Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 5, 2004 Page: 1 of 126
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HONDO ANVIL HERALD
Published in Hondo, Texas
Website: www.hondoanvilherald.com
Volume 118, Number 32
Thursday, August 5, 2004
Two Sections, 28 Pages
75 Cents
Tax-free holiday
is this weekend
Back to school items will be
tax-free this weekend. Shoppers
will not have to pay taxes on cer-
tain purchases made during the
three-day period, Aug. 6-8.
«
McDowell to hold
6th grade mini-camp
McDowell Middle School will
hold a 6th grade mini-camp on
Thursday, Aug. 12, in the
McDowell Cafeteria. All incom-
ing 6th grade students and their
parents are invited and encour-
aged to attend, from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
Students will receive their sched-
ules and have a chance to meet
their teachers for the 2004-05
school year. Parents will have an
opportunity to address questions
to the McDowell administration
from 5 to 5:30.
Woods Intermediate
parent orientation set
Woolls Intermediate School
parent orientation is scheduled for
Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m. for
all 3rd grade parents. On Thurs-
day, Aug. 12, 4th grade parents
will meet with their child's
teacher at 7 p.m. and 5th grade
parents will meet at 7:45 p.m. You
will meet in your child's class-
room and you may bring their
school supplies at that time.
D’Hanis ISD orientation
D’Hanis Jr. High School orien-
tation will be held Monday, Aug.
9 at the school cafeteria. Incom-
ing 6th graders and parents will
meet at 6 p.m. and incoming 7th
and 8th graders and parents will
meet at 7 p.m.
D'Hanis High School orienta-
tion will be held Thursday, Aug.
12, at the school cafeteria. Incom-
ing 9, 10 and 11th graders and
parents will meet at 6 p.m. Incom-
ing 12th graders and parents will
meet at 7 p.m.
Students will fill out beginning
of the year forms and be informed
of dress code, schedules, disci-
pline and lunch room changes.
HHS.freshmen, new
student orientation
set Friday, Aug. 13
All incoming Hondo High
School freshmen and new stu-
dents should report to the high
school cafeteria at 8 a.m. on Fri-
day, Aug. 13. Schedule cards have
already been mailed to students.
Books will be issued, book cards
filled out, lockers assigned and
activities are planned throughout
the morning. Students should to
be at the high school until around
noon. If more information is
needed, call the high school of-
fice, 426-3341.
Hondo Band Boosters
prepare for new season
Hondo Band Boosters will hold
their first meeting for the upcom-
ing school year on Monday, Aug.
9, 6:30 p.m. at the McDowell Jr.
High Band Hall. All parents/
guardians of band students are
Band Boosters. Please note the
change of time and location. Fol-
lowing the meeting, boosters will
meet at the high school to clean
the concession stand.
Anvil Herald weather watcher Jeff Berger
reports the following info for the past week:
Date
Wed., July 28
Thurs., July 29
Fri., July 30
Sat., July 31
Sun., Aug. 1
Mon., Aug. 2
Tues., Aug. 3
High Low Rain
91 74 .00
90 76 tr.
73 .90
80 .00
73 .00
75 .00
73 .00
86
91
93
92
94
Total rain for the past week: 0.90 in.
Total rain for July: 0.93 in.
Total rain for August: 0.00 in.
Total rain for 2004: 34.70 in.
Avg. high temp, for the week: 91°
Avg. low temp, for the week: 74.9°
High temp, for 2004:103° on May 31
Low temp, for 2004:
30° on Feb. 14 & Feb. 15
PHOTO BY JEFF BERGER
Summer heat... or football fever?
As Hondo Owl football practice got started Monday, towel-
draped Head Coach P.J. Wells gave senior Andy Peters a
few defensive pointers.
Herrera reports on
asbestos abatement,
building demolition
By William Hoover
Anvil Herald Correspondent
City Manager Robert Herrera
gave Hondo City Council a brief
report Monday on the city’s
progress in demolishing
substandard buildings.
“If you haven’t had the
opportunity to drive down
Avenue M, the former Hondo
Produce building has been taken
down,” said Herrera, who noted
Chapman Grain assumed all the
expenses. “I’d like to compliment
Chapman Grain for keeping their
commitment to the city.”
