Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 30, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 14, 2002 Page: 1 of 23
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501.1 ME 25 XI Mill l< 3<> I SPS I 16 380 Di.ihh 1628 Levelland, Texas 79336 i<»28 Phone (806) 89 t 3121 Sunday, July 1 », 2002 14 Pages in 1 Section and Supplements
Levelland And
Hockley County
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Hockley County grand jury indicts 22 people
grade teacher at South Elementary.
* Kristy VanZandt as a third-
grade teacher at Cactus.
* Margaret Jordan as a
reading/Dyslexia teacher at South.
* Katherine Baker as a teacher
at the high school.
* Mary Torrez as a teacher at
the junior high.
* Kenny Berry as a teacher at
the junior high.
* Diane Hale as an elementary’
teacher.
The board also approved the
following change of assignments:
* Jim Lemons, from the junior
high to high school as a
teacher/coach.
* Vicki Carnes, from teacher to
librarian at South.
* Donna Pugh, from high school
teacher to administrative assistant at
West.
* Kay Schreicr, from teacher to
reading Dyslexia teacher at Capitol
Elementary.
* Heidi Blair, from junior high
teacher to math specialist at the
junior high.
* Pam Montgomery, from
special education counselor to dean
of instruction on the elementary
campuses
The board accepted the
resignations of middle school
teacher/coach Michael Clarkson;
high school teacher/coach Joel
Baker; and Cactus teacher Tammy
Bright.
Trustees also set salary
schedules for professional personnel
and teaching assistants for 2002-
2003.
The schedules, including local
increments to the state base, range
from $25,740 a year for a teacher
with no experience to $41,800 for
instructors with 20-plus years in the
profession
Teaching assistants will get a
$250 per year increase, based on
their experience
According to estimates
generated by the administration, the
cost of salaries should range from
68 percent to 70 percent of the
2002-2003 budget.
Levelland Independent School
District has reduced its overall
payroll by more than $500,000
through retirement incentives and
the absorption of positions.
With no comment, the board
approved the 2002-2003 district
improvement plan.
One goal of the plan is that 90
percent of all students in grades 3-
10 will pass each portion of the
TAAS by June 1, 2003.
A second goal is that the
performance gap between
minority/economically
disadvantaged and majority students
will be less than 5 percent by June
1,2003.
In other business, trustees
approved custodial bids for the
2002-2003 budget year. Bids were
accepted from Marquis Supply Co ,
Script Office Supply and City
Janitor
They also agreed to retain the
accounting firm of Duff, Myatt &
Blume to audit the district in the
coming school year
Board members approved the
creation of the position of
See TRUSTEES Page 2
RECONSTRUCTION — Brett McCarty puts in a metal comer on the new awning that he and Lee Hernandez,
right, have been working on in recent weeks. The two men have been putting up a new awning and foyer at
Lynwood Manor. The original awning was destroyed in April when the driver of a struck knocked it loose. The
unpact also separated the foyer from the main part of the building (Staff Photo)
Levelland school board
members hired a new principal for
Cactus Elementary Thursday and
approved a contract extension for
Superintendent Bob Martin
Trustees approved a
recommendation from the school’s
site-based committee that Karl Race
assume the post at Cactus.
Race has served as assistant
principal at Levelland Middle
School
After meeting in executive
session for more than an hour, the
board OK’d Race and extended
Martin’s two-year contract by a
year
Trustees also approved a $3,000
pay raise for Martin, pushing his
salary to $89,000 a year
The board accepted personnel
recommendations on 21 individuals
All but one of them was approved
under a consent agenda
The board voted separately on a
recommendation to move Chad
Walker as a teacher/coach at the
high school to a similar position at
the junior high
Trustees OK’d the change of
assignment 5-2. David Etheredge
and Joyce Johnson voted against the
measure
The other personnel
recommendations approved were:
* Richard Cruce as
teacher/coach at the junior high.
* Joan Levens as a counselor at
West Early Childhood Center.
* Barbara Phillips as a teacher/
coach at the high school.
* Michael Prokop as a teacher/
coach at the high school
* Maricarman Solis as a second
Trustees tap principal
for Cactus Elementary
Twenty-two people were
indicted Wednesday on charges
ranging from drug manufacture to
theft and drunk driving
Three defendants were indicted
for the same charge, possession of a
controlled substance with intent to
deliver, after deputies found
methamphetamine and chemicals use
to manufacture the drug in their
possession
Bond for both Anthony Allen
Rodriguez, 18,. and 21-year-old
Michael Moreno Gomez of Anton
was set at $10,000 It was
recommended at $2,500 for
Courtney Aaron Shaw
The three men were arrested
June 3 after a deputy found
Rodriguez and Shaw with their two
vehicles on the side of the road near
Anton
Deputies found drug
paraphernalia in Rodriguez’s car
and a small quantity of meth in his
wallet.
