The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 129, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 4, 1979 Page: 1 of 14
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The Cherokeean
Texas' oldest weekly newspaper, established as the Cherokee Sentinel February 27,1850
Vol.* 129
15* per Issue
Number 46
14 Pages
Rusk, Texas 75785, Thursday, January 4,1979
Home of
The Texas State Railroad
'It Was A Very Good Year'
A Look at 1978
Most persons will agree that the
good outweighed the had for Rusk and
area during 1878. The year just ended
witnessed a number of firsts.
The budget for Rusk State Hospital
was a record-setter with more than
118 million appropriated for patient
caro and service. Equally impressive
was "he total passenger service
offered by Texas State Railed.
More than 35,000 persons visited the
TSR State Historical Park for a
nostalgic ride on the railroad served
by antique steam engines.
The 66th session of the Texas
Legislature begins Tuesday, January
9 1ft Austin with many complex
problems confronting the state
lawmakers.
Representative Emmett H.
Whitehead of Rusk says that this will
probably be the hardest Mission he has
experienced in his six years of
service. c
Bill Cleihents, first Republican
Governor in Texas wnwWThflrtft
hundred yciurs, has caused concern to
many legislators. The hew Governor
has stated on several occasions that
he will work to reduce state
employment by 28,000. He is also
pledged to cut state spending across
thebosrd.
Education will be one of the big
problems the lawmakers will attempt
to solve again (his session.
Approximately 50 per cent of the
state's budget is expended for
education.
1Round
Town
With Mrs. Roundabout
What an icy new year's greeting the
weather handed us Jan. 1st! With a
start like this, some of us are tempted
to play the shy Ground Hog and call it
off for another six weeks! Well...the
furry little animal can live up to, or
live down, his legends...but with
people it's a little different. The new
beginning has begun and like every
other day, whether it's Jan. 1 or July
I, we'll make the best of it, won't we?
Even the most on-superstitious of us
probably ate black-eyed peas
Monday. Waking to a world glistening
In lee was enough reason to send
everyone In search of all omens of
geed lack. Got to thinking about the
tradition of the good-luck-letttil and
went to my vast collection of
compendium, the encyclopedia In
. ether words, and do you know what?
Nothing was written ander the
heading of peas, but right before that
was a goodly number of paragraphs
an the subject ot "peace/' I digressed
ta- a moment and thought "well, If It
was supposed to be here, peace Is a
geed topic ta peas to follow."
Moved on to the B-Book, looking for
the black-eye. Nothing there either.
Finally decided that it wasn't worth
researching anyway. It's probably a
very old, American tradition that got
started when somebody had nothing
else but peas to eat on Jan. l and as
hick would have it, the year turned out
quite well, and the peas got the credit.
IOnd of a proven-afaln-truism that all
r of good can really be done, if
(or anything) cares who gets
If your new year turns out well, and
you did. la fact, eat blaek-eyed peas
teat Monday, then give credit where
credit Is due. And if you believe the
Unobeyed pea* did It, so he HI It'saU
a matter of what wo believe Isn't H?
Interestingly enough, people of the
peethm noways believed that the
E-jx
ThoMMay •LJ£?IÜL uew year
ISTfctSSrAr ffi
•dee H'AiOVT, p< M
Housing was augmented by the
announcement of 48 new dwellings to
be constructed in this community.
More firsts were established with
the employment of a new city
manager, Ron Cox, last November.
The year just ended also saw Rusk
and Cherokee County move toward a
solution to ambulance service. City
and county officials worked with Rusk
Memorial Hospital and private
enterprise to bring about th$
necessary service.
rSees
' Session
"The greatest resource in our state
is our young people. We must continue
to offer them every advantage
possible," states Rep. Whitehead.
Development of the Caddoan
Mounds State Park near Alto will be
one of the highest priorities for Rep.
Whitehead this session.
The Rusk legislator is again
this legislation will be appnottawtely
$43*48 million.
"No one really knows what to
expect this session. We're going to
Austin, and give it our very best,"
said Rep. Whitehead.
Dedication
Set Jan. 12
The dedication of the Lex T. Neill,
M.D. Medical Building is scheduled
for 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12 at the Rusk
State Hospital Chapel Auditorium.
