The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 166, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 30, 1979 Page: 1 of 14
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O’Leary Cites Increased Calls As Top Factor Ln Manpower Requests
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Alvin, Texa» 77511
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Election Is Saturday
Mrs. B.D. Coker
i
Average Turnout is
Wins Shopping
NHNG-
Spree From Sun
Expected For Alvin
e
Officials Still
-3805
Searching For
Variety Of Features Planned This Week
Drowning Victim
304 while the
|
Sun Spots
Bayou Bridge
Bids Received
Desired Depth Is Achieved At
nt radio part
Geothermal Well; Test Begins
ckel, former
sts
sources of .energy.
' -efe)E.
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000
AND
PUT
YOUR
AVINGS
dITH US!
John Gavin.
en personal
Due to the fact that the vehicle driven
by Roach matched the general
1 the world's
hwin, Bach.
Berger pre-
inating from
NBA finals
Hets (From
according to the program manager.
The heat and pressure of the water can
be used to turn an electric generator to
produce electricity. In addition, the
water has quite a bit of natural gas in it
that can be removed for use, he said.
If logging results prove that the proper
depth has been reached, and the energy
requests, with bigger increases going to
persons with more responsibility. The
difference is needed to give lower-level
employees a financial incentive to work
for promotions, the police chief said.
O'Leary is also asking for about $5,000
to train some of his employees as a
s interviews
all and Rich-
O'Leary said. Again, the change would
give other sergeants-more time for field "
work.
1
46
iged by her
anley played
on (R)
ylor, Richard
list who lives
I
ON THE RANGE-Members of the Alvin Police Department spend a lot of time on
the firing range as a part of regular training in die use of firearms. The time
members spend there comes on their off-duty hours. The Alvin department’s
training procedures in this regard is advanced compared to many other law en-
forcement departments but officials say there are some very sound reasons that so
much emphasis is placed on an officer being able to use a firearm efficiently.
Those reasons will be the subject of a feature story later this week in The Alvin
Sun.
opened the door and grabbed her, but
she said she was able to escape.
The second alleged incident occurred
about a week later at 7:10 a.m. when a
girl standing near a Mark Twain school
bus stop said a man got out of a parked
car and made advances towards her.
tactical unit and to buy special equip-
ment. The unit would be trained to
reduce the chances someone might be
injured should a gunman barricade
himself inside a building or take a
hostage, he said.
information on dictating equipment.
This would reduce the amount of time
detectives spend typing and give them
more time to investigate.
3. A narcotics officer. Narcotics work
is now parceled out to the rest of the
department, O’Leary said, but having
By Precinct 3
A $270,000 difference in the high and
low base bids received to construct a
bridge across Chocolate Bayou" in
Brazoria County Pct. 3 is reflected in the
proposals opened by commissioners
court this week
Apparent low bidder on the project is
Some of those extra calls can be
handled on the telephone, he said, but
officers are sent to investigate 25 per-
cent more often than a year ago.
To handle the increased work load.
N
-DIC
-been identified during drilling, Hgrine
said.
The resource that is expected to be
utilized is water at 250-550 degrees
Fahrenheit at a very high pressure,
14,000 to 10,000 pounds per square inch.
Alvin police had prepared a composite
drawing of the suspect and had in-
creased the amount of patrolling in the
area of elementary schools in the Alvin
district.
---I
pected, Horine said.
First the pressite will have to be
contained.
The University of Texas is then ex-
pected to begin an exclusive six-month
study of gas satrated brine which is
expected to come from the well? he
added. . _
- A short course to be offered at the
Alvin Community College in mid-June
will present what is known about
geothermal resources as well as other
I
Fot.
City Secretary Wynette Stoner said
she expects an “average” turnout of
about 1,000 persons to vote in Saturday’s -
special election to add two new members
to City Council.
She based her estimate on the number
of persons who voted absentee, which
she said is usually a fairly good in-
dication. Thirty-two persons had voted
absentee by the time polls closed at 5
p.m. Tuesday.
