Mineral Wells Index (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 157, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 1985 Page: 1 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Palo Pinto County Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Boyce Ditto Public Library.
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PPC voters follow state trend in Tuesday election
By Sue Sterling
Staff Writer
Palo Pinto County voters followed
the statewide trend in Tuesday's con-
stitutional amendment election, ap-
proving most of the proposed amend-
ments by hefty margins.
Unofficial results show local voters
differed with statewide results only
on Proposition 13, which was
defeated in Palo Pinto County by a
slim margin.
The proposition, which provides for
the reapportionment of judicial
districts by a Judicial Districts
Board or by the Legislative
Redistricting Board, was approved
Royal couple
to check out
Penney store
WASHINGTON (AP) - Princess
Diana, so the papers say, is quite a
shopper. But to travel all the way
from Britain to a suburban Virginia
shopping mall — to check out the
local J.C. Penney?
It's all in a day’s work for Prince
Charles and Princess Diana, whose
task, essentially, will be to smile and
handle the merchandise next Mon-
day in Penney’s “Best of Britain"
display, thereby gaining a few
seconds of promotion for British
goods on American television as well
as. with luck, a picture or two in
newspapersand magazines.
What to buy
During a recent walk-through at
the store in Springfield, Va., Joe
Canzeri, the former Reagan White
House aide now helping Penney’s
with coverage arrangements, put it
simply: “What do you think they're
here for? They're here to get their
pictures taken."
A bit more diplomatic as befits his
job, Andrew Burns, information
counselor at the British Embassy,
said the royal couple know they can
be useful to British commerce in this
way, and they're glad to do It.
Penney's, practically an American
tradition itself if not exactly known in
the past for high fashion, is embrac-
ing the visit as a potential sales
booster
Of course. Charles and Diana's trip
to Washington this weekend is a bit
more than a shopping expedition
A total of M2 votes were cast for
Investigators
seek cause of
deadly explosion
Two kilted
SI.43 billion package
Texans OK water plan
a lot and
MWCTA to sponsor test review
in English Lai
director*
our Aaaociation. and we are hopeful
that the TCTA-UT competency
testing review program and our deci-
soon with
to diM'UMK
By LJ Abernathy
Staff Writer
Election
Result*
on page 13
in the
tion of the TEC AT, a 30-pag* section
on the TECAT writing sample, and
M pages on "Defensive Grammar "
Felix Cerna, a sixth grade teacher
from Eagle Paso and TCTA Board
Member who also served on the state
TECAT Advisory Committee, said
“to the extent that the taking of the
test will help to reassure the public
regarding the calibre of teachers in
the state, we welcome this result
“We have all heard a greet deal
lately regarding the impending, and
in some area* already present,
teacher shortage in our state This
votes with 365 votes cast in opposi-
tion.
Statewide, the proposition
garnered 70.86 percent of the votes
cast.
Proposition 11, which wss designed
to eliminate conviction reversals for
technicalities in indictments, receiv-
ed 758 favorable votes in Pslo Pinto
County to 335 opposing votes.
The measure was approved
statewide by a margin of 68.62 per-
cent to 31.38 percent.
Locally, Proposition 3, allowing
cities to move lateral water lines on
private property at citizens' expense
was approved 601 to 542.
A five-foot underground pipeline
ruptured at Warren Petroleum Co.
refinery and storage plant while con-
struclion workers were doing
maintenance work, according Io Cui
Ingram, spokesman for Chevron
Inc., which owns Warren and the
300-acre complex
Ingram said the charred area,
about 10 percent of the plant, would
be closed for a few weeks and
damages would run into the millions
“An investigation will go on for a
week, al least.” he said “This is a
substantial fire and a lot of damage
It will take time to get In."
Mayor Fred Miller called for the
evacuation of the entire town of 1.200.
fearing the fire would spread through
a network of gas lines under the
town
The mayor lifted the order Tues
day evening for about half the
residents He refused tn allow
resident* living near the plant tn
return
The blast* occurred in a cavernous
salt dome used to store natural gas
products Smoke could be seen from
HouMon. about 30 miles Io the west
“I saw gas rising four feel off the
ground." said Henry Ford, a 40-year
old welder “It was dangerous hut
pretty I turned my back and started
running "
At least three similar explosions
have occurred here in the past five
years
“This is becoming an annual
event." complained Bill Wallace,
who own* a mobile home park
The dead were identified as James
Hoffmann and Richard Duncan, ac-
cording to Chambers County Justice
of the Peace Paul Williams Their
ty of Texas at a coat exceeding half a
million dollars Th* course was
prepared in consultation with th*
pipeline* that could not be shut off
because the intense heat kept crew*
away from the valves.
diagnostic preteat anti posttest a
self-study guide with 28 pages of ad
ditional practice questions and an
analytical answer chart, teat-taking
strategies. Including anxiety
73.97 percent of the voters said “yes"
to Proposition I. Proposition 2, the se-
cond half of the water package, had
support from 69 85 percent of the
voters
Proposition 1, the amendment
needed to enact the water plan, pass-
ed 711,955 votes to 250,566, and the
vote on Proposition 2, a loan program
to encourage fanners to buy water-
saving equipment, won 657,313 votes
to 283.691
The only incomplete vote was from
Harrison County, where voters were
approving the water proposals
Under the plan, the state will sell
8980 million in bonds to raise money
for reservoirs, pipelines, treatment
plants and flood control projects,
Proposition 1 also included a 8250
feel confident that th* TECAT will be
a fair and reasonable measure of
basic literacy skills if not of teaching
competency
Although many educators ar* In-
sulted by th* prospect of having to
prove' their literacy, and w* ar* cor
tainly sympathetic to that, th* ma
jority recognize th* inevitability of
the test and want to be well prepared
We are confident that Texas teachers
wtlll paea th* test with flying colors
and satisfy th* public demand for ac-
countability
"W* feel TCTA is offoriM all
Texas educators a professional and
reasonable approach to th* com
Voters also gave the nod to Pro*
position 4 by a vote of 714 to 429 The
amendment authorizes proceeds
from the sale of land dedicated to the
permanent school fund to be used to
acquire other land for that fund.
