Cleveland Advocate (Cleveland, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, February 26, 1988 Page: 1 of 37
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Cleveland Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Austin Memorial Library.
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CLEVELAND?
wmmmm
ADP^jTE
b*
ring North Liberty Co. Since 1917'
Friday, February 26,1988; Two Sections, 26 Pages
USPS117560
25*
Good Morning
Vietnam movie
9A
Martin Chevrolet
gives away TV
4A
Dateline
REPUBLICANS: The Republican
Party of San Jacinto County will
be holding a meeting today at 7
p.m. at the Coldspring Com-
munity Center. All interested
Republicans are invited. If you
have any questions regarding the
meeting, call Linda Faust, San
Jacinto County Chairman of the
Republican Party at 592-6148.
FREE SCREENING: Charter Com-
munity Hospital is participating
in the Houston Cholesterol
Screening and Education Project
today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and
Feb. 27 from 9 a.m. to noon.
General public will be charged $4
for the screening to cover the cost
of the supplies and promotional
material. All interested should
come to the hospital’s lab on the
iirst floor.
GARAGE SALE: The Tarkington
Volunteer Fire Department will
have a garage sale Feb. 26 and 27
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the fire
station. If you have any usable
contributions, ' please contact
Carolyn at 592-2295 or LaWanda
at 592-3753.
SOCCER SIGNUP: Sign-up for the
Spring Soccer Season will be held
Feb. 27 from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at
the Cleveland Junior High Gym.
Players may be from the ages of
6 to 18. For more information,
call 593-1465.
REGISTRATION: Tarkington Little
^^eague will have player
^registration at Tarkington Little
,| League fields, Cleveland Holiday
oods Minimax and Archie’s in
plendora from 10 a.m. until 2
.m. Feb. 27. Boys and girls ages
6-18 are eligible for baseball and
softball and teeball. Any player
who will be six years old by July
31, 1988 can register. For more
information, call John Drennan
at 592-2240, Tommy Brown at 593-
1674 or Caroline Sudduth at 592-
0654.
CHILI POLITICS: The Point Blank
Buster Palmer Post 4378 and
Ladies Auxiliary are having a
chili dinner at their new post
building Feb. 27. Chili, tea or
coffee will be served from noon
until 6 p.m. They are also having
a bake sale. The money will go to
the building fund. Candidates
have a special invitation to come,
and at 1 p.m., they may speak,
followed by a question and an-
swer period. •
CHILI SUPPER: IAACP will host a
ifl4embership drive free chili
^supper at Pleasant Hill Baptist
Church, 803 Colbert in Dayton,
Feb. 27, 5-8 p.m. For more in-
formation, call 409-258-2730 or
409-258-8988.
MORE SCREENING: Free glaucoma
and cataract screening will be
held at Charter Community
Hospital Feb. 27 from 9 a.m. to
noon. Dr. Maple Avery, local
Opthalmologist, will conduct the
screening. Dr. Avery par-
ticipates and takes assignments
from Medicare.
TRAIL RIDE: The Ghost Riders
Horse Club is having a trail ride
Feb. 27 and 28. For pullout
location and more information,
call 592-0366 or 592-4241.
j(jg£yiVAL: Bear Creek Baptist
See DATELINE, Page 17A
Index
Today’s Advocate
OPINION...........
. 2A
SPORTS............
. 6A
OUTDOORS.........
. 8A
ENTERTAINMENT .
. 9A
CHURCH ...........
10A
BULLETIN BOARD..
12A
CLASSIFIED........
14A
TV GUIDE..........
. IB
More area voters register
By R.T. LOWE
Advocate Editor
Area Republicans and Democrats go to the polls March 8 to have their say
in local, state and national political races.
In this presidential election year, both parties have made a drive to sign-
up eligible voters — with mixed success. Liberty County saw an increase of
just 208 voters from 1987 to 1988 despite the parties signing up people who’ve
never before voted.
“We’ve had to cancel out a lot of voters this year,” said Liz Curry from the
County Annex Building in Cleveland. “Some of them can be accounted for by
deaths but a lot of the problem was people moving. I guess until the economy
picks up, we’ll continue to have people leaving the area. But we have had a
number of new voters and that’s encouraging.”
