The Texan (Bellaire, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 36, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 8, 1985 Page: 1 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Bellaire Friends Library & Historical Society.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Council: Pay up or else...
By Karl Doerner III
Bcllaire is cracking
down on delinquent tax-
payers.
D.ti „ :. r". m
otnanc v-nj v.uuiiv.ii
voted Monday night to
charge delinquent city
property taxpayers an
extra 15-percent penalty
on their overdue 1984
city property taxes that
are still unpaid after
July 1 of this year.
This will be in addi-
tion to current penalties
and interest on delin-
quent taxes, which a-
mount to seven percent
for the first month they
uiC \j V £ l d u v; a ft u inu
percent for each month
after the first that the
taxes remain out-
standing.
City officials say they
need the extra 15-
percent penalty to pay
an Austin law firm they
are hiring to collect the
city’s delinquent 1984
taxes, which currently
total $237,917.
A new state law al-
lows cities to hire out-
aiut law firms to collect
delinquent taxes for a
fee of 15 percent of the
unpaid taxes, penalties
and interest, which can
be passed on to the
delinquent taxpayer.
Up until this year, the
city’s 12-man Finance
Department has handled
delinquent-tax collec-
tions in Bellaire.
But city officials say
that has prevented the
department’s staff from
doing some ^1 its other
duties.
“Bellaire has always
had a good collection
rate on taxes,’’ Bellaire
City Manager King Cole
told The Texan prior to
Monday night’s council
vote, “but there have
always been taxes out-
standing. 1 think we
have a responsibility to
the taxpayers to pay
their taxes to insure that
everyone pays their
“Our problem has al-
ways been in having
sufficient staff to act in
that capacity of getting
out and working and
pursuing those delin-
quent taxes,” Cole con-
tinued. “This gives us
an alternative at no
additional cost to the
city.”
“This is just a more
efficient collection sys-
stem,” added City Fi-
nsnc_* Director Douglas
Seckel. "With the abil-
ity to recover the legal
fee, we net more for the
city.”
Some 820 of the city’s
approximately 8,000 tax-
payers have not yet paid
their 1984 tax bills,
which were sent out in
early December of last
year and were due on
Jan. 31 of this year.
This amounts to
$237,917 in unpaid taxes
out of ** tots.! of
$4,237,000 billed by the
city last December, Sec-
kel said.
With the 15-percent
extra penalty, a tax-
payer will have to pay
$35.70 in penalties and
Coq|lnued on Page 6
©19857110 Texan Newspaper
r.v.
v
• AynMr* # BaHaint • Bonham Acres • Braaburn Gian
• Bnabum Tarrace • Braobom Vallay • Brats Haights
* Brass Manor * Braasmont ■» Braaswood • Broadacrts
• Codas* Court * KnoHwoodVKiagt # Larkwood • linkwood
• Maplewood * Mayariand • Muaaum Araa • RoblndsM
* Sharpstown • Southampton • Southern Oik* * Southgate
• Southstde • Sunset Terrace • Wessex * Westrldp*
P Weal University * Westwood # Windermere
■ ,s * Wood*hire * Woodslde
BOX 999 • BELLAIRE. TEXAS 77401* (713)660-7112 VOL. 31 NO. 36/MAV 8,19CS
y .sst'T”
Bandit strikes again
By Karl Doemer 111
Two more near south-
west Houston busi-
nesses have fallen prey
to the lone bandit.
The latest victims are
Kenneth's Salon, a
beauty parlor at 4121
Montrose Blvd. at Col-
quitt Street in the near
southwest's Museum
Area neighborhood, and
La Rose Cleaners, a dry
cleaning shop at 5111
Buffalo Spdwy. at Pur-
due Street in the Green-
way Plaza area.
At 1:55 p.m. last
Tuesday, April 30, the
bandit, described by vic-
tims as a black male in
his late 30s who is about
six feet tall and very
thin, walked into Ken-
neth’s Salon, on the
northeast corner of
Montrose and Colquitt,
and asked the owner of
the salon, Kenneth
Barnes, if he could cut
the yard. When Barnes
told the bandit that the
owner of the building
takes care of the yard,
the bandit pulled a gun
from his waistband and
took $380 in cash from
the wallets of Barnes
and two female employ-
ees of Barnes who were
in the salon when the
bandit entered (There
were no customers in
the shop at the time).
The bandit then fled on
foot with the loot,
Barnes and the two
female employees told
Houston police officers.
Two days later, at
2:45 p.m., the bandit
walked into LaRose
Cleaners, on the north-
east corner of Buffalo
Speedway and Purdue
Street, and asked about
having some alterations
done. Then he pulled a
gun and told the two
female employees, one
male employee and one
female customer in the
shop at the time to lie
down on the floor. He
then took about $200 in
cash from the shop’s
cash register as well as a
portable television set
valued at $300 that was
in the shop, police said.
The Kenneth's Salon
and La Rose Cleaners
robberies bring the
number of near south-
west businesses that
have been hit by the
bandit to nine.
