Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 83, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1997 Page: 1 of 26
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Polk County Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Livingston Municipal Library.
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ftft
ffhibarnake plea
Ibr meeting space
Growth reflected
LIVINGSTON ~ No one is say-
had idea, bat the Boots sod Babes
sqnasa dancers think an aufitorium
or other group meeting Ihcility is a
higher priority - sad they are not
About a dozen members of the
Boots and Babes came before the
Livingston City Council Tuesday
right to make, their case, and their
setttaMMs were echoed by represen-
tatives from the Livingston Art
Leans and Quillen Guild.
For over 15 yean, the Boots and
Bdbes.helddwir Friday night dances
an the second door of the old fire
station, hot they were asked to va-
cate earlier this year because of
plans to remove that building, as
well as the present city hall and au-
ditorium, to twin- room for the new
municipal complex.
Finding that it would cost over
SlOOjOOO to relocate the city offices
during construction, the site plan
was maneuvered to allow the exist-
ing buildings to stand until new
construction is complete. The air
conditioning and power to the old
fire station has been removed, how-
ever, to accommodate construction.
•We're finding it hard to find a
place to dance," said Boots and
Babes spokesman Frank Reeves.
The 58-member club has anywhere
from two to 10 coupler visit their
dances each week, people who buy
gas and meals here and contribute to
the local economy, he added. The
club's annual Jubilee, held at
Livingston High School, brings in
350-400 people.
With building use and custodial
fees, it costs the club $40 an boor
to use the high school, en amount
the club cannot afford on a regular
basis, Reeves said. The VFW was
receptive to letting the Boots and
Babes use their facility for Ha
Friday night dances, but the veter-
ans host bingo on that night The
American Legion, Reeves said, has
limited use of its facilities by out-
side organizations doe to problems
id the past.
While saying he thinks the
Rotary Club's idea of helping fund
an amphitheater is a fine one,
Reeves said he feels the funds and
effort could be channeled into some-
thing that all of the community or-
ganizations could use. A former res-
ident of Pasadena, he died a covered
pavilion built by that dty 35 yews
ago which rapidly became home to
"spiders and pigeons” but little else.
"Irregardless of what die Rotary
Club does, it would be good to
have a place at Pedigo (Park), or
Following DHS investigation
Care facility closed
AUSTIN - After hearing testi-
poaad an immediate threat to resi-
dents' health and safety, State
District Judge Jerry Delians of
Austin ordered that the Ihcility be
dosed and the reridents relocated.
Texas Attorney General Dan
Monies filed suit in state district
court in Travis County against
Mary Chatmon, doing business as
Adult Foster Home, and
obtained a temporary restraining or-
der. The home is located at 135 W.
Abbey in Livingston.
In response to a complaint, the
Texas Department of Human
Services (MIS) investigated the
home last month. The investigation
determined that the defendant was
operating a personal care fectiity
without a license and that the condi-
tions at the facility constituted a
threat to the health and safety of the
According to the MIS, the inves-
tigator found five aided*
Alzheimer* patients, each requiring
assistance in walking, eating,
bathing and other daily activities/
Other information indicated the
possibility of three other residents.
The DHS surveyor observed a
person, who identified herself as a
nurse's aide, holding an elderly fe-
male resident under the arms, drag-
ging her across the floor to take her
to the bathroom. Another elderly
woman was reportedly tightly re-
strained in a lawn chair in the liv-
ing room and was not given fluids
or repositioned over a three-hour pe-
riod. The ties were so tight that the
surveyor could not place a finger
between the resident's body and the
restraint ties, the attorney general's
office indicated. Officials say there
were no doctor's orders for the re-
straints.
The DHS investigator also found
LIVINGSTON - Plans have been
presented for a new hospital, the
city's TV cable system will be un-
der new ownership shortly after the
first of the year, construction of a
new city hall/jpolice station is well
under way, and bids are being
awarded for further development of
Pedigo Park and a Trades Day area.
These were all topics of discussion
during a lengthy meeting of the
Livingston City Council Tuesday
night.
Things are moving quickly m the
city, but one proposed project
seems to be moving a little too
quickly for the comfort of some
city council members.
Covenant Group, a seven-year-old
firm dedicated to building indepen-
dent and assisted-living facilities,
primarily for senior citizens, is
proposing to build a 50-unit as-
sisted-living complex, and possibly
nn independent living facility, on
the U.S. 59 bypass, across from the
hospital.
The Livingston area has a large
gap between private housing owned
by older people and the area's nurs-
ing homes, said David McNayr, di-
rector of management operations for
Convenant Group. His company
hopes to fill that gap, as it has in
other areas where the units - which
range from two bedroom/one bath
units to 300-square-foot studio
dwellings -• are filling rapidly.
The facilities are designed for
those who would like to get out
from under everyday tasks such as
housekeeping, meal preparation,
home maintenance and keeping up
with utility bills, but who do not
require nursing home care.
