Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 3, 1997 Page: 1 of 16
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1507 MIX TEXAS
SOUTHWEST MICROFDBLISHIN6
2627 E YANDELL OR
EL PASO TX. 79903
Cfyerokeeaq/Herald
Texas' Oldest, Continuously Published Weekly Newspaper - Established Feb. 27,1850 as the Cherokee Sentinel
It's time to <£fnin¡) forward
for Daylight Savings Time
Don't forget to turn
your clocks forward one
hour on Sunday, April 6
at 2 a.m.
Daylight savings time
officially begins.
Vol. 149, No. 10-16 Pages
Thursday, April 3, 1997
Rusk, Texas 75785
25 cents
Dialville drug seizure
estimated at $20,000
I DA's new special
unit takes aim at
drug dealers
It was no April Fool's joke Tuesday
when a dozen Cherokee County law en-
forcement officers, dressed in black cloth-
ing and hoods, rapped on the door of a
home in Dialville.
With search warrant in hand, a special
unit organized by the district attorney's
office found more than 14 pounds of mari-
juana valued at approximately $20,000
in the wee hours of the morning.
Loaded weapons were seized, including
two .22 rifles, an AK-47 semi-automatic
assault rifle, a .367 handgun and a 30-30
deer rifle.
Deborah Ann Halsey, 32, was arraigned
Tuesday afternoon and bond was set at
$3,000. A man was also arrested, but he
had not been arraigned at presstime Tues-
day afternoon.
Given the powerful arsenal of weapons,
officers felt relief that the search warrant
and arrest was "textbook perfect."
"The boys did a fine job," said Randy
Hatch, an investigator with the DA's
office who served as a coordinator.
Participating police officers, citing their
ongoing Undercover work with the spe-
cial unit, declined to be identified or pho-
tographed with the drugs.
This unit is trying to keep a low pro-
file," Mr. Hatch explained.
"In the drug buáimwe, information gets
>ale quickly. Tri-County, (a drug task
Yorce which includes agencies in Chero-
kee County) can't always get to us," he
said. This special unit is providing an
opportunity for officers to gain experi-
ence with search warrants."
Please see Dialville drug bust Page 16
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The District Attorney's nsw special drug unit msde a major drug bust in the
wee hours of the morning Tuesdsy. Fivs weapons, including one etolen gun,
were conflscstsd, along with mors than 14 pounds of msrijuana valusd st
spproximstsly $20,000.
Dallas agency
seeks new Head
. /
Start sponsor
The Department of Health and Human
Services' Administration for Children and
Families (ACF) has not been able to locate a
temporary sponsor for supplying the $4.7
million Head Start Services to children in a
seven-county area. Children are currently
served by East Texas Family Services
(ETFS), which relinquished its grant on
Feb. 20.
ETFS has agreed to continue administra-
tion of the program until May 30. The agency
currently serves 967 children in 28 facilities
in the seven-county area. Counties involved
are Cherokee with 285 children; Rusk, 197
children; Anderson, 140 children;
Henderson, 116 children; Hunt, 146 chil-
dren; Smith, 80 children and Van Zandt, 51
children. ETTS is ñinded to serve 1,013 low-
income children and their families.
Mae áfaulter, public information officer for
ACF, said her agency had not found an
interim sponsor. ACF personnel met with
officials of Head Start of Dallas approxi-
mately three weeks ago to see if they would
serve as interim sponsor, Bhe said. Howéver,
an answer has not been received.
Final outcome of ETFS is pending receipt
of the 1996 audit report. Tom Simms of
Shreveport, La. is the agency auditor. Mr.
Simma said Tuesday morning that the audit
report is completed and he is waiting a few
responses from the board. He said he would
like to file his final report with the Federal
Clearing House in Kansas City, Mo. next
week. A copy of the report will be sent to the
Dallas ACF office.
At one time, a sum of $500,000 was listed
as disallowed expenditures. That fiind could
be increased after the 1996 audit report is
received. Ms. Saulter said board members
Please see New sponsor Page 16
Congressman Türner holds
town meeting in Rusk, Alto
Congressman Jim Turner vis-
ited Alto and Rusk Tuesday in a
swing ofTown Meetings through-
out the district.
Attendance was good at both
gatherings. Almost 40 persons
attended the Rusk meqfcing in the
courthouse basement conference
room.
"People seem to enjoy this type
of meeting. I like to come through
and have a chance to visit with
you. I also sponsor office meet-
ings with constituents at grocery
stores and discount houses. We set up a
table and visit with citizens as they come Please see Congressman Page 16
U.S. Rap. Jim
Turner
by," Congressman Turner said.
Discussion at the Rusk meeting
centered around a balanced bud-
get and Social Security. Congress-
man Turner termed himself as
one of the "Blue Dog" Democrats
(a member of the conservative
Democratic delegation to Con-
gress).
He encouraged a split of the bi-
partisanism in Congress. "We
didn't have this so much in the
Texas House and the Siate Senate
when I served there," he said. "We
Proposed legislation 'slams'
telephone marketing schemes
Texas Legislators hope to "slam dunk" a consumer bill
which will protect telephone customers from the unau-
thorized switching of their long distance carrier.
The practice, commonly called "slamming," usually
involves a sales pitch by a tele-marketing firm hired to
convince telephone customers that they can save money
by changing carriers.
Senate Bill 253, sponsored by Gonzalo Barrientes,
adds extra muscle to the Public Utility Commission's
Regulatory Act of 1996, and provides consumers with
protection from unauthorized switching.
The Texas Senate passed SB 253 Tuesday morning,
and it will be sent to the House of Representatives for
approval.
