Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 127, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 28, 1980 Page: 1 of 16
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TX 7523.5*
■DP
Texas one cornerstone of a domestic OPEC?
By RICHARDW. FOSTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) —Alaska, Texas,
and Louisiana could become “a
domestic version of OPEC,” using
taxes on oil revenues to attract industry
and lower other taxes, but producing a
dangerous regional imbalance in the
U.S. economy, a financial analyst
warns.
The Northeast and the Midwest, as
importers of fuel, could suffer severe
economic distress.
The warning is from Felix Rohatyn,
an investment banker who is given
much of the credit for rescuing New
York City from its 1975 fiscal crisis.
After a speech at a dinner meeting of
the Economic Club of New York,
Rohatyn said he had put together his
ideas on the U.S. economic crisis for the
first time for the 1,400 executives at the
black-tie affair.
Rohatyn caused a stir by advocating
a 5(Fcents-a-gallon tax on gasoline, five
times that proposed by President
Jimmy Carter, as the only way to
convince the world the U.S. was serious
about energy conservation:
‘‘Even though Congress is now
balking at a 10 cents ga's tax, a 50 cents
tax is a minimum, would strengthen the
dollar and would permit further
reductions in interest rates," Rohatyn
said.
“Neither the Europeans nor OPEC
will believe we are serious about
conservation with less than $2 a gallon
gasoline,...” he said.
■* He said the measure would defend the
dollar abroad, raise money for in-
creased defense spending and allow for
a reduction of income taxes and social
security payments for low-income
wage earners.
• »—i......—
Rohatyn said that over the next
decade the oil revenues in oil-producing
states like Texas, California and
Louisiana would produce increased
revenues of $115 billion as a result of ml
price decontrol
“These states can use their vast
revenues to lower other taxes, increase
services, attract industry by almost
unlimited means. .." Rohatyn sJid
"Like a domestic version of th£ Third
World, the Northeast and Midwest ....
will.bear the burden creating greater
risk of further social and economic
distress, "he said. '
Rohatyn, who heads up the Municipal
Assistance Corporation which helps the
city on fiscal matters such as bond
issues, said regional imbalances
caused by oil revenues and costs should
be attacked with a permanent burden-
and-revenue sharing plan on the
national level "
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Kidnapping's a no-no
Sharolyn Poe, as Cherry, tells Bill Barnett, playing the role of Bo Decker, that he just
can't go around kidnapping women and dragging them off just because he likes them
during a rehearsal of the current Community Players' production of "Bus Stop". The
play will be presented in the dinner-theater format June 20 and 21 in the Regional
Civic Center.
—St»H Photo
Militants stand firm
on hostage question
By The Associated Press
Iran’s new Parliament convened today
with calls from Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini to guard against plotters, from
President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr to pump
life into a nearly bankrupt economy, and
from the militants holding the U.S.
hostages to keep the captives until »the
shah and his wealth are returned.
“If America returns the traitor (deposed
Shah) Mohammad Reza (Pahlavi) and the
wealth he has plundered, the hostages will
be reprieved and expelled from Iran,” the
militants said. “Otherwise, they will be
tried and punished.”
“Lack of compromise is the key to
victory,” the militants declared.
The militants also said the conditions
they outlined for the hostages’ release
represented the “nation’s demand,” and
that if the Parliament took any other
Plug pulled
on city pool
The Sulphur Springs Municipal
Swimming Pool is temporarily closed
because a by-pass valve went bad and
almost emptied the 560,000-gallon
pool.
According to Parks and Recreation
Supervisor Hugh Sprague, the valve
has been repaired and re-filling
operations began early Wednesday
morning.
“We’ll have it open by 1 p.m.
Thursday if nothing unforeseen
develops,” Sprague said Wednesday.
He also announced along with City
Manger Travis Owens that the city
will begin free swimming lessons in
one-hour classes.
June 9-20 is reserved for in:
termediate swimmers with June 30
through July 11 for beginners.
Advanced swimmers will have
lessons scheduled for July 14-25 and
an advanced lifesaving course will be
given from Aug. 4-15.
Class sessions will be held Monday
through Friday from 10:30 to 11:30
a.m.
Sprague said the classes will be
taught by a licensed lifeguard and
that certificates will be awarded upon
successful completion of the course.
Special classes for senior citizens
who want to develop their swimming
skills will be scheduled, Sprague said.
Those class times will be set at a later
date.
He said a separate ,swim time for
senior citizens will also be established
soon and that the dates will be an-
nounced each week once that
program begins.
Sulphur Springs
Wednesday
VOL. 102—NO. 127.
■r! ... : .
MAY 21, 1980.
