The Cotulla Record (Cotulla, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 27, 1989 Page: 1 of 4
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Cotulla Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Alexander Memorial Library.
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87
THE COTULLA RCORD
Thursday, April 27, 1989
USPS 134-180
Number 17, Volume 1
A Frio-Nueces Publication, Ltd.
CPL Customers
Woman Escapes
Abductor Here
To Get Refund
KRIS ALVARADO
Border Patrol
VAN VAN CLEVE
Called For
Scholarship Fund
Gets New Name
To Be Surveyed
With Farm
Information
Needed On
Post Office Has
Change In COD
Driving Set
Sherif
Local Youth
The
Weather
S.S. Will
Be Here
May Is Older
Texans Month
Local Boys Assist
Friend In Need
Reports For
Three Months
Report
From The
pants in the race. These two boys
really know what it means to go
the extra mile and many people
are proud of their efforts.
250 Jurors
Duty May 1
The La Salle County District
Clerk’s Office reports that 250
prospective jurors have been called
for jury duty Monday, May 1 in
La Salle County District Court.
Criminal and possibly civil cases
will be heard.
Judge Olin B. Strauss will be
of the investment in the South
Farmers/Ranchers
A Defensive Driving Course is
being offered this Saturday, April
29th in Dilley at Papas Restaurant.
The course will be held from 9 a.m.
to 6 p.m. and will cost $25.00 which
includes one meal. Call 457-2322
for more information.
Kris, who placed ninth and Van
were among twenty-two partici- .presiding.
cent of the investment in the South
Texas Project is reflected in CPL's
current rates).
Fuel refunds are normally con-
sidered administratively by the PUC,
but nuclear fuel savings had never
before been refunded by CPL. In
early February the PUC staff de-
cided to consider the request in a
full PUC hearing.
201 s. RMEM
-5 N TER
The Womans Club of Cotulla
voted recently to name their
scholarship fund the Betsye Hop-
kins Scholarship in honor of Mrs.
George Hopkins for her long and
faithful service to Womans Club.
Mrs. Hopkins first joined the
Woman’s Club of San Saba in
1930 at the age of 18 and has
remained a Woman’s Club mem-
ber for 59 years. She trans-
ferred her membership to the
Woman’s Club of Cotulla in 1935
and has remained a member for
54 years.
Betsye served as president of
the local club from 1943 to 1945.
During this period America was
at war and the Woman’s Club did
many things to help the war effort.
They maintained an emergency
casualty station until the end
of the war, sent cookies, filled
Red Cross kits and sponsored
blood drives. In 1944 150 pints of
blood were collected for the San
Antonio blood bank.
The Woman’s Club was also
sponsoring local projects such as
a garbage pickup where the club
paid a man $10.00 per month to
pick up the garbage, probably
Central Power and Light Co.
customers will see a refund on elec-
tric bills they receive in May. Yes-
terday, (April 19) the Public Utility
Commission authorized a fuel refund
of $30.7 million.
The refund amount is based on
CPL's savings from nuclear fuel, fuel
overrecoveries, and $2.3 million
in interest for the period of January
1988 through February 1989.
“While we believe our original
proposal would have saved custo-
mers more money in the long run
by offsetting deferral costs, this
refund methods will allow our custo-
mers to see the full benefit of nuclear
fuel savings from the South Texas
Project,” said Mark Roberson,
CPL’s director of rates and regula-
tory affairs.
Missing Girl
The Laredo Police Department
reports that Lorena Petra Villalon
(Lori) is missing and anyone with
information regarding this person
should contact the Detective
Division at (512) 726-2861 or the
Texas Department of Public Safety
at 1-800-346-3243. The 800 number
is toll free in Texas.
Lori is a 16 year old white female
(date of birth 8-24-72) She is
5’3” tall and weighs 130 pounds.
She has brown eyes, brown hair.
Lori was last seen April 6, 1989
at United High School, Laredo.