Ann Roussos, a PUC spokeswoman, said SB 253 is
being closely followed by her agency.
"Slamming has gotten a lot of complaints, and we feel
the calls we receive are only the tip of the iceburg," she
said. During the first seven months of fiscal year 1997,
PUC has received 403 complaints. That compares with
418 for the previous year.
One of the unscrupulous, although not illegal, tech-
niques reported to her office recently involved a long
distance sales representative who attended a school
fiind-raising event.
"He got permission (to switch the service) from chil-
dren," said Mrs. Roussos. "By law, they can get oral
permission from any family member."
One of S.B. 253's provisions will require long distance
carriers to notify consumers in writing that their service
has been changed. If the customer complains, PUC has
the right to Require verifiable authorization.
Additionally, PUC will be given the authority to levy
administrative penalties on the phone company, and
require them to pay any penalties associated with switch-
ing the customer back to the original provider.
State Rep. Todd Staples told the Cherokeean/Herald
that he supports SB 253. Tve been slammed before," he
confirmed.
State Sen. Drew Nixon supported the legislation.
With the deregulation of "Ma Bell" in the early 1984,
a plethora of long distance service providers such as
Sprint, MCI, AT&T and others rushed to compete for
customers in the lucrative, long distance market.
Please see Telephone slamming Page 16
The East Texas Poll
East Texans seem uncertain
over whether they have saved
money in recent years by choos-
ing their long distance service
provider.
In an opinion poll conducted by
CD 97.7 FM and the Cherokeean/
Herald, approximately 33 percent
said they have saved money, 33
percent said they had not saved
anything while another 34 said
they were not sure.
In a separate survey, an 86 per-
cent majority said they have never
been "dammed" by a long dis-
tance carrier. "Slamming" is a
term used to describe the unau-
thorized switchingof longdistance
providers.
Only 11 percent indicated their
long distance carrier had been
changed without their permission,
while another 3.6 percent said
they were uncertain.
Seventy-six persons partici-
pated in the telephone survey
Have you benefitted
financially from
telephone
deregulation of long
distance service?
Have you ever been
"slammed"by a
long distance
carrier?
Not Sure
jointly conducted by CD 97.7 FM
and the Cherokeean/Herald.
A bill before the Texas Legislature
would give the Public Utilities Com-
mission more "muscle" in dealing
with unauthorized slamming.
A separate bill before the legisla-
ture would deregulate electricity.
Construction begins on new Caddoan Mounds hut
By Amy Halbert
Cherokeean/Herald Staff
East Texans will have an opportu-
nity to be a part of histoiy this
weekend when construction be-
gins on a new hut at the Caddoan
Mounds Historical Site outside
of Alto.
Saturday marks the start
of themonth-longrebuild-
ing project which will in-
volve park officials, ar-
chaeologists and volun-
teers from across the
state.
Offenders from the
Skyview/Hodge units in
Rusk are working week
from Mission Tejas, in an area that
needed thinning.
"Our resource specialist, Keith
Blair, selected the site," said
Caddoan Mounds park manager
>—% Phil Riggs. "He choee a place
that needed thinning and
told us what trees could
be cut."
Workers from TDCJ
will harvest 60 logs
which are 50 feet
long. A bulldozer is
on site to help with
the removal of the
logs. Once they
have been cut, the
logs will be skinned
with shovels and
machetes.
The lop will serve
days to ready the sup- Cutaway visw shows
plies for the prqject. . aethesupportofths
They have harvested **00. . 1 br. ,nd hut. The bottoms of
cane, cut and skinned
lop, and poured a dirt
spacing of watt lee.
foundation for the baae of the hut
The units worked last week har-
vesting lop for the support of the
hut. These 50-foot trees were taken
the logs will be
charred, as per
Caddoan custom, to slow the dete-
rioration process.
The archaeologists will later
study the rate of decay in the
charred part of the logB and the
untreated parts,"said JeffFatheree,
member of the Friends of Caddoan
Mounds group.
The new Caddoan hut will not be
in the same place as the previous
one, so that artifacts will not be
disturbed. The dirt foundation for
the new hut was established to pro-
tect any artifacts that may already
be in the ground and in the sur-
rounding area.
This design of the hut has been
taken from the original Caddoan
hut design discovered from archaeo-
logical studies," Mr. Fatheree.
"WeVe tried to reestablish the ma-
terials they used, but this time we
will use modern tools in the con-
struction" he continued.
The previous hut, which was
burned according to Caddoan tradi-
tion last year, was built with the
same kind of primitive tools the
Caddoan Indians used.
The last hut was an experiment
and it worked. This time we're us-
Pleaas tas Caddoan Page 16
s- ^
•V . ?
Offenders from TDCJ SkyvteW/Hodge units work to cut enough
trsss for the support loge of the new Csddosn hut Once the loge
are harvested, they srs then skinned and transported to ths hut
sit* Voluntssrs will help to buHd ths hut on wesksnds during ths
month of April.
Friends of
Caddoan
Mounds
organized
TheFriendsof the Caddoan
Mounds group formed due to
their Interest In the histori-
cal preservation of the
Caddoan park. Members also
want to develop the park into
a more workable piaoe for
visitors to eqjoy.
Membership is open to the
public and it is not neoeaskry
to attend all meeting tá be
an aotive member of the
group.
"We will meet onoe or twice
a year to discuas the park,'
said Jeff Fatheree.
For more information, con-
tact the Caddoan Mounds
State Historical Site at 401
Veiioia Hubbard at
8031.
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 3, 1997, newspaper, April 3, 1997; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152314/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.