Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 26, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 31, 1991 Page: 1 of 32
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Volume 109 Number 26
Schools await
court decision
LIVINGSTON - Polk County
school officials, like others
throughout the state, are hoping
they will get at least a clue Monday
as to the future of school financing.
Monday looms as the deadline for
a possible cutoff of state funds, a
decision which rests with State
District Judge Scott McCown of
Austin, who is acting under an order
from the Texas Supreme Court.
Texas Attorney General Dan
Morales asked Friday for a two-
month extension of the court-
ordered deadline for coming up with
an equalized school funding
package. Poor school districts have
petitioned the court to cut off state
and local funds until the legislature
comes up with a fair school financ-
ing plan.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled in
January that the state’s method of
financing public education is un-
constitutional, giving legislators un-
til Monday to come up with a new
plan
The State Senate passed what
became known as the “Robin Hood
Bill” Tuesday, by a vote of 21-10. On
Wednesday, however, the House of
Representatives killed the measure
by a vote of 87-63. Polk County’s
legislative representatives were
split on the issue, with State Sea Bill
Haley (D-Center) voting “for” the
Senate Bill and State Rep. Allen
Hightower (D-Huntsville) lending
his vote to help defeat the measure
in the House.
Among other provisions, the bill
would have created 183 education
taxing regions in the state, many
following along county lines with
some multi-county districts. When
fully implemented, at least $500
million in local property tax money.
would have been shifted within those
regions. The bill would have also set
a minimum local property tax rate
of 60 cents per $100 valuation, with
the minimum rate climbing to 90
cents in four years. School districts
would have been allowed add up to
25 cents to the tax rate to enrich pro-
grams and up to 20 cents more for
construction, although each school
district would be guaranteed the
same amount of money per penny
tax.
An additional 15-35 cents could
have been levied for school district
programs, with the district keeping
half the money and the other half
pooled within the taxing region, bas-
ed on the district’s tax rate, wealth
and number of students.
Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock
estimated the bill would have raised
$7.5 billion in local school property
taxes over five years and would
have cost the state an additional $6.4
. billion over that period.
While few legislators seemed truly
pleased with the proposed bill, many
who voted for it felt it was a better
alternative than gambling on what
the court will do on Monday.
The Texas Education Agency
(TEA) has indicated that, even if
state funding is halted by the court,
most school districts have enough
reserve funds to operate through the
end of the school year.
Polk County schools were on Spr-
ing Break last week, making it dif-1
ficult to learn what local educator^*
think of the funding situation.
Livingston ISD Superintendent
See SCHOOL pg. 2A
Robbers
sought
ONALASKA - Investigation into
an armed robbery at Boles Food
Market in Onalaska Thursday night
has yielded at least one suspect, ac-
cording to Onalaska Police Chief
Putt Black. He said a photo line-up
was being compiled Friday. 1
Onalaska Patrolman Marcus Ke-
nyon responded to an alarm at the
store at approximately 9 p.m. Thurs-
day. Finding the doors locked and
the manager’s truck gone, he at first
believed the alarm had been set off
by high winds from severe
thunderstorms in the area. He soon
found that the store had been robbed
and that the suspects had fled in the
manager’s 1975 white Datsun pickup
truck.
Store Manager Bill Goins told
authorities that two black male*,
one of whom had what he believed to
be a .38-caliber snubnose revolver,
entered the store, demanding
money. While attempting to open the
store safe, the manager reportedly
strode me of the suspects with a
tray from the cash register drawer
and the suspects fled, without taking
any money, Black said.
DPS troopers and sheriff’s
deputies arrived to assist Onalaska
police, and Trooper Glen Goodwin
spotted Goins’ truck abandoned bet-
ween the old post office and First
National Bank buildings, a short
distance from the store, Black said.
The suspects are believed to have
switched vehides.
ENTERPRISE PHOTO RY STEPHEN KENGST
CHILLY RIDE - Five-year-old Jackie West of Conroe tries to
keep warm on a chilly Friday morning prior to the start of
the Dogwood Trail Ride at Wiggins Memorial Park. The
Roadrunners were making their way to Woodville to par-
ticipate in the Tyler County Dogwood Festival Parade Satur-
day morning. '
EASTER CELEBRATION - Mary Magdalene (Brenda Mor-
ris) sings, “I’ve Never Met a Man Like This” to Christ
(Terry Jordan) during the Livingston First United
Pentecostal Church’s Easter production of “Praise the
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY STEPHEN HEN GST
Lamb.” Millions of Christians worldwide celebrate the
holiest day in the Christian calendar today. Easter is the
basis for the teachings of Christianity, the death and resur-
rection of Jesus Christ.
Number of jobless declines in county
LIVINGSTON - Polk County’s
unemployment rate for the month of
February decreased compared to
the previous month’s figures, accor-
ding to jobless rate figures recently
released by the Texas Employment
Commission (TEC).
Latest figures show the county’s
unemployment rate at 6.9 percent,
indicating 754 jobless persons out of
an estimated 10,868-member labor
force.
The previous month’s unemploy-
ment rate was 7.9 percent, in-
dicating 851 persons without jobs out
of an estimated labor force of 10,782.
