The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 5, 1979 Page: 1 of 8
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Case solved-loot recovered in two hours
Alert citizen, pulicc imb burglars
AN ALERT LOCAL CITIZEN AND
quick response by city police resulted in
the arrest of two local juveniles for bur-
glary of a vehicle last Sunday evening. A
local woman called police to report seeing
two youths taking 8-track tapes out of
a car parked in front of the Assembly of
God Church about 8:30 p.m. Sunday ev-
ening. The lady who called police identi-
fied one of the youths and the vehicle
they were driving. About five minutes
later, police received a call from Bethel
Baptist Church stating that several items
were missing from cars parked at that lo-
cation.
The Big Lake Police Department and
Deputy Sheriff Don Turk started looking
for a blue pickup with a camper on the
back. Turk followed a vehicle matching
that description out west of town, then
Police Sergeant Dan West spotted a ve-
hicle matching the description given in
town. The youths were arrested in Big
Lake and charged with public intoxica-
tion, carrying a prohibited weapon, and
burglary of a vehicle.
After an investigation, stolen items
were recovered from a southside resi-
dence by Police Chief Terry Cowin, Sgt.
West, and Deputy Sheriff Turk. The two
juveniles are ages IS and 13. One juven-
ile was released into the cutody of his par-
ents Sunday night and the other spent the
night in Reagan County jail. The recov-
ered items included CB radios, 8-track
tapes, CB antennas and other items. The
total value of items taken was estimated
by Chief Cowin to be around $550. The
two youths will be remanded to county
juvenile authorities. Th$ case was
solved, the loot recovered and the juven-
iles were in custody in less than two
hours.
MARCH WAS A BUSY MONTH FOR
local police, and three persons were
arrested in connection with the March 3
burglary of Martin's Department Store.
Gregory Watson and Clemente (Junior)
Reed, Jr. and one local juvenile were
charged with burglary of a building.
Gregory Watson and Junior Reed plead
guilty in district court in Rankin on
March 26 and received ten year probated
sentences. The local juvenile involved
was placed in the custody of county ju-
venile authorities. The stolen property
was returned and the guilty parties were
ordered to pay $800 in restitution for
damages they caused in gaining entry to
the building. Five suits and $250 cash
were taken and the damage sustained
was a broken plate glass window. The
suspects were in custody about two weeks
after the incidents occurred.
The Martin's Department Store rob-
bery was investigated by Police Chief
Terry Cowin, Sgt. Dan West, and they
were assited by Sgt. Fred Kelly of the
San Angelo Police Department. The
break in the case came when Sgt. West
received information that the stolen
merchandise was in the possession of
Junior Reed at his residence in San An-
gelo. Detective Sgt. Kelly of San Angelo
obtained a search warrant and recovered
the stolen property and Junior Reed and
the suits were transported back to Big
Lake. After further investigation, two
other suspects were arrested, Gregory
Watson and the juvenile.
GREGORY WATSON AND THE Ju-
venile were placed in custody in Reagan
County jail and Junior Reed was separa-
ted from the other two and was placed in
jail in Rankin. The juvenile was released
into the custody of his parents. He was
also charged with burglary of a building
and was turned over to county juvenile
authorities.
The hvo adults, Reed and Watson, ap-
peared before 83rd District Judge Willi-
am H. Eamey in Rankin and plead guilty
to burglary of a building and received 10
year probated sentences.
Local police enlisted the aid of a law
enforcement computer to solve the March
4 burglary of Bill Hooker's Texaco Sta-
tion. Jack Thomas Durham, age 35, was
sentenced to three years in the penitenti-
ary in Huntsville for burglary of a build-
ing in connection with that incident.
Durham had been employed by Bill
Hooker for four days but he did not show
up for work on March 5. Hooker discov-
ered about $650 missing and notified po-
lice. Chief Terry Cowin got Durham's
name and put his name out on the Na-
tional Criminal Identification Center com-
puter and found that Durham was wanted
in Guadalupe County for revocation of
parole. Cowin also found out that Dur-
ham had served pen time in New Mexico
and Tennessee and Cowin then put out a
wanted bulletin over the computer net-
work.