15 Cents
The Civic Center quandry
position it would have to be justified and
accepted by the Iranian people.
Their comments echoed views ex-
pressed Tuesday in the newspaper of the
hardline Islamic Republican Party that
controls the Parliament. The newspaper
said the 53 American hostages, in their
207th day in captivity today, should be held
until the shah and his riches are returned
to Iran and America pays damages.
Even though hardliners apparently will
control the parliament, Yadolah Sahabi, a
top adviser to moderate, former Prime
Minister Mehdi Bazargan, was chosen
provisional chairman and Bazargan
selected as his deputy despite the shouted
protest of Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, a
firebrand judge who has sent scores of
Iranians before firing squads.
Khomeini’s message mirrored the
religious fervor of the Parliament. The
mullas, or Moslem priests, wore white or
black turbans in stark contrast to the red
and gold hues of the ornate chamber.
“Maintain a policy of neither East nor
West in all domestic affairs and in-
ternational relations,” said Khomeini’s
message, read to the opening session by
the ayatollah’s son Ahmad. “Offer
guidance to anyone who is inclined toward
East or West, but if he refuses it, isolate
him.
“If inclinations contrary to Islam and
the nation do exist in ministries or other
national bodies, first offer guidance, but
where there are violations, you should
introduce motions of censure, because the
presence of plotting elements at the head
of national affairs or in sensitive positions
will bring ruin to the country.”
Bani-Sadr, in his address, urged an end
to ethnic rebellions in Iran, a foreign
policy liberated from foreign influences,
free parliamentary debate to set an
example of non-violence for the nation,
and more attention to domestic economic
problems.
“Economically our situation is very
bad,” Bani-Sadr said. “The budget of our
country is based on nothing but those
financial reserves in foreign banks. For a
country which wants to be independent, v
this is the worst situation that can hap-*
pen.”
Iran reportedly has $15 billion in foreign
reserves but more than half of this is
frozen in American banks. Some of the
remaining amount is frozen in Europe,
part of the U.S.-allied effort to gain the
release of the hostages.
The IRP and its fundamentalist Moslem
allies control more than 130 of the 242
parliamentary seats filled during elections
March 4 and May 9. Voting in some
districts was postponed because of anti-
government unrest, but Iran’s new con-
stitution allows the 270-seat body to con-
vene once ISO members are elected.
Khomeini, Iran’s revolutionary leader,
has said the Parliament, or Majlis, will
determine the fate of the hostages.
A News-Telegram Special Report
By JIM MOORE
StaffWriter
The Hopkins County Commissioners
Court approved an interest rate of 7 per-
cent and approved advertising for bids for
additional work at the Civic Center
Tuesday, but there are at least some
county residents who are trying to obtain
enough signatures to require a bond
election instead of the issuance of cer-
tificates of obligation (COs) as currently
planned.
During Tuesday’s meeting of the court,
the interest rate was approved and ad-
vertising for bids for steel work in the
auditorium were approved in 3-2 decisions
with Commissioners J.D. Hatley and
Arnold Alsobrooks either voting no or
abstaining.
The contract with Rauscher, Pierce,
Refsnes, Inc. of Dallas to handle those COs
was approved unanimously as it will not
cost the county any money unless the COs
or bonds are actually issued.
The controversy arose out of the plans to
“complete” the Civic Center.
Earlier this month, the court accepted
bids for work that would include the in-
stallation of a ventilation system in the
Livestock Arena, electrical work in the
kitchen area and addition of curtains,
lights and a sound system in the
Auditorium at the Civic Center.
The original issue of COs was to have
been for $150,000.
However, commissioners raised that
figure to $250,000 this year and the bids
came in close to that figure in their
original configuration.
Since that time, Millard Bennett,
chairman of the Civic Center Board, has
trimmed the auditorium improvement
price tag.
When the bids are received on the steel
work, the board and commissioners will
know how much more will have to be
trimmed from the bids to allow for the
projected work.
Donnie Wisenbaker, who operates a
local automotive repair shop, told the
court that he has begun circulating a
petition amoung county residents,
primarily at county stores, to call for a
bond election on the issue.
Under the law, the petition must have
five percent of the registered voters to stop
the issuance of the COs and require a bond
election be held instead.
Wisenbaker said he should have the
petitions ready to be filed with County
Clerk Mary Attlesey sometime this week
or early next week.
“Why is the county considering issuing
certificates of obligation amounting to this
much obligation on the county instead of
being put before the voters to decide?”
Wisenbaker asked.
County Judge Joe R. Pogue said that the
COs were chosen as a quick way to fill the
needs at the Civic Center without the costs
of holding a bond election.
