South Belt Leader (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 8, 1983 Page: 1 of 18
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: South Belt Ellington Leader and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the San Jacinto College.
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The Voice of
Community-Minded
People
S’outb Belt Ceafoer
September8, 1983
Vol. 8 Number 31
Polling places announced
The following polling sites for the Tuesday, Sept. 13, toll road referendum
have been announced:
•Precinct 76, Dobie High School, 11111 Beamer
•Precinct 417, Meador Elementary, 10701 Seaford
•Precinct 418, Stuchbery Elementary, 11210 Hughes Road
•Precinct 476, Frazier Elementary, 10503 Hughes Road
•Precinct 475, Burnett Elementary, 11825 Teaneck
•Precinct 536, Beverly Hills Recreation Center, 9800 Kingspoint
•Precinct 545, Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 13 Building,
11610 Sageyork.
Scarsdale BBQ set Sunday
A barbecue for Scarsdale residents will be held Sunday, Sept. 11, from 3-7
p.m. at the Park Pavilion at 12127 Teaneck.
Besides the free food, door prizes will also be given away.
For more information, call Rene’ DeLaFuente at 484-2349.
Sagemont sets security deadline
The deadline for the drive to establish a Sagemont Security Patrol Project was
set for Sept. 30 by volunteers at an emergency meeting Thursday.
The block walkers attending voted unanimously to continue trying to get
money for 30 days only.
During the next few weeks volunteers will cover their blocks again, cover
adjoining block or blocks which have not been covered, will put letters on doors
and phone those who cannot be reached by walking.
Volunteers will be at local grocery stores Saturday, Sept. 10, from 8 a.m. to 2
p.m. to collect checks from Sagemont residents.
Volunteers will also go to PTA meetings and speak about the project.
Another block walker meeting is planned for Sept. 12, at which time new
blocks will be picked, and volunteers will begin walking new blocks on Sept. 14.
On Sept. 20, the group will start phoning all homes in Sagemont.
Residents are being asked to pay $60 annually for the security patrol.
Sagemont Civic Club President Mary Obenauf said she will not authorize a patrol
until $30,500 has been collected, enough to fund at least minimal (30 hours a
week) patrol for a year.
She said the block walkers are frustrated because they have worked hard and
received little support.
Checks may be mailed to the Sagemont Security Patrol Project, P. O. Box
34787, Houston, TX 77234.
If the goal cannot be met, all money will be refunded.
Local club backs referendum
The Sagemeadow Civic Club has endorsed passage of the Sept. 13 toll road
referendum.
According to the club’s board of directors, the construction of Beltway 8 will
be beneficial to the entire South Belt area, and they cited the following reasons:
1. Travel time between 1-45 and 1-10 will be greatly reduced.
2. Property values in the South Belt area would increase due to land along the
highway being accessible for development.
3. Funds from tolls (user fees) will finance the road instead of a tax increase.
4. This proposal may be the only way Beltway 8 will ever be built due to lack
of funds by the Texas State Highway Department.
The estimated completion date for the toll road is five years as opposed to a
possible 20-year completion date by the Texas State Highway Department.
Rec classes now registering
Registration for fall activities and classes is being conducted at the city of
Houston recreation centers in Sagemont and at Beverly Hills Park.
Classes will begin during the next three weeks.
Among the offerings at the Sagemont Center, located at 11506 Hughes Road,
include dancercise, ceramics, yoga, a coupon exchange club, acrobatics, tennis,
ballet, plaster painting, exercise for senior citizens and bridge for senior citizens.
For further information, call the center at 481-9426.
At the Beverly Hills Park Recreation Center, some of the courses and
activities offered include aerobics, ceramics, preschool storytime, junior fun day,
charm, spelling bee, tumbling, physical fitness, volleyball and body building. For
further information, call the center at 941-2476. The center is located at 9800
Kingspoint. 1
Students hold car wash
Two homerooms at Beverly Hills Intermediate School will hold a car wash at
the Fuqua Mobil gas station Saturday, Sept. 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to
raise money for United Way.
