The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 12, 1985 Page: 1 of 10
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Football News,
Fgs. 6 and 7
THE RIO GRANDt ncnALD
Kalley Mart
Circulars Inside
Serving Starr County For Five Decades
Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday, By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
No. 45 Thursday, September 12,1985
FIFTEEN CENTS
ire Devastates
I is tori
R io
- jfc
An early Saturday morning fire gutted an abandoned garage and apartments and
caused severe damage to a historic Rio Grande City home. At the time this picture
was taken, the flames had subsided, but the debris was still smoldering.
Commissioners Discuss
Pay Procedures
Investigation is continuing into
an early Saturday morning fire,
apparently caused by arson, which
caused possibly $500,000 in dam-
ages to a historic house in Rio
Grande City, and also gutted a
nearby apartment dwelling and
abandoned garage.
A total of 15 firefighters and
three operating units from Rio
Grande City fought the blaze, in
which no one was injured. The solid
brick house, over 70 years old and
owned by Mrs. Celia Aguilar, was
occupied at the time the blaze
broke out, but was quickly
evacuated.
OF. Guffey, chief of the Rio
Volunteer Fire Department, called
the fire "the worst (locally) in the
last couple of years."
Guffey said the fire started in an
old two-story apartment between
the historic home and an aban-
doned tin garage. The fire chief
said the apartment didn't have any
electricity or gas connection
because it had been unoccupied for
several years at least.
On Tuesday, Fire Marshal Jose
D. Villarreal said that arson was
definitely the cause of the fire.
Sheriff Department Chief In-
vestigator Hilario Saenz said that
Wayne Schwartz, the department's
certified arson investigator, is
probing the origins of the fire.
Saenz said, "We have not
exhausted any leads. We're trying
to concentrate on our good leads,
and go from there ." He indicated
some people were apparently seen
in the area just prior to the blaze.
Fire Marshal Jose D. Villarreal
B\ KENNETH ROBERTS
At the end of their regular
meeting Monday, the County
Commissioners found themselves
.i a vigorous discussion about the
timing and procedures for paying
county employees.
The discussion started when
Precinct One Commissioner
"Chema" Alvarez said that $15,000
needs to be paid immediately to
Gutierrez Oil Auditor Jose
Guadalupe Villarreal said, "The
treasury is only about $25,000 now,
not enough even to pay the
joadhands "
~ Judge Bias Chapa suggested the
possibility of borrowing $15,000
from the International Bridge or
Gas System. Precinct Two Com-
missioner Amando Pena said, "We
need some fuel real bad " Alvarez
said. "We're delaying the con-
tractor (on the rural paving)."
Chapa noted, "Soon, Judge
(Ricardo) Garcia will be presented
the plan for the $18 million loan."
qk hearing on that issue is set for
Monday morning at 10 a m in state
district court. Villarreal had said
earlier that First National Bank
President Hoy Cantu had said he
would not lend any money for the
September payroll unless the plan,
okayed by the commissioners on
Aug 20. is accepted and im-
plemented.
Alvarez moved, and Pena sec-
onded. that Villarreal be given
Authority to transfer funds from
ihe Bridge and the Gas System, if
available, to meet the pressing fuel
obligations
Vigorous discussion then broke
out about tne county's procedures
of ending its pay r-porting periods
on the 24th of the month, and
paying employees on the 31st for
the entire month, by automatically
assuming the employees worked
the remaining days of the month.
Villarreal said that two options
exist to deal with the situation,
which are: adjusting the payroll
dates, or paying employees three
quarters for the month and cred-
iting them for the following month.
Villarreal said that what the
county has been doing in the cases
of employees not working in the
latter days of the month is docking
them on their paycheck the next
month He said, "That's what
we've been doing, but we are told
that's illegal."
Precinct Four Commissioner
Reynaldo Alaniz suggested, "Why
don't we change the payday?"
Concern was expressed by some
attending the meeting that
employees getting only three-
quarters of their check would be
seriously hampered in making
payments
County Clerk Juan Mills said,
that in his situation, "I'm taking
the responsibility by signing the
time report." He said the school
district is following the same
procedure as the county at this
time, by docking employees on
their following month's paycheck
Finally, Villarreal suggested that
employees be paid for work done
from Sept 1 to Sept. 24 one time
only, and for October, be paid from
Sept. 25 to Oct. 24. with the same
procedure to be carried out in the
future.
Villarreal said that at this time,
"I'm paying people for work they
haven't done ." It was suggested
that the County Attorney be con-
sulted The commissioners decided
to discuss the matter further at
their Friday meeting.
