The Panola Watchman (Carthage, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 55, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 8, 1981 Page: 1 of 19
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Panola Watchman and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Sammy Brown Library.
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, INC.
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Panola
Watchman
Vol. 106, No. 55
©1981. Panola Publishing Co., Inc., all rights reserved
Thursday, January 8,1981
Carthage, Panola County, Texas 75633
County employees get
20 percent pay hike
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Justice of peace
District attorney, judge take
says help needed
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office in ceremonies Monday
to handle cases
Grand jury hears 22 cases here
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Levy speaker
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for banquet
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According to District Court Clerk
Marie Pike Seale, the following persons
GIVES OATHS—Judge K Bakers
last official act as Judge of the
123rd Judicial District was admin-
istering the oaths of office tq the
new judge and district attorney for
the two-county district.
courtroom of the Panola County Courthouse. Taking the
oaths are Judge Bennie Boles at left and District
Attorney John Walker.
were selected for the grand jury: Weldon
Gray, Gary; Eldon Davis, Gary; Daisy
Ingram, Carthage; Daniel Staten,
Carthage; Lovis Osborne, Carthage and
Virgil Reynolds, Logansport; Dan
Dulaney, J. R Brannon, Jr, Herbert
Koonce, Gene Giles (foreman), William
E. Hook and Henry L. Brown, all of
Carthage.
again told those gathered for the
ceremonies that the man he had just
sworn in would do a good job as judge.
Judge Boles said that following in the
steps of Judge Baker would be a difficult
task and that he viewed his predecessor
as a “shining light that goes before me."
He then added, “The road before me
has ben well traveled by good, solid
men I look forward to serving you."
The new judge then added that he
hoped when someone took over the job
from him that he could still say the same
about the previous judges
District Attorney Walker said it had
been a childhood dream of his to be the
district attorney of his home county He
said that although he was now a resident
of Shelby County, he was a native of
Panola County and was looking forward
to serving the people as district attorney
Following the 9 a m. ceremonies, the
court took a brief recess for refresh
ments and a round of handshaking before
getting down to business, the impaneling
of a grand jury and the consideration of a
number of cases facing the court
The Panola County Grand Jury was
impaneled Jan 5 to hear evidence in 22
cases ranging from DWI second offense
to theft
District attorney John Walker stated
Tuesday that the group should make its
report today.
Walker also reported that in all of the
and John Brooks •
Judge Wall said the salaries of the
elected officials had already been set and
published and the county could not alter
those figures The court opted, however,
to give the elected officials what it called
an “expense allowance" in addition to
the published salaries
That expense allowance ranged from
$3 60 a month for the constables of
precincts 2, 3 and 4 to $111 a month for
the county tax assessor-collector.
The county judge and the commission-
ers each got a $104 a month expense
allowance as did the cqunty clerk, the
district clerk, the county attorney,
county treasurer and the sheriff.
The county’s four justices of the peace
each got allowances of $80 79 a month.
Also at the Monday meeting the
commissioners approved a budget
amendment to allow for the higher
insurance rates and to make adjustments
in several departments Overall, the
PANO
COUNTY I
TEXAS
During Monday’s meeting the justices
were given $80 79 monthly expense
allowances That is coupled with salaries
of $1,130 a month
In the past the salary issue had been a
bone of contention between the justices
and the commissioners, with some of the
justices of the peace saying the salaries
were too low
Soape, contacted on Tuesday after the
Monday meeting, said the "$80 more is
not much We wanted the justice of the
peace office elevated in accord with the
responsibilities and skills requireu I’m
going to stay and do a job for the folks
even if my salary is cut I am satisfied
because our case got presented.
"We are peacemakers and many times
we can settle matters before the suits or
charges are filed A settlement is just as
important as a judgment
“The amount of money set forth still
does not bring us up to the lowest paid
elected official," he said
Soape said the local troopers were
doing a good job but unless the justices of
the peace got backing, all the troopers"
work will be in vain
“We need more team work between the
county officers,” he said “If everyone is
turned loose on appeals, then the law
officers will quit trying.”
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on Thursday
Jim Levy of Bunkie, recognized as one
of Louisianas authorities in the field of
newspaper advertising, will be the guest
speaker for a banquest hosted by the
Panola Watchman
James Smith, assistant publisher and
general manager of the Panola
Watchman, announced that Levy will
speak at the newspaper’s banquet being
held at the Panola College Student Center
dining room at 7 p m on Jan 8
The affair will kick off a ten-week sales
promotion in the county entitled “Hello,
Panola County.” Smith will act as
master of ceremonies, and all businesses
participating in “Hello, Panola County”
will be represented at the function by
sales personnel.
Levy puhlisher of The Bunkie Reeerd
for the past 17 years, is a graduate of the
ISU School of Journalism His news
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Panola and Shelby counties have a new
judge and a new district attorney.
Judge Bennie Boles and District
Attorney John Walker were sworn in
Monday morning during ceremonies at
the District Courtroom at the Panola
County Courthouse.
Judge Boles fills the judgeship held by
Judge K Baker for the past five years
and Walker fills the post previously held
by Bill Warren Both were sworn in by
Judge Baker
During the ceremonies. Judge Baker
praised both men, saying he felt that
each would serve the 123rd Judicial
District well.
