Cleveland Advocate (Cleveland, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 51, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 18, 1991 Page: 1 of 37
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Ladies give
money to buy
a royal crown
5A
Area children
write letters
to Santa Claus
6A
A whole page
of fun for
everyone /
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Cleveland Advocate
"Serving North Liberty County Since 1917"
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18,1991
ran
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50 CENTS
Dateline
• FILING DEADLINE - If you
plan to run for a position in the
1992 Democratic primary elec-
tion you must be in compliance
with the Texas Election Code
Sec. 141.001A and Sec.
141.03 IB. Applications must be
filed no later than Jan. 2, 6 p.m.
Applications are located in the
^jfcgylor and Norwood law office
at 340 Main in Liberty. If you
have any further questions, call
Lloyd Kirkham, Democratic
Party Chairman, at 592-0829.
•TOYS GIVEN - The Cleve-
land Optimist Club will give out
toys to all who signed up on the
following dates: Dec. 21, 8 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m.; Dec. 22, 2 p.m. to
5 p.m.; Dec. 23, 9 a.m. to 2
p.m.; Dec. 24, 8 a.m. to noon.
Toys can be picked up at Cor-
nerstone Baptist Church next to
Dairy Queen and Sonic.
• LEGALLINE - The Houston
.Bar Association's monthly pub-
<ii\ic service program LegalLine,
^will be Jan. 15, from 5 p.m. to 9
p.m. The public is invited to call
the HBA at 759-1133 where
volunteer attorneys will answer
simple legal questions, give
brief legal advice or refer the
call to the appropriate social
service agency for further assis-
tance.
• PL A YD AYS - The Wranglers
4-H Club will sponsor playdays
on the following dates: Jan. 4,
liberty and Feb. 1, Liberty.
iKrents will begin at 2 p.m.
There will be no gate charge.
For more information, call
(409)258-7718 or 592-0668.
•ASSESSMENT READY -
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice is proposing to establish the
Trinity River National Wildlife
Refuge in Liberty County. A
draft environmental assessment
has been prepared which de-
scribes the proposal in detail.
Public participation in this pro-
ject is encouraged. Anyone
wishing to obtain a copy of the
assessment and comment on this
project may do so by writing to:
Regional Director (RE), U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O.
Box 1306, Albuquerque, NM
87103-1306.
^DRAWING - Tickets are be-
ing sold for a drawing for a .243
rifle. Funds from the sale go to
benefit Cleveland Police Officer
Gary Parks, who recently un-
derwent heart surgery. For more
information, call Marty or Steve
with J&J Wrecker at 592-7929
or 593-1576, or call the Cleve-
land Police Department at 592-
2621.
•RECIPES SOUGHT - The
American Legion and Ladies
Auxiliary Cherry Gibson Post
393 is seeking recipes for a
cookbook to benefit the Sun-
shine Kids, a program to help
children with cancer. Send
l^jtecipes to Peggie Fannin, P.O.
wox 244, Cleveland, Texas
77328 or Peggie Fannin, Rt. 6,
Box 51 S.H.L.E., Cleveland,
Texas 77327, or drop them off
at the American Legion post on
Texas 321. Foj more informa-
tion, call 592-6042 or 593-1841.
• CHRISTMAS PROGRAM -
The Liberty County Children's
Protective Services Board is be-
ginning their 1991 Foster Chil-
drens Christmas Program. Any-
one interested in sponsoring in-
dividual children is asked to
contact program coordinator
Paula Alders at (409)336-2551
for more information. The
deadline for contacting her is
Nov. 15.
• YEARBOOKS AVAILABLE
- Cleveland Junior High School
See DATELINE, Page 2A
OPINION ....
. 4A
SANTA LETTERS .
. 6A
DEVOTIONAL PAGE
. BA
SPORTS......
. J9A
AMUSEMENT. .
. 10A
CLASSIFIED . .
