The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 41, Ed. 1 Friday, October 9, 1981 Page: 1 of 4
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MICROFILM CENTER, INC.
P.0. BOX 45435
DALLAS TX 75235
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VOL. 106—NO. 41.
(ABSORBED THE GAZETTE CIRCULATION BY PURCHASE MAY 12, 1928)
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS, FRIDAY, OCT. 9,1911.
*
4 PAGES-IB CENTS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
Not much room to maneuver
Hopkins County Sheriff John E. (Junior) Tittle gave a brief tour
of the local jail Friday morning when he made an official
statement of support for the Oct. 24 bond election in which $1.5
million is being sought to build a new jail. Tittle said that
deputies find it dangerous to walk down the narrow hallways
due to the danger of a prisoner being able to reach through the
bars and grab the officer. The jail capacity is being reduced to
seven by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards unless an
appeal by county officials is sufficient to keep it at the present 13
— a figure that Tittle says is about V under the number needed
in Hopkins County.
—Staff Photo
City banks report new
record; caution voiced
Money reserves in the Sulphur Springs
area continued the modest increasing pace
of earlier in the year as deposits in the
city’s four banks increased by $2.5 million
in the third quarter.
From a year ago, the increase is more
spectacular — up $17.5 million in the
compilation of reports released by the
banks as of the close of business Sept. 30.
The third-quarter growth was about the
same as reported in the second quarter of
1981, enabling the financial houses to
report yet another record for deposits and
total assets.
Bankers remained impressed with the
economic balance of Hopkins County as
reflected by the figures. But several also
took positions of some caution for the
fourth quarter, with the impact of new
federal budgetary restraints remaining a
question.
At the end of September the combined
deposits of the four banks stood at
$137,960,303. The total was up from
$135,472,722 at the end of June and up from
$120,477,075 last September (a 14.5 percent
increase).
Total assets of the banks rose in a more
dramatic fashion in the quarter, from
$142.1 million three months ago to $155.6
million at the end of September. A year
ago the figure was $135 million.
“The local economy appears still to be
strong,” noted Rick Palmer, president of
the First National Bank. “We have been
somewhat isolated from some of the ills
experienced in the rest of the nation, and
I’d say we have been doing better than
many areas.
“But I wouldn’t say we can just assume
that this isolation will continue.”
S. T. Garrison, president of the Peoples
National Bank, also sounded a note of
caution.
“We will be watching closely to see how
the fourth quarter goes,” Garrison said.
"After all, many of the federal cutoffs just
took effect this week. I am wondering how
that will effect the overall economy.”
Despite high interest rates encountered
in the nation at present, loan activity grew
substantially at the four local banks in the
Rockwell announces
workforce reduction
Citing a significant downturn in oil and
natural gas related product orders,
Rockwell International’s Flow Control
Division operation in Sulphur Springs has
announced a six percent reduction in
employment.
Jim Murray, general manager of the
valve production facility, informed em-
ployees of the plant Friday that 50 of the
present 750 employees will be laid off in the
move.
The reductions will affect both
production and office personnel, Murray
said.
The general manager said that the move
was strictly a result of economics and that
orders for three valve lines at the plant
which are designed for use in the oil and
natural gas industries have been dropping
steadily for several months.
Rockwell earlier announced that
production of the Nordstrom valve line
would be transferred from Sulphur
Springs to a new plant in Waco, effective in
January. Murray stressed that this move
had no direct bearing upon the workforce
reduction at Sulphur Springs, but did
announce that the Waco startup will be
delayed in an attempt to maintain more
work activity at Sulphur Springs.
'No confusion...no problem...1
■
Sheriff backs jail bond issue
“I’m supporting this effort to build a new
Hopkins County Jail 100 percent,” said
Sheriff John E. (Junior) Tittle Friday
morning.
“I’ve personally evaluated what this
committee is trying to do and there is no
confusion, no problem and only a desire to
see that a proper jail is built at the least
cost that will meet the standards set by the
Texas Commission on Jail Standards
(TCJS),” Tittle said. “The new jail will be
adequate but will not be a fancy place for
people who violate the law to just sit
around and enjoy the luxuries of life. It will
be a far cry from that.
“A jail has to be a place of confinement
that meets the requirements set forth by
the Commission (TCJS), but I personally
guarantee that I will withdraw my support
of this project at any time that it starts to
become a motel for people who have been
arrested.”
Just Friday morning, the present
Hopkins County Jail was so full that one
prisoner was sleeping on the floor on a
mattress. /
Hopkins County citizens are facing a $1.5
million bond election on Oct. 24 to provide
the funding necessary to build a new jail.
Hopkins County's jail population was cut
from the previously approved 13
maximum inmate capacity to seven last
month by the TCJS.
Sheriff Tittle and County Attorney John
Perry are appealing that decision and will
be allowed to keep the jail at a population
figure of 13 until the appeal is acted upon
by the TCJS.
