Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 34, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 23, 1989 Page: 1 of 12
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iVew channels added: rate increase expected
Cable company adds to basic service
BY NICK WEST
Beacon Publisher
Palacios cable television viewers should have more to choose from
when flipping through the dial within the next week with the addition
of three more "basic service" channels added to the Falcon Cable
system.
According to Falcon's regional manager Ron Deon, the three
channels should be on line by the end of this week. The additions in-
clude C-Span which carries proceedings from the U. S. Congress;
the Weather Channel, a 24-hour network devoted to local and na-
tional weather, and Lifetime, a family entertainment service which
primarily features off-network series. A fourth channel, for public
access such as PIN-TV, will also be allocated.
All three channels will be provided as part of the company's basic
cable package. A new premium (pay-TV), channel that Deon said
would also be added is the Disney Channel which carries children
and general family programming. That premium channel, Deon said,
would be offered for $9.95 a month.
Once the new channel go on-line, Falcon Cable will have 25 basic
channels for customers to choose from- 22 basic and 3 premium.
Deon said that the new channels come as Falcon completes a "total
upgrade" of the Palacios system. The Falcon regional manager said
the company has spent nearly a half-million dollars in the past few
months improving the service to its Palacios customers. Those im-
provements included a new antenna, satellite receiver dish and
equipment and recabling of old lines where needed. The improve-
ments, Deon added, also included expanding Falcon's service area in
and around Palacios.
"The new equipment we have added should provide our customers
with better service. It also enhanced our channel capacity, raising it
from 23 channels to the ability to carry 50," Deon said. Falcon's
cable service in the past has frequently drawn complaints from
customers and was one of the reasons the company undertook the
upgrade of equipment and lines.
Not surprisingly, the additions and upgrades come as a prelude to
an increase in basic service rates. Deon said the increase would take
effect in the near future, however the exact amount of the increase was
undetermined at this time. Deon noted that a letter would be sent to
cable subscribers informing them of when the increase would take
effect. The company currently charges $14.95 per month for basic
cable service.
Request for TACB hearing
could delay Formosa work
BY NICK WEST
Beacon Publl«her
Formosa Plastics Corpora-
tion's $ 1.7-billion expansion
plants of its Point Comfort oper-
ations faces the possibility of a
delay in getting underway due to
a public hearing request for its
eight construction permits.
The request was made to the
Texas Air Control Board last
week by a group called Calhoun
County Resource Watch. The
newly formed group has re-
quested that the hearing be held
in order to determine what toxic
emissions would be released by
Formosa and to review compli-
ance with air quality control reg-
ulations by Formosa in the past.
Larry Peyton, vice president
of business-development for
Formosa, is scheduled to address
the Palacios Rotary Club today
(Wednesday) at 12 noon at Pe-
tersen's Restaurant at which time
he will discuss the status of the
Formosa expansion and the ef-
fect, if any, the requested hear-
ings will have.
A pre-hearing conference on
the hearing request is expected to
held in the next couple of weeks
to determine if the issues raised
by Calhoun County Resource
Watch could be resolved without
having to conduct a full hearing.
If those issues are unresolved, a
public hearing could be sched-
uled for a later date by the Texas
Air Control Board. According to
one TACB official, it might take
as much as three months to hold
a public hearing which would
likely delay the initial work on
(5»ee FORMOSA, Page 3)
100 Club picks winner
PATROL OFFICER fijirl White was named "Palacios
Officer of the Year" at the 100 Club of Matagorda
County awards ceremohy last Friday evening, and Po-
lice Chief Donnie G^lett was there to present the
plaque. White's earner has included positions as
county dispatcher, city; dispatcher, and a reserve offi-
cer before joining the Palacios PD full time. Other of-
ficers honored were I^ank "Skipper" Osborne of the
Matagorda Sheriffs Office and Suzanne Efrid-the first
female officer chosen from the Bay City PD. DPS
officer Matt Southhail and probation officer Earl
Roberts shared the title of "Outstanding State Officer
of the Year." [Beacoit photo by Michael Scheib]
---f"----
"Incident" is
reported as
minor at STP
"Contamination" is radiation
that is somewhere where you
don't want it; someplace where
it's not supposed to be," ex-
plained Glenn Walker, HL&P
spokesman at the South Texas
Project. On Monday, August
14, a plant operations crew-
while performing periodic and
routine inspcctions-discovered a
higher radiation count in one of
the contained systems in the
auxiliary boiler system.
