Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 28, 2002 Page: 1 of 65
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HONDO ANVIL HERALD
Volume lift. Number 13
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Website
Put lislied m Hondo, lexis
www HonJoAnvilHerald mm
e Sections, 36 Pages
50 Cents
to assume
By Frames Guinn
Assn Hi k si t :• «
Mau>r Jim Harden administered
the oath of ofl'iee to eight of the nine
board menibeis at the initial meet-
ing ol the Medina Community lies
pilal Authority Mar. 25.
When the change-over is complete
the medical tacilit> will be placed
under the ownership and manage-
ment of the authority w Inch does not
have taxing poweis but can acquire
funds for the beleaguered facility
through issuance ot bonds.
Currently, Medina Community Hos-
pital (Mill) is one of only two county/
City of Hondo will have
two contested races
PHOTO BY FRANCES GUINN
DIRECTORS RETURN... Former band directors at Hondo High School, who returned to help the band celebrate its "50th year of excellence"
Tuesday evening at the Fine Arts Festival, are (l-r) Dan Vosquez, Roland Sandoval, Chuck Young, Ken Ersch, current Director Bob Howard,
the band program's first Director Al Sturchio, Cindy Allee Woolls, Johnny Martinez, and Billy Harrell.
Members of the new Medina Community Hospital Authority board tour the hospital Tuesday with Admin-_
istrator Beverly Gruber and Head of Clinical Services Denise McWillams. Pictured from left are Lisa
Rothe. Gruber. Judy Winkler. Tima Gua]ardo. Rita Vance. McWilliams, and N. E. Woods.
Early voting is Apr. 1-5
for Apr. 9 runoff elections
Early voting for the Tuesday, April
9, runoff elections is next week, April
1-5, at the courthouse in Hondo and
at the county buildings in Devine and
Castroville.
If you voted in the Democratic Pri-
mary, you may only vote in the
Democratic runoffs. If you voted in
the Republican Primary, you may
only vote in the Republican runoffs.
If you did not vote in either pri-
mary, you may vote in either runoff
election.
Very few unaffected by last Tuesdays destruction
New hospital authority board set
facility management
city -owned facilities remaining in the
state. It and others were established in
I %2 under the Hill-Burton Act. which
supplied funds tor construction ot
medical facilities in underserxed ru-
ral areas li has been governed by a
hoard made up of members appointed
b\ the city, county and jointly In re-
cent sears, the county tound it increas-
tnglx difficult to find appointees will-
ing to serve on the board and the ta-
cilitv has survived under the leader-
ship of a partial board, composed pri-
marily of city appointees.
The mavor is still seeking a ninth
qualified volunteer to serve on the
boaid. Board members will serve
staggered two-year terms.
Founding members and the length
of term they drew are l isa Rothe (I
ot IT Hams and Hondo residents.
Judy Winkier 121. NT. "Bud” Wool Is
(1). Rita Vance (2). Tima Guajardo
(I). Bill Cogburn (2). Jim Danner (1),
Steve Hackebeil (2), and the ninth
member will serve a two-year term.
MCH board member Amceto
Colunga, whose second six-year
term would expire in May chose not
to be appointed to the new board.
Cogburn. Danner and Hackebeil
are currently serving as MCH board
members and will remain to assure
continuity during the changeover,
due to the complexity of hospital is-
sues. Following the oath, the group
elected officers: Danner, president;
Cogburn; Hackebeil, vice president;
and Cogburn, secretary/treasurer.
The new bo^rd authorized transfer
of hospital assets from the City of
Hondo and Medina County to the
authority and will take responsibility
after formal paperwork is completed.
Other action taken at the special
meeting were:
The designated office address will
remain the same, 3100 Ave. G.
Tom Rothe, who has worked with
the previous board, was designated
interim legal counsel Permanent le-
gal counsel will be designated later
Due to the complexity of hospital
issues, previous board members en-
couraged new members to attend ori-
entation and to tour the facility.