Featured speaker will be David
Wade, M.D., former commissioner of
the Texas Department of Mental
Health and Mental Retardation. A
tour of the Neill Medical Building and
a reception will follow the dedication,
Dr. Neill, born in Tyler, was a
general physician at Rusk State
Hospital from 1962 until he was
appointed that facility's
superintendent in 1970. He served as
superintendent until his resignation in
December, 1974. During 1975, he
served as a physician at Kerrville
State Hospital and was appointed
Director of the Region VII,
Department of Health, Tyler, serving
from July, 1975, until his retirement
from state servicA in November, 1978.
Dr. Neill.practiceq general medicine
in Tyler from 1937-1942 and again
from 1946-1962. /
Dr. Neill was awarded the 1974
Commissioner's Award, the highest
citation given by the Texas
Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation for. his
outstanding service, dedication,
support and loyalty to the
department.
The Board of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation approved the
naming of the Lex T. Neill M.D.
Medical Building in July, 1978, as a
lasting tribute in honor of Dr. Neill
"who devoted much of his life to
serving the mentally impaired."
Renovation of the Medical Building
was started during Dr. NeiU's tenure
as Superintendent. He expired June,
1978 in Whitehouse, Texas. Friends of
Dr. Neill are invited to attend the Jan.
12 dedication.
An addition to Rusk Memorial was
completed and opened for use and
now the facility is looking toward a
successful operation in the black.
With the new year just days
underway, citizens of the area can
expect the next 12 months to
accomplish even greater things. It is
hoped that more and new services will
be provided through funding of RSH,
as the result of action to be taken in
the 66th session of the Texas
Legislature.
Further predictions call for another
record setting operation of TSR. With
existing housing, plus that under
construction, more residential units
will be available for citizens in the
new year.
All of these factors, coupled with
good highways for transportation, an
abundante of water and other natural
resources, the growth in 1979 can be
almost anything that people working
together want it to be.
A look at highlights from 1978
include these news-making events.
JANUARY
Cherokee County Sheriff Danny
Stailings complained that he was
"broke*7 and <rnot making a living'
but his request for a raise was turned
down by the commissioner's court
because there was no way they could
' ! his salary till 1979, according to
t Judge Qrvan Jones.
M
:,v V". • --vM' : v;-
Rep. "femmett H. Whitehead an-
nounced that he had filed for reelec-
tion. Rep. Whitehead came out in
favor of economy in government. "We
can and will continue to operate our
state government without any in-
crease in taxes on our people, said
Whitehead.
. The last of three escapees from the
Cherokee County Jail was apprehend-
ed in Fort Worth after an intensive
state-wide search. Audrey Abbott, 35,
of Rusk was transported back to
Rusk, the other two escapees were
Carl MacGowan, 21. of Waxahachie
and John C, Earwood, 18, of Kaufman.
All three men were being held on
HRH 1V| court approved
requiring all new employees to com-
plete a physical before being hired
and being reimbursed after 30 days
satisfactory work. "A man can cost
more than a simple physical exam"
said Commissioner Terry Perkins.
Dr. Exter Bell Jr., Rusk State
Hospital director of professional ser-
vices was appointed as new RSH
acting superintendent at a meeting in
Austin.
The Rusk City Council voted to start
the Cherokee
f.
i
anm ®.
■SMHB
*JS' Ü I ÉMiM
hifr ■■
lee Not So Nice-Especially New Year's Day
Local motorists hardly needed to be admonished to "drive with care" during the opening days of this new year
An ice storm, termed the worst in 30 years for Dallas and area, spilled ov^r to East Texas coating the highways in
a layer of ice which made for hazardous conditions. The photos above reflect the situation on (J.8. Highways M
North and South last Monday. -staff photo
trie
tive Association
County Ele
tion (REA)
Elec-
three per cent gross receipts tax for
any of their lines crossing over into
Rusk city limits.
The Rusk Independent School Dis-
trict battled successfully with the
growing problem of head lice, parti-
cularly among elementary school
children. "These children were isola-
ted from school, treated, and return-
ed," said Dick McGaughey, elemen-
tary school principal.
David Draper was selected for the
All-State Class ÁA First Team Offen-
sive Center after a vote of sports-
writers throughout the state.
