Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 7, 1985 Page: 1 of 30
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I
Volume IIS Number 11
Newi nd Advertlitni Source to Polk County
UP8P 427441 Price: U cento
Early release possible
Burglar sentenced
DONORS TURN OUT - Monday’s
community-wide blood drive resulted in the
collection of 114 units, according to Chair-
man Rusty Reed. "We had ample personnel
and beds and it was much better organized,”
she said, comparing this week’s drive to the
first community blood drive three months
ago in which the large turnout exceeded ex-
pectations and some donors had to wait. The
group is already gearing up for the next
drive, tentatively set for May 6, for which
they have set a goal of 150 units.
Neither rain nor snow...
Icy streets halt mail
LIVINGSTON - “You’re kidding!
We don’t shut down!’’ a represen-
tative of the United States Postal
Service district office in Fort Worth
said when told of the curtailment of
mail service from the Livingston
Post Office Friday and Saturday.
Post offices do close, however, and
the Livingston Post Office was Join-
ed by at least two others In the Beau-
mont section, which includes Liv-
ingston. Post offices in the cities of
Montgomery and New Waverty also
closed, postal officials in Beaumont
said.
The postmaster has the authority
to determine whether or not weather
conditions pose a threat to postal
employees, according to one of
several Beaumont office employees
contacted.
Livingston Postmaster Archie
Holbrook chose not to deliver mail
Friday and Saturday “for the safety
of our own employees,'* James
Stutts, superintendent of postal
operations at the Livingston facility
said. “It’s one thing to drive down
the middle of the road, but it’s
another to pull over to a box," he
said in describing the hazardous
driving conditions that prompted the
curtailment
Stutts said the post office itself
was open on Friday and was closed
on Saturday, which are the normal
operating hours. On Saturday, he
said, there were personnel available
to get mail for postal customers who
came to the post office and rang the
bed next to the stamp machines.
Stutts said the proper officials
were notified of the curtailment.
When the Livingston postmaster
feels weather conditions are so
severe that service should be cur-
tailed he is required to contact both
the section office, in Beaumont, and
the district office, in San Antonio.
“Normally we make every at-
tempt to deliver," Fred Branden-
bausch of the San Antonio District
office said when contacted by the
Enterprise Wednesday. The district
manager was out of town, as was
Section Manager Barbara Wier, and
although Brandenbausch said he
had no specific information on cur-
tailment of service in Livingston, he
had heard of some problems in the
He cited problems encountered by
contractors who deliver mail from
the Conroe office to the Huntsville
office, who could not make it up the
ice-coated hills to Huntsville. There
were reports of service curtailment
in Huntsville Friday.
Livingston’s mail is also
distributed from the Conroe office. A
spokesman in the mail processing
department in the Conroe office con-
firmed that carriers did have pro-
blems getting to Huntsville and that
service to that dty was affected on
Friday. “I don’t know about Liv-
ingston," he said.
The Livingston Post Office also
oversees distribution of mail to the
Leggett and Dallardsville post of-
fices.
The Corrigan Post Office con-
tinued normal delivery and office
schedules during the ice storm.
“We missed a few boxes, but not
many," a spokesman in the Cor-
rigan Post Office said, adding that
the post office itself was open on Fri-
day and is normally closed on Satur-
day.
The Onalaska Post Office is also
normally dosed on Saturday, but re-
mained open Friday. Onalaskans
received mail service both Friday
and Saturday and a spokesman for
that office described the days’
operations as “business as usual."
The Onalaska Post Office, however,
has no rural routes.
LIVINGSTON - A 17-year-old Liv-
ingston man was sentenced to serve
10-years in the Texas Department of
Corrections last week after entering
a guilty plea to a burglary charge.
Elmer Smith Jr. was sentenced to
prison but will be eligible to be
released in a few months under the
state's “shock probation” program.
Under this program, criminals are
imprisoned for a brief period and
then released to serve the remainder
of their sentences on probation.
Smith, together with Nigel Thomp-
son, 17, also of Livingston, were ar-
rested last November in connection
with a break-in reported at the P&S
Grocery in Livingston.
The burglary was discovered Nov.
ZB by Livingston Police LL Mike
DeVilleneuve. The officer, while on
routine patrol, noticed the back door
of the convenience store had been
pried open.
Upon entering the business,
DeVilleneuve arrested Smith.
Thompson fled the scene but was
later arrested on a warrant issued
by Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace
Calvin Wells.
Following the arrests, $92 beleived
to have been taken in the P&S
burglary was recovered. A total of 26
burglaries reported between March
and November of 1984 were believed
to have been cleared by the arrests.
Thompson entered a guilty plea to
a burglary of a building charge on
Jan. 8. He was placed on probation
for five years and ordered to pay a
$1,000 fine.
