San Angelo Standard-Times from San Angelo, Texas • 1

pn San Angeb Texas Serving West Texas Since 1884 June 3 2002 HOWARD bonis Kmart store closes doors to shoppers for final time down lower and sure enough they were gone by the time I got back" she said gonna miss this store They Just bad lots of things I like to shop here for" Elisabeth Contreras hit the store twice Sunday before and after church- She stocked up on larger sizes in clothing for her children Contreras will have clothes until the children are 13 or 14 9 now And already got her Christmas shopping done for the of town family" She mind that much Please see STORE Page 7A he said been like a big family" On the last day shoppers milled through the isles bright orange signs that read percent off lowest-ticked littered the stores Rita Kellen pushed a basket with several packages of nylons Sunday afternoon looking for some great deals But everything had much cleared Tika the fish that got away story Kellen confided she gambled some deals away thinking tomorrow the deal would be sweeter: thought go sion to close the San Angelo store surprised him first I was Asebedo said was kind of sad My step-mom was personnel manager here 18 years I practically grew up with Kfnart" With two weeks vacation time owed him Asebedo plans to take a much-needed break Retail work he said is very demanding He doubts do it again The work is demanding and the holidays exhausting but when his mom and grandmother passed away this last year Asebedo discovered much more been here for me" By NICOLE MAMBILA Staff Writer Kmart shoppers scrambled for deals under the blue light Sunday as prices plummeted by 95 percent before the store closed its doors for business The San Angelo was one of 284 low-performing stores 33 in die retail giant intends to dose after seeking Chapter llpro-tection earlier this year The company laid off 76 employees locally with no severance package 1 Front End Manager Jason Asebedo who has worked four for Kmart said the deci S-T PHOTO BY MM DECKER Shoppers snatched their last glimpses and bargains at San Angelols Kmart store as the retailer locked its doors for the last time Sunday The discount retailer decided to shut down the San Angelo store with hundreds of others across the natioiv as part of Its bankruptcy reorganization efforts 4 wonder what is the value of Human life Can you take someone rights and liberties and at the end of the day do Hkks wtio Is suing his lawyer after being wrongly Incarcerated Mr-kv'' 9 it MteW jiui'v I Ml Study shows homeowner insurance is skyrocketing The Associated Presk i DALLAS Texas homeowners are paying more for insurance and getting less protection I New premium comparisons by the Texas Department of Insurance show that insurers have substantially increased premiums and priced their policies well above the standard homeowner rates that state regulators recommend Those standard rates set by the state are designed to let companies earn a reasonable profit But for example only one of 44 insurers that the state surveyed in Dallas County is charging less than file standard rates and several are charging more than double the State fawiriimariM Mahy companies including Allstate Farmers and State Farm ere trying to stem massive losses from mold damage and have scaled back coverage in file policies they are selling this yeah Consumer groups said the new figures support their assertions that Texas is in the midst of an insurance crisis as premiums soar in a state where homeowners already pay file highest rates in the nation "These rate comparisons show what Texas families are now being forced to deal said Dan Lambe of Texas Watch aeon-Sumer group closely involved in insurance matters are paying more and more of their household income for insurance" At the same time he said insurance companies have their backs on homeowners by charging far more than what the commissioner says is necessary to earn a reasonable rate of state Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor sets the benchmark rates Industry representatives file accusations They have cited unprecedented losses in the state mostly from weather and mold-related damage and say there is no alternative to higher rates loss numbers for last year were very ugly" industry spokesman Jerry Johns president of the Southwestern Insurance Information Service was quoted as saying in of The Dallas Morning News the size of file claims Please sea STUDY Page 7A Rural support Caucus readies to regroup for future sessions By MONICA WOLFSON Scripps Howard Austin Bureau AUSTIN When state Rep Judy Hawley D-Portland put together a group of rural policy advisors in 1999 she Invited about 15 