Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 10, 1996 Page: 2 of 14
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Page 2A-Palacios Beacon-Wed., Jan. 10,1996
Deadline 12 NoonMtmda
n
-<4 'irtmxt-imsfM****.
Parly Primary Political AmwaBCBmenl
mm™#*
Ottis seeks re-election as DistriiMwdKfe
.in Ann cm* h*a (ii»H as ■ randidata tor Ottis. In 1993. a ( of Adminisirative Policies was developed,
•tection as Judge to tho 130th District Court in dress
the March 12, 1996 Republican Primary. She impleniciucu anu
Beacon to publish g^nty changes
thft foiowina naid annoyncanrient about h#r can* .
didacy.
and total
approved by
the public. Addi-
JO ANN OTTIS
Judge Jo Ann Ottis recalled that during tionally.morefor-
the last campaign she promised to be fair, mal and tradi-
dignified, reliable and hardworking to en- tional procedures
sure that all citizens have equal access to the for the conducting
court and to restore confidence in the 130th of the court were
District Court. adopted. The
“I have accomplished many of the goals Cou rt reporter
for the 130th Court, and I believe I have was required to be
proven my dedication to the citizens of Ma- present full time,
tagorda County,” Judge Ottis stated. “I ask and free lance
for their support to continue serving as J udge work was elimi- ------ »,».......««
of the 130th District Court." nated. Real time, where the Court reporter uses rather than years. Total criminal disposi-
Judge Ottis went on to say that she is a computer for instantaneous transcription of tions for the first three years were 1,078.
proud of die many accomplishments of the the testimony of trial and hearings, was imple- Total indicted criminal cases presently on
Court. mented. In 1994, the large courtroom was the docket number less than 100.
To return confidence to the 130th District renovated by enlarging the court worit area and Judge Ottis, the daughter of Fred and
Court, Judge Ottis changed the process by modernizing the electrical and computer out- Katherine Ottis, was bom and raised in
which jury panels for both civil and criminal lets. A Sentiy Metal Detector is in use. Mem- Wadsworth. After attending Sam Houston
trials were selected and limited access to bersofthe Court staff have attended advanced State University, she taught high school
civil jury lists prior to trial day. Judge Ottis training (provided free from the State of Texas) English for five years before entering law
also initiated a Wind filing of lawsuits to from the Texas AssociationofCourtAdminis- school. She is a member of Holy Cross
randomly select the judge to hear the case tration, the Attorney General, and the Office of Catholic Church where she has been active
filed. Ottis also changed how the Grand Jury Court Administration. in teaching the eleventh and twelfth grade
panel was selected by choosing to have them To provide equal access to civil, criminal, students CCD (Catholic Sunday School) for
selected randomly rather than by commis- family and juvenilecases, JudgeOttishasbeen the past seven years.
Sion working to computerize the court dockets and Judge Ottis is the proven choice.
To return professionalism to the court, calendar. A Court Administrator’s Policy LM.Ady.M.torbyJoAim0nilil». 0. box 2052.Bayaty,
several changes were made, states Judge Manual was written, a Criminal Policy Book t*. 77404)
Lamar
eping Wagner General Hospital open to
■ve the Palacios area.
59,
Total civil dispositions for the first three
years were 2,300 cases. Total civil cases
now pending less tax cases are 670. In 1995,
the Court assumed the physical handling of
the criminal docket, whichensures that cases
will be tried as quickly as possible. Most
offenders are now being brought to trial
within months rather than years. Addition-
ally, the Court has created a revocation of
probation docket which brings probation
violators to a hearing within 60 to 90 days
Leonard Lamar has filed as a candidate for
Matagorda County Pet. 3 Commissioner in the
March 12, 1996 Democratic primary. He has
authorized the Palacios Beacon to publish the
following paid announcement about his candi-
dacy.
“I moved to Palacios in 1976 and be-
came a part of the community as a member
of the Palacios Volunteer Fire Dept., the
Palacios Chamber of Commerce and the
Palacios Lions Club along wilh helping my
wife, Joan, with her store.
“In 1978 I was elected to the Palacios
City Council and in 19801 was elected to
the office of Mayor and served until 1992.
During those years I also served on various
boards and committees and worked with the
Matagorda County Navigation District #1,
Hospital, and Drainage Districts as well as
the Palacios ISD, the county and Highway
Dept. The experience and knowledge I
gained was in-
valuable and I
think helps
qualify me to be
your County
Commissioner.
