South Belt Leader (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 7, 1986 Page: 1 of 20
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August 7, 1986
gwith ffielt Ceafter
“The Voice of Community-Minded ”
Vol 11 Number 28
Cheerleaders compete at mall
The application deadline is Aug. 8 for cheerleading squads wanting to participate
in the first cheerleading competition at Almeda Mall.
The Spirit ’86 Cheerleading Competition is co-sponsored by Almeda Mall and
the South Belt Leader. The junior high division will be Friday and Saturday, Aug.
15-16 and the small and large varsity divisions will take place Friday and Saturday,
Aug. 22-23.
Preliminaries for both junior high and varsity competitions will start Friday
at 2 p.m. with finals taking place Saturday at 11 a.m.
Squads will be judged by five certified judges and prizes will be awarded. First,
second and third place winners will receive trophies as well as $500, $300 and $200
gift certificates respectively from Cheerz, a cheerleading supply company.
A special spirit award will also be given to the cheerleading squad exhibiting
the most spirit and generating the most crowd response.
For applications or questions, contact Almeda Mall at 944-1010.
Children learn about safety
Ronald McDonald and the Houston Police Department will be in the area to
teach children how to be safe. The children will learn bike and traffic safety, im-
portance of staying close to parents, and also tips like not wearing their name on
the outside of their clothing and learning to say no to strangers. Children will receive
information that could prove invaluable in situations without a parent.
The one-hour sessions will be held Monday, Aug. 11 at 11 a.m. at Sagemont
Recreation Center, 11400 Hughes and 1 p.m. at Beverly Hills Park. Parents are
welcome to attend. The presentation is a community project in conjunction with
the parks department and the Houston Police Department. For more information
call 626-1144.
Thompson orchestra practices
With a new school year approaching and summer coming to a close, orchestra
students at Thompson Intermediate will begin summer orchestra on Tuesday, Aug.
12 and continue through Friday, Aug. 22.
The eighth grade orchestra will rehearse from 1-2 p.m. and the seventh grade
orchestra will rehearse from 2:30-3:30 p.m.
All members are encouraged to attend all rehearsals.
Cowgirls request donations
The Sagemont Cowgirls Youth Drill Team will be holding a giant rummage
sale at Dobie High School Saturday, Aug. 16. There will be over 70 families par-
ticipating in this team fund-raiser. The monies raised from this event will be used
to off-set the expenses for the upcoming season.
Everyone is urged to mark his calendar so as not to miss this big sale.
Anyone wishing to donate any items for the sale should contact Rachael Gon-
zales at 481-5300.
The Cowgirls will also be sponsoring a fall craft sale at Dobie. Those interested
in reserving table space should contact Gonzales for details.
Dolphins hold registration
The South Belt Dolphin Youth Football Club will have registration for the 1986
reason-cm Saturday, Aug. 9 from 9a.m:'to 1p.m. Registration will be held at Beverly
Hills Intermediate School located at the intersection of Fuqua and Beamer.
The age groups are: football, 7 to 12 years of age; drill team, 8 to 13 years
of age; and mascot, 3 to 7 years of age. All children, new or returning, will need
to bring their birth certificate. For further information call Richard Wiedner,
484-2389.
Dobie starts ‘ Spiri
The Dobie Booster Club is making preparation to begin a “Spirit Campaign”
starting Aug. 10.
The purpose of the campaign is to involve local school personnel, parents and
businesses in a community wide effort to maximize the level of recognition for all
of the achievers at Dobie High School. The tool by which such recognition is at-
tained is the “Spirit Sign”™ board soon to be seen throughout the area’s
neighborhoods and businesses. The large 18” x 24” vinyl, weatherproof signs are
designed in such a way so that the students of Dobie, who are outstanding achievers
through their participation in extracurricular activities or through their work in other
areas of the school’s curriculum, can be highlighted. The school’s logo and colors
are displayed on the left half of the sign and the student’s name and “activity logo”
are on the right side. The activity logo symbolizes that student’s area of participa-
tion or effort be it band, choir, sport, drill team or any other activity.
Local businesses and other school supporters can also show their support of
the school and its achievers by purchasing a “Booster Spirit Sign”™ board. It is
exactly like the others except that the right side displays a “Keep That Winning
Spirit” tagline and the name of the business or family displaying it.
Those interested in purchasing a sign for their home, business or office should
contact President Dennis Collins at 485-5720.