The alternatives to building a new jail
are few, the Hopkins County sheriff points
out.
“We can keep on with the limit of seven
prisoners that the Commission has set
down on us and then take the others to jails
that have been certified,” Tittle said, “but
if we do that, I’m going to need extra
deputies, more cars, more money for gas
and it could cost us up to $35 per day to
keep a prisoner in another jail — if the
other jails have room for our prisoners.
“If they need the space, we’ll have to go
get the prisoner and take them somewhere
else and that’s going to get expensive. And
then every time a lawyer comes in here
and says he wants to see his client, we’re
going to have to go to wherever it is that
we’ve got the prisoner boarded, pick him
or her up and bring them back here to see
the lawyer and then take them back to the
jail.”
The Commissioners Court appointed a
committee of 95 people to look into the jail
problem and then a steering committee
was picked to put together the plans and
take the results back to the complete
committee.
The committee will meet Monday, Oct.
12, at the Civic Center at 7:30 p.m. to work
out the next phase of the plans.
“A lot of people don’t understand just
how bad the problem is,” Tittle said.
“Right now it’s almost dangerous for a
deputy to go check on the prisoners
because there’s so little room to walk up
there.
“It’s going to cost us somewhere bet-
ween $150,000 to $200,000 per year to take
prisoners to other jails and I’d say that
was a conservative figure. They tell me
that that kind of money will cost about four
cents extra In taxes — and we still
wouldn’t have a jail.
“This committee is planning to build a
jail that will meet the minimum standards
of the commission with a steel bunk and
the toilet facilities within the four walls.
We don’t even have enough room to put in
the security type of toilet fadlites where
we are now and they cost about $2,000
each.”
As to plans to build the jail behind the
existing facility, Tittle explained that
there is not enough room and to buy or
condemn the property in the area to build a
jail that would be big enough would run the
cost up even higher.
“We’ve got three acres that’re already
paid for," Tittle said, “over on Rosemont
Street and it would be ridiculous to buy
more land where we wouldn’t have any
parking space.
“The Rosemont Street location gives us
room for expansion and plenty of
parking.”
“I just hope that people will help us by
passing the bond issue, because without it,
law enforcement is going to be severely
hampered in Hopkins County,” Tittle said.
County churches come to
aid of needy hurt by cuts
third quarter. The banks reported out-
standing loans of $74,719,679 compared
with $70,260,806 just three months earlier.
The September, 1980, figure was
$63,637,943.
Garrison noted that high rates certainly
have slowed loan demand.
“I had hoped to see some relief, but it’s
not too encouraging right now,” he said.
But Garrison noted that for the saver
there are now many more alternatives to
examine, which is a plus for those not in
the borrowing market.
Key comparisons for the banks at the
end of September and at the same point a
year ago follow:
SULPHUR SPRINGS STATE
Deposits were at $60,940,032, up from
$55,684,067 a year ago.
Total assets stood at $67,878,892 com-
pared with $61,395,367.
Loan volume was $34,416,090, up from
$30,218,505.
CITY NATIONAL
CNB deposits were reported at
$36,452,307, compared to $32,999,832 last
year. •.,
Total assets of the bank stood at
$41,818,977, up from $37,417,527 last year.
Loans were listed at $18,794,683 and a
year ago the figure was $17,510,342.
PEOPLES NATIONAL
The deposit figure was set at $26,791,249,
up from $24,547,321.
The bank listed total assets of
$29,613,546, a change from 1980’s total of
$26,854,864.
Money on loan totaled $16,369,097,
compared to $12,483,308 ayear ago.
FIRST NATIONAL
The city’s newest bank reported deposits
of $13,776,715 compared to $7,245,855 last
year.
Total assets grew to $16,280,133 from last
year’s $9,363,119.
Loans totaled $5,139,809 compared to
$3,425,789.
In churches throughout most of Hopkins
County, congregation members Sunday
began to step into areas where President
Reagan’s budget cutters did not fear to
tread.
The Hopkins County Ministerial Alliance
opened its Emergency Food Pantry
project, designed to restore at least one
social service which under most cir-
cumstances may no longer be available to
county residents.
The Emergency Food Pantry will be
available to county residents only, Vicar
David Holland of St. Philip’s Episcopal
Church, speaking for the alliance, said.
The emergency food pantry will operate
separately from the Alliance’s transient
aid project, which is funded through twice-
yearly offerings at community-wide
services.
The pantry will be administered through
the Hopkins County Community Chest
office under the direction of Lucy Vaden.
County residents who find themselves in
a food-related emergency and are unable
to obtain state or federal aid may qualify
for short-term help through the pantry,
Holland said.
