The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 1988 Page: 1 of 8
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Valley Mart
Inserts
Inside
THE RIO GRANDE HERALD
Serving Starr County For Five Dc oudes
H.E.B.
Inserts
Inside
Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
NO. 27 THURSDAY, MAT 12, IMS
FIFTEEN CENTS
Write-In Campaign Adds Spice To Water Election
Recount Planned In
Roma Trustee Elections
The Mr. and Miss RGC for the 1988 senior class at Rio
Grande City High School. Mr. RGC is Gilberto Garcia, Jr.,
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gilberto Garcia. Miss RGC is
Monica Garcia, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernesto
Garcia.
An incumbent member of the
Roma ISD board of trustees was
apparently defeated in Saturday's
school elections in Roma, and
another incumbent holds a slender
13-vote edge over her nearest rival
as all ballots in the election are
scheduled to be recounted Saturday
afternoon.
Also in Saturday balloting, in a
rare and possibly unprecedented
move, incumbent Water Board
members David Porras and
Armando Garcia waged a sudden
last-ditch write-in campaign to
attempt to keep their positions.
Both gained a substantial number
of votes, but fell short of the two
candidates, Miguel G. Lopez, Sr.,
and Reymundo Guerra, who had
been unopposed on the ballot.
In Saturday's Roma school elec-
tions, challenger Humberto Saenz
was the top vote-getter with 1509
votes. Incumbent school board
president Mrs. F.C. Gonzalez was
second with 1380 votes, and
challenger Ludivina Garcia was a
close third with 1367 votes. In-
cumbent trustee Jose Maria
"Chema" Garza finished fourth
with 1283 votes.
The top two votegetters will
assume the two trustee positions
that were up for election.
Roma ISD Superintendent
Eleuterio Garza, Jr., told The Rio
Grande Herald on Tuesday,
"There's been a request for a
recount by the number three
finisher, Mrs. Garcia."
Garza added, "We're trying to
get everything set. The way it looks
now, the recount will be held at 5
Trustees^ Pleased With
Outstanding- TEAMS Results
p.m. Thursday at the Board Room
of the Administration Building. The
school board meeting to canvass
the results has been postponed until
Friday at 7 p.m."
Garza said that the absentee
voting results were as follows, in
order of finish: Humberto Saenz,
850 votes; Ludivina Garcia, 807;
Mrs. F.C. Gonzalez, 781; Jose
Maria Garza, 742.
The election day vote in Roma
went as follows, in order of finish:
Humberto Saenz, 659; Mrs. F.C.
Gonzalez, 599; Ludivina Garcia,
560; Jose Maria Garza, 541.
Garza noted that the recount will
cover all votes cast for ail four
trustee candidates.
In Saturday's Water Board elec-
tion, candidates Miguel G. Lopez,
Sr., and Reymundo Guerra, who
had been unopposed on the ballot,
won election in the face of a sudden
write-in campaign waged by in-
cumbent !>oard members David
Porras and Armando Garcia.
Counting the absentee vote,
Lopez received a total of 215 votes
and Guerra 214. Both received 13
absentee votes each, and Guerra
and Lopez received 201 and 202
votes, respectively, in Saturday's
voting.
Porras and Garcia, who were
elected to two-year terms on the
Water Board in April 1986, received
139 and 138 write-in votes.
Armando Gonzalez received one
write-in vote, and Domingo Porras
received two write-in votes.
The final results of all voting for
the Water Board is as follows:
Miguel G. Lopez, Sr., 215 votes;
Reymundo Guerra, 214; David
Porras, 139; Armando Garcia, 138;
Domingo Porras, 2; Armando
Gonzalez, 1. The results of Satur-
day's election were canvassed at
Monday's regular meeting of the
Board of Directors of the Stan-
County Water District.
By KENNETH ROBERTS
Members of the Rio Grande City
CISD board of trustees, at their
regular meeting Wednesday night,
expressed pleasant and hearty
surprise at the substantial and
considerably greater than hoped-
for improvement in TEAMS test
scores for the district's third, fifth,
seventh, and ninth graders.
Diana Pena, Guidance Director
for the Curriculum Office, noted,
"We wanted an eight percent
increase in mastery. We exceeded
that goal in all grade levels. There
were increases district-wide in all
grade levels."
Pena noted that 52 third grade
students took a Spanish version of
the TEAMS test.
Pena noted that for third grade
students taking the English version
of the TEAMS test, the percentages
achieving mastery increased from
1987 to 1988 as follows:
Mathematics, 64 to 90 percent (up
26 percentage points); Reading, 47
to 80 (up 33 percentage points);
Writing, 38 to 63 percent (up 25
percentage points).
For third grade students taking
the Spanish version of TEAMS, the
levels of mastery increased as
follows: Mathematics, 55 to 90 (up
35 percentage points); Reading, 64
to 90 1 ?rcent (up 26 percentage
points); and Wri lg, 55 to 87 (up 32
percentage points).
