Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 38, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 8, 1984 Page: 1 of 16
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At Cherry Street Complex
Woman raped
in. apartment
best copy available
fckmth plains Library 1284
1401 So Collsg#
Levelland, £#xaa 79356
An 18-year-old Levelland
woman was sexually assaulted
Monday afternoon in her home
on Cherry Street after a man
entered her apartment when she
left her door unlocked for a brief
time.
According to police reports,
the woman apparently left the
door to her apartment at 226
Cherry St unlocked about 4
p.m. Monday while she went to
check her mail at a mailbox on
the south side of the complex.
She told officers after she
returned to her apartment the
subject was in her livingroom
and came at her. She said she
hit the subject with a porcelain
unicorn and as he was coming
toward her, she pushed the
coffee table in front of him. Hie
subject then grabbed her, she
said, and struck her on the left
cheek*
Hie woman told police she
struggled with the man and
eventually he pushed her to the
floor in the bedroom. She said
the subject then ripped open her
clothing and raped her. She told
officers that, during the assault,
she bit the subject on the right
arm.
Hie victim told police she
was not able to report the
incident immediately after it
happened because she did not
have a phone and she was afraid
to leave the apartment She
gave officers a description of the
man about 6:30 p.m. Monday
and said she would recognize
him if she saw him again. He is
described as a Mexican male
about six feet tall and weighing
about 200 pounds. He had a
small moustache and curly black
hair. He was last seen wearing a
blue T-shirt and faded blue
jeans. He also had on lace-up
boots.
Hie victim sustained bruises
to her left eye and cheek and to
both her forearms. She was
Tax receipts up
eight percent
across county
Sales tax payments for Hock-
ley County are up 8.25 percent
for August, with three of the
four cities in the county showing
an increase in payments.
Levelland has recorded an
increase of 6.23 percent in
payments through August for
1984. Hie total for Levelland’s
tax remittance this month was
$78,654, which is down from the
$99,181 paid to the city in
August of last year. Hie total for
the city for this year is $475,074
as compared to the 1983 pay-
ments through August of $447,-
217.
Sales tax payments are made
monthly to cities which collect
the one percent city sales tax.
The August checks were for
taxes collected on sales made in
June and reported to the State
See TAX Page 2
t* ®
taken to Cook Memorial Hospi-
tal, but was then transported to
Lubbock General Hospital for a
rape examination and counsel-
ing by the Lubbock Rape Crisis
Center.
As of late Tuesday after-
noon, no one had been arrested
in the case, and Chief of Police
Tfed Holder said the department
was following up on several
leads but nothing definite had
been discovered in the case.
Holder said the details in the
case, including if it was just a
random incident or not, could
not really be disclosed until the
subject is caught and interrogat-
ed. '
A composite drawing of the
man who is suspected of the
rape has been prepared and
appears on page two.
This is the first rape case
reported in Levelland this year.
16 PAGES
AND SUPPLEMENTS
Levelland And Hockley totfntV
News-Press
VOLUME SIX NUMBER 88 USPS-146-380
LEVELLAND, TEXAS 79336-9990 Wednesday, August 8, 1984—
Superintendent Warns Of Possibilities Here
Equalization to hurt rich district
\
The chief administrator of zens for what may be in store Gene Davenport, superinten-
Levelland schools took on an due to major reform measures dent, says that Levelland
educator’s role this week in passed this summer by the school board members will be
advance of next week’s school state legislature. faced with the choice of either
board meeting in an attempt to Due to a new state funding raising taxes to make up for
educate and prepare local citi- plan for school districts. Dr. the lost state funds or cutting
programs and spending. Either
choice will mean major chan-
ges for local taxpayers and
students, he said.
The legislation, in the form
of House Bill 72, was passed
this summer by the legislature
when it met in special session.
One portion of the legislation
affects curriculum require-
ments and school policies,
while the other portion deals
with finances and how the state
will dole out money to local
school districts through the
Foundation Program. _
The major component of
the new funding plan, Daven-
port says, is the concept of
“equalization,” whereby the
state will equal out state funds
so children will have a chance
for the same quality of educa-
tion regardless of the wealth of
the district in which they live.
Equalization has often
been called “the Robin Hood
theory” because in effect the
state is taking state money
from richer school districts and
giving it to poorer districts.
Levelland, being one of the
richer school districts in the
state because of mineral valua-
tion on the local tax rolls, is
one of the districts which came
out on the losing end of the
state’s new funding plan.
Although Davenport declin-
ed to cite specific figures on
how much the local district will
lose in state funding in advance
of next Tuesday's meeting of
the school board, he did say
the losses here will be substan-
tial.
The USD Board of Educa-
tion was originally scheduled to
meet Thursday, but will now
meet next Tuesday. The trus-
tees are expected to formulate
and adopt a tentative budget
and tax rate.
