The Dublin Citizen (Dublin, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 1997 Page: 1 of 12
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The Dublin
2627 EAST VANDELL DRIVE
EL PASO, TX 79903
2/7/98
Citizen
Volume 8, No. 16
Dublin, Texas 76446
ThuraUy, December 11,1997
State rf Capital
Council hires attorney;
plans police relocation
HIGHLIGHTS
8y Lyndell WIIIImr & Ed Sterling
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
AUSTIN — From an elementary
School podium in Midland, Gov.
George W. Bush last week announced
his re-election bid for a second term.
The 51-year-old Republican, who
has reported a campaign war chest of
$13 million, is expected to face
Democratic Land Commissioner
Garry Mauro in the November 1998
election.
"I propose that we begin the hew
century by putting an end to social
promotion in Texas schools," Bush
said. "We must recognize that
self-esteem is not taught but earned
by teaching our children to read
and write and add and subtract."
Bush outlined his campaign plat-
form as follows:
■ Require public school students
to pass the Texas Assessment of Aca-
demic Skills exam in third, fifth and
eighth grades before advancing to the
next grade.
■ Offer more advanced training
for teachers.
■ Exempt businesses with sales of
$ 100,000 or less from paying the state
franchise tax. '
■ Enact tax credits for companies
doing research and development.
■ Put more state money into child
care.
■ Establish live-in facilities for
pregnant, unwed teen-agers.
■ Allocate more state money to
encourage prosecutors to litigate
statutory rape cases.
35 Candidates Have Filed
Dec. 3 marked the first day for
statewide candidates for political of-
fice to file. Some 35 candidates had
officially declared as of Dec. 4. Jan.
2 is the last day for candidates to file.
There are no Democratic incum-
bents for the state’s top six elected
offices. Last week, two-term Attorney
General Dan Morales, a Democrat,
decided not to seek re-election. Court
of Criminal Appeals Justice Morris
Overstreet of Amarillo, who is a
Democrat, has announced his bid to
succeed Morales. Supreme Court of
Texas Justice John Comyn is seeking
the GOP nomination for attorney gen-
eral.
Bomer Postpones Roofing Decision
After listening to homeowners’
concerns over a proposed rule that
would give discounts only to those
who install new hail-resistant roofs,
Insurance Commissioner Elton
Bomer postponed a decision, spying
he would take more time to stifdy the
issue.
At a public hearing last week, a
homeowner who said his house has a
durable concrete tile roof, complained
that he would not qualify for the pro-
posed discounts because his roof is
not new.
Under the proposal, discounts
could be as much as 35 percent, de-
pending on the area of the state and
the type of roof purchased. Discounts
would apply to asphalt composition
shingles and concrete tile roofs that
have been certified as impact-resis-
tant by Underwriters Laboratories, the
Austin American-Statesman reported.
Use of Force Rules Opposed
Following Texas sheriffs’ opposi-
tion, proposed state guidelines on use
of force against jail inmates are
doomed, according to The Brazosport
Facts, a daily newspaper in Brazoria
County.
Texas Commission on Jail Stan-
dards executive director Jack Crump,
who proposed the new regulations
after viewing a Brazoria County vid-
eotape allegedly depicting abuse, told
the newspaper he has changed his
mind.
By KAREN WRIGHT
Citizen Editor
The Dublin City Council filled
one of several holes in its organi-
zational chart Monday night when
it approved the hiring of an Austin
attorney as the city’s legal counsel.
Barney L. Knight of Austin, who
specializes in municipal law, will
communicate with the council via
speaker phone during meetings or
travel here when necessary. He
represents several area communi-
ties as city attorney including De
Leon-
Knight's firm was one of four
considered by the council’s nomi-
nating committee composed of
Jack Thompson, Mickey Belew
and Don Stewart.
The city apparently did not ad-
vertise the position and it wasn’t
clear what the source of the four
applications had been, although
Stewart said they were given to
him by Mayor Katherine Prater..
Even with the position of city
attorney filled, the city still has
several gaping holes in upper man-
agement. The positions of city
manager, police chief, and Ward 4
council member have not been
filled.
The position of legal counsel had
been vacant since the resignation
of Jim Mulloy on Oct. 17; the city
manager’s position has been open
since the firing of Tom Winder on
July 28; the police chief post was
vacated by the firing of David
Johnson on Oct. 13 and the council
seat was vacated with the verbal
resignation of David Mulloy on
Oct. 13.
Council member Pattie Johnson
told the council, which met in
regular session Monday night, that
she wants to move forward to hire
a city manager. The council had
tentatively agreed several weeks
ago to hire an executive search
firm but representatives of the firm
have not met with the council yet.
According to council member
Rodney Armstrong, the owner of
the proposed search firm plans to
attend the January meeting.
Stewart said the public safety
committee is currently reviewing
applications for police chief and
will narrow the field to three
candidates for council review.
Following a committee recom-
mendation, the council voted to
relocate the police station into
what is now the vacant city apart-
ment on the west side of city hall.
The police department will also
take over space now occupied by
the chamber of commerce which
will be relocated to the current
police department space.
The existing chamber office
would become a lobby area for the
police department which would
also house the municipal judge’s
office, a private police chief office
See COUNCIL page 8
Hogan family
donates land
in honor of
famed golfer
The family of the golf legend
Ben Hogan has offered a small
tract of land to the City of Dublin
with the provision that a plaque in
honor of his parents be placed
there.
Hogan, the son of Chester and
Clara Hogan, was bom in Dublin
in 1912. He died in July after a
brilliant career during which he
won 63 tournaments including nine
major victories at the Masters,
PGA Championship, U.S. Open
and British Open.
......I*!!*
Mrs. Hogan indicating that she, her
late husband and his brother. Royal
Hogan who died last December,
had discussed the action prior to
their deaths and were in agree-
ment.
