The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 102, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 21, 1991 Page: 1 of 10
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OPEN SUNDAY
NOON TO 5:00 P.M
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Published weekly in Rio Grande City, Texas every Thursday by The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
Inserts
Inside
USPS 466-200
Vol. 80, No. 102, Thursday, November 21,1991
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Dr. Miguel A. Nevarez, president of the University of Texas-Pan American, is
pictured above addressing the audience at the Honor Students Banquet Thursday
night. Seated to the left are space shuttle astronaut and guest speaker Sidney
Gutierrez and Dr. Mario E. Ramirez, Vice-Chairman of the University of Texas
System Board of Regents.
Manslaughter charges filed
in four-fatality mishap
Involuntary manslaughter
criminal charges have been filed
against a 28-year-old driver from
0 Ohio in connection with a brutal
two-vehicle collision east of Rio
Grande City on U.S. Highway 83
near Garciasville cn Tuesday, Nov.
12 that claimed the lives of four
persons, including two young
children.
A DPS uooper indicated Monday
that Ronald C. Fudge, 28, of
Columbus, Ohio has been charged
® with four counts of involuntary
manslaughter.
Fudge, who was released from a
McAllen hospital on Monday, is
currently in custody in lieu of
$100,(XX) bond at the Starr County
Detention Center.
Fudge was arraigned Monday
before Justice of the Peace Dewitt
# Filing begins
Dec. 3
for primary
Benito Saenz, Starr County
Democratic Chairman, announces
that the filing for the March 10,
1992 Democratic Primary will
0 begin on Dec 3, 1991
Any person wishing to Hie for an
office has until Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. to
turn in the application and filing
fee. State law allows only cash or
cashier's check for the filing fees.
Applications may be submitted
to Saenz or Ms. L.idiana Corona at
the County Clerk's Office in Rio
Grande City. Saenz added, "I will be
^ at the County Clerk's Office on
Jan. 2 up until the 6 p.m.
deadline,"
Jones, who set bond at $100,000.
Earlier in the day, he was arraigned
in Hidalgo County before Justice of
the Peace Juan Rosel of Mission.
A DPS trooper termed the
four-fatality accident the most
gruesome seen in Starr County in
several years.
Jorge Fuentcs, 27, of Bangs,
Texas died at the sccnc and his tv.\_
sons, Adrian, 6, and Jorge, Jr., 8,
died at a McAllen hospital two days
later. A passenger in the other
vehicle, Mylon Duane Yoder of
Milliard, Ohio was dead on arrival at
a Mission hospital 90 minutes
later. Two others were injured in
the mishap, but arc expected to
fully recover.
The fatal accident took place at
approximately 2:20 p.m. on
Tuesday, Nov. 12. The mishap
occurred six miles east of Rio
Grande City on U.S. Highway 83,
about .8 of a mile west of the
intersection with FM 1430.
The DPS trooper indicated that a
1979 maroon Mercury Grand
Marquis two-door vehicle was
traveling eastbound on U.S.
Highway 83. Jorge Fuentes was the
driver, and his wife, Patricia, and
two sons, Adrian and Jorge, Jr.,
were the passengers.
A 1990 red Toyota Celica driven
by Ronald C. Fudge, 28, of
Columbus, Ohio was traveling
westbound toward Rio Grande City.
Mylon Duane Yoder, 24, of
Hilliard, Ohio, was the only
passenger.
The DPS trooper indicated that
"the red Toyota, traveling
westbound, attempted to pass a
pickup on the north side
Solis candidate for
Pet. 6 constable
Jaime Solis of I .a Grulla has
w announced his candidacy for
Precinct Six Constable in the
March 10 Democratic primary.
Solis, a graduate of Rio Grande
City High School in 1985, has
worked for the Rio Grande City
CISD for five years as a
coach/teacher aide at Grulla Jr.
High.
# Solis is the son of Macario Solis
and the late Severa Solis. He has
organized basketball tournaments in
which different teams from the
community participate During the
last three summers, he has been
active in reopening the. swimming
pool at La Grulla.
Solis said that if elected, he
would implement school and
0 community programs where the
youth ot the community would
play ar. active role in such activities
1
Jaime Solis
so they will be geared for a
successful and productive life.
Solis said. "I have a good
relationship with the Sheriffs
Department. Thus, the law
enforcement branch of this county
would be active in Precinct Six.