Proposition 5, which authorizes the
legislature to regulate the provision
of health care by hospital districts,
was approved 603 to 526.
Locally, Proposition 7, allowing
Chambers County to retain six
justice of the peace precincts, passed
630 to 363
And Proposition 8, authorizing the
addition of 8500 million to the
(Continued on Page 2)
Proposition* 1 and 2, the much-
publicized water bill amendments,
received the largest margin of ap-
proval from local voters Tuesday.
AUSTIN (AP) — By giving over-
whelming approval to a 81.43 billion
water plan. Texan* took care of their
water needs into the next century,
state leaders say.
The state's voters — who had sent
previous water plan* down the drain
— easily passed Tuesday two con-
stitutional amendments needed to
enact the plan proposed this year by
lawmaker*
“It was a vote to resolve every ma-
jor water problem we have faced in
Texas for years," said Gov. Mark
White, who campaigned in favor of
the plan. “It was a vote for clean
water to drink, to glow food, to pro-
vide jobs and to prosper,"
With the unofficial tally complete
in all but one of Texas' 254 counties.
million state fund to back water
bonds issued by local government*
That backing would make the local
bond* more attractive to buyers
Proposition 2 is aimed at cutting
water use by helping farmers buy
water-saving equipment Seventy
percent of the state's water is used
for agriculture The constitutional
amendment approved Tuesday lets
the state sell 8200 million in bonds to
raise money for low interest loans for
farmers to buy equipment that uses
les* water
Whit*. Lt Gov. Bill Hobby and
Speaker Gib Lewi* backed the plan,
which was the subject of legislative
wrangling throughout the 1985 ses
sion
statewide by a margin of 58.02 per-
cent to 41.98 percent.
Voters in Palo Pinto County cast
542 votes against Proposition 13 com-
pared to 527 votes In favor of the
measure.
Arguments against the measure in-
cluded the fear that reapportionment
would remove local input through the
legislative process and would affect
the election process for district
judges.
Palo Pinto County shared a district
court with Hood and Erath Counties
until a single-county district court
was authorized for Palo Pinto County
by the state legislature in 1979.
Light Turnout
Dorothy L. Hine* sign* the roll a* the HHth. voter In the
Precinct 13 poll In the Crazy Waler Hotel. Voting was
light, but no lighter than expected for a ballot which on-
ly Included Constitutional amendments according to
(Index Photo)
clerk Lota Hhuffler, sealed right. Seated on the left is
polling clerk Maye Gibson. (See related story for
results.)
The victims were pari of u con-
struction crew that had worked on
the pipeline. Ingram said. The M
employees of Warren Petroleum
were unharmed, he said.
A fire was reported about 8:30
a m., followed by the first explosion
about fifteen minutes later. Police
Chief Fred Dodd said The second
blast came about 8:55 a m . followed
bv another five minutes later
"I felt the ground shake." said
Charlie Clevenger, an electrician
working about a half-mile from Hu-
plant “And when it shook. I felt one
explosion and then another II sound
ed like a sonic boom, one right after
another."
Warren Petroleum ha* operated
for about 28 years and also is the
largest natural gas storage facility in
the area
In 1980. officials discovered the
presence of lethal hydrocarbon gases
after a Mont Belvieu resident turned
on her dishwasher and it ignited
Official* found that more than H2o
million cubic feet of ethane propane
had leaked from a well Al one point
more than 70 familes were evacuated
from their home*, some as long as six
months
The mayor said city officials have
Iried since I960 to get the industry Io
buy out the landowners He said the
City Council will meet
Texas Gov Mark White
buyout option*
"People have suffered
now they should be fair to these peo
pie," Miller said “We re prepared Io
act hut we'r* waiting for them '
cent and 69 85 percent of the vote
statewide, according to figures com-
plied by the Secretary of State's of-
fice.
Propositions receiving the next
highest number of votes in the county
were the two amendments billed as
the "law and order amendments.”
Proposition 6, which allow* the
transfer of prisoners to out-of-state
prisons subject to interstate
agreements, received 775 supporting
TECAT Advisory
th* TDCAT teat developer. la sccor
dance with th* exact TECAT test
specification* approved by
Board of Education on July
contained in th* anxtoty manage
iry of terms contained
itad voacabulary sec
MONT BELVIEU. Texas (AP) -
Damages from a serie* of
underground gas storage-tank explo-
sions that killed two worker* and
forced hundreds to flee their homes
will run into th* millions of dollar*, a
petroleum company spokesman said
About 200 area firefighter* worked
almost six hours Tuesday to control
the blaze, fueled by liquified pro- ages and hometowns were not Im-
ps ne The fire was fed by three mediately available.
The 1,206 voters who turned out for
the election in Palo Pinto County Proposition 1, compared to 235
were more in agreement with totals against, and 867 votes were cast for
on the other 13 propositions, which all Proposition 2 with 302 vote* against,
were approved statewigg and coun- Those measures gained 73.97 p*r-
tywide.
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Bennie, Bill. Mineral Wells Index (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 157, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 1985, newspaper, November 6, 1985; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1170576/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boyce Ditto Public Library.