Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 193, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 14, 1980 Page: 1 of 18
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hopkins County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hopkins County Genealogical Society.
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—c.
p.O. BOX 45436 TX 75235*
DALLAS *
Sulphur Springs
VOL. 102—NO. 193.
Thursday
AUGUST 14.1980.
15 Cents
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Veteran official tapped
for local chamber post
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Ed Phelps Jr., a veteran of 18 years in
chamber of commerce work, was named
Thursday as the new executive vice-
president of the Hopkins County Chamber
of Commerce.
Phelps, presently the assistant general
manager of the South Texas Chamber of
Commerces San Antonio, will assume the
post in Sulphur Springs Sept. 15. He
replaces David Jackson, who resigned
effective Aug. 1 to enter private business.
Phelps, 45, has previously served as
manager of chambers in Grand Prairie,
Kerrville, Marshall, Coleman and Laredo.
His employment in the local post came
on a unanimous vote of chamber directors
at their monthly business meeting
Thursday, following a recommendation
from a search committee headed by David
DuPriest, chamber president.
Immediately following the vote the
official offer was extended by telephone
from David Baucom, president-elect for
1981.
Contacted in San Antonio, Phelps told
The News-Telegram:
“I noticed on a plaque of Abe Lincoln
last night the phrase, ‘A person should be
proud of the city in which he lives and that
city should be proud that the person lives
there.’
“This certainly will be what the Phelps
family will seek. I plan to dedicate my
professional life to make it happen.”
The newly named chamber official said
he was “real excited” about the ap-
poinment. He noted he had not visited
Sulphur Springs prior to a recent interview
trip.
“Your area has done some magnificent
things there that too much of the world
doesn’t realize,” he said. “You should be
proud of these.
“A total community development of
Hopkins County is where we will aim,” he
said.
Phelps and his wife, nicknamed ‘Shine,’
are the parents of five children, three of
whom will be moving to Sulphur Springs.
The family includes a married son, Traye;
a daughter, Tia, who will be entering
college this fall; another son, Tye, 12; and
twin sons, Todd and Tory, who are 6.
“We are recommending the best in-
dividudfwe could possibly find,” DuPriest
told chamber directors in Thursday’s
presentation. DuPriest said that the
chamber received quite a number of ap-
plications and interviewed a number of
leading candidates.
“But when when we talked to (Phelps)
Putting values
in perspective
Second of two articles
By CLARKE KEYS
News-Telegram Staff
Market value, assessed value, true
value, appraised value: These are part of
a terminolgy that has confused taxpayers
for decades.
In 1982 that confusion should be
eliminated. Then, by state law, they all
will mean the same thing.
It is one of the main features of a
legislatively mandated program in Texas
that all real and personal property in the
state be appraised for tax purposes at 100
percent of market value for inclusion in
the 1982 taxing process.
It means almost certainly that the
VALUE for property held in Hopkins
County will be higher in 1982 for tax pur-
poses than is the case today. It does not
automatically follow, however, that the
TAXES on the property will be higher.
That isn’t part of the law at all. And
that’s one of the stories that officials of the
new Hopkins County Property Appraisal
District are trying to get over. They hope
to forestall confusion, upset and anger
when the work that will begin soon is
finalized two years from now.
The law is highly complex. But in
simplified terms, Ray Johnson, chairman
of the HCPAD, explains it this way:
“It is the law that every piece of
property shall be reappraised to 100
percent of market value in time for the
1982 tax rolls. Taxing agencies then may
set the tax rates on their valuations to
raise the money needed to operate.”
It is designed to make property tax rates
work as originally intended.
Greatly simplified, (and with a mythical
situation) here is the way the new ap-
praisal program is set up:
The county appraisal agency views and
values every piece of real estate and every
bit of personal property used in a business.
This will be a continuing program once it is
established.
Example: The appraisers find 20 “ac-
counts” in their jurisdiction (actually
there are well more than 30,000). They find
that the "market value” — that price
which similar pieces of property sell for in
this area — on 10 of them is 315,000 each,
while the other 10 have a value of $5,000
each. The valuation roll is thus $200,000
and it is certified at that total.