Durham was arrested on March 8 on
Big Lake police department' s warrant in
Kingman, Arizona by the Arizona High-
way Patrol. The subject waived extradi-
tion and Sheriff James Proffitt went to
Arizona and got Durham and later placed
him in Reagan County jail. "The sheriff
must transport felony subjects out of
county according to law," said Cowin.
Chief Cowin took a statement from
Durham who admitted the burglary and
the theft of the money. He appeared be-
fore Judge Earney on March Z8 in Rankin
and plead guilty. Durham will be facing
charges of burglary of an auto in Tennes-
see after he completes his sentence of
three years in Huntsville.
In other police business, Cowin said
that his department has definite leads on
several recent acts of vandalism including
the breaking of several windows in busi-
nesses. Chief Cowin also said that his
department has placed at least three sub-
jects in Reagan County jail for "hot rod-
ding," or technically, exhibition of accel-
eration. Cowin said that "hot rodders" of
legal age (17) will be placed in jail and if
found guilty will be heavily fined.
School, city, hospital elections
will be decided this Saturday
Absentee voting was hot and heavy in
the school board race this year as that
race seems to be really picking up steam.
Two incumbents are facing stiff challen-
ges and each race has three persons each.
Ted Everett Miller is facing a determined
former school teacher, Mrs. Nancy
N. Nunnally and A. C. "Rusty" Clayton,
who is employed by Globe Well Service,
Inc. Charles Jackson is the incumbent in
the other school board race and he is fa-
cing a former Reagan County teacher and
Coach Terry I. Page, and Daniel S. Men-
dez, Sr., the City of Big Lake Water Sup-
erintendent.
Absentee voting ended Tuesday in
the school election and there were a to-
tal of 154 votes cast. The two places on
the school board of trustees will be decid-
ed this Saturday. Voting places will be
Reagan County Elementary School and El
Paso Natural Gas Recreation Hall at
Midkiff. The election is county wide and
all Reagan County voters will elect two
candidates. School trustees are elec-
ted to three year terms.
In the county at large race, T. E. Mil-
ler is facing Mrs. Nancy Nunnally, and
A. C. Rusty Clayton. Miller said that the
Reagan County schools were in good
Glancing Around....
By David Werst
<
Good things...good things seem to lead
to more good things and this has brought
out recently by the local blood donation
drive and response to it, and the local
Lions Club pancake supper. Thirty-four
people turned out to give the "gift of Life"
recently at Reagan Memorial Hospital
and donated thirty units of blood. Four
were turned down because of some medi-
cal reason but they should feel proud of
their effort anyway, because they tried.
The good thing about what these people
did is apparent. They helped someone,
somewhere, very, very much with their
blood donation, and their concern is
appreciated.
Another good thing done recently was
the response of local citizens to the Lions
Club Pancake Supper. The club broke a
five year record for attendance and made
some money they will use in their com-
munity and civic projects. The Lions Club
helps people with eye problems and
blindness and also provides a large
scholarship for a local deserving student.
The people who attended the pancake
supper will know they helped someone by
going. Local people should also know
that the items used by the club were do-
nated by Town and Country Grocery,
Jack's Supermarket, and Schaible's Gro-
cery. Also, Jesse Gement gave the club
a nice gift when he gave them a very
large griddle to use in future pancake
suppers. All of this may seem hokey to
spmeone who does not live in a small
town, but there is a sense of togetherness
and cooperation in a small town that 1
never noticed in the city.
The local elections are to be decided
this Saturday and the school board race
seems to be drawing the most attention.
The school has the largest budget of all
our local taxing agencies and anything
that has to do with people's kids always
draws attention. One thing that needs to
be mentioned is that you do not have to
live in any certain district or precinct to
vote in the school board election. There
are three people running for the Big Lake
district and three from the County at
Large seat. We will elect one person
from each of these places and anyone in
the county who is qualified to vote may
vote on both of these places.
The school board is a very demanding
but a very interesting job. The qualifi-
cations for effective service on the school
board, as taken from a guide for candi-
dates put out by the Texas Association of
School Boards, are many. To be effective,
the board member should have a broad
background of experience and know-
ledge. The complexity in every area of
school operation, whether finance, stu-
dent, employee, community relation-
ships, or curriculum, demands intelli-
gence, awareness and sensitivity. The
board member should be able to look be-
yond yesterday's solutions and yester-
day 's kind of education, and be willing to
provide today' s kind of education for to-
day's children.
