The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 253, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 21, 1996 Page: 1 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 17 x 10 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Bible Verse.....4A Opinion........4A
Calendar.......2A Police Beat.....2A
Classified........m Sports...........2B
Comes..........j6A Sun Res.........2k
Obituaries ......3A TodayeHstory ...4A
Fall baseball
SigfHips for a&s $12 contin-
ue today from 6to 8p.m.
William Rusher
Welfare reform creating
panic on the left
Criminal mischief
Side of car kicked in while
parked overnight
Meet Brittany Lent:
lOyearoldsets swimming
records in competition
Volume 74, No. 253
ohm €»tm
Telephone Number: 422-8302
Wednesday, August 21,1996
Baytown, Texas 77520
50 Cents Per Copy
Candidates to converge
here for Sunday forum
By CHRISTIAN MESSA
The Baytown Sun
As the political races continue to
heat up in the final months leading
up to the November elections,
most candidates are out in force,
stumping for votes.
Baytown gets a closeup look at
some of the candidates when 13
would-be officeholders converge
here Sunday for the Meet the Candidates ’96 Forum,
scheduled from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Memorial Baptist
Church, 600 W. Sterling Ave.
Hosted by the church’s Christian Life Committee, the
forum will include two candidates looking for local sup-
port for their respective congressional bids: Baytown
native Brent Ferry, a Republican challenger hoping to
unseat incumbent Ken Bentsen for District 25, and
Steve Stockman, who is the District 9 incumbent
Among the other candidates expected to speak at
the assembly are Rema Lou Brown and David
Bradley of the state Board of Education race, Katie
Kennedy and “Cactus Jack” Cagle of the 164th Civil
District Court election, and Sylvia Garcia and
Michael Fleming, who are vying for the office of
Harris County Attorney.
Also, candidates running for the Court of Appeals
Justice Court-Place HI and civil district judge will
speak
Chamber hoedown set for Sept. 6
The Baytown Chamber of Commerce will hold
its eighth annual country and western hoedown on
Sept 6, from 7 p.m. to midnight.
The hoedown will be held at the Sylvan Beach
Pavilion in La Porte and includes a dinner, live mu-
sic by Brian Keith and Heartland, dancing and live
and silent auctions. From the parking lot, guests
will be given a buggy ride to the pavilion with pho-
to opportunities afterwards.
“We’re expecting quite a crowd,” said Carole
Opryshek, chairwoman of the event. She said that
over the years, the event has outgrown all facilities
in Baytown, and this year the chamber is hoping to
sell more than 600 tickets.
Tickets are available at the chamber through its
board of directors, hoe-down committee members
and ambassadors. “It’s going to be a real fun event.
It is an opportunity for people in the community
to come together socially. It is also the chamber’s
fund-raiser of the year,” Opryshek said.
Proceeds of the $25 tickets go to programs like
Partners in Education, scholarships and Leadership
of Baytown. In light of the theme “Country with a
touch of Glitz,” Opryshek said that people are en-
couraged to wear western attire, but the dress-up is
not a requirement
The auction includes a deer hunt trip, a guided
duck hunt, an autographed Hakeem Olajuwon bas-
ketball and Rockets tickets, a computer system and
framed prints.
“We have some of the very top-notch auction
items and an excellent auctioneer,” Opryshek said.
For tickets or more information, call 422-8359.
—MaikevanWijk
GfluGonGoi...
Chief Bob
Leiperand
firefighter
Mark Medrano
watch as the
fire tower is
demolished.
Demolition
crew brings
down 1954
fire tower
By JASON MOORE
The Baytown Sun
rogress claims another
H casualty. The Baytown
Fire Department’s drill
tower, erected in 1954
when R.N. “Red”
Pruett was mayor of
Baytown, was demolished Tuesday.
The three-story tower, used in die
past for ladder drills, hose pressure
tests and other drills, was deemed
structurally unsafe about three years
ago and hasn’t been used since.
It took the fire department a couple
of years to raise the money to bring
down the structure, which was located
at Station 2,2320 Market Street,
across from City Hall.
However, minutes after receiving
die proper demolition permit, Bay-
town-based All Texas Demolition
started tearing into die structure with a
back-ho.
It was rubble in a matter of hours.
Although die tower has been a land-
mark in Baytown for more than 40
years, its time had come and gone,
Photos by Carte Piyor-Newroan
said Baytown Fire Chief Bob Leiper.
