The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 45, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 22, 1998 Page: 1 of 16
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JJartotim Bun
Opinion, 4«A
Pinbuster
85yearold
still going strong
Morton Kondracke
Donttil
Medicare reform
Sports, 1-8
MMMMHMMI
Volume 77, No. 45
Telephone Number: 281-422-8302
Tuesday, December 22,1998
Baytown, Texas 77520
50 Cents Per Copy
Goodfellows
contributions
top $18,000
By CHIEF GOODFELLOWS
With Christmas just three days away,
the generosity demonstrated by Baytoni-
ans in response to those in need in this
area swells.
Latest reports show donations to the
Goodfellows Christmas toy drive have al-
most tripled within the last week and a
goal of $25,000 that seemed insurmount-
able then appears within reach.
Recent contributors include:
Furbee Duplicate Bridge Club ...$1700
Robert E. Lee National
Honor Society.....................250
Mrs. J. H. Ferney Jr., In memory of
J. H. Ferney Jr.......................200
Sharon Peebles, In honor of DeZavala
faculty & staff........................200
Inman Service Co. employees .... .130
B Shift Makrolon D/S-Bayer........100
Dr. & Mrs. Carl Messerschmidt Jr. 100
BillyeLounsberrty, In
memory of Bernard & Terry Lounsberry.. .100
Doug & Martha Jane Huddle.......100
Lee College ITT Department .......60
Mr. & Mrs. Cecil Kelly, In honor of our
grandchildren Chris, Haley & Kyle........50
Lilian Sylvester ....................50
Leona Kristek, In memory of
Bennie Kristek........................50
Pinehurst Garden Club.............50
Mr. & Mrs. E. C. Kimmons Jr........40
Rosalee Franta, In memory of Albert Franta
& Peggy Franta Carrell.................30
Michael Davis, In loving memory of
my mother Judy Clements ..............30
Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Rushing, In honor
of our grandchildren Valerie, Kristy,
Robbie & Mallory......................30
The Donnelly Family Living Trust.. .25
From Mom & Dad, Walter &
Lillian Englert, In loving memory of our
son Jerry Englert.................,... .25
Lillian Englert, In loving memory of our
son Tim Englert.......................25
Michael & Donna Shields...........25
The Young family, In loving memory of
Alfred L. Young.......................25
Tony & Virginia Razo, In lieu of
Christmas cards......................25
Betty Summers, In memory of
Jennifer Sutton........................20
Anonymous, In memory of
Blake Ainsworth............... -..20
Anonymous, In memory of my husband .15
Total to-date.................18,677.50
Time’s Running our
Photos by Jeff Riggs
Looking for ways to get those
last-minute gifts mailed to that
special someone out of town?
Frankly, your options are limit-
ed, but United States Postal
Service workers say there ar
still some ways to get gifts to
their destination in time to
make it under the Christmas
tree. This year has been a busy
one for mail services, both
public and private. In the photo
right, Duane Dillon assists a
customer of his, Connie Cor-
man with a load of gifts she in-
tends to mail. In the photo be-
low, postal customers line up at
the post office on West Baker
Road for some last-minute dis-
patches. See related story,
Page 2-A.
Shoplifters’ exploits, stories abound this year
ByJIMWEBRE
The Baytown Sun
Kendall Blanchard believes he knows “every
thief in town” and he’s chased at least some of
them across parking lots in his role as a security
manager for Afferent Baytown stores over the past
11 years.
Now the security manager at Kmart on Garth
Road, Blanchard says 1998 “has been one of the
worst years I’ve seen. The shoplifters have just
eaten us up this year/’
Several merchants report similar experiences,
and police reports daily include at least two or
more incidents of shoplifters being caught Oh tape
or by store personnel with everything from shirts
to stereo equipment under their clothing or in their
shopping bags.
“Phone cards, compact discs, tapes, cigarettes,
knives and sporting goods are the most often
stolen items at Kmart.
A security officer at another major department
store in San Jacinto Mall said he recently caught a
heavy set woman in skin tight clothing trying to
smuggle five Polo shirts out in her underwear.
“You couldn’t tell she had them because there
was so much of her,” he said.
That same store caught a man one night trying
to flee with more than $1,400 in clothing alone in
his arms.
.“They are getting bolder,” says Blanchard. “We
have had a woman load up a television and a
VCR, put ‘em in a cart and head out the door.
“Grab and runs” are getting more prevalent, and
winter is a good time because it’s easier to do.”
There doesn’t seem to be a stereotype for these
kinds of snatch and run thieves.
They come in all shapes and sizes, all races and
ethnicities, several security officers said.
Blanchard recently caught a white couple, a
woman in her 40s and a man in his 70s.
“It turns out she had a crack habit and he loved
her anyway.
“They’d been in and out several times in a week or
so, bringing back these little Christmas ornaments, so I
started watching them, ” Blanchard said.
