Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, February 15, 1980 Page: 1 of 24
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™r*iur Springs
Friday
FEBRUARY 15, 1980.
15 Cents
TWO SECTIONS
rProject back on schedule ■ for now
Corps snaps Cooper
' v j
I
Lake setback string
ByCLARKEKEYS
News-Telegram Staff
An historic string of setbacks for the
aging Cooper Reservoir project has been
snapped, at least for the time being.
Col. Donald Palladino, district engineer
with the Fort Worth office of the U.S.
' Army Corps of Engineers, said in Sulphur
Springs Thursday that after five months
on the effort, his office is “right on
schedule” in an attempt to get the Cooper
project back into federal court.
“There’s no doubt in my mind about our
commitment to you”, Col. Pdlladino told
water agency and city representatives in a
4 meeting here. He was alluding to a
schedule to complete a revision of the
project’s Environmental Impact
Statement by the end of 1980.
It was Col. Palladino who pledged at a
Hostages'
fate still
up in air
By The Associated Press
Iranian Foreign Minister' Sadegh
Ghotbzadeh said today the international
commission to investigate charges against
the deposed shah may be formed “within a ■
few hours,” but the American hostages in
Tehran will not be released until the panel
acpoftne to an Italian
hevflsagency” ‘ ”
But former Irish Foreign Minister Sean
MacBride said today “the commission
could hardly begin its work until the
hostages have been released. Either they
are released before the commission meets
or they could be released concurrently
with the setting up of the commission.”
Transfer of the hostages to a third party,
perhaps a neutral country, has been
mentioned as a possibile step in the release
process.
Ghotbzadeh, speaking to reporters in
Rome, was quoted as saying U.N.
Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim
telephoned him at 3 a.m. to discuss
composition of the commission. The panel
to investigate the regime’s charges
against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
has been regarded as a key step toward
freeing the hostages in the U.S. Embassy
jn Tehran, who began their 104th day in
taptivity today.
“The conversation lasted an hour. Now
one is waiting only for their acceptance.
For us, the names aren’t important. What
is important is that the commission is
formed,” Ghotbzadeh was quoted as
saying by the ANSA news agency.
However, he added, “the hostages will
not be. freed until the commission makes
public its results,” according to ANSA.
Ghotbzadeh had told a news conference
Thursday that he hoped the commission
would finish its work in 10 days to two
weeks, but refused to be pinned down on
when the hostages would be released.
However, he said once the commission
was formed “everything is in motion.”
Earlier in the day he spent an hour at the
Vatican for talks with Secretary of State
Cardinal Agostino Casaroli. “We spoke
about the Iranian revolution and the force
of religion in the world,” he said. He did
not see Pope John Paul II, whose pleas for
the Americans’ release were ignored by
Iran last November. ,
MacBride, interviewed in Dublin on
NBC’s “Today” program, said the com-
mission would not have the power to call as
witnesses U.S. officials or the ex-shah
himself, but could receive reports only
from the Iranian government.
Objections to the former Irish
Republican Army leader reportedly have
surfaced in U.S. government circles
because of his sympathy for leftist causes.
Asked to comment on holding the Lenin
Peace Prize, as well as a Nobel Peace
Prize, MacBride said, "I might add that I
al$o hold the American Medal for Justice,
which was awarded to me subsequently. I
think that I am pretty well balanced from
that point of view."
President Carter, discounting
speculation that the approximately 50
Americans could be freed over the
weekend, said he did not expect the issue
to be resolved this month.
Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-
Sadr, asked if the U.N. panel would con-
vene in Iran, told reporters in Tehran
Thursday, ‘They are waiting for me to
make that announcement but I am waiting
to see if the U.S. will accept our con-
ditions.”
public meeting in Sulphur Springs last
October to speed the supplemental EIS
into federal court as quickly as possible.
His comments Thursday were made at a
meeting hosted by the Sulphur River
Municipal Water-District, attended by
representatives from the three cities of
that district (Sulphur Springs, Cooper and
Commerce) and by others from the North
Texas Municipal Water District and the
City of Texarkana.
