Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 8, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 26, 1992 Page: 4 of 60
sixty pages : ill. ; page 24 x 15 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
fy*
PAGE 4A • THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE, SUNDAY JANUARY 26, 1992
/
' * *
Letters to the editor
Tension already there
Still trying to educate
•f M
CED tax questioned
'*•. from page 1
To the editor:
Well, congratulations,
Livingston, we’ve done it again
- that is. to manage to make the
Houston news on Channel 13
and I don’t know how many
other stations.
It seems strange to me that I
have two children in the high
school, yet I hear about our ra-
cial situation from a Houston
station, just prior to Marvin
Zindler and his "slime report."
Perhaps my kids don’t know
what’s going at school, or
maybe they just simply mind
their own business.
At any rate, I am curious to
know why, after the initial inci-
dent on Thursday afternoon, the
school principal did not take
some action for security at the
campus for Thursday night. That
would have perhaps avoided the
possibility of the racial slurs
being written on the building in
the first place. Still no security!
Instead, the thinking was to
sweep the graffiti under the
‘ proverbial rug. Does anyone still
know who was responsible?
They should be found out and
punished, white or black.
Then, the womtifcwho called
pBEtX and lied aoout who she
Wls add where she worked
definitely made things worse.
And as for KETX, didn’t anyone
there have the foresight to verify
the call before making the an-
nouncement?
I also feel that tension
definitely existed before
Thursday’s racial remark was
made. That was all that was
needed to fan the fine. Why are
there no black teachers? Are
there teachers of color at other
Livingston schools? If not, why
not? Mr. Pritchard remarked that
several black teachers had left
and he would love to have them
back. Would one of these
teachers be the one he forced to
resign last year because of pres-
sure from prejudiced parents? I
speak of Coach Gulliory.
Mrs. West finally made some
sense when she asked, "What is
the game plan for Tuesday?" I
feel much safer now since Mr.
Pritchard said that he would get
with Dr. Major and come up
with a "game plan."
In my opinion, the best way
that parents can help this situa-
tion, and I speak of both black
and white parents, is to teach
your children that racism is
wrong, very, very wrong.
Victoria Lovett
Route 1 Box 946
Livingston
(According to LISD’s Central
Administration Office, there are
no black teachers at the primary
school, but there is a black
teacher assistant; there is one
black teacher at the high school;
one teacher, one nurse’s aid and
one secretary at the junior high
are black; and there is one black
teacher and one black nurse at
the elementary school. - ed.)
Hospital stay recounted
To the editor:
Sunday, Jan. 19, Sandra
Moore had an article in the
paper about the hospital and I
just want her to know, I agree
with her 100 percent about the
conduct of this hospital and the
employees. As far as the ad-
ministrator looking into the
problems and doing, something
about it, I doubt it! I’ll believe it
when I hear from her myself.
Here’s why. ■
Not too long ago, a hospital
survey was sent out to the
people of Polk County. What I
had to say about the hospital
much less even about (98 per-
cent) of the nurses was pathetic.
I was a patient in the hospital
several weeks ago and was
brought in by ambulance, and all
of my medicine had to go with
me. When we arrived at the
hospital, my medicine was
turned over to the ER people for
their records. They had to have
it to know what I take. Once ad-
mitted to a room, the nurses that
came to see about me were very
rude and they took their time in
coming, too. Sometimes it
would be at least 45 minutes, if
medicines were kept instead of
given back to me. When I was
discharged three days later, my
medicines were brought to me,
but not all of them were there.
One important medication had
been kept and I discovered this
when I got home. Of course, it
was never returned, but who is
going to’turn over-a medicine
(especially one that is.sold be-
hind ihe Counter) if they can sell
it themselves or steal it for
someone else. ^ .
