Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 3, 1993 Page: 1 of 18
eighteen pages : ill. ; page 22 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:
SERVING LEXINGTON, DIME BOX, LINCOLN, SERBIN, NORTHRUP, PAIGE, LEDBETTER, FEDOR & GIDDINGS
PUBLISHED AND EDITED BY A NATIVE LEE COUNTIAN
VOLUME 103
GIDDINGS, LEE COUNTY, TEXAS 78942-0947
NUMBER 50
THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1993
7
f
N
mmm
ad
I
One new home started
in Giddings during May
(
I
r ♦ i
\
7
Close hospital, keep rural health
care facilities open, says expert
Hospital board approves bonds over
objections of Concerned Taxpayers
Lee County Attorney's
job to be paid by state
8.71 in. officially recorded
during May in Giddings
U.S. Senate runoff
election Saturday
Lee County’s jobless rate dips
to 2.1 percent, lowest in area
School finance bill to have
little effect on Giddings schools
year’s rainfall for the first 5 months
of the year when 32.15 inches were
officially recorded for Giddings.
Last May was the wettest on record
with a total of 12.13 inches recorded
Farmers were looking for some
rain in the latter part of the month as
hay and corn crops began to dry but.
The official Giddings rainfall for
and Fayette Counties at 4 9 percent,
giving the county a labor force of
6,984, with 342 jobless.
Washington County’s jobless rate
fell a little to 3.2 percent in April
from 3.3 percent the month before,
giving the county a work force of
13,502, with 438 people unemployed.
The statewide rate rose slightly to
6.8 percent in April, up from 6.7
percent in March.
Last month’s jobless rate in Texas
was well below the year-earlier
period which was 7.4 percent.
Construction started on one new
home in May in the City of Giddings
Adolph Jatzlau’s new home at 714
East Calvert St. is being constracted
by Jatzlau Construction It is 1,430
square ft. and will cost $34,000.
Thelma Davis is building a storage
shed on her property at 815 East
Bryan John Rivers is the contractor
the county attorney from having a
private law practice.
Judge Kraus said the new law will
save the county $82,000 in salary,
benefits, and secretarial help About
$27,000 of the state money will be set
aside for secretarial help.
Judge Kraus said legislation for
this law was introduced into the
Senate by Senator Jim Turner and
into the House of Representatives by
Rep. Dan Kubiak.
Judge Kraus and local attorney
Ted Weems appeared on several
different occasions at the Senate and
House hearings concerning the bills,
testifying on behalf of Lee County.
Lee County’s unemployment rate
dipped to 2.1 percent in April, from
2.9 percent the month before.
Lee County still continues to have
the lowest jobless rate in the area,
with a work force of 5,290 and only
ill unemployed.
Neighboring Fayette County also
dropped, falling to 2.5 percent in
April from 3.1 percent in March.
This gives the county a labor force of
10,222, with 251 out of work.
Burleson County’s unemployment
rate was about double that of Lee
Giddings officially measured 8.71
inches of rainfall in May, boosting
the total so far this year to 22 99
inches.
The rains in May came early and
late in the month, with several
weeks of dry, hot conditions during
the middle of the month.
The rainfall for 1993 is behind last
cast ballots in the Lee County
District Court Building
Voters in precincts 301, 302 and 303
will vote at the Lee County Precinct
3 building.
Voters in 401 and 402 will cast
ballots at the Dime Box Community
Hall.
And voters in precincts 403 and 404
will vote at Martin Luther Lfutheran
Parish Hall.
|
poog y
all parts of the TAAS exam for their
level. And that test is now given to
eighth graders in the spring, and this
spring 38 percent of them passed
Beginning in the 10th grade, high
school students are given several
chances to pass the exit-level TAAS
But even if the students have
completed their course require-
ments, they can’t get a diploma until
they pass TAAS.
In place of their diploma, they
simply receive a certificate that
says they have attended high school
Until they have passed TAAS and
received their diploma, high school
seniors may not be able to enter
college and some employers won’t
hire them, officials stated But
seniors will get another opportunity
in July to take TAAS again
cost of doing business
Mr Burton said that Giddings LSD
is fortunate in that some of the
increase in the costs of financing
education in I ee County will be
offset this next year by an increase
in the taxable property values. It is
estimated that values in the district
will increase about $20 million for
next year, which would bring in an
additional $160,000.
Chamber expands board
to eighteen members
The Giddings Chamber of Com-
merce voted to expand their board of
directors from 15 to 18 members at
their May meeting.
The board also approved the
appointment of Quenten Rhodes as a
new member of the board.
The chamber will hold a June
luncheon on Friday, June 11 at
Siegmunds Family Restaurant. A
special program on Geburtstag will
be presented. The luncheon will
include discussions on how Geburt-
stag works, the goals of the festival
and how people can become a
See CHAMBER, page 17
wmmm
Lee County will no longer have to
pay for a county attorney now that
the 73rd Legislature has passed a
Prosecutor Bill to pay the salary out
of state funds
County Judge Pete Kraus announ-
ced the legislation’s passage which
has to be signed by the governor
before it is law
Judge Kraus said that with the
new law Lee County Attorney Steve
Keng will be on the state payroll as a
professional prosecutor for Lee
County. He will prosecute felony,
county and Justice of the Peace
cases
The new law, which goes into
effect on September 1, will prohibit
A representative from the Texas
Association of Hospitals met with
directors of the Lee County Hospital
District last Wednesday, suggesting
they "salvage what they can” as far
as providing medical services to the
county.