She is believed to be in the
company of an 18 year old female
friend, who may be driving a 1989
white Chevy (Cavalier).
Two local boys, Kris Alvarado
and Van Van Cleve, took on a noble
challenge on April 15th. Local
radio station KDCY sponsored a
race with the proceeds going
towards the J.D. Diaz Fund.
Since February, J.D. has been
battling leukemia.
Both Kris, 9 and Van, 10, had
personal reasons for wanting to
participate in the race. Kris and
J.D. were in the same homeroom
class this school year and had
become good friends. Before
moving to Del Rio, J.D, lived
next door to Van and they would
often ride bikes together. Both Van
and Kris who wanted to do some-
thing special to help their friend,
J.D., admirably ran in the race
which began in Gardendale and
ended at Winn’s parking lot.
Sheriff Avant, while stopping in
Cotulla for gasoline, the woman
was able to escape from her
assailant and seek help. The
accused assailant quickly drove
off going west on FM 468. Area
law enforcement officers were
notified and the woman’s vehi-
cle was found abandoned in the
Big Wells area about an hour
later.
Sheriff Avant reported that
around noon the suspect was
apprehended in the Crystal City
area. Warrants were issued for
James Richard Fred Jones, a white
male, age 35, with a last known
address of Wheaton, Illinois.
Jones was charged with several
offenses, including kidnapping.
Since the offense originated in
San Antonio, Sheriff Avant will
be working with the San Antonio
Police Department on the case.
There are indications that Jones
is also a fugitive from the state of
Oklahoma on pending charges
there according to the sheriff.
Jones also reportedly was parol-
led from the Oklahoma Prison
System in July of 1988. He is cur-
rently being held in the La Salle
County Jail, in lieu of $15,000
bond on local charges in addition
to the charges from Oklahoma.
/89
BRARY
Figures released today show that
the Cotulla Border Patrol office
apprehended a total of 1558 undocu-
mented aliens during the months of
January, February and March
1989.
A breakdown of those appre-
hended shows that:
1460 were citizens of Mexico.
37 were citizens of Honduras
35 were citizens of Guatemala
24 were citizens of San Salvador
I was a citizen of Columbia
I was a citizen of Nicaragua
On May 2
A representative from the
Social Security office will be in
Cotulla on Tuesday, May 2nd
from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and
1 to 2 p.m. at the County Court-
house. For more information
call 723-2982 in Laredo.
Charged in
Tire Slashing
La Salle County Sheriff Darwin
Avant, reports that a follow-up
investigation of the reported
“tire-slashings” that occurred
in several locations around Cotulla
last week has resulted in the iden-
tification of two local juvenile
males who were responsible for
the incidents.
The juveniles and their parents
were talked to by Sheriff Avant
and a report has been filed with
the Juvenile Probation Officer for
La Salle/Frio Counties. It is anti-
cipated that a hearing for the
juveniles will be scheduled and
that full restitution will be made to
the damaged parties.
It costs CPL about 50 cents to
produce a million BTU's of heat
using nuclear fuel. That compares
to an average of more than $2 to
produce the same amount of energy
using coal or gas. Over the life of
the plant, STP is expected to save
customers more than $5 billion in
fuel costs.
"We are pleased to be able to
refund these savings to our custo-
mers. Since 1984 CPL has refunded
more than $200 million in fuel sav-
ings and interest,” Roberson
noted. "The savings are the result
of our continuing efforts to secure
stale sources of fuel at the lowest
reasonable price for our customers.”
lexans over the age of 60 and the
local senior activity centers which
serve as the focus for many of
their major life activities will be
officially recognized in May by the
State of Texas.
Separate proclamations signed
April 18 by Governor William P.
Clements, Jr. declared May as Older
Texans Month and the week of May
14-20 as Texas Senior Centers Week.
May has also been designated as
Older Americans Month by Presi-
dent George Bush.