This day-in-time it doesn’t
matter what type of drug it is
that people are going to take or •
steal for the money. Whether it
be a prescribed or street drug,
just so it brings money; that’s all
they care about and to have an
employee, .in a hospital no less,
do this makes it even worse and
gives the hospital a bad name. I
asked for my medicine to be
turned in, but I was not as for-
tunate as Mrs. Lester. See,
where my medication could be
sold for money, Mrs. Lester’s
money was taken but she at least
got her purse and valuables
back.
Several of you have been
not longer, before they answered lucky when you were admitted
my cate (depending on what to the hospital because you were
nurse it was). I tried fo Have my treated real nice. All I have to
doctor contacted so I could get
transferred to Galveston and I
couldn’t even get that done. It is
To the editor:
Mr. Coward; how fitting your
last name is. ft is so fitting simp-
ly because you are otjyiously not
living in the modern world. If I
am a so-dllled ''freak." then why
didn’t you respond to my earlier
letters and let the others know
what you believe gay people to
be? Or are you the one who sent
me the letter I mentioned in my
last letter? If so, I forgive you,
and if not, I apologize for accus-
ing you. Why do I go to bed
with men? Simply because a
man can satisfy my wants and
desires like no woman can.
You know, I’ve been told
countless times before and prob-
ably be told countless time again
that I wouldn’t be gay if the
right woman came along. But
Carlie, you, me and the other
cidzens know you are what you
are. But please understand this --
I’m not a promiscuous young
man. I’m careful and choosy
about a "probable" partner. My
partner and I will talk about
whether we are positive or nega-
uve and we will still use a con-
dom.
Carlie, I grew up in a Baptist
church and, to this day, I still at-
tend church with my family. Do
you go to church? If you do,
you’ll understand this - And
why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye, but
considerest not the beam that is
in thine own eye? Carlie, my
parents aren’t approving of niy
preference, but they understand
it makes me happy and that I’m
damn proud, what of it. My
grandparents were happy to
have my ex-lover and myself
visit them. They were not angry
and unproud. Yes, dear boy, .1
know what the "older gener-
ation" did to gays (we’re not
queers), you "bashed" them arid
it has carried over into this day ’
and age. You have evidendy
heard of* the death of Paul
Broussard. He was killed by a
group of teenagers. Carlie, he
was killed with nails driven
through boards and he was
stabbed. But to top it off, he was
in an area frequented and lived
in by members of his and myA
"own kind.”
Is that the answer - killing
something you dpo’t like or
don’t understand? How would
you like it if being straight was
considered immoral and a sin
upon all humanity? If 4he other
citizens don’t like my opinions,
then why havcriJt they too writ-
ten; or are you their mouth-
piece? Decent people, yes, we
are decent people according tp
the definition of Mr. Webster.
We work, we have a sense of
what is right and wrong, we are
law abiding. But most of all we
have pride like everyone else.
Carlie, is my trying Jo warn
about the devastation of the dis-
ease AIDS "filth?" You are ap-
parently a "good old boy" with a
"beer-hall" mentality. Did you
know that there are gay "good
old boys?” About multiplying,
many adopt or have children
from a marriage before they
decided to come out of the
proverbial closet. I love
children, but my nephew is
enough. Yes, a boy, and I
haven’t molested him.
I would like to thank Angela
Bickford for the package she
sent me (you should thank her
too, Carlie). To Lisa and 3.
Wagner, thank you for having
the understanding and the heart
to hot deem what I write as
"filth" and to understand the
plight many may face who;
aren’t heeding my warnings or
the warnings, that are
everywhere. , X v
Dean Murphy
Bo*2205
Livingston
Credit where it's due
die nurses’ responsibility to take
care of a patient when they’re
sick and if they don’t like it,
they shouldn't have that posi-
■ dan.
Dort’t get me wrong, not all
were rude, but only two were ac-
tually nice to me while I was
there. It’s pretty bad when you
call the nurses’ station and won-
der which nurse is going to walk
in next.
That’s not ail either!