Starr County Gas System Man-
ager Ovidio Pena came before the
court in a public hearing, urging
that the base rate for a gas
connection be raised from $3.62 to
$5.62 per month. Pena said, "The
(S,-o i'i«x i:i)i ki;\ H)
Day Care Centers
Under Investigation
The Rio Grande Herald has learned that investigators
for the Texas Human Resources Department are about
to conclude the first phase of a major inquiry into the
operation of day care centers in Starr and Zapata
Counties.
The results of the investigation will go to the U.S.
Attorney's office for possible presentation to a federal
grand jury.
The second phase of the investigation will focus on
Starr County day care operations.
Both operators and parents have been questioned in
the course of the inquiry to determine whether fraud
exists.
Commissioners To
Discuss Budget Soon
Laredo Woman Charged
In Child's Fatal Accident
A 32 year-old woman from
Laredo has been charged with
failure to stop and render aid in the
Sept 1 accident near Roma that
claimed the life of eight-year-old
Kva Alicia Alaniz
Marilu Dominguez Diaz turned
herself in to the Roma Police
Department early Thursday af-
ternoon Police Chief Romeo
Alvarez said that Diaz "provided a
voluntary statement," and was
accompanied by her attorney,
Chito Davila. of Laredo.
The charge against Diaz of
failing to render aid is a felony.
She was arraigned before Justice
of the Peace Raul Pena, who set
her bond at $15,000. She was then
transported to the Starr County
Jail
* Alvarez said that a warrant was
sworn out for Diaz's arrest on
Tuesday, Sept 3. He added that
Fair Association
To Meet
The Starr County Fair Associa-
tion will hold their annual general
membership meeting Tuesday,
Sept 24 at 7 p m in the County
p' ourlroom
Dr Roberto S Margo. president
of the Association, urges all
members to attend
investigation is continuing in the
case.
Eva Alicia Alaniz was struck by
a 1981 brown two-door Continental,
bearing the license plate MALUKA.
traveling east bound just east of
Roma at about 8:45 p.m. on Sept 1
She was pronounced dead shortly
afterward at Starr County Memo-
rial Hospital
Preparation of the 1986 county
budget by the Auditor's office has
been completed, and the County
Commissioners will debate the
form the budget should take in the
next couple of weeks
Auditor Jose Guadalupe Villar-
real said he has prepared the
budget, and will submit it to
County Judge Bias Chapa for
whatever changes he wishes to
make, if any. The budget will then
be debated and probably passed by
the commissioners, with the possi
bility the document as passed could
be considerably different from the
one originally prepared.
Villarreal said, "It's going to
balance except for the rollback
money." He said that $155,000 was
kept by the Tax Assessor-
Collector's office to pay rollback
refunds in 1985. In 1986, the amount
kept by that office will be $146,000.
Villarreal said, "With this new
budget, I'm deducting the $146,000
that won't come into the treasury. I
appropriate under what is left that
money will not be spent "
The auditor said, "We will
probably have a surplu of $20,(KK)
to $40,000, but the rollback will
leave a hole of over $100,000 " He
said the Road and Bridge Fund will
have a surplus, while the General
Fund will have a bigger deficit
Villarreal said that two things
are responsible for budget "holes"
in recent years One is "op-
timistic" projection of revenue
from the International Bridge and
Strrr County Gas System In the
past six years, he said, the "holes"
from the two entities have
amounted to $270,000
He said, "I'm not expecting any
revenue from the Gas System or
Bridge in this year's budget."
Also in the past six years,
projections of the percentage of tax
collections have been "optimistic",
amounting to 88 percent rather
than the projected 93 percent The
auditor said the "holes" from this
amount to approximately $1 mil-
lion
In 1985, Villarreal said, "We
collected 88 percent rather than 93
percent, but we still made it
through because of increases in
other things."
Delinquent tax collections in the
Road and Bridge Fund now are
$16,000 more than projected In the
General Fund, delinquent tax col-
lections are now about $26,000 more
than projected. Villarreal said he
expects that $70,000 to $80,000 more
than projected will be collected in
delinquent taxes.
Concerning the rollback refunds
themselves, the auditor said that
"every refund of $10 and under"
has been paid in full. Larger
refunds are oeing repaid annually
in a four-year installment. Villar-
real added, "Some people entitled
to refunds have not claimed them
Villarreal said, "Each depart-
ment will get a 10 percent increase
No element was cut (in the budget
being prepared)." County
employees will be getting a 10
percent increase, with increases
possible for elected officials also
He said the budget now being
prepared allocates $625,000 to the
Sheriff's Department, compared to
$550,000 last year, but considerably
less than the $718,000 requested by
the Department.