On Hondo Municipal Airport
property, a large storage and
supply facility, located adjacent
to Universal Rundle, is in the
process of being demolished.
“We hope, in the next 10 to 12
days, the process is complete,”
said Herrera.
“When the demolition of the
facility is complete, our goal is
to move (the demolition crew)
over to the building adjacent to
the Hondo Art League,” said
Herrera. “Most of the buildings
were built by the military in the
1940s and, at one point or
another, they have gone through
an asbestos abatement process.
Two weeks ago, council
authorized a contract, to abate
the asbestos from the building
adjacent the Hondo Art League.
They are actually removing the
asbestos at this moment.”
In other business
• Council changed one
appointment to the Hondo
Economic Development Cor-
poration’s Board of Directors.
The seven-member board is
charged with overseeing
distribution of income from the
city’s new half-cent4B sales tax,
which became effective July 1.
The 4B economic development
tax is expected to generate
revenues of $250,000 per year.
“Vance Tomey, who is on the
board as a representative from the
county, has moved into town and
is now a local resident,” explained
Mayor Ed Fisher. “We need to
appoint another person to replace
him, who is living in the county.”
Fisher recommended council
appoint Medina County resident
Kevin Christiansen to replace
Tomey on the HEDC. Without
further discussion, Councilman
Doug Rivers offered the motion
to accept the mayor’s nomination
of Christiansen. The motion
passed by a unanimous 4-0 vote
after receiving a second from
Councilman Sammy Nooner.
Councilman Todd Hargrove was
absent from the meeting.
The HEDC’s board members
are Ann-Michelle Long, James
Garcia, Keith Lutz, Trinidad
Cuellar, Eric Torres, Arturo
Dominguez and Christiansen.
• Council made one nomi-
nation to the board of managers
of the Medina County 9-1-1
Emergency Communication
District. The term of the city’s
current representative, Castro-
ville City Administrator Jack
Yates, expires in September.
Each city is charged with
recommending a replacement
candidate.
“We have two nominees,”
said Fisher. “Yates, who was
appointed to the unexpired term
last year, and Patrick Bourcier,
who was nominated by Devine
Mayor Steve Lopez.” Fisher
said Devine had not been
represented on the 9-1-1 board
in quite some time, and Lopez
wanted to see his nominee
appointed. Rivers offered the
motion to nominate Bourcier to
serve a two-year term on the 9-
1 -1 board. The motion passed by
a unanimous 4-0 vote after
receiving a second from Long.
• Council accepted a bid for
$18,500 from Relmco Inc. to
construct and repair curbs and
gutters jn the city. As part of the
city’s street and alley
maintenance program, the city
will be repairing or constructing
20-foot curbs at 46 locations,
adding a total of 920 linear feet
of street drainage enhance-
ments. “The repairs are in the
alleys throughout town,” said
Street Department Superin-
See MANAGER, Pane 2A
Local Guardsmen
prepare to leave for Iraq
Deployment
expected to be
18-20 months
The local Texas Army Na-
tional Guard unit will conduct
a closing of the drill hall cer-
emony in Hondo, Sunday, Aug.
15, at 2 p.m.
Everyone is invited to come
out, show support and offer en-
couragement for the 28 depart-
ing “11 Bravo infantrymen.”
Among others, Mayor Ed
Fisher will say a few words.
After undergoing a couple of
months of intense training at Ft.
Hood, the unit is scheduled for
an 18- to 20-month deployment
in Iraq, according to SFC Frank
Aleman, platoon sergeant.
1LT James Cunalata is pla-
toon leader of the DET. 1
Charlie Company 1/141 Infan-
try, Hondo TX.
This is the second deploy-
ment for the unit since 9-11.
They were called up to active
duty on Sept. 13, 2001, in Op-
eration Noble Eagle, with most
of the unit going to Pueblo, CO,
where they spent a year guard-
ing a nuclear site.
