Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 52, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 29, 1999 Page: 1 of 26
twenty six pages : ill. ; page 21 x 13 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:
City still experiencing
Four months after a major hail- as charged as it was in the heyday
storm battered Levelland, the city of the Oil Patch, there are some
is still feeling the economic fallout openings. Sturgeon said,
from the event Jobs for truck drivers, restaurant
And the effects appear to be workers and retail employees are
mostly beneficial. some of the openings that hive sur-
Unemployment in the county, faced recently. Southern Cotton Oil
which peaked at 11.5 percent in has also been hiring, he said.
February, fell to 6.5 percent in July The wave of roofing repair work
- the last month that figures were that is going on in Levelland is
available from the state. benefiting the city’s economy as a
Ending enough workers to re- whole, said Scott Wade, senior vice
place the thousands of roofs that president at American State Bank,
were damaged in the May 26 re- "I think a lot of our customers
mains a problem. , have seen a real positive economic
"We’re way behind," said Lee benefit," Wade said. "It’s created a
Pearson, owner of Levelland lot of additional money being spent
Roofing. in the community that would nor
Pearson said he lost one of his mally not have occurred."
two roofing crews. The remaining But its impact is difficult to
crew cannot keep up with the measure accurately, he said,
backlog of work. "If you look at this from the
"We’ve got a bunch more to do," standpoint of convenience store to
he said, adding that roofers will grocery store to gas stations to retail
probably stay busy for another five shops ... this storm has to have had
to eight months. an impact on turning that dollar
According to city reports, more over and over," Wade said,
than 1,100 permits worth about S5.5 He said bank deposits at Amcr-
million were issued for new roofs tcan State are up from a year ago.
in June, July and August. But he was unsure of the reasons
Figures for September will be for the increase
released late next week. "I don’t know," he said. "We
O.V. Sturgeon, an employment can’t identify it to any particular
representative with the Texas factor."
Workforce Commission, said that City Manager Greg Ingham said
roofing companies have hired ex- that dollars spent locally by building
tensively in recent months. contractors have a multiplier effect
"A lot of roofing companies are on the economy,
hiring local people," Sturgeon said. A common rule of thumb is that
"These jobs are lasting anywhere a dollar spent multiplies at least
from a few days to a few months." three times in die economy. Ingham
The starting pay for such jobs is noted.
S6 to 57 an hour, he said. He said that dollars spent by out-
While the local job market is not of-town roofers may turn over less
_ I ^ 1 * ; :
..nti! later thiv tall [j ; &
v .i • -ant f vixtipajiv -ty
and vehicles following the stomi W \ ; . ft*
Boudreaux k
sakl ot the v I'lunK* of ojirib Me
estimated that the companv has paid
least S-i hiiIIkhi ->o '
Harder Insurance Agency has BSP^L. J '
ianuee relate.! Jams said agent Rr jJj ||
Dee Mac ha _ r /X.
I think, we had «.) roots and u
s lairm*
- - .ei "yr^k- SS»j||SL
damage could be as low as $40 'flHi BHBUHBHB '
million and as high as 550 million. ‘ ■U e ;
Hugh Lynn Bradley, owner of I ’ /■ “4 ''
Bradley Insurance Agency, said his I : •• } j‘™ ^
company has probably handled j - *** ;'lys4$'4'f;:
more than900 storm-relateddaims. ' n’ K
Lee Ann Edwards, who owns Lee BB
Arm Edwards Insurance Agency. MAINTAINING THE PACE — Tuesday’s (frizzle didn’t slop Luts Garza from working on the frame of a
said her firm has processed “at house that he and his employer. Rick Rogers, are budding m the Fannin Street Addition. The two men were
least" 500 claims related to thej
hailstorm
Set SIORM Page 2
to students at the school. (Staff Photo)
I The City of Sundown will mark
? a footnote Friday when a new police
M officer begins patrolling the
1 community's streets.
i I The presence of Patrolman Oscar
Kfl Calderon wall mark the first time
M that the Sundown Police Depart-
™ men! has ever had more than two
paid active duty officers.
Part of the credit for that goes to
^ what is known as the COPS Umwr-
5j5t sal Hiring Program.