At the same time a taxing agency, say
the county, is working on its budget for the
next year.
Example: After reviewing needs, the
county determines it will require $5,000 in
taxes to operate for the year. It adopts that
budget.
The two reports then are simply mat-
ched.
Example: In order to raise $5,000 in
taxes from a $200,000 tax roll a tax rate of
$2.50 per $100 of appraised value would be
needed. That tax rate would be set and 10
of the property owners would pay $375
each and 10 would pay $125 each.
Another taxing agency, say the hospital
district, determines that it needs $1,000 in
taxes. Using the same $280,000 value it
would set a tax rate of .50 (50 cents) per
$100 valuation to raise that $1,000.
In short, a taxing agency should
determine a budget BEFORE it knows the
valuation total, then compare the
valuation roll it receives to the needed
funds to establish a tax rate.
This will eliminate a common practice
whereby taxing agencies alter the
VALUATION rate (19 percent of true
value, 25 percent, 50 percent, etc.) while
keeping the TAX rate the same — yet thus
raising more money from taxes.
The tax appraisal authority will have
nothing to do with setting tax rates or
raising taxes specifically. Its respon-
sibility will be to inform the various taxing
agencies (county, schools, cities, etc.) of
the value of property within their boun-
daries.
The HCPAD will have other tasks
currently held by the various local
governments. One is that of hearing ap-
peals on valuations. A special appeals
board will be named by the district to hear
appeals.
An individual owning a home in Sulphur
Springs, for example, pays taxes to the
city, the county, the hospital district
(collected by the county) and the school
district. That home will be valued exactly
the same for all those agencies.
Thus if the appraised value is protested,
only one appeals hearing is required.
The homeowner may well pay four
different tax amounts to those agencies on
property taxes because each will require
different funding levels and thus will set
different tax rates.
The appraisal district also will handle
applications for certain exemptions
(agricultural use being one of them) that
now are directed to the governmental
units.
Because almost all taxing agencies use a
ratio of less than 100 percent of market
value for setting a tax value these days,
tax rates are expected to tumble when the
system is operative in 1982, both in
Hopkins County and elsewhere in Texas.
we knew he was the one we needed,"
DuPriest said. He added that further
checking enforced that impression.
The chamber president said the search
committee first attempted to measure
where the chamber and the community
stood, then looked at needs and searched
for a manager to fit into that picture.
“If we truly want to move from where
we are now we need a man with experience
and a man with contacts,” he said. “I
believe we have found that man. He is a
professional and a quality individual.
“This town is ready for this type of
manager and I believe he will provide the
chamber with new dimensions.”
Also making presentations in the
recommendation were Baucom and Ike
Stevens, two of the other members of the
search group.
Until Phelps arrives to assume his post,
the chamber will continue to be operated
by the secretarial staff and volunteer time
from directors as needed.
In other business Thursday, committee
reports were considered, including
planning for the chamber-sponsored
Hopkins County Stew Contest in con-
junction with the Fall Festival and for the
upcoming Central Rodeo Association
finals at the Civic Center.
Clouds prove
mostly empties
Dark gray clouds roamed across
Hopkins County around 5 p.m.
Wednesday, spreading a little
moisture here and there, but no major
rain fall was recorded.
The official observation station
recorded a trace of rain Wednesday
afternoon. Other areas around the
county received a quick shower or
two, while some areas of the county
didn’t receive a drop.
Forecasters with the National
Weather Service are calling for
continued partly cloudy skies through
Friday with the chance of more
widely scattered thunderstorms.
Temperatures are expected to
remain hot into the weekend with
daytime highs in the upper 90s and
overnight lows in the mid to upper 70s.
The chance of scattered showers
runs though the weekend but chances
of a decent rain shower are pretty
slim, according to the forecasters.
The mercury just missed the cen-
tury mark Wednesday, climbing to 99
degrees. The overnight low, recorded
early Thursday morning, was 73
degrees. Shortly before noon Thur-
sday the mercury stood at 93.
