The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 11, 1982 Page: 1 of 36
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Silsbee Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Silsbee Public Library.
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Mi'croplex me.
P. 0. Box 45436
Dall&B Tx 75245
School To Seeks Bids On
Fire Insurance Coverage
Bids for the fire and extend- and with area residents not
ed insurance coverage for the directly affiliated with the
Silsbee Independent School school system.
District will be •'sought, the The board approved funding
SISD board of trustees decided “Project: Breakthrough" for
The Silsbee Bee
VOLUME 64 - NUMBER 1 SILSBEE, TEXAS 77656, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11,1982 28 PAGES IN 4 SECTIONS
Tuesday night.
$350. The project is a program
The board also approved the being developed by the Parent-
contracts for those principals Teachers Association in the
up for renewal and postponed Silsbee schools, according to
making apy decision about The board members Dot Smith and
1982-83 school calendar to the Edward Dominguez.
March meeting.
The program is designed to
The board authorized Super- help reach those students who
intendent of Schools Weeks are unable to learn in the
Crawford to work with the regular school system, or who
district's insurance committee, are placed in detention or on
attorney and insurance consul- suspension because they violat-
tant to determine specifications ed school policies.
County To Re-Negotiate Some Points
In The Proposed Hospital Contract
for the bids.
The board also approved the
contracts for Leonard Barnett,
assistant principal at Kirby
Elementary School; Bill Con-
way, assistant principal at
Read-Turrentine Elementary
School; and Robert Edwards,
principal at Robinson Kinder-
garten School.
These contracts are for a
three year period and will
become effective at the begin-
ning of the 1982 school year.
The calendar for the 1982-83
school year was considered but
action to approve the calendar
was postponed until the March
meeting. Board member Ray-
mond Tennison said many
industrial plant workers were
not able to take vacations until
the late summer and that
starting school before Labor
Day might handicap these
families.
He asked the board to give
him time to consider the
calendar and discuss the calen
dar with other board members
The budget committee was
appointed. The committee will
be composed of board members
Raymond Tennison as chairman
and Bob Herbst and Davis
Whitted.
A list of substitute teachers
and substitute teachers’s aides
was approved by the board
upon the recommendation of
school Personnel Director S. A.
Wallace.
Superintendent Crawford
told the board that a committee
of the Southern Association of
Schools and Colleges would be
making the regular 10 year
evaluation of the school system
Feb. 16-18. Crawford also told
the board that a representative
from the Civil Rights office
would be making a “compliance
visit” to the school district
soon.
Crawford told the board that
National Public School Week
will be March 1-5 this year and
invited the board to participate
in the school open house
program.
The contract to transfer
control of Hardin Memorial
Hospital to the Contemporary
Health Management Corp. was
sent back for more negotia-
tions, sources on the commiss-
ioner's court said this week.
The commissioners met in
executive session during their
regular meeting Monday but,
upon returning into public or
open session, took no formal or
official action.
Sources on the court said
that the executive session was
held to discuss the contract for
Hardin Memorial Hospital.
The court instructed its
attorneys to return to the
health management corpora-
tion and to re-negotiate several
points in the proposed contract,
sources said.
According to one source, the
proposed contract differed ex-
tensively from what the cor-
poration had originally propos-
ed in its lease agreement .talks
late last year.
City Accepts Blue Cross Bid
For Employee Heolth Insurance
The bid for the health
insurance coverage for employ-
ees of the City of Silsbee was
awarded by thq, City Council
Tuesday night.
The bid was awarded to Blue
Cross Blue Shield, the company
already, providing insurance
Cornelia Douglas
Is Candidate For
Precinct 4 JP
Cornelia “Cookye" Douglas
has announced her candidacy
for Pet. 4 Justice of the Peace
subject to the May Democratic
Primaries.
Mrs. Douglas, 41, is a native
of Hardin County. She and her
husband, Jack, and children,
Leslie and Jack, own and
operate the Green Meadows
Farm. The farm is a' thmily
operation involving Douglas'
brother, Rohnie, and tWfeir
parents, P. W. and Qjllie
Douglas. ff
Mrs. Douglas was born in
Silsbee. She has been active in
politics as a volunteer and has
voluntarily assisted Pet. 4
Constable Jessie Cartwright
and the Sour Lake Fire and
Ambulance Department for
several years.