"John Walker holds a special place in
my life,” Judge Baker said. I taught him
in Sunday School while he was in high
school." He went on to say that neither
ever imagined that they would be
standing as they were at the time with
Baker as a judge swearing in Walker as a
district attorney
"He will do you a good job as district
attorney," Judge Baker said
“And to you Judge Boles, it is lonely at
the top," the outgoing judge said He
h
The money squabble between the
justices of the peace in Panola County
and the county Commissioners Court
surfaced again this week following the
Monday meeting of the Commissioners
Court
Justice of the Peace Weldon Soape
spoke to the commissioners after the
meeting had adjourned and said there
was no need to seek additional
Department of Public Safety troopers for
the county unless something was done to
help the justices of the peace with
handling their caseloads
Soape, of Precinct 4, said there was
only one secretary to handle the
workload for precincts 3 and 4 and that
this was not enough to get the job done
properly He asked that the commis-
sioners come to the office to observe the
workload He said that none of the court
had ever observed the workload of the
justices of the peace
Judge Ruff Wali said, "I sort of resent
that. I have looked into the problem ”
Soape said it would not do any good to
have "a hundred troopers in here” unless
there was sufficient personnel to handle
the cases
He said in recent weeks he had been
levying lower fines, thinking that with
the lower finds the troopers would
eventually write fewer tickets
Salurday Jan. W. on the northeast
Carthage."
• Cd J
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amendment raised the 1981 budget by
some $57,800
Figures presented by assistant auditor
Sidney Burns showed that $47,800 of this
total was expected to be raised by
increased revenues and that the
remaining $10,000 would come from
funds carried over from 1960
The bulk of the total is anticipated to
come from the tax rolls. Projections are
that the tax rolls will bring in $31,700
more than originally thought Also,
interest earnings are expected to be
higher during the coming year
During the first meeting of the new
year, the county commissioners re-
appointed members to the Panola
General Hospital Board of Directors and
to the county Airport Authority
Re-named to the hospital board were
Lynn C. Vincent, Rudolph Youngblood
and W M. Goolsby
In acting on the recommendation of
Hospital Administrator Bill Kelly to
re-name the three to the board, Judge
Wall praised the work of the board and of
Kelly, especially the work toward the
opening of an intensive care unit at the
hospital.
Wall said some $127,000 had been
budgeted for the work and preliminary
costs had been only about $104,000 He
said that although there may be some
additional costs, it appeared that work
would be carried out under budget
projections. He said he had thought
originally there would be a cost overrun.
Re-named to the Airport Authority
were John Cain, Richard Thomas,
Jimmy Ritter, Archie Young, Andy
Sharp, Robbie LaGrone and Bill
Edwards
The court officially set the holiday
schedule for 1961 The schedule lists a
total of 13 holidays, including two for
Christmas, two for Thanksgiving, and
one each for Washington’s birthday.
Good Friday, Memorial Day, Indepen-
dence Day, Lyndon Johnson’s birthday.
Labor Day, Veteran s Day, New Years
Day and the employee’s birthday.
In other actions the court:
-Voted to adopt a resolution supporting
a state measure to allow the judge in
capital cases to set a “reasonable fee”
for indigent defenders with the state to
actually pay the fee
--Voted to advertise for bids on the
maintenance of the courthouse lawn and
grounds. The bids are to be opened at the
court’s first meeting in February and
will include the mowing, watering,
raking and overall maintenance of the
property
-Authorized the First State Bank and
Trust, the county depository, to release
certain securities and to pledge other
securities. Wall said this was done on an
annual basis.
Advertised for bids on a car for the
Road and Bridge Department Bids will
be opened at the first meeting in
February
Jim Levy
paper has won the “Best Ad Idea” in the
Louisiana Press Association’s Better
Newspaper Contests for the past two
years
The publisher, 44, will speak on “How
to Make Money” and will deliver a talk
aimed at the town's sates personnel. He
will also give tips on how to handle
difficult customers
By MARSHALL DOUGLAS
Watchman Editor
Employees of Panola County got a 20
percent pay hike this week and elected
officials got an “expense allowance”
tacked onto their salaries
The actions came during Monday’s
Commissioners Court meeting
When the 1981 budget was prepared
and adopted in September, it contained a
projected 12 percent increase for county
workers but commissioners and Judge
Ruff Wall said the higher pay raise was
justified because of the higher insurance
rates this year and because of the higher
than expected inflation rate.
The setting of the salary levels for the
year was one of the first official actions
of two new commissioners on the court,
Carl Henderickson of Precinct 1 and
Leonard Jones of Precinct 3 Monday's
meeting was the first for both of the
newk elected officials Rounding out the
court were Commissioners Roland Davis
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matters before the grand jury, there
were no capital charges involved
Included are charges of burglary,
forgery, aggravated assault, theft, DWI
second offence and failure to stop and
render aid
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TAKE OATHS—The new judge and the new district
attorney of the 123rd Judicial District take their oaths of
office during ceremonies Monday in the district
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NICE, WET DAY—Although it may have caused some weal Fer keep them inside, however, as is evidenced by
inconvenience for some, the rain that came to the area Mrs, Rowena Moseley of Carthage as she bundled up
Tvesday wm welcomed hy mmt The rash of grass fires anfpullel out the umbrella and went about her
over the Christmas and New Year holidays pointed out bu. vess downtown.
just how dry it had become locally Few let the damp
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20 Pages, 2 Sections 20 Cents
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Nominations for Panola County’s
of the Year are .now open.
" are asked to submit
Anyone in the county is |
— for the award The
competition is sponsored by the
Panola Watchman and the award
wiU be given during the Chamber of
Commerce banquet in February.
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Douglas, Marshall. The Panola Watchman (Carthage, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 55, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 8, 1981, newspaper, January 8, 1981; Carthage, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1517954/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sammy Brown Library.