The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 25, 1985 Page: 1 of 11
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The Mathis l\|F\X/\
MORE THAN 60 YEARS OF SERVICE TO MATHiS AND THE SURROUNDING AREA_M I HIHH V
35«
+ tax
VOLUME LXII
' Thursday, July 25, 1985 — 12 Pages — No. 30
2 Hour Debate
MATHIS, TEXAS 78368
RESOLUTION ON BEHALF OF CHIPITA RODRIQUEZ- A special resolution was presented Tuesday
by Texas State Senator Carlos Truan regarding the trial of Chipita Rodriquez, the first and only Texas
woman to be hung. Truan and former County Attorney Richard Hatch were instrumental in getting a
Legislative Resolution passed stating Chipita, a San Patricio County Resident in 1867, was not given due
process or justice in her trial. From left to right: Senator Truan, District Clerk Pat Norton, who will file
the resolution and place it with the original case papers, presiding District Judge Alonzo T. Rodriquez of
the 343rd District Court and San Patricio County Judge J.M. Edmondson Jr. Also present for the resolu-
tion presentation were Richard Hatch and members of the San Patricio Historical Commission. (James
Pease photo).
Mathis Leads County
JPs Collect $47,546.78 In
June; $310,376.71 Year
^ec
San Patricio County Justices of
the Peace reported collections of
$47,546.78 in June, down from the
gcord collections of May, but
312.37 more than in June 1984. The
ay 1985 collections of $55,720.78 set
an all time high for JP collections.
Collections in June 1983 amounted to
$37,478.00.
The June collections upped the
total for the year to $310,376.71, com-
pared to $230,517.47 a year ago, and
$258,470.58 in 1983. Collections for the
first six months of 1982 were
$151,134.48; 1981, $176,735.90; 1980,
$163,998.02; 1979, $143,339.20; and
1978, $93,490.46.
Collections for the first six months
of the year are averaging $51,729.45.
In 1984 the monthly average for the
first six months was $38,419.58, and
the monthly average for the year
amounted to $39,747.61.
Collections reported this year
were: January, $48,305.35;
February, $52,547.81; March,
$55,661.45; April, $50,594.46; and
May, $55,720.86.
Mathis justice of the peace
Precinct 5 topped the June collec-
tions with $21,760.10, with Precinct 1,
Sinton, reporting $8,475.06. Other
PCT.
THIS
TOTAL TO
MO. AVE.
MO. AVE.
NO. LOCATION
MONTH
DATE
TO DATE
TO DATE '84
1 Sinton........
...$ 8,475.06
$ 55,145.51
$ 9,190.92
$ 9,053.16
2 Odem..........
... 3,262.40
39,137.09
6,522.85
6,724.16
4 Portland.......
... 7,772.46
56,787.49
9,464.58
5,256.14
5 Mathis........
.... 21,760.10
121,203.52
20,200.59
10,310.53
6 Aransas Pass . .
712.00
6,200.25
1,033.38
1,432.92
8 Taft..........
.... 5,564.78
31,902.85
5,317.14
5,627.67
. TOTALS ...
____$47,546.78
$ 310,376.71
$51,729.45
collections were: Pet. 4, Portland,
$7,772.46; Pet. 8, Taft, $5,564.76; Pet.
2, Odem, $3,262.40; and Pet. 6, Aran-
sas Pass, $712.00.
The Mathis precinct also posted
the highest year-to-date collections,
$121,203.52, an average of $20,200.59
per month. Precinct 4, Portland, has
collected $56,787.49, a monthly
average of $9,464.58. Sinton, Pet. 1, is
averaging $9,190.92 a month, for a
total for the year of $55,145.51;
followed by Odem, Pet. 2, $39,137.09,
an average of $6,522.85 a month;
Taft, Pet. 8, $31,902.85 ($5,317.14 a
month); and Aransas Pass, Pet. 6,
$6,200.25, an average of $1,033.38 per
month.
