Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 148, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 16, 1997 Page: 1 of 12
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1587 MIX TEXAS
SOUTHWEST MICROPUBLISHIN6
2627 E YANDELL DR
EL PASO TX. 79903
K.T. Oslin chosen as LMC Outstanding Alumna see pg. 2
Chcrokccap/Hcrald
Texas' Oldest, Continuously Published Weekly Newspaper - Established Feb. 27 1850 as the Cherokee Sentinel
Holiday
Closings
Monday, Jan. 20
( it\ <>! \lt<>. W ells, ('mint) ('mirthou.se, RISI),
A I.SI), WISH, IN st Office, All banks
Vol. 148, No. 51- 12 Panes
Thursday, January 16, 1997
Rusk, Texas 75785
25 cents
i
Plans to transfer state parks dropped ETFS
reschedules
§!®t
meeting
Texas Historical Commission, Parks and Wildlife Dept. end dispute,
agree to share resources & draft master plan for state's historical sites
Plans to transfer the ownership of
state historical sites from the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department to
the Texas Historical Commission
have been dropped.
TP&WD Executive Director Andy
Sansom recently announced that
directors of both agencies signed an
agreement stating that the transfer
is not deemed advisable.
A plan for both agencies to work
together to establish more formal
ties was agreed upon during a two-
day workshop in Dallas recently.
Three state historical sites in
Cherokee County, including Jim
Hogg State Park, Caddoan Mounds
State Historic Site, and the Texas
State Railroad Historic Park, were
on a list of 23 state parks under
consideration for transfer.
The first hint of problems between
the two agencies surfaced during
the last session of the Texas Legisla-
ture when a bill transferring the
ownershipfrom TP&WD to the Texas
Historical Commission quietly died
in committee.
An equally-obscure rider slipped
into House Bill 1, the omnibus ap-
propriations bill, requiring the two
agencies to examine the pros and
cons of transferring the 23 parks.
The proposed transfer took on the
proportions ofahoetiletakeover until
both parties agreed to attend the
two-day workshop sponsored by the
Summerlee Foundation in Dallas.
Approximately 16 participants dis-
cussed a master plan of the state's
historical treasures for the next mil-
lennium.
Since the workshop, communica-
tion between the two agencies is 240
percent better, Conover Hunt, a
management consultant retained by
TP&WD told the Cherokeean/Her-
ald from her office in Marshall.
"Everyone is fired up and enthusi-
astic," she said. "We see a new
direction.
"The new master plan will not be a
Rusk authorizes
utility rate study
Members of the Rusk City Council
authorized the city manager Mon-
day evening to contact Stokes and
Associates, city engineer, to do a
utility rate study. The council met at
5 p.m. Thursday at city hall.
Mike Murray said the Attorney
General's office has slowed down the
issuance of $3.5 million city bonds
pending an utility rate study. Leroy
Grawunder, bond attorney, notified
the city of the attorney general's
decision prior to a mfceting of the
council at 5 p.m. Thursday. Mr.
Grawunder told the city manager
that the state considers the city's
utility rates too low.
The city voted last month to issue
Please see Utility Page 12
Water/Sewer
comparison for
corporate account*
Rusk $1,745
Aito $2,385
Carthage $1,745
Austin $2,240
Hlndsüori $1,692
WyST
*based on data supplied by the
City of Rusk, comparing
Birmingham Nursing Home's
usage to other citlee.
i
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■. • • v . - - * "
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wmmm
ilill
A Rusk city crew worked Tuesday to unclog a sewage pipe In front
of Rusk Elementary on U.S. Hwy. 84. This week's winter storm
caused only minor problems throughout the county. See related
story page 8.
report for the book shelf, thank God,"
said Ms. Hunt.
It will provide a blueprint for key
areas of concern including preserva-
tion, archaeology, museum interpre-
tation, museum operation and ele-
ments of recreation.
The diversity and size of Texas
makes the directive a challenging
one.
