Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 8, 1989 Page: 1 of 10
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TEN PAGES
PALAaOS, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1989
VOLUME 82. NO. 6
Winter finally arrives
IT LOOKED more like the far North the last few days
in Palacios as a strong Arctic blast of cold weather de-
scended on Palacios and sent temperatures plummeting
to below freezing. In addition to the icy roads and
bone-chilling winds, the weather also brought the un-
common site of icicles. Dripping water on the awning
at Anthony's Beauty Salon continued to freeze over the
weekend, resulting in this large icicle taking shape.
The temperature and the 20-mph winds combined for a
wind-chill factor of four below zero. (Beacon Photo by
Nick West)
Palacios finally gets a
taste of winter weather
Icy conditions hamper driving, closes schools
BY NICK WEST
Beacon Publlaher
Granted, it may not be An-
chorage, Alaska, but Brr-rr-rr-rr
it's been cold.
The long overdue winter
weather for Palacios came bar-
relling into town last Thursday
sending temperatures plummet-
ing, coating the roadways and
cars with ice, forcing the early
closings of schools and gener-
ally making a pretty good mess
of things.
What had been an unusually
warm winter with record-break-
ing temperatures in the 70's,
disappeared abrubtly within a
span of just a few hours Thurs-
day night as temperatures spi-
raled downwards to the 20's and
strong northerly winds sent the
windchill factor down into the
single-digit range. No relief from
the freezing weather is antici-
pated for several more days as
the cold held on through the
weekend and is expected to be
reinforced this week with another
blast from the north.
The National Weather Service
in Victoria referred to the cold
front as the "Siberian Express",
the same one that originated in
Siberia and swept over Alaska
10 days ago with recording set-
ting high pressure, and record
setting low temperatures.
The low temperature recorded
at the Palacios airport was 25-
degrees over the weekend. That,
combined with a 20-mph
northerly wind contributed to a
wind-chiil factor of minus four
degrees. Victoria's low of 24 on
Monday broke the record of 25
set for dial date back in 1923.
Ironically the past week's
weather has been one of a series
of abnormal weather. A week
ago the area was drenched with
up to five inches of rain. The
was promptly followed by un-
usual high winter temperatures
pushing into the high 70's.
Although the Arctic cold front
made its presence felt last week,
it wasn't until early Monday
morning that Palacios area resi-
dents were confronted with the
task of driving on sleek and icy
roadways. Sleet, freezing rain
and, on occasion, snowflakes,
made the going tough. With lim-
ited experience for the most part
in maneuvering on a slip-sliddy
surface, a number of motorist
found themselves peering
through ice-covered windows as
their vehicles spun off the roads,
some winding up it ditches.
Highways were line with car-
casses of Detroit’s (and Japan's)
best, not mention at least one fire
truck and a school bus.
The situation kept city and
county crews busy sanding
down bridges and streets in the
area. The city was also prompted
to close down the road around
the Baptist Encampment and the
bridge over Brooking’s Harbor
on East Bayshore by mid morn-
ing Monday because of ice. The
entire length of Henderson, from
First Street westward was de-
scribed Monday as dangerous by
Police Chief Don Gullett.
Both city and county law
officers were also enduring a
hectic pace due to the large num-
ber of vehicle accidents, none of
which were serious. Tow truck
operators also reported a big in-
crease in business and were still
"pullin' 'em in" as of presstime.
Most area schools to the north
and west were closed Monday
due to the bad road conditions.
However the freezing rain and
sleet did not hit Palacios until af-
ter P1SD officials had already
checked on area road conditions.
Advised that the roads were in
good shape, Superintendent Bill
Reaves said it was decided to
(See WEATHER, Page 2)
Water temperatures ok
Fish in little danger from weather
< Will there be fish kill? Prob-
ably not unless the temperature
drops considerably. According
to biologist Jim Daley with the
Texas Parks and Wildlife De-
partment, water temperatures in
the turning basins are running
from 8.2 to 8.8 degrees Celsius
(roughly 46-48 degrees Fahren-
heit) with the shallower bay run-
ning somewhat cooler. Inciden-
tally, he points out that fishing in
the turning basins could be ex-
cellent as the fish congregate in
the comparatively warmer wa-
ters.
Says Daley, "We could get a
kill, but we don't have one at
this point (Monday, February 6).
The water temperature before this
cold front came in was quite
warm and the sudden drop will
not be good for the fish. How-
ever, there's plenty of water in
the bays and it's simply not that
cold yet. When the last fish kill
due to weather occurred, the
water was very low and the
temperature got down into the
teens, but to date, 25 degrees
Fahrenheit is our low point."
He did express concern for
the ponds at the Perry R. Bass
Marine Fisheries Research Sta-
tion however, noting that the
lack of water circulation in the
ponds may make them more
susceptible to freezing.