Let's also not forget to make that se-
parate trip to the city office to vote in that
election. It is also a contested race and
very important. There are five persons in
that contest and a good deal of thought
should be put into the selections that will
either lead our city with new initiative or
allow us to stagnate.
Will I make an endorsement for this
election? Yes, 1 will endorse the candi-
date with initiative. I will endorse the
candidate or present member of the
board or council who has the initiative
to start something new and better. I will
endorse the person who has the courage
to suggest that something be done about
a certain situation that he has observed
that needs correcting. The person who is
not afraid to speak out and start the ball
rolling is the person I will admire and that
is the person I will vote for.
shape and the board was improving the
entire school program in every way as
quickly as possible. "The schools have
more teachers than ever before and we
are improving our courses every semes-
ter. Our facilities are the best around for
a Class A school. We do need more
'trade' or vocational courses and we
should encourage our students to partic-
ipate in vocational and U.l.L. compe-
tition."
Mrs. Nunnally has been campaign-
ing heavily for excellence in curriculum.
She said "our academic, special and vo-
cational programs should have top prior-
ity. All school activities should be ade-
quately supported by the school board
both in spirit and financially." Mrs. Nun-
nally stated that as a former school
teacher and a parent, she understood the
educational process and needs of the
school and she believes that "communi-
cation between parents, teachers, school
administration, and the school board
should be encouraged."
A. C. "Rusty" Gayton is also a candi-
date from the County at Large. He has
stated that he is qualified to serve as a
member of the Reagan County School
Board. He said "There is a great need to
identify with the parents, teachers, and
students to better understand the prob-
lems and needs in our educational sys-
tem. We must strive to provide a solid
educational background for all our
children."
In the Big Lake district race, Charles
Jackson is the incumbent and he is facing
Terry I. Page and Daniel S. Mendez Sr.
lackson said "We have been improving
steadily in our school system over what
we were in years past and our curriculum
has been greatly improved. We have
been participating more in U.l.L. events
as well as physically improving our school
plant. We are very fortunate to live in
an area where we do have enough mon-
ey to make needed improvements in all
areas of our school. We have more teach-
ers for our students. The teachers we do
have are on a whole, more qualified for
their jobs than in the past."
Terry Page is also in the Big Lake dis-
trict race. Page stated that he was a
former school teacher with 17 years ex-
perience and was well qualified to be a
(Continued on Page 3)
Dr. Gary Vannoy, Veterinarian for
Ozona, will be in Big Lake today, Thurs-
day, April 5, 1979 to conduct a rabbies
clinic. The clinic is being held in the
County Ex.cnsion Office, Courthouse
Annex, from 1:00 P.M. til 5:00 P.M. If
you have a dog, cat or any other animal
that may have a health problem or that
needs vaccinating, we urge you to come
by.
Reagan Middle School wins
first in 9-A literary events
Reagan County Middle School students
won first place in over-all literary compe-
tition at the District 9-A Literary Meet on
Saturday, March 31, in Menard against
El Dorado, Wall, Mason, Junction, and
Menard.
Students winning were Kami Short,
first place in spelling (and the first per-
fect paper in three years at the district);
Gayla Baker, third place in spelling; Jun-
ior Flores, first place in number sense;
Jackie Harris, second place in writing
composition.
Other students competing from Rea-
gan County Middle School were: Jack
Blakely, Lynn Tucker, and Leah Sanchez.
Local instructors are: Ginton White,
math; Ray Solomon, composition; Lin-
da Blaydes, spelling; Joseph Lucas,
principal.
Kami Short
Winners In Beta Sigma Phi's Little Little Miss division; Stacie Gayle Beam,
Miss Beauty Contest held last Saturday winner of Little Miss division; Tina Bes-
were: L-R, Amy HU1, runnersup LaPetlt sent, runnerup Junior Miss; and Connie
division; (Kristen Tucker is the pretty Kay Everett, winner Junior Miss divi-
girl behind Amy) Tonya Smith, winner of slon. The circus clown assisting the wln-
LaPettJt; Tammy Mundell, runnerup, ners is Marla Poynor. [Wildcat photo]
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Werst, David. The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 5, 1979, newspaper, April 5, 1979; Big Lake, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth615360/m1/1/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Reagan County Library.