Pogue asked Dan Almon, financial
advisor, to explain the difference in costs.
Almon told those present that the costs
were about the same in the end result.
He said that the COs cost about $5,000
more than bonds but with the costs of
holding an election, the overall expense
would be virtually the same.
Jeff Taylor, father of Tax Assessor-
Collector Jeff Taylor, said, “The citizens
of Hopkins County should have a chance to
voice their opinions.”
Bennett asked if any of the money to pay
for the COs would come from the county’s
Road and Bridge Fund moneys.
Judge Pogue replied that of the $1.05 in
tax revenue received, 56 cents goes to the
Road and Bridge Fund and that the other
49 cents goes to other operating expenses
which include the Civic Center.
Wisenbaker asked. “If not from the
Road and Bridge Fund, what would be the
projected increase m county taxes’”
Pogue quickly replied, “None ”
Pogue said that fines and fees for the
county are going up and Almon added that
based on the 7 percent interest rate, the
cost in taxes would be about four cents per
$100 valuation — but that “revenues from
the Civic Center itself and fines and fees
will help offset any costs."
Pogue explained that more money will
be going into the Road and Bridge Fund
next year under the new tax system that
was mandated by the voters and legislated
by the Texas Legislature at its last session
“In fact," Pogue said, "there should be a
reduction in taxes due to state ad valorum
taxes being deleted.”
Rod Henderson, former chairman of the
Civic Center Board, told the court that the
board and worked for two months last
summer and “we’re at a critical point on
the auditorium For Godsakes. let’s get
this thing done," Henderson said, "it
should have been done six months ago.”
Wisenbaker told the court and Hen-
derson that he had talked with Judge
Pogue about his objections and com-
mended the court for its openness.
He said that Pogue had originally
planned to hold a public hearing on the COs
but that as it was not required, it was only
recently that Judge Pogue had told him of
the requirement to obtain the petitions to
call for an election.
Wisenbaker said that the county is
facing the expense of building a new jail, a
new tax office following the recent fire,
and noted that the inside of the courthouse
was in need of a renovation.
”1 don’t think the people of Hopkins
County can afford all of this,” he said
Pogue said the county is putting mare
study into the possibility of a jail and tax
office to determine "the direction, we need
to go on.”
Patsy Johnson, a member of the Civic
Center Board, said the center is used
extensively by the people of the county and
is not usable .‘the way it is.”
"It’s a very viable part of Hopkins
County," she said
Wisenbaker suggested that the Civic
Center should be able to stand on its own
feet and Bennett replied that the current
auditorium rental fees are nominal
because the facility is not complete.
Bennett- said that after the im-
provements, the rent should double for the
auditorium as it then would be a complete
facility.
The bids for the steel work at the Civic
Center are to be due for acceptance and
consideration on June 13.
At that same session, the court will
consider awarding bids for the rest of the
work at the Civic Center — if Wisenbaker
is not able to obtain the signatures
necessary for the bond election
However, Wisenbaker said Wednesday
morning, “I was amazed when I started
collecting some of the petitions after the
meeting yesterday. It’s looking good and 1
figure I’ll have 10 percent by the time it's
all said and done.”
Should the election be called on making
the CO issue into a bond issue, it will cost
the county about $5,000 for the election
If the bond issue passes, it will add the
costs of the election to the cost of the work
If the issue fails, “I’ll just shut up and
realize I’m part of the minority in this
issue and be quiet," Wisenbaker says.
Storms sweep across state
From Wire Reports
The northern edge of a line of heavy
thunderstorms which drenched North
Central Texas Tuesday night and Wed-
nesday is expected to move into Northeast
Texas within the next 24 hours.
In a matter of hours Tuesday night,
residents of Olney were evacuating their
homes as a fast-moving thunderstorm
sloshed more than six inches of rain and
hail on the North Central Texas city.
The system Wednesday was moving
slowly across the state and the northern
edge of the storms may reach Hopkins
County by early Thursday morning.
Police agencies and the National
Weather Service said between four and
seven inches of rain fell in Olney in a three-
hour period Tuesday evening. The town’s
two creeks flowed out of their banks and
into the streets and the downtown area was
under at least six inches of water, a police
dispatcher said.
No one was injured in the flooding, but
power lines snapped and the city was
almost completely without phone service,
said dispatcher Mary Braddock of nearby
Graham.
“They’ve had four inches of rain and
some golfball-sized hail," Ms. Braddock
said Tuesday night. “They’re having an
awful time and it’s getting worse. Their
radios are out and we are helping with the
evacuation. *
"Some of the roads are flooded and they
(police) can’t even get in there.”