Collections for the first six months
of 1984 (average per month) were:
Sinton, Pet. 1, $9,053.16; Odem, Pet.
2, $6,724.16; Portland, Pet. 4,
$5,256.14; Mathis, Pet. 5, $10,310.53;
Aransas Pass, Pet. 6, $1,432.92; and
Taft, Pet. 8, $5,627.67.
County
Grain Harvest Nearing Peak;
Elevators Handle 2,765 Cars
With the weather cooperating,
harvesting of the grain crop in San
Patricio County picked up during the
past week with elevators receiving
1,695 cars, upping the total to date to
2,765 cars. Also received last week
were '47% cars of corn, for a total of
77 cars.
^^Elevator operators said Monday
^Bat the harvest is nearing its peak
most sections of the county, with
half the crop harvested in some
areas. “With more hot, dry weather,
we should see the peak this week,”
one operator said, “and the crop
should be pretty well harvested in a
couple of weeks.” Moisture con-
tinues to run a bit high, but with bet-
ter weather conditions, this is ex-
pecte to drop as harvesting con-
tinues.
This year’s crop, planted later
than usual because of weather condi-
tions, is expected to be a good crop,
though growers and elevator
operators both say the price could be
a lot better. Rains prior to last week
slowed the harvest in most parts of
the country, so last week’s sunnier
weather was welcome.
Moisture content, as expected,
continues to be high, ranging from a
low in some areas of 14 percent to a
high of 21 percent. Overall moisture
is estimated to average 16-19 per-
cent.
Sinton Elevator and Storage has
^KceiVed a total of 512 cars at its
facilities in Sinton and St. Paul, 302
of which came in last week. The St.
Paul elevator is reported full.
Harvest conditions are reportedly
dry in the northern part of the area,
See GRAIN, Page 12
Community Concerns To Host
Preview Of Transit System
A public meeting on the Regional
Transit System has been called on
Wednesday, July 31, at noon at the
Feedlot in Sinton by Community
Concerns.
Pat Eisenhauer, chairman of the
Interim Board, will be the guest
speaker. She will be accompanied by
Tom Niskala, general manager of
the Transit System for the City of
Corpus Christi. The interim board
was appointed by the City of Corpus
Christi as was the advisory commit-
tee appointed in 1983.
The purpose of the meeting is to
provide information for voters who
will vote on the matter on Aug. 10.
Absentee voting is now being held at
the office of the county clerk. Both
San Patricio and Nueces Counties
will be making the decision on that
date.
In addition, the present system in
operation for San Patricio and Aran-
sas Counties, commonly known by
its acronym, SPARTS, will be outlin-
ed in order to compare the two
systems. Many people are unaware
that this also is a public
transportation system.
At the time the Commissioners’
Court called the election for the
regional system, a question was
raised in regard to potential of the
regional authority contracting with
SPARTS. Niskala responded that
potential exists but there were no
plans at that time to do so.
In the areas that vote “in” the
regional system, a one-half cent
sale's tax will go into effect. A fee to
use the system will be implemented
as is now in effect on the Corpus
Christi system and SPARTS. It is
essential that the City of Corpus
Christi voters approve the regional
system for it to become a reality.
In the event that other areas do not
cast favorable votes, other options
are available, such as contracting or
of the calling of another election.
According to Eisenhauer, the
selection of Ingleside as the
Homeport site will make the
regional system even more
See TRANSIT, Page 12
Supervisory Decisions Stocked
Against Commissioners Monday
By Kerry Williams
A two-hour debate on the fate of
bills and payroll cards for various
county departments was held Mon-
day afternoon in Commissioners’
Court before final approval was
given in a split vote.
San Patricio County Judge J.M.
Edmondson Jr. presented comm-
missioners with the stack of
business items for their approval, as
his authority to approve the items in
a day-to-day fashion was reduced at
the commissioners’ special meeting
July 15.
The stack contained payroll cards,
vacation and sick leave requests,
telephone bills and requests from
various departments for supplies
and maintenance.