Just recently, a lady by the
name Of Thelma Lester wrote a
letter to the^ editor about her
purse being stolen at the gas
pomps. She got liicky, because it
was returned to a store and she
Was contacted.
While in the hospital, my
say is it must have been a dif-
ferent staff of nurses than when
I was there.
The only thing that really
bothers me, aside from them
being rude, was my medicine
being stolen.
Our young people are learn-
ing how to say no to drugs at an
early age, but we have a lot of
people now that can’t or won’t
quit drugs because that is their
income. A very bad income at
that!
If anybody knows how I can
get admitted to the Galveston
hospital without having to be ad-
mitted here, please let me know.
I sure would appreciate it See,
this isn’t the first time my
medicine has been stolen.
Angela Bickford
* 312 W. North
To the editor:
pr *' ■* ,, _ ;>
I b^ljeve ;in giving credit
where credit is due. Immediately
after my husband’s open heart
• surgery in October, 1989, niy
family and I carefully con-
sidered our options regarding
the constant health and con-
valescent care needed for my
mother, Elizabeth Foster, age
9o:
Mother lived with us the past
15 years. We were able io care
for her needs. -However,, after •
my husband’s heart surgery, she
and I and my family prayerfully
made the decision to admit her-
into a nursing home facility -
this after consultations with our
family doctor, Ray Perez.
I would like for all your
readers _ and Qur friends and
neighbors to know what good,
loving care mother received
there, especially during the past
year of declining health.
I was a hospital patient myself
in Houston three times during
this period. On one occasion my
husband was also a bed patient
at the same time. It was sure
comforting to know that my
mother was in such good hands
[in the nursing home}. This in-
cluded Mr. D.C. Amq|d, ad-
ministrator, and his staff of
charge nurses, nurses and assis-
tants, especially those assigned
to the north wing. I Was known
and called by first name and
anyone responsible for mother’s,
care'would honestly.tell me how.
il she was doing. . .
'y, My husband and I Visited hfet
almost daily. It w*is during .our *
last visit wifh her on Jan. '5,.
1992,-1 knew her condition had
worsened.
We had previously been ad-
vised by Dr. Perez that mother’s
quality of life was poor and
would continue to deteriorate.
However, it was still a great
shock when the time came to
face the crisis.
I talked to the charge nurse on
duty, expressing my feelings and
concerns. She assured me they
would keep a close check on
mother and would call me if any
changes occurred. We went
home. Shortly after arrival, the
charge nurse called advising that
mother’s condition had wors-
ened and that Dr. Perez had been
notified and an ambulance dis-
patched to take mother to the
emergency room at Polk County
Memorial Hospital. Mother died
before the ambulance arrived...
and while we-were enroute to
the hospital.
Needless to say our loss is
great and our hearts are heavy,
but we have faith in God and are
blessed with a' loving, caring
family and friends. Thank you.
X _
„ , -Shirley A. Preston
‘ • Route 7 Box 857
Livingston
Do You Have An Opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise brief and to the point. Each letter
tncoarages readers to submit let- should contain no move than 650
ten expressing their views and words, tetters exceeding that length
opinions. wilbe edited or withheld from pub-
• The letters wiB be published in lication.
the Basrrpri si’s "Letters to die edi- Letten will also be subject to ed-
tar* column on Thursday or Sun- Ring for libelous or slanderous stale-
dar. , ments and commercialism.
iIm tetters may be written on any This column is not meant as a fo-
subject or issue of general interest, rum for political candidates, although
. . . , He welcome comments from me
LStten awtst.be accompanied by public concerning campaign issues,
a name and mailing address and During election campaigns we will
wil to subject to edmr^ for gram- not allow mention or specific local
■mv,. punctuation, spelling and
fawiyth ' • lottery may be «nbm«p#vt in per-
Leucrs must include a telephone son or can be mailed to "Letters to
■amber for verification. We will the editor", Polk County Enterprise,
aotpabtofa the telephone number. P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, TX.
........ 77351.