In a last-ditch effort to keep the
hospital open, the board voted to
pursue talks with other healthcare
facility operators about taking over
Lee Memorial Hospital and they also
voted to open dialogue with Dr.
Teresa Duncan on coming back to
the hospital.
In case these things don’t work
out, the board voted to draw up a
resolution that would allow them to
take action at the next board
meeting to close the hospital.
Marvin Cole, representing the
Texas Association of Hospitals,
explained to the board that it takes
31 days to close a hospital. During
that time voters can bring up a
petition to vote whether to close, and
if voters vote to keep the hospital
open, then it would have to remain
open.
Board member Dan Blaha said the
hospital would have to get another
doctor in 20 days and have at least 6
patients per day to break even.
Above that the money would have to
apply to debts.
Mr. Alan Turner, board member,
said, "We’re looking at the best
viable medicine for the county If we
had two doctors we could keep the
clinics and E.R. room."
"I think it’s a bad deal to close
down a hospital district. But you
Five Giddings High School seniors
were among 13,400 high school
seniors across the state who couldn’t
receive their diplomas at graduation
this year because they failed the
TAAS exam
Statewide, the failure rate of 7 4
percent was twice as many as last
year. A total of 180,206 seniors failed
at least one portion of the exit-level
version of the Texas Assessment of
Academic Skills
Last year, 6,198 or 3.4 percent of
Texas’ 12th-graders failed one or
more parts of the TAAS, which
measures reading, writing and
mathematics skills
Students who didn’t pass all
sections of the exam couldn’t receive
their diplomas.
State officials blamed tougher
J
presently financed at Lee County
National Bank The district will have
to pay off an additional $15,000 of the
original note
Before discussing the matter,
board president Rudy Mayer
allowed Earl Pool, president of the
Concerned Citizens, to speak He
said the board should not proceed
wMthe bond issue for five different
reasons. Mr. Pool said the approval
may be an unlawful act, because
past elections of the district may be
unlawful, and the board has no
authority to act.
Mr Pool said the bonds could not
be called prior to five or seven years
and the additional interest cost is not
justified.
He said that shorter-term finan-
The newly-passed State School
Finance Bill won’t have much effect
on the Giddings, Lexington and
Dime Box School districts.
“We still will lose money from the
state, but it will be about what we
expected,” said Giddings Supt. Gene
Burton Mr Burton said he does not
have all the information from the
state about the financial portions of
the law, but the first look shows it to
have similar effect on Giddings as
was expected from the constitu-
tional amendments which were
voted down by voters in May.
for the 120 square foot building
Ramiro Cantu is a 16x20 ft. room to
his home at 1057 South Waco St
Siegmund Painting is the contractor
for the job
And Dollar General Store is
installing a sign in Giddings Plaza
Shopping Center K&P Sign, Inc is
the contractor.
the month is as follows:
May 2, .39; May 5, 3.56; May 9, .08;
May 23, 2 18; May 25, .31; May 27,
1.48; May 28, .03, May 29, .06; and
May 30, .62.
Giddings rainfall is recorded at
the Larry Weiser Farm, five miles
east of Giddings off Highway 290
Sheriff’s Posse to
host YRA Rodeo
The Lee County Sheriff’s Posse
will host a Youth Rodeo Association
Rodeo this Friday and Saturday at
the Lee County Sheriff’s Posse
Covered Arena.
The show is open to YRA members
and any youth under the age of 19
Entry blanks are available at
Lindner’s Inc. in Giddings
The Friday performance will be
held at 7:30 p m and Saturday’s two
performances will be held at 10 a.m
and6p.m.
Lexington Summer Track
practices scheduled
The Lexington Summer Track
Club is meeting Monday through
Thursdays at 5 p.m at Eagle
Stadium.
The summer track program is
open for students in grades 3-12.
SPLASH DAY-The Giddings
swimming pool opened its doors to
approximately 150 swimmers Tues-
The Lee County Hospital District
Board of Directors approved
$485,000 in refunding bonds over the
objections of the Concerned Tax-
payers last Wednesday night.
The board will use the bond money
to help pay off the $500,000 note
A runoff election will be held
Saturday for the U.S. Senate runoff
election between Kay Bailey
Hutchison and Bob Krueger is
Saturday in Lee County.
Campaigning has been heavy in
recent weeks, which may have
attributed to heavier early voting in
Lee County, said County Clerk Carol
Dismukes. “We have had 27 more
people vote in the runoff than in the
special election in May,” said Mrs.
Dismukes. Early voting was
scheduled to end Tuesday afternoon.
The runoff election will be held
Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Lee County commissioners have
consolidated the polling places with
voters in precincts 101, 102. and 103
to vote at Immanuel Lutheran
Parish Hall.