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Day camp flag raising
aNteri'tv ,p°JvHTKUb rmberS !""! *r0und ,he coun,y fla,hered °‘ busine« «*• * flag-raising ceremony led by Monty Teel The
City Park Thursday morning for a day of recreation and remainder of the day was spent olavina udim '.
instruct,on at the Hopkins County 4-H Day Camp. The first order tures, and at a swim party InThe Cily Pool at Tp m
—Stoll Photo
Carter gets Kennedy
blessing, opens race
NEW YORK (AP) - President Carter is
launching his fall re-election campaign
today with the endorsement he sought so
fervently from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
and, at least seemingly, the party unity he
needed to meet the twin challenges from
Republican Ronald Reagan and in-
dependent John Anderson.
“I will support and work for the re-
election of President Carter,” Kennedy
said in a post-midnight statement.
That, perhaps even more than the
declaration of nomination, was what
Carter and his lieutenants wanted to hear
to cap their anxious efforts to bring the
Massachusetts senator aboard the
campaign after the long and bitter
struggle for the nomination.
The oftemturbulent Democratic
National Convention concludes tonight
with the formal renomination of Vice
President Walter F. Mondale and the
winners’ acceptance speeches.
And while there was no definite word, it
was widely assumed Kennedy would seal
his support with a closing appearance on
the podium with the ticket he wanted to
displace.
For Carter, Wednesday night’s con-
phant moment
! was
rur warier, weonesaay ragrn s (
<4j|ntion session was a triumphant mom
urns embattled presidency but one he i
Billy files statement
WASHINGTON (AP) - Billy Carter
met with Senate investigators today on his
dealings with Libya and told reporters, “I
haven’t done a damn thing wrong.”
Lawyers for a special Senate Judiciary
subcommittee took Carter’s deposition at
his lawyers’ office today in preparation for
his public testimony possibly late next
week.
The president’s brother said he talked to
the Senate investigators informally for
about seven hours in Georgia over the
weekend. He said this session was to
provide them his deposition under oath.
The president’s brother may testify to
the Senate subcommittee late next week,
according to Richard Paul, an aide to Sen.
Birch Bayh, D-Ind.
Paul said the schedule for hearings next
week has not been completed but said the
investigators want to hear Billy Carter’s
testimony early in the investigation.
President Carter has said he also is
willing to testify publicly in an effort to
dispel questions of White House in-
volvement in his brother’s dealings with
Libya.
But Bayh has said he does not know if
the president’s testimony will be needed.
BUly Carter told reporters Wednesday
that Libyan officials agreed to talk to him
about a business deal in which he would
supply Libyan crude oil to the Florida-
based Charter Oil Co. But he said Libya
made no commitment to supply the oil.
forced to share with his defeated rival.
As the roll call of the states was read for
the Hintial nomination balloting, the
cheers often were louder for Kennedy than
for Carter.
When the heads of delegations called out
their votes, they consistently referred to
Carter as “the next president of the United
States.” For Kennedy, they used words
like “gallant...eloquent ...courageous."
The loudest cheer for Carter came when
the Texas delegation announced shortly
after midnight that its 108 votes had put
Carter over the 1,666 he needed for
renomination.
At that, the delegates waved Carter-
Mondale signs and shouted and stomped
about the floor as Carter’s wife Rosalynn,
his mother, Lillian Carter, and other
members of his family watched in
Madison Square Garden.
But the cheers of these unity-hungry
delegates grew into a roar of relief a few
minutes later when House Speaker
Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., the convention
chairman, interrupted the demonstration
with a message from Kennedy;
“I congratulate President Carter on his
renomination. I endorse the platform of
the Democratic Party,” O’Neill read from
the five-sentence statement. “I will
support and work for the re-election of
President Carter. It is imperative that we
defeat Ronald Reagan in 1980. I urge all
Democrats to Join in that effort.”
Then, the speaker added, “And so,
united we stand.”
That was only mostly true.
A short time later, when the Minnesota
delegation offered the traditional motion
to make Carter’s nomination unanimous,
delegates shouted, “No, No, No.”
There was a pause. Delegates milted
about. Finally, there was a stir in the
Massachusetts delegation and Lt. Gov.
Thomas O'Neill, the speaker’s son who
had been Kennedy’s New England cam-
paign coordinator, asked for recognition.