The bandit, armed
with a long-barreled pis-
tol or sawed-off rifle or
shotgun, has stolen
more than $5,400 in
cash, jewelry and goods
from the nine busi-
nesses and their em-
ployees and customers
over the past seven
weeks.
The latest heists have
prompted police officials
to step up their efforts to
capture the culprit.
Houston Police Ser-
geant David Ricks, one
of two detectives as-
signed to solve the
string of robberies, told
The Texan last week
that he plans to ask his
supervisor to give him
enough manpower to set
up surveillances at busi-
nesses that police be-
lieve the bandit is likely
to hit next in an effort to
capture the crook.
That would be in
addition to the two
plainclothes officers who
have already been as-
signed to patrol the area
during business hours in
search of the bandit.
“He's now hitting a-
bout twice a week,” said
Ricks. “We arc trying to
develop a pattern as to
where he might hit next
and then set up surveil-
lance units at two or
three different locations
where he might hit and
wait for him to hit.
“He doesn’t sound
like a street bum,"
Ricks continued. “More
than likely he’s some-
body that lives in that
area because he’s hit-
“He doesn’t sound like a street bum. More
than likely he’s somebody that lives in that
area...” -- Houston Police Sgt. David Rieks.
ting in that one area:
“I doubt he is in a car
or he would have broad-
ened his area," Rieks
added. “He’s cither go
ing to be on foot or on a
bicycle.”
Rieks said there is a
good possibility the
bandit is using a bicycle
as a getaway vehicle
because "the area he’s
hitting is a small area
and there is a lot of
bicycle traffic through
there so that it’s easy to
get around on a bike
without being noticed
much.”
Rieks said witnesses
have only seen the ban-
dit leaving the scenes of
the holdups on foot.
The area the bandit is
plaguing is bounded by
Rice Boulevard on the
south, Buffalo Speed-
way on the west, West
Alabama Street on the
north and Montrose
Boulevard on the east.
The near southwest
neighborhoods affected
include Boulevard Oaks,
Broadacrcs, Greenway
Plaza, Museum Area,
Southampton, South
anipton Extension, Uni-
versity Village and West
University.
The businesses that
have been hit include
three in the Greenway
Plaza area, two in the
Boulevard Oaks neigh-
borhood, two in the
Museum Area neighbor-
hood and two in the
University Village shop-
ping center.
The other seven near
southwest businesses
that have been robbed
by the bandit include:
-McDonald Paint
Co., a paint store at 2522
Bissonnet Rd. near the
intersection with Kirby
Drive in the Boulevard
Oaks area, at 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday. March 20.
He got $240 in cash from
Continued on Page 13
High school seniors move on
By Karl Doemer HI
More than 2,000 near
southwest Houston high
school seniors will giad-
uate from seven area
schools this monih.
The area graduation
ceremonies include:
--Bellaire High
School: 494 seniors will
receive diplomas in
ceremonies that begin at
15 in the Sam Houston
Coliseum at 810 Bagby
St. at the intersection
wilii VVaikci Siicct in
downtown Houston.
Glenn Davis, a Wash-
ington, D.C., attorney
and 1975 Bellaire High
graduate, will give the
commencement ad-
dress.
-High School for the
Performing and Visual
Arts: 146 seniors will re-
ceive diplomas in cere-
monies that begin at
7 • 1ft r> m TKiM*rrl»ni
May 23 at First Presby-
terian Church of Hou-
ston, at 5300 Main St. in
the Museum Area.
There will be no com-
mencement address.
-Mirabeau B. Lamar
High School: 370 seniors
will receive diplomas in
ceremonies that begin at
5 p.m. Sunday, May 19
in the Astroarena, at the
rornor rtf Fannin Strppt
and the South Loop
Freeway in the Astro-
dome complex in near
south Houston. Harris
County District Attorney
John B. Holmes Jr., a
1959 Lamar graduate,
will give the commence-
ment address.
-Marian Christian
High School: 76 seniors
will receive diplomas in
ceremonies that begin at
3 p.m. Sunday, June 2 in
the gymnasium at the
school, at 11101 South
Gessner Rd. in far
southwest Houston.
Donald Hogan, presi-
dent of Marian’s school
board, will give the
commencement ad-
dress.
--St. John's School:
112 seniors will receive
diplomas in ceremonies
that begin at 7 p.m.
Friday, May 31 in the
quadrangle at the
school, at 2401 Clare-
mont Ln. in near west
Houston. St. John's
trustee Jack Curtin will
give the commencement
address.
-Sharpstown High
School: 424 seniors will
receive diplomas in
ceremonies that begin at
8 p.m. Thursday, May
16 in the Sam Houston
Coliseum, at 810 Bagby
St. at the intersection
with Walker Street in
downtown Houston.
Continued on Page 2
See our Mother’s Day Section, P. 8-9
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Herrera, Nick. The Texan (Bellaire, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 36, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 8, 1985, newspaper, May 8, 1985; Bellaire, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth648135/m1/1/?q=architectural+drawings: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bellaire Friends Library & Historical Society.