When lawmen went to the
suspects’ residence, they found
chemicals, powder and two syringes
with liquid in them, reports said
In a separate case, the grand
jury returned indictments against
three people suspected of
manufacturing meth
Each defendant was indicted for
possession of certain chemicals with
intent to manufacture a controlled
substance The chemicals were
ephedrine or pseudoephedrine,
lithium metal, muriatic acid, ethyl
ether, petroleum distillate and rock
salt
Bond for each person was
recommended at $20,000
The defendants were Derwood
Roberts, Andrew Lyndecker, and
Melissa Moore
The circumstances leading to
their arrests on June 21 occurred
when Roberts allegedly gave
Lyndecker a container of chemicals
at a residence here. A woman who
lives there called police after she
opened the container and was nearly
overcome by fumes. Lyndecker
threw the metal container over a
fence, a report said
Roberts was a passenger in
Moore’s car when the two of them
were stopped by police a short time
later.
Officers found various
chemicals and items in Moore’s
vehicle. She and Roberts were taken
into custody.
Kathy Pair Mitchell of Lubbock
was indicted for possession of a
controlled substance Bond tallied
$2,500.
Lawmen arrested her June 4 for
possession of less than a gram of
cocaine. They found several plastic
comers containing a white powder
in the trunk of her vehicle. A used
syringe was also seized as evidence.
Miles Alvin Crawford, 35,
Dr. Tim Metzger joins
staff at South Plains
Dr Timothy Metzger, a new
family practitioner, is now on staff
with South Plains Rural Health
Services in Levelland.
The son of a retired Methodist
minister, Metzger is no stranger to
West Texas He grew up in the
region, moving to new towns every
four or five years.
He graduated from Lamesa
High Schodl in 1984 and enrolled at
Texas Tech University, where he
earned a bachelor’s degree in
secondary education
He took a different path after
graduating from college, though
Under the auspices of
University Language Services - a
Christian organization based in
Tulsa, Okla. - he agreed to teach in
China.
“We taught English and were
able to witness at the same time,’’ he
said
Metzger taught English to
Chinese college students in the city
of Guiyang, in south central China.
“Most of my students, they
already knew grammar They
needed somebody to practice
speaking to,” he said. “It was a good
time. It was hard and fun, too.”
He found most Chinese to be
receptive to him.
“They were all very interested
in Americans,” Metzger said. •
“Generally, they were very
receptive.”
Metzger, who was in China
from 1988 to 1989, said the Chinese
leaders wanted to emulate the West.
But they also wanted to keep a “grip
on the people.” '
“The people didn’t get it
(freedom),” he said. “They told them
they were free, and they thought
they were free ”
After returning to the United
States, he began working on a
master’s degree in linguistics at the
University of Texas at Arlington. He
was also interested in the idea of
translating the Bible into some of
the lesser known languages in the
world.
Metzger got married at that time
and decided not to pursue linguistics
any further He left the field six
months short of earning a degree
See DOCTOR Page 2
earned an indictment for aggravated
assault. Bond was $10,000.
On May 4? Crawford allegedly
stabbed Ruben Gonzales *with a
knife, causing a 2-inch laceration to
the victim’s lower right side.
Crawford apparently became
angry after he accused the victim of
taking money from him, according to
records.
Jennifer Holloway of Smyer
was indicted for injury to a child.
Bond was set at $ 10,000
Holloway was charged with
injuring a boy under the age of 15
by striking the youth. He suffered
bruises, two black eyes and a busted
blood vessel in the eye.
•Levelland resident Tina
Lashalla Lockett was indicted for
forgery. Her bond was $2,500.
Lockett allegedly altered a
check on May 19, changing the
amount. The check was written on
the account of a Lubbock resident
Kayla Israel, 19, of Levelland
was indicted for unauthorized use of
a motor vehicle. Bond was
recommended at $5,000.
Israel was charged with taking
Ropes ISD hires supt.
A Lubbock school admmistrator
was hired this week as the new
superintendent of the Ropes
Independent School District
Gary Lehnen, who has worked
as a principal at Cavazos Junior
High in Lubbock, was approved for
the post in Ropesville, said Randy
Smith, school board president
Lehnen was one of six
applicants He succeeds Elbert
Wuthrich, who is now
superintendent of the Whiteface
school district.
Smith said Lehnen was one of a
group of “quality individuals” who
applied for the job
“Because of the time frame we
were working in, we felt we could
ask for the best.” he said “We were
very successful ”
Lehnen has mainly worked in
the Lubbock school district. He also
spent some time in Pampa.
The school board voted to hire
him during a meeting Tuesday night
In other business, the board
hired two new employees and
accepted the resignation of one
other.