Central Ace Hardware, located at 11676 Beamer Road, will be supplying the
yard sticks free to anyone who purchases a sign.
Cowboys continue registration
The Sagemont Cowboys Football and Drill Teams will hold registration for
the 1986 season on Saturday, Aug. 9 at J. Frank Dobie High School from 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m. All football players (returning and new) and all new drill team members
are required to bring a birth certificate or reasonable facsimile at the time of registra-
tion. Ages and registration fees are as follows: boys 7-12, $65; mascots 6 and 7,
$40; drill team members 8-13, $50. All registration fees are due at the time of registra-
tion. Should you have any further questions please contact Bill Crane at 481-0112
or Carolyn Demel at 941-5710.
All of MUD 13 AAA bonds sold
Since receiving a triple A bond rating from Moody’s, MUD 13 has just sold
its last series of bonds which are valued at $2.9 million said Chris Clark, president
of MUD 13.
Prudential-Bache outbid six similar financial groups to purchase the bonds
at a 7.60 percent interest rate.
Among the items slated for use with the bonds are sewer and underground work
for Gulfway 39, a new apartment project set for the corner of the Gulf Freeway
and Scarsdale. Also scheduled is underground work for Highland Meadow Section 7.
Moneys were also allocated for an additional water well site as well as what
equals a two-year payback in city of Houston sewer rates with the MUD’s plans
to buy down the current homeowners’ rates.
Clark said that none of the money is up front, but is all in escrow.
“I’m really pleased to get the transaction over by the first of September because
of possible changes in tax legislation regarding the buying and selling of bonds,”
Clark said.
In this week’s issue
• Kingsplace resident sails on the Elissa. Story and picture are on page 3A.
• State looks to cut educational budget. See page 5A.
• Local resident named director of business at St. John Hospital. Story on
page 8A.
• 1985 Budget Sheet for Sageglen Association appears on page 9A.
• Dobie football tickets go on sale. Info on page IB.
• Local sports writer receives another honor. Page 3B tells the story.
Ronnie and Becky
Dobie’s People to People ambassador Becky Stockinger shakes hands with Presi-
dent Ronald Reagan after attending a dinner at which Stockinger had an op-
portunity to ask the president a question in front of national television cameras.
Students tour Europe
By Mike Kickirillo
A renewed spirit of patriotism, an ap-
preciation of another culture, and a chance
to make new friends were a result of the
recent youth ambassador program
called People to People in which several
Dobie and PISD students represented a
part of America’s youth.
People to People, the ambassador pro-
gram set up by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower in 1951 was “probably one of
the best things he did while he was in of-
fice,” said sponsor Gloria Shifflet.
Shifflet, on her third term as a sponsor
of the People to People program, took four
Dobie students, Becky Stockinger, Lynne
Etheridge, Sheryl Quick and Craig
Cheesman along with two Rayburn
students LaMonte Hutton, Cherish Senn
and one Pasadena student, Loretta Smith,
on a tour of Northern Europe.
The Pasadena chapter of People to Peo-
ple met up with 27 others from Dallas and
the Houston Memorial area which, in turn,
met up with a whole conglomerate of stu-
dents from across the nation to form the
European ambassador program.
The trip took 38 days and took the young
ambassadors from Washington to Mos-
cow, Lenningrad, Helsinki, Uppsala,
Copenhagen, Fredrickshaven, London,
Bridg North, Dublin, Killarney, Shannen
and, finally, back to the states in New
York.
Russia
The first stop for the group was Moscow,
where people asked them to trade their per-
sonal items for Russian currency. “It was
a common sight,” Etheridge said. “In fact,
I had one person come up and offer me 25
rubles for a $10 watch.”
Others commented that the Russians had
even asked to exchange rubles for clothing.
Continued on page 8A
West airport spurs
Ellington controversy
Reacting to the city of Houston’s plans
to spend $5.7 million to purchase land for
a westside airport, South Belt area residents
appeared before city council Wednesday
asking for increased development of El-
lington Field.
The slow development of Ellington Field
has been a matter of concern to groups in-
cluding the South Belt-Ellington Chamber
of Commerce, the SouthEast Harris Coun-
ty Economic Development Council and the
Clear Lake Economic Development
Foundation.
All three of those groups have set
development of Ellington as one of their
top priorities.
“It’s our No. 1 priority,” said South
Belt-Ellington Chamber secretary Bill
Morgan. “It is essential to the growth of
this part of town.”
