Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 64, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 11, 1991 Page: 4 of 32
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PAGE 4A - THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE, SUNDAY AUGUST 11,1991
Leggett to appoint trustee
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRBE
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Weekly Special
A secret friend in Syria?
| By JACK ANDERSON aad DALE
VAN ATTA
WASHINGTON-The Central In-
Itelligence Agency has a secret
friend in Syria - Rifaat Assad, the
vice president of Syria and the
brother of President Hafez Assad.
I Rifaat feeds the CIA information
I about other Middle East countries
and passes back-channel informa-
| tion to Washington for his brother.
The clandestine relationship bet-
I ween Rifaat and the CIA will come
as a surprise to Syria’s Arab allies.
In recent years, it is almost unheard
of in the Arab world for the CIA to
land a spy as high up in government
as Rifaat is, especially in an Arab
country with a history of hostile rela-
tions with the United States. Rifaat
I will be branded as an American
‘stooge.”
He has played a role in a recent
I blossoming of relations between his
I brother and the United States using
the prospect of Middle East peace
talks as a backdrop. Rifaat recently
[held discussions with CIA officials
[about the prospects for long-term
peace and the sincerity of his
brother’s peace proposals. One
knowledgeable source said that
Rifaat was “debriefed” on those
matters at a CIA safehouse in
I Maine.
The glove-trotting Rifaat is a CIA
I snitch in the fine tradition of Manuel
Noriega. His background includes
the drug business and his informs*
I tion is not always reliable.
He became the hatchet man of his
[ brother’s government in the early
1980s and led government troops
I against an uprising of Hafez Assad’s
enemies in the city of Hama in 1962.
By the time Rifaat was finished with
the malcontents, at least 10,000 peo-
| pie were dead.
He is desised by many Syrians
I for that, ai.d for his ostentatious
lifestyle, which he flaunts in his poor
country. Rifaat has at least four
j wives and a fortune of more than
$100 million, some of it derived from
drug running in the Syrian-
I controlled Bekaa Valley of Lebanon.
He lives alternately in Paris,
| Geneva and other European
capitals.
And for a few weeks, he lived in a
mansion outside of Washington, D.C.
That was in 1902 when his relation-
ship with the CIA was fresh. Rtfaat
bought a $1.1 million mansion in the
pricey Washington suburb of
Potamac, Md., in August 1902.
Neighbors were uncomfortable
about the more than 40 beefy armed
guards who patrolled the property.
In September, a fire alarm brought
the fire department rushing to the
house. Our sources say the CIA tried
to put the lid on what the fire in-
vestigators found inside.
All the residents had fled the
house, except two maids who were
caught hot-footing it out the door
with briefcases full of guns. Inside,
the house looked like Rifaat’s men
were prepared for what organized
crime syndicates call “going to die
mattresses” - hunkering down in a
house furnished with little more than
mattresses and guns to wait for a
gangland! war.
Hafez Assad knows that his
brother talks to the CIA, and has not
discouraged the relationship. But
some CIA officials are starting to
feel uncomfortable with it, especial-
ly in light of the criticism for the
CIA’s dealings with Noriega.
WILL HE QUIT? - Sources close to
Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams
tell us that he has seriously con-
sidered quitting the job that made
him a household face during the Per-
sian Gulf War. The lanky, bespec-
tacled Williams is a victim of
modemday vigilantes • a radical
homosexual group that specializes
in “outing,” or forcing closeted
homosexuals to go public.
The group, “Queer Nation,” has
been agitating for more than a
month to get Williams to say he is
gay. Williams will not say if that is
true, maintaining that his sex life is
not a matter of public business.
But “Queer Nation” has papered
Capitol Hill with posters showing
Williams under the headline, “Ab-
solutely Queer.” The group is
motivated by what it calls the
“hypocrisy” and “double standard”
in file military, which discharges
gay servicemen and women, but
allows civilian homosexual
employees.
Williams told us he has “no plans”
Letters to the editor
'You haven't heard anything yet'
To the editor:
Do you think you have heard
horror stories about the hospital
here? You haven’t heard
anything yet.
On April 28,1991,1 developed a
temperature of 104-phis degrees
and became very ill. My wife
called an ambulance and I was
taken to the emergency room. I
was placed on a gurney with no
pillow and no sheet in one of the
examining rooms. The doctor
who came in to see me said, “I
don’t know what you’ve got, but I
don’t want it” ‘After being there
at least 45 minutes with no treat-
ment, he came back and said,
“Big ‘un, aren’t you ready to go
home? You probably have a
stomach virus.”
