Portland News (Portland, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 12, 1978 Page: 1 of 15
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The Gregory1
School District is go
l> S Supreme four!)
effort to get a dec ism
procedural quest ion
The action stems fron
recent denial by the IJ
ot Appeals. Fifth CtrrulT|
New Orleans to two petitions1
tor a rehearing on an earlier
decision in which the court
decided against the school
district in an appeal hearing
The court action with the 5th
rente Court Next Step For G-P School Case
CireuH Court grew from a Rhe Southern District Court o(
ruling made in 1976 hy Judge /Texas did nol have jurisdiction
Owen Cox ot the IJ. S District/ to make the decision
< ourt at Corpus Christ) that th«^
G I* ISI) was not intentional!
•egn‘gated
The IJ S Justic
Deportment then asked for
al of the ruling, which < ]
ucd
injustice Department it
Jo the New Orleans CoI
liveo* 1,1 ^ <our* revei
.fxJeciMon by saying fh
One of the recent petitions
was for a hearing before the
three man panel which heard
the appeal, and the second pet
ion was to go before the full Io-
nian Court
J W Cary, attorney for the
school district said Tuesday
night at mo hoard of trustees
meeting that he would not pre
did if the Supreme Court
would hear (he Gregory-
Portland case or not
lie said that there would
have lo he considerations of
greater scape involved than the
individual district problem
The solution of the G-P case
could in effect. Is- binding on
the I . KIO school districts of the
slate. Gary noted
In view of that fact he lelt
that there might be a good
opportunity the Court would
hear the case
He pointed out that the point
of argument was. “if a school
district had the right to tie
heard at a court in its own
area " He said that the only
question now being considered
is if the District Court at
Corpus Christ i had the
authority to hear the case in
the first place
Gary said that it is felt that
the Supreme Court is more
conservative than the 5th
Circuit Court and that this
could have a bearing on their
decision
The case must be presented
to the Supreme Court within 90
day* Gary said he did not
know bow long the Court would
take before making a decision
lo hear the case
A stay also must lie obtained
trom the 5th Circuit Court If
that body does not issue one.
then the school district will
have lo go lo supreme Court
justice who has jurisdiction
over the New Orleans Court for
the stay
Without the stay. Texas
Kducation Agency could force
the school district to lake the
necessary action to balance the
schools according to their
guidelines for minority
students
If the Supreme Court does
not hear the case, or if It rules
against the school district, it
would in essence mean that the
1.300 school districts in the
stale would have to go to the
District Court al Tyler.- which
originally invoked the
guidelines, for a decision for
their district
The school board members
voted unanimously to take the
case to the high court
It was pointed out that the 5th
Circuit Court made no decision
on the segregation issue, hut
rather only came down with a
decision on the procedural
aspect of the appeal
‘Save Our Palms’
Effort Continues P
20
... yesterday the Save Our
i Wednesday) some 1.000 being circulated TF1‘JV1
names had been obtained on Chamber of Comm- i j *
other organizations, the
Chamber of Commerce
announced
The drive for names is
continuing through Oct. 15," a
Chamber spokesman noted
Petition forms can be found
at a number of business
establishments, al the
Chamber of Commerce office
behind city hall and at the
Portland NEWS office
Any person or organizations
"■"ding petition forms should
wxitact (he Chamber office al
*«-W75 or Portland NEWS at
_9f» PALMS. Page 16
Dedicated To The Be»t Interests
Of Portland - The Fastest
Growing City In Texas
Poniand. Tuas 78374 Thirsday, October 12, 1978
Volvme XIII - Sixteei Pages - No. 41
NEWS
Taxpayers Complain, But—
County Budget Flies Without Change
Agnes Albritton el the O P chapter of American Association
ot Retired Person (AARP) hands Charles Francis, a
Chamber ot Commerce board member, mere than 300 names
collected for the Save Our Palms petition now being
circulated by the Chamber and other organizations,
businesses' and individuals The names were collected by
the various members ei the chapter. (NEWS Photo).
The San Patricio itntv
Commissioners hearrtlC
proposed 197H budget pii!5
apart at their Monday meetij , j
when a large delegation ul
large landowners anti
taxpayers appeared at the
budget's public hearing
The crowd gathered early,
and the meeting had to be
moved from the cummins
inner*' courtroom to the county
courtroom That room was also
overflowing with some people
standing in (he hails The
district court was in session, so
those quarters could not- be
utilized
Complaints about the budget
anged from unfair tax
tuations to remarks that the
s -k bai in the courthouse
_ 1 be seif sustaining Also
1 l>n 1 \in for a share of
comi qL were the County
Airpor ^ Sir,ton. the CETA
program, the Community
Action Agency. a question as to
who was actually the county
budget officer, and others that
ran a w ide range, but covered
almost every facet of the
budget
The session on the budget
lasted over four hours and
before it was half over, there
had iieen al least one threat of
a class action suit against the
county s.
