Del Rio News Herald from Del Rio, Texas • Page 1

El Cemeterio Viejo Loma de la Cruz to get historical marker ANN THOMAS Writer It's been a long road, but on Oct. 25 Val Verde County's oldest cemetery, El Cemeterio Viejo Loma de la Cruz, will become an official state historical site, complete with its own marker. The placing of the marker will take place at 2 p.m. at Loma de la Crui, which is located at the foot of Round Mountain. In 1971 a group formed for the purpose of restoring the cemetery.

The group became known as Los Amigos del Cemeterio Loma de la Cruz. With the aid of the Val Verde Historical Commission, the cemetery will now receive the recognition it deserves. Those buried at the cemetery include the wife of G.B, Caftinelli, Maria, who died at 22 on June 21,1891. Casinelli was a noted stonemason who came from Italy. In the 1880's he constructed several buildings at Fort Clark in Brackettville, When this work was finished, Casinelli came to Del Rio to work on the Val Verde County Courthouse.

He also built a dam on San Felipe Creek and a gin house and home, which is located on Pecan Street. "The Cassinelli Gin House" has an official Recorded Texas Historical Marker. The first pastor of the Mexican American Methodist Church, which was officially established in 1878, is also buried at Loma de la Cruz. He was Rev. Roman V.

Palomares, who died on April 14, 1887. Three Indian Scouts, who joined the U.S. Army in 1878, are also buried at the historic cemetery. These men were excellent horsemen, good marksmen, and very familiar with the language and the ways of the Indians. They were invaluable in protecting the Texas frontier from Indian raids.

Buried at Loma de la Cruz is Victor Frausto and his two sons Quirino and Tom as. These men died between 1897 and 1905. Several descendents of the Fraustos' still live here. The cemetery originated when Dona Paula Losoya de Rivera and her sister Don Refugio Losoya de Rivera moved to the vicinity of Las Sapas in 1862. Las Sapas was a small community of Mexicans who settled near what is now known as the San Felipe area.

Bringing a pioneering spirit with them, the Losoya sisters developed the land around the San Felipe Creek for farming and cultivated the soil. Soon the sisters had a thriving hacienda which kept growing in numbers of people. Many of these early residents started to cross the San Felipe Creek to build their homes. Dona Paula's original home is located at the corner of East Nicholson Street and' Hudson Drive. Being an active member of the community, Dona Paula became concerned when she realized that the Mexican people of the settlement did not have a cemetery for burying their dead.

They were burying them in their backyards. So Dona Paula gave four acres of land for a graveyard to the Mexican colony in 1884, and another Vfe acre of land for the Italians in 1892. The cemetery is at the foot of Round Mountain or Loma de la Cruz. Legend says that once, while fighting the Indians who sometimes came to attack the settlements, three Indians and two Mexicans were killed. Legend says they were buried on the hillside on the property of Dona Paula.

To mark the place, she had a cross erected on top of this hill, and to this day the hill is known as the hill of the cross. It is also said that the hill got its name because Dona Paula, following an old Mexican custom, placed a cross on top of the hill to remind all of the crucifixion of the Lord. 1 11 19S7. Del Rid Publishing Inc All Saturday, 7 Vol. 51 No.

211 Copy Little Jessica rescued By KEN HERMAN Associated Press Writer MIDLAND. Texas (AP) Little Jessica McClure was rescued Friday night from an abandoned backyard well where she was trapped for 2Mi days while workers feverishly bored through solid rock to reach her. An anxious nation watched the unfold after the 18-month- old toddler plunged 22 feet into ground surrounded by rock so hard it dulled even diamond- tipped drills. Barefoot, caked with dirt and with gauze to an immobilizing backboard as she was hauled by cable from the hole, Jessica appeared alert as she rubbed her eyes in the glare of floodlights. She was rushed to a waiting ambulance and taken to Midland Memorial Hospital, and Midland Police Sgt.

Jeff Haile said doctors would have to examine her before determining the extent of her injuries. A deafening shout of jubilation rose from the crowd as Jessica was plucked from the hole, and the entire city erupted with yells and honking horns. "They brought her out feet- first. They had put vaseline on her to get her through the hole," he said. "She was very alert, very bright-eyed.