Of the 25,362 eligible voters in Liberty County, 7,851 are in the eight voting
precincts (numbers 7, 8, 9,12, 20, 23, 25, and 27) in the Cleveland area. The
Cleveland, Tarkington, Plum Grove, and Hightower areas have shown an in-
crease of 189 registered voters from 1985 to 1988. The largest precinct, in
terms of voters, is 7 with 1,836 voters. Some of these citizens, however, may
have trouble casting their ballots.
Residents moving, even inside the county, are causing a second problem
for the folks at the tax office. Regulations require voter registration cer-
tificates be returned to the Tax Office should the addressee have moved or
changed address. A number of people, it seems, failed to report their change
of addresses to the tax office.
“We’ve got a lot of voters’ cards back due to bad addresses,” Curry said.
“These people really need to inform us of their new addresses. If they don’t,
they may have a lot of trouble voting and they might not get to vote at all.”
In the past, all voter cards were for two years ending the last day of
February. Voters need to make sure they have the new registration cards.
The old cards expire Feb. 29 of this year, completing two years of use. The
new voter c^irds will expire Dec. 31,1989. This is because the state is chang-
ing its voter-fiscal year to match the calendar year.
“People need to check their voting cards,” Curry said. “If they have the
new ones, they’ll expire in 1989.”
For voters with up-to-date registration cards, the next step to cast a ballot
in the ‘Super Tuesday’ primary is to know where to vote. Thursday, Liberty
County Republican Party Chairman Bob White turned in his party’s list of
polling boxes to the county clerk’s office.
“We will have our voting box locations and a list of our precinct judges on
file by Feb. 25,” White said in an interview Wednesday. “As far as the
Cleveland area is concerned, Precincts 20 and 7 will combine at one loca-
tion.”
The Democrats turned in their list of polling boxes a month ago.
Democratic County Chairman Lloyd ‘Tookie’ Kirkham said, “We thought it
was best to get the locations out to the public as soon as possible. There have
been a couple of changes, including dividing up some of the precincts. I feel
people need to be aware of where they should vote. ”
Among the races to be decided for each party are the nominees for Presi-
dent, U.S.Senator, U.S. Representative, State Railroad Commissioner, the
unexpired term for Railroad Commissioner, four State Supreme Court
Justice spots, Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge, two Court of
See MORE, Page 3A
Destroyed
Volunteer fire units from
Cleveland and Bear Creek
responded to this house fire
on Jayhawker road. When
Gean Fedd returned fom tak-
ing her husband to work, she
found her home ablaze. As
yet the cause of the fire is
unknown.
Photo by JERREL FERGUSON
Council
considers
911
By JERREL FERGUSON
Advocate Reporter
In a special meeting of the
Liberty County Commissioners’
Court this week, a report was
received on the possibility of
instituting a 9-1-1, emergency
phone service in Liberty County.
Jack Steele, Executive
Director of the Houston-
Galveston Area Council (HGAC),
told the panel of commissioners
the “verdict is in on 9-1-1. The
system will help save lives and
preserve property.
“Where I sit, that’s what we’re
all about in local government,”
Steele continued. “We don’t do
anything else. Our job is to
preserves our citizens’ lives and
protect their property to the best
of our ability. The 9-1-1 system
can help do that.”
According to Steele, the system
has three advantages. The first is
it will save lives and preserve
property. “Every month in
Harris and Montgomery Coun-
ties, one, two or three people are
alive because of the 9-1-1
system,” Steele said.
Steele said another advantage
in a county like Liberty County, is
it helps the various emergency
services — police, fire and
medical — work more closely ,
together. The system gets the
word on an emergency to the
people who need it, as quickly as
possible.
The third advantage cited by
Steele is the attraction of new
residents to Liberty County’s
suburban areas. According to
Steele, 9-1-1 would be a big-
community service to go along
with suburban amenities.
The HGAC, which covers a 13-
county region, is the agency
which would draw up a plan for 9-
1-1 systems in their region. When
the plan is complete, the HGAC
See COUNCIL, Page3A
r~ _
1
GSU granted decrease
Commission: GSU gets half
By MARY NEWELL PAPE
Founders Newspaper Group
By R.T. LOWE
Advocate Editor
the money spent in construction costs was “prudent.”
State law allows the PUC only to give rate increases if
The Texas Public Utilities Commission actually granted Gulf States
Utilities a rate decrease, rather than the increase they intended, Don
Branham, head of a coalition of cities in GSU’s service area, said
Wednesday.
PUC Chairman Dennis Thomas said Tuesday he estimates the PUC
granted Gulf States Utilities a rate increase less than the $86.7 million it
requested.