The homerooms are Sibbya Jo Bailey’s 8-1 homeroom and Michael Heizen’s
seventh grade homeroom.
The cost is $3.
School lunch selection changes
Elementary school youngsters in the Pasadena school district no longer have
to take three vegetables on their plate lunches.
Charles Ketchum, director of food services for the district, said to cut down
on plate waste, the district now provides the student with at least one vegetable
or fruit dish of their choice out of the four offered on any given day; however, if
the student wishes one or two more vegetables he must request them. They will
not automatically be served.
One of the components required of a school lunch is a three-fourths cup of
fruit or vegetable. Ketchum said one of the most popular vegetables is potatoes,
and the district usually serves half cup portions. He added that vegetables are
generally not liked by children.
The only time dessert is automatically served is if it is a required fruit, such
as fruit cocktail or fruit cobbler. Children are entitled to a dessert of their choice
along with their lunch and may request one.
Milk and meat are other required components, and children must take them.
SMUD defers appointment
The Board of Directors of the Sagemeadow Utility District deferred action on
appointing a successor to Jack Revell until the Sept. 14 meeting. That meeting
will be held at the district building, 10755 Hall Road, at 7:30 p.m.
The appointment had previously been scheduled for an Aug. 31 special
meeting of the board.
Pony-Colt meeting Sept.
The South Belt Area Pony-Colt baseball league will hold its annual meeting
and election on Thursday, Sept. 22, at the Sagemeadow Utility Building, 10755
Hall Road, at 7:30 p.m.
In addition to the election, an annual budget report will be delivered.
Parents of all prospective players who will be between the ages of 13 and 16
during baseball season are asked to attend.
In this week’s issue
In this week’s issue of the South Belt Leader, readers will find the following
news items:
• An area-wide calendar is on page 2.
• Fire reports appear on page 3.
• Over the Back Fence is on pages 4 and 5.
• School menus are on page 8.
• An area sports calendar is reported on page 11.
This map indicates the location and scope of the toll road projects up for a
vote Sept. 13. The Hardy Tollway will reduce traffic congestion on 1-45 North,
U.S. 59 South and provide faster driving time to the airport for all Harris
County. The Beltway 8 toll road will reduce traffic congestion all around
Loop 610, State Highway 6 and F.M. 1960 and other north-south thorough-
fares on the westside like Hillcroft, Voss, Wilcrest, Gessner, Fondren,
Bingle, Dairy Ashford and Chimney Rock.
Toll road voting
set for Tuesday
By Cheryl Bolen
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, for voters in
Harris County to vote on a $900 million
toll road bond referendum.
If the measure passes, the county will
construct two toll roads: the Beltway 8
and the Hardy Road Tollway.
Locally, the beltway, when completed
in its initial phase, would extend from
Beamer Road to the Houston Ship Chan-
nel.
The state has already built feeder
roads from the ship channel to Fairmont
Parkway and has purchased most of the
right-of-way for the four-mile stretch to
be constructed from Fairmont to Beamer
where there is currently no highway.
Completion of the local beltway by the
county as a toll road could be expected in
four-and-a-half years.
Tolls are expected to cost approxi-
mately 10-cents per mile.
Approximately 100 organizations have
endorsed the plan, including the Pasa-
dena Independent School District and
the Sagemeadow Civic Club locally.
Construction of the beltway would
provide the only direct link to the city of
Pasadena from the South Belt area.
Proponents of the plan say the tollway
is the only way the road will be built
quickly. They say it could be another 20
years before the state builds the belt-
way, and it is badly needed now.
Originally scheduled to be built by the
state, the beltway has now been put on
the “back burner’’ by the state, which is
diverting its funds to federal roads which
qualify for matching federal dollars.