“The No. 1 thing I would be
is a fulltime Justice of the
Peace," Mrs. Douglas said. “I
would always be available to
work with the citizens and law
enforcement officials. In the
event of death, accident or
whatever the emergency, the
citizens can count on me to be a
working JP.”
Mrs. Douglas also said that
the follow up procedure, to
properly and accurately com-
plete the paperwork, forms and
warrants, y, the second most
important thing.
“The new laws are placing
more and more responsibility
on the justice of the pettce,”
Mrs. Douglas said. "For exam-
ple, if in the case of a death, the
paperwork is not completed
properly, some insurance com-
panies will not pay off to the
families. I will write warrants
only for good and sufficient
xeasons and will write them
accurately so that the convic-
tion can be obtained.”
If warrants are not carefully
worded, enforcement is im-
possible, Mrs. Douglas said.
“I will attend all of the justice
of the peace training schools
and will gain first hand ex- *
perience by working with other
knowledgeable judges in the
area,” Mrs. Douglas said. “I
have the total support and
backing of my family and would
make the justice of the peace
my only full time job. I ask
everyone for their vote and
support and anyone who has a
question to feel free to call me.”
coverage for city employees.
According to Cit*' Manager
RonjlrLHickerson, fivec^fnpan-
ies submitted bids for the
coverage. included on the list,
along with BC-BS, were Aetna.
American Benefits, Prudential
and Metropolitan Life.
BC-BS was not the lowest
bidder for the insurance cover
age, Hickerson said, but was
the company which provided
equal or better coverage than
what the employees currently
have at the best possible rate.
The premium will increase
$24 per month for each employ-
ee with one dependent, Hicker-
son said. That cost is divided in
half between the city and the
employee.
“The other companies did not
match what we already have in
the way of coverage," Hicker-
sqn said. "What they did have
in the way of benefits were
considerably less than what we
have now."
Hickerson noted that the city
employees had been involved in
the decision to recommend that
BC-BS be awarded the bid. The
bids of the five companies were
discussed with the supervisory
staff of the city and then, in
turn,,discussed by the supervi
sors with their staff, Hickerson
said.
“Actually, the employees
asked the city council to award
the insurance coverage to Blue
Cross-Blue Shield,” Hickerson
said.
The coverage also includes a
term life insurance plan, an
accidental death and dismem-
berment plan and a double
indemnity clause, Hickerson
said.
In other action, the council
appointed W. J. McDonald as
the election judge for the city
elections slated for April 3.
The council also approved a
request for increased street
lighting for the Timberlanes 1,
2, and 3 subdivisions. The
request will involve six addi-
tional street lights for the
areas, Hickerson said.
The subdivisions have initiat-
ed a "Neighborhood Watch"
program and wanted the in-
creased lighting to help in their
crime prevention efforts, Hick-
erson said. The subdivision
residents asked that the city
bring the street lights up to
conform with city standards.
Warrant Issued For Suspect
In Assault On Police Officer
Silsbee Policeman Roger
Slusher was released from
Doctor’s Hospital Monday
where he had been held for
treatment and observation fol-
lowing a Friday night assault.
Slusher was diagnosed as
having a serious bruise to the
collarbone area. An arrest
warrant for a suspect in the
case has been filed and is
pending serving.
The assault occurred Friday
night around midnight when
Slusher observed a black male
who reportedly appeared in-
toxicated entering the Kwik
Pantry on Loop 498.
Slusher followed the suspect
into the Istore and asked him to
step outside a witness said,
according to Silsbee Police
Chief Dennis Allen.
After getting the suspect
outside, Slusher determined
that the man was intoxicated
and was dangerous to himself.
Slusher than had the suspect
place his hands on the back of
the car as the officer began a
body search.
The suspect made a move-
ment, Allen said, and it appear-
ed his hands went towards his
pants. Slusher was then struck
around the head and shoulders
with an unknown object.
The assailant ran away from
the scene of the crime, heading
south on Loop 498 towards
Avenue J.
Slusher was taken to Silsbee
Doctor’s Hospital where he was
X-rayed. There were no broken
bones in the area, reports
show.
A warrant has been issued
for the arrest of a suspect in the
case on the aggravated assault
on a peace officer charge. The
male was approximately 6 feet,
2 inches tall and weighed 225
pounds. Slusher positively
identified his assailant.