The special election was called after
voters April 7 approved an amendment
to the city charter that called for in-
creasing the size of the council from five
to seven.
Candidates for Position 6 are Larry
Townsend, a barber; J.W. Landry,
retired operator of a mobile home
business; and James Tennyson, a
journeyman electrician.
Position 7 candidates are James
Junior Sparks, owner of a real estate
business; Mike Johnstone, retired
increase.
O’Leary’s requested $871,724 budget,
along with requests from other city
department heads, is now being
reviewed by consulting city manager
In addition to an increased work load,
O’Leary said, he wants to add some new
employees and shuffle some job duties to
make the whole department operate
more1 efficiently.
A Brazoria County Sheriffs rescue
unit was searching early today for the
body of a 39-year-old Alvin man, Frank
Wayne Ohlund, who apparently drowned
Monday in Galveston Bay.
Ohlund and three other persons were
shrimping near Alligator Point about
7:30 a.m. when a five-foot swell capsized
their boat, Capt. Gene Smith of the
sheriffs department said.
A nearby shrimping boat rescued
Edward McLenna Sr. of Alta Loma, his
son and another boy from the water,
McLenna told the sheriff’s department.
The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an
immediate search for Ohlund, Smith
said. He said the incident was first
reported to the sheriffs department
about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
McLenna took deputies to the scene "
Tuesday afternoon so they would know
where to begin searching early today,
Smith said.
Viewpoints Page Starts To
The Alvin Sun will be
publishing some feature stories
on local events during the
remainder of this week which we
think you will find interesting.
First off, today is Alvin
Community Hospital’s annual
Health Day. There were a lot of
events and activities planned at
the hospital in observance of the
occasion and The Alvin Sun was
there to get a report on just what
services are available at the
........................==
A well which could produce both
geothermal energy for electricity and a
by-product of natural gas has reached
the desired depth at the Chocolate Bayou
geothermal well site and testing has now
begun, according to officials of the
project.
A project which began almost a year
- ago, in July of 1978, ended in January —
with an abandoned well at 15,675 feet
because of mechanical problems, ac- **
cording to officials of General Crude Oil
Houston, $463,300 base bid, 120 working
days. -
- Brown and Root of Houston, $679,000
base bid, 180 working days..
The bids were referred for tabulation
Austin Bridge of Houston, who offered to
build the bridge in 100 working days for a -
price of $398,061. with additional bids
submitted by the firm for alternates to
the base *
Three other bids were also opened
Jack Russell. A proposed budget will be
presented to City Council sometime next
month.
The police department now receives
about 38 percent more calls than it did
one year ago, O’Leary said. Community
growth accounts for part of the increase,
he said, but it's also caused because
people now have more faith something
will be done to correct their problems if
they report them.
as selected syndicated material
on national issues will be every
Wednesday and Sunday...
“It is important for a daily
newspaper to have a consistently-
published editorial page on which
we call attention to the many
local, state and national events
which are of concern to our
readers,” Looney says.
“We are going to make every
community hospital.
In addition, Alvin Sun reporter
Lori Raesner will be presenting
another in a series of reports on
the preparation of the next fiscal
budget for the city of Alvin.
She is interviewing department
heads to find out excactly what
they think they need to operate
their departments efficiently and
to give citizens here an insight
into the budget preparation
process. ,
By GEORGE SCOTT
Alvin police say they have the man
who is accused of attempting to abduct
Gas Explosion
Pipe Testing
Hearing Slated
A hearing has been set for 9 a.m.
Monday, June 11, on a motion to modify .
an order in connection with the testing
of the pipe involved in the gas pipeline
explosion in a Brookside Village trailer
p?k last October. — —
The explosion resulted in the death of
six persons and injury of more than 40,
and as such has been the basis for 19
separate lawsuits against United Texas
Transmission Company, with damages
in excess of $32 million sought.