A by-law s committee was elected,
composed of Cogburn (chairman).
Woolls and Vance.
The board's officers were ap-
pointed as the ad h-K committee on
acquisition of the hospital to act on
behalf of the hospital authority.
The board tabled designation of a
depository for authority funds until
legal research is done to see it laws
governing authorities require a de-
pository bidding process
"You all have an awful lot to
learn.” Danner told the new members
of the citizens’ advisory board. “For
one thing, the financial procedures
.ire not like any other business you've
been around
He also introduced hospital person-
See MCH AUTHORITY, Page 3
WB ? __
PHOTO BY DEBBIE SANDERS
HAPPY EASTER...The Hondo Library Easter Bunny stopped to say
hello to nine-month-old Nicole Dominquez, daughter of Auturo and
Ussy Dominguez, during the annual taster Egg hunt Wednesday
By William Hoover
AsVIl Hi RAID ('< iRRt SP< >M I M
The tornadoes which puminclcd
Hondo last October targeted the west
side ol the cUv and caused the iota!
destruction ol 40 homes in Sunset
and Jackson Mobile Home Parks
Last Tuesday's hailsioim was not
as severe but it was more widespread,
damaging almost every home and
business in Hondo. The baseball
sized hail easily broke car windows
and penetrated roots throughout town
Because virtually every home-
owner was affected by the hailstorm
in some way, either w ith structural or
vehicle damage, the value of city w idc
damage could be twice as high as
October s $11 million estimate
The f ederal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency turned down Medina
County's request for aid alter the tor-
nado storm arid dispite ihe higher
costs ot property damage trout Iasi
Tuesday's hailstorm, there will be no
appeal to FFMA Homeowners with
insurance, ill rj: with the city and
county, haw already initiated repairs
to their dam; gc J property
“We had T t v hail damage, but
we dor.' l av ■ is many people out ol
their la u-C' M >,t residential dam-
age s;,( old l'.' a Acred by insurance.”
said M.'.bna County Judge David
Montgo.n :i v
The |udgc noted Red Cross statis-
tics showed only 12 homes in the
county had received enough damage
to be classified as destroved. "It
would have been ridiculous to apply
l a ! IMA because everything the
.aunty has was insured." he said
Medina County Chiet Appraiser
James Garcia said the countv is not
tabulating damage estimates because
the county's inlrastrueture was not
damaged by the hailstorm "The real
tactor in determining FEMA eligibil-
ity is infrastructure damage-roads and
bndges-beyond the local government's
ability to make repairs." said Garcia.
"Em not saying residential damage is
not important, because it is. But we
found out last time that we didn't
qualify for FEMA that way Since we
had no infrastructure damage, we're
just getting on with life."
Although the county will not be
making a FEMA application. Garcia
believes the hailstorm caused more
financial damage than last October's
tornadoes. "Vehicles and roofs bore
the brunt of the storm." said Garcia,
"[.very house in Hondo will need a
new roof, so residential damage will
be higher than it was in October. It's
worse because everybody’s home
was damaged livery one had win-
dows smashed out and roofs torn up.
Everyone's car got caught outside
because the storm approached too
quick lor people to react."
Last October, the county appraiser
determined 40 mobile homes had
been destroyed and a total of 525 resi-
dential homes and 104 commercial
buildings, mostly on Hondo's west
side, had been damaged by the spate
ot twisters According to the data
Garcia collected for last year's FEMA
application, the damage to homes and
businesses in Hondo was estimated
at near Si 1 million. County wide, the
tornadoes caused just over S22 mil-
lion in damages.
There are currently 2,082 residen-
tial homes and 238 businesses in
Hondo, according to county records.
Although the county has developed
no estimates, if damage to residences
with vehicles averages SI0.000 and
businesses also have an average of
$10,000 worth in damages, the city
would have over $23 million in esti-
mated damages. That amount would
be equal to the damage the tornado
caused in the entire county last year
and represents a doubling of city
damage estimates in October.
