Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 12, 1981 Page: 1 of 34
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Microfi’Isi Center Inc
box 45U36 •;
Dallas, Tx/ 7^23^
GOOD
MORNING!
Polk County
ENTERPRISE
THURSDAY,
March 12, 1981
The dominant news and advertising source in Folk County, since 1882
VOLUME 99
NUMBER 21
5 SECTIONS 34 PAGES
USPS 437-340 PRICE: 25 CENTS
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To hear Easley dismissal hearing
Third-party sought
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nagi
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Value approximately $2.8 million
Approximately 7,NO pounds of marijuana was unloaded from
a Ryder rental truck Saturday night and weighed by Depart-
ment of Public Snfety troopers following the largest drug bust
in San Jacinto County history. Street value of the contraband
was estimated at $2.8 million. Polk County DPS Trooper Tom
Selman made the initial stop.
V
Trooper makes haul
\
LIVINGSTON - “Stopping the vehi-
cle really wasn’t any big deal,” said
Department of Public Safety Trooper
Tom Selman of Polk County, after ar-
resting a San Antonio man in the
largest drug bust in San Jacinto County
history Saturday night.
The lone officer confiscated about
7,000 pounds of marijuana with an
estimated street value of approximate-
ly $2.8 million.
Arrested for felony possession of
marijuana and placed on $500,000 bond
is Antonio Garza Cavazos, 40.
It all began when Selman received a
call from Beaumont asking to be on the
look-out for two Ryder rental trucks
believed to be moving marijuana
shipments south on U.S. 59.
“I spotted one of the vehicles five to
six miles south of Shepherd about 6
p.m. and pulled it over witnout any
resistence from the driver (Cavazos),”
Selman said.
Selman said he opened the door of the
rental truck exposing the large ship-
ment of marijuana. He then radioed for
help from Liberty County DPS Officer
Richard Wakefield, the only DPS of-
ficer on duty in Liberty and San Jacinto
counties Saturday night.
A Department of Public Safety nar-
cotics agent from Houston was also
called to assist with the catch.
After weighing the illegal contraband
it was moved to Houston where another
rental truck had been stopped earlier
Saturday. According to officers a
search is being conducted for still
another rental trade believed to be
hauling marijuana also.
Officers speculate the origin of the
marijuana to be South America.
GOODRICH - The possibility of con-
ducting a dismissal hearing on March
31 has met with an unfavorable
response from ousted Goodrich School
Superintendent Jerry Easley who con-
tends that an impartial third-party
should hear the dispute.
Easley was fired by the Goodrich
school board Feb. 21 and has filed a
lawsuit against the board seeking
reinstatement. A hearing on a tem-
porary injunction blocking his
dismissal is scheduled for 1 p.m. today
before U.S. District Judge Ross Sterl-
ing in Houston.
The attorney for the Goodrich school
board, Mike Willate, suggested the
March 31 date for the hearing Saturday
after a special-called Goodrich school
board meeting.
Willate met with the board for almost
two hours in closed session before an-
nouncing that an attempt would be
made to schedule the hearing this
month. Easley will be given the option
of a public or private hearing before the
board once a date has been set.
Board President Everitt Lawson also
announced that a reply to a recent
school evaluation by the Texas Educa-
tion Agency also had been drafted and
would be forwarded to the state agency.
Dismissal hearing
“What we did today during the closed
meeting was to discuss the dispute bet-
ween the school and Mr. Ea$loy,”
Willate said after the meeting. “As you
know, he is pressing a claim against the
school district The board has asked me
to get with his attorney and try to agree
on a date tor a hearing before the board
6ffWs dismissal. I win suggest atiatiUf
March 31.”
Willate also said a more specific list
of allegations against Easley would be
prepared this week.
“His attorney said the six allegations
were not specific enough for him to
answer and I said I would get with the
board and amplify them and be more
specific," he said, adding the revised
list would be forwarded to Easley’s at-
torney sometime this week.
Willate added that he has not seen the
petition filed by Easley in federal court
seeking the injuction and could not
comment on any of the specific allega-
tions made in that lawsuit.
When contacted Wednesday about the
possibility of a March 31 hearing before
the board, Easley said that he and his
attorney, David Lopes of Houston, are
attempting to have the school board dis-
qualified from conducting the hearing.
“Our position is that the school board
is not a proper body to hear the issue at
this point,” he said. “They have
already shown prejudice in the matter.
See IMPARTIAL pg. M
Crime includes
drug forgery
LIVINGSTON - Several burglaries,
an attempt to secure drugs with a forg-
ed presciption and a report of a stolen
horse were among the incidents in-
vestigated by area law enforcement of-
ficers during the past few days.