In other court action, District
Judge Joe Ned Dean granted a mo-
tion allowing Michael Munson of
Livingston to be released from
prison under the shock probation
program. Munson had been sentenc-
ed to served 10 years in prison on
Oct. 8, 1984 after entering a guilty
plea to a charge of indecency with a
child.
Munson was charged in connec-
To benefit Cancer Society
Variety show slated
LIVINGSTON - The American
Cancer Society’s Polk County
Chapter is encouraging all Polk
Countians to muster up their
courage and talents for the benefit
Variety Show, to be held at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22, in the Florence
Crosby Auditorium
Many committments have already
been received from family groups,
individuals, clubs and studios to pro-
vide entertainment for the show. All
proceeds will go directly to benefit
research and local cancer patients.
Kenny Hobberry, local coor-
dinator of the event, said participa-
tion in the show requires more
courage than time. “These things
(the acts) are not matters of time,”
he said. “They are matters of
courage. The acts themselves,
especially the humorous ones, often
don’t take a lot of preparation."
He said the goal for the show is to
provide an evening of family enter-
tainment. “We are trying to get
something for everyone," he said,
“an overall cross-section of enter-
performance by the Music Study
Club; the Livingston Elementary
choir and bluegrass pickin' and grin-
nin' with Danny Jones.
Last year, Polk Countians con-
tributed $19,731 to the Cancer Socie-
ty, according to Pat Shannon,
district executive director.
Shannon said the local community
benefits in two ways. “Most of the
money is used for research,” he
said. “The local people benefit from
education and medical supplies."
Education consists of films, pam-
phlets and displays teaching early
diagnosis and cancer prevention.
Abo, medical supplies are provid-
ed for 20 local patienb. The year
before, 27 patienb were assisted. All
cancer patienb qualify for the help.
The entry deadline for the Variety
Show is Feb. 15. AU potential par-
ticipanb should call the Polk County
Chamber of Commerce, 327-4929.
The Cancer Society is asking for per-
sons to make plans to attend and to
purchase tickeb in advance. Ad-
vance tickeb are available at
various businesses and banks
aroung the county, with e$act loca-
tions to be announced at a later date.
Tickeb at the door will be $5 for
adults, $3 for studenb and $1.50 for
children under 12.
Bill abandoned
Acb already scheduled include
doggers; Laurie Wheeler’s jazz
dancers; Sweet Adelines, a barber
shop harmony group from Shepherd
which includes several Pofc Coun-
tians; Judge Baker’s quartet; a
singing art by Mbs Polk County
Zanna Oates and Pam Brown; a
womanless wedding; tq> sych acts,
which will include “Bqy George";
break dancing; a parade of tots,
modeling the costumes worn in
pageanb for youngsters; a
LIVINSTON - A bill which would
have added county judges to the
adult probation board for Polk, San
Jacinto and Trinity counties will not
be filed during the upcoming
legislative session, according to an
Austin staff assistant for State Rep
Billy Clemons.
Clemons had announced his plans
to file the bill last month, but opposi-
tion from one area district judge and
from a probation officer prompted
the representative to abandon the
plan.
The adult probation board, which
oversees the operation of the adult
probation department in the three
county area, b now composed of the
dbtrict court judges serving the
area.
“The county judges now sit on the
juvenile probation board, but they
have no jurisdiction in juvenile
cases,” he said. “Rep. Clemons pro-
posed the bill originally because he
felt it made sense to also let them sit
on the adult probation board
because they do have jurisdiction in
that area. For example they have
jurisdiction in DWI and public intox-
ication cases and many of these of-
fenders are placed on probation. "He
added that “at the present time”
Clemons does not plan to file the
legislation.
Engineer works for crossing safety
LIVINGSTON - “On Saturday.
Dec. 8, my car stalled ea the
railroad tracks as my sister and I
were on the way to work at oar
; was part of a
letter written to Southern Pacific
to start the car, bat it would not
start. As the train grew doaer, my
sister yelled at me to ‘get oat of the
car.’ The firat thiag that came to my
aster's mind was the film of the
railroad accidents she had seen m
driver's ed."
stroek by a Wear Mfesoari-
year. Meredith
to a car driven
by her
warning to‘Get oat” to a film which
car as a train bore down ca it
According to an account of the ac-
Enterprise, the train struck the
Shelton’s car five or 18 seconds after
the girts had jumped out and run to
safety.
The film to which Meredith
Shelton referred was shown as part
of the Operation Ufenver program,
represented locally by Mfltt Scott of
Livingston.
Scott, a locomotive engineer with
Southern Pacific Railroad, has been
making the rounds of area schools
and civic clubs in hopes of making
the East Texas area free of car-train
and pedestriaivtrain accidents. In
1914, Scott presented the Operation
Ltfesaver program to more than
38,008 persons in the East Texas
area and says he still has a long way
toga
See TRAINS pg. SA
tion with a Jan. 11,1984 Incident in-
volving a female child.