Most of the roads into Olney were dosed
because of flooding, but Texas 79 was
reopened early today and other roads were
being reopened to traffic as the water
receded, officials said.
A ham radio report monitored by KSWA
radio in Graham said water swirled to the
tops of cars in some areas of town. The
radio station also said a car reportedly had
washed off Texas 14, which was closed
because of the flooding, but officials were
unavailable for confirmation of the
washout.
Department of Public Safety troopers
said a bridge on Texas 79 on the north side
of Olney had washed out.
Police and fire officials were sent from
Graham to Olney to help evacuate 30
families from low-lying areas, but were
called back to Graham when foul weather
and runoff from Olney caused some flash
flooding there.
The storm was part of a sweeping
system that rolled across Northwest and
North Central Texas Tuesday afternoon
Wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour were
reported at Abilene and some hail pelted
Canyon, just south of Lubbock.
There also were heavy downpours
reported at Abilene, Amarillo, Dumas and
Stratford.
Two tornadoes were sighted south of
Abernathy, but DPS troopers said they did
no damage. The National Weather Service
also reported wind damage in Lubbock
and Abilene, where winds blew up to 50
miles per hour. But DPS officers in both
cities said they had received no reports of
weather damage.
“It’s just a typical Texas spring," said a
DPS trooper in Lubbock.
Showers and thunderstorms continued
into the pre-dawn hours, but dropped in
intensity during the night
Several roads, including some major
highways, were closed in northern sections
of the Panhandle.
U.S. 287, U S. 87 and Texas 119 were
closed north of Dumas, according to the
Texas Department of Public Safety. Of-
ficers said U.S. 385 between Hartley and
Dalhart was open, but officers were
discouraging travel on it because some
sections were under as much as IS inches
of water.
Official rainfall amounts were not im-
mediately available for most areas hit by
heavy rain.
Closer to home, the National Weather
Service forecast for Sulphur Springs ts
calling for partly cloudy skies and warm
temperatures through Thursday. , ,
There is a chance of possible thun-
derstorms in the forecast for Thursday
While the major portion of the storm is
expected to pass south of Hopkins County,
widely scattered showers or thun-
derstorms are possible through Friday
according to the forecasters
On Tuesday the mercury climbed to 87
degrees in Sulphur Springs. The overnight
low at the official observation station was
70 degrees. At 8 a.m. Wednesday the
temperature was 73 degrees, and shortly
before noon the mercury read 82 under
mostly cloudy skies.
But "Jaws' might make a dandy tax collector
• • •
By HERB LITTLE
TSsiociated Press Writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -
Would you trust valuable records to a
county clerk named “Sneak"? How
about giving the keys to the jail to a
sheriff named “Traveling Man”? Is
“Wimpy” a proper name for a
legislator?
Sneak, Traveling Man and Wimpy
are nicknames being used in Tuesday’s
West Virginia primary by candidates
hoping to catch the eyes of voters
scanning the state’s awesomely long
ballot on June 3.
Scores of other candidates - like
“Jaws” and “Cement Man" - are also
taking advantage of a provision of state
law that allows them to run under
names their mothers never dreamed of
putting on their birth certificates.
The primary ballot is sprinkled with
the usual good-ol’-boy or good-ol’-girl
nicknames like Chuck, Bucky, Butch,
Slim, Whitey, Liz and Marge — usually
crouching in quotation marks or
parentheses between the candidates’
first and last names.
Less routine are the ballot names of
Fred “Jaws” Decker and George*H.
“Cement Man7 Kincaid, both running
for delegate to the Democratic National
Convention. And then there John A.
“Traveling Man” Moses, who is run-
ning for Fayette County sheriff, and
Anthony “Sneak" Adams Jr., who is a
candidate for Logan County clerk.
Also seeking to be a delegate to the
Democratic convention is a woman in
Elkins who has gone after the votes of
late-night TV watchers by doubling her
real name. It will be on the haiw u
Mary Hartman “Mary Hartman.”
Legislative candidates include
Fletcher “Shag” Barker and Larry
“Wimpy” Meade. Harold C. “Juggie"
Davis is running for magistrate in
Marion County.
Even a candidate for governor has
joined the nickname brigade. In the
Democratic primary four years ago.
New Martinsville lawyer Herbert
Rogers used “H. John Rogers” an the
baBcA. He was very unsuccessful This
yenr, apparently deciding to project a
more casual image, his ballot Maae b
“H. John Herbie’ Rogers.”
As attentkm-catchers, though* name
of the 1989 ballot nicknames i
that used by
agoasLW. “Lima"
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 127, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 28, 1980, newspaper, May 28, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth824858/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.