. 1B
Police chief fired, one officer quits
By JERREL FERGUSON
Managing Editor
Cleveland Police Chief Rick
Foxworlh was fired from that posi-
tion last Tuesday, according to City
Manager Bill Petropolis.
Petropolis said Foxworth was
called into his office Tuesday af-
ternoon. He said that shortly before
5 p.m. he asked for Foxworth’s
resignation as police chief. When
Foxworth refused to tender his
resignation, Petropolis said he fired
the chief.
“I asked for (Foxworth's) resig-
nation,” Petropolis said. “It wasn’t
forthcoming, so I terminated him at
that time.”
Petropolis said no reason was
given for asking for Foxworth's
resignation. The reason for the
chiefs termination, according to
Petropolis, was the fact that “he
wouldn't resign and I thought it was
best that be did. That was it. It
wasn't a popularity contest and no
specifics. I didn't have any other
reason than that. I thought it was
for the good of the city”.
Petropolis said there was no of-
ficial reason for asking for Fox-
worth’s resignation.
Foxworth said he has retained
two attorneys who advised him not
to discuss the details of his termi-
nation. According to Foxworth, if
his case is not solved on the local
level, he and his attorneys will con-
sider civil action against the city.
“The thing is that it involves
political figures with investigations
going on before (the termination),”
he said. “I’m not at liberty to dis-
mm
RICK FOXWORTH
Council to re-finance bonds
By GLEN DODSON
Advocate Reporter
The Cleveland City Council met
in its regular business meeting Dec.
10.
Following the opening of the
meeting, the minutes of the previ-
ous meeting were read and ap-
proved.
The first item on the agenda was
a refunding analysis presented by
Pete Fisher of Maroney and Beis-
ner. Fisher explained the program
of refunding of existing bonds to be
re-issued at a reduced cost.
He told Council members that
the 1984 and 1986 optional bonds
totalling $2,350,000 would be re-
funded for refinancing. This action
would result in a gross savings of
$171,480 and a net savings of
$139,000 to the city.
After lengthy discussion, the
council approved an ordinance al-
lowing for the refinancing and sale
of these bonds.
The council then took action on
the sale of property for taxes. The
property in question is in the May-
fields addition and had a $3,000 tax
judgment between the city of
Cleveland, Liberty County and the
Cleveland Independent School
District.
Council approved the sale of the
property to Linda Jackson for
$1,000.
With Christmas approaching,
the council approved Christmas
bonuses for city employees. The
bonuses approved were $100 for
full-time employees and $50 for
part-time employees with a total of
$6,900 to be paid out.
Debbie Kirkham of Hereford
Lynch, Lipscomb, Sellars and
Kirkham presented an audit report
to the council. She also had some
recommendations to the city for
updating the city’s record keeping.
Following this, audit repo^
Council approved the payment of
$412.50 to Olson and Olson for le-
gal fees.
As part of the council meeting, a
public hearing regarding the Cen-
com Cable TV franchise renewal
was scheduled, but there were no
comments made from any member
of the public. Fred Knowles of
Cencom Cable TV did make some
comments to the council regarding
some possible changes being dis-
cussed for the local cable TV.
Council also approved the
nomination of two new members to
the Cleveland Housing Authority.
Shantell Green and Mary Alice
May were named to the authority
replacing Allene Hines and Pat
Cleveland.
Following this action was a re-
port from Bob Steely of the Cleve-
land Beautification Committee on
work being done as well as future
plans for Stand 1 Park. As part of
this report, City Manager Bill
Petropolis gave a report on esti-
mated costs for fencing and three
gates for the park as discussed in a
previous council meeting. Petropo-
lis said the cost of the fencing and
three swinging gates would be
$3,306.27 while the cost of the
fencing and three sliding gates
would be $5,405.
After discussion, Council ap-
proved the proposal of the lower
cost with the installation of the
fence and gates to be done by city
employees.
The final item on the agenda
was the discussion of city ordi-
nance 510 regarding truck routes in
the city. The council will present
ideas for rewriting the ordinance
for the January meeting.