“I’m trying to get people
prepared for the fact that under
this new plan, when the board
meets next week and discusses
this and sets the budget and
the tax rate, that the culprit is
equalization and it comes as a
mandate from the state,” Dav-
enport said. “Nothing has
changed here. But we are
going to have to make some
decisions that will change
things one way or the other.
“The choices are hard
ones,” he said. “Districts such
as Levelland are faced with
cutting programs or going
ahead and doing what the state
expects and that is to raise
taxes.”
The major components or
the equalization plan, Daven-
port said, are that state funds
to school districts will be equal-
See EQUALIZATION Page 2
ft*?
NOT MUCH LEFT--Brant Preston, left, and Coy Stevens, both to be sixth graders when school
starts, are making the most of the rest of their summer which will end on Aug. 20. Although
summer is nice, both boys did not hesitate to say they are ready for school to start Hiis week the
boys were enjoying the playground at Cactus Elementary, their alma mater. (Staff Photo)
School board changes
date for August meeting
Dr. Richard M. O’Briant,
director of bands for Levelland
schools and high school band
director for the past year,
submitted his resignation to
school officials on Tuesday.
i 1
O’Briant has accepted a position weeks remaining before the
as band director and assistant start of school. Dr. Gene Daven-
port, who accepted the resigna-
tion, said on Tuesday a decision
had not been made yet as to
what course of action the admi-
nistration will recommend to the
LISD Board of Education.
Davenport said the board
may opt to take applications and
try to fill the vacancy before
school starts or someone within
the system could be appointed
. high school band director for an
*1 interim period.
O’ Briant was named director
__ of bands for LJSD in May, 1983
to replace Jim Hutson, who had
lT held the position for several
The August meeting of the
Levelland Independent School
District Board of Education,
previously scheduled for
Thursday night, has been re-
scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tues-
day, Aug. 14.
The meeting will be an
important one for Levelland
trustees as they will be inform-
professor of music at Southwest years. A few months prior to ed of the administration’s plans
em Oklahoma State University that, the USD board had voted to implement new programs to
in Weatherford, Okla. not to renew Hutson’s contract, comply with recent legislation
Hie resignation leaves T.TSD saying the high school band and will be asked to approve
program needed new leader- several policy changes along
ship. Hutson was offered the the same lines. The board is
directorship of middle school also expected to formulate a
Richard O'Briant resigns Tuesday
after year as LHS band director
without a high school band
director with less than two
tentative 1984-85 budget and
tax rate.
Davenport said the meet-
ing was rescheduled due to the
^act that three of the seven
board members would have
been unable to attend the
Thursday meeting.
Delaying the meeting for a
few days will also give the
administrators a little mote
time to firm up recommenda-
tions which they plan to mak#
to the board.
The meeting will be held at
the new administration build-
ing at 704 11th St.
bands for the remaining year of
his contract, but refused the
offer and is now band director at
River Road High School in
Amarillo.
O’Riant has lived in Level-
land for four years and has been
employed by Levelland schools
for three years. Prior to being
appointed high school band
director, he was middle school
band director.
Davenport said the admini-
stration has already received
one application for the position
from a person outside the
system who knew of the coming
vacancy. But he said the district
See DIRECTOR Page 2
* ■
si:
Employment office
not being fully used
“ *J ' 1 * * * * find emplo;
to finding
for local
Wk
ucsl
-7^
ROLLING BUDDIES--Hie se two young girls were seen Monday
morning skating hand-in-hand. Melissa Swain, seven, and
Melodie Ravenscraft, eight, were practicing their skills at roller-
skating. (Staff Photo)
Residents looking for em-
ployment and local businesses
looking for applicants to fill
positions can mid the assis-
tance they need at (he Texas
Employment Commission sub-
office in Levelland.
Sylvia Cardenas, who is in
charge of the local office, said
many residents are not aware
of the re-opening of the office.
The office was closed in
January of 1982 due to the
withdrawal of state funds from
all small sub-offices in the
area. Cardenas said the office
did, however, re-open about
five months later.
“I just think it is important
that the public know that the
office is open and all our
services are free of charge,”
she said.
Cardenas said the commis-
sion is designed to help job
seekers find employment in
addition to finding suitable
applicants for local business
, attempting to fill vacant posi-
tions. “We are here to help
both the job seeker find won
and to help the employer to
find the right personnel,” Car-
denas said.
The main operation of the
local office is employment ser-
vice, Cardenas said. She said
the office had previously been
a full service office, which
included employment claims.
But since the re-opening of the
office, it is onhr an itinerant
service point. This means that
the office deals mainhr in
employment service. How-
ever, Cardenas said, there is
someone who comes to town
from the Lubbock office every
8ee TOC Pag.
i PHONG DAYS-Leonard Martinez, eight,
(Staff Pb -»)
«
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Taylor, Beverly. Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 38, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 8, 1984, newspaper, August 8, 1984; Levelland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1147564/m1/1/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Plains College.