“This (the Cooper project) is still the No.
1 thing we’ve got going in our Fort Worth
office,yCol. Palladino said.
Periods without delays or setbacks of
five months or longer concerning the
Cooper Lakes and Channels Project have
been rare in the 25-plus years the reservoir
has been in planning. The project
presently is blocked by an injunction in the
court of Judge William Wayne Justice in
Tyler because of five “points of weakness”
in the original EIS.
The project was transferred from the
New Orleans district to the Fort Worth
district of the Corps last fall and local
officials have been pushing for speedy
resolution since.
Col. Palladino cautioned his listeners
Thursday that much remains to be done
before the plan can be returned to the
• court for consideration.
“I don’t want our enthusiasm to cloud
our vision,” he said. “But I do not see any
obstacles to our being able to respond to
the five points within the time schedule we
have set.”
The Army engineer suggested that his
optimism expressed at the public hearing
at the Hopkins County Civic Center last
fall might have been based more 'upon
hope and the belief in his staff than upon
reality.
But after working on the project for five
months, he noted, the staff is where it
should be and he added, “I’m a lot more
confident now than I was last October.”
The Fort Worth staff has progressed to
the point where it now plans to get the
supplemental EIS out for agency review
by late summer, Col. Palladino said. If
that goes as scheduled, it could be ready
for the required public hearings in October
and be wrapped up for presentation to
Judge Justice by the end of the year.
He said the time frame could not be
shortened significantly by putting more
personnel on the job, noting that most of
what remains to be done is governed by
time requirements set by law.
The words were greeted warmly by the
reservoir’s supporters on hand Thursday.
“I think it sounded very good,” Walter
Helm, president of the SRMWD, said after
the session. “I think his bunch (from Fort
Worth) is on the right track.”
The representatives of the water in-
terests expressed continuing concern with
possible limitations imposed through
answering a fish and wildlife “mitigation”
question in the EIS.
The Corps must come up with a proposal
to offset the loss of wildlife habitat caused
by the reservoir project.
“Anything that would reduce the yield
from this reservoir or raise the cost to the
contracting entities is of vital interest to
us,” commented Carl Riehn, manager of
the NTMWD.
The agencies also have disputed a report
prepared by Shigeru Fujiwara, project
manager with the Corps office, concerning
water needs in this area of Texas.
“You have our attention and reconciling
these figures will be our next important
order of business,” Col. Palladino noted.
The colonel sidestepped any question of
time frame forecasts beyond the end of
1980. He notril he was in no position to
forecast how quickly, or in what manner,
Judge Justice will respond to the revised
EIS.
He did say, however, that given near-
perfect conditions of response and time, it
would be “possible” to have work resumed
on Cooper Reservoir in 1981, adding,
“anything’s possible.”
He said there is no funding for Cooper
contained in the 1981 federal budget. The
Corps has sufficient carryover funds to
complete the study, though, and will also
file a statement of capability with
Congress that possibly would allow for
sorjde later funding in '81 if it was needed.
News briefs
VFW sets convention
Hopkins County Post 8560 of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars will host
the District 12 convention in Sulphur
Springs on Saturday and Sunday.
Special guest for the two-day
convention will be R. W. Richmond,
state junior vice commander of the
Department of Texas, Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the United States.
Commander Richmond of Denision is
a life member of Gate City Post 2773.
He was elected to his present office at
the state convention in Fort Worth.
Richmond served in the Army and
Air Force from 1946 to 1970, retiring
after 25 years of service. His foreign
sendee was in the Pacific, Korea and
V >tnam.
State Auxiliary President Amanda
Rogers will be the Department
Auxiliary representative to the
convention.
Saturday’s convention activities
will begin with registration at 1 p.m.
The host post will sponsor a social and
dance from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the post
home for all convention delegates and
guests.
Registration will resume at 8 a.m.
