Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 98, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 8, 2000 Page: 1 of 11
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Levelland And
Hockley County
News-Press
50£
VOHAIK 21 \t>IHKK «>8 ISPS » «6,»8Q Drawer 1628 Ice Hand Texas 79.V46 1628 »>hone (806) 894 312 1 Wednesday, March 8, 2000 8 Page* In 1 Section & Supplement*
County sets hospital
bond election date
Hockley Count) commissionei s
Monday set May 6 as the date for a
hospital bond election
County voters will go to the
polls that day to determine the fate
ol $2.8 million in improvements for
Covenant Hospital Levelland
If the measure passes, then the
improvements would be made in
four phases over a 16-month period
The county would issue general
obligation bonds which would be
paid for with county property taxes.
Passage of the measure would
mean an increase in the county ad
valorem tax rate But officials are
unsure how much the rate would
have to rise
Countv Judge Larry Sprovvis
said any rate increase would hinge
on such factors as property values,
the repayment period for the bonds
and whether the bonds would be
exempt from federal income taxes
"There are so many v ariables,”
Sprowls said
Count) property values slipped
below $13 billion last year, but
should be higher this year because
of increased oil prices, he noted
Higher property values would
translate into a smaller tax rate
increase, he said
The current tax rate is 315
cents per $100 valuation
The election stems from a
petition drive that started in
Nov ember and eventually garnered
1,650 signatures from county
residents
The election will be held the
same day as local school and
municipal elections
In a related issue Monday, the
Court voted to appoint Ed Esquivel
of the Dallas law firm of Fullbnght
and Jaworski as bond attorney
Esquivel will advise
commissioners on whether the
count) qualifies for tax-exempt
bonds and will prepare legal
documents in connection with the
issue
If it is approved, he would also
move the transaction to the state
Attorney General's office for final
approval, Sprowls said
See ELECTION Page 2
Debris injures woman
during windy weather
Turbulent weather brought high
winds and blowing dust to Hockley
County Tuesday, knocking over
irrigation systems and injuring a
woman with flying debris
Shirley Nock suffered a deep
gash to her arm when she was
struck by a piece of tin that (lew off
a house, said Police Department
employee Marilyn Knox.
Nock was further injured when
she was knocked into a car
The mishap occurred Tuesday
afternoon at Cedar Avenue and
Cactus Drive, according to records
Hockley Count) and other
South Plains counties were placed
under a tornado watch bv
National Weather Service
The watch was lifted by mid-
altemoon and replaced with a high
wind warning
Wind speeds of 25-40 mph
were the norm for much of the
altemoon. with wind gusts in excess
of 45 mph being reported in
Levelland
The high winds knocked over
storage buildings near the former
Craddock's store on Texas 114, said
David Kinney, chief deputy with the
Sheriffs Office
• Irrigation sprinklers were
See WEATHER Page 2
• M
- ... , , *$/.:'■?' x
MISHAP -Police Otl.ccr Rovcc Ewings took notes Tuesday afternoon follow ing this rollover on Mouzon Lane
east of South College Avenue The driver of this Ford Explorer. Scott Sisson of Levelland, was westbound when
he lost control and the vehicle left the road, rolling over on its side Sisson was not injured Police believed that
excessive speed may have contributed to the accident (Staff Photo)
City’s water supplies OK
for future, study finds
Lev elland has enough w ater and
access to water to meet the needs of
the city well into the 21s' century,
according to a report
An assessment bv High Plains
Underground Water Conservation
District No I concluded that there
is enough water to meet
( "Levelland s total water demand
through 2030 and indeed,to well
after 2050."
