Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 20, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 22, 2002 Page: 4 of 16
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Sunday’s
(EcCitoriafs, CoCumns ~ & Letters
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tate Capital Highlights
-Compiled by Mike Cox, Texas Press Association--
AUSTIN — The state budget,
insurance reform and school finance are
the big issues facing lawmakers in the
coming legislative session, but there are
other hot topics, including several
measures aimed at reducing drinking and
driving.
Among the proposals is a bill
authorizing sobriety checkpoints, a
measure sure to generate some spirited
discussion among Texans.
Advocates say checkpoints are a good
tool in getting drunks off the road before
they can hurt or kill someone with their
impaired driving.
Others see checkpoints as another step
toward a police state.
The issue is not new. Twelve years ago,
the U.S. Supreme Court held that limited
sobriety checkpoints were qpnstitutional.
Thirty-nine states have laws allowing
them, but not Texas
In 1994, the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals said DWI checkpoints were not
constitutional in this state unless Texas
developed guidelines covering their usage
The legislation proposed in the House
by Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless and in the
Senate by Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo woyld
authorize Texas law enforcement agencies
to run sobriety checkpoints if they were
advertised in the media in advance (but
not by location) and if the checkpoints
didn’t delay traffic by more than 10
minutes.
In addition, police could only ask a
driver to take an alcohol test if they have
probable cause that the person is drunk
Finally, police cou'd ask to see a driver’s
license and proof of liability insurance at a
checkpoint, but net inspect the vehicle
The statistics that make any DW1-
related proposal important are sobering:
Up to half of all fatal car crashes are alcohol-
related
More troopers out soon...
With the two booziest holiday periods
of the year at hand, the Department of
Public Safety routinely puts all available
troopers on the highways This year, even
more will be out and about: The DPS just
graduated 201 new troopers, the largest
graduation in the history of the 67-year-
old agency.
Most of the new troopers are going into
the Highway Patrol, but others will be
license and weight, driver license and
T/hvic: (0/5) 75iS\,V<vr
Lawmakers Propose
Sobriety Checks to
Fight DWI’s in Texas
Capitol troopers Once they complete a
one-year probation, the troopers will earn
$35,000 a year.
Despite the size of this class, with the
approaching retirement of more Baby
Boomer generation troopers, more recruits
are being sought Anyone interested in
applying can check the nearest DPS office,
visit the department’s Web site at
www.txdps.state tx us or call 1-866-
TXTROOP
Don’t forget the child support...
The Attorney General s Office has
received $27.6 million in federal incentive
payments based on the office’s Child
Support Division's performance during
fiscal year 2001 This money can be used
to leverage an additional $53 million in
federal money to cover the state s child
IT WILL TAKE THE
US. QUITE A SIT OF
TIME TO PROCESS
ALL THAT INFORMATION
YOU GAVE THEM.
-> I
support recovery efforts
In fiscal year 2001, child support
collections increased by 21 percent
pompared with the previous fiscal year, the
AG ’s office reports That represents a jump
from $1 billion collected in 2002 to $1 2
billion last .fiscal year.
I’m not nuts, really...
In some versions of last week's
column. 1 mentioned that Texas is the
second state in the US in terms of pecan
(puh-con) sales
In explaining that, for some reason, my
fingers typed nasty nuts instead of "tasty
nuts Just for the record, and before
someone throws a pecan pir in my face. I
am a nationalistic Texan who loves pecans
Especially in pralines That s pray-leans.
pot piah-ieans Happy ! holidays
-
11 /fcf ^tobS&)<+kjr~corn
By Mike Cox
Despite their genteel upbringing
in England, enjoying a white
Christinas probably was the last
thing on the minds of the two young
buffalo hunters when the snow
started falling.
They were hunting in a break
along North Palo Duro Creek in
what would become Hansford
County on Christmas Day 1873
when a gentle snow grew into a
dangerous blizzard. Realizing they
were in for a long winter, they built
themselves a dugout with cottonwood
timber and buffalo hides and settled
in until the weather broke.
Freezing precipitation was not
the only danger that winter. The
Comanches and Kiowa still
considered the High Plains of Texas
their hunting ground, but brothers
Jim and Bob Cator managed to keep
their scalps until the Indians were
driven out by the U.S. cavalry during
the Red River War of 1,874-1875.
The Cator boys had drifted into
the Panhandle like the shaggy
animal they were doing their part to
make extinct. In 60 days during the
summer of 1873, they had killed
nearly 7,000 buffalo, mostly in
Kansas. When the market value of
the hides dropped for a time, they
took to killing gray wolves and
coyotes for the bounty, an enterprise
they called “wolfing.”
Though the Cators had moved
on from their dugout after the
weather began wanning up, they
liked the country they had seen. Five
years later, they came back and
stayed, leaving the Panhandle one of
Texas Tales
its most evocative place names.
Not far from where they had
wintered in their dugout, the Cators
built a three-room picket house that
served as both residence and
stagecoach stop between the area’s
two principal communities. Dodge
City and Tascosa, a distance of 242
miles. With the buffalo just about
killed out, the Cators ran a store to
capitalize on the traffic along the
road.
By December 1880 the area had
gotten so civilized the Cators
applied for a post office. An obvious
element of the process was coming
up with a name for their community.
What they decided on was one of the
most uu-Texany sounding names in
the Panhandle: Zulu Stockade.
