The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 186, Ed. 1 Friday, June 5, 1998 Page: 1 of 20
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Golden get-together
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Opinion......
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Classifieds.......
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Police Beat...
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Comics........
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Sports.......
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Obituaries.....
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Television ....
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Bilan Brock
Can we no longer
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AftStar Showdown
Local team defeats
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Volume 76, No. 186
Telephone Number: (281) 422-8302
Friday, June 5,1998
Baytown, Texas 77520
50 Cents Per Copy
A
Bentsen, Lampson vote ‘no’ on prayer amendment
ByJEORGEZARAZUA
The Baytown Sun
Both of Baytown’s representatives
in Congress joined other members
Thursday to defeat a proposed con-
stitutional amendment guaranteeing
prayer in school, arguing it is not
needed.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition
to this proposed constitutional
amendment, which in the guise of
expanding religious freedom will
actually narrow religious freedom
for all Americans,” said U.S. Rep.
Ken Bentsen in his floor speech.
‘There is simply no need for this
legislation because the First
Amendment already protects reli-
gious freedom and expression, in-
cluding in our public schools and
public institutions.”
U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson stood on
common ground, saying he didn’t
want to disturb bne of the nation’s
most cherished documents.
Lampson said the proposal had to
do more with politics than reason.
The constitutional amendment
was defeated along party lines, with
the majority of Republicans voting
for it. Both Lampson and Bentsen
are Democrats.
“It has been brought by the con-
servatives in the Republican Party
as an emotional proposal,” Lamp-
son said. “My concern is that we
don’t react to the emotions. Don’t
play word games with the strength
of the United States.”
The vote was 224-203, 62 short
of the two-thirds majority needed to
approve constitutional amendments.
Both Lampson and Bentsen also
argued it would “tear down the wall
between church and state.”
President Clinton disapproved of
it, too.
The Christian Coalition and other
conservative groups campaigned
aggressively for the amendment as
one of their top legislative objec-
tives this year.
Other supporters included groups
such as the Family Research Coun-
cil, the Southern Baptist Convention
and the Fellowship of Christian Ath-
letes. Among opponents were the
American Civil Liberties Union and
religious groups such as the Ameri-
can Jewish Congress and the Epis-
copal Church.
I Related editorial, Page 4-A.
In Sunday’s
Edition:
L'll Elili
A Guide to the
Baytown Area
The Sun presents the
second edition of Coastal
Views, a magazine for
and about our community.
By PAUL GANNON
The Baytown Sun
Fun and safety can go together.
That’s What officials wanted kids to
learn Thursday at the city’s first Bay-
town Safety Camp.
Information about gangs, drugs,
fire prevention and emergency care
was readily available to children at
colorful, informational stations at the.
camp.
Almost every public emergency
agency in the city was there to answer
questions.
The purpose of the camp was to
teach children, mainly junior high stu-
dents, about safety procedures, said
Lt. Jerry Ickes of the Baytown Fire
Department.
Ickes said there are not enough pro-
grams like this for children in junior
high school.
“We want them to feel like a part of
the community and show them we
care about them, too,” he said.
Ickes, the event organizer, said he
got the idea for the camp from a simi-
lar one he saw at a conference in
Austin.
The camp, which took about seven
months to organize, was funded by
$500 donations from both the Bay-
town Municipal Police Association
and the Baytown Life Safety Founda-
tion, Ickes said.
Other sponsors were Rooster Steak
House, Coca-Cola and the Southwest
Resource Credit Union, he said.
‘The Goose Creek school district
supplied the kids,” Ickes said. About
50 children attended the camp, he said.
The children who attended were a
little subdued by the heat but were
able to cool down playing water
games.
Police Capt. Gary Cochran talked
to the children about gangs and drugs
using weapons and clothing to get the
children’s attention.
“Would you die for this?” Cochran
asked the children, holding up a shirt
with a local gang insignia on it.
He peppered his lecture with de-
scriptions of how gang members live
and why it is not a glamorous
lifestyle.
“Who slept in the bathtub last
Photo by John Rowland
Jake Sutton tries to guide the tether ball as another team does the same
from the opposite direction. Sutton took part in a safety camp for kids held
Thursday by the Baytown Police and Fire Departments.
night?” he asked the children. “We
have kids in Baytown who sleep in
bathtubs because a bullet won’t go
through the cast iron.”
The children also learned from
Clint Johnson of the police depart-
ment’s Community Services Bureau
about how to handle abduction.
The most important thing is to be
prepared, Johnson said. “You will do
in a stressful situation what you do in
practice.”
He said children should play in
groups, think in advance of what to
do in dangerous situations and rec-
ognize suspicious characters from
their actions rather than their appear-
ance.
Also, emergency personnel were on
hand to show the children the funda-
mentals of rescue breathing and car-
diopulmonary resuscitation.