Astronaut lauds honor
students at banquet
unimproved shoulder. He tried to
pass to the right of the pickup on
the unimproved shoulder."
The trooper stated that "the
(Toyota) car veered left to try to get
back on the highway and lost
control. He (the driver) slid across
the westbound lane almost sideways
into the eastbound oncoming traffic
l;.-.c. The red Toyota 'hen stnirk the
Mercury on its front left portion
with the Toyota's front right right
portion."
The trooper declared, "Right
before the impact, the Mercury
attempted evasive action by veering
right The point of impact occurred
on the south side improved
shoulder."
Jorge Fuentes, the driver of the
Mercury, was pronounced dead at
the scene. He suffered a broken
neck, a broken hip, a broken pelvis,
and a compound fracture in the right
leg above the knee and below the
ankle. The trooper noted thai
Fuentes, a resident of Bangs, Texas
at the time, was originally a native
of Rio Grande City.
Mylon Duane Yoder, 24, a
passenger in the Toyota, sustained
massive head injuries, a crushed
chest, dislocated neck, broken
collarbone, fractured right pelvis,
fractured left ankle and a compound
fracture of his right arm.
Yoder died on arrival at Mission
Hospital approximately 90 minutes
later. The mishap caused both
Yoder and Fudge to be ejected from
the vehicle onto the pavement
Adrian Fuentes, 6, suffered severe
head trauma, a fractured cervical
spine (the C-l section of the spinal
cord), a fractured left femur,
lacerations to his left knee, and
internal abdominal injuries. He died
early Thursday evening between 6
and 8 p.m. at McAllen Medical
(See CHARGES, Page 4)
4-H Awards
Banquet
Saturday
The Starr County 4-H Council
and Adult Leaders will hold the
annual Achievement Awards
Banquet this Saturday at 11 a m at
the Rio Grande City High School
Cafeteria.
The banquet will begin with the
opening ceremony, followed by a
turkey dinner and the awards
program.
All 4-H families are invited and
encouraged to attend. Members and
Adult Leaders of 4-H will be
recognized for their
accomplishments.
Anyone seeking further
information should contact the
County Extension Office at
487-2306.
By KENNETH ROBERTS
Managing Editor
The highest achieving students
from Starr County and three other
South Texas counties heard space
shuttle astronaut Sidney Gutierrez
encourage them at Thursday night's
Honor Student Banquet to make
education the foundation of thitr
efforts to realize their full potential
in life and achieve professional
success.
The banquet, an annual event
under the leadership of Dr. Mario E.
Ramirez, the vice-chairman of the
University of Texas Board of
Regents, was held Thursday night
at the K.C. Hall in Rio Grande
City. Approximately 1000 iTigh
school seniors and juniors from
Starr, Hidalgo, Jirn Hogg, and
Zapata counties attended the event
Dr. Ramirez told The Rio Grande
Herald on Monday, "This successful
event drew attention from all over
the nation and the world. The
director of the UT-Austin
Ex-Students Association held the
annual meeting with the
International Council of
Ex-Students. He told them about
the banquet in Starr County and
they seemed very impressed."
The Honor Student Banquet was
presented by the alumni
associations and the Rio Grande
Valley alumni chapters of the
University of Texas at Austin,'
Texas A&M University and the
University of Texas-Par. 1
The 1991 event, as in past years,
received abundant financial support
from businesses and individuals
from both Starr and Hidalgo
Counties.
Another highlight of the banquet
was the remarks by the presidents
of UT-Austin, Texas A&M, and
UT-Pan American. All three
university presidents exhorted the
students to continue their education
at the college level, terming a
college education the indispensable
ingredient for success in the work
world.
Dr. Ramirez led off the banquet
by saying, "We arc grateful to the
Steering Committee, the banks, the
school districts, the law firms, and
the physicians that helped us."
In introducing Gutierrez, Ramirez
said, "Two years ago, we were
spellbound as we heard an astronaut
discuss space travel. We (my family
and I) went to Florida to waich die
flight of the space shuttle. The
flight was postponed for four days.
We attended a pre-fiight briefing."
Gutierrez was the featured speaker
at the 1989 Honor Students
Banquet. Gutierrez, an Air Force
lieutenant colonel, was the pilot of
the Space Shuttle Columbia
ST5-40 Spacelab Life Sciences,
SLS-1, a space and life sciences
mission that was launched from the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida on
June 5.