Clements, in his Older Texans
Month proclamation, said, “The
most tangible links between our
past and present are the 2.3
million of us over the age of 60.
“The elders who nurtured us in
our childhood, counseled us in our
young adulthood and remained our
valued friends in maturity are
deserving of our sincerest expres-
sion of gratitude.”
In his tribute to senior centers,
Gov. Clements lauded them for
Cotulla — "Once the 'sale' is
made, boiler-room operators and
high-pressure salesmen hawking
their wares need a foolproof way
to get paid before victims find
out they've been had,” says
Postmaster Tom Ervin.'
“Until recently,” Ervin con-
tinues, "many scam promoters
found the collect-on-delivery
(COD) service offered by the Postal
Service an effective tool. It was
almost fool proof. ’ ’
“The customer was bilked and
his wallet was milked. But times
change and so does the Postal
Service.”
Postal Inspectors say that con
artists nationwide are now less
able to use Postal Service COD
services to defraud mail-order
customers.
“Recent changes in mail regu-
lations allow COD recipients to
pay by check, made payable to the
mailer,” says Ervin and that has
slowed many long-standing
ripoffs.”
Regulations previously required
customers to pay first in cash or
by check made out to the Postal
Service before customers could
inspect the contents of the
package.
A resident of the 800 blk. of
Crockett St. reported to the La
Salle County Sheriff's Office that
a large concrete block was thrown
through the windshield of his
Chevrolet pickup truck. Sheriff
Darwin Avant reports that the
incident was reported on April 22.
On April 23, deputy Ira Lans-
ford located an automobile that
had been stolen earlier in San
Antonio. The vehicle had apparen-
tly been abandoned on IH 35,
just north of Artesia Wells. State
trooper John Landrum assisted.
No injuries were reported in
a two vehicle collision which
occured on South Main and Rio
Grande recently. According to
the report, a 1977 Ford pickup
truck struck a parked 1980 Ford
Lariat pickup.
Deputy Fernando Gonzalez
investigated.
April 17 92 64
April 18 93 67
April 19 77 70
April 20 89 62
April 21 94 65
April 22 94 65
April 23 95 66
April 24 65
Rainfall - April 19 .29; April 14
.01; April 13 .07; April 12 .06.
April total .43 inch; March total
.77 inch; February total .47 inch;
January total 1.81 inches; 1989
total 3.48 inches.
offering “an open door” to all
seniors who need services such as
meals, transportation, physical
fitness programs, volunteer oppor-
tunities and creative activities.
The governor urged all older
Texans to visit senior centers in
their communities and take part in
the activities there.
The Texas Department on Aging
maintains a network of more than
500 senior centers in all areas of
the state. Seniors or others who want
to find out more about these senior
centers may call the Department on
Aging at 1-800-252-9240.
"Restitution in these instances
was rare,” says Ervin.
Under the revised rules, postal
customers are simply stopping
payment on checks they have
written for CODs. Credit card
companies are beginning to fol-
low the trend, and most major
companies now allow customers to
remove transactions from their
credit card bills if they are dis-
satisfied.
At approximately 10:15 a.m.
on Friday, April 21, La Salle
County Sheriff Darwin Avant was
called to the Cotulla Exxon at
IH-35 and FM 468 where a 35-year-
old San Antonio woman reported
that she had been abducted in
San Antonio, earlier that day,
sexually assaulted and forced to
accompany her assailant allegedly
in route to Laredo. According to
Overrecoveries occur when CPL
is able to purchase fuel at prices
below its set fuel factor. Falling
gas and coal prices, renegotiated
fuel contracts and competitive fuel
purchasing all contribute to over-
recoveries. CPL, like each of the nine
investor-owned utilities in Texas,
uses PUC-approved fuel factors.
The fuel factor is listed separately
on customers' bills, while another
portion of the bill reflects base
rate -■ CPL's cost of providing ser-
vice to its customers. (CPL filed
a requst to raise it base rates in
February).