While attempting to serve an
arrest warrant on the suspect
in the assault on a peace officer
case, Silsbee Police discovered
another Hardin County resi-
dent wanted on a capias war-
rant for evading arrest.
While trying to serve the
warrant and make the arrest,
police said they detected the
odor of marijuana and, upon
further searching, found four
ounces or more of marijuana.
The possession of more than
four ounces of marijuana is
considered a felony.
The arrest was made at 370
S, Sixteenth St. in Silsbee.
Arrested was Eddie Floyd
Edwards, 25, of 607 Ave. F.,
Conroe. Edwards was arraign-
ed by Judge Robert Ward of
Pet. 1 who set bond at $2,500.
The arrest was made Saturday.
(Sm Police Soc. 1; Pago 8)
Among the differences aired
during the executive session,
the source said, were the
authorizing of the health man-
agement corporation to sub-
lease the county hospital facil-
ity, to use the facility as
collateral for loans for improve-
ments at the facility and in the
indigent care program at the
hospital.
The earlier, tentative agree-
ments between Contemporary
Health Management Corp.
(CHM) and the commissioner’s
court called for CHM to assume
all liabilities and debts now
owned or charged to the
hospital, to staff and supervise
the operation of the hospital
and to give Hardin County
$10,000 a month for the rental
of the facility.
The rental money was to be
reinvested in the indigent care
program for the county, the
earlier agreements said.
The county hospital, which
has been governed by a board
of directors, has had difficult
times keeping doctors and
staff.
Mrs. Oscar Yellott, president
of the board of directors, has
said that the leasing of the
facility was necessary to “get it
(the hospital) out from under
political control.”
Mrs. Yellot said during the
earlier negotiations about the
leasing of the facility that the
“bad political name” given to
Hardin County and some politi-
cal manuevering by certain
past commissioners caused the
"various conflicts" which made
getting and keeping doctors at
the hospital difficult.
Mrs. Yellott has been against
leasing the facility in the past.
"There has been -so much
friction about getting and keep-
ing doctors," Mrs. Yellott said,
“and you cannot operate a
hospital without doctors."
In other action taken by the
court Monday, the commission-
ers authorized County Extens-
ion Agent for Agriculture
Larry Allen to seek information
from area agriculture produc-
ers and livestockmen about a
proposed countywide fire ant
control program.
The program would be sub-
sidized by federal monies and
would make insecticides avail-
able for use at a reduced rate.
Allen is to report back to the
commissioners with informa-
tion or a recommendation based
upon the feelings of the resi-
dents of the county. Persons
have been invited to call Allen
in the Hardin County court-
house and express their views.
The court postponed making
a decision on whether to adopt
or reject a proposed “Deferred
Compensation Program" being
offered by the National Associ-
ation of Counties for county
employees.
The commissioners heard
about the proposal but decided
to study the provided literature
and return a decision during
the Feb. 22 regular meeting.
In other action, the commiss-
ioners:
- approved paying the elec-
tricity bills for two persons who
presented their request for aid
before the court.
-approved travel expenses
for representatives, from the
agricultural extension service
office and the county clerk’s
office.
--approved an agreement for
contracted services for the
juvenile probation department.
-approved the laying of a
water line alongside a county
road and the crossing of a pipe
line across a county road, both
in Pet. 1.
-authorized advertising for
bids for a pickup truck for
Pet. 3.
--postponed making a decis-
ion about awarding a bid for
toilets for the Hardin County
jail because the bid had to be
reworded and republished and
bids will be accepted until the
Feb. 22 meeting.
-passed taking action on a
request from Sheriff H. R.
“Mike" Holzapfel for an amend-
ment to the sheriffs office
budget at the sheriffs request.
- passed taking any action on
proposed changes in the proce-
dure for purchasing supplies for
the road and bridge depart-
ments.
-passed taking action on an
amended plat for the Country
Lane Estates because County
Attorney has not had time to
review the legalities at ques-
tion, according to Pet. 4 Com-
missioner Ronald White.
-passed taking action on a
request for a pipeline crossing
in Pet. 4 because a representa-
tive from the company making
the request was not present for
the meeting.
-passed taking action on
accepting a plat for the Big
Thicket Retreat No. 2 because
no representatives from the
association involved were pre-
sent.
Board Approves Minor Changes
In Appraisal, Firm’s Contract
A contract with an outside
appraisal firm for the county’s
1983 appraisal was approved
for the second time last week
by the Hardin County Apprai-
sal District board of trustees.