Tony Douglas and the Shrimpers
appeared in the Rusk Civic Theatre
before a handful of fans who braved
the icy weather to see the evening and
night performances.
The Rusk Chamber of Commerce
honored local businessman Joe Ray
Ocker as "Citizen of the Year," at its
38th annual banquet in the New
Southern Motor Hotel.
County Commissioners appointed
Mrs. Carol Pendleton of Jacksonville
and Mrs. Joe Francis Weimar of Alto
to the Child Welfare Advisory Board.
Governor Dolph Briscoe announced
approval of a $141,000 community
services grant to the Rusk-Cherokee
Community Action Program, Inc.
. *See 1978, p. 4
lee Poses Problems:
Moore To Speak
The Cherokee County Heritage
Association will meet Monday, Jan. 8
at the Winchester Restaurant in Rusk.
The Board of Directors will meet at
6 p.m., followed by dinner at 8:30 p.m.
The program will begin at 7 p.m.
Jack Moore of Jacksonville will be
the guest speaker. He will apeak on
"The Story of Dialv Ule "
Mr. Moore, whose hobby is the
hishwv of Cherokee County and all
East Texas, is the author of several
books and numeroua articles
concerning stories of early days.
A native of Cherokee County, he has
much Information of facta of the
area'a history, along with stories of
human Intereat, all oí which make hia
UUwgaMAI
All Interesting portons are cordially
Invited to attend the meetl
Many Rusk citizens have been
experiencing difficulties over the last
few days due to the icy weather
conditions. Utility companies have
been unable to provide services and
the Rusk schools have closed.
Areas of Rusk and Alto were out of
service from the Southwestern
Electric Service Company at
approximately 6:02 p.m. Monday,
according to George Dodd, Rusk
SESCO manager.
Dodd said that power was lost
through the line from the Texas
Power and Light Company. "We
switched over to another line at 7:45
p.m. and restored power to our
customers. Since then TP&L has
corrected their problem and SESCO is
again receiving power from them."
SESCO has not had any real
problems with broken lines,
according to Dodd.
Customers of the Cherokee County
Electric Cooperative were also out of
electric power Monday night,
according to Fred Buchanan.
Buchanan said that they buy their
power from Southwestern Electric
and TP&L and both companies were
unable to provide them with power for
sometime Monday night.
The Cooperative has had little
trouble with broken Unea thus far
because they have spent considerable
money beefing up their right of way
program, according to Buchanan.
"We have had helicopters spray the
hruah along the linea and we
purchased two bucket trucks to out
away obstructions from our lines,"'
said Buchanan.
The General Telephone Company
experienced some problems while the
electricity was off. "We were out of
service for about an hour," said
Woody Frazer with the Jacksonville
office.
"We have standby equipment which
will normally operate from 45 minutes
to one hour but we had an overload
because our customers were doing a
lot of calling. Our reserve batteries
could not take the strain."
Frazer also said that there was a lot
of long distance calling Tuesday duo
to the weather situation and some
calls were delayed in getting through.
One water line was broken and one
water meter broken by a car sliding
over it in Rusk, according to City
Manager Ron Cox.
Cox said that the higher, more
elevated areas of the city had no
water while the electricity was off
because the pressure in these areas is
generated by the pumpa themselves
rather than the gravity flow.
Rusk ISD Schools were cloood down
for two days. Schools were closed
Tuesday due to the Icy road conditions
and Wednooday because the ENTSX
Gas Company aaked them to,
according to Superintendent Tony
Murray.
The IXTBX Gas Company has
IHI# MMMami
feet a day but their pipeline ia not
furnishing them with an adequate
supply of gaa due to a mechanical
difficulty.
At press time Wednesday Bryant
said, "We feel confident that
everything should be back to normal
today. We are figuring that the
schools will be operating Thursday
and we do not anticipate a change in
plans."
Murray also said that the missed
days will have to be made up lata on.
"We have several options at the
present and nothing definite has been
decided yet."
loeal laUMhat iheji
normally supply about I million eubto
Inside
This Issue
Editorials,
Columns,
Courthouse Naws
Farming Today,
Chsslflada,
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 129, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 4, 1979, newspaper, January 4, 1979; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151313/m1/1/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.