“My main con-
cerns in Mata-
gorda County are
drainage and
roads. In the Pala-
cios area lam con-
cerned about the
future of the sea-
food industry, the
improvement and
expansion of the
Navigation District, future projects of the Sea-
wall Commission, the possibility of a prison
facility and a better solution to the disposal of
garbage, trash arid bmsh. Just as important is
keep
serve the 1
“Crime prevention, improved fire pro-
tection and ambulance service and unem-
ployment are items that the county govern-
ment will have to address and I hope I can
be part of this governing body to help find
solutions to these problems.
“Iamafirmbelieverin ‘If it’s not broke,
don’t fix it’. The present county govern-
mental entities are doing a good job, but
there is room for improvement.
“If you elect me as your Commissioner
of Pet. 3,1 will try my best to see that your
best interests arc maintained and improved.
“If you want a working Commissioner,
one who is concerned about the County,
Pet. 3 and the Palacios area, vote for Leonard
Lamar on March 12th.”
Tx. 77465)
(Pol . Adv. Pd.»bylSBon#d Lamar, 2051st Street, Palacios.
Tx-----
COUNCIL-
Palacios Beacon. “However, longer possible.”
due to the demands of starting Mayor Geo. Holst praised
a new business, that is no the work Fiorini has done for
Matagorda County Go Texan BBQ Cook-off J > .
DANCE
I MIDNIGHT RODEO I
Sat. Jan. 13th 9 -1 K.C. Hall Bay Cty
Admission $10 Student $5
Proceeds to benefit Mat. Co. Go Texan Scholarship Fund
LACEY B. LOWRY
Enrolled to Practice before the Internal Revenue Service
Income Tax Preparation
and Bookkeeping Service
Monday & Thursday 9 to 12 -1 to 4
Tuesday 1:30 to 4:00
or by tjippoiBtinei^
New Location
456 Commerce Street • Palacios • 972-3413
(Continued From Page One)
the city of Palacios.
“Bob’s been a valuable as-
set to the city of Palacios,”
Holst said. “ I hate to see him
resign. He never brought any-
thing personal to the city—he
just wanted to help the city im-
prove.”
When Fiorini was asked
whether he and his family
would be relocating to Dallas
permanently, he said, ‘The
Fiorini’s will not be moving to
GUNS-
(Continued From Page One)
However, due to the enormous
response and the short startup pe-
riod, we do anticipate taking the
lull 90 days to process applica-
tions.
“I know all applicants are ea-
gerly awaiting their licenses and
are tempted to call and ask for
their status, but each time the
phone rings it takes our personnel
away from the license issuance
process and slows things down,”
Waller said. “We ask your pa-
tience in giving us ample time to
process your application before
calling to check on its status.”
;ron
ELMO DUKE, IB.
CANDIDATE FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER, PCT. 3
Voting Precincts IE, 3A, 3B, 7
ELMO DUKE, JR. has filed as a candidate people s future and f
for Matagorda County Commissioner of Pre- safety as citizens of
cinct3.
DUKE has been a resident of Matagorda
County for 23 years. He has been a farmer,
rancher and business owner for 39 years and
believes there is no substitute for experience.
As a young farmer, he was awarded the Ameri-
can Farmer degree, DeKalb and Sante Fe
awardsfor excellence and was Fort Bend County
Farmer of the Year at Houston Chamber of
Commerce Awards Banquet.
In the course of business, he has owned and
gained first-hand knowledge of the operation
and maintenance of all types of heavy construc-
tion equipment He brings 39 years of life expe-
rience in business management.
One of his major concerns is our young
our county and states
that NOW is the time
to insure thatthey have
the best we can offer
of safety and educa-
tion. DUKE will work
diligently to expand our
county DARE program
so that our children will
have one DARE officer
in each school in the
county 5 days a week.
DUKE feels that
Precinct 3 needs to keep pursuing the purchase of
the Palacios Airport property as an investment tor
future economic development and creation of jobs
Wgm
in the Palacios area. He realizes that our county
and agricuh
ture, that our shrimpers, fishermen and farmers
contribute vastly to the county economy and
states he will support them however he can to
keep these businesses strong. One objective
he has i. io expand the Palacios turning basin.