The original contract with
the appraisal firm of Truett
Pritchard and Associates of
Houston was approved in Octo-
ber, 1981. The Houston firm
returned the contract with the
request that certain language
in it be changed or deleted.
Glen Kirby, a Kountze attor-
ney and legal counsel for the
appraisal district board, said
there were three changes ,the
Houston appraisal firm . was
requesting.
One of those changes involv-
ing the use of current records
met with some opposition from
board members. The contract
was approved with all the
reqested corrections.
The Houston firm wanted to
be sure it would be allowed to
use the district's records, in-
cluding those being developed
Lumberton Board Renews Contracts
Of Principals, Program Directors
Five school principals and
two program directors in the
Lumberton school system had
their contracts renewed by the
Lumberton school board last
week.
Employed for another year
were High School Principal Dr.
Betty lies, High School Assis-
tant Principal Don Lorenz,
Middle School Principal Harold
Pollard, Intermediate School
Principal Dr. John Van Paassc-
hen and Primary School Princi-
pal Fred Morgan.
Also given another year on
their contracts were Band
Director DeLane Cassell and
Athletic Director Cliff Larsen.
All but one of the renewals
were for the regular contract
plus the automatic increase
because of an increase in the
longevity of the employee, both
with the state as a teacher and
with the school district.
Athletic Director and Head
Football Coach Cliff Larsen was
given an additional $1,000 on
his coaching increment from
the local school district. He now
receives $5,000 above the regu-
lar state base rate.
The decision on each of the
contracts came after the board
met with each of the parties
involved individually behind
closed doors.
“Each principal met with the
board” in an executive or
closed, session, Dr. Philip
Allen,' superintendent of the
school district, said. The sess-
ion was designed to allow the
board of trustees “to have some
verbal interchange in an infor-
mal session” with each of the
persons whose contracts were
being reviewed.
Dr. Allen told the board
about the recent legislation
which was included in the
Peveto Bill passed by the state
legislature. Allen said the bill,
which dealt with the taxation
laws and procedures for the
State of Texas, will have a deep
impact on the taxation of
property owners within the
Lumberton school district.
Allen said the district could
stand to lose a large amount of
taxation revenue because of the
changes approved by the Peve-
to bill. The figure quoted by
Allen was $280,000 in revenues
for the maintenance and opera-
tion of the local district.
In other action, the LISD
board of trustees approved the
hiring of James Aaron White as
a building trades teacher at the
high school level.
White is replacing a teacher
who resigned during an earlier
meeting.
Dr. Betty lies, principal of
the high school, said that White
came highly recommended and
was already filling the spot
vacated by the earlier resigna-
tion. She said he was doing a
very good job.
“He's got that program (the
building trades program) lined
out,” lies said. ,
The board also approved
requests from several organiza-
tions for the use of the school
district facilities and decided to
advertise for bids for the
insurance coverage for those
facilities.
Investigation Continues Into Robbery
And Rape Of Lumberton Woman
A suspect in the rape and
robbery of a Lumberton woman
was arrested but later released
when the victim failed to
identify the man in a police
lineup.
According to Hardin County
Sheriffs Captain Ralph R.
Osborne, the suspect was first
spotted by a woman who was
robbed in Silsbee by a man
believed to have also committ-
ed the Lumberton rape.
The woman saw the man in a
grocery store and thought he
was the person who had forced
his way into her apartment by
wielding a gun.
The man was arrested and
placed in a lineup but both the
rape victim and the forced
entry victim failed to identify
him as the person who had
attacked them.
The crimes occurred Feb. 2
when a white male, approxi-
mately 26 or 27 years old,
entered the apartment of a
woman residing in the Timbers
Apartments on Hwy. 327 East
in Silsbee. -
The man made the Woman
walk to the back part of the
apartment while holding a
small caliber pistol. He made
her get into the bathtub, told
her to undress and close her
eyes and count to 150.
The man left the apartment
without taking anything and
without harming the woman,
Silsbee Police Chief Dennis
Allen said. The man reportedly
'told her he was in the wrong
apartment when she asked him
what he was doing there, the
chief said.
About an hour later, a man
fitting the same description
forced his way into a trailer
home in Lumberton.
The man forced the woman in
the home at the time to the
back of the trailer into a
bedroom where he made her
disrobe and then raped her.