“In my motion I didn’t intend to
strip the judge of all of his authori-
ty,” County Commissioner Joe
Zapata said. “I think the judge
should practice those authorities
given to the county judge by Jaw.”
“I wasn’t given authority to decide
sick leave and vacation. I don’t
believe you’ll find any statutes that
say I have day-to-day supervision
over departments. As of last Mon-
day these items have to come before
the court,” Edmondson said. “I
came in Tuesday morning at 4 a.m.
to approve everything up until July
15 to fulfill my responsibilites as
supervisor over the thirteen depart-
ments.”
County Clerk Dottie Maley sug-
gested the department heads be
given responsibility for approval of
the personnel decisions, payroll
cards and some of the bills.
“Not every payroll card should
have to come before the court. Don’t
the department heads have the
responsibility of their depart-
ments?” Mrs, Maley said. “Not
allowing them to do these things
renders the heads useless, they
should be able to take pride in their
jobs and be given a chance.”
“Some departments have a great
deal of money-the heads are in-
dividuals not elected officials; they
aren’t responsible to the public,”
Edmondson said. “The best way for
them to get in trouble is to not let an
elected official oversee it. There
would be abuse from the word ‘go.”
“I would not vote on that stack
unless we go item by item,” Com-
missioner Carl Duncan said.
“I agree with you Mr. Duncan, ”
Edmondson said. “There are some
items in here that will send the
departments over budget.”
“This is the question I had at the
last meeting,” Duncan continued.
“Someone has to be responsible at
the courthouse on a day-to-day,
hourly basis for items such as
these.”
“I wanted to be made aware of
major things, project by project,”
Zapata said. “The ordinary pro-
blems should be handled by the
judge.”
‘T never got a definitive word on
my duties as they were supposed to
be before Jan. 10,1983 as was stated
in your motion,” Edmondson said.
“Major, minor, major, minor-
judge, commissioners-I’m not going
to go through the business, that’s a
bunch of crap.”
“It’s foolish for me to look at these
items I know nothing about,” Com-
missioner Hazel Edwards said.
“It’s been a pleasure working 8 to
5 instead of 6 to 7 or 8, your motion to
reduce my authority has given me
time to make contacts for my major
project,” Edmondson said.
A citizen sitting in on the vivid
discussion offered his comments. “It
seems a political osmosis is going on
here,” Leonard Cantu began. “A
discussion is going on as to what you
can and can’t do. Nobody has ques-
tioned the commissioners’ budgets
and have tried to tear them apart.
You need to straighten up some of
these problems, because it’s break-
ing down the county government
totally...All isn’t well where it’s sup-
posed to be.”
“I think we should put it back
where it was, someone needs to be
responsible,” Duncan said. “Didn’t
this all arise over the question over
the county courtroom? In my
estimation the judge has done a good
job and spent a lot of hours doing it, I
don’t want to have to do it. We can
get ready for 8 hours a day everyday
right here.”
“It seems there are some per-
sonality conflicts here and it’s
adverse to San Patricio County,”
Duncan continued. “We’ve lost some
credibility and we’ve got to over-
come this without arguing among
us.”
On a motion from Zapata and a se-
cond from Commissioner Glenn Dor-
ris, approval was given to “the
stack” on a vote of 3-2.
The suprevisory decisions over
each of the departments will remain
in the hands of the commissioners’
court as of Monday.
Earlier in the meeting, County Ex-
tension Director Lynn Wilson
presented Darwin Anderson to fill
the vacancy as County Extension
Agent. Unanimous approval was
given to his beginning work with the
county Sept. 1. Anderson will be
replacing Mike Rothrock.
Anderson is a Williamson County
native and attended Texas A&M
University. He has six years ex-
See COMMISSIONERS, Page 12
Remembering Mrs. Wade
Lou Ella Handled Things
Around Sandia Ranch
(Fourth of Six parts)
Mrs. Wade loved her ranch. When
Wallace died, the ranch was heavily
in debt, and he had advised her to
sell the property in case he should
die before the debt was retired. She
decided to hang on in spite of the
odds, and some 30 years after
Wallace’s death, she paid the debt in
full.