The Zulu War was raging in
Africa, and that had been a subject in
the correspondence between the
brothers and their parents, who
referred to the Lone Star State as
“Darkest Texas.” As far as they and
their sons were concerned, the
Panhandle was just as wild as
Zululand.
Of course, there were no Zulus
within thousands of miles of Zulu
Stockade. And there was no stockade
either, tall timber being in pretty
short supply on the plains.
Zulu Stockade, located near
present Graver, continued as a
trading post and stage stop until
railroads supplanted that mode of
travel in the late 1880s.
Though that colorful place
name faded from the map, the Cators
not only stayed around, more of
them came to Texas. First to arrive
was a sister. Clara. Then a younger
brother, Bert, and finally another
brother. Leslie He brought along his
new bride. Bessie Donelson.
Jim Cator, who because he had a
son with the same name, eventually
became know as "Old Jim" Cator.
He served as Hansford County’s
first judge and its second sheriff.
By the early 1900s, the county
had its first newspaper, the Hansford
Investigator. The editor of that sheet,
in discussing the fortitude it took to
do business in a relatively new area,
said; "The Palo Duro Valley of the
Panhandle country is a household
word, and it has been made possible
only by those who are what may be
termed nerve’ enough to penetrate
this beautiful section of the Lord's
domain."
The Cator boys had not lacked
in nerve or verve.
WHO TO WRITE
White House Office 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW,
Washington, D.C. 20500. 202-456-1414
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas
703 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C.
20510-4303. 202-224-5922
Phil Gramm, R-Texas
370 Russell Building, D.C. 20510.
Lubbock 806-743-7533 Washington, D.C. 202-224-2934
Larry Combest (19th Dist.)
1511 Longworth Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515.
202-225-4005
Lubbock 806-763-1611 -
Washington, D.C. 20^-225-4005
The Seminole Sentinel
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Seminole, TX 79360 •
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Oldest Established Business in Gaines Counly
Published each Wednesday and Sunday at The Seminole Sentinel Building, 406 S.
Main, under the act of March 3. 1879.
Entered as Second Clast Matter at the Seminole. Texas. Foat Office, Seminole. Texas
79360
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management.
Letters policy: Letters to the Editor are welcomed. All letters should be kept as brief as
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changing the desired context Letters do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies or
beliefs of Ms newspaper No letters ahem remhiieiM seeking election or "Thank You"
letters will be accepted
Making a Difference
Taking Stock of Some
Wonderful Gifts...
by Gina Caswt'll Kelly
It is the gift giving time <>i year Are you finished with .til your
shopping? Have you gotten everyone t) it speaai gift that will m.me
them go. “Oh wow' '?" Or have you gotten tne special gift that when
you get your credit card bill in January will make you go. On wow'?
What is it with us and gift giving? What make*, us think we have to keep
doing more and more? C’ai you even u member what you got or gavi
last year after all the thought and expen-e you put into it? Many times
the answer to ths question :» no
As l was thinking about gut :ivir. i got thinking-about the ;iM-
that God gave us Of couoe He g»v> is :• *i • iv truly wonderful gif'
and I wmII get to that in. a mu. it. but I ■ ■> ’ ipm' ; at>nut all the oih* r
gifts He gives us each lav
Can you remember what yo,( fel* w •. i y« ; !'■ -kbd into the fac* o.t
your newborn baby all n.o*e years ngo' That was the gift of joy
Indescribable toy That is a pret’y good a** What about when you
watched that baby take her first sweet ett.* ste; s fnat was me gut or
pride That wondertu! proud fee.mg tf.it peei o r» el upon, watching
their children
How do you Vet wlien. you ,nok a* the . a;iv in the m< inr.g an '
see how great the stats look? (1 tie answer he.. ;» n< t sleepy',' Non fee!
such wonder and awe Another qrft from Go i The ability t > be an a/ed
at Hts works is truly a great gitt What about when you are with your
friends and you get so faklcd at the rr.cwt-stupid things Thank God tor
the gift of laughter Laughter is the gift that < .ften Me p> u> make it through
some pretty difficult times
Can you remember when you fi?st met your husband or your wiv
all those years ago? Can you jernember tha» feeling m your stomach
That excitement that you felt when you knew they were i tuning ovei
later? That was love Tnat is a wonderful girt from God, The yJt of
totally and completely loving some ne so muih that t' eir happiness
becomes more important than your own Tins is *. good gift
But you know, the gift of teats ami sadness are okay too These
gifts are connected with the gut of love You have to love someone
before they can hurt you You have to love someone bet( >re you can feel
the sadness of their leaving An ! it n ally is a great gift to shed tears of
sorrow over losing someone you loved. It really is okay to love someone
so much that it runs right out your eyes
Don t we serve a cool and giving God? And of course I haven t
even mentioned His greatest gift The gift of His Son The gift from one
who loved us so much that He was walling to give His very own son so
that we could have life everlasting What an absolutely awesome and
totally unmatched gift' What a mighty God we serve'
The Seminole Sentinel
welcomes comment on any subject of
general public interest. If you would like
to comment, send your letters (include a
signature and a phone number) to:
Seminole Sentinel
P.O. Box 1200 Seminole, Tex. 79360
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Fisher, David. Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 20, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 22, 2002, newspaper, December 22, 2002; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth824949/m1/4/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.