The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 1998 Page: 1 of 14
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20 days & counting
Teachers and administrators are preparing
for the start of the 1998-99 schdol year,
with registration to begin next week and
classes on Tuesday, August 18.
See story, pg. 2A
The
*
A musical extravaganza
Less than half the tickets are left for the
special presentation of "Pump Boys &
Dinettes" with Kara Stapp Dudash and
Melissa Oden at the Aztec August 8.
See story, pg. 3A
SGUTHWE ST MlCfvO
... fc. ?. l i hndell df
'EL FfHSCl U
Albany News
"Oldest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos"
l: ••
Thursday, July 30, 1998, Albany, Texas 76430
12 Pages in 1 Section
Volume Number 123 - Number 9 Price 50#
Special meeting set after recent deaths
Albany residents mourned the loss of yet
another young man last week with the death of
a college student attending orientation at Texas
Tech University in Lubbock.
Sam Tidwell, 19, died at University Medical
Center in Lubbock July 22 despite numerous
attempts to revive him by emergency room per-
sonnel. Services for Tidwell, a 1997 Albany
graduate, were held,on Friday, July 24 at Mat-
thews Memorial Presbyterian Church.
Tidwell became the fourth young Albany man
to die during the last three months. He died just
10 days after Kevin Ruff, 21, was killed in an
auto accident in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The string of deaths'has prompted school
officials to schedule a special meeting for Thurs-
day, August 6 at 6:00 p.m. at the high school
auditorium. School counselor Tommy Terrell
will conduct the session discussing the grieving
process and coping skills.
Terrell stated that additional small group or
individual sessions will be available for stu-
dents or parents.
Tidwell arrived, iru
Lubbock Tuesday night,
prior to orientation ses-
sions on Wednesday
morning. He stayed at
the apartment of some
Albany friends, includ-
ing Amy Ruff who had
just lost her brother,
Kevin, the week before.
Ruff was unable to
awaken Tidwell the fol-
lowing morning and
called 911. He was pro-
nounced dead shortly
SAM TIDWELL
KEVIN RUFF
after noon at the hospital after a series of car-
diac arrests while in the emergency roonp-
Autopsy results were inconclusive. However,
preliminary results did rule out a brain aneur-
ism, which was first considered as the cause of
death. The toxicology report was also clear,
ruling out the use of
drugs or alcohol.
"It was going to he
one of the best days of
his life," said his father
Don Tidwell of Albany.
"He was so excited
about transferring to
Tech."
He had attended
South Plains College in
Levelland last year
Ruff was employed by
Pep Boys in Shreveport,
Louisiana. He had also
worked for the company
Brady Moberley and Ethan Edington try to stay coof during recent scorching temperatures
with ice cold snow cones: Shackelford County and the surrounding area has been under
seige all summer, and the mercury has been in triple digits almost every day during July.
in Irving while attending DeVry Institute of
Technology. He graduated from Albany in 1995
Sam's mother, Margie Tidwell, stated that,
she has been overwhelmed by the kindness
people have shown, a sentiment that Kevin's
parents, Bill and Bea Ruff echoed.
■ DANGEROUS SITUATION
"There is just no place like Albany. We al-
ready knew that, but everyone has really shown
how caring this town is I can't imagine living
somewhere else and having to go through this,"
said Margie Tidwell.
The string of deaths began as the summer did
on May 29 with the accidental death of Henry
Todd, 20. The 1996 Albany graduate was crushed
while helping two friends work on a farm trac-
tor south of Woodson. He was a 1996 graduate
of Albany High School.
Alan Oden, 17, died on July 5 from a gunshot
wound. He would ha ye been a junior at AHS this
fall. , '
"We have a lot of kids, as well as parents,
trying to make sense.and deal with all this,"
said Tommy Terrell. "That is why we are having
the special meeting to discuss grieving and the
stages people go through."
