The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 8, 1988 Page: 1 of 10
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Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co. MO. 44 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1988
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The volunteers who helped the activities of the Muscular Dystrophy Assocation over
the Labor Day weekend are pictured above at Marco Garza Chevrolet Monday
morning as the telethon was at its peak.
Over $12,600 Raised In
Starr County For MD A
A total of more than $6000 was
raised in Starr County over the
. Labor Day weekend in the fight
against muscular dystrophy.
Gigi Gutierrez told The Rio
Grande Herald on Monday that by
the time final figures were tabu-
lated on Tuesday, the figure should
have climbed over $6000. She noted,
"A total of $4372 in pledges were
collected over the phone."
Late in the day Tuesday,
Gutierrez indicated that the final
total came to $6157.86.
Gutierrez stressed, however, that
earlier, the Community Action
Council of South Texas, through the
Child Development Program of the
Headstart and Day Care programs,
under the direction of Adela G.
Guerrero, raised $6452 for MDA
through a number of activities,
including a bunny hop.
She emphasized, "In one year,
Starr County raised $12,609.86" in
the fight against muscular
dystrophy.
On Monday morning, Gutierrez
said, "Things are going fantastic. I
am very pleased. The cannister
drive has netted $545 16 " Later in
the day, she noted tha t a total of
$786.16 had been raised through the
cannister drive
She noted that the Roma Fire
Department contributed $700, that
the Rio Grande City Volunteer Fire
Department contributed $170, and
that Starr County 4-H'ers collected
$500 in about 2% hours time
through their "bucket brigade."
Gutierrez said, "This is the first
year of live coverage from Channel
4. This is the first year with
cannisters."
Gutierrez noted that Marco
Garza Chevrolet, where the
telethon was held,_wUl be donating
$25 for each car sold from Aug. 27
through Sept 5 This total came out
to $300.
She added that the Texas Light
ning Band played from 5 to 9 p.m
on Sunday evening. Also, two area
radio stations, including KCTM of
Starr County, provided constant
live coverage.
In comparing with last year,
Gutierrez noted that $3200 was
raised over the phones in 1987 She
noted that one wheelchair for a
muscular dystrophy victim costs
approximately $5000
I I
JEL Ifc
The County Commissioners held
a public hearing Tuesday morning
to allow county citizens to express
their opinions concerning the
court's proposal to maintain the
same tax rate for 1988-89, which
would mean a seven percent
increase from the effective
calculated rate
County Judge J.M Martinez, Jr.,
said, "The purpose of this hearing
is to discuss the proposed rate The
calculation of the rate is done by
the Tax Assessor-Collector. The
effective rate would bring in the
same dollars as last year. Since
there was an increase in valua-
tions, the effective rate goes
down."
Martinez added, "Last year, the
effective was 6287 The commis-
sioners decided to keep the same
rate, which resulted in a decrease
in revenue."
Precinct Two Commissioner
Amando Pena contended, "This is
not an increase for the local
taxpayers. The only ones affected
are the oil companies."
Ricardo H. Gonzalez of Rio
Grande City said, "The appraisal
went up quite a bit for me This is
going to affect me. Not only the oil
companies are affected."
Pena contended, "We're paying
old debts, and we are in very good
financial condition. If your valua-
tions were adjusted, it's not our
fault."
Martinez said, "Out of the $45
million increase, $17 million is new
housing and new business. A total
of $28 million is for the oil
companies."
Precinct Four Commissioner
Reynaldo "Moreno" Alaniz said,
, Roma School
Enrollments Increase
Hospital Holds Hearing
On Proposed Tax Hike
By KENNETH ROBERTS
The Board of Directors of the
Starr County Hospital District held
a public hearing Thursday night at
the hospital to hear public opinion
on the proposed tax increase of
slightly more than 150 percent for
1988-89
The majority of citizens at the
hearing basically favored the hos-
pital board's proposal, with the
only opponent being anti-tax
activist Margil Sanchez.
The Hospital Board voted, on
Aug. 22, to propose an increase in
the tax rate from just over eight
cents per $100 valuation to 20 cents.
They contend that such a step is
necessary to keep the hospital
open, in view of declining federal
reimbursements for the Medicare
and Medicaid programs.
Board Chairman Noel Benavides
began the hearing by saying,
"We've had, since 1983, a curtail-
ment of federal reimbursements on
Medicare and
Medicaid ..Renovation of the facili-
ty is' needed. We need more money
to recruit personnel, and to keep
those we have now."
Benavides also concluded that
much equipment replacement will
have to be done, due to the fact
that the hospital is now 13 years
old.
Margil Sanchez asked, "Since
you have only eight patients today,
do you think that it (the proposed
increase) will keep the hospital
open?"
Benavides replied, "The patients
coming in now are the ones who
are really sick. We still have to
have X number of personnel on the
floor. When you average it out over
the year, the average daily census
is 20."
Administrator Thalia Munoz
said, "The occupancy rate for the
past year has been 47 percent."
