El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 35, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 24, 1982 Page: 1 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Wharton County Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Wharton County Library.
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The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Local Hand
Profiled
- In LOOK
Public Awareness Stressed
— Page 2-A
SPJST Royalty* — Page 5-A
Girls Drop
Title Game
— Page 7-A
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*
*■
Leader-N e ws
SVOBODA1885
CITIZEN 1900
VOLUME 98 NUMBER 35
77437
El Campo, Texas, Saturday, July 24, 1982
25 CENTS
2 SEC TIONS 28 PAGES
Early Morning Blaze
Guts Two Businesses
Fire swept through a building
containing Ebeling’s Flower Shop
and Automotive Electric Service
early Wednesday morning caus-
ing an estimated $130,000-$150,000
worth of damages.
According to Garland Myers,
fire marshal, the blaze was the
largest in terms of “dollar loss”
since fire engulfed the Kasco
Aluminum Company, a division of
May Aluminum in 1966.
The El Campo Volunteer Fire
Department, assisted by Wharton
and Louise firefighters, respond-
ed to the call at approximately
4:02 a m.
The fire allegedly started
around an electrical unit on the
southeast side of the flower shop.
“We’ve determined that it started
from an electrical short towards
the rear,” the fire marshal added.
Fire quickly spread along a
dividing wall and spread into the
adjoining automotive and flower
shops. "As far as dollar value, it’s
one of the worst in years,” he add-
ed.
— Pam Ebeling
Myers believes that the fire
could have been burning for up to
an hour-before firemen respond-
ed. “The smoke was pretty well
hidden until it broke through the
wall; there’s no real way to tell
how long it was burning,” he said.
The fire marshal explained that
Wharton was called because they
needed an engine with a ladder to
“get above the fire and prevent it
from spreading to the building
behind.” An El Campo truck fit-
ted with a ladder was unable to
respond because of mechanical
problems.
Three firefighters were over-
come by toxic fumes from plastics
stored in the flower shop.
Although they were not seriously
hurt, they were taken outside for
fresh air.
Pam Ebeling, owner of the
flower shop, was devastated by
the damages. “I’ve lost
everything. I’ll have to start again
from the ground up,” she said.
The Automotive Electric Ser-
vice, owned by Marcus Escobar
Jr. was also damaged in the blaze.
Although losses were serious,
Escobar was able to salvage some
of his goods although they were
not insured.
Six firetrucks from El Campo,
two from Louise and one from
Wharton, responded to the call
“I’ve lost everything. I’ll have to start
again from the ground up.”
1,-N b\ (.fund l*\m
Fire Marshal Garland Myers inspects the heavily damaged
Finding's Flower Shop which burned Wednesday morning.
Chief Appraiser Wins Unanimous Vote Of Confidence
Six Hostages In Store
A 32-year-old Wharton man is
being held in the Wharton County
Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond after
reportedly holding six persons at
gunpoint for half an hour at the
Safeway grocery store in
Wharton Wednesday, afternoon
According to Sgt Jess How ell of
the Wharton Police Department
Jimmy Aubrey was arrested and
charged with the false im
prisonment of five Safeway
employees and another man
Aubrey allegedly entered
Saleway through a delivery door
armed with a gun looking for his
wife, Shirlene. an employee at the
store, before taking the hostages
The two had reportedly
separated
Police entered he building and
observed Aubrey with the
hostages at the rear of the
building
After negotiating with police.
Aubrey entered the store where
he was confronted by authorities
The suspect dropped his 22 cal
pistol and was subsequently
arrested by Criminal Investigator
David Gaiton
Wharton County sheriff’s
deputies are investigating the
felony theft of a truck tractor,
trailer and equipment valued at
$1,8.000 from the Dinner Bell
restaurant parking lot sometime
Thursday morning
According to reports, Robert
Hogue of Sew fancy told deputies
that be parked his truck tractor
<Sec POLICE, Page 2i
short stories — short stories
Goal-Aid
WMh I he rern. ..or. h.ng day* are* a rrlreohing drink
K a -H.om. Mgh. (lir*r girl, .dl-red . h.n. ~ ol grape «hrrr> "
ten......d, i.. p—erxbv Puturrd Irom Ml .rr Urah Mho* Metloo.
