The Baytown Sun from Baytown, Texas • Page 3

THE BAYTOWN SUN Thursday, July 21, 1983 3-A JIM ETCHEN (from left), city safety-training specialist, and Gary Balmain, assistant public works director, present June's city safety awards to Jerry Traytor, superintendent of waste water collection and water distribution; Doyle Lane, foreman of waste water collection; and Ray Lopez, foreman of water distribution. (Sun staff photo by David By ford) Water Workers Honored For Safety Achievements City of Baytown water workers have been singled out for their safety achievements, which have shown steady, marked i m- provements since the city's present safety program was implemented in 1981. "When I first came to the city in May 1981, there really wasn't much of an active safety program," said Jim Etchen, safety-training specialist, "There was an average amount of injuries, but when Jerry Traylor took over in the fall of 1981, accidents went down significantly." a i superintendent of waste water collection and water distribution, has been instrumental in designing procedures as well as equipment crucial to his workers' safety, according to Etchen. Earlier this year, Traylor and city waste water foreman Doyle Lane designed a device for safely lowering employees into confined spaces, su ch as sewer anholes. This device was designed not only to retrieve an employee in trouble, but also to suspend an employee to allow freedom to work without losing footing or balance.

Months prior to that, Traylor and Ray Lopez, a water distribution foreman, began equipping all of their heavy trucks with hoists and power winches to lift heavy objects so back injuries could be avoided. They also began a work area traffic control program to protect the public and other employees in city streets. This was done through training and equipping crews with reflective vests, hard hats, safety cones, warning signs and truck beacons. According to Etchen, employees from these divisions are faced with working in high traffic areas, exposure to poisonous and highly explosive gases, the lifting of heavy objects and working with heavy equipment and tools in "awkward, stressful conditions." Also, employees must operate slow- moving vehicles in traffic, deal with poisonous snakes on a frequent basis and cope with the obvious hygienic hazards of working with waste water. "Through our program, accidents have shown a significant decrease.

It has worked," Etchen said. "The reason for a program in the first place is to keep people on the job," Etchen added. "We owe it to the city, as well as to the employees." DWI Law Boosts Taxicabs LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) When the band quits playing and the bottle runs dry, more Arkansans are climbing into a taxi instead of behind the wheel of a car, to avoid getting nabbed under Arkansas' new drunken driving laws, cab companies say. "On a Friday or Saturday night, I'll have five or six new customers," William Long, a nighttime driver at Checker Cab Co.

in Hot Springs, said recently. "They always mention the law. They say it's cheaper to ride in a cab than to pay that DWI ticket or lose your license." The new statutes, passed by the 1983 Legislature, mean a first offender could lose his license for three months and could be fined up to 51,000 and sentenced to a year in jail. The first of the statutes became effective in March, the second in April. Cab drivers and dispatchers interviewed in Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Little Rock and Pine Bluff said they've noticed an increase in business because of the laws.

Rep. Judy Petty, R- Little Rock, one of the primary sponsors of the DWI bill, said the cab companies' statements proved that the new laws are effective. "To me, that's the proof of the pudding that every night so many intoxicated drivers not behind the wheels of their cars," she said. "They're getting home some other way." She said courts throughout Arkansas were being monitored, and though some judges are interpreting the law differently than it was intended, others were following it to the letter. "I have visited with a lot of youth groups and teen-agers since the law has been signed, "she said.

"When they're talking very frankly about the habits that have been changed, that makes me know that the highways are a lot safer." (CALLING ALL BABIES COMING SOON! REGISTER NOW! Harris County BABY PAGEANT Sponsored by Regular Veterans Assoc. Register Baby at: 519 Park, Baytown (Next to Medical Prescription) or Phone 428-2378 Family Lives In Car Under Freeway SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) The place where the Matherly family of five lives is "noisy," but it has one redeeming quality, Marvin Matherly says. It's free. The Matherlys, including three young children, live in a 1966 Plymouth parked beneath a San Antonio expressway. Matherly, a former Fort Sam Houston soldier, said he was laid off from his job in January and doesn't know what else to do.

"We've tried everything," he said. "We're just taking it from Baby Beauty Show Boys Girls Eligible No Cost to enter Coronation Pageant Beauty Division Royalty Division Trophies, Ribbons Bonds awarded Age limited- 1 mo. to 6 yrs. Registration will begin Thurs. 21 thru Wed.

27 4:00 fm CMdtNwM. City lip day to day, keeping the kids fed." Wednesday, the Matherlys' money about $80 in cash and $150 in food stamps was stolen, along with Patricia Matherly's purse. "We tried to get on our feet," he said. "We were camping out trying to save some money. And then my wife's purse was stolen.

I'm at my wits' end." Matherly, 32, said he sometimes works for a local temporary service, but that his minimum wages don't go too far with three children to feed. "If we just had a place to live," he said Thursday. "I'm not afraid to work. Except the way things are going now, I just don't know." In the mid-1970s, after his discharge from the Army, Matherly said he landed a job as a collections agent with a San Antonio aviation supply company. He moved the family into a $500-a-month rented home and lived comfortably before "the bottom fell out" and the firm dissolved.

The Matherlys pawned the furniture from the house, lived with friends a few months and stayed free at the Salvation Army building for a week, Matherly said. Irma Escamilla, the director of social services for the Salvation Army, said Friday that the Matherlys stayed at her group's shelter from June 17 to July 2 and off-and-on up until the present. The family still takes most of its meals from the Salvation Army and has slept there two nights this week because of the rain, she said. Hems Avoilable At Family Centers Only brands ced lower to ve you more! 1.63 Agree Shampoo and Conditioner A great low price for a shampoo and you get the conditioner, too! Choice of formulas to help stop the greasies. 8 oz.

ea. 4-Bar Pack Irish Spring The deodorant soap men find so effective, women too! 5 oz. bars. 1.5O 1.77 .77 Fab Laundry Detergent Fabric softener and lemon- Shredded Polyurethane foam 1 pound bog. Reg.

1.28 freshened Borax. 49 oz. Webcor Dual Range Cordless Telephone Range 74.00 Thermos 35 Qt. Cooler 12.88 Galaxy 20" Box Fan 2 Speed 16.40 16" Oscillating Fan 3 Speed 25.00 Wet Banana Water Slide 12.00 Freezer Sticks 12 Per Pack 3 Diamond Pineapple Sliced, Crushed, Chunk Hospital Style Bed Pillow PWowi We're Working 427-6509 Family Centers Save You More! 1006 MARKET ST. Most advertised are reduced from oureveryday low prices.

And upon their purchase, insists upon your satisfaction. If you are not happy with what you bought, return it. We will cheerfully exchange it or fully refund your money. If for unforeseen reasons advertised merchandise is not available, we'll gladly issue a raincheck. We're happy to accept your personal check, MasterCard, Visa or cash.

wvnt yew thtffft TOAY. Copyright, 1913, Storat Co..