He then told the woman to
get into the bathtub and
shower while saying her ABC’s,
according to Osborne of the
Criminal Investigation Division
of the Hardin County Sheriffs
Office.
The woman fled from the
home and called law enforce-
ment officer. The man was not
in the trailer house when
officers arrived on the scene.
According to reports from
both departments, the man was
of a stocky build, weighing
between 180 and 190 pounds.
He reportedly has sandy brown
hair with a light growth on his
chin and was wearing sunglass-
es at the time the crimes were
committed. He was wearing
tennis shoes and a dark green
jumpsuit.
One of the victims said the
man was wearing a dark
toboggan while the other said
the man had on two shirts, one
striped and one dark with a
letter on it.
The Silsbee Police Depart-
ment and the Hardin County
Sheriff s Office are continuing a
combined investigation into the
crimes.
Officers To Conduct
Roiindup Of Persons
With Hot Checks
A concentrated effort to
locate persons charged with the
writing and issuing of “hot
checks" was started Wednes-
day night and will extend into
the weekend, according to two
county officials.
The effort to locate and
arrest persons charged with
writing checks which are not
covered with sufficient funds is
being organized by Hardin
County Sheriff H. R. “Mike"
Holzapfel and Hardin County
Attorney Britt Plunk.
The program which is being
referred to as a “roundup” of
outstanding warrants, involves
officers from the sheriffs, de-
partment, the Texas Depart-
ment of Public Safety, con-
stables, city police departments
and the investigator for the
county attorney's office.
The roundup of outstanding
warrants will involve more
than 1,200 warrants for various
offenses which have not been
delivered to the individual
charged with the offense. Of
that number, approximately
(Soa Checks Sac. 1, Page 8)
in the appraisal work this year.
Homes with existing records
will “be visually inspected by
representatives from the Hous-
ton firm but will not necessarily
be remeasured.
“If we can’t use existing
records, then we can’t do it
(appraise Hardin County) for
that price,” said Pritchard
representative Hugh Bevil
Means.
The firm is charging the
county $398,470 to reappraise
the value of property in the
county for the 1983 tax rolls.
Board member Dean Moore
said he saw no reason to change
the wording in the original
contract since the board under-
stood that all available informa-
tion could be used for the work
of the firm.
The firm also asked, Kirby
said, that the phrase "in an
understandable form" when
referring to information sup-
plied by the firm about the
appraisal roll ajH tax roll be
deleted.
The state law requiring the
phrase was changed recently
and the firm wanted that
phrasing omitted.
The firm also wanted the
indemnity clause contained in
the original contract removed,
Kirby said. The intent of the
clause was to hold the district
harmless for any work-related
accidents involving the outside
firm. Kirby said.
Kirby told the board that a
statement showing that the
indemnity clause section was
not intended to be a perform-
ance bond agreement corrected
the error to the company's
satisfaction. .
Chief Appraiser Ed Barry
told the board that about
one-fourth of the appraisal
work m the county was com-
plete. He said that the district
would have a difficult time in
completing the work by the
May 1 deadline.
Silsbee, Lumberton and the
western part of the county are
left to be appraised, Barry said.
The northern and central parts
of the county have been re-
appraised, he said.
“We won't have what I’d like
to have" in terms of quality
appraisal, Barry said, “but we
will have something: we will
have a product."
After a proposal for a, one-
year delay on reappraisal was
rejected late last year, the
district began working on re-
appraising the county values.
In other action, the board
decided to contact other busi-
nesses and agencies within the
county to see if there would be
enough interest to finance a
“rafcher extensive mapping pro-
ject" of Hardin County, Barry
said.
Board member John Blair of
Kountze will be contacting such
entities as Gulf States, oil
companies and others about the
project.
The board met Ron Falken-
berry, the representative from
Truett Pritchard and Asso-
ciates who will be conducting
the appraisal in Hardin County'.
The board also agreed to pay
for expenses for district em-
ployees who are required to go
out of the county on district
business.
The out-of-county expenses
will cover the cost of trips to
seminars and other business
conducted outside the county
boundaries.
The board approved a refund
check for the Silsbee Indepen-
(Sea Contract Sac. I, Pago 8)
•jea&fg* pmt
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Read, R. L. The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 11, 1982, newspaper, February 11, 1982; Silsbee, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth820251/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Silsbee Public Library.