Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 18, 1990 Page: 1 of 20
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Texas State Railroad
Cljerokeeaif/Herald
Established Feb. 27, 1850 as the Cherokee Sentinel — Texas' Oldest, Continuously Published Weekly Newspaper
Historical Caddoan
Indian Mounds
Vol. 141, No. 50 - 16 Pages
Thursday, January 18, 1990
Rusk, Texas 75785 25 cents
p
m
warm
A NEW PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY for the treatment of mentally ill inmates will be
dedicated at 10 a.m. Saturday by the Skyview Unit, Texas Department of Criminal
Justice. In this aerial photo, Rusk State Hospital is seen upper left. Upper right is the
former site for Maximum Security Unit which is now in use by TDCJ by an estimated
400 inmates. Lower right is the newly completed hospital facility, which its designers
call "state of the art." It is expected to be a model for other facilities in the U.S. It is
the first of its kind in the state and nation. Tours will follow dedication ceremonies
until 4 p.m. Saturday. -Cherokeean/Herald photo by Elmer Luck
Rusk Chamber Banquet
to honor Citizen of Year
ACifcizen ofthe Year will be named
by Jack White, last year's recipent,
Thursday evening at the Rusk
Chamber of Commerce banquet. The
49th annual banquet is scheduled
to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Rusk
Junior High School Cafeteria.
Theme for this year's banquet will
be 'Welcome to the Future."
Members ofthe Rusk High School
Student Council will serve as greet-
ers for the event and the Rusk High
School choir will sing as banquet
attenders gather. The Rev. Dr. Gary
Fitzgerald will offer the invocation.
Robert Gonzalez will assume the
reins of office for president from
outgoi ng President Stephanie Cave-
ness. Other new officers are Nell
McNatt, president-elect; Lewie
Byers, vice-president; Joe Terrell,
treasurer; Don Jones and George
. Dodd, executive directors. New di-
rectors for the 1990-92 term of office
are JoeTerrell, Glenn Miller, James
Cromwell, Tony Murray, Marie
Whitehead, Frank Madden, Craig
Caldwell and Bobby Tosh. Pee Wee
Drake will replace Larry Long on
the board. Long recently resigned
his position, which had one year left
on his term.
Guest speaker will be George S.
Smith, journalist and founder ofthe
Marshall Fire Ant festival. Smith
will be introduced by Marie
AREA News Briefs )
VSC meeting slated
Wilson Lilley of Rusk will be guest
speaker at the Thursday noon
meeting of the Rusk State Hospital
Volunteer Services Council.
The meeting will held at noon in
the social room ofthe rehabilitation
therapies building.
Lilley is director of the commu-
nity programs.
Art league meeting set
The Alto Art League will meet at
6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25 in the
fellowship hall ofthe A Frank Smith
United Methodist Church. The pro-
gram will be a workshop of fabric
jewelry presented by Emal Rogers.
Guests are welcome.
Commodities for Alto
Government commodities will be
distributed in Alto at the Lions Club
building the second Thursday morn-
ing of each month.
Rusk churches
participates
in survey
Member of Rusk churchos
will spend another Saturday
Rusk area home#,
fear identi-
■ibute scrip-
survey will be
the visit*.
b« plawrl on
lam « at partteipat
on Jan.
t urea. A
Alto Nutrition Center
The Nutrition Center in Alto will
operate out ofthe Lions Club build-
ing and will be open each Monday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Center welcomes all senior
citizens 60 years and older. Lunch
will be served for a small donation
of $1.25 There will be activities and
companionship.
Anyone needing transportation
may call 858-4332 for more infor-
mation.
Teachers work day set
Alto ISD children will be dis-
missed from school Friday, Jan. 19
for a teacher work day.
Garden Club
plan dedication
ceremony
Mary Lawhon of the Rusk Gar-
den Club announced plans to dedi-
cate a pecan tree in Rusk State Park
on Friday, Jan. 19 at 10 a.m.
The tree will be planted in honor
of Jewel Copeland, 99 year old
member ofthe Garden Club for over
50 years. Bill Rose ofthe Texas For-
est Service will hand out native
pecan seedlings to anyone attend-
ing the ceremony.
Wayne Pianta of the Texas Agri-
cultural Extension Service and Bob
Rada of the Rusk State Park are as-
sisting the Rusk Garden Club with
the planting and ceremony.
The public is invited to attend.
