Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 117, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 4, 1990 Page: 1 of 14
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
Focus on Veterans
| this July 4th
See stories on page 3A
Enjoy your holiday
Wednesday is Independence Day and most businesses and industries
will be closed. All federal, state and city offices, as well as banks and
other financial institutions, will be closed. There will be no mail delivery
or garbage pickup. The business and editorial offices of the Citizens
Journal will be closed, also. Most convenience stores and grocery
stores, as well as some other businesses will be open for the holiday.
"All avaiiabie Texas Highway Patrol Troopers will be patroling Tueeday
and Wednesday," Sgt. Jewell Sullivan of the Texas Department of Public
Safety said Monday.
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ATLANTA MEMORIAL LIBRARY
90
101 W HIRAM
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CASS COUNTY TEXAS • 1 SECTION, 14 PAGES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1990
vjlJAL
USPS NO. 114-160 VOL. 111, NO. 117 50 CENTS
NEWS
BRIEFS
LET'S CELEBRATE
Sign up to read
Local youngsters Irom age four
through the sixth grade can now
sign up lor the Summer Reading
Program at the Atlanta Public
Library. Registration will continue
through July. The program will
begin Aug. 1 and run through Aug.
17.
SS agent to visit
A representative of the Texarkana
Social Security Office will be in At-
lanta on Thursday, July 5, to help
the public with Social Security ques-
tions or business. He will be in the
Council Room of Atlanta City Hall
from 8:45 a.m. to noon. Afternoon
visits by appointment only.
Chapman plans
town walk
U.S. Congressman Jim Chapman
will take one of his traditional Town
Square Walks in Linden Thursday,
July 5. The Democratic congres-
sman will stroll around the court-
house square to talk to local resi-
dents and merchants. The walk wjII
begin at 2:30 p.m.
Public hearing
date set
A public hearing to discuss Cass
County's community development
and housing needs and to deter-
mine the priority of projects for com-
munity development funding will be
held July 17 at 1 p.m. at the com-
missioner's courtroom at the Cass
County Courthouse. The projects in-
volved must benefit low to moderate
income families.
Would worsen local overcrowding
Lid possible on county
jail transfer of prisoners
By VALERIE EAVES
Journal Staff Writer
The already overcrowded Cass
County Jail could become even
more crowded if a new admis-
sions/allocation rule is put into effect
by the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice. The new rule
would further limit the number of
convicted felons Cass County is
able to send to the state pen.
"It could be a real mess", ex-
claimed Cass County District Attor-
ney Neal Birmingham.
Cass County is currently allowed
to send six prisoners per month to
state prisons. Under the new rule,
that number would be cut to four per
month, possibly creating a serious
problem for Cass County.
"For the past three years we have
sent 75 or more persons per year to
the pen, or 6 4 per month," ex-
plained Birmingham. "For the first
six months of 1990 we have sent
44, or 7.3 per month. The state
plans to allow us only four per
month. The result would be that we
would send half and keep about
half. CMr prison inmate population
will b''"J up rapidly because we will
not be able to get rid of them.
"Our jail is already decertified by
the state due to overcrowding," Bir-
'...we may not
be able to ac-
cept a DWL..'
mingham continued. "Unless we
correct the problem soon the state
will put a cap on the jail, absolutely
limiting the capacity. If we are
loaded with convicted felons who
have been sentenced to the state
pen, we may not be able to accept a
DWI to keep him off the highway
until he sobers up."
Birmingham said the new jail
proposed for the county will help the
situation, but it's still at least two
years away.
The stricter allocation is not a
new idea. According to Carl
Reynolds, general counsel of the
Texas Department of Criminal Jus-
tice, the legislature passed a law in
1989 mandating the department to
adopt an allocation formula to
reasonably control the number of in-
mates entering state prisons. The
measure is in response to the
croWded conditions at state prisons
which forced them to close their
doors to new inmates in recent
years. The state prisons cannot
house more than 95 percent of
capacity.
"Many different factors went into
the calculations for the new sys-
tem," Reynolds said. "Those factors
included community corrections ef-
fort, community juvenile probation
effort, historical probation admis-
sions, population and percentaqe of
Please see JAIL page 2A
Chapman proposes legislation to assist
local victims of area base closings
Journal ataff photo by LARRY SUMMERS
Fireworks will be a traditional part of celebrating this Fourth of Ju-
ly. Safety Is encouraged In the handling of all fireworks. Have a
happy and safe Independence Day!
Journal Staff Report
U.S. Rep. Jim Chapman (D-
Sulphur Springs) cosponsored and
introduced legislation Wednesday
that would assist federal civilian
employees who might lose their
jobs as a result of a base closing,
realignment or reduction in force.
"My legislation, the Federal
Employee Placement and Training
Act, would create an improved and
expanded employment placement
program, provide job training, ex-
tend health benefits, provide a sup-
plemental severance allowance and
strengthen existing early retirement
authority, relocation assistance and
other federal programs for govern-
ment employees who are faced with
a reduction-in-force (RIF)," stated
Chapman.