No one had told my wife, who
was in the waiting room,
anything about my condition, so
she started looking for me. When
she found me, she asked what
was being done. I told her that
nothing was being done and that I
was feeling extremely ill. She
asked, for the second time, that I
be taken to Charter Hospital in
Cleveland and was told that this
was against “policy.” She asked
if there was any medication I
could be given to help with the
pain and I was given two Tylenol.
My wife could see that I was
getting worse and again begged
that I be transferred to another
hospital and she was toid that tills
could not be done. They said I
could be released to go home. My
wife and her friends managed to
put me in our car and immediate-
ly took me to Charter Hospital in
Cleveland.
As soon as their doctor examin-
ed me, he told my wife that I was
• in “extremely critical condition”
and that I was in septic shock. He
proceeded to call for “Life
Flight” to take me to SI.
Elizabeth's Hospital in Beaumont
to be treated by their specialists.
There it was detennbied that I
had an abcesa on my spleen the
size of an orange. In a very short
time, my spleen was removed
and I was placed on life support I
remained in intensive care there
for a week and in the hospital
there several days longer.
I know that if I had stayed in
the Polk County hospital or gone
home, as suggested by their
emergency room physician, I
would have died.
I was told by a county official
that this was an “isolated inci-
dent,” but I keep hearing so
many “isolated incident” horror
stories about this hospital that I
feel like the people of Polk County
should be aware that what hap-
pened to me could happen to you
or your loved ones.
What good is it going to do us to
call 911 in case of emergency if
this is what is on the end of tiie
line?
Think about it
B.T. Prichard
Route 1 Bex 1489-B
Onaiaska effort needs 'angei'
The old First Bsptist Church one thst corid use an angel to
building in Onaiaska may not come down (or forward) and help
become a part of history, but smooth out the transition stages,
rather a stack of boards and After proper certification all
scrap lumber. prior efforts could be donated to
While efforts to save the the new non-profit Heritage
building are underway, the Society and a
Society b> Onaiaska may
taagto^the membei
Heritage Society by katint parti
with Sherry Newport at Onslssfcs
City Han.
LewVsa
P.O.Box 1279
to resign. But if he stays and the
questions persist, the Pentagon will
have a bard time defending its
dubious polcy against agencies will
also have to rethink their bias
agianst giving topoecret security
clearances to closeted homosexuals,
a practice based on the shaky theory
that a homosexual can be more easi-
ly blackmailed by a foreign spy ser-
vice.
Williams went through a rigorous
background check by the FBI to get
his top-secret security clearance
when Defense Secretary Dick
Cheney hired him as spokesman.
MAGNANIMOUS GESTURE -
Buried in tiie current Navy budget is
a $5 million appropriation to build a
new parliament building fro the
Solomon Islands in the South
Pacific. Why? It seems that Rep.
Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., took a trip
to the islands two years ago and the
locals wore were embarrassed that
they had to receive him in a World
War H Quonset hut Solan was
thinking about giving the islands a
monument in memory of the
American soldiers who died at the
battle of Guadalcanal Wouldn’t a
building be nicer than a plaque?
The item ended up in the defense
budget because, according to a
Solan staffer, putting the Navy in
charge guarantees it will get done
sooner. It also helps that the huge
defense appropriations bills are
rarely scrutinized when it comes to
small change like $5 million and
Solan could slip his magnanimous
gesture through Congress with no
questions asked.
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Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise en-
courages readers to submit let-
ten expressing their views and
opinions.
The letters will be published in
the Enterprise’s “Letters to the
editor” column on Thursday or
Sunday.
The letters may be written on
any subject or issue of general in-
terest.
Letters must be accompanied
by a name and mailing address
and will be subject to editing for
grammar, punctuation, spelling
and length.
Letters must include a
telephone number for verifica-
tion. We will not publish the
telephone number.
Reader* should keep their let-
ters brief and to the point. Each
letter should contain no more
than 650 words. Letters ex-
ceeding that length will be edited
or withheld from publication.
Letters will also be subject to
editing for libelous or slanderous
statements and commercialism.
This column is not meant as a
forum for political candidates,
although we welcome comments
from the public concerning cam-
paign issues. During election
campaigns we will not allow men-
tion of specific local candidates.