Two Corrigan residents have been ar-
rested in connection with a burglary
Saturday night at a residence just north
of Gfunden.
Mtehael Byrum, 25, was arrested by
officers Sunday morning and charged
with burglary. He has since been
released from the Polk County Jail
under a $10,000 bond. A juvenile was
also arrested In connection with the
CdWTThe juvenile has been released to
his parents, according to Polk County
Sheriff’s Department Chief In-
vestigator Jim Marquis.
The merchandise taken in the
burglary, which included an antique
grandfather clock, television sets and
linen, has been recovered, Marquis
said. Precinct 3 Deputy Jeff Wester-
Appraiser predicts at hearing
Local tax burden to shift
LIVINGSTON - Senate Bill 621 may
result in easing of the tax burden to
mineral and utility owners while shif-
ting that burden, in many cases, to the
homeowner. That is the interpretation
of Barney Baker, president of Profes-
sional Appraisal Services, concerning
the bill which established the Polk
County Central Appraisal District. It
was an interpretation shared by many
For Campbell-Foreman building
Demolition postponed
LIVINGSTON - Demolition of the
Campbell-Foreman building has been
postponed once again, this time at the
request of the newly-formed Committee
to Save the Campbell Foreman
Building.
Polk County commissioners voted
during their regular meeting Monday to
delay action toward destruction of the
building until June 1. Group spokesman
Judy Blackstock told the court a
Reaction
Under the senate bin estabUshing
the central appraisal districts will
there still be a board of equalization
to hear citizens’ complaints?
The name has changed but the
function is the same. The equaliza-
tion board will now be known as the
appraisal review board. With the
central district, a property owner
will only have to appear before one
board to dispute values rather than
before the boards of each taxing en-
tity.
K will answer question* of
Any person may submit ques-
tions. Each query must include the name, ad-
of the writer, bat
----will be published.
ms to “Rawtiflii,” P.O. Bus BN,
Uvingsinn, TX 77J81).
representative from Bradshaw Foun-
dation Repair Co., Inc. of Houston in-
spected the building Saturday and said
his firm could repair the building
through the first floor for $33,964. The
proposed work would include raising
the present foundation by approximate-
ly one foot.
“I don’t think there’s a member on
this court who wants to see the building
torn down,” County Judge Wayne
Baker said, adding his primary concern
is safety. If the building’s disrepair
resulted in injury the county would be
held liable, he said.
The judge said several persons have
tried to saye the building in the past,
but that efforts to obtain funds for
repair had ylways failed. “We’ve put
off demolition six or seven times during
the past seveh years,” he added.
Blackstock indicated the most recent
plan to demolish the building has
spawned more Interest in the communi-
ty than has beeb shown in the past. She
specified recency circulated petitions
See COMMITTEE pg. 2A
Violations blanked
in Moscow wreck
MOSCOW - Two persons were taken
to Lufkin Memorial Hospital following
a two-car collision Saturday night on
FM 62 three miles east of Moscow.
According to the Texas Highway
Patrol accident report, a 1975 Mercury
driven by Wilivaldo Baneveles, 23, of
Moscow was stopped in the roadway
because of a mechanical problem when
it was struck in the rear by an east-
bound 1970 Ford pickup track. The
trade was driven by Alfred McQueen,
31, of Camden. \
McQueen and a passenger in his
track, Otis Blade, 50, of Camden, were
taken by Corrigan ambulance to
Lufkin. A passenger in the Baneveles
vehicle, Barajas Sanchet, 36, suffered
minor injuries, according to the report.
McQueen was cited for driving while
intoxicated. Baneveles wAsdted for not
having a driver’s license.
Jsss^a^m “■ ■*-
of the persons present at a public hear-
ing Tuesday night, held to get input on
funding of the appraisal district and
methods of reappraisal.
The shift in the tax burden did not
seem to be the primary concern of the
estimated 75 persons in attendance,
however. Discussion revolved primari-
ly around the cost of an in-house ap-
praisal versus the cost of hiring an out-
side appraisal firm.
Chief Appraiser Arthur Shackelford
has recommended the board hire the
outside appraisal firm, citing as his
primary reasons speed and long-run
costs. Both reasons were disputed by
some of the residents and by County
Judge Wayne Baker.
The appraisal firm president began
the hearing with a slide presentation
depicting how his firm would handle
property evaluations if the county tax
board should opt to proceed with an out-
side appraisal. Much of the remainder
of the hearing consisted of discussions,
often prompted by questions from
citizens, of the pros and cons of conduc-
ting a reappraisal “in house” with local
personnel.