“It’s something that everybody
needed to learn,” Ickes said.
Congress moves to
shield churches from
members’ creditors
ByJEORGEZARAZUA
The Baytown Sun
Congress unanimously passed a bill Wednes-
day that might reverse a county court-at-law
judge’s ruling ordering a Baytown congregation
to return $23,000 in tithes to
a disgruntled creditor seek-
ing to recoup its losses.
The bill allows churches
and charities to keep dona-
tions even if a contributor
filed for bankruptcy within
the previous year.
It is nearly identical to the
one passed by the Senate
last month and is expected
to be signed into law by
President Clinton within 15 days.
Houston attorney Don Knabeschuh said
Thursday he is grateful the bill was approved
and is waiting to review thq legalities before re-
questing last year’s judgment against Cedar
Bayou Baptist Church be reversed.
“I think Congress did a good job in a fairly
short amount of time in changing the law,” Kn-
abeschuh said.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Richard Steel,
also expressed his appreciation on Thursday.
“We’re really happy that both houses of Con-
gress recognize the fact that one Is tithes to his
church are part of his worshipping,” Steel said.
Cedar Bayou was sued by Gregory-Edwards
Ken Bentsen
Inc. in 1995 to recover the tithes after winning a
judgment four years earlier against one of the
church’s parishioners, who owed money to the
Houston air-conditioning firm.
The firm convinced Harris County Civil
Court At Law Judge Tom Sullivan that, under
Texas bankruptcy law, it
had the right to the money,
arguing that the parishioner
didn’t receive reasonable
equivalent value for his
tidies.
When signed into law, the
Religious Liberty and Char-
itable Donation Protection
Act would supersede state
Nick Lampson law, according to U.S. Rep.
Ken Bentsen’s office.
Bentsen was a co-sponsor of the House bill
and spoke in favor of it on the House floor
Wednesday.
“This legislation provides needed protection
for houses of worship and charities,” Bentsen
said. “Churches and charities should not have
to pay the price for someone else’s financial
problems. This bill also gives people the peace
of mind that, in the event of personal financial
difficulties, they can continue to contribute to
their church or favorite charity.”
The House bill sponsor, Rep. Ron Packard,
R-Calif., said it was a response to a “growing
nationwide trend of churches and charities be-
coming ‘cash cows’ for lawyers and creditors.”
Education Commissioner
Mike Moses to speak here
By PAUL GANNON
The Baytown Sun
State Education Commissioner Mike Moses
will be in Baytown next week to address the
June membership meeting of the Baytown
Chamber of Commerce.
Moses will discuss educational issues of the
next century at the meeting held at the Goose
Creek Country Club at 11:30 a.m. Friday, June
11. Reservations for the $15 luncheon must be
made no later than Thursday, June 11. They
can be made by calling 422-8359. To make
reservations by fax send names of those at-
tending, company names and a phone number
to 428-1758. -
Cancellations after noon Thursday June 11
and non-cancellations will be billed.
Trinity Episcopal celebrates 75th anniversary today
For 75 years, Trinity Episcopal
Church, 2701 West Main Street, has
been a mainstay of Baytown’s reli-
gious community.
The church celebrates those 75
years at 7 p.m. today with a reception
at the church. Coffee and dessert,
compliments of St. Cecilia’s Guild,
will be served in Bonner Hall follow-
ing a musical recital featuring musi-
cians Marsha Seale, Eleanor Albon,
Richard Hazelip and T.J. Bazzoon.
The choir will perform “Holiness
Becometh Thy House,” a piece by
Michael Horvitz that was commis-
sioned in celebration of the anniver-
sary. ■.
“Trinity Episcopal Church has
borne witness to the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ and to the renewing
power of the Holy Spirit in the com-
munity of Baytown for 75 years,” said
the Rev. Desmond Goonesekera, rec-
tor of Trinity. “It is with great thanks-
giving and gratitude we remember be-
fore God those who have labored in
his vineyard, offering to him their tal-
ent, time and treasure.”
Baptism, confirmation and Holy
Eucharist Rite II will be celebrated at
the 10 a.m. service Sunday. The Rev.
William E. Sterling Jr., suffragan bish-
op of Texas, will be die celebrant and
preacher.
In 1923, 14 Episcopalians, includ-
ing present member, Olive Doyle, pe-
titioned the bishop to establish a mis-
sion. The new church was formally
opened on Nov. 9,1930. For more in-
formation, call (281) 422-3537.
Weather
Friday: Sunny, with
highs in the mid 90s.
Saturday: Partly
cloudy with a chance
of scattered showers.
Art by Jaimie
Craighead
► ,;
i
News tip? Call (281) 422-8302
www.bayfownsun.com
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Dobbs, Gary. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 186, Ed. 1 Friday, June 5, 1998, newspaper, June 5, 1998; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1023231/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.