Letters may be submitted in
person or can be mailed to “Let-
ters to the editor”, Polk County
Enterprise, P.O, Box 1278, Liv-
ings'- jn, Tx. 77351.
POLK COUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 327*4387
USPS 437-340
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston,
Tbxas 77361 under the Act of Congress of March 3. 1067.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Barbara Whits, Editor
Van Thomas, Sports Editor
Greg Peak, Area News Editor
Don Hendrix, Special Sections Editor
Dianna LeBarron, Living Section Editor
Emily Banks, Reporter
Stephen Hengsl, Photographer
Gordon LeBarron, Mike Kelly, Don Holeman
Beamon Goodwin. Adrian Dunn, Lee Torres *
Deborah Brawn, Ollie Stephens, Valerie Celestine
Mary Jo Watson, Sandra Jackson,
Kay Loy Cuevas. Jennifer Birdwell
Patty Hankerd
Barbara Wilson. Laura Munson, Laveroe Shemwell
SUBSCRIPTION RATES - $18.00 per year tax included. In county.
$16.00 per year, out of county. $17.00 per year out of state.
Published semi-weekly, Sunday and Thursday at 100 Calhoun in
POSTMASTER: PLEASE SEND FORM 3570 TO P.O. BOX 1276,
■^S 77351.1
LEGGETT - The Board of
Trustees of the Leggett Independent
School District will appoint a new
trustee at a special called meeting at
7 p.m. Monday.
The new trustee will fill the vacan-
cy left by the resignation of Rev.
Curtis Hester at the July board
meeting.
Canvassing the Aug. 10 election
results is also on the agenda for the
meeting
The board will approve an ap-
praiser and set the appraisal calen-
dar, as well as adopt the student and
teacher handbooks for the 1991-92
school year.
The board will also consider adop-
ting a grievance policy from the
Texas Association of School Boards.
Physical improvements in the
district will be reviewed, as will
Senate Bill 351, the school finance
bill.
The board will also discuss the
lease purchase of a school bus.
Other items on the agenda include
an executive session for the discus-
sion and employment of personnel.
a
Big Sandy considers budget
DALLARDSVILLE - The Board
of Trustees of the Big Sandy In-
dependent School District will con-
sider adopting the 1991-92
preliminary budget at its regular
meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
At that time the board will can-
vass the Aug. 10 election results.
The board will consider adoption
of revised employee complaint
policies due to the State Board of
Education ruling and will also con-
sider revisions in the sick leave
policy as a result of House Bill 2885.
Other items to be considered in-
clude the .purchase of agriculture
equipment as well as changes in the
student and teacher handbooks.
The board will also discuss voca-
tional travel and set the lunch prices
for the upcoming school year.
There will be an executive session
in which the board will consider hir-
ing a science teacher and a girts’
basketball coach.
Other items on the agenda include
approval of the minutes and
disbursements.
OBITUARIES
Michael Patrick Ficklin
LIVINGSTON - Funeral services
for Michael Patrick Ficklin, 36, of
Onaiaska were held Saturday, Aug.
10, 1991, from the Cochran Funeral
Home Chapel with the Rev. Don
Wilkey, pastor of the First Baptist
Church of Onaiaska, officiating. In-
terment followed in Holhausen-
Darbv Cemetery.
Mr Ficklin died Aug. 8 in Houston.
He was born Sept 19, 1964 in
Houston, the son of Chris Ficklin and
Madeline Berry Ficklin. He was a
member of the First Baptist Church
in Jacinto City and a past member of
the Order of the Demolay in
Pasadena.
Survivors include his parents,
Chris and Madeline Ficklin of
Onaiaska; three brothers, Calvin
Ficklin, Timothy Ficklin and Ben-
jamin Ficklin, all of Houston; sister,
Charlotte Ficklin of Baytown;
grandfather, Luther Berry of
Houston; three nieces and four
nephews.
Pallbearers were Kenneth
Jackson, Raymond Lee, Mark
Reeves, Bobby Brennon, Randal
High and Tommy Brogden.
Cochran Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
Mattie Lee Hall
iH »si# yh
LIVINGSTON - Funeral services
for Mattie Lee Hall, 67, of Houston
were held Saturday, Aug. 10, 1991
from Palestine Baptist Church in
Chester, with the Rev. J.V. Mark of-
ficiating. Interment followed in
Darden Cemetery in Bamum.
Mrs. Hall died Aug. 7 in Diagnostic
Hospital in Houston.