Proponents also point out that the
tolls—and not tax dollars—will pay for
the road, and those who do not want to
pay do not have to use the roads.
Opponents of the plan say the state
has been planning the beltway for over
20 years and should go ahead and build
it, making it free to users. During the
past year, the state applied to put the
beltway on the federal plan to try to get
federal funds. Opponents of the county’s
toll road plan encourage local residents
to pressure the state to continue with
plans for the beltway.
The 21-mile Hardy Toll Road would
extend from downtown Houston to past
Houston’s Intercontinental Airport. Its
construction would alleviate crowding on
IH-45 North and IH-59 North.
Harris County Judge Jon Lindsay,
who has campaigned vigorously for the
toll road plan, says he encourages voters
who do not plan to use the roads to vote
“yes” because passage of the referen-
dum would alleviate many of the coun-
ty’s traffic problems, including conges-
tion.
PISD enrollment drops by 3.7%
By Cheryl Bolen
The nine South Belt area campuses in
the Pasadena Independent School Dis-
trict followed a district-wide trend in
declining enrollments this year, drop-
ping by 3.2 percent from enrollments
during the same period last year.
District-wide, enrollment on the first
school day after Labor Day (Sept. 6) was
at 35,746, down by 3.7 percent from last
year’s 37,139 on the day after Labor Day
(Sept. 7).
The district has lost 1,393 students in
the year, but enrollment is back up
slightly from the 1,800 students lost
during the school year last year.
Locally, every school, except Moore
and Meador Elementaries, registered a
decline in enrollment.
Moore, leading the district’s 30 ele-
mentaries with an enrollment of 801,
added 49 students this year, and Mea-
dor, ranked fifth in enrollment, had 692
students for an increase of 45 students.
The only other South Belt area ele-
mentary school in the top five in enroll-
ment was Burnett, which enrolled 754
students—86 less than last year.
Frazier Elementary’s enrollment
dropped by 96 students in the past year,
and Stuchbery showed a decline of just
three students.
Atkinson Elementary, located in the
South Belt area, had the district’s lowest
enrollment at 397, down by 34 students
from last year. Ironically, Moore and
Atkinson are at opposite ends of the
enrollment spectrum, and Atkinson was
one of the schools which supplied Moore
its students when Moore opened.
Opening this year was Sparks Elemen-
tary on Southmore. It had an enrollment
of 573, forcing lower enrollments at
surrounding schools.
Of the district’s 30 elementary
schools, 23 showed a decline in enroll-
ment. Others which showed an increase
was Garfield (up by 30), Genoa (up by 7),
Jessup (up by 34) and Williams (up by
13).
Southmore, with an increase of seven
students, was the only one of the dis-
trict’s nine elementaries to show an
increase in enrollment.^
Thompson, once again, led the dis-
trict’s enrollment but lost 58 students
from the same period last year. Beverly
Hills retained its third place ranking this
year despite losing 28 students from last
year.
Pasadena High was the only one of the
district’s four high schools to show an
increased enrollment.
South Houston, with 2,386 students,
led the district’s high schools in enroll-
ment, with Dobie High following closely
at 2,378.
Dobie’s enrollment declined by 52
students in the year, and South Hous-
ton’s dropped by 124. Rayburn lost 70
students.
The following is a ranking by this
year’s enrollment of the district’s 43
campuses:
Elementaries
Moore, 801
South Houston, 786
Gardens, 782
Burnett, 754
Meador, 692
Bailey, 689
Teague, 673
Pearl Hall, 663,
Kruse, 653
Red Bluff, 645
L. F. Smith, 637
Young, 624
Freeman, 619
Jensen 617
Frazier, 581
Mae Smythe, 580
Sparks, 573
Richey, 568
South Shaver, 554
Garfield, 532
Fisher, 525
Williams, 522
Golden Acres, 512
Pomeroy, 504
Parks, 492
Stuchbery, 482
McMasters, 439
Jessup, 429
Genoa, 425
Atkinson, 397
Intermediates
Thompson, 1162
Park View, 1126
Beverly Hills, 1,032
Jackson, 980
Southmore, 954
South Houston, 951
Miller, 943
San Jacinto, 825
Queens, 788
High Schools
South Houston, 2,386
Dobie, 2,378
Rayburn, 2,337
Pasadena, 2,107
Controlled burning set for area
South Belt area residents may begin
putting hurricane debris at a large area
community dump site Friday afternoon,
Sept. 9, for a community burn planned
for Oct. 1 and 2.
