Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 124, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 29, 1990 Page: 1 of 12
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E5E5
Each district scrutinized for needed repairs and services
Atlanta council attempts to set budget priorities
By JOHN COLEMAN
Journal Editor
It's tough to mak«< a list of
priorities when it seems like every-
thing around you is screaming out
to be on it. That's what the Atlanta
City Council and Mayor Lawson
McKelvey are discovering as they
continue on the preliminary path
that will lead to a working budget for
the year beginning Oct. 1.
The council met Tuesday night for
a budget workshop session and the
mayor's instructions when he
proposed the meeting were to have
each councilmen look at their
respective districts and make a list
of what needed to be done.
"The idea is to take what needs to
be done and put the items in some
kind of priority, based on what's in
the worst shape," McKelvey ex-
plained at the session. "We've got a
pretty good list started already."
The council looked at some rather
obvious projects that needed to be
undertaken in each district, such as
street and pothole repairs. They al-
so discussed the need for purchas-
ing new equipment for the various
Caver seat remains empty
By JOHN COLEMAN
Journal Editor
The City of Atlanta wants you.
Mayor Lawson McKelvey said Thursday the city would be interested in
hearing from any citizens who might be thinking about filling the city
council seat vacated by Glenn Caver last month.
"If there is anyone out there who is interested in serving and wants to
be a member of our team and who is serious about getting down to busi-
ness, then I urge them to step forward and let it be known," the mayor
said.
Please see CAVER page 3A
city departments, repairing sewer
lines, adjusting water lines and ad-
ding residents who are not on city
sewer to the system.
"One thing we're waiting on is for
the contractor who did the videotap-
ing of the inside of the sewer lines
to provide us with a copy of the
videotape so we can look at it and
see where we need to go to work,"
McKelvey explained.
"We also feel like if we put a little
of the city's money with the Urgent
Need Grant, we can get the treat-
ment plant in compliance for two
more years before we have to build
a new one."
McKelvey said that the council is
waiting on figures that will show
what percentage of the current
10? BS:
ATLANTA MEMORI
year's $1.3 million budget has been
spent and determine the amount of
surplus the city can anticipate. The
short-term priorities will be set for
th8 remainder of the summer.
"We're trying to plan for five and
10 years down the road," McKelvey
said, "not just for tomorrow."
The budget must be in place by
Sept. 30. t
City pool woes resolved
Penny Markos said earlier this week that the water in the municipal
swimming pool is "as clear as it's been in a long, long time." Mayor Law-
son McKelvey said "it's in very good shape."
Their comments came after the city swimming pool reopened after a
fitful start, a sudden closure due to glass at the bottom, and a prolonged
closing to try and correct a problem causing the water to be chemically
imbalanced and dirty.
McKelvey said the problem primarily stemmed from neglect of the
water filters at the pool. "Those filters use a type of sand and when we
opened up the back of those filters we discovered they hadn't been
Please see POOL page 2A
4 k Y
10 1 W
AL
CASS COUNTY TEXAS • 1 SECTION. 12 PAGES
Grand jury term is active
Drug busts top
indictment list
SUNDAY, JULY 29, 1990
USPS NO. 114-160 VOL. 111, NO. 124
50 CENTS
Call your law
By VALERIE EAVES
Journal Staff Writer
After handing down capital mur-
der and attempted capital murder
indictments against Carla Gautney
Tuesday, the Cass County Grand
Jury also handed down several
other indictments. Gautney is the
Mt. Pleasant woman accused of
murdering her mother and attempt-
ing to murder her father near
Hughes Springs.
The grand juiy indicted seven
people on various drug charges.
Those individuals were arrested
Wednesday by the Cass County
Sheriffs Office. Those arrested in-
clude Andy Williams, 26, of Linden,
indicted lor delivery of marijuana,
$3,000 bond; Susan Hicks, 27, of
Linden, indicted for three counts of
delivery of marijuana, $5,000 bond;
Tina Littlejohn of Linden, indicted on
odd count of delivery of marijuana,
$5,000 bond; Jerry Sheppard, 19, of
Linden, indicted on two counts of
delivery of marijuana, $5,000 bond;
Donna Cook, 22, of Linden, indicted
on three counts of delivery of rock
cocaine, $10,000 bond; Kenneth Lit-
tlejohn, 22, of Linden, indicted on
two counts of delivery of marijuana
and two counts of delivery of
methamphetamines, $10,000 bond;
and Gary Abraham, 33, of Linden,
indicted for delivery of marijuana,
$5,000 bond.