Currently, the citv pumps water
from IX local wells and also buys
water from the Canadian River
Municipal Water Authority
While the news about
Levelland s water supplies
W • r m. * Jm
BLUEGRASS REVISITED - Faculty and former bluegrass students at South Plains College reunite on-stage
during Saturday night’s reunion concert in the Tom T. Hall Production Studio. The concert was the finale to three ----------- ------ — -
days of activities commemorating the 25th anniversap' of SPC’s country and bluegrass music program. Former encouraging, the citv will undertake
students representing all facets of SPC’s commercial music program performed on stage during the evening. stcPs to t0 improve the quality of
From left are Alan Munde, associate professor of music, guitar; David Carney, now guitar tech for Lorrie Morgan, drinking w ater from municipal
banjo; James Randorff of Ransom Canyon, a current student, bass; Jake Jenkins, now touring nationally with a "ells, said Citv Manager Greg
bluegrass group called Carl Shiflett and Big Country, banjo; Joe Carr, associate professor of music, mandolin; Ingham
Lonnie Joe Howell, harmonica player and an entrepreneur in Nashville, harmonica; Brance Gillihan, who will We re going to make some
soon head up an acoustic music recording studio in Pulaski, Va., guitar; Brent Smith, now working for George changes in our distribution system to
Robinson Vfblin Repairs in Lubbock, fiddle, and Ed Marsh (right), associate professor of music, fiddle. The improve the quality. Ingham said
group played bluegrass standards such as Train 45, That Old Home Place and Salt Creek. (SPC Photo) Occasional!) amounts of iron meet their future water supply See WATER Page 2
Growers voice concerns before ag committee
Prr\rinr*f»rc ■ ir<* r»/-t n il< »>< AfWI < K< «1. „ ___*_____ D . PI___1__ Oi___l. _ I rx ___. _______ ; „ ..*.11 _____l i r __;______<__, i i .. i • • *
and manganese appear in the local
water, giving it a dark color, he
said
Ingham said the citv plans to
install filters to improve the
appearance aud taste of the local
well water
The aquifer beneath Levelland
continues to decline, he noted
"We've got to have extensive
rams over a broad areas to change
that. Ingham said
The Citv Water Assessment
Sludv was one of 76 studies
performed by water district
employees ‘of towns" and cities
within the 21-count) Llano
Estacado Regional Water Planning
Region
Each assessment study has been-
sent to the Texas Water
Development Board The state
Legislature plans to use the
information to develop a funding
mechanism to help towns ad cities
meet their future water supply
needs, said A. Wayne Wyatt,
chairman of the regional planning
group
As part of Senate Bill 1, the
Texas Legislature required that the
state be divided into 16 regions for
water planning purposes
The legislation also required
that a draft water plan in each
region be completed by Sept 1, with
the final plan being finished by Jan
5,2001.
Each plan will include
evaluation of current water
resources and projections of future
water demands. Wyatt said
This region includes Cochran,
Hockley. Lamb and Lubbock
counties
The studv of Levelland found
that there were about 84,502 acre
feet of "theoretically recoverable
groundwater in storage” under the
city's corporate limits and other
areas of control as of January 1995
See WATER Page 2
Producers urged a
congressional committee Monday to
improve the safety net for farmers
and ranchers and to open up
overseas markets for American
agricultural products
Those suggestions and others
■^ere aired during a House
Agriculture Committee field hearing
that was held in Lubbock
Eighteen producers and one
banker, most of them from Texas,
voiced their concerns on federal
farm policies that affect such crops
as cotton, peanuts, corn and
sorghum
U S Rep Lam Combest. R-
Lubbock. who chaired the
committee, told a crowd of more
than 600 people that the meeting
was needed to "find some
consensus among fanners about
what can be done to help them
"We re here to listen." Combe
st said "All of the members know
we have a problem in agriculture . - ________
We believe it's in the interest of the year for agriculture
Rep Charles Stenholm. D-
Stamford. said American growers
face more tough going this year
"We do not pretend to know all
of the answers We want to think
outside the box.” Stenholm said
assistance is still needed
American farmers to survive "
William Kubecka. a .cotton and
rice farmer from Palacios who
represented 47 people in Ins area,
said producers like the flexibility
It's going to be another very tough that the current farm bill gives them
nation to maintain a strong
agricultural economy ”
Ten meetings, including the one
in Lubbock, are being held across
the United States this spring
Lawmakers will use