On Tuesday, a probated jail
sentence given to Ricky Lynn West
of Livingston was revoked end West
was ordered to serve three-years in
prison.
West had been granted a three-
year probated jail sentence last year
after being found guilty on an injury
to a child complaint. While on proba-
tion, West was charged with felony
credit card abuse in connection with
an Aug. 25,1984 incident in which a
gasoline credit card belonging to a
Cyprus man was illegally used at a
Livingston service station.
After West pleaded “true” to
charges that he had violated the con-
ditions of his probation, the credit
card abuse complaint against Mm
wts dismissed.
During other court hearings,
Dbtrict Judge Lynn Coker dtomiss-
ed two robbery cases dating from
the early 1970s. The robbery charges
filed against Howard Cloudy on Nov.
10, 1972 and against M.C. Cloudy on
Sept. 10, 1971 were both dismissed
due to insufficient evidence.
News Briefs
East Texas Area
Hospital district given support
CROCKETT - A move to create a tax supported hospital dbtrict
in Houston County has received the unanimous endorsement of that
county’s commissioners court
Members of the Houston County Commissioners Court went on
record last week in support of a MU to be filed in the state
legislature this month. The bill, which is being sponsored by State
Rep. Mike McKinney and State Senator Kent Caperton, would
authorize the creation of a hospital dbtrict encompassing all of
Houston County with the exception of the area now served by the
Grapeland Hospital District.
The Houston County Hospital in Crockett currently operates
without tax support and relies heavily on money raised (hiring com-
munity fund drives. Recent budget projections indicate that unless
the number of patienb using the facility increases, the hospital will
end ib current fiscal year with a $95,000 deficit.
If the legislature approves the bill, before a dbtrict could be
formed, Crockett County voters would have to approve the
measure in an election.
Lufkin minister receives probation
LUFKIN - A Lufkin minuter, who was brought to trial in
December on an aggravated sexual assault charge, agreed Mon-
day to plead guilty to a charge of indecency with a child.
The Rev. John Michael Shearin, pastor of the First Church of God
in Lufkin, was sentenced to serve 10 years probation and was fined
$2,500 as part of a plea bargaining agreement As part of the terms
of his probation, Shearin agreed to seek psychiatric counseling.
Shearin, who also worked at the Lufkin State School, was brought
to trial Dec. 14, charged with having oral sex with a 13-year-old boy
on July 20,1984. That trial ended in a mistrial after the jurors failed
to reach a unanimous verdict.
Shearin had denied the charge during the trial, claiming the boy
had made up the story as a means of retaliating against his
parents.
Explosion destroys pump station
TARKINGTON - An explosion at a gasoline pipeline pump sta-
tion located near Tarkington forced the evacuation of about 30
residents of the Carter Country Subdivision last week while
firefighters worked to bring the bbze under control.
Liberty County Sheriff E.W. “Sonny” Applebe said that a
number of residenb of the area reported becoming ill following the
bbze, apparently after breathing fumes leaking from the bumed-
out station.
The pump station, owned by Matador Pipeline Inc. of Corsicana,
exploded about 9:30 a.m. Jan. 30. The explosion sent fbmes leaping
over 100 feet in the air, scattered debris over an area several hun-
dred feet in diameter and scorched a 100-yard circle around the
pipeline station.
Members of the Tarkington and Cleveland fire departments,
together with Matador employees, worked for four hours to bring
the blaze under control. No injuries were reported as a result of the
explosion, which completely destroyed the three-year-old pumpsta-
tion.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation.
Wife charged in husband's death
LUFKIN - The wife of a 38-year-old Lufkin insurance agent
found shot to death Jan. 19 has been arrested and charged with
murder in connection with the death.
Becky Wardlow, 33, was arrested last week by Angelina County
sheriff’s deputies and formally charged with the murder of Johnny
Wardlow. An autopsy determined that Wardlow died of a single
gunshot to the head. A shotgun, probably loaded with a slug, was
used to kill the man, Angelina County Sheriff Mike Lawrence said.
Mrs. Warlow told police on the night of the murder that she
discovered the body slumped forward in a chair after she and her
son returned from shopping.
Corrigan appoints new fire marshal
CORRIGAN - Charles “Bud” Pooler has been appointed to the
post of fire marshall by the Corrigan City Council He replaces
Charlie Stovall who resigned recently.
Pooler’s duties will include safety inspection of all businesses
and public buildings located with the city limits. He also will be
working with other city officials in the development of new fire or-
dinances.
Pooler, 57, retired as a fire caption with the Los Angeles County
Fire Department following 31 years of service. He and Ms wife now
reside on a 20-acre ranch in the Carmona community
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 7, 1985, newspaper, February 7, 1985; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781679/m1/1/?q=divorce: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.