They got her through with no scratches. She's fine. "I didn't have any dry eyes," he added. "I'm relieved and am glad it's over." Jessica's parents, Chip and Reba Gayle McClure, were summoned to the well that had harbored Jessica since 9:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday, and the child was freed just before 8 p.m.

after spending 58 hours in the pit. Bob Hawk, a local contractor who was looking into the hole when she was brought out, said, "I thought of my son who is going to be 2 in two weeks. I'm going to go call him now." "We knew we would get her out," said exuberant driller Ribble Boler. "I saw her face and it felt real good." Hawk said the abandoned well was immediately covered and that the rescue hole was to be filled in soon. He said the sign of a job well done is a satisfied customer, but "this is way, way above that.

This is personal satisfaction." Rescue workers had to sink a parallel shaft about five feet away from the abandoned well, then burrow a 20-inch diameter, tunnel through solid rock to where the whimpering girl lay. Just after noon, workers had bored a hole large enough for a paramedic to reach in and check her condition, Midland Police Chief Richard Czech said. She appeared fine, but her right leg was somehow stuck. High-pressure water drill equipment had to be flown in from Houston to to widen the rescue tunnel, forcing yet another delay in a process that workers had first predicted would end early Thursday night. Third hearing slated on grant application By THERESA NICKOLIN News-Herald Writer The City of Del Rio has scheduled the third public hearing to review a proposed application for funding under the Texas Community Development Program for a sewer project in the Gay 90 Neighborhood, the paving of East Bowie Street and a city-wide emergency pre-empt system.

Citizens arc encouraged to attend and provide their inputs at the public hearing, which will take place in conjunction with a special City Council meeting at the San Felipe Memorial Fire Station at 501 E. Garaa Monday at 7 p.m. This is the third public hearing for the proposed application. The second hearing, which took place in conjunction with the City Council meeting on Tuesday night at 7:30, had council chambers at city hall packed with citizens who were interested in where the proposed $337,128 will be spent, if the application is approved. Three distinct areas were well represented by citizens at the meeting Tuesday night: many requested that water lines be installed in the Payne Village area near Laughlin Air Force Base; others asked for sewer systems for the Blum addition; and many other citizens requested paving of East Bowie Street.

In addition, Councilman Bob Wilson stressed the importance of a pre-empt system on all city stoplights so that when a fire truck approaches, the stoplights will automatically turn green, allowing the emergency vehicles to continue unimpeded. Cost estimates provided Tuesday for the resurfacing of Bowie Street cited $111,000 required to do the minimum amount of work acceptable for the street; cost for sewer systems in the Blum addition is estimated at cost for an emergency pre-empt system is estimated at $40,000. The City Council passed a motion to address the resurfacing of Bowie Street, sewers for the Blum addition and the city pre-empt system. Councilmen said that people in the Payne Village area would have to be patient, in the hopes that the city would receive an abandoned water line from Laughlin Air Force Base, once a new water line is built for the base. 1C It to 4C 1C DISTINCT ACHIEVEMENT Del Rio City Manager Jeffrey Pomeranz, left, and Financial Director Florencio Sauceda, right, chat with Carl White, director of finance for the City of San Antonio after he presented them News-Herald photo by Tara Breckeoridf Certificates of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

Pomeranz and Sauceda and the city staff were honored at a reception Friday night in the Del Rio Civic Center. City receives fiscal award United Way reaches 47 percent of goal See Story, Page 7A By THERESA NICKOLIN News-Herald Writer Del Rioans turned out in force at the award presentation Friday night, to show their pride in the city's distinct achievement. The City of Del Rio was awarded the highest distinction in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the period ending Sept. 30, 1986. Carl White, director of finance for the City of San Antonio, presented the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Mayor Hugh Williams.

He then presented equivalent certificates to City Manager Jeffrey Pomeranz and Finance Director Florencio P. Sauceda, who were instrumental in the city's achievement, at a reception at the Del Rio Civic Center Friday night. The award cites the city's demonstration of a constructive "spirit of full disclosure," and an effort to clearly communicate its financial story as well as motivate potential persons and user groups to read the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). White, who is a past president of the U.S. Government Finance Officers Association, and who has 29 years experience in the field of business finance, says See CITY, Page 2A Third JSEC employer seminar held By BILL LINDEMANN News-Herald Writer The third employer meeting presented by the Texas Employment Commission-sponsored Job Service Employer Committee (JSEC) was held Thursday evening in the Ramada Inn.

