Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 30, 2001 Page: 1 of 18
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Cberokeeai>/Herald
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper - Established Feb. 27, 1850 as the Cherokee Sentinel
Vol. 152, No. 28-18 Pages Thursday, August 30, 2001
Asbestos
Cleared
At Old
Milk Plant
See page 6
Rusk, TX 75785
25 cents
State pay
raise adds
$3 million
in this area
The economy of Rusk and Cherokee County
is going to get a big boost in September. Most
state employees will receive a badly needed
raise that will amount to a monthly salary
increase of four percent with a minimum of
$100 per month.
Employees who have worked less than one
year must wait until next year to get the
raise.
An unofficial estimate of the total increase
indicates the payraise will generate an
additional $3 million per year in Rusk.
Rusk State Hospital's 941 employees are
expected to receive annual raises totaling
$1,013,143. In addition to this amount, those
employees with longer service will receive an
additional $299,560 longevity pay increase
Main Street
ubres de tabaco
septiembre 1, 3001
RISD adopts budget
A number of changes will take place at
Rusk State Hospital on Sept. 1. In addition
to a four percent pay raise, the facility will
become tobacco free. Signs in English and
Spanish flank the entrances.
annually.
Rusk State Hospital's budget FY '02 will
increase from $30,364,943 to $33,979,167.
Approximately 77.16 per cent of the facility's
annual budget is expended for salaries that are
expected to total $26,219,266 annually.
There are more than 900 people employed
at the Skyview and Hodge TDCJ prison units
in Rusk.
Please see PAY RAISE, page 6
Rusk ISD board members
approved a $12,527,088 school
budget Monday night. The
budget is only for the general
fund, food service and debt
service and does not include
the special education coopera-
tive budget. This budget will
probably be financed with a
$1.461 tax rate. The rate will
be adopted at the Sept. 11
school board meeting after
bonds to finance a $5 million
school expansion program are
sold.
The proposed new tax rate
includes an 8.6 cent increase
over the $1.375 rate used last
year. There is an approximate
6.5 cent increase in the inter-
est and sinking fund for the
repayment of school bonds.
Voters adopted that increase
when they approved the bond
issue in May 2000.
The proposed tax rate will
include $ 1.326 for Maintenance
and Operation fund, which is
up 2 cents from last year. The
Interest and Sinking Fund
rate is 13.5 cents, up 6.59 cents
from last year. The increase
is required for payment of the
$5 million school improvement
issue.
The new budget is up overall
7.61 percent over last year's
budget of $11,640,902 for the
general fund, food service and
debt service. The general fund
is up 4.62 percent. The General
Fund totals $10,981,948.
Voters approved in May 2000
the construction of a new
school campus to house two
grades.
The district's share of the
cost for the new campus ($5
million) will be approximately
$1.365 million.
State monies will provide
67.41 percent of the cost of
the construction. With the
approval of the bond issue
property owners in the district
are experiencing a 6.5 cent
tax increase. The state aid
money will be new money to
the district.
Prior to making plans to call
the election, the school board
had looked at the possibility
of adding new classrooms at
the elementary school, which
would have cost in excess of
$1 million.
During the budget hearing,
Lesa Jones, financial person
for the district, explained the
new budget to the board.
Enrollment in the district
showed an increase of 60
students on the ninth day
of school in comparison to
the ninth day last year. Total
enrollment on Aug. 27 was
1,973 students.
Supplemental salaries were
increased 20 percent to bring
them up to those paid in
other districts. Coaches at the
high school and junior high
receive 10 extra days on their
contract.
The district is involved in
a major technology plan that
calls for computers to be
Please see RISD, page 6
supporter
drive is
underway
Memberships
start at $15
The Rusk Main Street office is
in the process of sending letters
to supporters of the program.
"This is an opportunity to
continue to show your support
of our efforts to strengthen this
community," Martha Neely,
manager, said.
During the past few years,
Rusk has prospered with the
help of people and organi-
zations in the community.
Memberships to the Main
Street program are $15 for an
individual; $25 for a family;
and $50 for a business. Checks
should be made payable to
Rusk Main Street Program and
mailed to the City Hall at 408
N. Main St., Rusk, 75785.
The last membership drive
was three years ago when
$2,040 was raised from dues.
These dues were broken down
to include 21 individuals total-
ing $315; 27 families, $675;
and 21 business contributing
another $1,050. These funds
were used to purchased Christ-
mas donations, banners and
flags.
Filming The
Orphan Train
By Marie Whitehead
Cherokeean/Herald editor
The Texas State Railroad
provided the location for film-
ing of scenes to be included
in the Orphan Train, a movie
planned for release in 12
months. Crew and cast were
in Rusk Saturday for the
shoot.
Written by William Kelley,
the movie tells the story of
orphans from New York who
traveled by train to Galveston
in the late 1800s.
The writer says, "This is
a story that has fasinated
me since the age of 11. My
grandmother lived through
it. This story tells how all
of them came through it.