The site, owned by the Ayrshire Cor-
poration, is located on the southwest
corner of Scarsdale Boulevard at Beamer
Road. Bob Tresch of the Ayrshire Cor-
poration has given permission for the
debris to be temporarily dumped there.
The county is currently clearing road-
ways to the dump area, in the middle of
the large vacant lot between Sageglen
and South Bend. This week the county
will erect signs directing those to the
entrance and exits of the dump site.
Materials to be dumped may be tree
limbs and untreated lumber (such as
fencing) only. No plastic bags, rubber
tires, garbage or furniture may be
dumped.
G.W. “Joe” Finneman, who is coor-
dinating the community burn for the
county, said not to “put any plastics or
rubber (even garbage bags) into the pile.
It would make the burning much more
difficult.”
Fiberglass, such as in green houses,
will not be permitted.
“I think this (dump site) will eliminate
the fire hazard in the residential area,”
Finneman said.
Area residents are being asked to
bring their own debris and any other
they could haul from the esplanades and
other illegal dump sites.
The city of Houston has been notified
of the dump site, but it is not known if
they intend to use it. The county has
encouraged the city to do so.
In wake of the major damage caused
by Hurricane Alicia to southeast Texas,
the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) which is responsible for
coordinating federal, state and local
disaster relief efforts, designated Cham-
bers, Galveston and Harris Counties
eligible for both individual and public
assistance.
President Reagan, in response to a
request from Governor Mark White,
issued a major-disaster declaration for
the State of Texas due to the damage
sustained from the storm.
FEMA has a Disaster Assistance Cen-
ter open at the League City Civic Cen-
ter at 400 West Walker.
Federal Disaster Assistance and relief
programs function only as supplemental
aid—filling in the gaps to assure mini-
mum shelter, compensating for some
damage not covered by insurance and
assisting individuals and businesses in
the long-term rebuilding of assets
damaged in the storm.
FEMA officials request that people
The actual burn will be supervised by
the Southeast Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment on Oct. 1 and 2 and will be fed from
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
planning to take advantage of the dis-
aster assistance centers should make an
inventory of items damaged or repaired.
Those items include food, clothing,
medical aid, home repairs, business
repairs, appliances, furniture, personal
property and debris removal.
The centers may be subject to change
as conditions require, and other, new
locations may follow. The centers will be
open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a
week. There also has been some dis-
cussion of a traveling office to visit
locations where residents may not be
readily available to travel to the existing
centers. Information regarding other of-
fice locations and permanent, local
emergency telephone numbers will be
released by FEMA through the media.
FEMA has established a Disaster
Assistance Hotline that people needing
help may call. The number is 1-800
392-5299. For further information, one
may call the FEMA disaster field office
in Houston at 952-2266.
Continued on page 3
Federal emergency aid
available to Alicia victims
Dobie Kick-a-thon
These Dobie High School Lariaettes [from left, Lorie
Luikens, Vicki Hernandez, Valerie Vetters] take time
out for a rest at Saturday’s Kick-a-thon. The event
raised approximately $100,000, with the Dobie girls
raising an estimated $18,000 in pledges for the
Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Photo by Olyn Taylor
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South Belt Leader (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 8, 1983, newspaper, September 8, 1983; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth912803/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Jacinto College.