The motion filed this week by
Houston attorney Glenn Vickery, who
represents the plaintiffs in the first of
the suits filed as well as several others,
seeks to order the Texas Railroad
Commission to release pipe materials
for private testing.
Co.
The company immediately began
drilling a new well 500 feet southwest of
the first well, reaching 16,500 feet
Tuesday. -
Logging is now in process, electrical
surveys are being taken to identify sands
and determine if additional drilling will
be necessary, according to Charlie
Jones, project manager.
.... "cia"
O’Leary is asking for five more em-
ployees:
a 1. A fifth dispatcher, to allow two
dispatchers to be on duty during peak
hours and to free the chief dispatcher,
Ruth LaBarbera, to run the records
department. This change would allow
the detective sergeant (who now runs
the records department) to spend more
time investigating crimes.
Alvin Sun news editor George
Scott will be presenting some
• stories based on his interviews
with Alvin school board officials
getting their analysis of the main
issues facing the Alvin school
district.
And don't forget that this
Sunday will be the publication
date of another Viewpoints page
with considerable local em-
' phasis.
The Alvin Sun begins a regular
new feature on page four of
today’s paper - a regularly
published viewpoints page with
special emphasis on local
features, editorials and columns,
according to editor and publisher
Richard Looney.
The publication dates of the
full-page dedicated to these
locally produced articles as well
•. .
*e mrt
Bill Horine, program manager of the
Geopressure, Geothermal Energy
Center at Alvin Community College, said
the‘company is “tight at the point of
hitting the gusher."
. The most important part of the project
to date is that General Crude has
overcome the barriers encountered in
the first well, and has reached the
proposed depth. - • :
“As of now, they’re in the process of
looking at this depth to see what kind of
stratum they're in,” Horine said.
"Once they find out, they might be
ready to extract the resource," he said.
Some geopressured formations have
and charged with indecency with a child ■
- an offense which is_a third degree
felony.
Those charges were filed against
James Lester Roach of Alvin after he
was picked up on a traffic violation by
Alvin officer Clem Garza in the early
morning hours on May 25.
court of Justice of the Peace G.E. Webb.
Webb placed Roach under $5,000 bond
on that charge.
The first incident involving the alleged
attempted abduction of a student oc-
cured April 25 and involved an Alvin
student who was walking home from an
after-school function at about 5:15 p.m.
Police reported at the time that the
girl stated a man pulled up along side
her in a car and asked her if she wanted
a ride.
After refusing, she said the man
"a
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2 sun
North Brazoria County's Only Daily Newspaper
source is found, two things can be-ax- . duriiu; the court meeting, with bidders-----
....... and their base proposal including:
. —Bellwood Construction Co. Inc. of
By LORI RAESNER
Alvin Chief of Police Dennis O’Leary
is asking for 32 percent more money for
his department next year, most of which
is needed to help handle a sharp in-
crease in the number of calls from the
public, he said.
Alvin Police Charge Suspect
Alvin doesn’t have a tactical unit now
and, so far, hasn’t needed one, the police
chief said.
“But once you need it, if you don't
have it, it's too late,” he said.
In other budget areas, O'Leary ex-
pects inflation and rising gasoline and oil
prices to more than double the depart-
ment's supply costs. At a “con-
servative" estimate of $1 per gallon,
O'Leary is expecting gasoline costs to
run about $36,000 - an increase of about
$20,000 over the current year’s budget.
4
r •
i what is it
you are
Under the area of capital • im-
provements, he's asking for about
$42,000 to replace six of the department’s
16 patrol cars. O’Leary said it would be
cheaper to replace the cars than to pay
continually higher repair costs.
O’Leary also wants to install an
automatic garage door at the police
station to increase security when
bringing in prisoners. Now there is no
door on the garage, giving prisoners a
chance to try to escape when the officer
takes them from the patrol car. With a
door, prisoners would always be within,
an enclosed area, O’Leary said.