The City of Lytle, which also suf-
fered severe storm damage, occupies
parts of Bexar, Atascosa, and Medina
counties. Officials in San Antonio an-
nounced they would seek federal di-
saster aid for south Bexar County. If
the FEMA status is granted to Bexar
County, only the Bexar County por-
tion of the tri-county city would be
eligible for reliet assistance, accord-
ing to Garcia.
Easter services
are listed on page 7
All Castroville incumbents unopposed
HISD Tax Office
closed until Apr. 1
The Hondo Independent School
District Tax Office will be closed
through Apr. I. If paid in person on
Apr. 2, 2002, the March penalty and
interest rate of 9% will be accepted.
On Apr. 3, the April penalty and
interest rate of 11 % will be charged.
Any payments mailed will be given
proper credit. Please call 830-426-
3904 if you have questions.
A Ill’ll HeralJ weather observer Gerrv Bridges re
ports the Billowing information for the past week
Dale
High
Low
Kain
Wed . March 20
77
54
1.40
Thurs , March 21
75
45
.00
Fri.. March 22
68
37
.00
Sat.. March 23
76
41
.(X)
Sun , March 24
86
58
.00
Mon.. March 25
73
50
.00
Tue.s., March 26
42
(X)
Total rain lot the past week I 40 in.
Total rain lor March I 8(1 in
Total rain for 2002: 2.70 in
Avg high temp for the week: 75 4
Avg low temp, for the week 46.7
High temp lor 2002: 87" on March 15
Lou temp, for 2002: 21 ’ on l eh 27
By William Hoover
Anvil Herald Corri spondi.ni
Policies regarding the Gitv of
Hondo's growth and direction after
the recovery from last October's dev
astating tornadoes and March's ex
pensive hailstorms has created com-
petition for two of the three seats on
the city council.
Council members are elected in al
temate years to serve staggered two-
year terms. Ibis year, councilwoman
Carmen Hernande/'s Place 3 seat.
Councilman Arturo Barrientes' Place 4
scat, and councilman Robert J Hexen's
Place 5 seat will be on the ballot
Heyen waited until the next to las'
day, March IT, to file to run lor the
Place 4 seat currently held hv
Barrientes. By making the switch,
Heyen will offer Barrientes some
competition and avoid being mv olv cd
in a four-way race for his former seal.
Three new contenders. Joe
Aynesworth, Ed lusher anil Sammy
Nooner will slug it out for Hcyen's
former Place 5 seat
Hernandez is the only unopposed
candidate for council in Hondo.
Thursday. April 4. is the last day a
citizen may register to be eligible to
vote in the Saturday, May 4 elections
Early voting in person begins at
Hondo City Hall on Wednesdav.
April 1” and runs through Tuesday.
April 'll Mail in early voting bal-
lots hum be received hv the cit\ no
later than 5 p m. on Friday. April 2b
Whereas politicians are position-
ing themselves for a competitive race
in Hondo. Castroville residents ap-
pear content w ith their current lead-
ership and have cancelled their eiiv
elections Ihe cancellation means
District 3 Councilman Dr. James
BelL District 4 Councilman Leon
IsehirliaiT. and District 5 Council
mail Dav ikl Smart will automaticallv
serve advliiion.il two-vear terms
No HISI) elections
The Hondo Independent School
District elections, scheduled for Sal
urday. Mav 4, have been cancelled
As ol the tiling- deadline, onlv the
two incumbents whose places on the
board were up loi grabs this vear. Place
2 Trustee Rick G n/alcs and Place 4
Trustee Bubha I .uiglimghouse. had
signed up to run
State election code allow s for e e)
collation ol an election it all candi-
dates are unopposed
£aster lessings TO ||ll Total damage from hail
su.rj3^iss tornadoes
\
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 28, 2002, newspaper, March 28, 2002; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819140/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.