The grand jury also returned in-
dictments against Thomas Savage,
William Bernard Jester and Brian
Keith Clark for aggravated assault
on peace officers stemming from an
incident at the Wooden Indian.
On Wednesday, July 18, Deputy
Sheriff's Jerry Hailey and Gary Am-
burn made a routine check at the
Wooden Indian near Queen City. As
they attempted to arrest Jester for
public intoxication, Savage and
Clark came to Jester's rescue. Ac-
cording to District Attorney Neal Bir-
mingham, it is alleged that Savage
held Amburn while Jester repeated-
ly struck him in the face with his fist.
All three defendants struck both of-
ficers. Both officers were taken to
an Atlanta hospital for treatment.
Also indicted by the grand jury
were John D. Graves and Monty T.
Lewis on unrelated burglarie
charges; Darin L. Hill, Edward
Chism and Joseph Scott Verrett for
forgery; Robert C. Dawson for injury
to a child; Nathan Lewis and Roger
Please see INDICTMENTS page 3A
Journal staff photo by VALERIE EAVES
More than $2,000 was raised this week during the March of Dimes Jail and Bail held in Linden. Pictured here are just a few of the "prisoners"
soliciting donations for the March of Dimes to get out of "jail". From left, Bill Green, Danny Duncan, Linden Mayor Robert Deming, and Linden-
Kildare Cheerleader Jennifer Cox.
Local unemployment picture is
brighter than one statewide
Journal Staff Report
It continues to be a good-news,
bad-news situation with the employ-
ment situation in Texas. But overall,
the picture continues to lean toward
the good news in the Cass County
irea. Statewide, more people had
jobs in June than at any other time
this year, but the unemployment
rate still increased.
"The good news is that over 8 mil-
lion Texans were working in
June...a record for this year," a
Texas Employment Commission
Sap4
Journal staff photo by SONNY LONG
Arachnophobia?
Scared of spiders? Then you've got arachnophobia, which Is also the
name of a current popular motion picture. By the way, this little darlln'
was last spotted In the third base dugout at the Llnden-Klldare
baseball field.
report stated. "The bad news is that
the state's jobless rate is still in-
creasing."
The June unemployment rate in
the state was 6.3 percent, up from
6.2 in May. In Cass County, though,
the June figure was 5.9 percent,
down from May's 6 percent rate.
The TEC is also looking at
another perplexing fact. There was
a record growth in the number of
non-farm salaried jobs, their report
stated. "That number increased to
28,000 during the month," Commis-
sioner Mary Scott Nabers said.
It was noted last month that al-
though the number of people work-
ing is on the increase, the number
of people seeking jobs in the Texas
job market is increasing faster. That
is what the TEC says is causing the
rate to climb.
Cass County's June rate of 5.9
percent is a vast improvement over
the figures released for June ol last
year. In 1989, June unemployment
locally was 10.2 percent.
Neighboring Bowie County
reported a June rate of 6.2 percent,
down slightly from May's 6.4 per-
cent. In the nine county Northeast
Texas area, the June rate was 6.4
percent overall, which is better than
May's 6.6 percent. In June of last
year, the nine counties averaged
8.4 percent unemployment. While
Please see JOBS page 3A
Steel mill says
earnings higher
Journal Staff Report
Lone Star Steel Company (LSS)
reported "an improvement in earn-
ings" for the second quarter of this
year. The East Texas steel opera-
tion is operating as a debtor in pos-
session under Chapter 11.
According to a spokesperson for
Lone Star Technologies, Inc., of
Dallas, LSS reported revenues of
$76 million and net earnings of $4.1
million compared to revenues of
$83.1 million and net losses of
Please see LSS page 2A
IEFS
Social Security rep coming
A representative of the Texarkana Social Security Office will be in
Atlanta on Thursday, Aug. 2, to help local residents with their ques-
tions or problems about Social Security. He will be in the city council
chambers at Atlanta City Hall from 8:45 a.m. to 12 noon. Afternoon
sessions by appointment only. Call 1-800-2345-SSA in Texarkana to
make an appointment. Otherwise, visits are on a first come-first
served basis.