“In disaster cases leading to a food
emergency, such as fire, theft, or even
inadequate planning, someone caught in a
bind may go to their pastor or to someone
in state social service offices and express a
need,” Holland said. “If the need is valid
and a person or family faces a food
shortage, they will be referred to the Food
Pantry and receive canned goods to tide
them over until other resources may be
obtained.”
Holland creates one scenario in which
the Food Pantry project could be of help:
“Suppose a family is away from home
and the buiding bums, all their cash is
destroyed and they have no bank
resources. Until the new social service
programs were cut, they could qualify for
emergency aid. But under the new
guidelines, the family would not be eligible
for food stamps because they had income
- even though it was lost in the fire.
“Local communities have to pick up the
slack in providing these social services to
residents. The Ministerial Alliance has
been called to offer leadership in such
programs.”
Holland said the alliance hoped to have
the pantry service in operation Monday,
following canned food collection drives on
Sunday in several churches across the
county.
“Different churches are approaching
the collections in different ways; at St.
Philip’s, for example, we are generating a
canned goods drive.”
The primary needs of the pantry at the
moment are canned vegetables, peanut
butter, powdered milk, canned meats,
baby food and box dry dinners such as
macaroni and cheese, Holland said.
“We can’t use home-canned products or
perishible goods because of space and
storage problems,” he added. “But we
hope to be stocked well enough to meet
emergency needs of unfortunate families
and individuals.”
Some churches already operate
emergency food pantry projects for
members of their own congregations, the
St. Philip’s vicar said. “It isn’t our in-
tention to move in on their territory at all;
we want to work with them in meeting
what we feel will be a developing need.
"The Alliance members believe we will
see a tremendous number of people
looking for help. With inflation and the
drying up of federal funds, state and local
governmental entities just are not going to
be prepared to meet needs. We expect to
be serving a number of elderly people and
children along with families who find
themselves the victim of disasters,”
Holland said.
Following the major drive on Sunday,
plans call for individual churches to issue
requests for donations on a rotating basis.
Churches not affiliated with the alliance
are welcome to participate, Holland said,
as is the general public and business - but
no concerted public campaign is planned
at the moment.
“We hope eventually to see it become a
community-wide effort under the
leadership of the Ministerial Alliance,” he
said. “We will be having a community-
wide problem as the normal sources of
emergency food supplies dries up.”
He added that the alliance would
welcome cash contributions as well as
material goods. “Hopefully, in the future
we will see schools become involved
through drives conducted by home rooms,
student councils and special one-time
projects, such as a dance or party with
canned food as the admission price.
“We also hope local industries will help
out by asking their employees to con-
tribute canned foods or by making cor-
porate contributions. We would be most
appreciative of the support, even though
we are not now planning any specific
campaign outside of member
congregations.”
Any person or organization wishing to
contribute may do so by calling Holland at
885-5921 or Lucy Vaden at the Community
Chest, 885-3452 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday. The Ministerial
Alliance will arrange to have the donations
picked up, Holland said. “Anyone wishing
to donate money instead of canned goods
may make checks payable to ‘Food
Pantry’ and be assured the funds will be
well applied.”
The local Ministerial Alliance plan so
impressed Bishop A. Donald Davis that,
when he received a letter outlining the
poposal, sent a check for $200 to get the
project started, Holland said.
The major restrictions on would-be
recipients, Holland emphasized, are that
they must be residents of Hopkins County
and must be referred by a minister or
social service organization.
“We aren’t setting up a grocery store for
the so-called ‘professional freeloader’,”
Holland said. “The Ministerial Alliance is
simply hoping to provide a needed service
on a local level that oq longer is available
through state or federal sources."
About a dozen churches currently are
involved in the Hopkins Bounty Ministerial
Alliance, Holland said)
Local fund drive begins
Hopkins County United Way
The United Way of Greater Hopkins
County (United Way Fund Campaign) for
1981-1982 officially kicked off Wednesday
at a noon luncheon to be held at the Civic
Center. Glynn Lowe serves as Campaign
Chairman for this year’s drive.
This year’s goal, as outlined by Lowe,
will be $58,800 for the Hopkins County
area. A concerted effort by the public and
businesses alike will be needed in meeting
the goal, he said. However, Lowe added,
“This year’s United Fund campaign goal
is actually lower than what is expected
from a community this size”.
Lowe stressed at a planning meeting
recently that it was important for
everyone to understand that the donations
are to help support such agencies as
abandoned children, people in distress, the
elderly, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts
and 4-H Clubs.
In keeping with
Hargrave, Hopkins
president, added
donations they
money would
community. He i
assurrence that 94
remain here.
The campaign will conclude Nov. 11th.
remarks, Bex i
United’Way
people made
whether the]
efforts in the]
lowerea wiin
to 96 percent
V •
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Keys, Clarke & Woosley, Joe. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 41, Ed. 1 Friday, October 9, 1981, newspaper, October 9, 1981; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth780762/m1/1/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.