Terrell said that it is important that friends
(See Meeting, pg. 12)
Fire danger listed as 'extreme'
Intensely hot temperatures
are combining with seriovls
drought conditions to result in a
potentially explosive situation
in Shackelford. County and all
the Big Country, as rainfall con-
tinues to bypass most of Texas.
Firefighters are poiwd fpr
action, although sofa r most area
range fires have been relatively
small,. Ironically, the low level
of the wild fires so far is prima-
rily due to the lack of summer
thunderstorms, which cause
lightning and high winds.
A large percentage of fires
are started by lightningand then
■ pushed along by the winds that
accompany storms, and obvi-
ously the danger i ncreases when
there is little or no rain involved
in such storms. Area fires have *
been contained quickly* but nev-
ertheless, there have been a
large number of minor fires scat-
tered around the Big Country.
The Texas Forest Service
firefighting unit headquartered
at Hamby helped with 31 area
fires in a one-week period ear-
lier this month.
July and August are typically
the most hazardous times of the
year in respect to range fires,
Rally to start Monday afternoon
Organizers hope to draw 200
or more local young people to a
city-wide rally that will start
next Monday afternoon, August
3 with competition, games, food
and music and end on Friday,
August 7 with a concert by popu-
lar Christian performer Jeff
Berry.
The rally will take place Au-
gust 3-5 in an area between the
local football field and the down-
town Bank Park, starting with
a "three-on-three" basketball
tournament in the parking lot
of the First Baptist Church at
4:00 p.m. each afternoon. Other
activities will be held on' the
vacant lot owned by Morehart
Mortuary, as well as the nearby
Bank Park.
Local churches are providing
a meal for the participants each
day at the football field, and
then, around 7:00 p.m., the rally
itself will begin at the same lo-
cation.
Matt Chandler, an Abilene
college student who works with
the "Grace" ministry, will be the
primary speaker during the
three evening rallies. Colleague
Billy Bob White is coming to
lead the praise music and
Albany's own TGa will present
dramas each night.
IMPACT, a group of con-
cerned parents and youth, is
coordinating the rally, but orga-
nizers feel that the event is ac-
tually being sponsored by the
entire community.
"We knew this was going to
be a special event from the time
we booked Matt Chandler last
fall," remarked Lorna Ayers.
"But it just keeps growing, and
we're very encouraged by the
response and involvement of the
youth. They've been a part of
this from the very beginning."
Ayers added that God has
been a major player in the plan-
ning as well. "The purpose of
this rally has changed drasti-
cally Since we started thinking
about it," she said. "Because of
recent events, we believe that
the timing is definitely some-
thing that God had a hand in.
This is a time for healing, and
He'll make sure that Matt's
words are personalized for this
community and what it's gone
through this summer."
Although the rally was origi-
nally intended to target Albany's
youth, the organizers decided to
open the event up to the entire
community. "We feel that, ev-
eryone in every age group can
benefit from hearing Matt Chan-
dler and we encourage everyone
to come."
Friday Night Concert
The week of events will con-
clude with a public concert by
Christian recording artist Jeff
Berry of Abilene, set to begin at
7:00 p.m. on Friday, August 7 in
the Albany High School audito-
rium.
Berry, who currently has two
CDs out, is rapidly becoming
known on a national level in the
realm ofChristian music, and is
popular with all ges.
The free concert is open to
everyone, not justyouth. "1 don't
know of anyone who has heard
Jeffs music that didn't enjoy it,"
commented Ayers. "He managed
to involve, entertain and minis-
ter to all ages."
Berry's backup band will also'
be in Albany for the concert,
during which a love offering will
be taken.
Help Wanted
Ayers emphasized that a lot
ofhelp will be needed from local
adults in order to make the week
full of events successful.
"We are more interested in
getting people involved than
getting donations, but we actu-
ally need both," she continued.
"We haven't made a big deal out
of raising-money, but there are
quite a few expenses involved.