"As East Texans know, I am firm-
ly opposed to Defense Secretary
Cheney's base closings proposal for
many reasons and I am fighting
hard for our Army's readiness and
the jobs and careers on which so
many East Texans depend," said
Chapman, who has led the efforts to
protect Red River Army Depot.
"Yet, it would be less than diligent
Please see CHAPMAN page 2A
Innovative program weatherizes local houses
Joint effort employs teens, helps residents conserve
By JOHN COLEMAN
Journal Editor
Some local residents are receiv-
ing a helping hand that will make life
a little more comfortable in the sum-
mer and during the cold winter
months. Operation Good Neighbor
has come to this area and its team
members are engaged in weatheriz-
ing houses at no cost to the
homeowner.
The program, sponsored by
Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company,
uses local youth hired through the
Job Training Partnership Act
(JTPA). According to local Arkla
manager Burton Cook, the materials
are provided by the gas company.
The weatherization process in-
volves shoring up the weather strip-
ping around doors and windows in a
house, caulking up cracks, repairing
door jambs, installing thresholds
and door sweeps, and locating
those places where heat and cool-
ing either escape from the house or
enter the house. Cook calls it
"tightening up a house." The
process enables homes to stay
cooler in the summer and warmer in
the winter.
Nita Fran Hutchinson, a spokes-
man for the Ark-Tex Council of
Governments (ATCOG) in
Texarkana, which administers the
JTPA program in this region, said
the energy conservation measures
work.
"Energy audits performed by
Arkla show that the homes on which
work is done average an 18 percent
reduction in heat loss," she said. "In
Mount Pleasant, that average went
up to 25 to 30 percent."
Cook said Operation Good Neigh-
bor, which has been an Arkla
program for about five years,
started in Little Rock as a pilot
project and moved from there to
Shreveport. Last year the project
met with success in Texarkana.
"This year we are doing Opera-
tion Good Neighbor in the Atlanta,
New Boston, Pittsburg, Gilmer and
Jefferson districts, in addition to
Texarkana and Mount Pleasant,"
Cook said. "Locally, we are avail-
able to qualifying customers of Arkla
Gas in Atlanta, Queen City, Smyr-
Retail sales in county rising
Journal Staff Report
Total sales of goods and sen/ices in Cass County dropped 6 percent
between 1988 and 1989, according to figures released by the state last
week. But when broken out separately, retail sales in the county showed
an increase in 1989.
According to the Year End State Sales and Use Tax Analysis Report
for 1989, issued by State Comptroller Bob Bullock's office, gross sales in
1989 were $256.66 million, down from the $272.98 million reported in
1988. Gross sales during the last quarter of last year amounted to
$112.69 million, the highest total of the year. The second quarter total
was next at $51.5 million.
Total sales in Cass County in the other quarters Included $45.54 mil-
lion in the first three months of 1989 and $46.93 million in the third quar-
ter.
Total retail sales in the county showed a 5 percent increase from 1988
to 1989, going from $141.29 million to $148.44 million. By quarter, retail
sales in Cass County In 1989 were reported as $33.45 million in the first
quarter, $37.97 million in the second quarter, $33.9 million during the
third quarter and a fourth quarter total of $43 million.
The figures are based on the reports of the businesses and industries
in Cass County who pay retail sales tax or sales and use tax to the state.
■
*—
Journal atafl photo by LARRY SUMMERS
Arkla Gas employee Verba Norman, right, goes over some weatherization techniques with two of the
10 local youngsters employed with the Operation Good Neighbor program. The free program Is a
joint effort with Arkla and Ark-Tex Council of Governments.
na, Bloomburg, Douglassville, Cass,
Ravanna, and the rural areas in be-
tween."
Operation Good Neighbor is a
joint effort of Arkla Gas and the
JTPA. The workers, all between the
ages of 16 and 18, are paid by
JTPA, but Arkla has the authority to
hire and fire and provides the super-
visors, all tools, all materials and
supplies, and a 15-passenger van
to transport the crews to and from
their job sites.
The work is done by two five-man
crews, each under the supervision
of Arkla Gas employees who are
trained in weatherization tech-
niques, Cook said. Local super-
visors are Verba Norman and Clif-
ton Dickerson.
"I don't know how we did it, but
we got the very best quality of kids
working for us this summer," Cook
boasted. "These are top-shelf kids.
They're eager to learn, eager to do.
I'm very impressed with them."
Cook went on to say that one of
the criterion for obtaining and hold-
ing on to the job is the requirement
that the youngster must write an es-
say. Most have already started on
them and once they are produced
and turned in to the company, they
will be critiqued by the supervisors.
Scholarships to colleges and
vocational schools are available and
are awarded to the workers based
primarily on their essays, Cook ex-
plained.
"At the end of the project, we'll all
get together for a big rally and hand
out scholarships to the writers of the
chosen essays," he added. "By
Please see JTPA page 2A
NO MONEY DOWN - NO PAYMENT
NOT ONE RED CENT TIL - OCTOBER 90/
IVAN SMITH FURNITURE
& APPLIANCES
404 E. MAIN ST. (PINE ACRES SHOPPING CENTER) 796-2ft?fi
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Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 117, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 4, 1990, newspaper, July 4, 1990; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth348179/m1/1/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.