Topics included a message from the Del Rio Motel Association president, selling Del Rio by use of the room tax dollars, and workers' compensation. Sidney Briggs, president of Del Rio Motel Association explained that there are 17 motels in the association, with a total of 900 rooms. They have 78 meeting rooms available, which can accommodate 23 to 130 people and this does not include the Civic Center. The association employs 200 people with salaries over $1 million annually being recycled within the community. The room tax rate in Del Rio is 13 percent of which 6 percent goes to the state and 7 percent stays within the city.

Betty Sanders, who chairs the room tax committee for the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the 13 percent room tax. She stated that 6 percent goes to the State Department of Commerce specifically to promote Texas, the remaining 7 percent goes to the city. Out of the 7 percent, 40 percent goes to the Civic Center, 6 percent goes to promote the arts, 6 percent for the historical restoration, 1 percent for administration, and 47 percent goes to promote tourism for Del Rio. Del Rio promotional ads were placed in numerous publications like Texas Monthly Magazine, West Texas Travel Guide, AAA Tourbook, World Wide Travel Planner, Texas Fisherman, and various newspapers throughout the state plus other magazines. The media schedule for 1987 had $39,664.51 in advertising placed.

Press releases are also sent to media throughout the state for which there is no charge. Sanders then presented a Ust of 27 convention meeting tour groups that have met or will meet in Del Rio. The total number of people on the list was 4,622. Promotion of Del Rio includes the mailing of brochures, maps, guides, and other pieces of literature. Year-to-date they have distributed 61,687 brochures, so "the advertising and promotion is working," she stated.

See EMPLOYERS, Pale IA talH JuiTbii. room. They have meetins goes to the State fiepartment of The media schedule (or 1W7 had Del Rio joins cities banding together for cases involving CPL By THERESA NICKOLIN years, CPL has requested a total of $176.92 million in fuel refunds rates to go up month to month, but it also does not allow for uo nmA ann.o.^i^.oio.i., on nerinds when rpr is navme a lower rate for fuel there By THERESA NICKOMN News.Herald Writer City Council members Tuesday night showed their support for various cities that have joined together to participate in various Central Power and Light (CPL) cases. The council passed a resolution to support cities under the CPL service territory, which have banded together "in the interest of balanced regulation and conservation of resources." The resolution pissed Tuesday states that "regulation of monopolies is essential as a substitute for competition. and that of fuel charges within the area have amounted to involuntary loins from rite payers," making these millions of dollars unavailable to the private sector.

This section is referring to the situation resulting from CPL collecting loo much for its service, and then refunding these over- collection! at liter date- The PUP requires utilities to use fuel cost factors, which (urn out to be more or leu than ictuii fuel costs. Over the list four years, CPL has requested a total of $176.92 million in fuel refunds and has reduced its customers' bills approximately 20 percent. A recent example of such a refund took place in August, when CPL customers' bills reflected a credit because of previous overcollections. This particular credit was the result of an $18.37 million over- collection of fuel costs which occurred between December 1986 and June 1M7. With interest added, the total amount came to $19.35 million.

The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) authorised the refund in July, and CPL issued bills reflecting the credit, According to Rill Cranford, manager of the Pel Rio CPL office, the old method of collecting from customers was much more accurate and simpler for the company, "We fought the implementation of this new system and tried to tell the PUC that these fixed fuel costs were not a good idea, but they decided to go with the new method anyway." Cranford says that the new system does not allow customers' fuel rates to go up month to month, but it also does not allow for the periods when CPL is paying a lower rate for fuel therefore preventing CPL from passing on this lower rate to the customer, Cranford explains that the first year that the new method was ed, CPL had to issue checks for the refunds. "This resulted in ui having to cut almost a million checks." Cranford continues: "We wish we never had the (overcollecUon of) money in the first place," He says that all the refunds issued have had interest added on to the principal amount collected for the time that CPL had the money, and that this last refund in August included an interest rate of U-W percent. City Manager Jeffrey Pomeranz explains that the resolution paned Tuesday night was the result of meetings between numerous cities, counties and councils of governments in the CPU service art i and that its purpose is "to protect cities against possible danger! of monopolization of resources and to assure that any future nil creases by CPL are fiir and 1.