"We can look at Virginia, Minne-
Please see State Historic Page 12
Band hall
expansion
planned
An architect drawing for projected
renovation of the band hall was pre-
sented at the Monday evening meet-
ing of the Rusk School Board. The
current band hall has 4,840 square
feet, The new addition has 8,170
Bquare feet, Mike Leinback, school
architect told trustees.
"This plan calls for $230,000 to
$270,000," Tony Murray, superin-
tendent said. He added the district
will use bond mopey and interest
collected froth the bonds to pay for
this addition.
"We budgeted $30,000 for renova-
tions to the band hall, but we didn't
know at that time that the program
was going to grow like it has," Mur-
Please see RISD Page 2
A meeting of the East Te
Family Services Inc. boa
directora scheduled for'
day evening was postpone
until 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Ja
16 at 207 South Patton, Jac
sonville. The Tuesday meetii _
was Dostooned because óf In-
clement area weather; When
the board meets, members will
hear a report from a group of
auditors beaded by J. Thomas
SLmms from Roberts, Cherry
and Co, of Shreveport, La. The
auditors finished their work at
the East Texas Family Service
Inc. Henderson location Fri-
i$jay afternoon.
The agency handles $4.71
lion in federal Health Start t
state nutrition program i
Carolyn Meier, analyst f
Department of Health and)
man Services administra!—
forohildren and family services
in Dallas said ETFS is in the
processof takingactíons toco*
rect deficiencies. "They
report to this office (Dallas of-
fice) by the end of February
that deficiencies have been cor-
rected. Then, this office will
conduct a follow-up review to
Insure appropriate remedies
have been made. ETFS must
also respond to other allega-
WMm concerning ix< fjl
. ffab acttvities attdl „
office tin Dallas) Is moni*
activities doses **.
fi Pat Davis, chief i
fleer for East team
Services (ETFS), retu
call to the Cherokeean/H<
Üi iü •
::: lm.i).i|i.i.!.'iijii|." " Ml' I."I'll "I' " "I".'.' ■ ■ I.I.I I.I I 'i'i'i'i|i|i!i|i|^|i!i!WffW$WSjffy
Please see ETFS Page 12
MM
Lt. Gov. Bullock will not block 'Robin Hood' reform
The75thsessionof the Texas
Legislature convened Tues-
day, and one of the issues will
be the 'share-the-wealth'
school financing law.
Lt Governor Bob Bullock an-
nounced last week that he
would not block efforts to end
the 'share-the-wealth' financ-
ing law this year. As presid-
ing officer of the Senate, Bul-
lock sent a letter to each sena-
tor that said lawmakers are
free to revise the school fi-
nance laws.
State Senator Drew Nixon
said he favors Bullock's plan
to carefully study the Robin
Hood plan.
"Because Governor Bush has
requested the Legislature to
revamp the school tax system,
the Robin Hood Plan would
need to be included In the
study," the
senator ex-
plained.
The
premise of
theplanwas
for school
funding to
be equalized
by taking
$400 million
a year from
high-wealth
districts tobe distributed among
the poorer Texas school district.
The "Robin Hood" plan was
debated after it was passed by
the Legislature in 1983, but was
later upheld by the Texas Su-
preme Court in 1996.
Cherokee County schools will
be affected by any changes to
the financing since most school
districts in the county are low-
Bob Bullock
wealth onei*
"If they do away with the plan
it will greatly effect us," said
Tony Murray, superintendent
for the Rusk ISD.
The Rusk school district is
among the bottom 25 percent of
Texas schools in financial re-
sources. New ways of funding
the schools in Texas could cause
future concerns for administra-
tors.
'Tm not opposed to finding a
new plan, as long as they find
new funding,** continued
Murray. "Students from popr
school districts should be taken
care of too."
Murray said the point of the
Robin Hood plan was to allow
eachchild equal access to apub-
lie education.
"Why should students in poor
districts have a lower education
than rich ones," the Rusk su-
perintendent continued.
Jacksonville superinten-
dent Jeff Turner said he does
not think a change will notice-
ably Impact his school.
'The state is the one benefit-
ing from the program," he said.
"The state decides how much
money to send to Jacksonville.