POLK COUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 327-4387
(USPS 437-340)
Entered as Secbnd-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston.
Texas 77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1987.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES - $15.00 per year tax included. In county,
$16.00 per year, out of county, $17.00 per year out of state.
Published semi-weekly. Sunday and Thursday at 100 Calhoun In
Livingston. Texas by the Polk County Publishing Co.
.
• • • j -
Any erroneous reflection upon the character, stading or reputa-
tion of any person, firm or corporation which may appear in this
newspaper will be gladly corrected upon being brought to the
attention Of the publisher. ^
Opinions expressed in columns are those of the writer and not
necessarily those of this newspaper. ' ? '
Opinions expressed in editorial are those of the Enterprise.
POSTMASTER: POSTAGE PAID AT LIVINGSTON. TX. PLEASE
SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO P.O. BOX 1276, LIVINGSTON.
TEXAS 77351. V " ' .
MK'
made on taxes widely were later,
determined tp be Invalid -And the
taxpayer could not geMheir money
back,” he commented. ■ .
Many corporations, whose tax
investments are substantial; are
obviously looking at these issues
with a concerned eye.
Champion International,Ta'major
taxpayer in both East Texas and
Polk County, has taken the stance
to pay - but under protest.
^Champion’s policy is sending a
statement along with a check
saying to consider the payment
under protest due to the questions of
constitutionality," said Champion's
tax representative^. Victor
Oldenbuttle of Huntsville.
"The penalty and interest
involved is substantial, so the
company plan is to go ahead and
pay at the eleventh hour. We don't
. want the schools sitting on pins
and needles about getting their
money," Oldenbuttle stated.’
Some school tax officials, such
as Corrigan-Camden ISD Tax
Assessor-Collector Linda Kidd,
have said payments have come in
slower than usual. Also, Kidd stated
that some taxpayers have sent in
. tax payments for the school district
only and not for the Polk CED.
"Our attorneys have recommended
that we return the money because
the law states the taxes have to be
collected together. Their
recommendation was, 'who knows
what the law is going to be'?" Kidd
said.
The C-CISD tax official said
individual home owners are
generally paying their taxes, but
large businesses are not. According
to Kidd, as of Jan. 22, C-CISD had
collected $197,549 in school taxes.
The district has been disbursed
$344,240 by the CED, which is, so
far, their share of the 16.383
percent of the total the district gets
from the county education district.
Kidd said that she believed
taxpayers were being confused by
all they have read in the newspapers
regarding the taxes and protests. *
Polk County Tax Assessor-
Collector Robert C. "Bob" Willis; *
whose office collects CED/scHtol
taxes for all but C-CISD and ■
Onalaska ISD, agreed there was
^ . K ■' . • ......
Commodity distribution
much confusion.
"There is a lot of
miscommunication and a. lot . of
different opinions," Willis said.
"You can talk to two different
lawyers and you will hear different
opinions." r*.
Willis said that tax collection, as
of the end of December, is running
about 2 percent behind normal
collection. He attributes that,
however, to statements having been
sent out later than normal rather
than taxpayer concerns over legal
validity of the CEDs.
"I don't think the CED problem
has caused any collection problems
right now. It all really goes to the
school in a roundabout way,"
Willis said.
The county tax assessor-collector
pointed out that CED taxes
generally comprise better than one-
half of the taxes of the individual
districts and the revenue is budgeted
by the schools.
According to Willis, taxpayers
are waiting until the last minute to
pay, although he sees that as
normal.
"The majority waits until the end
of January to pay anyway. A lot of
individuals, people wanting to hold
on to their money and the interest,"
he said.
Despite all the concern over the
CED constitutionality case and
taxes, Willis said his advice to
taxpayers is to pay the taxes.
"Common sense tells you that if
the law is declared unconstitutional
that, probably, what you put in
will be all right up to this point,*
Willis said.
The county tax assessor-collector
also advised a way to save money
for those so inclined.
