Thursday's Internet Edition, 05:38 PM, March 11, 2010.
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| Porches rallyed here.... Porsches from the Carrera Region, Porsche Clubs of America, and drivers descended on Van Horn last weekend to hold a return Rally at the Culberson County Airport, which closed for the day to support the Rally event. The event saw Porsches take to the course at speeds approaching 150 MPH as they wore out tires and brakes thoughout the day-long event. Pictured above are members of the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce which hosted a Friday evening ‘Meet 'n Greet’ event at the Hotel El Capitan and then they also hosted a noon lunch at the Hotel El Capitan for the drivers. Pictured are (l to r) Sooky Borrego, Chamber President, Lenny Loftin, Ralley Chairman for Carrera Region, Dede Rodgers, Carrera Region President, a Carrera Region driver, Esteban Urias, Chamber Rally coordinator, and Kaitlyn Tarango, Chamber representative. (Carrera Region Photo) |
- Voters across the county, who have not cast their ballots in early voting which ends tomorrow, will go to the polls next Tuesday, March 2nd to vote in the Democratic Primary election. As of yesterday, over 300 votes had been cast in early voting according to Linda McDonal, Early Voting Clerk.
The polls will open at 7 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Voters may cast their ballots at the polling place for their precinct. They are:
Precinct 1: County Barn
Precinct 2: County Courthouse (District Courtroom)
Precinct 3: School District Administration Building and Recreation Hall at Guadalupe Mountains National Park residential area
Precinct 4: Kennedy Hall of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church
Voters will be balloting for federal, state, district and local offices in the election.
Locally, voters will be selecting candidates for the following offices to be formally voted on again in the November General Election.
County Judge: incumbent Manuel Molinar being challenged by Carlos Urias.
County/District Clerk: incumbent Linda McDonald.
County Treasurer: incumbent Susie Hinojos.
Commissioner, Precinct 2: incumbent Duane Corrales being challenged by Rolando Gomez.
Commissioner, Precinct 4: incumbent Adrian Norman being challenged by Raul Rodriguez.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1: Joe Luis Aguilar or Rita Carrasco.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2: A.P. Flores.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3: Jo Kincaid.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4: incumbent Betty Velez being challenged by Linda Vasquez.
Constable, Precinct 2 (unexpired term): Thomas Burns.
Constable, Precinct 4 (unexpired term): Eric Ramirez.
More folks toss hats into city, school, hospital and water elections
The deadline to file to run in the CIty Officer, School trustee, Hospital District Director and Groundwater Conservation District Director is the close of business on March 8th.
As of yesterday, a few more people had tossed their hats into the political ring but it appears that most are waiting for the filing deadline to signal their intentions.
As of yesterday, the following folks had filed to seek election in these races.
City Officer - Mayor: incumbent Mayor Ben Flanagan is being challenged by former mayor Okey D. Lucas.
City Officer - Alderman: No one has filed yet.
School District Trustee: incumbents Omar Ortega, Angie Gonzales, and Andrea Ramirez have signaled their desire to be re-elected.
Culberson Hospital District Director: incumbent Lloyd Taylor has filed for re-election.
Culberson County Groundwater Conservation District Director: incumbent Howard Shelley has filed for re-election.
Again, political hopefuls in these races have until close of business on March 8th to signal their intentions.
Trustees talk health insurance options
Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District trustees met last Thursday evening and heard a five-month insurance report from Debbie Faulknor, the district’s insurance consultant.
Trustees had asked Faulknor to provide an updated report on the district’s self-insured health care program. Faulknor told trustees that thus far in the school year, the district is slightly ahead and that is good news.
She noted that if this trend continues, the district might not want to consider going with the State Insurance Plan.
She noted that the state plan has four levels of coverage and the plan the district provides equates to the top plan under the state program. That plan would cost you more than you’re now paying with the self-insurance plan.
The rub would be if claims begin to tank. If that were to happen, you’ll wipe out any reserve you have in short order. And, she noted, any reserve you now have must be used for health insurance costs. You can’t use the funds for other purposes.
Trustees then looked at the advisability of submitting a letter to the state signifying the district’s intent to go with the state plan.
If the district wants to do this, it must give the state six months advance notice. With that notice, the district does have the option to withdraw from the state plan as long as it is done by July 16th.
Another option would allow the district to apply to go with the state plan as an exception however the drawback is the district cannot withdraw.
Trustees, noting that if current claims were to tank, noted the state plan option would be necessary for the district.
Following discussion, trustees voted 5 to 1 to submit the letter signifying the district’s intent to join the state insurance plan. Trustees noted that they could withdraw by submitting a letter no later than July 16th. The lone dissenting vote was from trustee John Clark.
Then trustees addressed whether or not to submit Dr. Mancha as a nominee for Texas Association of School Board’s (TASB) Superintendent of the Year.
The idea had been presented by Dr. Carter, a Region 18 staffer helping the district come out of ‘Academically Unacceptable’ categories at the High School and Junior High two years ago.
Dr. Carter noted that last year there were no nominations from Region 18. He felt that since the district has made significant strides, it would be good for the district to nominate Dr. Mancha.
You will recall the Region 18 presented the board with a letter several months ago praising what has been accomplished in the district.
The process, according to board president Lisa Cottrell would be for the board to nominate Dr. Mancha. That nomination would then go to Region 18 where they would make a recommendation to TASB.
Following discussion, trustees opted to recommend Dr. Mancha for Superintendent of the Year. The vote was 4 for and 2 against the motion. The two dissenting votes were from trustees John Clark and Robert Morales.
Trustees considered other agenda matters as follows:
* Per the instructions of the district’s outside auditors, trustees are now asked to provide any receipts for any travel expense they may incur while attending district functions.
* They approved January 29, 2010 to be added to a TEA Low Attendance Waiver. That was one of the snow days where attendance was extremely low in the district.
* Trustees called for a School Trustee election to be held in May 2010 to fill three full term seats.
* And they set March 18, 2010 as the date for the March board meeting.