget was established
at 13.99 per cent, the second
highest among the taxing agen-
cies to the Seminole school district
which will contribute 62.98 per
cent.
The hospital’s portion, based on
the proposed budget and the six
units sharing ih it, would have
been approximately $69,300 for
the tax appraisal district to
establish the true value of
property within the county. To
some degree we can see their
point since the hospital district,
because of the special legislation
that created it, put a maximum
amount of $5,000 that it would be
charged for the assessing and
collecting of taxes by the county.
There’s a far cry difference
See end Page 2
y
Gaines County was among the
leaders in total peanut production
last year, ranking 10th in the
state, according to the 1979 edition
of the Texas Field Crop Statistics.
The statewide survey is
compiled by the Texas Crop and
Livestock Reporting Service and
published jointly by the Texas
Department of Agricultural and
the United States Department of
Agricultural.
According to the survey, Gaines
County produced 11,553,000
pounds of peanuts in 1979 which
was an estimated 2.2 per cent of
the state’s total production. That
left Gaines 10th among the state’s
leading counties in production.
The county planted a total of
3,200 acres and harvested 2,800
which averaged out to 4,126
pounds yield per harvested acre.
The county’s entire production
was irrigated peanuts.
Comanche County was the
leader in peanut production with
82.912.000 pounds or 15.6 per cent.
Rounding out the top 10 were Frio
with 54,928,000 or 10.3 per cent;
Eastland with 52.824.000 pounds or
9.9 per cent; Atascosa with
51.004.000 pounds or 9.6 per cent;
Wilson wij^ 30,639,000 pounds or
5.7 per cent; Mason with 19,782,000
pounds or 317 per cent; Erath with
19.635.000 pounds or 3.7 per cent;
Lee with 12,789,000 pounds or 2.4
per cent; Grayson with 12,190,000
pounds or 2.3 per cent; and
Gaines.
In all hay production, excluding
sorghum, Gaines County harvest-
ed 9,800 acres with 5.7 tons viqld
per harvested acre. The total hay
production was 56,300 tons.
The bulk of the county’s hay
production was alfalfa as Gaines
harvested 8,000 acres, averaging
6.4 tons yield per harvested acre
for a total production of 51,500
tons. The county harvested 1,800
acres of other hay which produced
4,800 tons or 2.7 tons yield per
harvested acre.
The leader in hay production
was Hopkins County with 131,800
tons which was just 2.1 per cent of
the state. Houston County was a
close second with 122,700 tons or
2.0 per cent.
The other leading counties in
hay production included Hender-
son, Van Zandt, Erath, Fayette
Red River, Lamar, Bailey and
Leon.
Gaines County also planted
23,900 acres of sorghum, harvest-
ing 15,300, which produced 2,471
pounds yield per harvested acre.
The total production was 378,000
CWT. )
More than 50 per cent of the
county’s sorghum was produced
non-irrigated.
Gaines planted 16.200 acres,
harvesting 9,200, for 1,510 pounds
yield per harvested acre. The
county produced 138,800 CWT.
In irrigated sorghum, the
county planted only 7,700 acres
and harvested 6,100 which
produced 3,920 pounds yield per
harvested acre for a total
production of 239,120 CWT.
• Nueces County ranked No. 1 in
sorghum production with a total of
7,746,760 CWT of 5.7 per cent of the
state’s total followed by Hidalgo
with 6,051,640 CWT or 4.4 per cent.
The other top 10 counties were
San Patricio with 5,439,280 CWT,
Wharton with 3,838,720, Deaf
Smith with 3,570,840, Sherman
with 3,515,400, Hansford with
3,251,360, Jim Wells with 3,098,480,
Moore with 2,866,920 and Refugio
with 2,769,760.
In sunflower production, Gaines
County harvested all but 200 acres
which it planted. The county
planted a total of 1,500 acres,
harvesting 1,300, which averaged
959 pounds yield per harvested
acre.
r The county’s total production
was 1,247,000 pounds.
The top two counties in
sunflower production were Parm-
er and Lubbock. Parmer totaled
12,638,000 pounds or 14.9 per cent
of the state’s total followed by
Lubbock County with 9,119,000
pounds-10.8 per cent.
Castro, Floyd, Lamb, Hale,
Sherman, Deaf Smith, Crosby and
Bailey completed the top 10
counties in sunflower production.
Gaines harvested 600 of its 1,000
acres planted in corn which
produced 113.3 bushels yield per
harvested acre. The total produc-
tion was 68,000 bushels.
Parmer County was the leader
in corn production with 24,341,500
bushels or 18.4 per cent of the
state followed by Castro with
17,176,800, Hale with 11,537,700,
Lamb with 9,436,200, Deaf Smith
with 6,302,800, Bailey with
4,343,600, Dallam with 4,313,400,
Swisher with 3,501,600, Hidalgo
See crops Page 2
Prestigious event
WIFE demands full investigation
Commissioners, tax board
schedule special meetings
The Gaines County Commis-
sioners and Gaines County
Appraisal Board have scheduled
meetings for Monday.
The county commissioners will
meet at 10 a m. in the commis-
sioners’ courtroom at the Gaines
County Courthouse in Seminole.
The short agenda includes
reviewing a pipeline request and
discussion on the tax appraisal
district and the 1981 budget.
The county fathers will also
discuss any other items pertain-
ing to county business, but take no
action.
The appraisal board will hold
their meeting at 2 p.m. at the
appraisal board office which is
located at 611 South Main in
Seminole.
The board will discuss board
policies and personnel and also
enter executive session.
In response to June 20 press
reports that the Carter Adminis-
tration has sanctioned the
resumption of the sale of foreign
grain to USSR by U.S. based
multinationals, the National
Steering Committee of WIFE
(Women Involved in Farm
Economics) has issued the
following statement:
The stability of our national
economy had been placed in
jeopardy by the imposition of an
embargo which has not served its
intended purpose.
WIFE feels that the interruption
of grain sales to the Soviet Union
has not restricted the amount of
grain accessible to Russia, but it
has had an adverse effect on
American Farmers.
The President of the U.S. has
not only failed to fulfill his
commitment to protect the grain
producers, but by his action in
sanctioning the sale of foreign
grain to Russia by American
based companies has circumvent-
ed his expressed intent to punish
the Soviet Union for aggressive
action in Afghanistan.
Due to this complete reversal in
administration policy, WIFE
demands that members of the
House and Senate use all the
facilities and means at their
disposal to investigate immedi-
ately the obvious differences
between the stated purpose and
eventual consequences of the
grain embargo.
Nita Gibson of Seminole,
national president of WIFE,
further stated^
“WIFE must also question the
role of the grain traders in this
matter. Vfe must ask how it. is
possible for the profit of so few to
be protected while the income of
many grain producers across our
nation was not even considered?
“WIFE must ask what force is
in control of our accessibility of
our markets?
“In order to resolve these
questions, WIFE requests that the
Congress determine the role of the
‘trade’ in the embargo.”
WIFE is a grass roots organiza-
tion, with approximately 2000
members in 17 states and
membership is open to all women
who are involved or interested in
agriculture.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View five places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Day, Marshall. Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 69, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 29, 1980, newspaper, June 29, 1980; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1127675/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.