Following the regular meeting,
Council adjourned into executive
session, but no action was taken on
anything discussed in that session.
■i* *
Still parading
The Tarkington High School marching band
was one of many area groups taking part in
the recent Christmas parade in downtown
Cleveland. They and other civic groups,
along with area businesses, entered floats
and attractions in the parade.
Assistance program gets funding
AUSTIN - Gov. Ann W.
Richards announced recently that
the Texas Department of Housing
and Community Affairs (TDHCA)
will make $1,000,000 in financing
available for a down-payment as-
sistance program for very low in-
come Texans.
“This program will open the
door and help many low income
Texans purchase a home,” said
Gov. Richards. “People who never
before dreamed of being able to
own a home, may now qualify.”
The new program offers a zero-
percent interest loan of up to
$1,500 for qualified homebuyers
with incomes of no more than 80
percent of the area median income.
The loan is to be used as a down-
payment and is repayable when the
borrower sells the home or pays the
mortgage.
The average median family in-
comp for the state of Texas is
$35,600. However, qualifying in-
come levels for the program vary
according to geographic location
throughout the state.
The down-payment assistance
program is available for use with
all TDHCA single family bond
programs for first time homebuy-
ers. Through the programs, TD-
HCA Is able to offer low and mod-
erate income Texans mortgage fi-
nancing at an interest rate lower
than the current market interest
rate.
TDHCA's newest bond program
is Program #44. It offers a 7.5 per-
cent fixed-interest rate on a 3T)-year
FHA or VA mortgage loan to quali-
fied homebuyers with incomes of
no more than 115 percent of the
area median income.
During the recent 72nd Legis-
lature, TDHCA was created
through a merger of the former
Texas Housing Agency and the
former Texas Department of
Community Affairs.
The legislation mandates that
the agency's housing finance divi-
sion “shall adopt a goal to apply a
minimum of 25 percent of the divi-
sion's total housing funds to pro-
vide assistance for persons and
families of very low income.”
“The down-payment assistance
program is a creative and innova-
tive use of the' agency's funds to
help achieve its goal is assisting the
very low income in Texas,” said
Gov. Richards.
Virginia Brown, director of
housing finance at TDHCA, added,
“It is a challenge for the division to
meet the 25 percent goal because
the low income person, like every
other homebuy.cr, must have a good
credit history to qualify and be able
to make a monthly mortgage pay-
ment. This program will help Tex-
ans who don't have the equity to
make the down-payment and oth-
erwise would not be able to buy a
home.”
For more information on TD-
HCA programs, please call the
agency's toll-free hotline number,
1-800-792-1119.
cuss the investigations, but because
I apparently stepped on some
would-be Cleveland leaders’ toes,
they decided to terminate me. One
of the reasons I supposedly was
terminated was because of my per-
sonal life.
“The only reason he gave for
terminating me was that they asked
for my resignation and I wouldn't
give it. I know the why's I was ter-
minated and 1 intend to prove the
why's and I have overwhelming
evidence to prove otherwise - doc-
umented evidence. Things have
been looked at the other way in
Cleveland for many years and I just
never would look the other way,
and apparently it just caught me up
in the middle of it. I wouldn't be
their boy, and because I wouldn't
be their boy they decided to get rid
of me.”
At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday,
Petropolis met with members of the
police department and appointed
Certain Ike Hines as acting police
chief. Hines will continue in that
capacity until a new full-time chief
can be employed, Petropolis said.
He said member of the department
were told that applicatioas for po-
lice chief would be accepted from
within the department as well from
outside.
“I don’t know how long it will
be before we have a new chief,”
Petropolis staled. “It will take some
time before we get the applications
in and considered. The last time I
was involved in something like
See CHIEF, Page 2A
Tots need donations
The Toys for Tots program is seeking donations of usable toys for
children in the Cleveland area who may not be on Santa's list this year.
The toys will be distributed to needy children in the area.
Toys, old and new, preferably usable, can be dropped off at the
land Police Department and Gene's Pharmacy.