In the fifth grade, the percent-
ages of mastery increased from
1987 to 1988 as follows:
Mathematics, 57 to 85 (up 28
percentage points); Reading, 49 to
75 (up 26 percentage points);
Writing, 37 to 55 (up 18 percentage
points).
The seventh grade percentages of
mastery increased as follows:
Mathematics, 63 to 83 percent (up
20 percentage points); Reading, 54
to 67 (up 13 percentage points;
Writing, 56 to 72 (up 16 percentage
points).
The ninth grade percentages of
mastery increased as follows:
Mathematics, 55 to 63 percent (up 8
percentage points); Reading, 39 to
51 (up 12 percentage points);
Writing, 25 to 40 (up 15 percentage
points).
Pena commented, "We still need
Bio High Honor Students
To Be Announced Friday
The Honor students of the senior
class at Rio Grande City High
School will be announced this
Friday.
All Honor students will be
Cap, Gown and Ring Ceremony
beginning at 10:40 a.m. at the
Multi-Purpose Center.
At that time, seniors will receive
their caps and gowns, and juniors
announced and recognized at the will receive their class rings.
to work on the writing and get
those scores up...This was the
preliminary report. We will have a
breakdown by campus later."
Superintendent Dr. A.E. Garcia
commented, "We are extremely
proud. We had good, results every-
where. We had a get-together with
our staff earlier today and con-
gratulated them for a job well
done. I talked to someone in Austin
who had heard about this, and she
wanted to compliment us on the
results of the TEAMS test."
Garcia stressed, "I'm proud of
the staff. They have done a
beautiful job...Look at the plus 26
percent in third grade. This staff
has gotten together and worked as
a team."
The superintendent continued,
"This proves to the agency and
everybody else that we can work
and do well. We've proved that our
teachers can do it and that our kids
can learn."
Garcia noted that "the team we
had from TEA a few weeks ago
said they like what they see." He
indicated that a follow-up team
from TEA will be returning on May
23-24.
Garcia told trustee Rafael Car-
rera, "I told them we're not going
to change anything. We may just
go over some little things in the
last week."
Garcia told The Rio Grande
Herald this past Friday, "We've
very pleased with the increases in
the TEAMS results. This means
that the staff is doing an even
better job than ever before."
At the meeting, Diana Pena
noted that the exit-level test results
'required for seniors to graduate)
should be known by Miy 20.
Board President Dr. Antonio
Falcon fe^ently praised Pena and
the entire staff for the excellent
TEAMS results, as did trustee
Rafael Carrera.
The board proceeded to approve
the calendar for 1988-89, which will
have 11 days of holidays for the fall
semester (Election Day, 1;
Thanksgiving, 2; Christmas, 8),
and seven days of holidays for the
spring semester (Youth Fair Day,
1; and Easter holidays, 6).
Under the calendar approved by
the board, Youth Fair Day will be
Friday, March 3, and the Easter
holidays will be from March 20-27.
About the calendar, Garcia
(See TEAMS, Page 4)
Drought Situation
Worsens
The drought situation in Starr
County is worsening by the day,
with substantial rainfall soon an
absolute must to avoid a much
worse situation.
That is the assessment offered by
Alfonso Perez, Starr County Execu-
tive Director of the USDA's Agri-
cultural Stabilization and Con-
servation Service. Perez said, "If
we have a normal rainfall month in
May, it would not help us any. Our
soils are in such poor shape that a
normal rainfall month would not
alleviate the situation.
Perez stressed, "We need a
wetter than normal May in order to
make it. From mid-July to late
High
Roma
Commencement Nearing
The commencement exercises for
the Roma High School senior class
of 1988 is scheduled for Tuesday,
May 31 at 7 p.m at the Roma High
School Gymnasium.
Prior to the graduation exercises,
8 Senior Mass will be held on
Sunday, May 29 at 10 a.m. at Our
Lady of Refuge Catholic Church in
Roma.
August, we normally get no rain at
all."
He noted that "We normally have
around 3Mz inches of rain in May.
April is normally not that wet. Our
best rainfall month, besides May,
is normally September."
Perez said, "We are at the edge
right now. If this was July or
August right now, I wouldn't be
overly concerned. The weather
conditions at this time of year are
of great concern."
A partially mitigating factor,
said Perez, is that "the excep-
tionally good cattle markets are
helping a lot."
Perez said, "Very few ranchers,
if any, are overgrazing pastures.
Most ranchers are feeding heavy,
at around $1 per head per day for
feed alone. Most ranchers cut back
on numbers (of cattle) after a
similar situation a few years ago.
Very few ranchers are overstocked
right now."
He added, "Grain an0 cotton can
go a little longer without rain, but
not much Ionizer. If we don't get
(See DROUGHT, Page 7|
Water Board Canvasses
Results, Reorganizes
Court Okays Off-State
System Paving Besolution
B> KENNETH ROBERTS
The County Commissioners, at
their regular monthly meeting
Monday, went on record as sup-
porting the submission of a resolu-
tion to the Texas Highway De-
partment supporting the paving of
.7 mile of Eisenhower Road.
