The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 50, Ed. 1 Monday, December 29, 1997 Page: 1 of 12
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Volume 76, No. 50 Telephone Number: 422-8302 Monday, December 29,1997 Baytown, Texas 77520 50 Cents Per Copy
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Roll Call
Wrapup of the year's
most important issues
Bible Verse......4-A
Calendar..’.....2-A
Classifieds..........SB
Comics..........3-B
Obituaries.......3A
Opinion.........4-A
Police Beat......3-A
Television.......2-B
The Beauty of Art
Photo by John Rowland
ISorgs
The Baytown City Council has set
a public hearing at 12:30 p.m. today
in the Municipal Service Center,
3200 N. Main St., regarding a pro-
posed plan to include the Chevron
Cedar Bayou plant within a reinvest-
ment zone.
Company officials are considering
a $150 million to $160 million ex-
rate to 7.75 percent — shoppers
would still pay less compared to
buying in Houston, where the sales
tax rate is 8.25 percent.
The sales tax would pay for law
enforcement improvements de-
signed to accommodate Baytown’s
growing population, including the
addition of 10 new officers to the
police department: six for traffic
detail, a detective to investigate
family violence, two juvenile crime
detectives and a truancy officer.
The tax will also fund the con-
master classes, seminars and work-
shops, conducted by well-known
artists and art educators. At stake is $3
million in scholarship funds and up to
$300,000 in cash awards. Up to 50 of
, the students selected for ARTS Week
will be nominated for eligibility .to be
named U.S. Presidential Scholars in
the Arts.
monoxide in your home. Entex recom-
mends purchasing a detector with an.
audible alarm and continuous digital
display. Also, be sure it is tested to the
national standard for residential carbon
for upgraded municipal facilities
and services.
“A half-cent sales tax is a very
fair tax, too. The sales tax is proba-
bly the fairest tax a city, or any gov-
ernment, can have. The sales tax
doesn’t draw any boundaries, and
everyone who buys One thing pays
the same amount,” Lee said.
Merle Hunt, co-chair of Citizens
As Baytonians head to the polls
on Jane 17 to consider a proposed
half-cent sales tax increase that
would finance enhanced policing
efforts, those who live outside the
city and shop here will no doubt
monitor the ballot results with in-
' terest.
From Sun staff reports
With chilly temperatures continuing
to linger in the Baytown area, Entex is
encouraging all gas customers to have
their appliances checked to ensure then-
safe operation.
“This is a good time to remind cus-
tomers of the importance of having
their heating systems inspected annually
by a qualified technician to ensure that
steered him toward applying for art
school and scholarship opportunities.
Focusing more on his art has given
him several edges over many of his
high school counterparts, he said.
“(It’s given me) a sense of direction.
That’s one thing that you find a lot of
people don’t have and that puts me
onto our dollars, but this is going
for a good cause,” Lee said Friday.
“The people outside Baytown
would benefit from what it’s used
for.”
Lee knows all too well about the
challenges involved in convincing
citizens to support sales tax in-
tion District, added that even with
But he remains a staunch sup- the half-cent sales tax increase—
‘I know all of us want to hold porter of using sales taxes to pay which would raise the cjfy’s current
Carbon monoxide can be produced A carbon monoxide detector is anoth-
by incomplete combustion, often the re- er line of defense against carbon
suit of improperly adjusted or poorly
ventilated appliances. .
Consumers should follow' manufac-
turers’ operating inSttuctions properly
for their gas heating equipment. Do not
tax increase indicates 40 percent of
the $2.8 million generated annually
by the extra half cent would come
from those who aren’t citizens.
The tax wouldn’t be levied on
any purchases considered essential,
such as food, prescription medi-
cine, housing or vehicles.
Mont Belvieu Mayor Bob Lee creases geared for public improve-
wished the best of luck to crime ments — Mont Belvieu residents , ___
control district supporters as they voted against two half-cent sales for the Crime Control and Preven-
Information from city officials attempt to convince the rest of Bay- tax increases in May.
about the Crime Control and Pre- town to vote for the sales tax.
vention District created by the sales
If he is nervous about the upcoming
competition, it doesn’t show. Maybe
that’s because this Baytown teen-ager
has had plenty of practice explaining
his art and his knowledge of technique
to art school recruiters.
Ronquillo, who began to focus on
his art last year, says he was pushed by
his art teacher, Karen Edwards, who ahead,” Ronquillo said
Cottar favors
implementing a
new tax system
By CHRISTIAN MESSA
The Baytown Sun
The time has come for Baytown to finally receive
representation in Congress from someone who truly
understands the needs of the city and its residents, says ■
Tom Cottar, who is seeking the
Republican nomination for the
Ninth Congressional District elec-
The 53-year-old Baytown resi-
dent said die city’s east side con-
tinues to search for understanding
oh Capitol Hill from a congress-
man who lives here and knows jB
how to relate to the surrounding B—-
community and district. Cottar
“A lot of people know my prin-
ciples and integrity—no one is going to have to guess
•■■■ where I stand on issues,” Cottar said.
