The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 40, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 1980 Page: 1 of 4
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(ABSORBED THF. GAZETTE CIRCULATION BY PURCHASE MAY 12. 1928)
VOl. 105—NO. 40. SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3,19*0. 4 PAGES -15 CENTS PUBUSHED EVERY FRIDA Y
Totaling stock sales
Chairman of the Hopkins County Industrial Fund drive, Jim
Holland (seated) totals the shares sold in the first 48 hours of the
drive to sell $113,000 of the non-profit stock. B.F. Ashcroft (left)
president of the organization, and Randall Maddox, one of the
workers in the project, lend a hand. In just over two days $42,885
has been raised toward the goal of paying off the fund's recent
purchase of land for development. Holland plans to meet with
campaign workers again atll am. Thursday in the Chamber of
Commerce to see where the organization stands.
—Staff Photo
Hospital room rate increase,
parking area expansion set
Room rates at Memorial Hospital will be
going up within 30 days in the wake of
Thursday night action by the Hopkins
County Hospital District board of direc-
tors.
The increase — from $69 to $79 per day
for semi-private rooms and from $73 to $83
per day for private rooms - was called
after directors approved a salary increase
and wage program for hospital employees,
Memorial Hospital Administrator Glenn
Kenleysaid.
The board also approved a temporary
parking expansion program at Thursday’s
meeting.
Kenley said Friday morning the ef-
fective date of the higher room rates has
not been determined, “but after review, it
should come within 30 days.”
The salary package approved Thursday
night was the contributing factor in the
room rate increase, Kenley pointed out.
"Even with the higher rates, we still are
going to be considerably below what
hospitals are charging for rooms in this
general area,” he said.
“In order to pay the new salary scale,
(the board) had to increase room rates,”
the administrator said.
The boost in room rates, he added,
should permit hospital administration and
budget officers from having to utilize tax
funds for day-to-day operation of the
hospital. Tax funds currently are used to
fund improvements, new equipment and
debt retirement.
"Hopefully, if our forecasts are correct,
our patient load as expected and our
collection projections accurate, we don’t
see any immediate need to divert tax
money for operational use. Sometimes we
do have to use tax dollars to help keep the
hospital going, but not often," Kenley said.
“The salary and wage program adopted
will result in pay raises for almost
everyone. The new rates were based on
surveys of payrolls in our general area,
and on surveys published by the Texas
Hospital Association. In reviewing the
surveys, the board found that in some of
our professional ranks we were a little
below average for hospitals of our size,”
Kenley said. All employees will be con-
sidered for pay increases, he added.
The board also voted to revise existing
plans to expand parking to provide for
approximately 80 additional parking spots
at the entry level to the hospital lobby.
“We have had a number of complaints,
especially from the elderly and the in-
valids who have had to park on the existing
lower lot and then walk up the hill to reach
the lobby,” Kenley said, “and we have
been short of parking spaces in general as
well.”
The additional 80 spaces should provide
adequate parking on the first-floor level to
County scores a first in law clout
Hopkins County has set a new record —
and now carries more “clout” on a major
law enforcement agency organization than
the state’s more populous counties.
District Attorney Jim Chapman has
been named to the board of directors of the
Texas District and County Attorney’s
Association while Investigator John Sands
has been picked to be chairman of the
board of directors of the Investigator’s
Section of that same organization and
Larry Vandiver, county attorney’s in-
vestigator, has been named as a member
of the board of directors for the In-
vestigator’s Section.
The selections came in Dallas recently
where the association held its annual
meeting.
“This is the most representation to come
from one county in the history of the
association,” Chapman said, “it’s driving
Houston and Dallas crazy because they
have something like 200-300 prosecutors
and here Hopkins County has put more
people on the boards than anyone ever has
before.”
Sands, a former Commerce policeman
and and instructor at East Texas State
University, has served on the professional
criminal investigator’s committee, the
membership committee and served two
years as secretary for the board of
directors for the investigator’s division
prior to being named its chairman.
Vandiver, a resident of Cooper, in the
past has served on the legislative com-
mittee. He has been working as in-
vestigator for County Attorney John Perry
for about a year after having worked in a
similar position in Delta County for some
time.
Chapman has been active in the
professional criminal investigator com-
tnittee, the state funding committee and
others during the past years and will now
serve as a member of the board of
directors.
The association is divided intd two
sections, according to Sands, with the
prosecutors working in one section and the
investigators in the other.
“We set the legislative priorities in the
meeting in Dallas," Chapman said.
“We’re concerned about the constitutional
amendments that will be voted on in
November.”