The land is located on the north
side of Elm Street immediately
behind city hall. It is currently
being used as an entry from Elm
into the parking lot behind the
police station.
Mayor Katherine Prater turned
the matter over to the parks com-
mittee for action.
Steve Hightower was a willing participant at a DandiLion fund-raiser this week as Mimi Corta of Harris
Methodist Hospital drew blood for cholesterol screening. The $10 blood test charge went to the drill
team to help finance their trip to Dallas where they will appear at halftime of the Cowboy game on Dec.
21. A second blood screening will be offered if response warrants it. Anyone wishing to participate
should contact Becky Neal at 445-2555. As of press time, the drill team lacked about $600 reaching its
$4,000 goal. The girls will perform at a fund-raiser at 6 p.m. Monday in the elementary gym.
Zachary files
for re-election
to JP’s post
Judge Bill Zachary has filed for
re-election to a third term as Erath
County Justice of the Peace Pet. 2.
Zachary commented that he feels
his re-election is especially impor-
tant in order to retain JP experi-
ence in the county since longtime
Pet. 1 JP Sarah Miller is not
seeking re-election.
He recently completed re-certifi-
cation courses at a judicial seminar
in Tyler which fulfills continuing
judicial education requirements set
forth by the Texas Government
Code.
“I am pleased with the encour-
agement from friends and support-
ers to seek re-election and I look
In spite of his precarious landing and rescue from the roof of a lorwar^10 servin8 precinct 2 in the
downtown building, Santa got settled in to hear the wish lists of future-” Zachary said,
dozens of area youngsters as the Christmas season kicked off in
Dublin last week. Photo by Kari Lanting
Preserving nature’suntamed beauty
By CAROL KUNZ
Contributing Writer
Millie Autrey knew very little
about taxidermy until her friend,
Helen Sliva, gave her a lifelike
quail in a glass dome as a gift.
She displayed it in her favorite
beauty shop and as more and
more of the shop clients asked
about it, she started thinking
about the business opportunity.
“Women wanted the quails for
their husbands’ offices,” Millie
recalled, “so I told Helen that
anytime she wanted to go into the
taxidermy business, just let me
know.”
Twenty years ago, taxidermy
was a field dominated by men,
but Helen and Millie weren’t
deterred, and H&M Taxidermy
was formed.
Calls soon began to come in
from throughout the United
States, and she had no doubt the
business had strong growth possi-
bilities.
“Word of mouth was our best
advertisement,” Millie said.
As Helen worked on products,
Millie became the company’s
public relations representative,
traveling a 50-mile radius of
Dublin to hand out flyers.
“If 1 saw a man with a gun in
the back of his truck. I’d stop and
give him a pencil, a hat and a
picture of Helen's work,” Millie
laughed.
These days H&M Taxidenny
does mostly custom work al-
though very little of it, with the
exception of deer, is for custom-
ers in this area.
“The Colorado hunters come in
Millie Autrey and Helen Sliva, surrounded by wildlife and birds, in their La Sombra home/workshop
first each year. This year, they
brought us a caribou, an elk and a
bear,” Millie says.
“Bears are usually made into
rugs which are preserved by a fur
dresser,” she said. “When the
bear is made into a rug, it’s as
soft as a mother’s love."
Hunters have brought animals to
H&M from throughout the United
States, as well as Australia and
South Africa.
“One time we were contacted
by a man in South Africa who
wanted a turkey from Texas so
we had to find one and shoot it
for him,” Miller laughed. “Since
then, he has wanted a deer and a
few other things, but he came and
shot them himself. We prefer to
shoot with a camera rather than a
gun.”
“There are some things that are
illegal to shoot, like an owl, for
instance. But if we could have
done an owl, we would have been
millionaires,” she laughed.
“Some of the animals that are
found dead on the roadway are
okay to mount but some aren't,
such as robins, hawks, eagles and
owls. Ducks are okay but, like
deer, they have to be tagged,” she
said.
Obviously the deer have to be
tagged to prove they were killed
legally. The game wardens make
periodic stops to be sure animals
are properly tagged.
One day, four game wardens
showed up.
“I didn’t worry one bit because
I knew Helen always has every-
thing tagged and she also puts
correlating marks on the deer,"
she said.
Because of the amount of cus-
tom work, Helen and Millie are
busy year-round but their house
and shop at La Sombra Estates is
especially frantic until the local
deer season ends in early January.
It may take awhile to get a deer
mounted since Helen and Millie
don't have anyone working for
them, but “the first 1997 hunter
here will get his deer head done
first," Millie said.
“We take them by uumber,
although we have been offered
extra money to put someone’s
first, but we don’t do business
like that,” Millie said.
The customers are usually will-
ing to wait, even if it takes two
years, because they know it will
be done right and it will be
beautiful, Millie said.
“Our business card says our
work is guaranteed and I think we
are the only taxidermists who
claim that,” Millie said.
While deer and other game
animals are the most common
projects, they have had a porcu-
pine in the freezer for two years.
The animal was found at the
Dublin Park and given to them.
“When Helen has time to do it
someday, she will, but it is our
own personal animal so Helen
won’t take the time away from
the business to do it,” she said.
“But I admit, I can’t wait to see
how she does that one,” Millie
laughed.
Helen has done a mountain lion
from the Marfa area of West
Texas and an almost-extinct
golden ferret which was brought
to them by a Bunyan resident
after it was killed by dogs.
“The sweetest thing we’ve done
was a baby ostrich standing next
to the egg," Millie said. “We
See ANIMALS page 8
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Wright, Karen. The Dublin Citizen (Dublin, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 1997, newspaper, December 11, 1997; Dublin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761917/m1/1/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dublin Public Library.