Whitehead.The speaker will share
with banquet attenders his exper-
tise in promoting a community.
The Marshall Fire Ant Festival,
founded in 1983, now attracts more
than 50,000 people annually to
Marshall, a community of 24,000.
Smith was chairman of the festi-
val for two years and has served on
the executive board for six. He haB
been in charge of publicity since
inception of the festival and has
generated national sponsors and
publicity. The national sponsors
spend more than $30,000 annually
with the festival and on special
projects, the total has exceeded
$100,000.
Smith is alBo credited with found-
ing the city's Wonderland of Lights,
which annually attracts more than
500,000 to Marshall. He served as
chairman the first year, co-chair-
man the second year and one of the
three co-chairmen in the third year.
He has been in charge of all promo-
tions, including synergistic efforts
with other Christmas festivals
(common brochures, joint media
promotions, etc.), publicity (already
committed in Texas Highways,
Texas Monthly, ABC News, CNN
and PBS) and in recruiting volun-
teers.
He has also headed up the city's
♦See CHAMBER, p. 16
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Multi-million facility
dedication is scheduled
Dedication at 10 a.m. Saturday
will mark the completion of the
nearly $8 million psychiatric build-
ing at the Skyview Unit ofthe Texas
Department of Criminal Justice in
Rusk.
The structure is the first of its
kind, a state ofthe art design, and is
expected to set the pace for other
states to follow.
AndyCollins.directorof theTDCJ
Institutional Division, Huntsville,
will be the principal speaker.
Numerous dignitaries and officials
will also participate.
Serving as master of ceremonies
will be James I. PerkinB, president
and chairman of the board of Citi-
zens Bank. He is also president of
the Rusk Industrial Foundation, the
organization which secured the 58
acres of land providing the location
for TDCJ in Rusk.
"We will gather at the main en-
trance by the flag pole, but if the
weather is inclement, we will move
the ceremony indoors," states Perk-
ins.
Following the program, guided
tours ofthe 83,000 square foot, two-
story structure will be conducted.
Warden Joe Collins says that
tours will continue through 4 p.m.
in order to allow all persons to see
the facility before its occupancy.
"We stress the fact that we want
everyone to come and tour," he said.
"If there are those who simply can't
be here at 10 a.m., we urge them to
come later and see what this service
provides. We will continue the tours
until 4 p.m."
Civic leaders are working with
the TDCJ personnel to celebrate
the building's completion and to pay
tribute to the goal achieved.
Saturdays dedications is the cul-
mination of three years work to
maintain a viable role for Rusk and
Cherokee County in state services.
In 1987, the legislature approved
House Bill 1503 sponsored by State
Rep. Cliff Johnson of Palestine and
Sen. Roy Blake ofNacogdoches. The
bill provided for the establishment
of the Texas Department of Correc-
tions Unit at Rusk to serve psychi-
atric inmates.
The legislature also authorized
the relocation of the Maximum
Security Unit at Rusk State Hospi-
tal to Vernon. MSU facility renova-
tions began after the transfer of
patients to Vernon.
Shortly more than one year had
passed when 53 inmates, the first,
arrived to occupy the renovated
Skyview Unit of TDC in late July,
1988.
services also called for the employ-
ment of an estimated 100 additional
persons by RSH.
"Considering the direction of our
state leaders in 1987, with talk of
closing at least two state hospitals,
we are indeed fortunate to have
negotiated successfully in securing
TDC," said County Judge Emmett
Whitehead.
"To have come from the edge of
what might have been the closure of
RSH, or at best, a vastly reduced
facility, to this present moment of
expanded service with increased
staffing is undoubtedly a high point
in the lives of all who are involved.
"As a citizen of this county, it has
been my great privilege to work
with all concerned persons to sup-
port the service provided by Rusk
State Hospital. And now, we are
equally proud to be able to continue
this same kind of support to TDC.
When the Psychiatric Facility is fully occupied and staffed, total
employment at TDCJ íb expected to be 650 persona with an estimated
payroll of approximately $15 million.
Occupancy limit was placed at
300 inmates. Groundbreaking for
the authorized 200-bed psychiatric
facility was held in August, 1988.
Initially, with the service of reno-
vated, existing facilities, staffing
was projected at 333 persons. On
completion, the psychiatric facility
was expected to require another 300
persons.
