El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 99B, No. 7, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 14, 1984 Page: 3 of 22
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El Campo Leader-News, El Campo, TX, Sat., April 14, 1984
Page 3-A
Candidates Air Feelings On Drug Abuse
Bv OWEN II ELLINGTON JK.
About 20 El Campoans had a
chance to hear local politicians
discuss their feelings about drug
and alcohol abuse in Wharton
County during a roundtable
discussion sponsored by Con-
cerned Citizens against Drug and
Alcohol Abuse Monday night
Addressing the group in the
Louise Hutchins Elementary
School Cafeteria were candidates
for the offices of District Attor-
ney, District Judge, County
Attorney and County Judge.
Speaking first, incumbent
Wharton County Judge Ed.
Wuthrich said he considered the
problem of drug abuse “one of the
most important problems of
today. And with with that we are
of course talking about DWIs
L-N Photo by Oirii Rarbrf
No Argument Here
No one argued with the judges Wednesday night
a when they named this pistol-packin’ Chow the
“best dog in costume" at the Wee Folks Pet
Show at the Wharton County Youth Fair. The
winner's name is Bo’s, and his young master is
Michael Joyce of Boling.
Reinstated Pet Show
Draws Large Field
The rebirth of the Wee Folks Pet Show proved to be a big suc-
cess Wednesday evening at the Wharton County Youth Fair.
The show was dominated by dogs, but also included cats and
other animals. Sarah Sabrsula of Wharton, chairman, said she
was pleased with the way the show went and with the number of
entries (30).
First place winners in each division received a loving cup All
contestants received ribbons
IKK; DIVISION
Winners were named in nine categories of the dog show por-
tion of the contest The categories and winners are as follows:
Best Behaved Dog — Kelly Beseda of East Bernard with her
dog Sugar
Best Trick Dog — Kelly Beseda with Sugar.
Best Dog in Costume — Michael Joyce of Wharton with his
• dog. Bo s.
Best Looking Dog — I^aura Staudt of Wharton with her collie,
: Sandy.
Funniest Dog Without Costume — Farah Robbins of El Cam-
| po with her dog. Wiggles
Largest Adult Dog — Beau Mathews of Wharton
Smallest Adult Dog — Jimmy Vasek of Wharton.
Cutest Puppy — Rachel Gavranovic (city not listed).
Best Dog of Show - Chris Bums of Boling with his cocker
; spaniel
CAT DIVISION
Awards were given in seven divisions for cats. They were:
Best Behaved Cat — Alicia Hensarling of Wharton
Best Cat in Costume — Jennifer White (city not listed)
Best I»oking Cat — Becca Cowart of Wharton
Funniest Cat Without Costume James Hillin of Boling
largest Adult Cat — Kelly Kay Sabrsula of Wharton
Smallest Adult Cat — Alicia Hensarling of Wharton
Best Cat of Show Jennifer White
"OTHERS" DIVISION
This division was for pets other than cat* and dogs They in-
cluded a squirrel, turtle, Japanese silkies, calf and dog that was
part wolf Categories and the winners were
Cutest Pet Jason Barker of Wharton with his squirrel.
Chipper
Itesl of Show Kasey Jo Felcman of Wharton with Joyful
I breed not listed >
Most I'nusual Pet Jared Wakefield of Wharton with hi*
Japanese silkies »resemble chickens but have fur instead of
feather*
Most I'nusual l*1’! in Costume Be* ca < owart of Wharton
breed not listed >
Pet show committee member* assisting Nafrrsula were Pat
Prankum Donna Hubenak < arol Christian and Kenneth Sahf
tula all of W barton
Judge* were Jana Nuksw k and lleldne Newlin of Wharton
and Sarah Eisel of Egypt
(driving while intoxicated).”
Wuthrich said drug and alcohol
related offenses make up almost
half of the county court docket
“This is nothing new to me,’’ the
former military man said “We
face this problem all around the
world. It’s something that you
must be strong about. 1 think that
if you blink your eye, the problem
grows. We just can’t live with
drug abuse or alcohol abuse
“As I tell everyone who comes
before me at the county court with
a DW1: ‘I don’t want anyone
trying to prove themselves macho
with a couple of bottles of beer.’ In
fact, they’re proving they’re very
young.”
Wuthrich added, as did most
other candidates, that parents
need to be aware of the problem
and to guard against it: “Parents
need to know where their children
are and what they are spending
their money on, because without
money, the whole system would
dry out very rapidly.”
Challenger Ben W. “Bud”
Childers said he was shocked
when he got out of law school and
became aware of the extent of
drug and alcohol problems in
Wharton County
“Its not a social problem, it is
an illness,” Childers said. “The
people who are suffering from this
illness are you ”
Childers went on to cite new
DW1 laws and promised to see
that the laws are strictly enforced
if he is elected. "I think we need
stricter enforcement for our
marijuana and drug offenders
This is the only way we have of
coping with this problem We can
also apply the new DWI standards
to the drug offenders.”