Leaders of area groups have pushed for
the city to live up to plans included in the
“Feasibility of Owning and Operating El-
lington” report which was used as a basis
for Houston to obtain ownership of the
field from the federal government after it
was declared surplus property.
Appearing before city council were Neil
West, representative for the South Belt
Coalition; George Bayliss, representative
for the SEHCEDC; and Marie Flickinger,
president of the South Belt-Ellington
Chamber of Commerce.
West asked the council, “What hap-
pened to the bright future for Ellington
Field painted by the city when battling with
Pasadena for the airfield?” Councilman
John Goodner responded by saying that
just because the city submitted a feasibili-
ty study to the federal government doesn’t
mean the city will act on it as a plan.
The 1980 feasibility study done by the ci-
ty of Houston which influenced the federal
government to grant Ellington Field to the
city is a different study than the more re-
cent Master Plan. Flickinger later ex-
plained in her testimony the background
behind the two different documents.
Nevertheless, West emphasized that since
the city has acquired Ellington Field, the
development “is still on square one and
definitely on the back burner.”
Bayliss told the council that due to un-
safe conditions at Hobby, the city has a
responsibility to strongly encourage cor-
porate air traffic to move to Ellington, but
that conditions on the city’s portion of El-
lington must be greatly improved before
this is accomplished.
Flickinger presented Mayor Kathy Whit-
mire and the 15 council members with a
copy of the 1980 feasibility study.
The first plan was paid for by the
Houston-Galveston Area Council which
granted $54,000 and was designed to
establish Houston as the likely owner of the
land. Flickinger requested the council
members to consider trying to live up to
commitments made to the federal govern-
ment through that first study.
First Study can’t be that “poor”
In 1984, after the city was picked as the
2,000-acre field’s owner, the city approved
a second study which cost considerably
more than the first study. The purpose of
the second study was to replace the first,
as a master plan for development of the
base.
According to Aviation Director Paul
Gaines, the first study was dumped as it
was a “poor study.”
The first study had the city making ma-
jor improvements of nearly $30 million by
1987.
The recent study allocates approximate-
ly the same amount of money, but spreads
out the improvements to 2005.
Flickinger quoted Gaines as saying the
first study was dumped because it was a
“poor study.”
“The study couldn’t be too bad, as it was
largely responsible for Houston owning El-
lington,” Flickinger said.
Flickinger also presented the council with
a bound photo presentation entitled “El-
lington Field—We’d like to be proud.”
It contained approximately 30 color
photos showing the “deplorable condition”
of city-owned facilities at Ellington and the
massive construction projects which are be-
ing carried out by tenants including the
Texas Air National Guard, the Coast
Guard and NASA.
Currently, the Texas Air National Guard
is spending in excess of $23 million on con-
struction projects at Ellington. The Coast
Guard is spending $4 million on construc-
tion of a combination office-hangar facili-
ty. “Those two agencies are spending more
in five years than the city plans to by the
turn of the century,” Flickinger said.
She called the council’s attention to one
photo in particular, that of a city of
Houston aviation vehicle minus the back
wheels, fenders and an engine. “Not only
is the city not curing the problems at El-
lington, it appears the aviation department
is encouraging a junk yard at the site,” she
Continued on page 9A
Capacitor explodes
scattering substance
Aitermatn ot tire fire
Photo by Floretta Bush
Tires, trash make big fire
South Belt residents within five miles of
the intersection of Dixie Farm Road and
1-45 on Monday, Aug. 4 around 6:30 p.m.
may be wondering what caused the massive
amounts of black smoke.
A fire of unknown origin started on the
property of Vernon Young Jr., burning
tires and other trash that have been con-
tinually dumped at the site.
Thick, billowy columns of smoke and a
smell of burnt rubber filtered into the air
and homes of Scarsdale and other parts of
the South Belt area.
It is estimated by the Harris County
Health Department that there were
somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000
tires on the lot. An old frame building was
also destroyed during the blaze.
Five fire departments and four police
agencies were called to the fire which took
two hours to extinguish.
Young has been in confrontation with
both the Health Department and the South
Belt Civic Coalition trying to solve the
dumping problems on his property.
The cause of the fire, which is currently
under investigation, has yet to be
determined.
By Teresa Montz
Last week, a capacitor which was at-
tached to an electrical pole and linked to
a transformer, exploded in the back yard
of a Sageglen home, scattering materials
covered with polychlorinated biphenyl
(PCB) over the area.