Wednesday, however, Branham, Panorama Village mayor, said, “The
See GSU, Page 3A
For Gulf States Utilities (GSU), the Public Utility
Commission’s (PUC) decision could have been worse —
but it could have been a lot better.
The PUC ruled this week GSU customers, including
those in the Cleveland area, should pay just more than
half of the $3.1 billion the power company spent con-
structing the River Bend nuclear plant in Louisiana. A
majority of the PUC members felt GSU failed to prove
a utility company can prove the money it spent building
power plants was prudent.
“The company failed on its burden of proof,” PUC
Commissioner Jo Campbell said. “They had ample
opportunity but they never did.”
The PUC did leave the door open for GSU to recoup
some of the $1.5 billion in disallowed costs. The decision
See BANKRUPTCY, Page 3A
1
_ 1
Suggs sought by local authorities
Children held in protective custody
Wants deal
By DAVID BAUERLEIN
Founders Newspapers Group
Montgomery County District
Attorney Pete Speers said
Thursday he turned down
requests by accused murderer
Robert Wayne Suggs to lower his
$500,000 bond if the fugitive
agrees to turn himself in.
Speers said callers identifying
themselves as Suggs’s lawyers
suggested the former Magnolia
resident will surrender if the
bond were not so steep. Suggs is
charged with the murder of a 22-
year-old Christopher Duane
Schmittel, whose decapitated,
handless body was found in a
shallow grave in Waller County
Feb. 5.
His wife Debbie remained in a
Columbus jail Wednesday, held
on $25,000 bond after she took
See WIFE, Page3A
By DICK KEMP
Founders News Paper Group
Three children found in the Waller County home of murder suspect Robert
Wayne Suggs, 36, are in state protective custody.
Records in the office of District Court Clerk Beverly A. Kluna identified
the children as Chena Suggs, 13, and Randy Suggs, 10, children of Robert and
Debbie Suggs; an Robbie Suggs, 10, child of Robert Suggs and Stephanie
Sullivan, 30, last known address in Arizona. The Texas Department of
Human Service filed suit to place the children in temporary custody of the
Waller County Children’s Protective Service on Feb. 8.
The court file shows the children were found by law enforcement officers
from three counties, including Liberty County, as they executed a search
warrent for Suggs’ Nelson Road home.
A Children Protective Service employee said the children were still in the
house while officers dug up the headless, handless corpse of a murder victim
nearby. The body was recovered following a discussion between law officers
and suspects arrested in a drug-lab raid near Romayor.
The state worker said the children reported Suggs left the house about 1:30
p.m., Feb. 5., telling them to lock the door and not let anybody in.
Meanwhile, authorities said Monday Suggs remained at large.
He is sought in the death of Christopher Duane Schmittel, 22, believed to
have been shot in Harris County and buried in a four-foot deep grave near
the Nelson Road home. Officers said the body appeared to have been buried
about a month.
A $500,000 bond had been set for Suggs.
Suggs owned property where a methamphetamine lab operated near
See SUGGS, Page 3A
This week in
Cleveland Library Board meets
Cleveland’s Library Board met
February 17, 1969 at the Austin
Memorial Library. It was voted
and approved for the mayor to
appoint additional alternate
members to the board. A list of
prospective names were sub-
mittee to help the Mayor decide.
The board authorized Mrs.
Kennedy, Librarian, to purchase
books that were on the recom-
mended indexes of the texas
Library Board. She was in-
structed to contact the School
Librarians so that the newly
acquired books would com-
pliment these libraries and thus
prevent wasteful duplication.
Board member, Gordon Wells,
was assigned to help choose
these reference books. Mrs.
Ynette Coe was appointed to
outline a policy on the acceptance
and use of all future memorial
books; following the guide lines
of the Texas State Library Board.
Several small items to improve
the book shelves and facilitate
locating books shelves were
authorized for purchase.
Mrs. Kennedy reported on the
increasing use of the facilities by
both Junior an Adult citizens.
Mrs Lilly Stancil expressed the
wish that a local mobile library
could be inaugurated.
Mrs Falvey, chairman of the
board, showed the members a
new book of Life and time
devoted to the history of America
but ten year periods. Following
the meeting coffee was served.
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Lowe, R. T. Cleveland Advocate (Cleveland, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, February 26, 1988, newspaper, February 26, 1988; Cleveland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth871435/m1/1/?q=%2522dewey+redman%2522: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin Memorial Library.