CPL had filed for permission to
refund $21.5 million in fuel savings
in late November 1988. In addition
to overrecoveries and interest,
the company had proposed to include
27.5 percent of the nuclear fuel
savings from operation of the South
Texas Project with the remainder of
the nuclear fuel savings being used
to offset STP's deferral costs.
(Approximately 27.5 percent
AUSTIN.....Beginning June 1.
representatives from the Texas
Agricultural Statistics Service will
be contacting farmers and ranchers
across the state to help set the 1989
planted acreage estimates and mid
year livestock inventories.
"Information from these surveys
will provide Texas producers with
solid facts and figures they can use
when making their production and
Take Time
only once or twice per month.
They also were supporting the
library and held a rummage sale
each year to raise funds for it and
they also donated funds to help
with the Latin American
recreation hall.
Mrs. Hopkins has held many
other local offices as well as dis-
trict offices and has served faith-
fully in each one. She has seen
many changes both in the Club
and in Cotulla in the past 45 years.
She and her husband helped in
these changes through their
generous contributions in time and
money. For many years they
owned and ran the Ben Franklin
variety store. Betsye still attends
club meetings and contributes as
much as she can. We appreciate
all she has done.
Other members who were
honored for their long service
to the club by gifts were Mrs.
Paul (Elizabeth) Cotulla, Mrs.
Albert (Elizabeth) Johnson, Mrs.
Albert (Marybelle) Nutt and Mrs.
Glenn (Bonnie) Taibutt. The
Woman’s Club has been most for-
tunate to have these women in the
club.
marketing plans for 1989," state
statistician Dennis Findley ex-
plained.
“The continued dry weather
this spring and the changes in the
national farm program may have
altered producers' plans for 1989,
and this survey will be the first
accurate measure of midyear live-
stock inventories and acreage
estimates,” Findley added.
Individual reports will be com-
bined with other reports to set state
estimates. Results of the confiden-
tial interviews, conducted by tele-
phone or in person by field
enumerators, will be published later
this summer. The 1989 acreage fore-
cast will be published July 12, and
the midyear cattle inventory will
be published July 28.
"Remember, these are sample
surveys, so if you are contacted it
is important to provide the requested
information, since your one report
represents similar operations of the
same size and type. Our estimates
can be no better than the numbers
producers provide,” Findley added
Defensive
COTULLA, r
---- A /8014
Equipment
April brings out more than green
grass and colorful flowers on our
nation's farms. For farmers, the
warmer temperatures and longer
days mean the equipment comes
out and there is only so much time
to get the crops into the ground —
the so-called "planting window”.
"At this time of year there is
always tiie increased risk of acci-
dents on the farm, partly due to
people in a hurry,” explains Dave
Schmerse, manager of safety
training at Deere & Company.
"When it’s time to plant and the
weather starts to cooperate, some
people get the feeling there is only
so much time before the next storm
or extended wet period, and they
start taking shortcuts."
Taking shortcuts - not taking
the time to work safely - increases
the risk of accidents. Schmerse
offers some simple thoughts to keep
in mind as farming gets into full
swing:
• Read the operator's manual,
especially the safety section. Follow
the precautions in the manual and
the safety decals on the machine.
• Before the weather becomes
favorable for field work, prepare
your equipment. Make sure all
safety shields and guards are in
place.
* Make sure all equipment
operators are trained in all
machinery operations and safety
features.
• Use appropriate protective
equipment, especially when hand!
ing chemicals.
• Use "slow moving" vehicle
emblems and proper warning lights
when transporting equipment.
* If you have to work alone, let
someone know where you are at
all times. Have someone check on
you periodically.
SEE FARM PAGE 3
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Fair, Wilton H., Jr. The Cotulla Record (Cotulla, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 27, 1989, newspaper, April 27, 1989; Cotulla, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1676902/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Alexander Memorial Library.