In the legislation which author-
ized these changes, Rusk State
Hospital was also approved to pro-
vide such services as food, laundry,
and grounds keeping for the TDC
Skyview Unit. This expansion of
"And in the opinion of many of us,
this is just a beginning. We have ad-
ditional land, available people,
housing, utilities, all the ingredi-
ents to generate growth for the fu-
ture.
"It is our privilege to congratulate
this highly important economic
entity on having reached this his-
toric day. In this instance, we are all
partners in progress, sharing good
feelings as we note this milestone,"
said Judge Whitehead.
Don Hill Construction Co. of Ty-
ler was general contractor. Brown
and Root served as the Program
Development Consultant.
Commissioners court approves
contractual obligations amendment
Cherokee Cou nty Com missioners
met Thursday afternoon to approve
an amendment to the contractual
obligations transaction approved
earlier this year and to hear a
report from insurance agencies con-
sidering the recent health care pol-
icy purchased by the county on Mon-
day.
CharlesHassell, vice-president of
Citizens Bank met with the court to
explain the amendment. The cer-
tificates of $300,000 will be put
intoacheckingaccountand must be
spent by Feb. 1,1991. The bank will
place the funds in the special ac-
count on the date that the agree-
ment is signed and papers are back
from the attorney general's office.
Interest earned during the first 30
days must be spent for payback of
the bank funds, but all other inter-
est earned can be spent in any way
by the county.
The commissioners court had
planned earlier to take excessive
funds from the Interest and Sink-
ing Fund for the payback. Hassell
said that these funds could not be
used for that purchase but there is
enough inthe account to pay thejail
construction certificates of obliga-
tion payment for the next two years.
Monies designated in the county
budget for the bond payments can
be devoted to pay for the contrac-
tual obligations.
Contractual obligation funds will
be used to pay for the purchase of
four sheriff s cars, one motor grade,
one van for the sheriff s department,
22 court chairs, two copies, three
typewriters, three sheriffs cars in
Jan. 1991, a pick up truck in Jan.
1991 and a dumptruckin Jan. 1991.
Gail Norris and Tom Slack of
Risk Funding in Tyler, insurance
agency for the current health care
policy and Gilbert Bakerof Jackson-
ville, agent for the policy that is
scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 1,
met with the commissioners to dis-
4hr
m. .ialEsa
mm
* ■
GO ON BABY! Robert Eades, superintendent of the Rusk State Park, gently pushes
Rainbow Trouts into the park lake last Tuesday. Some 1,000 trouts were placed in the
lake Tuesday and another 1,000 the Tuesday before. Last year's distribution was
10,000 trout. The PérW lakes are stocked for winter fishing. The fish are said to die
when warmer temperatures approach. Area persons are invited to catch the nice sized
rainbow trouts. Fishers are required to have a fishing license and a trout stamp.
Stocking Is determined on the number of trout stamps purchased. staff photo
cuss the health care coverage for
county employees.
Slack told members of the court
that the current coverage is by
Washington Life, an A plus rating
company. The new policy is pro-
vided by George Washington Life, a
non-rated company.
The county has 150 employees,
who will be covered by the new pol-
icy. County Judge Emmett H.
Whitehead says the concern of the
court is that when an employee has
a claim it will be paid. Commission-
ers will meetagain Monday, Jan. 22
to reconsider and discuss the health
care insurance policy.
Wells ISD
promotes
R. Perry Muse
R. Perry Muse, principal at Wells
High School, has been named super-
intendentofthe school district. Muse
has been with the district for four
years and replaces Dr. Victoria
Williams who resigned to take a
superintendency in New Jersey.
Before coming to Wells, Muse
coached and taught for 17 years at
Chireno Junior and Senior High
Schools. He holds a B.S. degree from
Western State University in Natchi-
toches, La., and received his Mas-
ters ofEducation, Mid-Management
and superintendent certification at
Stephen F. Austin State University
in Nacogdoches.
Muse said, Tve eryoyed working
in Wells as a principal and I'm look-
ing forward to this new opportunity
to work with the community and
students in another capacity."
He and his wife, Linda, will make
their home in Wells. Linda is ele-
mentary principal atSan Augustine
and she plans to commute daily to
her work. The couple has five chil-
dren, Anna Lisa Fowler, Fairfield;
Shelly ReneKnepp, Austin; Michell
Allen, Nacogdoches; Raymond,
Chireno and Cody Muse, a senior at
Wells High School. They have four
grandchildren.
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Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 18, 1990, newspaper, January 18, 1990; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151939/m1/1/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.