Candidate I J Irvin of Wharton
was unable to attend the forum,
but did send a letter expressing
his concern, read by a CADA
representative.
Danny Shindler, a Bay City
attorney running for district
attorney of the 329th district, said
it is “time that our courts and our
prosecuters looked seriously at at
the drug problem,” attacking the
record of John Roades, incumbent
district attorney and former
county attorney.
“I don’t believe (you can live
with) a prosecutor who dismissed
half the drug cases that have
come out of El Campo " (Roades
later disputed these figures)
“If that’s the type of inaction tht
you want, then don’t elect me
Because if I get elected, you're
going to get action on the drug
cases "
In defending his record, Roades
disputed Shindler’s figures of his
record as county attorney. He
added, however, that as county
attorney many of his cases had
been dismissed because of the
“doctrine of carving.”
The doctrine, Roades told the
crowd, is a judicial precedent set
in Texas courts that makes
punishment for more than one
offense difficult to obtain in in-
stances when more than one law
was broken during a crime.
He added that in many in-
stances misdemeanor crimes
were dismissed because the
defendants were already con-
victed on felony crimes
Larry Hilliard, an El Campo
resident who attended the forum,
asked Roades why his record was
no different than that of his
predecessor, Homer Taylor
Roades beat Taylor four years
ago on a platform of promising to
increase the number of trials held
in the county The advertisements
showed Tavlor had no trials
during three of the four years he
was district attorney.
Roades said after the meeting
he had four trials during 1982 One
trial ended in a conviction, in two
the defendant pleaded guilty
during the trial, and one ended up
in a hung jury.
Roades also said his office
prepared 209 cases for trial during
the time he was in office, but for
one reason or another, the cases
were disposed of before they
reached the trial stage.
Also speaking before the group
was Dan Sklar, who is running
unopposed for 329th district judge,
and Scott Cline, who is running
unopposed for County Attorney.
Both men said they are, and will
continue to do everything in their
power to help control the
problem.
Crime Stoppers Reports Best Month
Wharton County Crime Stop-
pers Inc. announced the best
month in its two-year history after
having paid out $1,500 in rewards
during March.
Two tips led to the solving of
major crimes: the burglary of the
El Campo High School Band Hall
and the burglary of Wal-Mart
Discount City. Both the burglaries
were featured as a Crime of the
Week in the El Campo Leader-
News for which the caller is paid
$1,000 by Crime Stoppers upon the
arrest and indictment of the
suspect or suspects.
In the case of the Band Hall
burglary, the case was cleared so
the informant was paid the full
$1,000. In the case of the Wal-Mart
burglary, the informant was paid
only $500. The remaining $500 was
paid in April after the suspect was
indicted by a Wharton County
Grand Jury on April 4.
Police also credit Crime
Stoppers for solving six other
crimes during the month. This led
to a total recovery of $3,792 in
stolen property, and an estimated
$1,000 in narcotics recovered
during the month.
Crime Stoppers is credited this
month with clearing the theft of
three vehicles in Houston, found
at a Wharton salvage yard
belonging to Alfred Davis, as well
as the arrest of a Brothers Well
Service employee who was
allegedly stealing from the
company.
Another Crime Stoppers clue
led to the arrest of an El Campo
man Thursday night on charges of
felony possession of marijuana
Besides paying $1,000 for in-
formation leading to the arrest
and indictment of suspects in-
volved in a regularly featured
Crime of the Week Crime
Stoppers also pays cash for clues
on any felony crime as well as
information that leads to the
confiscation of drugs and in-
formation that leads to the arrest
of suspects involved major crimes
for which warrants have been
issued.
Anyone having any information
on the aforementioned topics
should call Crime Stoppers at 543-
TIPS or 532 TIPS Callers remain
anonymous though the issuance of
a Crime Stoppers identification
number
Bay City Man Charged With Rape
•«. * *
Father's Three-Week Search Leads To El Campo Motel
By OWEN H. ELLINGTON JR.
A 34-year-old Bay City man was
arrested Tuesday night near the
White Lodge Motel after being
hunted down by the father of a 13-
year-old girl he allegedly raped
Gary Lynn Yates, 1408 Brandon
Court, Bay City, was charged with
aggravated sexual assault
Tuesday night after being
arrested by Wharton County
Constable Alvin Morton, assisted
by officers from the El Campo
Police Department.
According to Morton, the father
of the 13-year-old girl had been
searching for Yates for about
three weeks before he and a friend
tracked him down at the White
Lodge Motel.
The father, a former friend of
Yates, had apparently dragged
the man out of the motel room and
reportedly began beating him.