"We would rather have all
parents, grandparents and
single adults volunteering to
help if they possibly can, but if
you want to be a part, of this
event and you j ust can't come in
person, you might consider help-
ing with the finances. We're go-.
ing to appreciate you either
way."
Ayers stated that some adults
would not be able to help until
their work day was completed,
and"that's fine. If you can only
come after 6:00 p.m., we will
still have a place for you."
For more information about
the rally, call Ayers at 762-
1 2639, Mary Warren at 762-
3802, Brett Rose at 762-2914
or Curt Allison at 762-2748.
and 1998 is no exception Ac-
cording to County Commis-
sioner James Waddington, who
served as County Emergency
Coordinator for several years,
the, Texas Forest Service has
given all of this area the.desig-
nation of "extreme fire danger,"
the highest level.
Only 1.26 inches of precipita-
tion was recorded during July,
and the relentless heat of the
past two months has only com-
pounded the problem, drying up
vegetation in county pasture-
land and resulting in plenty of
tinder for any fires that get
started.
The intense temperatures
during the summer of'98 began
early, with the first 100 degree
mark hit on May 19. The mer-
cury rose to 107 by the end of the
month, and has reached 105
degrees or more five times since
then.
As of Tuesday, tempera t ures.
were recorded in t riple digits for
23 Straight days, with the ex-
ception of a 99 degree reading
on July 17 and 98 on July 9.
"Just about anything can
start a fire at this point," said
Waddington, "a piece of glass in
the bar ditch, a muffler that's
hanging a little too low, a ciga-
rette. You need to consider ev-
erythih/*«H A potential fire haz-
ard."
The county commissioner
commended local residents for
their diligence in preventing
fires. "Folks in our county are
really paying attention and do-
ing iin excellent job of prevent-
ing range fires," he remarked. "I-
don't see people burning trash
outside or t hrowing down ciga-
rettes. They're aware of what
can happen, especially after the
Big .Country Fire in 1988."
Because of the dry conditions,
the county commissioners im-
posed a burn ban two months
ago and they are continuing to
prohibit open outdoor fires.
Area residents are also en-
couraged to take caution while
barbecuing, welding, driving
through dry grass, or engaging
in other activities that might
cause sparks.
Potential for Heat Stress
In addition to causing ex-
t rente lire danger, t his summer's
above average temperatures
(See I lie (Linger, pg. 12)
Plant operating at maximum
Residents asked to restrict lawn watering
Albany residents are be-
ing asked.to conserve water
usage and r limit watering
lawns during the current
heat wave and drought.
City manager Bobby Rus-
sell reported that the water
plant is operating at maxi-
mum capacity but is Unable
to keep up with demand.
Local citizens are being
asked to limit lawn water-
ing to the hours of 6:00 a.m.
until 10:00 a.m. each day.
tfWe are having a hard
time refilling our storage
tanks," said Russell. "We
have been losing ground try-
ing to refill the large tank
on one-mile hill. We afe hop-
ing by limiting watering to
the early morning hours we
can keep our reserves up."
The city normally pumps
between 1 and 1.3 million
gallons of treated water per
day during the summer, but
current demand has pushed
the plant to its maximum of
1.5 million gallons each day.
"Normally, even during hot
weather, we are able to fill
the tanks back up at night."
The city is asking for vol-
untary compliance with the
limits on watering, but if
the shortage continues more
stringent restrictions will
have to be implemented.
Russell stated that the
large pump at the water
plant has been engaged 24
hours per day without a
break for the last 10 days.
"We are just asking every-
one to do their watering dur-
ing a four-hour period in the
mornings. We are not re-
stricting normal household
use of water at t his time."
The school district and
golf course have also been
asked to curtail watering.
Supt. John Trice said that
the district was about to
have the front lawn at the
grade school planted with
grass seed, but the project
will be postponed until the
water shortage is over.
"We'actually do not have
,a shortage of water, we just
can not treat and pump any
more through our water*
plant than we are right
now," Russell concluded.
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 1998, newspaper, July 30, 1998; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth412712/m1/1/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.