lawmakers hoping a dozen would show up Forty lawmakers came to the meeting most wondering why they been invited was my first realization that there were needs not being said Hawley who retires from file Legislature at the end of this year That was the beginning of what is now called the Rural Caucus in the Legislature a group of lawmakers who address Issues facing rural Texas Now after a successful legislative session last year that created an agency to focus on rural issues the caucus is looking to its fliture and coping with the retirement of several senior members 1 The first meetings initially were held to provide newly elected Agricultural Commissioner Susan Combs with concerns feeing rural Texans After a few meetings Hawley said she realized that rural Issues involved a lot more than Just agriculture The rural caucus was born with 60odd members Joining the first yean While about 20 of the members represent rural districts the rest of the caucus came from urban locals surrounded by rural communities Big-city lawmakers knew the ins and outs of their urban constituency but have a clue on how to serve their rural voters said state Rep Bob Turner D-Vbss who is one of eight retiring senior caucus members were looking for ways to serve those rural constituents better" Hawley said good legislators wanted to taka care of rural people even though they their biggest The caucus met every Tuesday morning and reviewed bills to see how they would Impact rural communities They Invited speakers and allowed caucus members to pitch bills so long as they included a statewide impact analysis In 2000 House Speaker Pete Laney D-Hale Center told caucus members their time had come to get things done because redistricting would wipe out a handful of rural districts Rural lawmakers controlled a slew of high-ranking committees and could probably bring a coalition together A special legislative committee on rural development traveled the state and discovered that a new agency was needed to centralize information for rural Texans As more lawmakers realized how the rural caucus could help them understand their rural constituents caucus membership ballooned to 102 Please see RURAU Page 7A i The wrongly convicted face long road in getting compensation I 1I VIHr Rlnndaamrth was branded a Kirk Bloodsworth was branded a child kriior mid languished In the bru-tal gray world of a Maryland prison for nearly a decade For 2Vz years he was on death row He says the state robbed him of file chance to build his business and make his living as a crab fisherman Now 41 the former Marine has highblood pressure dental problems no health insurance and fears he could lose his boat Bloodsworth seethes when he compares his compensation to that of a woman awarded for more after she binned herself with spilled coffee at a By SHARON COHEN The Associated Press flier AA Butter Jc was cleared of rape and freed from prison two years ago the state of Texas granted a pardon and gave him a check for its mistake The value of Wife years behind bars: About $460 a day The check totaled $27854 for more than a third of his life wasted while his parnnta and hl marriage collapsed should have been more and it could have been sighs Butler a 47-year-old construction worker I Just look at it as a blessing that rm free I fafc what I have and move on always tomorrow and what I look forward to" iat I look forward to ap PHOTO by TIM zielenbach festfood restaurant The state was ready to kill me he Rolando Cruz celebrates hk freedom gays his voice rising I got Now 1995 In a Napetville UL apart- $300000" imnt (to was wrongly convicted in Bloodsworth collected $30000 for a iqr3 murder and released after each year he was locked up But he White Butlert attitude Is aceepfing nua testino He and two others in spent more than half of it the day he his case and a growing number like It rc cued local officials and received his check paying off loans aflmrayqpWtotand Ua Mdcdgdtend feeSkinghis prisoners are freed after "paying a debt receivea a muuon snuemnn fether who dug into his own savings ShdeMtotlSn in return? eminent rmoutSnSSmdtor What fiiese men have found is vary- sate the wrongly convicted according in lngand sometimes inconetetentstate toctestPace ssSTiZSSfSi'SS where they live when they were freed have received rompensafion ranges Shawn Pope knows that feel- feaiar -sssstsssgsr SsS1 HSs Only 15 states along with the Dls- for acme compensation just a quee- trict of Columbia and the federal gov- tion of fairness but a matter of survival Pleas see DEBX P9 7A INSIDE TODAY Area Local News 3-4 Classified Adi 1-50 Comics 3 Columns -jO Deaths ltate1V i0 Sports News 1-4B 02002 VdL 7B Ns 92 fa.