Shackelford, who has spent the past
week and a half meeting with the
various taxing entities in the county to
explain his proposals for In-house and
outside reappraisal, has recommended
the board select an outside firm. He told
those gathered at Tuesday’s hearing
that when he was first hired by the
board he obtained a list of mass ap-
praisal firms from the state. After con-
tacting each company on the list, he
received five proposals. Those pro-
posals were reviewed by both
Shackelford and a review committee
consisting of appraisal board mertdters.
The consensus of the board was ®w me
offer made by Professional Appraisal
Services, which was the lowest bid
received on the work, was the best of
the outside offers. That decision,
Shackelford said, was made dfter con-
sidering the cost, the firm’s experience
and the time limits estaMfehed in SB
621.
11w8e ““"£5 ft ^we^sS
jects of much discussion during the
public hearing.
Timelimits
Basically, the bill calls for the chief
appraiser to provide a common tax roll
at 100 percent evaluation by the 1962 tax
year. The roll needs to be complete by
October, according to appraisal ex-
ecutive Baker. He added with the
amount of work involved, time is a ma-
jor factor. Polk County is “almost at
the critical state now,” Baker said.
“Whatever you do...you’ve got to
move.” He added that if a decision con-
cerning the appraisal is not made
within the next two weeks ’’you’re a
dead rabbit.”
He said his firm would have to take
the following steps to complete an ap-
praisal: secure accurate maps, build
cost schedules and appraisal manuels,
organize the crews to avoid duplication
See TAX pg. $A
man was the investigator. He was
assisted by Investigator Billy Ray
Nelson, reserve deputies Dale
Sprayberry and Quenton Purvis and
Corrigan Policewoman Barbara
Westerman.
Polk County sheriff’s officers art also
investigating the burglary Saturday
night at a residence in Creekstde sub-
division during which assortfd
household goods were reported stolen.
There are currently no suspects in the
case, Marquis said. Precinct I Deputy
J. C. Robbins is the investigating of-
fleer. ■
Also under investigation is thstiMft Of
a boat motoBffrom Baker’s Marina,
reported on Sunday. Precinct 1 Deputy
Raymond Edmonds is the investigating
officer.
Marquis also reported a fourth
suspect was arrested Wednesday in-
connection with the March 1 burglary of
Parrish Lumber Co. in Corrigan. Doyle
K. Cathey, 29, is being held in the Polk
County Jail under a $1,500 bond on
charges of theft. Three other suspects
were arrested in the case last week. In-
vestigator Billy Ray Nelson and
Precinct 3 Deputy Jeff Westerman
handled the investigation.
In Livingston Police Department ac-
tivity, a Huntsville woman was ar-
rested and charged after attempting to
pass a forged presciption at Livingston
Drug Co. Saturday. According to Liv-
ingston Police Chief Bill Smith, Mary
Carroll, 42, of Huntsville is accused of
forging a prescription for dilauled,
which is a schedule two felony under
the drug laws. Carroll was apparently
employed for a Dr. Towler of Hunt-
sville, Smith said. The suspect has been
released under a $3,500 bond.
A horse reported stolen from Jackie
G. Beyer of Pasadena on March 4 was
recovered by Livingston police Monday
at the Livingston Auction Barn. Three
other horses, also stolen from
Pasadena, have been recovered in
Grimes County. Officers in that county
have arrested a suspect in connection
with the horse thefts, according to
Smith.
Livingston police are also in-
vestigating the burglary of Eastex Ser-
vice Co., which was-reported shortly
after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. The police
chief said approximately $800 in checks
and cash was reported missing from
the business. There are no suspects as
yet. 'Jf
SHECo hike talked
ONALASKA - A report concerning a
proposed electric rate increase sought
by Sam Houston Electric Cooperative
(SHECo) and discussion about the
public hearing scheduled for March 17
on a municipal code of ordinances oc-
cupied the Onalaska City Council dur-
ing most of their meeting Tuesday
fright o! >
Eldridge Striedel and Joe Parsley,
both officials with SHECo, met with the
qfrstutfurtt
■UvelsMeUag.
iral Electrification Ad-
»n (REA) and the
residential, small
badness,” he said.
that the 21.51
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Cooperative Finance Corporation
(CFC).
“Generally speaking, the increase is
spread over the entire spectrum of our
rate structure as required by the Public
Utilities Commission. It will affect
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 12, 1981, newspaper, March 12, 1981; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781640/m1/1/?q=trooper%20tom%20selman&rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.