Sunday. Memorial services will be
conducted at 10 a.m. and delegates
then will be dismissed to attend the
chqrch of their choice.
Lunch will be served at noon,
followed by a joint meeting. Separate
business meetings will follow con-
ducted by District 12 Commander
John Sheffield Jr. and District
Auxiliary President Verda Stanners.
h /
R.W. Richmond...
...VFW special guest
Another cold front nears
While the temperature was warm
for this time of year Friday, the
weatherman says “look out” —
February isn’t over yet.
The forecast for Friday, prepared
by the National Weather Service,
called for partly cloudy skies, un-
seasonably warm temperatures in the
upper 60s to lower 70s and gusty
winds. The Saturday forecast calls
for more February-like weather with
cloudy skies and the temperature
dropping as much as 40 degrees.
A cold front is expected to move into
the Hopkins County area sometime
Saturday, sending temperatures
skidding.
The outlook for Saturday calls for a
daytime high in the mid 30s, falling
below the freezing mark after sunset
with intermittent drizzle. Freezing
drizzle is possible, according to
forecasters.
Skies should remain cloudy Sunday
but the temperature should start
warming a bit as the front pushes on
through the area. The high Sunday,is
expected to be in the 40s and the
mercury should be back in the 60s by
Tuesday.
The high Thursday was a balmy 68
degrees at the official weather ob-
servation station in Sulphur Springs.
The temperature dropped to a mild 43
degrees early Friday morning and at 8
a.m. Friday the mercury stood at 59.
Around noon the temperature had
risen to a pleasant 66.
Pastoral pathway
/ J *vi
Between waves of cold fronts and rain, the sun dapples a
country road in rural Hopkins County as a lone, shattered tree
trunk stands watch over a curve amid last autumn's leaves. The
sun which broke through Friday may be gone again by Satur-
day, according to forecasts, and the dead leaves will be stirred
by high winds as another front moves through and sends tem-
peratures skidding by as much as 30 degrees — if the forecasters
prove correct.
I -SWI PlwloDy JOHN CORE
Inflation barometer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite a
welcome drop in food costs, wholesale
prices surged 1.6 percent in January, the
biggest monthly jump since November
1974, the Ixibor Department reported
today.
The steep increase was propelled by
sharply higher gasoline and home heating
oil prices, which wiped out a substantial
decline in food prices, the department
said.
Shortly after the figures were an-
nounced, the Federal Reserve Board in-
creased its bank discount rate by a full
percentage point to 13 percent, a clear
reflection of its concern over worsening
inflation. The move is sure to send interest
rates higher throughout the economy.
The stock market fell sharply in early
trading as investors noted the unpleasant
inflation news and the Federal Reserve’s
action. The Dow Jones average of 30 in-
dustrials slid 10.24 points to 883.53 in the
first half hour of trading.
Changes in wholesale or producer prices
often show up within weeks at retail
outlets, thus affecting consumer
pocketbooks.
January’s 1.6 percent jump nearly
doubled December’s revised 0.9 percent
increase, worsening the nation's inflation.
During all of last year, wholesale prices
rose an average of 1 percent a month.
The huge increase in January was
particularly impressive because of the 0.8
percent fall-off in the price of finished food
products ready to be sold to retailers.
These prices had risen in five of the
preceding six months, the I^bor Depart-
ment said.
The Producer Price Index measures the
prices of items at three levels: finished
goods, processed and ready for sale to
retailers; intermediate goods, which are
semi-finished, and crude materials, which
have yet to be processed, and include such
items as livestock, grain, raw cotton or
steel scrap.
Much of the acceleration was caused by
a substantial 54.6 percent increase in
household flatware, and a 22.5 percent
jump in precious metal jewelry, a
reflection of the recent gold and silver
rush.
Despite a fall-off in auto sales, wholesale
car prices rose 2 percent last month,
compared with only a 0.6 percent increase
in December, the department said.
Gasoline prices rose 5.7 percent last
month, 2.5 percent more than in Decem-
ber; while home heating oil prices rose 2
percent, following a 0.1 percent rise in
December.