Taking sides in Quihi
Incorporation
issue draws
heated debate
By William Hoover
Anvil Herai i> Corresirindi ni
The Friends of Quihi and the
Medina County Environmental
Action Association have spurred
efforts to incorporate the city so
that it might be able to regulate a
proposed quarry and railroad,
owned by Vulcan Materials, and
any other large businesses heading
westward from the San Antonio
Metropolitan Area. SA’s
extraterritorial jurisdiction already
extends well into Medina County.
Dr. Robert Fitzgerald, leader
of the incorporation effort, sees
the events in Quihi as similar to
those which have occurred in
Castroville during its history.
That city successfully opposed
the railroad in the 1880s and Sea
World in the 1980s, according
to Fitzgerald.
“They have been picking and
choosing what kind of enterprise
enters their town,” he said. “The
Sea World project was supposed
to be a done deal, but they
stopped it. The people of a town
have a right to be selective. It is
not unusual for people to want
to keep things the way they are.
That is why the opposition is so
confusing. It ought to be up to
the people to decide if Vulcan
or other businesses come in. We
know we cannot work with the
county. We feel they have let us
down, so we had to find a way
to take things into our own
hands. Self-determination is
what this is about.”
Opponents of incorporation,
led by James Tonne Jr., say
Fitzgerald, not Vulcan, is
dividing the community.
“They are trying to destroy us
when we just want to be a quiet
little town and get along,” said
Tonne. “Fitzgerald is turning
everyone against each other just
to fight Vulcan and the railroad.
I don’t care about the quarry or
the railroad, just my little house.
He is incorporating and dividing
a friendly little town and the
only reason he wants to be a city
is to control roads.”
“He is a dictator with people
blindly following him,” said
Tonne. “He is tearing up the
community. What are we
supposed to do?”
How does the FOQ leader
respond to Tonne’s allegations
that he is a dictator trying to
divide the community?
“Nothing could be further
from the truth,” said Fitzgerald.
“I want what the people of Quihi
want, even if the opposition
doesn’t believe it. Change is
coming to Quihi. If we do
nothing, we will have to tolerate
History has a way of
repeating itself. Indeed, what
is happening in the historic
town of Quihi in 2004 - a
struggle between a Medina
County community and a
proposed railroad - occurred in
Castroville in 1879.
Quihi was established in
1845, one year after
Castroville was first founded
by Henri Castro. The
community of Quihi, however,
is attempting to incorporate to
try to regulate quarry giant
Vulcan Material’s proposed
new railroad and 1,800-acre
rock quarry. Like it did over a
whatever Vulcan dictates. The
local people won’t have a say in
anything, whether they are in or
out of the city limits.”
Incorporation, he says, is far
better than becoming part of San
Antonio’s ETJ.
“If you are within five miles
of the city limits, you are in the
ETJ with no say,” said
Fitzgerald, who noted San
Antonio’s ETJ extends to the
edge of Mico and surrounds
Green Glen Acres. “To my best
calculation, San Antonio’s ETJ
is six miles east of Quihi.”
Fitzgerald said the door-to-
door phase of the incorporation
campaign would begin soon.
“We are going to spread the
truth about not having property
taxes,” he said. “Only the
people can levy property taxes
via a referendum. If we go to the
county with an interlocal
agreement to contract services,
such as road repair, the county
has it within their power to give
See QUIHI, Page 2A
125 years ago in its sister
settlement, the proposal to
build a new railroad is stirring
controversy in the Quihi area.
The incorporation election
will take place Sept 11.
In 1880, Castroville city
leaders refused to allow the
Galveston Harrisburg & San
Antonio railroad to run their
tracks through what was then
a well-established 36-year-old
city on the Medina River.
“The citizens of Castroville,
after having been given the
initial opportunity to have the
GH&SA pass through their
See REACTION, Pane 2A
Reaction to rail line nothing new
PHOTO BY KEVIN NEELEY
Revvin’ up the spirit
The Hondo Owl Band began its first days of practice for the upcoming school year on
Monday. Supplying the bass percussion are (from left) Mfono Crabtree, John Plagens,
Spencer Dominguez, and Chris Rodriguez.
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 5, 2004, newspaper, August 5, 2004; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819427/m1/1/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hondo Public Library.