This plan just gives them a
bigger pot to draw from," he
continued.
Taxes collected from 'the
high-wealth school districts
are collected by the state and
then distributed to the low-
wealth schools.
Turner said that his school
was growing quickly, and
since funding is based on the
individual student, they are
getting more students, not
more money.
Staples pre-files TDCJ
managed health care bill
Stating that he wanted to elimi-
nate "circular accountability," State
Rep. Todd Staples filed House Bill
403. This piece of legislation deals
with Managed Health Care Advi-
sory Legislation for Department of
Criminal Justice offenders in Texas.
Currently, the five member Cor-
rectional Managed Health Care Ad-
visory Committee is composed of six
members: two employed by TDCJ
appointed by the executive director;
two employed by the University of
TexaB Medical Branch at Galveston,
appointed by the president of the
medical branch; and two employed
by Texas Tech University Health
Service, Appointed by the president
of tlie university. One of the two
members from each agency must be
a physician.
Rep. Staples' HB 403would change
the composition of the Correctional
Managed Health Advisory Commit-
tee to ensure independent oversight
of the state's offenders health care
services.
Currently, the committee making
decisions is comprised of members
from the recipient agencies. HB 403
will eliminate any conflict of inter-
est or appearance of impropriety by
including independent citizen mem-
bers.
Texas must maintain indepen-
dent accountability of its agencies.
The Legislature appropriates more
than $260 million per year to Man-
aged Health Care for offenders. This
proposal will provide better over-
sight of taxpayer money by includ-
ing unbiased representation," ex-
Please see Rep. Staples Page 2
<■
Lost 7-year-old boy elicits quick
response from county's search unit
New communication system gets first field trial
By Terrie Gonzalez
Cherokeean/Hemld managing editor
A new communications system for
Cherokee County's Search and Rescue
Unit received its first field test Monday
when a seven-year-old boy was reported
missing in the Mixon community.
Utilizing nine alphanumeric tele-
phone pagers, SAR coordinator Jack
White summoned the assistance of the
elite "alert team," which responds on
location and coordinates a rescue plan
to be executed by SAR team volun-
teers.
While the nine-member team was in
route to the boy's home Monday, an-
other call came through to notify them
that the missing child had been found
at a nearby neighbor's home.
SubiVeejing temperatures and snow-
erusled fields added urgency to the
team's mission Monday. Precious minutes
were shaved from the unit's response time
with the Dasers.
"One call does it all," joked Mr. White.
However, the soft-spoken county exten-
sion agent takes the job of coordinating the
countys SAR unit very seriously.
During December, the unit fielded five
distress calls in five weeks. His greatest
frustration was the lag time in placing indi-
vidual calls to the nine alert team members.
Having each member carry a pocket-si zed
pager seemed the logical choice, so Mr. Whi te
dug deep into his personal pocketbook and
purchased the pagers for $700, and commit-
ted to $100 /monthly service fees.
The alphanumeric pagers allow versatil-
ity in communications: Whitecan call mem-
bers individually, or he can summon them
aa a group He also haa the option of keying
in a short message, or asking members to
give him an immediate «all back.
Cherokee County Commissioners have
expressed a willingness to include the
monthly paging fee in the budget during
workshops next July. However, Mr. White
refused all efforts to secure county fhnds for
the next seven months.
"I knew this was not a budgeted item, and
I dont believe in asking for things that are
not in the budget," he said.
In a year-end review to Cherokee County
Commissioners during Monday's regular
hearing, Mr. White updated members on
the unit's progress and training:
• 172 people in Cherokee County received
SAR training in 1996
• response team members conductsd one
füll-blown drill
30 members participated in a more
advanced, eight-hour training
raining volunteers, Mr
White said the unit recently added a second
bloodhound to the canine team.
In addition to trail
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Digging deap Into hit own peeketbeok, fceaich ami Heague coordinator
Jack Whit* bought nine pager* tor the unit * "alert team."
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 148, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 16, 1997, newspaper, January 16, 1997; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152303/m1/1/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.