The constable was driving
through El Campo on his way
home from the Wharton County
Youth Fair when he observed two
men chasing Yates, who had
escaped from them, down the
street in front of the motel. One of
the men motioned to Morton for
help and yelled, “Stop him! He
raped my 13-year-old daughter! ”
Morton said he then radioed for
assistance and found the man five
minutes later hiding under a piece
of tin near the motel
A check for warrants revealed
Yates was wanted for aggravated
sexual assault in Bay City, and he
was subsequently arrested.
Morton said Yates and the
victim’s father had apparently
been good friends before the
father was told by his daughter
that Yates had raped her
numerous times
A Matagorda County Sheriff's
investigator said the rapes
allegedly began around Dec 1,
1983 and continued until "a few
weeks ago .” The investigator said
the daughter was apparently
afraid to say anything about the
rapes.
“He (Yates) is probably lucky I
caught him,” Morton said.
“There’s no telling what they
might have done to him. I had a
hard time keeping the girl’s
father off of him They might have
killed him.”
Morton said Yates had
sastained a bloody ear and a
bruised nose inflicted by the
father before he managed to get
away.
“I just happened to be at the
right place at the right time,”
Morton added.
Yates was transferred to the
Matagorda County Jail where he
remained under $20,000 bond
Friday.
Short Stories
Galveston Island Runs
For Top Vacation Spot
Galveston Island is running for
president.
The historic community will
take to Texas' highways April 17-
19 on an old-fashioned whistle-
stop tour, hoping to win the hearts
and minds of fellow Texans
The campaign blitz will include
rallies at 15 key locations in South
Central Texas. including
Freeport. Angleton. Bay City,
Wharton. El Campo, Victoria.
Cuero. Gonzales, Seguin, San
Antonio. New Braunfels, San
Marcos. Austin. Giddings and
Brenham
The Galveston bus is scheduled
to pull up in front of the El Campo
Chamber of Commerce and
Agriculture building Tuesday at
2 45 p m City, chamber, media
and community leader* are en
couraged to be on hand for the
brief 15 minute ceremony
A special presentation will be
made to El Campo's Mayor Cecil
Davis and Chamber President
James Pilgreen There will be salt
water taffy for everyone meeting
the bases and drawings for
Galveston Getaway weekends
“These are really vital
precincts for our campaign,”
Campaign Chairman Alice Law
said. "It's the heartland of Texas
and could be the springboard for
the success of our election
“If elected. Galveston promises
at least two pounds of shrimp in
every pot. sand in every shoe and
a balanced vacation budget. “
Iwiw said
Galveston is billing itself as the
fiscally responsible candidate for
outstanding vacation spots
The Louise Independent School
District Board of Trustees will
meet in regular session at 7 p.m.
Monday in the USD board room.
The hoard will discuss changes in
requirements of schools under the
new State Hoard of Education
rules for curriculum
Five area teen-agers. Chris
Goerig. Susan Gold. James
Pierce. Marci Sulak and Karen
David are now in Rome. Italy
where they participated in the
colorful opening ceremonies of
the Youth Jubilee of the
Extraordinary llolv Year of
Redemption The group was
among 50.000 youth from around
the world that carried flaming
torches and paraded into St.
Peter's Square Wednesday. Pope
John Paul II greeted the crowd
from his apartment window
speaking in II languages
The ( ampo Fire Girls will hme
a hake sale lodav from * a m
until all sold out
Don ! forget Effective \pnl IS
the drive through window al El
f ampo t itv Mail w ill tie i loser! In
its piare will he a convenient drop
has t its off trials hope Ihe diop
bos helps rut down on in
terruplions In the computer
department whuh Is responsible
for the outside window
A radiological monitoring
course will be conducted April IS-
IS from 7-10 p.m. at the El Campo
Fire Department Training Room.
The course offer* the opportunity
for individual* to learn to use
radiation detection instruments.
For more information, contact
Robert Moorr at 543-3339.
The Edna Business Association
is planning an Easter Parade and
Flea Market on Saturday. April
21 Persons interested In entering
the parade should contact John
Mark Bonnot at the Jackson
County C hamber of Commerce.
512-7H2-23K2 Flea market spare*
at SIO each, will he on the cour-
thouse lawn For a spare, contact
l.a \ erne Robinson al 7H2-222H,
Jim Petlett of Sargent received
t too from Reader's Digest for an
anecdote submitted to the
magazine. Found in the April
Issue, it savs "Mv mother owns a
salon c alled ’ Beautv and the
Beast Beauts Shop ” One day, a*
she was giving a woman a per
manenl the customer said, “Your
shop s name purrles me I un
derstand 'Beauty.‘ hut why
lleasl lusl then a large
shaggv haired man with a long,
unruls heard walked In and sat
dowo the woman «uslomer
prompt (v said Nevermind I gel
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Barbee, Chris. El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 99B, No. 7, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 14, 1984, newspaper, April 14, 1984; El Campo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1018495/m1/3/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Wharton County Library.