Photo by Jim Webre
Kendall Blanchard sorts through reports in the
Kmart security office.
Good thing, because one day the woman was
trying to get through the garden section rear door
with a variety of merchandise under her trench
coat and her aging partner sitting in a running car
outside.
After a brief struggle with the older man and a
little help from a sales associate, both suspects
were apprehended and police summoned.
Both went to jail, too, and, Blanchard says, the
man’s family came by to thank him for doing
something to get the man off the street and away
from the woman they say had dragged him into
the life of thievery to support her drug habit
The National Crime Prevention Council and
, Baytown Police Department urge honest shop-
pers to report to store personnel when they see
someone trying to steal something from a store.
The corporations that own stores pass on the
cost of shoplifting, the methods and manpower ex-
pended to prevent shoplifting and other costs on to
honest consumers. A single store can lose as much
' as $2,000 a day.
Police warn teen-agers especially of the dangers
of shoplifting.
Stores, while not eager to prosecute local teens
will do so when the amount and effort involved in
catching them is sufficient
Security officers say they may simply take back
the stolen merchandise and send the would-be
thief on his or her way.
But fighting or running is a sure way to have
charges filed.
Teens are especially vulnerable to the ramifica-
tions because a criminal history can affect future
job prospects, getting into college and other'life’s
goals.
Congressmen
reflect on impact
of Saturday’s vote
By MA BENGTSON
The Baytown Sun
The House of Representatives in Washington is dark and
quiet today. The empty chamber stands silent following a week
of bitter and divisive rhetoric from partisans on both sides of
the aisle, rhetoric that is quick to wound and slow to heal.
The vote to impeach President Clinton on two counts, per-
jury and obstruction of justice, now moves to the U.S. Senate
fortrial.
Congressional staffers closed offices Monday with the
knowledge that the Christmas holidays will offer only a brief
respite before the trial begins in the Senate on Jan. 6,1999.
The normally accessible government leaders seemed to be
taking advantage of the obligatory holiday closing to escape
the sound and fury of the nation’s capital.
How will this chapter of American history be played out in
the coming weeks?
“I think the best response is that the American people con-
tinue to tell Congress they want a quick and equitable solution
to this so Congress can focus on the things that matter,” says
Vince Willmore of the office of U.S. Rep. Ken Bentsen, who
represents the 25th District in Texas.
“The Congressman is hopeful that the Senate will listen to
the people. The best resolution is a strong resolution of cen-
sure that puts Congress on record as disapproving of the Presi-
dent’s behavior,” Willmore adds.
Bentsen, in a speech on the floor of the House during the im-
peachment debate, referred to the words of Alexander Hamil-
ton in the Federalist Papers No. 65.
Hamilton wrote, impeachment is “for those offenses which
proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words,
from the abuse or violations of some public trust.” Those
crimes must be “of a nature which may with peculiar propriety
be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries
done immediately to the society itself.”
“The worst of Alexander Hamilton’s premonitions is coming
true,” Bentsen said. “The President, not the nation, should be
punished for his actions. Censure is entirely appropriate and
Constitutional. Twice before in our history we have censured
Presidents; Andrew Jackson, whose censure was revoked by a
subsequent Congress before he retired, and James K. Polk,
who was censured for his administration of the Mexican-
American War.”
U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson of Beaumont, who represents the
9th Congressional District, expressed his thoughts in a
poignant letter to his daughters and future grandchildren that
appeared Monday on the editorial page of The Baytown Sun.
“As the fate of President Clinton and the office of President
will move out of the hands of the U.S. House of Representa-
tives and into those of the U.S. Senate, I pray that my col-
leagues on the other side of Capitol Hill will use fairness, re-
spect and good judgment during their proceedings,” Lampson
wrote.
“I imagine that many Senators do not want to write their
children and future grandchildren that they impeached the
President of the United States for partisan and political rea-
sons,” Lampson added.
Both congressmen, who represent the Baytown area, voted
against impeachment.
Before heading to Texas for the holidays, U.S. Sen. Phil
Gramm issued this brief note on the impending trial:
“Now that the House of Representatives has impeached the
President, the matter moves to the Senate for disposition....!! is
clear that the Senate cannot wish this trial away, and I hope
that we are beyond permitting partisanship to cloud our judg-
ment on the articles that have been presented to us by the
House.
“In the words of Alexander Hamilton, the Senate must be
‘unawed and uninfluenced’ in this matter. To the best of my
ability, I intend to uphold that mandate.” Gramm said.
Weather
Tuesday: Cloudy,
lows in the 30’s.
Wednesday: Mostly
cloudy, with a chance
of showers. Lows in
the 30s.
.Art by Tracey Destin.
News tip? Call (281) 422-8302
www.baytownsun.com
For home delivery, call (281) 422-8302
? ' i ♦ 1 * i "4 1*1 *
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Dobbs, Gary. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 45, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 22, 1998, newspaper, December 22, 1998; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1176748/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.