Doug Freberg. Portland oil
and gas lease broker, started a
move to institute such
proceedings, and collected
some 20 or 30 names interested
in the movement, as well as a
considerable amount of money
He said the suit will he filed
within 10 days Freberg's
objection centered around his
belief that the new valuations
were not fair and equal
After hours of hearing
County Auditor Hay Harris
review the budget, answer
questions posed by the
taxpayers, also questions
directed at County Judge
Percy Hartman, as well as the
commissioners, the
commissioners voted approval
of the budget as presented
The berated budget calls for
a second year of deficit
spending, a point that was
debated somewhat during the
open hearing Harris said the
'78 budget, which presented a
deficit when developed last
year, was balanced, and that is
*79 budget would also be
However, when questioned.
Harris agreed that some of the
money used to defray the '78
budget will come from taxes
collected during the last couple
of months of this year, which
should actually go into 1979
___sao COUNTY, Page 16
East Resigns
From Board
The resignation of Rodger
East from the Gregory
Portland Independent School
District board of trustees was
accepted Tuesday night as the
hoard met in executive session
Announcement following the
meeting said that East, who
has been a member of the
board to years, is relocating to
the Beaumont area, where he
has taken a position with
National Pipe and Tube
Division of National Steel Co.
East has Iieen with Reynolds
Metals here for about 20 years
The board is giving
consideration to filling the
vacancy
Superintendent Jack Darnell
announced that a report will be
given to the board of trustees at
its next regular meeting,
scheduled for Nov 14, on Ihe
discipline in the various
schools
Such a discussion was
requested by the hoard
following hearing in May with
parents of a student
In other business Tuesday
night, the board:
Approved payment of
September statements and
salaries in the ambunt of
$516.16129, of which $378,000
was payroll
-Renewed for one year a
contract with Ihe appraisal
firm of Pritchard and Abbott
-Hoard a report by
Assistant Superintendent Joe
Sctiesta on the bilingual plan
He said that there are 1.260
students in the system who will
lie tested to see if they should
come under the bilingual
••ducattonal program
There were 488 at Austin
Elementary School. 205 at
Clark Elementary School. 46 at
East Cliff Elementary School.
217 at tunior high school and
:W4 al the high school
-Upon recommendation of
W. C Andrews, former
superintendent, the board of
See EAST, Pa*e 16
I #r *;
W C. Andrews (left) who retired this summer as
superintendent ot schools and 33 yaars of service with the
district, was presanted a book ot (otters by K. Dean Drtiling,
president ot the board of trustees The booh, composed of
personal latters from numerous community loaders,
businessmen, educators ond friends, were compiled by the
school board and administration staff tor Andrews as a
memento of his years ot service to the community. (NEWS
photo)
Halloween Carnival
Ticket Sale Starts
Shown receiving their tickets are Tom left Lana Charnetskl, Anthony Rodn^,
Taylor and Audrty Dioringer Ms, Mary Taylor, Clark PTO president, m*#^ the
distribution. (NEWS Photo)
Advance ticket saies started
yesterday (Wednesday) for the
annual Halloween Carnival to
be held Saturday. Oct 28, at T
M Clark Elementary School
The advance sale will
continue through Oct 23
Advance tickets are being
sold in packets of 12 for $t At
Ihe carnival, tickets will be 10
cents each
Youngsters selling the most
tickets will be awarded prizes
lo he contributed by Portland
State Bank The student selling
the most tickets will receive a
$25 saving account; second
i place. $15; and third place. $10
Mary Taylor, Clark PTO
president, said that all events
al this year's carnival will be
located inside, out of any
possible inclement weather
The carnival is conducted
each year, alternating between
Clark and East Cliff
Elementary School, to provide
funds with which to purchase
items for the school not
normally available from school
district funding
Wildcats Vs. Wildcats
Claw And Scratch Time
Football fortunes haven't Iieen ex. flj kind to Ihe
Calallen Wildcats (his year, hut then they I vf Iieen engaged
In some pretty tough gang wars in the earl) won
Their record included losses to Mitft, Cuero and
Rwvllle all formidable foes, bul make no lstike. if they
could let a little brother Wildcat blood Fr if night their
season would improve 1,000 per cent |
Cuero Coach Buster Gilbreath put it th way after his
team came from liehlnd to tag Ihe Wildcats ‘Calallen is a
well-coached, well-disciplined football team mj ihey were
really fired up for us ."