Other capital improvements include
the addition of locker space and con-
struction of walls to make two new of-
fices and an interrogation room.
; me on or
own. The
lie. The at-
ig. The an-
rom a B-
•ied again.
you ever'
d by mak-
•n?
i not con-
n making
and recommendation to a committee
composed of the county road ad-
ministrator. county auditor,’ Pct 3
Commr. Billy Joe Plaster, and a
representative of th consulting
engineering firm working on the project
- "That has to be part of it, because the
Inflation - especially in gasoline for population hasn't increased that much,”
patrol cars - also- contributes to the he said.
$c63
Mrs. B.D. Coker of 2401 S. Johnson St.
in Alvin is the first winner in The Alvin
Sun’s Shopping Spree contest.
She will get a $50 shopping spree at
Kroger’s in Alvin - the place where she
registered her special coupon in a
specially marked box.
The coupons are available to con-
sumers by following the pages of The
Alvin Sun. It is in there that, par-
ticipating merchants include these
special coupons in their advertisements.
A consumer may enter as often as one
chooses and in as many places as one
chooses according to Alvin Sun editor
and publisher Richard Looney.
Looney points out that there will be a
winner each week and all of the coupons
which were entered in the first week of
competition are no longer eligible for the
second week's shopping spree.
“The response to this Shopping Spree
promotion by the merchants and The
Alvin Sun has been tremendous and it
indicates to us that it is going to become
a popular attraction to consumers in
Alvin,” Looneg added.
one person concentrate on narcotics
would be more effective.
4. A warrants officer, to give
patrolmen more tune for other duties.
5. A sixth sergeant, to handle ad-
ministrative duties “that now I’ve got
spread all over the department,”
description given by the girls, Garza
two 14-year-old girls on two separate . called juvenile investigator Karl Boland
occasions back in late April in custody into the case.
Officer Boland, who helped investigate
the original cases involving attempted
abduction of the 14-year olds, conducted
the follow-up investigation after Roach
was in custody.
Charges were actually filed against
and arraignment held on the indecency
with a child charge on May 27 in the
- — w . a .—- -
--*“gzasa
effort to encourage citizens here
to become actively involved in
the page by taking full advantage
of our standing invitation to write
letters-to-the-editor," he added.
Looney expressed confidence
that the people of Alvin will soon
look to the editorial page as an
important service of this
newspaper and that it will
become a positive influence in
Alvin.
•94
. 5
2. A clerk transcriber, to type the O'Leary has alsq included pay hikes
detectives’ reports after they record the for most of the department in his budget
educator; and" Loyce Crouch,
newswoman for the Alvin Advertiser.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday at the fire station.
Car Wash
A car wash to raise funds for the fight
against muscular dystrophy will be held
from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. June 2 at the
parking lot of the First National Bank of
Alvin.
GED Test Center
The G.E.D. Test Center will have new
operating hours beginning June 4. The
Test Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 8
p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 10
a.m. to 12 noon on Friday. Anyone in-
terested in the G.E.D. test should con- -
tact the Counseling Center, 331-6111,
extension 235.
Weather
Alvin, Angleton - Partly cloudy,
— wanned humid tonight and Thursday
with a slight chance of showers or
thunderstorms. Highs near 90. Low
tonight mid 70s. Southerly winds 10 to 15
mph. Probability of rain 20 percent
tonight and Thursday.
- \ Bible Verse
"Then,I heard a voice in heaven
proclaiming aloud: This is the hour of
* victory for our God, the hour of his
sovreignty and power, when his Christ
comes to his rightful rule!”’
Revelation 12:10 N.E.B.
•m
PD Chief Says Budget Hike Needed To Keep Pace
T +
15c Per Copy
. For Teen Abduction Try
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with obvi-
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Vol. 89, No. 166 Wednesday, May 30, 1979 1 Section, 14 Pages
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Looney, Richard. The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 166, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 30, 1979, newspaper, May 30, 1979; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1612208/m1/1/: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Alvin Community College.