One such issue in his political platform calls for
ending the federal income tax. »
“I think the major thing now is the intrusiveness of
government,” he said, referring to the Internal Revenue,
Service and the'income tax. “That item will be heavily
debated. The solution I think is to have a national sales
tax or consumption tax, and the only way to do that is
to repeal the 16th Amendment.”
The constitutional amendment allows Congress to
tax citizens according to their income.
Cottar advocates the national sales tax as being a
fairer tax. “People are punished... based on what they
save in addition to their earnings,” he said. People who
have mutual funds are taxed on what they earn and
savings account interest is taxable too, Cottar said.
Cottar, the owner of United Major Medical, Inc.,
also supports sunset provisions for every federal
agency, which requires them to justify their existence
and need for tax dollars.
. Married to his wife, Linda, for 31 years, Cottar is a
U.S. Navy veteran and member of Memorial Baptist
combines with the blood and prevents it room. Crack windows slightly if using Church. He has also served on numerous Republican
from absorbing oxygen. unventilated space heaters. committees.
Besides Cottar, League City police officer Onzelo
Markum and Santa Fe resident Adonn Sloan will be
competing for the GOP’s Ninth District nomination in
the March 10 primary and the right to challenge the
Democratic nominee in November. The filing period
ends Jan. 2.
The Ninth District is currently represented by De-
mocrat Nick Lampson.
W, student to
participate in
ARTS Week 98
By EMILY ELSEN
The Baytown Sun
He seems like an ordinaryhigh
school student. He goes to school each
day and has an after-school job. But
when he goes home and enters the
doors of his art studio, Robert E. Lee
High School senior Jeffrey Ronquillo
transforms.
Fueled by creativity and charged
with passion, he often works until the
wee morning hours, striving to perfect
his paintings and sketches. Other days,
he’s busy marketing his art and himself
to critics, art schools and patrons. „
“It’s not really a job. It’s a lifestyle,”
Ronquillo said. “Sometimes, you’re
not in the mood to draw. For me, I
work best when I’m inspired. That
nf Wd wnrkknri come Jeffrey Ronquillo, an art student at Robert E. Lee High School, has been chosen from a nation-wide pool of 8,100
- serious marketing recently paid off applicants to travel to Miami to participate in ARTS Week '98 and vie for scholarship funds and cash awards.
when the 18-year-old was selected as
one of six Houston-area young artists
to participate in ARTS Week ’98, be-
ginning Jan. 6,1998. He is among 124
teen-agers selected from a national
pool of.8,100 applicants.
. These teen-agers will receive round-
trip airfare to Miami and will be evalu-
ated through a series of performances,
Council hearing is set for today
pansion at a Chevron facility, and the
Baytown plant is reportedly compet-
ing with a Port Arthur facility to gar-
ner the expansion, which will tem-.
porarily employ dearly 1,000 work-
ere and create 55 permanent jobs.
The reinvestment-itorie’ is designed
to increase Chevron Cedar Bayou’s
chances of securing the expansion;
struction of a new municipal court
and jail to replace the currently
overcrowded facilities, replace the
city’s 30-year-old communications
system, renovate the existing police
building and construct a police
training academy.
Early voting for the sales tax in-
crease referendum begins Wednes-
day at the Baytown Community
Center and continues through Jan.
13, excluding New Year’s Day.
Residents may vote from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Early voting for crime district funding begins Wednesday
By CHRISTIAN MESSA
The Baytown Sun
Check heaters to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning
the equipment is in good operating con-
dition for when very cold weather gets
here,” said Robert Jones, president and
chief operating officer of Entex. ;
Heating units should be inspected
yearly, preferably prior to heating sea-
son, for the release of carbon monoxide,
a poisonous gas that js colorless, odor-
less, tasteless and non-irritating.
When breathed, carbon monoxide. use stove top burners or ovens to heat a monoxide detectors,
Man found safe in motel room
from Sun staff reports ,
A 25-year-old man who had been reported missing Friday night from
the Baytown Marina was found safe and sound the following day at a
local motel.
According to Baytown police, Jason Baldwin was found by his wife
Saturday morning in a motel room on Highway 146 after he disap-
peared the previous night from a club.
Baldwin apparently declined to comment about why he disappeared
without telling family members where he was going, saying only that
he felt sick and decided to rent a motel room for the night.
|
OMHiiMiiiBK-—i
Monday: Sunny and
breezy, lows in upper 30s
tonight.
Tuesday: Sunny and
warmer, highs in mid 60s.
Art by Stephanie Rosas
Best of’97
Lady Eagles take
topspotintopten
Nat Hentoff
Privately controlled
prisons not a good idea
What’s Inside
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Dobbs, Gary. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 50, Ed. 1 Monday, December 29, 1997, newspaper, December 29, 1997; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1176700/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.