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| Fitzgerald delivers at Poetry Gathering in Alpine.... This past weekend Van Horn’s poet, Ray Fitzgerald, read at several different poetry sessions at the 24th Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine. Here he is pictured reading to a packed house at one called “Ran Into Some Mean Critters.” (Photo and caption by Patricia Golden) |
- Voters hits the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the Democratic Party Primary Election. There is no Republican Party primary in the county so whoever wins local races is the winner in the November General Election.
Local races being voted on were: County Judge, District & County Clerk, County Treasurer, Commissioners, Precincts 2 and 4, Justices of the Peace in all 4 precincts, and Constable (unexpired term) for precincts 2 and 4.
In the race for County Judge, voters gave the nod to challenger Carlos Urias over incumbent Manuel Molinar by a margin of 24 votes. The vote count was 468 to 444.
In the races for District and County Clerk and County Treasurer, the incumbents, Linda McDonald and Susana ‘Susie’ R. Hinojos, both won election handily as they were unopposed.
In the contest for County Commissioner, Precinct 2, voters gave the nod to challenger Rolando Gomez over incumbent Duane ‘Toto’ Corrales. And in this race, the margin of victory was also 24 votes. The vote count was 141 to 117.
In the contest for County Commissioner, Precinct 4, voters went with incumbent Adrian Norman over challenger Raul Rodriguez. The margin of victory was 22 votes with the vote count at 128 for Norman and 106 for Rodriguez.
In the race for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Rita Carrasco won the battle with Jose Luis Aguilar by a margin of 97 votes to 62 votes.
In the Justice of the Peace, Precincts 2 and 3, there were no opponents and each candidate, A.P. Flores and Jo Kincaid, won handily.
In the contest for Jusrtice of the Peace, Precinct 4, voters gave the nod to incumbent Betty Velez over challenger Linda Vasquez, by a 125 to 84 vote count.
In the two Constable races for Precinct 2 and 4, both candidates, Tom Burns and Eric Ramirez, were unchallenged and won their races handily.
And, voters overwhelmingly gave the nod to Robert Morales to be their Democratic Party Chairman. He, too, was unopposed.
In the other federal, state and district contests on the Tuesday ballot, voters pretty much mirrored the statewide and district results. Voters went for State Senator Carlos Uresti over challenger Luis Juarez, Jr. and State Representative Pete Gallego and District Judge Kathleen Olivares were unopposed and won their races.
Trustees agree to release AD from his contract with district
Trustees of Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District held a special session this past Monday evening.
Purpose of the session was to consider a request from Athletic Director Joe Salinas to be released from his contract effective March
15th.
Salinas, our Athletic Director for the past 3 years, has received an offer to relocate to a school near Corpus Christie, which is much closer to his home. It was an offer and an opportunity that he could not pass up.
Trustees reluctantly approved his release from contract on a 5 to 1 vote. The dissenting vote came from trustee John Clark who said, “He gave us his word that he would stay until the end of his contract and he should live up to his word. He’d expect that of us!”
Following that action, trustees did make an offer to Domingo Vento to assume the AD job. He has not given trustees an answer as of this writing.
And, before the meeting concluded, Salinas did present trustees with a comprehensive assessment of the district’s sports facilities.
More folks file as deadline looms near
With the filing deadline less than a week off, a few more folks have tossed their hats into the political arena.
The deadline to file for City Officer, School Trustee, Groundwater Conservation District Director and Hospital District Director is close of business on Monday, March 8th.
As of yesterday, the following folks have now filed for the various offices being contested:
City Officer: Mayor(1) - incumbent Ben Flanagan and former mayor Okey Lucas have filed for election; Alderman(2) - incumbent Gilda Morales has filed for this office.
School District Trustee(3): incumbents Angie Gonzales, Omar Ortega and Andrea Ramirez have filed for re-election. Jason Owen and Romy Ramirez have also filed for election.
Culberson County Groundwater Conservation District Director(3): incumbents Howard Shelley, Vance Cottrell and Don Collins have filed for re-election. Refugio ‘Cuco’ Corrales has filed for election.
Culberson County Hospital District Director(3): incumbents Lloyd Taylor, Edwin Easley and Carole Fitzgerald have filed for re-election.
We’ll see if any more folks toss there hats in the ring by the Monday filing deadline.