She was born Jan. 2, 1924 in
Cheater, the daughter of Dan
Johnson and Bobbie (Ha Johnson.
She attended Chester High School. A
resident of Houston for the past eight
years, she formerly lived in Cor-
rigan.
Survivors include one son, T.J.
Davis and wife Margaret of Chester;
one daughter, Brenda M. Henry of
Houston; brother, Cleophus Johnson
of Punta Gorda, Fla.; two sisters,
Gussie Freeman and Bobbie Benton,
both of Dallas; four aunts; two
uncles; five grandchildren; and a
host of other relatives and friends.
Pallbearers were Donell Johnson,
Charles Johnson, R. Woods and Ben-
ny E. Johnson. Honorary
pallbearers were T.J. Davis and
Cleophus Johnson.
Duncan Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
Jimmie Lee Wells
LIVINGSTON - Funeral services
for Jimmie Lee Wells, 58, of
Onaiaska were held Thursday, Aug.
I, 1991 from the Cochran Funeral
Home Chapel, with tiie Rev. John
Budd officiating. Interment followed
in Magnolia Cemetery.*
Mr. WeDs died Aug. 6 at his
residence.
He was born Oct 16, 1932 in
Carlsbad, N.M., the son of Ernest
Wells and Vera Vastine Wells. Mr.
Wells was a member of Friendship
Harbor Church. He served in the
UJS. Marines during the Korean War
and received three Purple Hearts.
He was a member of VFW Post 8568.
Survivors include daughters.
Tammy Sea back and husband
Stephen of Houston, and Terry
Romero and husband Juan of
Houston; mother, Vera Lively of
Houston; brothers, Billy Wells of
Redmond, Ore. and Tommy WeDs of
Houston; granddaughters, Emily
Sea back of Houston and Elizabeth
Romero of Houston; and grandsons,
Michael Sea back of Houston and
John Romero of Houston.
Pallbearers were Jim Schroeder,
Ed Bollier, Danny Gallier, Charles
Wells, Gordon Pfiester and Don Sim-
mons.
Cochran Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
T.B. Stanley
LIVINGSTON - Funeral services
for T.B. Stanley, 77, were held
Thursday, Aug. 8, 1991, from the
chapel of Pace Funeral Home, with
the Rev. Myrtice Driskell of-
ficiating- Interment followed in
Peebles Cemetery near Livingston.
Mr. Stanley died Aug. 6 in Polk
County Memorial Hospital.
He was born Nov. 7,1913 in Broad-
dus, the son of William A. and Sussie
Mae Youngblood Stanley. He was
reared in Broaddus and attended tiie
On Oct 14, 1933 he married the
former Mary D. Tipton and to this
msrrtap five sons wars born, four
of whom survive. Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley made their home in and
around Fok County. Mrs. Stanley
preceded Mm in death on Dec. 2,
19M.
After the death of Mary Stanley,
he married the former Lavonua
Williamson. They made their home
In PokOoraty since flair marriage
Mr, ftaniiy was a member of the
War n, making
Mr.
jobs before Ms retirement. He was
employed as a commercial trade
driver for Lhrt^rton Grain for 15
years. He also owned Tex-Gas and
Billups service stations from Beau-
mont to Palestine, including the
Billups Service Station in Livingston
for 20 years. After opening a station
and getting it off to a good start, he
would employ help and move on to
the next station, but was always on
call as a troubleshooter for aUof his
stations.
Mr. Stanley also liked to work on
TVs and radios, liked workworking,
making birds and “whiriy jigs,”
wooden objects that move ip the
wind. He was a member of the Bap-
tist Church.
In addition to his first wife, Mary,
he was also preceded in death by one
son, Jerry Glen Stanley, on Aug. 17,
1989.
Survivors include his wife,
Lavonua Stanley of Goodrich; four
sons, William Junior Stanley of
Houston, Travis Wayne Stanley of
Roy, Wash., Jimmy Andrew Stanley
of Porter and Billy Jack Stanley at
Houston; 11 grandchildren; 11 peat-
grandcfaUdren; and a host of (other
reiauves ana dear mends. *
Pallbearers were Jimmy Allen
Stanley, Steven Craig Stanley,
William Eugene Stanley, Charles
Batchelor, Paul Blasingem, Terrell
Smith and Joe X. Short
Pace Fineral Home was in charge
.Util.
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 64, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 11, 1991, newspaper, August 11, 1991; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth798222/m1/4/?q=Homecoming+queen+1966+North+Texas+State+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.