The big house that can be seen
from everywhere was built accor-
ding to LouElla’s plans. It was built
in front of, and obscured the original
ranch house. When John Wade
founded the ranch, it consisted of
45,000 acres. When he died, each of
his three children inherited 15,000
acres. Wallace got the headquarters
house, barns etc.
Mrs. Wade kept two full-time yard
men, and her lawyer pointed out to
her that she spent more money on
her yard than area farmers spent
cultivating their big cotton farms.
She told him to take another trip to
Europe, or somewhere, and that she
would run her ranch her way.
After I became acquainted with
her, she negotiated some pretty good
oil deals, and began adding on to the
big house, enclosing two of the big
porches, she came up with a large
office on the ground floor, and what
became her bedroom above it on the
second floor. Her big ambition was
realized when she connected her
house with the old ranch house with
a room that measures like 24’ x 60’.
This room housed perhaps the best
library of books in private owner-
ship in the state, as well as ap-
propiate sets of Rattan furniture.
She built a large one room house in •
which she put years and years
subscriptions to magazines. Ladies
publications that had been out of
print for years, as well as newer
magazines that had folded, like
Liberty, etc., were well preserved
and indexed when she passed away.
When Santa Anna and his army
passed this way,- he drove a big herd
of cattle off the ranch to help supply
his army. Mrs. Wade began a pro-
cess of recovery that took years to
complete. She sat many weeks in the
dark musty basements • of cour-
thouses all over this area, searching
for the proper records, and after
years of such effort, forced the Mex-
ican Government into a settlement
of cash for Santa Anna’s theft. She
promptly gave the money to the
heirs. Some gal, that LouElla. I ven-
See SKETCHING, Page 12
Cotton Coming
County's First Bale Ginned
San Patricio County’s first bale of
1985 cotton was ginned Tuesday, Ju-
ly 16, at Midway Gin, Taft, and
delivered to the Gulf Compress in
Corpus Christi the same day.
The cotton, grown by Jeff Hunt on
acreage near the Hunt airport at
Portland, was hand-picked, and is
believed to be the second bale ginned
in South Texas. The area’s first bale
was grown and ginned in the
Kingsville area.
The bale had a net weight of 679
pounds, a gross weight of 684
pounds, a grade of 41, length 35,
mike 46, and strength of 28. Accor-
ding to Hunt, the field from which
the cotton was harvested should
make approximately 1% bales to the
acre. Hunt expects to begin full scale
harvesting next week.
Harvesting of the county’s cotton
crop is expected to get underway
within the next week or two, and
hopes are high for an excellent crop.
Some of the county’s gins are receiv-
ing cotton, but it is from out the
county.
A check of the county’s gins in-
dicates harvesting will begin in a
week or two, and be in full swing by
mid August. Porter Gin at Mathis
will be ginning some this week, the
cotton coming from the Laredo area.
At Odem, Smith Gin Coop expects to
begin ginning the early part of next
week. Gregory Gin anticipates its
first cotton the end of next week, and
other gins expect their first cotton in
10 days to two weeks.
Gins in the county, in addition to
those named, include El Segundo
Gin, Sinton; Taft Gin and Seed,
Taft; OCOT Inc., Odem; Edroy Coop
Gin, Edroy; West Portland Gin,
Taft; West Sinton Gin, Sinton, and
Hartzendorf Gin, Sinton.
Weather
Date
High
Low
Rain
July 17
95
72
.00
July 18
97
72
.00
July 19
97
75
.00
July 20
93
73
.00
4 July 21
96
74
.00
July 22
97
73
.00
July 23
98
73
.00
Water level is 93.73.
Wesley Seale Dam at
Lake Corpus Christi
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Mathley, Thomas M. The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 25, 1985, newspaper, July 25, 1985; Mathis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1132384/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Mathis Public Library.