He feels there is a need fbr a County Juve-
nile Detention Center as a solution to the expo-
sure young offenders now have to hard criminal
types by being sent to out-of-county detention
centers.
DUKE says we need new ideas and he is
ready to meet this need by establishing a good
•working relationship with the community and
citizens of Precinct 3.
Adv Pd forty MariAnr* Ouko. TtoMuror. Rt 1. Boa 178, Patriot. T«. 77466)
Dallas in the foreseeable future
and, if things work out tire way
I’m planning, Cathy and I will
be voting in Palacios elections
as senior citizens.”
By law, the Palacios City
Council could consider three
options when a seat is left va-
cant. Aside from making an
appointment, they could have
either called a special election
or left the seat open until the
next regular election.
Program Friday
on Medicare at
Wagner General
Silver Key Coordinator Jan
Sims will answer questions
about Medicare and supplemen-
tal insurance, explanation of
benefits, and insurance claims
when die visits Wagner General
Hospital, Friday, January 12,
from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Individual help with Medicare
and insurance is offered through
the Silver Key program of the
Matagorda County Hospital
District FOr more information
or to register for a time, call
Sims at 800-547-6383, Ext.
1441. If out of office, please
leave your name and number
answering machine.
PRIMARYH
(Continued From Page One)
lican candidate James D. Mitchell in the general election.
With no Republican challenger, Pet. 3 voters will be making thgr
decision on a new constable in the March 12 primaif. Kenneth Smift
and Elmo Duke, III are both running for the position long held by Ad arts
‘Bubba’ Price who is not seeking re-election. *:«
The Democratic race fbrCounty Attorney will pi t Herbert W Henlji
against Timothy Ann Sloan while Jill Cornelius it unopposed in tlj£
Republican primiry. The candidates are running for the position
currently held by Melissa Abshier who had announced her dhdidajji
for re-election eariier in the filing period but then subsequent^
the primary for 130th Judicial District Judge, but will face Sue Ap
Vaughan in the November election. Vaughan was the only candid^
to file for die position on the Democratic ticket.
Two coimty-wide office holders will be unopposed not only in t
primary, but also die general election. Democrat Steven Reis drew
opposition in his bid for a second term as District Attorney. At3c
unopposed is long-term County Tax Assessor/Collector Bill Wiggintdjt
a Democrat
Although facing no opponent in the Democratic primary, long tiijjt
District 29 State Representative Tom Uher will have a Republic^
opponent in November—Donna Coleman of Bay City. Currently
serving as Executive Director for the Matagorda County United Way
and American Red Cross, Coleman had previously-spent1 eight ye^i;
as a Congressional aide to U. S. Congressman Tom DeLay.
In other precinct races in Matagorda County, contested primf*
races are on the ballot for three other constable positions. In PcL
R. ‘Shorty ’ Thompson, Frank S. Gaft Jr. and Benito Trevino are on
Democrat ticket while Frank Schutz is unopposed on the Republic
side.
In Pet. 4, incumbent Charles Rodriguez is being challenged in i
(Democratic primary by Mildred B. Allen. Also challenged in his 1
for re-election is Pet. 5 Constable L. A. ‘Dutch’ Westinghouse whi^
being opposed in the Democratic primary by Rudolph D. Bonifay;!
Incumbent Tom Ward will face to no challenger for Pet. 6 Cdn-
stable. - •;
For PcL 1 Commissioner, incumbent Mike Pruett is unopposed#!
the Democratic ballot, but will face Republican Richard BrickeiCjn
November. •;
TROUT
i
(Continued From Page One) |
pond raised ones, using the same water for both,” Shaer »d,
noting that a water temperature between 60-65‘F is ideal^for
rainbow trout. g
Mike Lagasse of Lagasse Marine is helping out by donsiBrig
materials for the raceways, the first of which is almost ready! to
stock with 40 of the trout. “With recent budget cuts at TSFfC.
Mike’s been an invaluable help,” Schaer said.
“If we can get them large enough we’ll be able to market
them in the future,” Schaer said. ‘Trout are retailing for apbut
$5 per pound in stores right now. It may not work, but we v®n’t
know unless we try it.”
pA,
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West, Nicholas M. Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 10, 1996, newspaper, January 10, 1996; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth725785/m1/2/?rotate=180: accessed June 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.