Wholesale prices for tobacco, cosmetics,
soaps, detergents, textile house fur-
nishings, tires and bicycles also advanced
above December’s inflation rate, the
department said.
The decline in finished food products
was attributed primarily to price reduc-
tions in beef, veal, pork, eggs and fresh
fruit. Prices for vegetables, roasted coffee
and processed poultry also fell.
However, dairy and bakery products
surges
ready for sale to retailers rose in January
as did prices for fish, refined sugar in (my’'
packets and milled rice, the department
said.
Prices rose 12.5 percent at wholesale
from December 1978 to December 1979,
helping to push retail prices up at the
fastest rate in more than 3D years.
Although the Carter administration is
predicting some moderation of the trend
this year, officials admit that a surge in oil
prices could upset their projections.
Saudi Arabia, the largest foreign oil
supplier for the United States, and a
number of other OPEC nations have in
recent days announced a new round of
crude oil price hikes for 1980.
Prices are falling in one area, however.
The Commerce Department reported
Thursday that the average price of new
homes fell 1.6 percent in the final three
months of 1979. That was the first quar-
terly drop in more than two years.
The average price of a new, single-
family home was $73,000 in the fourth
quarter of last year, down from $74,200 in
the previous quarter.
A downturn in housing prices often is the
first sign of a recession and the president’s
proposed budget for 1981 says a recession
"is expected in the first half of 1980.”
But the Business Council, an
organization of the top executives of many
of the nation's largest corporations, said
its economic consultants weren’t con-
vinced the expected recession would be
strong enough to check price increases.
Center improvements eyed
The Civic Center arena will be improved
for future rodeos and cattle sales following
action by the board of directors Thursday.
The board concluded that most of the
items listed in a letter from Syler Sales -
suggesting seven areas of improvements
— could be met with local efforts.
Two of the major items on the arena
improvement list were portable bleachers
and curtains.
Larry Maroney said the Sulphur Springs
High School Ag department has some
portable bleachers that are currently
being stored outside. Maroney said, “They
may need a little work on them but maybe
we can work out something with the
school.”
Board chairman Millard Bennett and
Civic Center manager Bert Wharton told
the group there would be indoor storage
space available for the bleachers and the
staff could do whatever work was
necessary to repair any weather damage.
The curtains in the arena area would
hang behind the auctioneer's stand to hide
the cattle pens; the board did not feel
putting curtains around the entire area, as
suggested by the auction firm in its letter,
was necessary.
Charles Helm was directed to check into
the best type of material and cost of the
proposed curtains, which would be about
50 feet across and between eight and 10
feet high.
Billy Wayne Orr's Professional Rodeo
Cowboys Association was slated for the
first week in April, and board members
heard a report from Wharton and Bennett
on the possibilities of obtaining livestock
pens for rodeos and related events.
Approximately 100 pen panels are
needed, with rental costs in the $500 to $700
range per show. ,
The board decided to investigate the
possiblity of purchasing panels at a cost of
$40 to $50 each and and paying for them
through rentals and money earned from
the rodeo and sales concession stand
receipts. The concensus of the group was
the panels would pay for themselves in a
short time and future revenues could be
turned back to Civic Center use
The board also decided the current
deposit of $250 required from those renting
the arena was not enough in most cases,
considering the amount of equipment
frequently requested. Wharton was given
the authority to determine how much of a
deposit would be necessary to cover ex-
penses should a contract be canceled.
The board also approved the contract
with the Sulphur Springs Independent
School District. The SSID pays the Civic
Center $7,000 per year for using the
facilities a set number of days. County
schools are also allowed to use the facility
without charge under the SSID contract.
Board members expressed hope the
water problem in the auditorium will be
cured when the French drains are in-
stalled. Bennett noted the day after County
Commissioners agreed, the contractor
delivered the pipe. The job will begin as
soon as the ground is dry enough to work.
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, February 15, 1980, newspaper, February 15, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth824652/m1/1/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.