If they were able to get fired up for the ibblers. just
think how high the fever is running across the «y this week
as they prepare for G-P in a must win game I* them It is
highly unlikely that any team that drops two g, ie$ will end
up in Ihe champion's circle in 15 3A (his year, so
Calallen has a rather young, inexperiences 'Earn, bul
Coach Bobby Davis has evidently done a good jr n utilizing
his six returning lettermen to the utmost sine hey have
given a good account of themselves in each gam o far this
year Out of Ihe six lettermen, only one was a ffenive
starter last year and two were on the1 deft-nth starling
squad The others were reserves
Their offensive attack is run by Mark Bush, a •puumi
5-10 senior who lettered last year Tailback Cole Sc it also
a letterman Scott was injured early in the set njlbut
returner! lo full power in the Cuero game and sp, ed the
Wildcat's TD drive against the Gobblers
Other workhorses in the backfield include halfh, < Tom
Story and Shawn Bondurant Both boys are light, h airly
fast
Rush has been doing better than average with his | sing
game so far this year and two of t% favorite targets could be
Jim Pettigrew and Jeff Hayes
Jim (fore is the key man in t* offensive line At 220
pounds, (.ore is tough and good at lea ring a hole for his
hacks to squeeze through He is a senio letterman
Last year Calallen had some of theiggt defensive men in
the league, hut graduation took most ol he names with the
exception of Bill Maguire, a defensive l»ck
The G-P Wildcats came through the -four Bluff game
w ithout any ma jor injuries, and even Coacl Ray Akins, who
missed the game with a IkhjI of flu. was ,o<k on Ihe job
Monday. Akins noted that la»slie Toilet!, injdtd in a game
two weeks ago. Should be back in uniform i|id could see
action Bru< e Murr has returned to action after tissing some
lime with a severly sprained leg
A record crowd of G-P Wildcat fans is expend to be on
hand to watch their favorite Wildcats claw and «ratch Ihe
Calallen Wildcats
Tickets for Ihe game will remain on sale at (Vp until
hImkiI 12noon Thegameisset forHp m inCalallen
Chamber Has 84 Members
President Paul
Bingenheimer announced
Tuesday at Ihe monthly
luncheon meeting of the
Chamber of Commerce that
the organization now has 84
members and that the
membership drive is
continuing
Edmondson
Write-In
Candidate
J M Edmondson Jr has
filed as a write-in candidate for
San Patricio County Judge in
the November 7th General
Election
Edmondson, age 41. is
currently serving as Mayor of
the City of Mathis He is a
native of Mathis and was
educated in the public schools
there He has earned the
following educational degrees
Associate of Arts from Del Mar
Set EDMONDSON. Page 16
J M EDMONDSON
The
Gregory-Portlancl High School
Choraleirs and Chordsmen
present
“EARLY BIRD CONCERT”
Tuesday, Oct. 17
7:48 p.m.
High School Auditorium
II was reported that Wanda
Sheppard and Jeff Burnham
have resigned from the
Chamber's hoard of directors
and that Roland Wollitz
Portland Stale Rank, and Rick
Noelh. HER. had been named
by Ihe directors to replace
them
County Tax
Office Opens
The San Patricio County
Tax AssessorCollector this
week opened an office here
in Ihe Surety Title Building
to handle all phases of
county tax business. Davis
Vickers, county tax
assessor collector, announc-
ed
Mrs Doris Nelson of
Portland is in charge of the
branch office which is open
Irom Ham (o 12 noon and
from I to 5 p m Monday
through Friday
The Surety Title Building
is located on the Highway 181
frontage road, just north of
Whutahurger The office is in
Ihe scsith end of the building
Mrs. Nelson will lie able to
assist residents in such items
as automobile registrations
and titles, county tax
payments, voter registration
and other tax related
matters
“The county is glad lo gel
this office in. 'Vickers said.
“I have been w anting lo do it
for a long lime.’’
€
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Leveen, Paul D. Portland News (Portland, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 12, 1978, newspaper, October 12, 1978; Taft, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth871245/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bell/Whittington Public Library.