Filing periods near for both
city council, PISD positions
BY NICK WEST
BMeon Publiihw
Three city council positions and two school
board positions will be on the ballot May 6 in the
City of Palacios and the Palacios ISD elections.
The filing period for candidates in the city
council election will begin Feb. 20 and continue
through 5 p.m. March 22 at city hall. The filing
period for school board candidates had not been
announced as of Monday.
The three seats expiring on the Palacios City
Council are Position 3 currently held by Neil
Hartsfield, Position 4 currently held by Donald
Kopecky and Position 5 currently held by Joanna
Hendricks. All are two-year terms.
Up for election on the PISD Board of Trustees
are Position 4 currently held by Harold Bowers
and Position 3 currendy held by James R. Murray.
Both are for three-year terms.
On the city council, all three current position
holders are completing their first full terms in of-
fice after having been elected in 1987. In that elec-
tion, Hartsfield defeated incumbent Herby Gonza-
les and Kopecky won over incumbent Jimmy
Clayboum. Hendricks had first been appointed to
the council in 1986 to fill the unexpired term of
Johnny Sardelich. She subsequently ran unop-
posed and was elected to a full term the following
year.
Murray is completing his first term on the PISD
school board while Bowers is completing his sec-
ond term. Both were elected in 1986.
April 6 will be the last day to register to vote in
the May 6 elections. Absentee balloting will be
April 17-May 2.
PISD welcomes colorful artist/teacher
Mural artist takes up Palacios residency
BY MICHAEL SCHEIB
Beacon Staff Writer
We, as a race, have painted on our walls since cave-man days.
Currendy, wall-painting seems to fall into two categories: graffiti, a
seemingly random, incoherent and unstructured artistic (?) expression
often hurriedly spray-painted on walls in the dead of night; and mural
art, a dicmatically-dcvelopcd panorama produced by a professional
utilizing carefully chosen and applied media. The primary difference
between murals and graffid is that art is authorized and graffiti is not;
otherwise the line between them can become a bit fuzzy.
For Fidencio Duran the line between "Artist" and "Teacher" may
be even harder to discern. In fact, there may not be a line at all. Du-
ran is here for roughly a month as an "Artist-in-Residence" with the
Palacios Independent School District, sponsored jointly by PISD and
the Texas Commission on the Arts, Arts and Education Program.
Duran knows the difference between graffiti and murals, however.
After graduating from high school in Lockhart, Texas (about 30 miles
from Austin) in 1979, he attended the University of Texas at the El
Paso campus for a couple semesters majoring in art. Then he trans-
ferred to UT in Austin, concentrated on painting, and earned a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1984. During that time the City of
Lockhart commissioned him to do his first mural, a series of illustra-
tions of historicaliy-significant local events and landmarks against a
representation of the area’s landscape. The mural is painted on the
back of an amphitheater facing the Lockhart City Park and has be-
come a landmark in its own right.
Duran enlisted the cooperation of local youngsters in executing the
Lockhart mural and apparently felt the experience was satisfying for
all. For when a 10-month artist-in-residency program came open at a
Brownsville alternative high school in 1985, he took the job. Again,
working with student artists, he produced another mural-this one "an
epic version of the culture of that region of South Texas, as well as
the objectives and the purposes behind the alternative school." If
you've been in Brownsville, you may have seen it. It's roughly 12
feet high by 160 feet long, covering two walls of the main campus
building and visible from two directions. While there, he and his
classes tackled other creative endeavors, doing ceramic art, photogra-
phy and even making parade floats. "The role of an artist is very
important in education," says Duran, "art is a medium kids can leant
through."
Then it was back to Austin, where he's been ever since, doing
mural projects in conjunction with an art museum and through the
City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department. It would seem no
drab and dreary open expanse of wall is safe from Duran and his
brush-toting crew; buildings, swimming pools, even baseball fields
have received a deft decorator's touch. Explains Duran, "We’re
exposing segments of the community that wouldn't ordinarily be ex-
posed to the arts." He'll be continuing in that program when he re-
turns to Austin.
"What I try to do, when I do these projects with kies, is to make it
a collaboration. I want people to say, 'Yes, this is kids' work, but
it's presented in a professional way.' It takes a director or conductor
to put it together because you have to take the best from everybody
and put it all in one presentation." In practice, Duran usually sug-
gests a theme and then let's the students run with it on an individual
basis. He then takes the best of the individual’s works and compiles
them into a unified whole.
Here in Palacios, he'll be coordinating the design of the Palacios
signs which will be placed near Blessing and Cape Caranchuaha. In
addition to the Palacios signs, "We're working on a thematic presen-
tee ARTIST, Page 5)
Palacios,
^ l \ Texas
Proud Home
Of
Joy Richey
KC's Dinner To
Benefit Baseball
See Page 5
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West, Nicholas M. Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 6, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 8, 1989, newspaper, February 8, 1989; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth729935/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.