The radiation level was ex-
tremely low, according to
(See INCIDENT, Page 4)
30-CENTS
TWELVE PAGES
PALACIOS, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1989
VOLUME 82, NO. 34
...
Ready for action
THE SHARKS' hard-hitting defense will be picking on
someone other than their own teammates this Friday as
the Big Red hosts St. Joseph in the season's first
scrimmage. The action begins at 6 p.m. The Athletic
Booster Club will also have BBQ for sale starting at 5
p.m. More sports on Page 9. (Beacon Photo by Nick
West)_____
Small increase seen
in city's draft budget
for next fiscal year
BY NICK WEST
Beacon Publisher
The 1989-90 operating budget
for the City of Palacios will con-
tain very little extra money over
the previous year, according to a
draft proposed budget being
considered this week by the City
Council.
The council was scheduled to
meet Monday night to review and
make refinements to the draft
budget which totaled tentatively
$1,482,430. That was less than
2% more ($27,600 to be exact)
over the 1988-89 budget of
$1,454,830. Adoption of the fi-
nal proposed budget is expected
to take place during a special
session of the Council at 7 p.m.
Thursday. A copy of the pro-
posed budget is available for
public review at city hall during
regular office hours.
Once approved, the new
budget will be in effect from Oct.
1,1989 to Sept. 30,1990.
Of the city's four operating
funds, the only increases
according to the draft budget are
in the Water, Sewer, Refuse
Fund and the Equipment Fund.
nprrpaspK are marked for both
the General and Airport Funds.
(The comparisons below are
based on the initial 1988-89
adopted budget and the draft
1989-90 budget and due not in-
clude the actual/ estimated budget
figures for 1988-89 which to-
taled $1376,140.)
With an estimated beginning
balance of $24,050 and revenues
projected at $603,650, the Gen-
eral Fund expenditures have been
trimmed from last year's
$651,350 to $612,270. Antici-
pated cuts among individual
Public hearing
Thursday for %
1989-90 budget
The Palacios City Council,
will hold a public hearing oit
the 1989-90 proposed cit$
budget at 6:30 p.m. Thursday
at City Hall.
The hearing will be followed
at 7 p.m. by a special council
meeting at which time adop-
tion of the new budget and r&
rate will be acted upon. f
General Fund departments in-
clude Administrative, down from
$106,590 to $101,310; Streets
down from $78,270 to $52,090;
Health, down from $2,140 to
$1,700; Mayor/City Council,
trimmed to $21,080 from
$30,700; and Special Items
which were cut to $142,870
from $177,370 (primarily as a
result in $21,000 in reduced
bond and insurance costs).
Drafted for budget increases
were the Police Department, in-
creased to $176,020 from
$154,840 (primarily due to
$20,000 earmarked for vehi-
cle/equipment); Fire Department,
increased to $51,690 from
$44,100 (due primarily to a
$9,500 increase in fire credits);
and Corporation Court, increased
to $18,550 from $11,050 (due
primarily to $6,000 proposed
allocation for secretary and rent.
The Water, Sewer & Refuse
Fund drafted budget is increased
from $682,590 to $735,724 with
capital outlay accounting for the
majority of the increase. Revenue
for that fund is anticipated at
$735,724 with a beginning bal-
ance of $24,850. The Water
(See BUDGET, Page 3)
Junior High
Orientation
Meeting Set
An Orientation Meeting
will be held in the Palacios
Junior High School LRC at 1
p.m. this Friday (Aug. 25) for
all new students to the campus
and their parents.
The purpose of the short
program is to help all new stu-
dents leam about the school so
they will be able to have a
comfortable Opening Day.
New students and their parents
are encourgaged to attend this
meeting so their questions can
be asked and answered.
Rules For Students At
PHS Football Games
See Page 9
•! m
j
Locals Appointed To
Gulf Advisory Group
■ See Page 3
Body Electric Wins
Benefit Softball Title
See Page9
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West, Nicholas M. Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 34, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 23, 1989, newspaper, August 23, 1989; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth729430/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.