Gutierrez noted that he was
accompanied by three women and
four male astronauts, as well as 30
rodents and 2500 jellyfish. The
crew's mission lasted 10 days as
they orbited the earth 146 times.
'outioiTCZ said, I'm cxciied to
come back here again. I in excited
to sec the students and their
enthusiasm. This evening, I'll be
able to tell you first hand what it's
like tr> travel in space."
Tae astronaut then narrated an
18-min>.:tc film describing the space
shuttle's mi ion. He said, "Until
recently, nobody had conducted a
laboratory mission to determine the
effects of space on the human body.
Generally, space and weightlessness
are not that hostile of
environments."
Gutierrez noted, "We had a tunnel
from the orbiter to the laboratory. It
was easier to use the ceiling to
move around. Our legs gel smaller
and our heads bigger in space. You
have to rely more on your visual
perception."
The astronaut emphasized, "It
was fun to look outside the orbiter
• at earth. We could see the oil fires
burning in Kuwait. We got a good
look at the East Coast of the United
States."
Gutierrez indicated, "We spent
some time working on refrigerators.
We had specimens in the
refrigerator freezer. Tortillas were
one of our most common bread
items. Six people did pushups on
top of each other, all at one time."
He noted that "a seal broke off
from the orbiter, but we didn't have
to do a space walk. It was 2000 to
3000 degrees upon reentry into the
atmosphere. We spent a little over
200 hours in space. We traveled at
18,000 miles per hour in space and
at 300 miles per hour when we
reentered the earth's atmosphere."
Gutierrez told the students, "I vas
asked "Wis it worth it7' 1 decide ' 1
wanted to be an astronaut in the
fifth grade. It was 29 years later that
I got to fly. I had to do a lot of
(See BANQUET, Page 5)
Mills pleads guilty to
federal drug charges
Starr County Clerk Juan Mills
pleaded guilty in federal court on
Wednesday, Nov. 13 to two
drug related charges arising out of
his arrest in June 1991.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patty
Boothe indicated that Mills pleaded
guilty to one count of possession
with intent to distribute 99 pounds
and one count of money Laundering
U.S. District Judge Filemon Vela
was the presiding judge.
Boothe. said that Mills could
receive a maximum sentence of 20
years on the money laundering
count and up to five years on the
possession of marijuana with intent
to distribute charge. She noted. "He
had been charged with these two
counts, plus conspiracy."
Mills was arrested by a DPS
trooper on June 18, 1991 and
charged with possession of 99
pounds of marijuana after the
marijuana was found in the pickup
truck in which he and a passenger
were riding. Boothe said, "He was
stopped by a trooper involved in
vehicle inspection. He was stopped
because he failed to signal and
because the tinted windows were
too dark. "
The money laundering count to
which Mills pleaded guilty, said
Boothe, arose out of an incident
when "he took $4000 that he
received from selling drugs to make
a down payment for a truck that
was used to transport marijuana."
Mills' attorney, David Almaraz of
Laredo, was quoted in The McAllen
Monitor as saying, "The decision
was extremely tough. But the
exposure was so great we decided to
minimize our losses."
The Rio Grande Herald attempted
to contact Almaraz Tuesday
afternoon, but he was out of the
officc.
Boothe indicates that "the FBI
started an investigation after the
arrest. The FBI got the IRS
involved."
Mills is scheduled for scheduled
for sentencing in federal court on
Jan. 28, 1992. Boothe stated, "We
give the defendant the option to
cooperate with the government, as
we do with every defendant"
Booth said, "He (Mills) was very
sincere and very intense. He
sounded sincere with the judge and
accepted responsibility...He did not
say anything in court other than to
admit to the charges he pleaded to.
This was not a plea bargain."
Booth commented, "It's
encouraging that public officials
caught are accepting their guilL"
i
i
These high-achieving students from Rio Grande City High School were among
1000 academically outstanding students from high schools la Starr, Hidalgo, Jim
Hogg, and Zapata Counties that attended the Honor Student* Banquet in Rio Grande
City on Thursday, Nov. 14. The students heard encou ,ging words from three
university presidents. (RGCCISD Photo).
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 102, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 21, 1991, newspaper, November 21, 1991; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195316/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.