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This is our 93rd year, thanks to you!
VOL. 93 NO. 39
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013
Hidalgo County
E-mail: [email protected]
TWENTY PAGES IN ONE SECTION
192 N. 4TH ST., RAYMONDVILLE, TEXAS 78580 • (956) 689-2421 • FAX: (956) 689-6575
Nov. 5 liquor election sees city
residents choosing sides
BY ALLEN ESSEX
Reporter
A proposition on the Nov.
5 ballot for the City of
Raymondville's election, if approved, will legalize the sale of
all alcoholic beverages including mixed drinks in the city
limits.
While three local pastors said they oppose the
change, owners of two local
bars are for it and the operator
of two hotels is also hopeful the
measure will gain approval
from voters.
Pastor Devlon Goodman of
First United Methodist Church
doesn’t see anything good
coming from allowing bars and
stores to sell hard liquor in
Raymondville, he said.
“I would not like to see
that,” he said. “I would be curious to see what law enforcement people think.”
Having people buying liquor locally or driving to cities such as Harlingen or
McAllen, and then possibly
drinking liquor on the way
back, is a tough call, he said.
“Especially for teenagers,
if they're partying and being
able to buy liquor, that’s bad,
but if they’re determined
they’ll get it anyway,” he said.
He lives in Weslaco and
works in Raymondville, Goodman said. “I enjoy working in
a small town. If I lived here, I
wouldn't vote in favor of it.”
Willacy County Sheriff
Larry Spence predicted there
will be problems such as accidents and fights if liquor is sold
in Raymondville.
If there is more for people
to do locally, such as bars and
night clubs, local residents
might not have as many accidents on the highway or as
many arrests for driving while
intoxicated as they do now
driving to other Rio Grande
Valley cities, Spence said.
“It will create problems, but
nothing that will overwhelm
us,” he said.
Police Chief Uvaldo
Zamora was not available for
comment Tuesday.
Pastor Mark D. Uzupan of
United Pentecostal Church of
Raymondville said he does not
want to see liquor sales here.
“I’m against it, I’m not for
it, but it won’t make any difference,” he said. “If people want
to get drunk, they will.”
But, while having liquor for
sale locally is bad and will cause
more accidents, having people
driving out of town to drink and
then returning on the highways
after drinking is also bad, he
said.
“They go down
to Harlingen, 20 minutes down
the road, or to McAIIen or Port
Mansfield,” he said.
Larry Martin, pastor of First
Baptist Church, strongly opposes liquor sales in
Raymondville, he said.
“I am against it,” he said of
the ballot proposition. “The
families here will be sufferng
due to parents just throwing
money away for alcohol. It
would be too accessible.”
Local officials have just finished getting rid of eight-liner
gambling halls and making liquor sales available will harm
the same families who suffered
when their limited income was
wasted on gambling, Martin
said. To have bars in the town
is too big a temptation, especially for poor people, especially the very poor and alcoholics, he said.
Any economic gain for
businesses that could possibly
provide more jobs will be offset by the harm liquor sales will
do, the pastor said.
But Kris Chavarria, manager of The Office Bar said he
would welcome the chance to
offer mixed drinks in addition
to beer and wine available now.
He is expanding the bar
and offering live entertainment, Chavarria said. Local
rappers and other musicians
will perform.
He and employee Demo
Martinez said they are looking
forward to taking bartender
training so they can sell mixed
drinks.
His bar offers a quiet, safe
place where local people can
go for entertainment and fun
without having to risk getting
a DWI ticket or having an accident driving to Harlingen,
McAllen or South Padre Island, Chavarria said.
Linda Salazar, owner of
Linda’s Lounge, said having a
full liquor license would help
her business. “I think so, I think
it will bring in other businesses
if we could sell liquor here,”
she said.
N e i l
Patel. operator of La Quinta
and the Texas Inn (formerly
Best Western) hotels, said
Wlllacy County has “archaic”
liquor laws that need to be updated.
Some of his hotel guests have complained that
Willacy County has nothing to
do, he said.
“It would help (hotels),
even the restaurants,” he said.
“They just want light entertainment.” His guests don’t want
to risk a DWI ticket to go to
another county just to have a
few drinks with dinner, Patel
said.
“I would welcome it. They
just want to go out and have a
quiet evening, a couple of
drinks with dinner,” he said of
his guests.
Willacy County District Attorney Bernard Ammerman said
See Nov. 5 liquor... on Page 5
Loose horses hit by 18-wheeler
on I-69 at Lyford
MANAGER KRIS CHAVARRIA AND EMPLOYEE DEMO MARTINEZ are making changes
at The Office Bar in Raymondville to accomodate live musical acts. They also are hoping city
voters will pass a measure in November so that clubs such as theirs can sell mixed drinks. There
are presently two bars in Raymondville but they cannot serve mixed drinks. (Photo by Allen Essex)
City getting $3.6 million grant/loan
for water improvements
BY TONY VINDELL
Reporter
The dire situation the city
and its residents went through
this summer because of the
drought could get a lot better
in 2014.
The city of Raymondville
has received the green light for
a grant/loan for $3.6 million
from the Texas Water
Development Board to
improve its water system.
That should alleviate the
situation with rationing water
during a drought.
The city implemented the
highest level of water
restriction earlier this year
imposed by the situation
brought by Mexico’s refusal to
pay a water debt it has with
Valley water districts.
Delta Lake Irrigation
District - the sole provider of
water to the city of
Raymondville - gets water
from the Rio Grande and the
agency was forced to began
selling push water to the city.
Push water is water that
rides on municipal water so
there is an additonal cost
involved in the operation.
The drought and Mexico’s
water
debt
impacted
Raymondville as it’s farther
from the river than other valley
cities served by the irrigation
district.
City Manager Eleazar
“Yogi” Garcia Jr. said the board
has approved the grant-loan
although the money has not
been allocated.
“The money will be used for
a reverse osmosis plant that will
process 2 million gallons of
water a day,” he said in an
interview after Tuesday’s
meeting of the commission.
“That is going to make us more
drought proof.”
During the meeting, the
commission approved:
The
Economic
Development Corp. of
Raymondville budget for 201314.
- A first reading of a
resolution authorizing the
See City getting... on Page 5
BY TONY VINDELL
Reporter
Two loose horses roaming
along I-69 were the cause of a
weekend accident, but luckily
no one was hurt in the mishap.
The accident took place
about 11:30 p.m. Saturday just
north of the Broadway Street
exit in Lyford.
Blood stains could still be
visible on two different places
near a ramp leading to the
expressway.
Troopers with the Texas
Department of Public Safety
were dispatched to a motor
vehicle crash, but in reality it
was between a 2005 freightliner
and two animals.
The eighteen-wheeler was
traveling northbound on I-69
when two horses did not yield
the right of way and got into the
rig’s pathway.
As a result, the horses were
struck by the truck and were
killed at the scene.
The driver of the freightliner
did not sustain injuries, took
control of the vehicle and it
caused no other damages.
The owner of the horses
was located and is to receive a
Class C misdemeanor, law
enforcement says.
The citation is for
“Permitting Livestock to
Roam.”
That falls under Texas
Agriculture Code C 143.108.
The Class C misdemeanor
is for violating the code when
a person commits an offense
for letting an animal roam at
large.
Lyford Police Chief Lewis
Campbell said an officer with
his department assisted with
traffic control as DPS were MOSQUITO PATROL - Albert Peña, an employee with the public works department, sprays
handling the matter.
along an alley between Hidalgo Avenue and Main Street. (Photo by TonyVindell)
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