"We're not sticks and bricks,"
McNayr raid of his company. "We
. _ ,don’t aril real estate, we sell
WHAT A CATCH - This youngster displays her prize catch lifestyle."
finiirturina nnrtirinarinn in the "Kids' Fishing Tournament" OcL While the council appeared io
e tournament was sponsored by the embrace the concept and Convenant
Bass Anglers Association and over Group's track record, they hesitated,
300 children participated. but ** not *>°h, when it came to
KNTnraei PHOTO »Y EMILY EANKI
the company's plan to obtain stale
tax-exempt private activity bonds to
help fund the project
Since there are more requests for
funds than there are funds available,
the state determines bond recipients
through a lottery. In order to get
their name in the hat Covenant
Group asked the city to form a
Housing Finance Corporation.
The corporation's board, selected
by the council, would then pass a
"resolution of inducement" to allow
the project to be considered in the
lottery. The corporation would
simply act as a conduit and would
assume no liability or financing
obligations for the project ex*
plained Chris Mays, executive vice
president for Caprock Securities, a
firm which specializes in purchas-
ing and reselling tax exempt bonds.
The chances of getting in the top
25 percent of the numbers drawn in
the lottery are slim. Mays said, but
if Convenant Group is able to fi-
nance the project with tax-exempt
bonds, it would save on construc-
tion costs and subsequently charge
less to its residents, he added.
The problem? The deadline to ap-
ply to participate in the lottery is
this Monday.
City Attorney Gaffney Phillips,
who received her copies of the re-
lated legal documents less than
three hours before Tuesday's council
meeting, quickly reviewed the doc-
uments and noted several typo-
graphical errors that she said could
be easily corrected, but also ques-
tioned some of the language in the
documents, including the project's
description. Mays indicated those
matters could be clarified before the
agreement is finalized.
Several council members indi-
cated they would like more time to
review the proposal. .
Because of the Monday deadline,
however, the council voted to create
the corporation and to appoint the
See AIRCRAFT pg 11A
County's sweetheart needs new heart
By EMILY BANKS
Enterprise reporter
LIVINGSTON - "Polk County’s
Sweetheart" needs our support
again. In need of a new heart, Haley
Land, 15, was placed on a donor list
in September for the second time in
her short life.
In addition, she is facing an addi-
tional operation in which a defibril-
lator will be installed to sustain her
until a suitable donor heart can be
Haley's parents are originally
from Livingston and she and her
family lived here until 1993, when
her father Dwight, a district mea-
surement technician fra natural gas,
was transferred to Beaumont After
leaving Beaumont, the family lived
in Fannett prior to settling in
Dayton where they currently reside.
Bom April 14,1982, Haley was
diagnosed at three months with hy-
perthropic cardiomyopathy. Her
mother, Kerry, explained that this
is a condition in which the heart
muscle is thick and enlarged and has
trouble pumping.
She received a pacemaker at the
age of 13 months and all seemed
well for a time. A biopsy in
January 1988 revealed severe deteri-
oration of her heart and the decision
was made to transplant the organ.
Haley became known as "Polk
County's Sweetheart" through the
ordeal as the entire community fol-
lowed her progress. Friends and
family members, as well as local
schools, churches, civic groups and
businesses, were in the midst of
coordinating a massive fund-raising
effort to help defray the cost of a
transplant when Haley's parents re-
ceived a call from Texas Children's
Hospiul telling them to bring
Haley to Houston.
Haley received her new heart dur-
ing a three-hour transplant opera-
tion on Feb. 9,1988.
Homebound fra the first year after
the transplant, Haley adjusted to her
new heart just fine and with the ex-
ception of a few minor setbacks -
things that go along with being a
transplant patient - everything was
as close to normal as possible.
In what her mother referred to as
"a dose call," Haley's pancreas shut
down in 1995 and she spent her
seventh grade year homebound
ing. They didn't know that then (at
the time of Haley's transplant),"
Kerry said. "When she had her
biopsy a few months ago, they
found that the narrowing had in-
creased from last year. '
"A defibrillator is the only thing
(short of a new heart)," Haley's
mother said.
According to Kerry, the defibrilla-
tor will serve dual purposes •• it
will shock the heart back if it
should stop beating, and if needed,
it can pace the heart if the heart rate
gets down.
"4's very risky so the doctors had
to contact other parts of the country
(to get additional opinions)," Kerry
said. "In most cases, they put it in
and stop the heart to see if it works.
She's so critical that they can't stop
her heart, so they're planning to put
it in and just assume it works."
When a suitable heart is located,
Kerry said she's not sure whether
the transplant will take place at
Texas Children's Hospital or St.
Luke's Hospital. "The children's
transplant team at Texas Children's
Hospital has never dealt with what
Haley's going through but a doctor
at St. Luke's has, so both the adult
and children's transplant teams are
See BENEFIT pg. 4A
-
She rebounded though, and since
POLK COUNTY'S SWEETHEART - Hale
received a new heart in
Thil il the 30th year ta
the dub has held die
sy Land, 15, for-
February lSfel*
: on the donor hat
■€ 1 ftfVYt
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 115, No. 83, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1997, newspaper, October 16, 1997; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth798029/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.