He told the delegates that he had just
spoken with Kennedy and "it is his wish in
the interest of harmony and unity and
success in 1980” that Carter’s nomination
be made unanimous.
With a roar of approval, the delegates
acceded to Kennedy’s request.
The platform adopted earlier in the day
was the key to Kennedy’s endorsement.
Carter had defeated Kennedy with
unexpected ease in a string of early
primaries. By the end of the primary
election season, the president had
amassed more than the convention
majority he needed for renomination. But
Kennedy refused to quit.
Only after failing to defeat a rule that
required delegates to abide by precon-
vention commitments did Kennedy give
up. Carter had the votes and he was
certain of keeping them, but he still didn’t,
get them all.
The roll-call vote on the nomination was
2,129 for Carter, 1,146.5 for Kennedy, 2.5
for Rep. Ronald Dellums of California and
51 for others.
Only Carter’s and Dellum’s names were
placed in nomination. Kennedy formally
released his delegates from their
obligation to him, but most supported him
anyway.
And even in losing, Kennedy put his
stamp on the platform, including a call for
a $12 billion anti-recession program to
800,000 jobs that Carter eventually ac-
cepted in principle if not in particulars.
Sulphur Springs hot for Olympians
The Olympics came to Sulphur Springs
- albeit only passing through — Wed-
nesday evening.
The Olympic Penthalon team had
stopped at a service station near South
Broadway’s intersection with 1-30 and the
driver of their bus had set the emergency
brake.
As the bus left Shannon Road and en-
tered 1-30, an alert Sulphur Springs
resident, who did not stay around long
enough to be identified, noticed what
looked like fire coming from the back of
the bus shortly after 7 p.m.
Sulphur Springs Police Sgt. Gordon
Fulcher and a reserve police officer were
notified of the incident as they were
checking out a hitchhiker and caught the
bus near the General Telephone Offices at
milemarker 126 in the eastbound lane of I-
30.
“As we came over a slight hill, all we
could see was a big ball of flames and
pieces of something coming off of the
private bus,” said one of the officers.
After getting the bus stopped and
everyone off, the two officers used two dry
powder fire extinguishers to put the blaze
out.
Lurh Drum, the driver, said that the
emergency brake had overheated after
being left on and had been destroyed by the
After removing the remains of the
emergency brake, the team members and
their group were able to continue their
trip.
One of the Penthalon team members
said that the group was enroute from their
training facility at Fort Sam Houston in
San Antonio to a national meeting of
participants in the event in Washington
D.C. where officers for the coming year
would be selected.
Members of the Penthalon event com-
pete in riding horses, running, swimming,
fencing and shooting.
Agency staff says
TMI clean-up safe
WASHINGTON (AP) - The staff of
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
said today the long, tricky Job of
cleaning up the damaged and con-
taminated Three Mile Island nuclear
powerplant should pose little or no
public health hazard even if the most
unlikely things go wrong.
It said clean-up workers might face
a very slightly increased cancer risk,
but for the general public “the health
effects are essentially non-existent.”
The staff said an accident releasing
more radioactivity is so unlikely it did
not calculate any additional public
radiation exposure. Still, it said, the
outside chance of such an accident
makes removal of the reactor’s fuel
“the paramount objective”.
The staff estimated that radiation
exposure experienced by clean-up
workers could result in perhaps one or
two additional cancer deaths —
ranging statistically from as low as
0.3 additional deaths to a maximum of
1.6 additional deaths.
Public radiation doses due to the
clean-up, however, would expose an
individual to an increased cancer risk
of only 2.2 chances out of 10 million, a
risk equivalent to “several puffs” on a
cigarette, the staff study said.
The staff presented its estimate of
the clean-up risks in a draft en-
vironmental impact statement which
may be revised in a final version after
public comments are received and
reviewed.
It opposed partial clean-up and said
the Three Mile Island reactor must be
defueled and decontaminated
regardless whether it is ever put bade
into service.
But the final decision on a clean-up
plan is up to the five-member com-
mission, now one person short and
awaiting Senate confirmation of a new
chairman.
K
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 193, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 14, 1980, newspaper, August 14, 1980; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth824936/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.