She knew the kids person-
ally. She was a nurse. I
live in Galveston and my
grandmother kept the story
alive in my imagination. The
hurricane of 1900 struck
Galveston, killing about 6,000
people. At that time it was the
worst natural disaster in the
history of North America."
The orphans were sched-
uled for adoption on arrival
by citizens of the area, many
of them farm families.
They were offered shelter
in the beginningby St. Mary's
Catholic Church.
Characters in Mr. Kelley's
script include orphans, per-
sonnel of the host church and
potential adoptive parents.
The cast features talented
actors and actresses from
the Houston and Pasadena
areas who have not yet made
big names, explained Herb
Firestone. "They just need
experience," he said.
Mr. Kelley is with Heidi
Pictures. In association with
Artistic Film & Video, headed
by Mr. Firestone, they are
the movie's producers.
The cast and crew are from
the Houston area. Most of
the shots will be made at
Galveston, however.
The producers say the
budget is less than $1 mil-
lion and should be ready
Please see ORPHAN, pg. 6
<
Three of the
orphans
include
Marianna
Haggard,
Chris Harris
and Shannon
Mullarkey.
Most of the
actors in the
Orphan Train
reside in the
Houston and
Pasadena
areas.
photos by
Lauren
Gonzalez
Tevin Marks operates a
camera in shooting scenes
at the Texas State Railroad
Saturday for the filming
of the Orphan Train. The
screenplay, written by
William Kelley, tells a story
of orphans who are
transported from New York
to Galveston for adoption
in the 1800s.
The movie will not be
released for approximately
one year.
ACT scores up for Rusk, Jacksonville
By Amy Halbert
special to Cherokeean/Herald
For the fourth year in a row, the
average ACT composite score for
Texas students remained steady at
20.3, compared to 21.0 nationally.
The highest score is 36. The number
of Texas high school students
taking the ACT college admissions
assessment grew by 957 students
this year to 68,967 examinees.
One-third of the graduates of the
state's Class of 2001 took this
exam.
"This increase in our testing
population is notable," said Com-
missioner of Education Jim Nelson,
"because experts have found that
as testing populations grow, scores
tend to drop."
Despite Texas' overall average,
Rusk High School students' ACT
composite score showed a 2.3
point increase from last year,
jumping from 19.4 lastyearto21.7.
Rusk had 43 students take the test
in the spring. Jacksonville students'
composite score also showed
improvement. The 102 students
taking the ACT in Jacksonville
had a composite score of 19.3, a
slight rise over last year's score
of 19.1.
Please see ACT, page 6
ACT Composite Test Scores
The ACT test is one of the criteria used by many colleges for
admissions. This chart tracks the composite test scores for
school districts over the last four years.
25-
20
15
10—
5—
n
\¡
Rusk J'ville Alto Wells
Test scores in Wells were not available at presstime.
graphic: Cherokeean!Herald
Alto ISD receives DEC report
by Randall Birdsong
Special to the Cherokeean/Herald
Trustees of the Alto Independent School
District were presented the District Effective-
ness and Compliance (DEC) Report at their
regular meeting last week. The report stems
from the on-site peer review visit that was
conducted this past spring.
Alto Superintendent John Ferguson
stressed that the report overall was good.
The district received no citations. There
were several recommendations on areas to
be studied and improved.
The DEC visit was conducted prior to
Ferguson's employment as AISD superinten-
dent.
Special recognition was given to the Lady
Jackets Softball team. The Lady Jackets
were presented School Board Awards. Alison
Liles was cited for being named District
MVP. Head Coach Cindy Sessions was
recognized for being named District "Coach
of the Year."
Sonia Howell, school nurse, presented a
report on blood borne pathogens and the
district's blood borne pathogen plan. Howell
demonstrated the ease in which virus and
other germs and bacteria can be spread.
Howell had made it a point to shake hands
with board members as they entered for the
meeting. She had touched various objects in
the room; objects that are commonly touched
by many people during the course of the
meeting. None of the board members or
the superintendent knew of this clandestine
demonstration.
After explaining the importance of caution
and protection from the spread of pathogens
Howell had the lights dimmed and shined a
hand held black light on the hands of board
members and the objects she had touched.
The black light caused the demonstration
"germs" to glow brightly.
The shock value of the demonstration
impressed everyone in the room. Howell
shared with board members that Ferguson
had incorporated into the new budget new
monies to protect students and staff from
blood borne pathogens.
In other action approval was given for
the clearing of land on the corner at the
entrance to the campus. The old structure
has been burned and removal of debris and
undergrowth has been approved. A budget
amendment was approved. The amendment
was a paper adjustment. This means the
money was already in the budget and just
needed to me moved into the appropriate
line item.
Each year the shifting of monies to various
accounts is necessary for accounting purposes.
Travel mileage was increased from .28 to .30
cents per mile. A $30 per diem was approved
Please see AISD, page 7
()
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 30, 2001, newspaper, August 30, 2001; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152480/m1/1/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.