Signup deadline nearing
Tuesday is the last day to signup for the Atlanta Public Library
Summer Reading Program, which starts on Wednesday, Aug. 1. The
program is open to all area youngsters from age four through junior
high school. The session runs through Aug. 17. Contact the library
for more information.
Band boosters raising funds
The Atlanta Band Boosters are in the process of contacting area
citizens and businesses for their sixth annual community calendar
project. The band students sell spaces for business listings,
birthdays, anniversaries, meeting dates, and so on. The calendars
themselves sell for $3 each. Funds raised from the project help pur-
chase band supplies and fund activities of the bands.
AISD trustees to meet
The Atlanta Independent School District Board of Trustees will
hold a special meeting at 12 noon Tuesday, July 31. The board will
open the meeting, adjourn into executive session to discuss person-
nel and consider resignations and appointments. They will then
reconvene into open session to vote on matters discussed in execu-
tive session.
Gramm says repairs set
to begin on area lakes
Journal Staff Report
The U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers will soon begin work at its
lakes to repair damage from the
floods which occurred this spring,
U.S. Senator Phil Gramm an-
nounced.
Of the $40 million that was ap-
proved to make repairs throughout
the Southwest Division of the Corps
of Engineers, which includes Texas,
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and
New Mexico, $12,060,000 will be
spent by the Corps' Fort Worth Dis-
trict office to make repairs at 12 of
its 16 lakes.
"I am pleased that the Corps of
Engineers will soon repair the
devastation that occurred at its
facilities," the senator said in mak-
ing the announcement.
The work will include removing
debris, repairing shorelines that
were eroded, recreational facilities,
such as picnic tables and pavilions,
and structions that were damaged
and replacing warning signs, shel-
ters, docks, buoys and traffic bar-
riers that were washed out by the
lluodwaters.
"The recreational facilites at these
lakes were enjoyed by millions of
Texans each year and are important
economic catalysts for communites
throughout the state," the senator
added.
Please see REPAIRS page 2A
Penalty is stiff
for those lax
in paying tax
By VALERIE EAVES
Journal Staff Writer
Taxpayers be forewarned, if you
haven't paid your county, school,
and/or city taxes yet, you may find
yourself party to an expensive law-
suit. A representative of Perdue,
Brandon and Fielder, delinquent tax
attorneys for most of the taxing en-
tities in Cass County, said they
have been instructed to "get tough
on delinquent taxpayers."
"Because of the financial situation
in East Texas right now, a lot of the
taxing entities are hurting for
money," said Bob Hooper, legal as-
sistant with Perdue, Brandon and
Fielder. "One way to have more
money to operate on is to collect
delinquent taxes. We have been
asked to put on a special push to
collect delinquent taxes."
According to Hooper, taxes be-
come delinquent if they have not
been paid by July 1 of each year.
That means that the 1989 tax
notices that were sent out in Oc-
tober, 1989 became delinquent if
they weren't paid by July 1, 1990.
No one is immune to the lawsuits
to collect delinquent taxes, Hooper
said.
"Anyone who has delinquent
taxes will be subject to the suits," he
stated. "Whether they owe $25 or
$250, we'll go after them."
Taxpayers can save some money
by going ahead and paying their
delinquent taxes before a suit is
filed against them.
"The bad part of all of this is that
court costs are expensive. Court
costs will add $150 to $300 to the
tax, plus penalty and interest al-
ready owed. So a delinquent tax-
payer that owes $100 today might
owe $250 to $400 when the suit is
filed."
Hooper said that if a delinquent
taxpayer can't afford to pay all of
the taxes owed at one time, he
should contact the taxing entity
about setting up partial payments
He said the taxing entities are will-
ing to work with the taxpayers to do
anything they can to help them get
their taxes paid.
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Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 124, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 29, 1990, newspaper, July 29, 1990; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth348064/m1/1/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Atlanta Public Library.