“We thought about fixing it up, but
state regulations have changed since it
was built. They now require a five-sto-
ry structure for insurance purposes,
and this is only three stories,” Leiper
said. “Yeah, it’s a landmark, but it
needed to go.”
The chief said he hopes funds for a
new drill tower will be allocated in a
future bond election.
But for now, the city will use the
space for overflow parking for City
Hall and the Community Center.
‘Sun’ reporter promoted; ex-staffer returns
Baytown Sun reporter Jason
Moore has been named the news-
paper’s new city editor, Managing
Editor David Eldridge announced
this week.
Moore, 25, covers police and ed-
ucation for The Sun and will con-
tinue to report in addition to his
-new responsibilities as city editor. ,_a
Moore is a former general as- Moore
signments reporter and business
editor for The Daily Sentinel in Mfgaphone m
Nacogdoches. Gfeorgetown. Moore joined The
He also worked as a reporter h
and columnist for his college pa- ^ commumty newspaper has
per, the Southwestern University always been, and I believe will
r i
& v i
Ashworth
continue to be, a bedrock of Amer-
ican culture. I look forward to con-
tributing to the newspaper and to
this community in this new posi-
tion,” Moore said.
Eldridge also announced the re-
turn of former Sun staffer Lori
Ashworth as news editor.
Ashworth, 23, who has previ-
ously worked for The Sun as a re-
porter, photographer and editor, re-
turns to Baytown from a year-and-
a-half stint in the public relations
department at Driscoll Children^
Hospital in Corpus Christi.
Ashworth is a graduate of Lee
High School and attended Lee
College, where she was the editor
of her college paper, The Lantern.
Ashworth has won several jour-
nalism awards, including a news
photography award from the Texas
Intercollegiate Association and a
news photography award from the
Texas Community College Jour-
nalism Association. She has also
earned recognition for news story
and editorial writing.
“I’m excited about being back at
The Sun and I hope to to serve the
community well through my posi-
tion here,” Ashworth said
Weather
Wednesday: High in the
upper 80s to near 90.
Thursday: High in the up-
per 80s to near 90. Low in
the upper 70s.
Art by Kristanya Harrison.
City Council
considers
changes on
Evergreen
During their 6:30 p.m. meeting Thursday,
the Baytown City Council will consider ap-
proving the plans and specifications of the
Evergreen Road overlay project and authoriz-
ing the advertisement of bids.
The $82,000 project includes some grade
work and a two-inch asphalt overlay of 4,230
feet on Evergreen Road westward from Tri-
City Beach Road.
That stretch of Evergreen Road borders the
southern edge of a future public golf course,
which is currently under development by
Hazelwood Enterprises Inc.
The project should be awarded Sept. 26,
and construction, which is expected to be
completed in three weeks, will begin the sec-
ond week in October.
In other business the council will consider
authorizing the publication of a notice of in-
tention to issue $4.68 million in Certificates
of Obligation bonds for sewer rehabilitation
projects.
The council last month authorized a finan-
cial assistance application to the Texas Water
Development Board for the rehabilitation pro-
jects. The board administers a revolving loan
fund to finance water-related projects.
Also up for consideration will be the final
$25,106 payment to Angel Brothers Enter-
prises Inc. for the installation of a 12-inch
water line to Highway 146.
The original $515,445 contract included
two change orders that totaled $12,980, in-
creasing the contract to $528,425.
However, the final construction amount was
$494,726 after a $33,699 cost underun.
At 6:35 p.m. the City Council members will
hold a public hearing over the $51.5 million
1996-97 city budget that will be considered
for approval during the Sept. 12 council meet-
ing.
Man chaiged in
Crosby slaying
A 29-year-old Crosby man has
been chaiged with the brutal slay-
ing of his 34-year-old girlfriend.
The body of Joanne D. Vana of
Crosby was found Monday morn-
ing in the Golf Club Drive home
of her boyfriend, Vernon Ellis Mc-
Cleskey.
Harris County Sheriff’s Depart-
ment officials said Vana had been
repeatedly stabbed in the chest
and back. McCleskey, who admit-
ted to killing Vana after an argu-
ment, has been charged with mur-
der and is being held in lieu of
$20,000 bond, officials said.
News tip? Coil 472-8
For home delivery, coll 422-8302
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Dobbs, Gary. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 253, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 21, 1996, newspaper, August 21, 1996; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1095576/m1/1/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.