Villarreal expressed the opinion
that "if they accept the budget as
presented, they'll have enough. If
they stay with this year's budget,
and refrain from hiring new
people, they can gradually get out
of debt."
Villarreal said the decision by
District Judge Ricardo Garcia
about whether to accept the $1.8
million 90-dav bank note approved
by the commissioners in an at-
tempt to solve the county's debt
problems should have important
implications He said he does not
know enough now about the plan
drafted by Texas Capital Markets,
an Austin financial advisory firm,
to express an opinion.
said that very early estimates
indicate that damage to the build-
ing and contents of the former
Yzaguirre house may total up to
$500,000. The damage to the con-
tents alone total close to $250,000,
Villarreal indicated
The alarm was sounded at 4:17
a m after a Sheriff's Department
patrol unit saw that the back
one-third of an old wood-frame
two-story apartment house
belonging to Ana G. Tijerina was
on fire.
Guffey said, "The old apartments
went in about 15 to 20 minutes and
were totally gone " The fire,
fanned by a wind blowing from the
east, then spread to an abandoned
tin garage and quickly gutted it.
At the Aguilar house, Guffey
said, the fire "was slow burning
there; the roof was on fire first. It
was very hard to put water on it."
The local fire department's two
1000-gallon pumpers fought the fire,
with Guffey saying "the capacity-
was there' to spray the full 1000
gallons at one time if needed.
Guffey said "the fire was con-
fined inside the tin garage," but
suddenly the walls broke, melting
the sign of a convenience grocery
store across the street and
seriously threatening a fire truck in
the vicinity. The wind, he said,
"was fairly calm, or we would
have had much more problems."
Guffey added, "By about 8:30 or
9 a.m., we had the fire pretty well
out." Firemen had to return at
about 1 30 p.m Saturday and again
at 7:30 to spray water when some
coals "started blazing again. "
The chief said, "We made entry
into the Aguilar home at about 6
a.m. The basement got a lot of
-watoi in it Several rooms were
damaged on the first floor The
third floor was just about gone "
He added that many valuable
an'iques were gutted or severely
damaged
Guffey said that the occupants of
the Aguilar house "got a lot of stuff
out of the house, especially clothes.
There was plenty of time. The
wood frames of the windows caught
IIKh. Pug,. H)
ics pro
Meeting Monday
The Parent Teacher Organization
of Immaculate Conception School
will be holding a meeting this
Monday at 7 p.m. at the Parish
Hall.
Persons seeking further in-
formation should contact Micaela
M Elizondo at 487-2824
Initial 4-H
Meeting Monday
The initial meeting for Starr
Grande 4-H will be held Monday at
6:30 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose
Center
All current memoers and any
desiring membership are urged to
come to the meeting to sign up For
further information, contact County
Extension Home Economist
Yolanda Scrivnerat 487-2306.
Canales Drive Inn
Holds Grand Opening
Canales Drive Inn held the grand
opening ceremony Friday for their
new convenience store located at
1605 West Main in Rio Grande City.
On hand for the ceremony were
Rio Grande City Chamber of
Commerce President Lupe
Longoria and Chamber Vice-
President Elmo Moreno. Others on
hand included Jerry Gutierrez and
Willie Flores of the Farm Bureau
Insurance Company and Lauro
Ixtpez of Triple L Furniture
The new store is owned and
managed by Mr. «Rd Mrs Alonzo
Ibanez Mrs. lbanez said the new
store covers approximately 1900
square feet She said. "I'm very
happy. I think we'll be able to
serve the community better "
Mr. and Mrs Ibanez have owned
Canales Drivp-Inn for 11 years.
Mrs. Ibanez said that about three
years ago. they began thinking
about building an expanded loca-
tion when the opportunity was
right. Construction of the new store
began in mid-May and was com
pleted in late August
She said, "We have more
(gasoline) pumps, including
diesel " Otherwise, she said, "We
sell the same products, only more
of them."
As part of the promotion. $10
worth of gan was awarded free to
every lSth car that drove up to buy
gas after 10 a m Friday, as part of
a $100 total gas giveaway.
The grand opening for Canales l)ri\e Inn's new store was held Friday. Store owner
Alonzo Ibanez. shown cutting the ribbon, is fourth from right in the front row. Among
the others standing in the front row are Chamber of Commerce President Lupe
I.ongoria, second from right, and Chamber Vice-President Klmo Moreno, third from
left.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 12, 1985, newspaper, September 12, 1985; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194993/m1/1/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.