Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 18, 1998 Page: 1 of 16
sixteen pages : illus. ; page 23 x 14 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
697 99/03/10 COMPMW
SOUTHWEST MICR0PUBLISH1NG
2627 E YANDELL DR
EL PASO TX 79903-3743
C^crobccan/Hcrald
Texas' Oldest, Continuously Published Weekly Newspaper - Established Feb. 27, 1850 as the Cherokee Sentinel
New hospital
administrator
named in Rusk
ÉEIMC
see page 4B
Vol. 149, No. 17-16 Pages
Thursday, June 18, 1998
Rusk, Texas 75785
25 cents
County issues emergency ban on burning
Cherokee County became the 207th Texas county
of254 to declare a burn ban because of the dangerous
heat and dry conditions plaguing the state.
The use of fireworks because of drought conditions
has also been banned.
All persons selling fireworks within the county
shall provide reasonable notice of the ban order.
County commissioners through a telephone vote
declared an emergency and issued the bans Monday
morning.
The county commissioners court did so through the
recommendations of the Texas Forest Service.
The ban will be extended when members of the
court meet Monday morning if the drought condi-
tions continue, Judge Harry Tilley said.
Burn bans have also been issued for Rusk, Jack-
sonville, Maydelle, Gallatin and Wells.
Alto had not at noon Tuesday issued a ban on
outdoor burning. However, persons living in Alto
were asked to use caution in any outdoor burning.
Cities and area water corporations were not ration-
ing water at presstime Tuesday.
Joining Cherokee County in the ban of all outdoor
burning are Anderson and Smith counties.
Burning bans are on the agenda for next week's
commissioners meetings in Gregg, Angelina and
Nacogdoches counties.
East Texas counties not declaring burning bans are
Harrison, Henderson, Van Zandt, Wood and Rusk.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush declared last week that
80 percent of the state's 254 counties are in drought
conditions and asked Texans to volunteer to conserve
water and ban outdoor burning.
County Judge Tilley urged area residents to honor
the burn ban and especially the fireworks ban. Sky-
rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks shot into
the air can cause fires within minutes, he said.
He said the only place fireworks could be safe would
be if they are shot over and fall into an area lake.
"I urge all county
residents to honor
the burn ban,
especially the
fireworks ban."
-Cherokee County
Judge Harry Tilley
Construction closes court
County employees in the court-at-law office got an
unexpected vacation this week when the office was
closed for construction.
Court-at-law Judge LeRue Dixon voluntarily closed
the office Monday and Tuesday when construction
workers began in the basement hallway outside his
courtroom and office.
"I can't have my people breathing plastic and insu-
lation," he said Tuesday afternoon. "They're cutting
pipes in the courtroom."
Employees were scheduled to return to work
Wednesday and use the 2nd Judicial Courtroom
upstairs. That courtroom was also closed earlier this
week for construction.
Judge Dixon dismissed a jury trial Monday, and
rescheduled a custody trial for Wednesday in connec-
tion with the Bobby Sexton murder.
Cherokee County Judge Harry Tilley confirms that
phase four of construction, which includes the base-
ment area as well as renovations on the top floor
which formerly housed the jail, will be completed by
late summer. Estimated cost of phase four is $1.23
million.
County Auditor L.H. Crockett told the Cherokeean/
Herald he did not know whether the office's closing
ytrould be counted as employee vacation time or not.
Time sheets will be sent to his office later this month
fbr payment.
Staples
keynotes
banquet
■ Tickets available
from Lions Club
members
State Representative Todd
Staples will discuss Legislative
issues at the Rusk Lions Club ban-
quet at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 25
at the Rusk Junior High Cafete-
ria.
Approximately 40-50 persons are
expected to at-
tend.
Tickets are
$7.50 and the
meal will be
watered by
Courthouse
Cafeteria.
Reservations
may be made
with Jonna
Wilson at 683-
6540; Mike
Murray at
683-6422 or
Jim Cromwell at 683-2573.
Reservation deadline is June 22.
Inside
■ Scene in Passing
Pg 2A
■ El Camino Real
PQ 2A
■ TDCJ Good Neighbor
Policy pg.3A
■ Obituaries pgs4A
■ Weddings and
engagements
pgs 6-7A
p 4-H members compete
in Texas A&M Round-
up pg IB
■ 2 mayors attend "Big
5 Block Party"
pg2B
m Kiwanis Club awards
student scholarship
pg7B
Airborn dust, plastic and insulation caused the
voluntary closure of the court-at-law office in the
Cherokee County basement this week. The
remodeling project is scheduled for completion
this summer.
Cherokee County is eligible
for emergency farm loans
Applications for emergency
farm loans for losses caused by
tornadoes and high winds are
being accepted at the Farm Ser-
vice Agency (FSA) office in Rusk,
said Nancy Hendley, Agricul-
tural Credit Manager.
Congressman Jim Turner an-
nounced Tuesday that the county
has been designated as being eli-
gible for emergency federal loans
due to damages and losses caused
by tornadoes and high winds that
occurred on Feb. 10.
Ms. Hendley said farmers may
be eligible for loans of up to 80
percent of their actual losses or
the operating loan needed to con-
tinue in business, whichever is less.
For farmers unable to obtain credit
from private commercial lenders,
the interest is 3.75 percent.
"As ageneralrule, a farmer must
have suffered at least a 30 percent
loss of production to be eligible for
a FSA emergency loan," Ms.