He said the association will oppose the
amendment to give the state the right of
appeal and will favor the amendment to
provide new appelate courts for criminal
Rodeo ticket
sales open
Advance ticket sales for the Central
Rodeo Association Championship
Finals, to be held in Sulphur Springs
Oct. 8-11, are now underway, ac-
cording to spokesmen with the
Hopkins County Chamber of Com-
merce.
Chamber staffer Joyce Drum said
advance tickets will be $4 for each of
the four performances, but admission
price at the gate will be $5.
County okays budget
alleviate the problem, the administrator
said.
The planned expansion will be on a
temporary basis, with the parking area
topped over a four-inch crushed rock base,
Kenley said. “The reason the board went
with a temporary parking expansion plan
is that eventually we expect to be ex-
panding our building into that area.”
The new lot is to be constructed on the
east side of the current building, and work
on the area is expected to begin in about
two weeks. “We will continue with plans
for permanent widening of the street in
front of the hospital entry to increase
emergency parking areas,” Kenley said.
Contractor for the parking expansion
project is John McKenzie Construction Co.
of Commerce. The temporary lot will not
require additional construction expenses,
as some areas of an already-approved
parking improvement contract were
“traded" for the new facility, Kenley said.
Project expense is expected to remain at
the approved contract level of about
$28,000.
Kenley added that average occupancy at
Memorial Hospital has been about 80
percent of capacity for the past couple of
weeks and about 75 percent capacity for
the year. The occupancy rate has in-
creased about five to six percent over the
same period last year, Kenley said.
By JIM MOORE
News-Telegram Staff
Members of the Hopkins County Com-
missioners Court passed a $2,546,622.50
budget for Jan. 1, through Sept. 30,1981 at
their meeting Monday morning, approved
a three-cent tax rate increase, and held a
public hearing - although only one citizen
was present and had no comments.
The county has been on a calendar-based
fiscal year since 1973 and will revert to the
Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 fiscal year next
October.
County Judge Joe R. Pogue said that the
tax rate would be increased from $1.05 per
$100 valuation based on 30 percent of
market value to $1.08 per $100 vauluation
based on the same percentage of market
value.
However, he said that taxes would be
reduced in most cases as the state no
longer collects 10 cents per $100 valuation
for the state lateral road fund.
He said that the budget as adopated
includes $130,000 in revenue sharing which
has not been passed by the Congress as of
yet.
The revenue sharing funds, if okayed by
Congress, are to be divided equally bet-
ween the four road and bridge precincts
with $2,500 going to labor and $30,000 going
to the purchase of new equipment in each
precinct.
Judge Pogue said that the county had
installed and purchased a large amount of
culverts and bridges during the past year,
one of the reasons why the road and bridge
precincts’ budgets were increased.
Precinct 1 Commissioner J.D. Hatley
said there is always a strong possibility
that the budgets will have to be amended
due to changing requirements during the
year.
5 In quickly going over the budget, Judge
Pogue said that the tax office budget
should show a surplus during the new
^ fiscal year because at least three em-
ployees will not be needed by the end of
July.
He said that due to the Hopkins County
Property Appraisal District taking over
some of the functions of the office, there
would be “no further use for the em-
ployees”.
The County Clerk’s budget is higher than
normal because more records are being
microfilmed and additional filings made.
The District Clerk’s office budget is also
increased for the same reasons according
to Pogue.
The County Judge’s office also had
notable increases.
Judge Pogue said that part of it was due
to the salary increases and that ad-
ditional funds had been included for out-of-
county travel ($3,000 for the judge’s office
for nine months as compared to $1,500 for
the previous year).
He said the commissioners and himself
would be going to Austin to lobby before
the legislature to try to get an increase in
the amount of money received by the
county for handling license fees, and
hopefully to receive some money for
handling boat and motor license fees for
which the county currently receives
nothing. *
The budget also includes' $5,000 for
commissioners’ out-of-county travel under
the nine-month budget as compared to
$3,000 for the previous 12-month budget).
Pogue said that the County Attorney’s
budget includes permanent inclusion of an
investigator position which in the past has
been partially funded by other sources on a
decreasing scale each year; and that the
Sheriff’s Department budget includes
increased travel expenses for transporting
prisoners and out-of-county investigations.
Also included for the Sheriff’s Depart-
ment are at least two and possibly three
new patrol cars.
The judge reported that the county
should have a surplus at the end of the
nine-month period as the budgeted ex-
penditures were “over-budgeted”.
Pogue said that elected officials'
salaries were based on $16,250 for 12
months. On the current budget nine-month
basis, official’s salaries will be increased
to $13,800 from a corresponding nine-
month base of $11,875 this year.