Voters in precincts 201 and 202 will
Lexington baseball
player named all-district
Lexington High School baseball
player Chris Lewis has been named
to the honorable mention team in
District 27AA.
The team was coached by Kenny
Simpson.
co-signer “I’m going to vote what’s
best for the taxpayers.”
Mr. Pool said he doesn’t see why
the board doesn’t wait until they
receive word from the Justice
Department.”
Mr Halpern said if the board
delays action now, “Our contract
would be null and void. We have
extended this already ”
The board tabled the vote until
Marvin Cole of the Texas Hospital
Association could address the board.
Mr. Cole said that 6 percent
financing for the bonds is a very
good rate. He said interest rates
could rise over the next few years,
and the citizens of Lee County can
pay off the bonds early by
purchasing the bonds on the open
market.
See BONDS, page 7
Still time to register
for GISD Summer Fun
Registration is still open for the
Giddings Summer Fun activities at
the Giddings High School Vocational
Co-Op Building any day during the
week. If the Community Education
Office is closed, registration can be
done at the Giddings ISD Central
Administration Building.
In addition to the classes
announced previously, an adult
tennis class may be offered. For
more information call 542-3661.
“Do everything you can do to save
the rural health care clinics,” said
Mr. Cole.
Mr. Stewart asked about emer-
gency care Mr. Cole said that “all
you can afford is primary care with
rural clinics.”
Mr. Turner asked if the clinics
would be set up to serve as
emergency rooms Mr. Cole said,
“Nobody is doing this this way,”
saying the cost of running
emergency rooms is too costly.
Mr Stewart said, "We have to pull
in our wings and salvage our clinics
if we can. It’s our only course of
action.”
Mr. Cole said, “Someone will die
on you without a hospital. But, how
can you help the most people?”
When asked by the board about
Lee Memorial operating a 3-day
reduced size hospital. Mr. Cole said
that a six-bed, 72-hour hospital pilot
program through the federal
See CLOSE, page 7
PREUSS PRINTING CO., INC.
standards for the reason that twice
as many seniors failed the TAAS
exam.
Class of ’92 seniors had to
correctly answer 60 percent of the
TAAS Questions to pass, while the
Class of ’93 had to pass with at least
70 percent.
Different levels of the TAAS are
given at various grades and state
officials say they are encouraged by
how students in lower grades scored
For instance, in the fall of 1991, 46
percent of the fifth graders passed
all parts of the TAAS exam for their
level That same test is now given to
fourth graders in the spring And
this spring 47 percent of them passed
all parts of it.
In addition, in the fall of 1991, 34
percent of the ninth graders passed
have to get out of the acute care
business. Clinics will take care of
75-80 percent of the medical needs if
you have a good physician or good
physician assistants,” said Mr. Cole
He discussed the situation of the
hospital, saying there is division in
the medical staff and doctors and
staff.
Another problem is "that the
hospital district has not been able to
pay the withholding taxes for
employees in recent months.”
"The real failure is that the
hospital is not supported by the
community,” said Mr Cole.
“There is never a good time to
make a hard decision,” said Mr.
Cole.
Board president Rudy Mayer had
suggested the district look at the
possibility of having a nearby health
care facility take over the hospital,
even if the district has to give it
some financial support
“What is your experience on
having another hospital take over?”
board member Jack Stewart asked
Mr Cole.
“I don’t think this is going to
happen,” said Mr Cole.
Mr Cole said that a hospital needs
support of three to five physicians
“We’re broke, and we need to
provide services We want to keep
the (health care) clinics,” said Mr.
Stewart.
“The economic reality will force
you out of the hospital,” said Mr.
Cole. He said this area is classified
by the Texas Department of Health
as a medically underserved area
day afternoon. The mid-90 degree swimmers out.
temperature received during most -Times & News Photo
of the afternoon helped to bring the
TAAS failures double ‘92 rate;
5 GHS seniors unable to pass
Mr. Burton said the state has cut
state funding per student by $100 per
year. Mr. Burton said this should
amount to about $150,000 for
Giddings ISD this next school year
based on 1,500 students in the
district.
Mr. Burton said with increases in
operation of school districts,
“You’re still looking at 6 to 8 cents in
tax increases to stay even. He
pointed out increases in salaries,
workman’s compensation, insur-
ance increases and program
improvements as increases in the
cing is available and that Lee County
National Bank has agreed to loan the
county up to $500,000 at 7 percent for
one year. Mr. Pool said the
taxpayers should not be saddled with
more long-term obligations And he
said the bank “does not deserve to be
bailed out of its loan obligations.”
The district’s financial advisor,
Milton Halpern, met with the board
and said the bonds have been
pre-cleared and the attorney general
has approved the bonds “The
attorney has approved the bonds and
they are uncontestable,” said Mr.
Halpern. He said it was now up to the
board to act.
Board member Alan Turner said
there is a lot of concern about
allowing the county off the note as
2270942
Q:R:.g.
,5
a
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.
Preuss, L. M., III & True, David G. Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 3, 1993, newspaper, June 3, 1993; Giddings, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1598679/m1/1/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center.