Anyone wishing to help repair, sort and collect as well as deliver
toys, contact Ron at 592-0229, or Bill, Rusty or Fran at 592-7012 or
592-5775.
Clean out your closets, toy boxes^ playhouses and yards. They need
gifts for all ages, Santa can’t tell color, age, or money. Help the Op-
timist Club help Santa make this a great Christmas for those who need
a hand.
Meningitis reported
By GLEN DODSON
Advocate Reporter
TARKINGTON - Texas Health
Department officials, under the di-
rection of Regional Director Dr.
Richard Proctor, took quick action
last week to head off any possible
epidemic of contagious meningitis
after a Tarkington kindergarten
student was diagnosed Dec. 9 as
having the disease.
Last Wednesday night the health
officials administered antibiotics to
approximately 20 children who had
been in contact with the student.
“Meningitis bacteria are present
in our society at all times,” said lo-
cal physician Rick Kelley. “But it
becomes more contagious when flu
season comes about, particularly
with the Type A flu occurrence.”
It was also pointed out that there
are several different types of neis-
seri meningitis. The meningitis
cases reported recently in Houston
and Pasadena are of the Type C.
The Tarkington case is the Type A.
Kelley said symptoms to be alert
to are: headache, a rash which be-
gins as small spots that get larger, a
fever that doesn't subside with the
administering of Tylenol and per-
sistent congestion. Persons with
these symptoms should contact
their family physician.
Health officials, along with
Kelley, pointed out that this case of
meningitis is an isolated case and
that there is no epidemic of the dis-
ease in the area.
Allen wins position
on board of CAD
Tarkington Independent School
District Board Member Larry Allen
recently received the necessary
votes for election to a seat on the
Liberty County Central Appraisal
District Board.
Allen's votes put him over
William E. Haynie, president of the
Hardin ISD Board. The votes to put
Allen over the top came from the
Tarkington school board, Liberty
County Commissioners’ Court and
the city of Dayton.
Allen was elected to his first
term on the board. Several people
were reelected to the CAD board.
They included Glenn Toler of
Cleveland, J.C. Burnham of Lib-
erty, Bob Edwards of Dayton and
Bobby Evans of Devers.
The seat to which Allen was
elected was held by attorney Glenn
Vickery of Moss Hill.
Tm excited about being elected
and looking forward to working
with the other group and with
Bubba (Toler) since he's from this
area,” Allen said. “It’s going to be
exciting. I am glad we got a little
more representation from this area.
Of course I'm going to do my best
to represent the whole county, but
it is good to have at least two peo-
ple from the Cleveland area.
“I was glad to get the support !
needed for election. I was able to
beat Bill (Haynie). Bill's a nice
guy. He's on the Hardin school
board. But I felt like I could do as
good a job and went after it. This
gives me a chance to get in on the
top edge of what's going on. Tm
excited about representing this area
on the board and hopefully we can
keep things going smoothly over
there.”
Accidents decrease
LIBERTY COUNTY -
Statistics show that rural ac-
cidents through November are
down slightly from the same pe-
riod last year.
Sergeant Greg Arthur of the
Texas Department of Public
Safety Highway Patrol has re-
leased a report outlining rural
traffic accidents in Liberty
County during the month of
November.
According to the report, there
were two fatal accidents during
the month in which two persons
were killed. The Highway Patrol
investigated 24 rural accidents
in which 15 persons were in-
jured.
Sergeant Arthur added that
through November, there have
been 350 rural accidents in Lib-
erty County, killing nine persons
and injuring 239. During the
same 10-month period in 1990,
there were 368 rural traffic acci-
dents killing 18 and injuring 242
persons.
During the month of Novem-
ber in the six counties compris-
ing District 2B-A, the Texas
Highway Patrol investigated 180
rural accidents which killed nine
persons and injured 105.
1
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Ferguson, Jerrel. Cleveland Advocate (Cleveland, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 51, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 18, 1991, newspaper, December 18, 1991; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth871536/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin Memorial Library.