All county employees are to receive an
8.35 percent pay raise based on their
salary, plus the county will pick up the
Social Security being deducted from their
paychecks (6.65 percent as of Jan. 1)
resulting in a 15 percent overall pay raise.
Elected officials will also have their
Social Security payments made for them,
supplementing their pay increase as well.
Pogue said the court reporters and the
deputy auditor will receive a 10 percent
pay raise plus the Social Security
payments. The combination will amount to
an equivalent increase of about 16.65
percent increase overall. The salary of the
County Auditor will be the same as the
elected officials.
Pogue also said the district judges have
sent down resolutions that will be ap-
proved at the next regular session of the
court, mandating the pay increases of the
court reporters and the county auditor’s
office.
The budget was approved with the
provision that the $130,000 included under
revenue sharing might have to be changed
depending upon the outcome of
Congressional action.
Water rationing eased
“I’ve decided that we shall return to
Option 1 as of 8:30 a.m. this morning,” said
City Manager Marshall Shelton early
Wednesday morning of the most recent
change in the city’s water rationing saga.
The change will allow residents of
Sulphur Springs and other users of the
water supply system to water their yards
and shrubs during both night and daylight
hours except from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and
from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
He said that the city is still consuming
approximately 3.2-million gallons of water
daily - even with the most recent rainfall.
“I wanted to go off (rationing) com-
pletely but due to the consumption, I was
afraid of muddy water again,” Shelton
said.
He said that in the latter part of October,
the new clarifier will go on line and that
will help keep the city from experiencing
muddy water in the future — but it is not a
complete solution to the city's water
problems.
The city has been on some type of
rationing system since July when the
water rationing ordinance was first
passed.
State ag chief airs
optimistic viewpoint
By JIM MOORE
News-Telegram Staff
“Texas is number two in the nation in
agricultural production and number three
in the nation in agricultural exports,” said
Agriculture Commissioner Reagan V.
Brown Thursday night as he addressed
members of the Ark-Tex Council of
Governments at their annual meeting in
the Hopkins County Civic Center.
Brown added that California was
recently found to have been including
forestry products in their claim to the
number one spot which decreases the
difference between California and Texas
in agricultural production.
In introducing Brown, Delta County
Judge Troy E. Kern who also serves as
president of the ATCOG, said that Brown
has visited every city in the State of Texas,
31 different states and is a former Kauf-
man County Extension Agent.
“I have the best job in Texas,” Brown
told the 200 present as he related
memories of working in and around
Hopkins County, "The Councils of
Government have a chance to build
through a common effort “so we can ac-
complish more.”
His speech stayed on an optimistic level
interspersed with humor.
“I can take two Texans and whip six
cases.
Chapman said the amendment con-
cerning appeal courts would change civil
appeal courts' jurisdictions to allow them
to hear criminal cases as well as civil
appeals.
The district attorney said that the
change will help to speed up the delay of up
to three years for cases now waiting to be
heard by the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Reagan Brown......Optimistic analysis
Russians,” he said, “or if they’re Aggies, I
can whip eight.”
Brown had taught at Texas A&M
University for several years as well as at
Colorado University prior to being elected
agriculture commissioner.
He said that in 1941, the U.S. did not have
an army. By 1945, the country had built an
army, camps and won a war on two fronts.
“The country just kinda has its tail
between its legs right now," said the
decorated World War II veteran, “but it’s
gonna be all right.”
He served in the U.S. Army and attained
the rank of captain.
Brown said that his office is responsible
for 47 laws that relate to agricluture.
Those laws include inspection of eggs,
750 grain elevators, providing for in-
spection of seeds, 17,000 nurseries and
marketing programs both inside the state
and out as well as overseas.
He said that America hears about all of
the kids in trouble but that today more
youths than ever are excelling in athletics
and in scholastic endeavors. “But you
never hear about them,” he said.
"All men are created equal - but you
damn sure don’t have to stay that way,”
Brown said, “that's why we’ve got schools
like East Texas State University in
Commerce and A&M and others.”
The former professor said that the world
may be on the way toa food disaster.
“Mexico City has 20 million more people
than all of Texas combined,” he said.
By using agricultural technology like big
tractors, fertlizer and spraying, American
farmers are providing food to the people of
the world.
He said that just a few years ago, there
were five times as many dairy cows as the
331,000 now in the United States. “We’re
producing more milk than can be used,”
he said, “and this is the only place in the
world where you can drink the milk or eat
the meat without worrying.”
He stressed that the U.S. "is growing
into a great brotherhood. We have to do it
if we survive.”
Brown said that we now have machines
that could dig the Panama Canal in three
months.
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Keys, Clarke & Woosley, Joe. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 40, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 1980, newspaper, October 3, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth779898/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.