She said that the occupancy rate
was around 68 percent five years
ago. She stressed, "Our amount of
outpatient services has increased.
The first-day enrollments, on
Thursday, Sept. 1, of both the Rio
Grande City and Roma school
0 districts showed an increase from
•he first day of 1987, with the
promises of higher enrollments in
the near future
Rio Grande City CISD superin-
tendent Dr. A E Garcia noted that
the first day enrollment within the
district was 5505, compared to 5352
for the first day of 1987-88
Garcia said, "We're about 1000
short of our peak last year in
November, but that was as of
^ Thursday. This Friday, there will
be new enrollment figures. We've
registered a little over 200 new
kids."
The superintendent added,
"Right now, we're in pretty good
shape with the 22-1 ratio. Our
report to the agency is due Sept.
1 ."
Garcia noted the following com-
parisons between the 1967 and 1968
first-day enrollment figures at
6 RGCCISD schools:
Roque Guerra Elementary
School, 610 (in 1967) to 672; North
Grammar Elementary School, 355
(in 1987) to 343; Ringgold Elemen-
tary School, 966 (in 1987) to 958; La
Union Elementary School, 314 to
304; Grulla Elementary School, 408
to 423; Gmlla Jr. High, 318 to 332;
Ringgold Jr. High, 630 to 676;
Ringgold Intermediate School, 331
to 346, and Rio Grande City High
School, 1400 to 1450.
Garcia noted that the dis-
trictwide student to teacher ratio
on the first day of the 1988-89 school
year was 18.29 to l.
Roma ISD Superintendent
Eleuterio Garza, Jr., indicated
Tuesday that the district's first-day
enrollment was 4057. He said,
"We're about 87 kids over from last
year." He added that update
enrollment figures showed an in-
crease to 4245 students.
Garza said that the first-day
enrollment figures were broken
down as follows:
Roma High School, 938; Roma
Jr. High, 729; Roma Intermediate,
985; Florence J. Scott Elementary,
913; Kinder at Los Saenz, 253;
Pre-Kinder at Los Saenz, 127; Head
Start at Los Saenz, 76; First and
Second Grades at Escobares, 36.
T"
"Sixty two percent (of the valua-
tion increase) is for the oil
companies."
Martinez said, "It looks like we
will be within the budget for this
year. The locals will feel the pinch
of a very large increase by the
Hospital District."
The judge continued, "There are
some new projects that are coming
in that will require additional
capital. A total of $200,000 to
$300,000 is needed for right-of-ways
for extending U.S. 83 (the widen-
ing) to Sullivan City ."
Martinez said, "According to the
Soil Conservation Service, $4 mil-
lion has been set aside (by the
federal government) for the Los
Olmos flood control project. The
county would have to take care of
the right-of-ways."
Martinez said, "I would rather
have seen it go down to the
effective tax rate " But he said
that proponents of keeping the rate
the same as last year presented
reasonable arguments for their
positions, and added that in any
case, the four commissioners seem
firm in their support for keeping
the rate the same.
-<tr
I
I
J
J
to pay for a tremendous increase
for the hospital Agriculture is in a
crunch this year; we'll be caught
right in the middle." He said that
"I'm all for taking care of needs,"
but questioned the increase from
the effective tax rate.
Alaniz said, "If we didn't have
the hospital, we would have to pay
10 percent of our budget for
indigent care. Hidalgo County is
paying almost 20 percent of its
collections for indigent care "
Alaniz expressed the opinion that
the federal government should pay
the expenses of hospital patients
(See C.OMMISSIONKKS. Page 5)
Supreme Court
Justice Visiting
RGC Thursday
Texas Supreme Court Justice
Tom Phillips will be making a
campaign stop in Rio Grande City
on Thursday, Sept. 9
Phillips will appear to meet the
public at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at a
coffee at the Brass Bull Restaurant
Beto Garcia said, "We're going in Rio Grande City.
Food Pantry Adds
New VISTA Worker
We see 500 patients in the emer-
gency room a month. A few years
ago, it was 200 to 300 a month.''
Benavides said, "A lot of the
patients are charity patients. If all
patients would pay, we probably
wouldn't have to raise taxes."
Munoz said that 22 percent of the
hospital's patients are Medicare
patients,, with an additional 28
percent coming under the Medicaid
program. On top of this, she said,
approximately 30 percent are pro-
vided charity.
Board member Ross LaGrange
contended that if the increase goes
through, "we will be able to make
it, and possibly expand the services
to the people of Starr County, and
get better reimbursements. It (the
hospital) is not a profit organiza-
tion."
LaGrange added that
"Medicare/Medicaid is shifting the
burden for payment from the
federal government to the local
taxpayers."
Benavides said, "Fifty hospitals
have closed in Texas in the past
four years. Most of them were
rural hospitals
Local farmer John Shuford con-
tended, "The hospital is needed for
a large rural population if acci-
dents occur. The taxes are a
burden that we'll ha « to take." He
commented that hospitals
throughout the nation have been
going through stormy financial
times recently.