H--. ll .............. \lrl.im K--HI sh. lb -Mall «%e.lrd . and Krul»
Milk tralrd i
The I mi l loir«»( Wharton I nu.it>
will meet Th tirsdav tub a I
The ll.it. her' restaurant m I ..*<
Bernard \ mu la I -HI be held
Irom * M p m . with the meeting
bring held Irnrn *•* |* "• 'll
members and pr.mpe. I* are
encouraged In attend Main Hem
nl di*< ussinn -ill be the IM tidier
banquet and the *i hnlar*hip»
m hi. h -ere re.enlb a-aided
Hlakr I inker « ailed in to *»*
the I 11 arwpu High H.-d I la - » id
1*7; -ill hase an or gani/alinnal
meeting at Wharton County
I leclr i. ( impel alive's Thomas
I illson Boom on Wnnd,t\ .it * Ml
pm I vrrv.me Irom the .lass is
milled to attend In help plan the
i lass' live vear reunion
I lass reunions are reallv a lot nl
lun What is a shame is that
people mine Irom ill over levas
Irom all over lh* I ** and even
Irom idher iih.n1 rles in attend
then reunion* —hili ma.iv —ho
live light h. •• in town don I go lo
lh« IinmM. l las* reunion* are
nice, and it s interesting know
what vour classmates have a.
. oruplished over the vears sin. e
thev were I" nr lx vears old It von
have an npp.irlunltv to attend
vour . lass reunion, von should li v
lo do so
Hermann Hospital s I it. I light
helicopters have llo—n In I I
i ampo approximately three
limes I hi* vear the hospital pisl
repotted It -as also noted that
•ni • th. helMoptet ambulant e
mi -l.lttll •* Pag. *
By CYNTHIA L. MILLER
A unanimous vote in support of
Vernon Warren, chief appraiser,
was issued Wednesday afternoon
during a called meeting of the
Wharton County Central Ap-
praisal District Board of Direc-
tors. The meeting took place in
the Wharton City Council
chamber.
The vote came after an ex-
ecutive session called to consider
the personnel report issued by
committee members Frank Kon-
vicka and Lanier Hester Hester
was not present
After the executive session, a
motion was made to congratulate
Warren for his work and to voice
appreciation of his efforts thus
far.
In other major business, the
board once again delayed a vote
on the 1983 budget. Several ques-
tions from school districts and
county officials were fielded, and
the county in particular expressed
a desire to present the budget to
the county commissioners before
a vote is taken.
A school official asked that the
vote be delayed until the final tax
roll is issued to the various taxing
entities
The vote was 2-3 defeating a mo-
tion to approve the budget.
Richard Manske told the board
that the computer the CAD shares
with Wharton County was shut
down recently because there was
not enough room on the programs
for the information being fed into
it It was found that the county
had used 3/4 of the computer
space, while the agreement bet-
ween the county and the CAD
calls for each to use 1/2 of the
computer time.
County Judge Dan Sklar said
that it was the first he had heard
of the problem. The issue was
tabled pending discussion bet-
ween county and CAD officials to
resolve the problem
The problem of split property
was also discussed. Warren told
the board that according to state
law and an earlier decision of the
board, the owner of a piece of pro
perty on Jan 1 of any year will be
taxed for the property that year,
even if he sells part of it. Ad-
justments must be made by the
mortgage companies or lending
institutions.
Board Chairman Dan Gertson
instructed Warren to write a let-
ter to county attorneys, title com
panics and lending institutions ex-
plaining the policy
Wharton ISD Tax
Assessor/Collector Ray Reed ask
ed Warren if the tax rolls, when
complete, would include other in
formation about over 65
homeowners, mortgage com-
panies and other information
needed by school districts to
calculate the effective tax rate ac-
cording to the law Warren
assured him the information will
be provided.
County Auditor Wilton
Niemeier asked why the CAD ol
fice stays open only until 4:30 p m
He said it causes some problems
because the county offices stay
open until 5 p m
Warren explained that the CAI)
employees were hired with the
understanding that the hours
were 8am unit I 4:30 p.m., with a
30-minute lunch
All board members were pro
sent except Hester and Don
Taylor
Wharton Gunman Holds
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Barbee, Chris. El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 35, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 24, 1982, newspaper, July 24, 1982; El Campo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1006635/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Wharton County Library.