The program was developed by
the L’-S. Department of Justice
^ under tbe Public Safety Partnership
and Community Policing Act of
a 1994
A The act was an outgrowth of
President Clinton’s goal of putting
■ 100.000 more police officers on the
streets of America’s towns and
j cities.
K Under the program. Suidown and
K other communities receive federal
& grants paying for most of the salary
w and benefits of hiring additional
k officers.
The response to the program has
E been "tremendous." said Dan Pfer-
S ffer. a spokesman with the I S.
V1 Department of Justice.
In less than five years, the
1,^ government has paid out more than
[jctj $6 billion The funds have bene-
fined^roughJv 11300 police and
sheriff s departments across the
United Stales. Pfeiffer said.
In the case of Sundown, the At the end of four years, city
government ts paying for 80 percent officials will have to rienrir whether
of Calderon’s salary and benefits the to continue funding the position or
first year. The percentage declines to reapply for another grant
to 75 the second year and 70 the "I’d like for rt to be permanent
third year. if the finances are there."
Sundown must pay for the re- Stafford said "A lot of it is going
mauling costs, and the city also had to depend on what happens tn the
to agree to assume all of the costs next five years. We would hope that
m the fourth year, said City Man- it would be something that would
ager Brad Stafford See OFFICER Page 2
Ruby Vargas winner
in football contest
The fourth week of the football After tabulating the four week
contest was riddled with surprise totals, Mike Collins is in the lead
endings in high school, college, and with 58 points Mae Beth Collins is
professional levels Ihe average in second place with 57 points,
number of correct answers by the Following in thud place with 56
entrants was 12. points are James Cow arc Fern
Winning the contest with 17 Fullerton. Rustin Klafka. and Roger
correct answers w3s Ruby Vargas Mitchell
of Levelland Entries with 55 correct answers
The second and third place are Jimmy L. Gleason. Terry Hans,
winners were decided by the tic- Juan Herrera. Buddy Moore. Sheri
breaker after four entries had 15 Moore, and Harvey Stephens,
correct answers The closest tie- Prunes with 54 correct answers
breaker combined score was Juan are Voncille Bates. Rex Black.
Herrera for second place. Manuel Myka Collins, and Wayne Mason.
Vargas was the third place winner The contest is tn it’s fifth week
with the next closest combined and will continue for five more
score. Brent Maddox and Jason weeks. The picks are fisted in
Sanchez just missed out of the Sunday 's edition of the newspaper.
David Gunn is nearly ready for class next May. said Watkins. themselves for their last year as
the final leg of the National Merit Gunn says he has always hiked seniors.
Scholarship competition. • school. _ In his limited spare tune, Gunn
If he is named a National Merit "I’ve always enjoyed schooL" he is studying for the Scholastic
Scholar, Gunn will be the first Lobo said. "Uve always done fanfy well." Aptitude Test, which he takes next
High student since 1993 to win the Learning conies "fairly easily." month.
honor. ■ he said, adding that he still has to If Ins scores are high enough, he
The 17-year-old high school sen- force himself to do well m some will become a finalist and <pahfy
ior ts already part of a select group: areas. forooe of 7,600 Merit Scholarship
He a one of 16,000 semifmaluts m "There are rimes when I do have awards.
die running for the designation. to study harder," he said. "I really To become finalists, students
Approximately 12 million stu- have to sit down and make myself rant have an excellent academic
doits from more than 20,000 US. do it - buckle down." ^ rec^ bc^ TOommeiK^Jby their
Merit Program. **** favorite subiecB^^heloves to that confirm then earlier qnab-
isoneof 16j000
N°l 1 Ml - 1 M m H •» - > M‘*» I 111 ^Hll I>| out IQ i S I > v i Ha nd 11 \ u% ~»>,X V<> I l*2x Ph.»ut (1*06) •**> * *12 1 V*t dnrvdiv St pi« m her 2‘* I *»*V» |Q Hjgcx In I Section X Supple mente
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.
Rigg, John. Levelland and Hockley County News-Press (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 52, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 29, 1999, newspaper, September 29, 1999; Levelland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1169120/m1/1/: accessed July 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting South Plains College.