Hendley said. Farmers participat-
ing in the federal crop Insurance
sible. Delays in applying could
create backlogs in processing and
possibly over into the new farm-
ing season," Ms. Hendley said.
FSA is a credit agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It is authorized to provide disas-
ter emergency loans to recog-
nized farmers who work at and
rely on farming for a substantial
part of their 1
is one
termining their loss
by Secretary of Agriculture Dan
Glickman eligible for loans to
cover part of actual production
losses resulting from tornadoes
nnd high winds.
emergency
cep>
pur <4 H Oil'If!
ac-
, 1999, but farm-
linlMfW
mm
ya
The FSA
Sixth Street in]
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
SPECIAL REPORT
Todd Staples
Labors of Love
Troubled youth pay back $49,450
to society through community service
By Dee Caveness
Cherokeean/Herald
"Give a child a fish, and he
eats for a day, teach him to fish
and he eats for life. *
-from the Saber-Toothed
Curriculum
At an early age Mark found
himself on the wrong side of the
law. The Jacksonville teen
landed in the Cherokee County
Specialized Treatment and Re-
habilitation program by the age
of 15 for theft and drug use.
Mark cared for little and had
no respect for authority. Within
the first weeks in the boot camp,
Mark's absenteeism left Capt.
Joe Denson with no alternative
but to place him in a 24-hour,
out-of-county detention center.
The experience served as a wake-
up call for Mark and he vowed
never to return to incarceration.
After Mark settled down in
boot camp, Capt. Denson dis-
covered the troubled youth's love
of basketball. Yet with grades of
28-30 and F's all across his re-
port card, basketball was not in
Mark's future. Capt. Denson
made an agreement with Mark:
the captain would pick him up
on his way to boot camp if Mark
would give 100 percent to the
program and to his school work.
His participation in the camp
excelled and he moved quickly
from Level 1 privileges up to
Level 4 privileges. His grades
went from all F's to A's and B's
and later to all A's.
"The mission of the Cherokee
County STAR Program is to pro-
vide structured in-school pre-
vention, intervention, and fol-
low up services to Cherokee
County juvenile students." said
Cherokee County's Chief Juve-
nile Probation Officer Linda
Ratlif!'. "This mission will be
accomplished through focusing
on the values and importance
of self-respect, accountability,
and responsibility with a disci-
plined regimen of physical
training and academic skill re-
inforcement."
For Capt. Denson, Mark rep-
resents his first success story.
"A lot of people will never get
back what these kids took,"
said the captain.
When he accepted the boot
camp coordinator's job in late
1997, Capt. Denson's list of
nonprofit organizations with
agreements allowing commu-
nity service time for boot camp
students numbered only three.
Now, 23 organizations provide
boot camp participants an op-
Please see BOOT CAMP, pg 8A
STAR BOOT CAMP COMMUNITY SERVICE*
PROJECT # HOURS $VALUE
Ufte Jacksonville
Public Libraries
Bolton/Buckner Parks
Love Street Park
1.727
2.271
Adopt-a-Highwa
Anti-Graffiti Can
Jacksonville Fire Station
Rusk Courthouse
4.796
4,323
5.082
2.629
Jacksonville Rodeo Fairgrounds
ÜÜ
9,527
$49,450
*time frame: Sept. T, 1997-May 31,1998
•data supplied by Cherokee County Juvenile Probation
■graphic by the Cherokeean/Herald
* ' jA |¡p
^ "'J|
; h - -
I ! i i i
mm
SNNtttKmP
Cherokee County juvenile probation youth gain on-the-job experience at Jacksonville Middle
School as they re-stripe parking spaces in the school's perking lot. Cherokee County STAR
Boot Camp projects stress community service as a method for teaching discipline and
encouraging self-esteem.
City begins
spending
sidewalk
grant funds
The Rusk City Council employed
Gary Traylor and Associates of
Tyler Thursday evening to man-
age a Texas Main Street Capital
Fund Program grant, funded
through the State Department of
Economic Development.
The city will receive $150,000 to
be used for construction of new
sidewalks, new outdoor lighting
and landscaping in the downtown
area. That $150,000 will be
matched with $60,000 in cash and
additional labor from city and
prison crews. The total grant in-
cluding the provided in-kind ser-
vices will amount to approximately
$456,000.
New sidewalks will be con-
structed around the square and in
the area extending for one block
off the square in each direction.
Gary Traylor met with the coun-
cil to discuss the grant.
In another matter, the council
approved expenditures for demo-
lition of old tanks, purchase of
clarifiers and flow meters for the
new sewer plant. Cost should run
in the neighborhood of $26,000.
The city underwent the previous
week its first Texas Natural Re-
sources Conservation Commission
inspection since the new plant was
constructed. "The inspector told
me that no one in Region 5 is
putting out any better water,"
Bryan Johnson, utility director
said.
An agreement has been signed
with Bob Bucher, owner of the old
railroad tracks running through
Rusk. The agreement between Mr.
Bucher and the city will allow city
personnel to take down the trestle
on Martin Luther King Blvd. and
Jerome Street.
In his report at the meeting, City
Manager Mike Murray told the
council that State Rep. Todd
Staples will be speaker for the
June 25 meeting of the Rusk Lions
Club. The public is invited to at-
tend the meeting and hear Rep.
Staples, he said.
Stan Chapman discussed the
Please see CITY, page 8A
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 18, 1998, newspaper, June 18, 1998; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152377/m1/1/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.