The Environmental Protection Agency
has declared PCB a toxic substance which
is found to cause cancer in laboratory mice.
But A.C. Czigan, District 17 manager for
Houston Lighting and Power, said that
established cleanup procedures are under-
way and that there shouldn’t be any
problems.
The capacitor was thought to have ex-
ploded because of a short in the main tank.
Residents Larry and Bonnie Gossett of
11530 Sagevale said the explosion was very
loud. “At first we thought it was a car that
backfired,” Bonnie Gossett said. “Then we
thought it was someone trying to break in
the house.
“We looked out the back window and
there was a hazy smoke all over and a terri-
ble smell. It was the biggest mess!”
About 40 minutes after the explosion,
HL&P arrived at the scene, she said, and
began cleanup procedures as well as tak-
ing samples.
“We don’t know what’s contaminated,”
Gossett said. “Materials flew all over the
yard, our pool and deck, our roof and even
on our cars.
“All day Thursday and Friday, our back
yard was covered with cranes and drums
being filled with soil dug up from our back
yard. They had to dig two feet down to be
sure that they got it all. And the smell is
outrageous.
“We’re lucky we didn’t have a fire with
how dry it’s been,” she said. “I’m just glad
there weren’t any kids in the back yard
when it happened. Someone could have
really been hurt.”
But despite all of the inconveniences, the
Gossetts said that HL&P has been very
cooperative in its efforts. “When I called
the EPA, they said that HL&P does a good
job of handling cleanups,” Bonnie Gossett
said.
Czigan said that HL&P’s first priority is
making sure the area is cleaned up proper-
ly and the residents are assured of its safety.
“We’ve already taken 40 samples from
various areas surrounding the explosion
and they have been sent to an independent
testing laboratory. And of course we will
clean the car, replace the grass and shrub-
bery and' drain and refill the pool if
necessary, as well as reimburse them for
certain expenses.
“We just want the customers to be hap-
py and have peace of mind about the
situation,” Czigan said.
These capacitors, which are still scattered
throughout the area, maintain the efficien-
cy of the company’s distribution system,
Czigan said.
“These capacitors have a phase out date
of 1988. Our crews have been replacing
them by the day, so there is less chance of
one exploding as time goes on.
“As of right now, we have 75 percent of
them changed out and all of them should
be replaced by early fall of ’87.”
When the EPA declared PCB as a toxic
substance, he said, the industry had to
develop a capacitor that would exclude the
PCB yet maintain a fireproof insulating oil.
Mineral oil has been used as the substitute
in the capacitors.
But there is some humor to this situation.
Bonnie Gossett said that during and after
the explosion, their electricity never went
out.
John Merrell
fights back
By Mike Kickirillo
Movies have been made about stories like
this: Mr. All-American high school
quarterback goes off to college, gets
stricken with a deadly form of cancer, beats
all odds and makes it back to the game he
loves.
A dream story?
How about a fact?
John Merrell was on top of the heap as
Dobie’s starting quarterback his senior
year, 1983-84. He received a scholarship to
a small school and started as a cornerback.
After a successful first year, Merrell re-
ceived another scholarship to a slightly
larger school, a step up to his goal of play-
ing for a major university.
However, Merrell’s plans were tem-
porarily put on hold when he was diag-
nosed as possibly having cancer when he
received his physical to play at his new
school.
Merrell was finally diagnosed as having
Hodgkin’s disease. In the four stages of the
disease, Merrell’s case was the worst.
“One doctor said that I would never play
Continued on page 10B
Car thieves caught
Alliance officers apprehended and filed felony charges against two oriental males
after chasing them at high speeds through area subdivisions Tuesday, about
5 p.m. The chase was joined by another Alliance vehicle as well as a constable
vehicle, Neil West of the Alliance said. The pursued stolen car finally stopped
after running through several residents’ yards and scattering motorists on
Blackhawk by driving against the traffic. These suspects first attracted the
Alliance officer’s attention when one of the men climbed over a fence from
the back yard of a Sagemont residence. The chase occured in the subdivisions
of Sagemont and Sagemeadow before coming to an end in Sageglen. The chase
resulted in one Sagemont motorist being run off the road into a yard on Sage-
canyon and a Sagemont resident’s gaslight being clipped off as the auto
missed a curve at Sagedowne and Sagecanyon. Photo by Davey Flickinger
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South Belt Leader (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 7, 1986, newspaper, August 7, 1986; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1074079/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting San Jacinto College.