Lori Smith, who has taught in
Whitharral, will now teach science
at Ropes ISD.
Kay Herron-Rogers was
approved as the new school
counselor.
The board accepted the
resignation of David Paschall, who
has taken a job with the Cooper
school district.
NEW PHYSICIAN — Dr. Timothy Metzger, a family medicine
practitioner, is now on staff with South Plains Rural Health Services in
Levelland. Metzger completed his residency this year and is one of three
physicians serving patients at the clime on John Dupre Drive. (Staff Photo)
a 1997 Plymouth Breeze without the
permission of her mother. Sandy
Israel, on May 31. The defendant
wrecked the car in Lubbock,
according to records.
James Pevytoe of Levelland was
indicted for forgerv. Bond totaled
$2,500.
Lubbock resident David Coke
Dickey, 40, was indicted on two
$15,000.
A Department of Public Safety
trooper stopped Dickey for speeding
on Texas 114 on June 23. Syringes,
Pevytoe supposedly wrote a $30 'a white powder and other items were
check on the account of Angela c *-•-!-
Thrash on May 3. Three other
checks were also written on the
account
The grand jury indicted Lorenzo
Childers for driving while
ih(oxicatcd His bond was $5,000
i The 45-year-old Levelland man
was speeding when he was stopped
by a highway trooper June 5
Childers refused to take a breath
test.
Grand jurors learned that
Childers had two DWI convictions
on his record He was convicted of
the offense in Hocklev County in
1995 and 1999
Another repeat drunk driving
offender, Clyde Sky Young, was
also indicted Wednesday for DWI
Bond was recommended at $5,000.
A highway trooper arrested
Young on May 28 The defendant
had two open cans of beer in his
vehicle at the time.
Young took a breath test which
revealed his blood alcohol content to
be between 116 and 117
He was convicted of DWI in
Midland County in 1990 and in
Terry County in 2000
found in his vehicle.
Dickey was charged with
possession of more than 4 but less
than 200 grams of methadone, and
possession of 1-4 grams of
oxycodone.
Michelle Bautista was indicted
for criminal mischief. Bond was set
at $2,500.
Bautista allegedly caused more
than $ 1,500 but less than $20,000 in
damage to Tammy Zamora’s Eighth
Street rent home Feb. 21.
Pedro Bordayo of Levelland
was indicted for drunk driving. Bond
was $5,000.
Bordayo was going 57 mph in a
45 mph zone on Texas 114 when he
was stopped by a lawman June 5.
He was arrested for DWI, speeding
and having no driver’s license and
insurance
He had two prior DWI
convictions He was convicted of the
crime in 1994 in Bailey County and
in 1998 in Cochran County.
Bobby Jack Saxon of Levelland
was indicted for theft of property
valued at more than $1,500 Bond
was $2,500.
See INDICTS Page 2
Heavy rain, scattered
hail lashes county
Hehvy thunderstorms erupted
across the county Thursday
afternoon, unleashing heavy rains
and hail and sparking a tank battery
fire
No one was injured when
lightning caused a tank battery fire
shortly before 6:30 p m at Black
Gold and Justin roads The battery
was listed as the property of
Wheeler Operating
Lightning also ignited a grass
fire after 5 p.m near the intersection
of Dallas and Georgia roads
Firefighters were en route to the
blaze when heavy rains apparently
extinguished it, said Fire Chief
Marvin Brewer
Thunderstorms that moved
through Levelland caused street
flooding acjpss the city
Six to eight inches of water
covered stretches of U S Highway
385 north of the intersection at
Texas 114.
The storms dropped 1 25 inches
of rain in downtown Levelland
Rainfall amounts around the
county varied widely
From 1.2 to 13 inches of rain
fell north of Whitharral, said
grower Bud Reding Hail also
damaged cotton fields in the area, he
said.
Cotton ginner Neil Atchison
said more than 200 acres of cotton
were destroyed on a farm near
Whitharral
Scattered showers dropped a
few tenths df an meh of precipitation
in the area of Citizens-Shallowater
Co-op Gm.
Gin manager Randy Kennedy
said he had heard of reports of small
hail east of Shallowater.
Thunderstorms produced a half-
inch of rain west of Ropesville, said
Randy Smith.
But only .20 of an inch of rain
fell at Arnett, said Ruth Villegas
Steady showers put a half-inch
of precipitation in rain gauges in the
vicinity of Long “S” Gin, said
employee Lettie Roberts.
“Some of the fanners got a little
better than an inch,’ said Mrs.
Roberts. “It showered very nicely.”
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Rigg, John. Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 30, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 14, 2002, newspaper, July 14, 2002; Levelland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1202433/m1/1/?q=Cadet+Nurse+Corps: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Plains College.