LaGrange said, "If the burden is
shifted from rural hospitals, the
tax rate will be brought dowr> if
this board has anything to say
about it."
Benavides said, "The tax rate
has gone down since the Hospital
District was established (in the
mid-1970's)." Attorney David
Guerrero said, "The tax rate was
around 70 cents (per $100 valua-
tion) when the hospital first
started. The proposed rate would
be less than one-third the original
rate."
LaGrange indicated, "The
average Hospital District in South
Texas is at 15 cents, without an
ambulance district. The manage-
ment of the hospital district has
done a very fine job in keeping our
heads above water."
Dr. Raymond Mussett, Chief of
Medical Staff, said, "A lot of this is
to purchase equipment, a one-time
deal. The equipment is old; we've
struggled with it. When equipment
gets older, maintenance costs rise
The Starr County Food Pantry
has recently added a fourth VISTA
worker, thanks largely to help from
the Starr County Industrial Foun-
dation.
That assessment is made by Gigi
Gutierrez, volunteer director for
the Pantry.
The new VISTA worker for the
Pantry is Mike Crim. Crim was
born in Rio Grande City and was
raised in Maryland Crim was
sworn in to serve for one year,
beginning Tuesday, Aug 30
Gutierrez stressed, "We original-
ly asked for two VISTA volunteers;
now we have four Rene Montalvo
and his staff (at the Industrial
Foundation) worked on the
application for 10 days The Starr
County Food Pantry would like to
higher and higher."
Mussett insisted, "The main
issue we're dealing with is whether
we want a hospital or not. We're
not trying just to maintain a good
hospital, but to have an excellent
hospital."
Mussett added, The rate will
help us maintain the hospital where
we can break even and provide
quality service to the community."
He warned that if the hospital
closes, "people are going to leave,"
and creation of jobs would become
a virtual impossibility.
Mussett stressed, "One of the
first things tourists (especially
Winter Texans) ask is if there is a
hospital and doctors in the commu-
nity. We have excellent nurses; we
want to keep them. We want to be
competitive with other communi-
ties."
Sanchez, conceding that the hos-
pital is needed, said that he had
come to Starr County Memorial
Hsospital in 1984 to be checked for
diabetes, and it was found that he
had a heart condition.
Sanchez said, "Doctors here do
not trust the hospital; he sent me
to the Valley. That was in 1984."
Mussett responded that a case
involving cardiovascular (heart)
problems called for highly
specialized care that was not
available at that time locally. He
noted that now, five heart
specialists come to Starr County
Memorial Hospital once a week.
(See HOSPITAL, Page 5)
Historical
Society To
Meet Sunday
The Starr County Historical Soci-
ety will begin its 1988-89 season on
Sunday, Sept 11 at 4 p.m. at the
Brass Bull Restaurant in Rio
Grande City.
A slide show entitled "Steam-
boating on the Rio Grande" will be
presented by Tom Fort, Curator of
the Hidalgo County Historical
Museum. The public is cordially
invited to attend.
New officers of the Society are:
Maxine C. Guerra, president; Sue
W Edgerton, vice-president; Dolly
P. Olson, secretary; Bernice War-
ren, treasurer; and Monica Trigo,
chairman of the telephone com-
mittee.
4-H'ers Invited
To Rally Day
Local 4-H'ers and leaders extend
their invitation to all families to
come out and find out about 4-H on
Monday, Sept. 12 at the Starr
County Fairgrounds
4-H'ers will set up exhibits and
will eagerly explain what 4-H is all
about.
The activities will get underway
at 6:30 p.m
Local 4-H leaders say that the
impact of the ongoing program has
increased interest, and local
members say they want to extend
the benefits of the organizations to
all the local youngsters
County Home Economist Yolanda
Morado said. "4-H's educational
programs are centered on the 4-H
"learn by doing" philosophy which
encourages youngsters to develop
life skills and set high standards of
achievement."
thank the Industrial Foundation for
their assistance in writing the
proposal for the two VISTA
(Volunteers in Service to America)
workers "
She added, "The VISTA program
is an opportunity to have
something established."
Gutierrez continued, "We have
goals and objectives that we have
to accomplish on a quarterly basis.
After one year, if we did what we
said we would for one year, the
program might be extended for
three years "
Gutierrez emphasized, "After the
VISTAs are pulled out, the pro-
gram has to be a completely
volunteer program Slowly but
surely, support and help for the
Pantry is growing "
1
The Starr County Industrial Foundation has helped the
Starr County Food Pantry obtain a new VISTA worker.
Pictured above from left to right in the first row are
Cella Villarreal, VISTA worker; and Gigi Gutierrez,
Pantry volunteer director In the second row are Mandy
Garza. Industrial Foundation secretary: Bcnilde Barrera
VISTA worker, and Lupita Cantu, VISTA worker. In the
back row are Cris Salinas. Foundation research analyst;
Roger Crim, newest VISTA worker; and Rene Montalvo,
Foundation Executive Director.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 8, 1988, newspaper, September 8, 1988; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195149/m1/1/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.