County Judge J.M. Martinez, Jr.,
said, "I got a call from Mr.
(Frederic) Pacheco (Highway
Department Resident Engineer)
this morning, and he recommended
approving the resolution as it is
before we run out of time. "
The resolution supports the pav-
ing of .7 mile of Eisenhower Road
in Rio Grande City from El Sauz
Road to 0.7 miles west of
Farm-to-Market Road 755.
Eisenhower Road will be im-
proved through a new program
approved by the State Highway and
Public Transportation Commission
at their January meeting The
program will channel $93 million
into Texas cities to upgrade 55
state roads and 151 city streets.
At Monday's meeting, Precinct
One Commissioner Jose Maria
"Chema" Alvarez said, "I hope we
continue with that (the plan to pave
Eisenhower Street). Javier
(Margo) has been working with me
on that."
Federal Program Coordinator
Javier Margo said, "This just puts
us on record that we will be
participating. Some type of
amendment may be needed."
Alvarez expressed his conviction
that the court needs to stand by the
original plan to pave Eisenhower
Street.
Judge Martinez had noted that
Precinct Three Commissioner Eloy
Garza has asked about the possibil-
ity of Off-System funding being
utilized to pave roads in his
precinct.
San Isidro High
Commencement Set
Commencement exercises have School Auditorium
been scheduled for Friday, May 27
for this year's graduating seniors On Sunday, May 22, the Bac-
at San Isidro High School calaureate service for the
The graduation exercises are graduating class is scheduled for
scheduled to take place on Friday, 9:3o a m. at the San Isidro Catholic
Mav 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the High Church
Concerning the approval of a
resolution regarding drought con-
ditions in Starr County, Martinez
said, "The Governor has received
the request from my office, and an
analysis from the Emergency
Board "
The court then proceeded to
unanimously approve the resolu-
tion Margo said, "We'll send our
congressman a copy of the resolu-
tion."
Martinez noted that four county
offices and agencies - Treasurer,
District Clerk, Auditor, and the
Airport - have exhausted salaries
for at least one employee
Precinct Two Commissioner
Amando Pena suggested that the
matter be tabled for Friday, and
the court reached that decision by
consensus Martinez commented,
"I hope that by Friday we will
have an answer for these depart-
ments, because they are in a
quandary "
Margo told the commissioners,
"We received a letter from FHA
(Farmers Home Administration)
on that application Mr. (Danny)
Boultinghouse (architect) and my
office have been working hard to
organize this and answer FHA's
question."
The application has been made to
FHA by Starr County for funds to
carry out part of the construction
of the modernized Roma port
(See RESOLUTION. Page 3|
At their regular monthly meeting
Monday, the Board of Directors of
the Starr County Water District
canvassed Saturday's election re-
sults, saw two new members sworn
in, and reorganized its slate of
officers.
The final election results from
Saturday's election were noted as
follows " Miguel G. Lopez, Sr., 215
votes; Reymundo Guerra, 214;
David Porras, 139; Armando
Garcia, 138; Domingo Porras, 2;
Amando Gonzalez, 1.
Lopez and Guerra were the only
two candidates on the ballot for
Saturday's election. Porras and
Garcia, incumbent Water Board
members the past two years, did
not file on the ballot for re-election,
but launched a sudden write-in
campaign Saturday in an effort to
retain their positions.
After the results were canvassed,
Guerra and Lopez were ad-
ministered the oath of office by
attorney Alex W. Gabert.
After the two new members were
sworn in, board member Juan
Solis, Jr., nominated secretary
Jose I. "Pepe" Tijerina to serve as
president of the board. Solis then
nominated board president
Cipriano Lopez to serve as secre-
tary,
The financial report was then
given by McAllen CPA Paul
Dunning Dunning noted that total
revenue in April was $91,116,
compared to $86,861 in April 1987.
Revenue for 1988 to date totals
$346,107, compared to $325,883 for
the first four months of 1987
Expenses for April totaled
$93,059, compared to $87,586 for
April 1987 Expenses for 1988 to
date amount to $352,978 compared
to $285,408 for the first four months
of 1988
Net operating revenue for 1988 to
date shows a net deficit of $6871,
compared to a surplus of approxi-
mately $40,000 for the first four
months of 1987.
Dunning commented, "We need
to turn that around as soon as we
can. The Water District operates
on revenue alone."
Manager Efrain Duran said,
"The reason for the expenses being
higher is that we undertook the
remodeling of the water plant,
(mainly) by redoing the roof.
Three motors burnt out at a cost of
$1500. We had three pay periods in
the month (of April). That only
happens twice a year. It leaves us
a little short in cash the following
month, but we've always been able
to recover."
The manager also took comfort
in the fact that "revenues are up."
County Judge J.M. Martinez told
the board, "I got a letter from an
engineering firm that you might
a (See CANV ASSES. Page 4)
Reymundo Guerra, left, and Miguel G. Lopez, Sr.,
right, were sworn In Monday as new members of the
Board of Directors of the Starr County Water District.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 1988, newspaper, May 12, 1988; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195132/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.