Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 17, 2006 Page: 1 of 48
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Madi— Co—iy'i lading Ncwpspcr Ourl20diYew Published m Hondo, Tout
Thunday, August 17,2006 « Volume 120. Number 33 • Website: HondoAmTlHeraldcom • Three Sections, 36 Page* * 75Cenu
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL... San Juana Ottum, the K6 teacher at Meyer Elementary takes a moment to visit with (l-r) Cassie
Dale, Elysia Bermea and Arian Tellez before class started on Tuesday.
Hondo ISD has smooth
opening day of classes
Enrollment figures were up for the first day of classes in
the Hondo Independent School District.
And confusion, which could have been a problem be-
cause of altered traffic patterns, was down.
All in all. it was a good first day for the 2006-07 school
year in the HISD, where 2,157 students were on hand. That
represents an increase of 60 students over the first day of
classes last year, when 2,097 came to opening day. That
total increased on Wednesday, when enrollment figures
showed 2,176 students.
With Tuesday's count broken down by campus, Meyer
Elementary (Pre-K through 2nd grade) reported 590 stu-
dents, Woolls Intermediate (3-5) had 473, McDowell
Middle School (6-8) had 457 students, and Hondo High
School (9-12) had 614. In addition, the detention facility
had 23 students on the first day.
Before last school year, the HISD adopted an open en-
rollment policy, thereby waiving tuition for students liv-
ing outside the district wishing to attend classes in Hondo.
An estimated 20 new students are enrolled in the HISD
from outside the district this year, in addition to the 23
that were added last year.
The anticipated traffic jam around the Meyer, McDowell
and Woolls campuses, which was expected to be caused
by the construction on Avenue U, never got too bad, ac-
cording to Superintendent Clyde Parsons. “The traffic ran
much smoother then we anticipated. A lot of that has to
do with the tremendous help we received from the Hondo
Police Department.
“The afternoon was pretty hectic, because everyone was
picking up kids at the same time. But even so, there were
| very few problems, if any.”
Anvil Herald weather info • \.
recorded by Jeff Berger
Date High Low Rain
Wed., Aug. 9 98 76 .00
Thurs., Aug. 10 98 76 .00
Fri..Aug. 11 101 76 .00
Sat., Aug. 12 98 76 .00
Sun., Aug. 13 98 78 .00
Mon.. Aug. 14 97 79 .00
H l\lN..Aag 15 N Ttl .00
Total rain for the week 0.00 in.
Total rain for August: 0.18 in.
Total rain for 2006:7.43 in.
Avg. high temp, for week: 98.3°
Avg. low temp, for the week 76.7°
High temp, for 2006:101° on Aug. 11
Low temp, for 2006:24° on Feb. 12
Edwards Aquifer level, Aug. 16:
Bexar County, J-17 well: 647.8 ft.
PHOTOS BY DAWN HOOVER
WELCOME BACK
Not everyone was as excited to begin their
school career as Lexie Berger (right) was.
Summer Rivera (above) was a little un-
sure when the morning began, but
according to an inside source,
Summer's day improved greatly,
and by the end of the day all
was well.
AHHHHH.!..Hummers take
advantage of a place to rest
and grab a quick drink on a
hot South Texas day. The un-
relenting heat, along with the
lack of rain (we’re one day
closer to the next one) have
made the summer of 2006
one of the drier ones on
record.
Hondo's newest traffic signal is scheduled to go online today at Hwy. 90 and Veterans Blvd.
Count ’em: 5 traffic lights
By Elizabeth Craft
Anvil Herald Staff_
Yes. we’re in the big time
now. The City of Hondo now
has its fifth traffic signal up
and running.
Located on Highway 90 and
the new Veterans Blvd., the
new traffic light has been
flashing yellow for seven days.
Veterans Blvd. was con-
structed for access to the Wal-
Mart Supercenter, which
opened Wednesday.
The cameras visible on top
are a video detection unit that
sense when a car is approach-
ing the intersection, so that
the light will change.
The last traffic light in-
stalled in Hondo was at the
intersection of Highway 90
and Ave. U on July 25,1991.
The city’s other three signals
are at the Highway 90 cross-
ings of Avenues E, K and M.
While residents of God's ,
Country are hopeful that mo-
torists wont "Drive Through It
like HeU,” everyone should be
advised to keep a sharp eye
out for highway drivers who
fail to see the new light, and
keep motoring right through
the intersection.
Three walk away from
truck-train wreck nearD’Hanis
By William Hoover
Anvil Hekaiu Comujspondent
Department of Public Safety TVooper Vic-
tor Cabrera said this weekend’s collision of a
pickup truck and a Union Pacific train near
D'Hanis was the result of the driver not pay-
ing attention and not looking both ways be-
fore stopping on the UP railroad track.
The crossing is approximately one-half mile
east of D’Hanis. The intersection lacks cross-
ing arms, but has a stop sign and railroad
crossing sign.
D’Hanis area resident Eric (Rick) Rothe,
51, was driving a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup and
pulling a trailer full of tables and chairs when
he came to a stop on the railroad tracks at
County Road 5217 and Highway 90. The ac-
cident happened around 3 p.m. Sunday, ac-
cording to Cabrera.
The truck had two passengers', John Rothe.
42 (the driver’s cousin), and John’s 11-year old
son, Clint Rothe. However, only the driver
was injured by the eastbound train.
Eric Rothe was airlifted to a San Antonio
hospital with complaints of left shoulder pain,
possibly a broken collarbone, after an ambu-
lance arrived on the scene. The other two pas-,
sengers were not seriously injured. Although
John had a couple of nicks and bruises, Clint
was fortunate not to have been scratched, ac-
cording to the DPS TVooper II.
“According to the driver, he did not see the
train," said Cabrera. ‘He was on the tracks
ti
(headed north) and, by the time he looked up,
the locomotive was right there. He tried to put
it in reverse, because he was in neutral, and
he gunned it. But, the locomotive nicked him
and caught the left front of the vehicle. The
train dragged the truck 25 to 30 feet at the
most.
“When we arrived, EMS was already there
attending to (Eric). The vehicle was still on
the railroad tracks next to the intersection.
The train stop-ped a quarter mile up the
road,” said the trooper. “It was not going very
fast.”
Cabrera said people need to exercise more
caution anytime they come upon the busy
UP railroad track, which runs parallel to
Highway 90. The trooper said the Rothes
were fortunate that their injuries were not
more severe.
"The cause of the accident was driver in-
attention. He said it himself: T didn’t see it:
it was my fault’,” said the TVooper. “I expect
the worse when I have togo to a train wreck
with a vehicle, but they were able to walk
away from it. It was a serious accident. They
were just real lucky."
Cabrera said the trailer being towed by the
pickup truck probably prevented the driver
from being able to back off the railroad
tracks before the train clipped his truck’s
front end. “(The truck) was
not jackknifed after it was hit,” he said, ‘but
I think it might have impaired his ability to
back up.”
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 17, 2006, newspaper, August 17, 2006; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819325/m1/1/?q=architectural+drawings: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.