information from the hearings to
consider changes in farm policies
The current federal farm bill, known
as Freedom to Farm, will end in two
yedh
Lloyd Arthur, a cotton and nulo
farmer from Ralls, told the
committee that affordable crop
insurance would be one step in the
right direction
“Producers should be able to
purchase different levels of
insurance,” Arthur said “Insurance
should allow higher levels of
coverage ”
American farmers abide bv
"higher standards" in producing
food and fiber than do their
counterparts in many foreign
countries, he said
He said Congress should look at
Kubecka said, however, that
current loan
rates in
the
government's
marketing
loan
program arc
production costs
"unrealistic
to
He added that the federal crop
insurance program needs more
oversight
"Insurance should encourage
prudent production." Kubecka said
“We believ e gov eminent assistance
should be production based "
Waxahachic area grower
Donald Patman told the committee
that crop insurance has not worked
well in Texas
Patman, who has fanned for 51
price protection system, also known
as the Supplemental Income
Protection Program
Williams said that Congress
should consider a flexible fallow
program in which growers would
receive higher loan rates as they set
aside higher percentages of (heir
land from production
Today the markets are
shouting too much cotton and
grain. " he said, adding that such a
program would allow producers to
work out of a condition of over
supply with the passage of time
Producers should be allowed
to increase to 30 percent of their
land for fallow,” Williams said
Combest told live producers that
there is a “good likelihood’
major changes being enacted in the\
area of crop insurance this year
The solon asked them w hat they
believed the loan rate should be
None of the people in the first
panel had a specific amount m mind
on a new loan rate
But thev all agreed that it
should be at a higher level than it is.,
"Every year not everyone
makes a good crop." said Williams
He said that historic yield data
should be used to determine such
rates
Besides benelitting from higher
loan rates. Williams said, producers
would also fare better if generic
See GROWERS Page 2
nations that do not trade with us
now
When asked by Stenholm.
Arthur and four other speakers in
the first panel said they favored
permanent trade relations with
China.
The lawmaker asked if growers
would support elimination of "all
unilaterally imposed trade
embargoes ”
“Were losing that market
share,” Arthur said "I don't see us
cutting our own throats ”
Stenholm said it was apparent
that American growers do not have
“fair market conditions with
overseas competitors”
Arthur said growers face a
continuing rise in operating costs in
SPEAKING HIS MIND — Ralls cotton farmer Arthur Lloyd was one of near future
18 producers from Texas and Oklahoma who testified about the “My operation has been
shortcomings of federal farm policies during a hearing Monday in Lubbock strained and stressed." he said
The meeting was one of 10 field hearings that are being held across the W'1*1 commodity prices being
United States this spring (Staff Photo) . below production costs, future
the possibility of the United States years, said he fav ored supplemental
trading agricultural products with aids to the farm safety net
He said policy makers had no
idea that commodity prices would
be as low as they are now when they
were setting loan rates for crops
Jones County cotton farmer
Ronnie Riddle said that government
assistance is crucial to growers
“Governmental assistance is
essential to our surv iv al from year-
to-year." Riddle said "However,
we are concerned that assistance
will not always be there We need
legislation to address year-to-year
variations "
Any new legislation should
offer producers some sort of
counter-cyclical aid. he said
Riddle said the crop insurance
program also needs to be reformed
Mark Williams, a Farwell area
grower and vice president of Plains
Cotton Growers Inc . agreed that
farm legislation must include a
“counter cyclical component ”
Stcnhdlm has proposed such a
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE - U S Reps Lam Combest. right,
and Charles Stenholm heard testimony Monday from 19 people on the
federal farm bill The congressional committee, meeting in Lubbock,
convened to gather input from producers on farm policies and
recommendations on way s to improve them (Staff Photo)
---»
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Rigg, John. Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 98, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 8, 2000, newspaper, March 8, 2000; Levelland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1168980/m1/1/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting South Plains College.