"Nothing in the world is wrong
with waiting. But if people want to
save money, just put it in the mail
and have it postmarked by Jan. 31.
It will be a couple of days before
we get it,” he stated.
With the approaching tax deadline
and the surrounding confusion,
some, like the taxpayers
association's Alloway said there '
Could be a simple solution-a court
ruling.
"One would hope fhe court would
go ahead and make, a ruling on the
constitutionality and the taxes and
put the taxpayer at ease," he said.
Food available Tuesday
LIVINGSTON - Commodities
will be distributed at the following
-locations from 8 a.m. until supplies
are gone Tuesday, Jan. 28: Cor-
rigan VFW Hall, Onalaska Senior
Citizens Center, Segno Volunteer
Fire Department, Goodrich Precinct
1 Road and Bridge Barn, Indian
Springs Totem Pole Lodge,
Blanchard Baptist Church, Com-
modity Office in Leggett,
Livingston VFW Hall and
Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reser-
vation Administration Building.
Those who have not signed up
on this program and wish to do so
must sign up at the distribution site
where they will pick up their com-
modities after 9 a.m. on the day of
distribution.
People need to furnish their own
paper sacks to carry out their com-
modities.
It is the policy of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture that
there will be no discrimination in
the program for reasons of race,
color, sex, age, religion, nationality
or handicapped condition.
No person will be allowed to
pick up commodities for more than
themselves and one other person.
If you have any questions, con-
tact Shari Brent, commodity direc-
tor, at 327-5929 between the hours
of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday
through Friday. No applications
will be taken at the Leggett Com-
tribution, Brent said. "You must
sign up at the distribution site after
9 a.m. the day of distribution."
Spanish class offered
LIVINGSTON --/.Livingston
ISD will be offering a Conversa-
tional Spanish Class beginning Feb.
10.
The class is designed for those
who have a job requiring a basic
understanding of Spanish, are
traveling to Mexico soon and wish
to be able te speak some of the lan-
guage, or those who just wish to
learn a little Spanish.
The class will cover general ter-
minology, sentence structure and
areas, of particular interest to the
participants.
The class will meet on Mondays',
6:30-8:30 p.m., beginning on Feb.
10 and will last four weeks. The
cost for the class is $16. •'■•’*
LISD Community Services wiH
also be extending its hours on MOn- «
days and Wednesdays in order to
begin evening -GED classes. The
center will be open on Mondays
and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. until
9 p.m. beginning Monday, Jan. 27.
Regular hours will continue during
the other days. Community mem-
bers interested in obtaining tneir
GED may begin the class at any
time according to their personal
schedules;
Any community member inter-
ested in signing up for Conversa-
tional Spanish or desiring more in-
formation about any of the. LISD
Community Services programs
may contact the LISD Community
Services office at 327-5556.
• • «' *» *
Marker grants available
LUFKIN - The Pineywoods
Foundation of ’ Lufkin today * an-
nounced a giant program that will
fund state historical markers that
would preserve forest history in 12
East Texas counties.
The two-year funding program
will fund the total cost of new state
markers, provided they deal with
some aspect of forest history, such
as sawmill ghost towns, early
manufacturing, historic lands,
notable individuals and families,
logging equipment and trains, his-
toric buildings, and other topics.
Hie offer was extended to Coun-
ty Historical Commissions in An-
gelina,* Cherokee, Houston, Jasper,
Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk,
Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby,
Trinity and Tyler counties.
- The program will be in effect
throughout 1992 and 1993 with
each county permitted to fund one
new marker per year.
Additional information about the
grant program may be obtained by
contacting the Foundation at P.O.
Box 1731, Lufkin, Texas, 75901.
telephone 409/634-7444.
Texas state historical markers are
erected by County Historical Com-
missions with the approval of the
Texas Historical Commission in
Austin.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 8, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 26, 1992, newspaper, January 26, 1992; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781390/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.