“The war has ended, spring is
here and the Texas labor market
looks a little healthier,” Commis-
sioner Mary Scott Nabers said as the
state’s unemployment figures were
released.
“The number of jobless workers
decreased by about 60,000 between
January and February and that
caused the state’s unemployment
rate to drop from 6.9 percent to 6.2
percent,” Nabers said.
Almost eight million Texans were
employed during the month and the
actual number of working in-
dividuals increased by 82,000.
“We’re looking especially good if
you consider the fact that on this
date Ipst year we posted a 7 percent
jobless rate,” Nabers said.
Pine Springs rates stand
LIVINGSTON - Pine Springs
Utilities customers have been
denied their request for interim
rates, as the issue continues to be
embroiled in hearings concerning
the utility’s rate increase.
“Lower interim rates would ac-
tually increase the ultimate hard-
ship on the customers if the full
amount of the requested increase is
ultimately allowed by the commis-
sion,” Kerry Sullivan, hearings ex-
aminer for the Texas Water Com-
mission, said in a letter dated Tues-
A 60 percent increase in the
utility’s water rates went into effect
Dec. 1, resulting in a hearing before
the Texas Water Commission on
March 8.
At that time, representatives from
various subdivisions affected by the
utility requested that an interim rate
be set until the time the matter of the
rate increase is resolved.
According to Sullivan, the major
issue raised at the hearing was
whether interim rates are ap-
propriate in the proceeding, pending
a final decision by the commission.
She recommended interim rates
Prayer service set
LIVINGSTON - The new theme of
the military support group. “So-
meone we love is still there,” will be
introduced Friday during a
candlelight prayer service at 6:30
p.m. on the courthouse square.
Rev. Bill Skaar will lead the
prayer circle and Joel Salazar will
Ordinance
considered
GOODRICH - The Goodrich City
Council will consider an ordinance
for write-in elections at its regular
meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Council will hear an engineer’s
report from Wayhe Stokes of Everit
Griffith & Associates concerning the
street paving project which got
underway last week.
Council will consider cutting off
the sewer of all delinquent accounts
and then discuss a re-connect fee for
the sewer.
A membership in the Polk County
Chamber of Commerce will also be
under consideration.
Other items on the agenda include
approval of the minutes, financial
statements and bills.
sing. Everyone is asked to bring
theipown candle.
jThe community is invited and we
encourage them to come,” Susan
Giles, leader of the support group,
said. “But this is just a little
something that we wanted to do for
us to let people know that the group
is still alive and we still have people
over there.
“We’ve even spruced up the cour-
thouse square,” Giles said, mention-
ing that they have “centralized
everything under the big tree.”
are not appropriate, citing Section
291.29 (c) of the Texas Water Com-
mission Permanent Rules which
states that the commission may set
interim rates “where the proposed
increase in rates could result in an
unreasonable economic hardship on
the utility’s customers (or) unjust or
unreasonable rates.”
Although the customer represen-
tatives testified regarding the finan-
cial plight of the customers living in
the respective subdivisions, Sullivan
concluded the economic hardship
caused by the requested rate in-
crease is not unreasonable within
the context of the Texas Water Code
and the Texas Water Commission
Permanent Rules, thus negating the
possibility of an interim rate.
According to Sullivan, “the
primary focus of attack on the Utili-
ty’s requested operating and
maintenance expense is a requested
employee and officer salary in-
crease.”
She said that although she thinks
the items need to be justified in some
detail before they are accepted, the
particular expenses are not “dearly
unreasonable.”
The next hearing is scheduled for 9
a.m. May 1 in Room 118 of the
Stephen F. Austin State Office
Building on 1700 North Congress
Ave. in Austin.
“Of interest also, is the fact that
the state’s total employment has in-
creased by over 133,000 thusfar in
1991.”
Most of the over-the-month
changes in nonfarm salaried jobs in
Texas were due to seasonal factors,
Nabers said.
Total nonag ricultural wage and
salary employment rose by dose to
14.000 jobs between January and
February, but mere were losses in
two major industry sectors.
Manufacturing declined, due
primarily to defense-related and
automotive cutbacks in transporta-
tion equipment and wholesale and
retail trade recorded normal
seasonal losses as jobs created for
Christmas and inventory-taking
were deleted
These seasonal layoffs were offset
by the usual seasonal growth in local
and state government, as schools
and colleges opened for the spring
semester, Nabers said.
Along with these sizeable in-
creases, sectors such as health ser-
vices, personal services and
engineering and management ser-
vices also gained substantial
numbers of jobs in February, she ad-
ded.
Construction picked up plmost
5.000 new jobs, pushing its current
level up by about 17,000 from a year
ago.
All but one of the 27 metropolitan
statistical areas (MSAs)for which
rates are currently available ex-
hibited declining unemployment
rates between January and
February 1991.
The only area where the rate did
not drop was Fort Worth-Arlington,
where the jobless rate remained un-
changed over the month and over
the year.
Only three MSAs had current
rates which were higher than their
year-ago rates and none of these in-
creases were significant, Nabers
said
See JOBLESS pg. IA
J
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 26, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 31, 1991, newspaper, March 31, 1991; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819927/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.