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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1999)
TheBr le Battalion s rate Page 9 • Wednesday, August 25, 1999 avidiifarmers eye hurricane’s aftermath Movin’ 0 n in Bret harms cotton, but benefits other rain-deprived crops in Texas at any pyrotech® to evidence to su, echnic devicesweHCORPUS CHRIS PI (AP) — First came nent on April 19, Onds th at ripped cotton tufts from their 3 rson Myron Mai| nitective locl< - s ancl dragged the delicate ‘e said that allal#P through the dust. ^thpr the t.'Ri ft Then came rain that left entire fields einer me roi < j i j t. t day is a m submerged and washed away any hope v the Texas ri foi a decent market price.Hurricane Bret nendine fpalpr®y not have lived U P to cataclysmic ex- i t ti ■ctations, but it whipped up plenty of cigams ^ rr y for South Texas cotton farmers, ns ana tamiiiesc«„ It made us sick >. said Bill 0 rdner, who ventured into his 1,500-acre cotton field Southwest of Corpus Christi with heavy ■ 1993 tragedy si. i| arl; a f ter t j ie s t 0 rm blew through, nd-boggling estimates the storm cost him in the fire. | 0 o,000. yays been thaltfeB«\y e j ust we nt back home,” he said. ?re that day, CapiB^ej-e’s quite a few depressed farmers m the agency here now.” some seriouscnrsB B re t rolled ashore Sunday with drench- ney have testilieiBg rains and 125-mph winds, uigress. TheyhaiiByhe storm caused relatively few prob lems considering its size and strength, aer people to lerKuckly deteriorating into a tropical storm hnics used, hesaBat was still soaking western portions of e right, then - South Texas yesterday. problems i ilify evidences: ' a stricter star: summary judge endants. Laredo and other cities in the region had braced for flooding, but the antici- ■ted deluge never arrived for most areas. Only minor spot flooding was reported. “It was not as bad as we thought it was to be,” Laredo spokesperson Jerry (firza said. “We were well-prepared, and these two factors played a role.” ■ Agriculture officials said growers around Corpus Christi lost nearly half the cotton left in the fields before Bret. And because of the rain, which discol ors cotton a dingy brown, what remains is worth less. “[The hurricane] was not as bad as we thought it was going to be” — Jerry Garza Laredo spokesperson Farmers might as well kiss the wet cot ton goodbye, said John Norman, a Texas A&M agriculture specialist in Weslaco. “It’ll sprout and rot and basically be of no use,” he said. Fred Burkhart said the storm cut his ex pected cotton yield on his 500 acres in half. The loss is particularly hard, he said, because this year’s crop had been the best he has ever seen. The bumper crop was going to help him overcome market prices that, at $250 per bale, are lower than in past years. “The price wasn’t good but it was go ing to make up it for in yield,” Burkhart said. Much of the damage was west of Cor pus Christi. To the south, into the Rio Grande Valley, farmers fared better because most had already finished their harvests. Bret was not bad news for everyone. Some South Texas farmers, notably citrus growers, have been praying for rain to end months of drought. “This is probably the best thing that could have happened to the citrus indus try,” Pat Walsh, owner of Mission Ship pers, told The Monitor in McAllen. “The fruit is going to be larger than normal. That benefits the grower because you get more weight.” Walsh estimated 3 inches of rain fell on his groves in Mission over the weekend. Jay Johnson, farm manager for Planta tion Produce, said his fields of bell pep pers, cabbage, parsley and knob onions benefited from the weekend’s rain, al though muddy fields will delay further planting of cabbage. Sugarcane fields also will benefit from the rain, building up the plants before the harvest begins in October. Rainwater is better than irrigation water for the plants because it has less salt content. Most livestock also have easily weath ered the storms, said Dr. Joe Paschal, a Corpus Christi livestock specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. “The cattle can hide deep in the brush and most calves are pretty big by now, so they were okay,” he said. Paschal said cattle are unique because they will drift with a storm, unlike hors es, which will wander around aimlessly in the storm. Suspect in girl’s disappearance employee of school idded, “This i :onsumers and: tiave nothing io :■ 1 10 1 Jkrt Worth officials unaware of man's past employed him as elementary students' crossing guard CODY WAGES/The Battalion Joe Niven, a sophomore journalism major, moves into Appelt Hall Tuesday after noon. Niven said he is eagerly awaiting the upcoming semester. Supreme Counts there on a quesfl FORT WORTH (AP) — The 'pretationisgoicBan accused in the disappear- ■ice of 6-year-old Opal Jen- tch, in its annuaiBngs worked as a crossing sions, said injitiHjard at an elementary school others suing tB Fort Worth for four months in iges or physical: 1995, according to a published is inchupto27»port. jgust 1998 anfl The Fort Worth Star-Telegram 4 percent thepisBported today that convicted Ichild molester Richard "Ricky” Hranks, who pleaded guilty in 1|991 in Wise County in a case f volving a young girl, was red to work from May 1995 itil September 1995 as a cross- ig guard at J.T. Stevens Ele- lentary School. iod. Fort Worth police spokesperson Lt. Ric Clark confirmed that Franks was hired. Capt. Michael Baldwin, su pervisor of the police depart ment’s traffic division said crossing guards are temporary city employees and are subject to local and state criminal background checks. Clark said a check of Franks’ state criminal history still reveals no arrests or con- victions from Wise County so it is likely it was not on the database in 1995. He said Franks would not have been hired if officers had known about the record. Court records show that at the time Franks was hired, he was not prohibited from having contact with children. But in June 1996, the terms of his pro bation were changed to forbid contact with children under 17. Wise County Deputy Chief Doug Whitehead said he has no idea why Franks’ arrest was not recorded by the state. "We do report to DPS,” Whitehead said. "But that is nine years ago. I do not have the answer at this time why it does now show that arrest and conviction.” Franks has been charged with kidnapping and indecen cy with a child and is being held in the Tarrant County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bond. FBI agents searched Franks’ home on Monday in an at tempt to find evidence, author ities said. Agents and others have conducted extensive searches in areas near Saginaw after Franks was arrested. The girl has been missing since March 26 when she van ished while playing in her front yard in the Fort Worth suburb. New 911 system to enhance emergency services AUSTIN (AP) — A new emergency data base system that will provide 911 service to wireless customers has been successfully tested, SCC Communications said. The company said yesterday the Texas Commission on State Emergency Commu nications approved its enhanced 911 pilot program. SCC can now begin providing the en hanced system statewide. ‘‘The pilot helped prove that SCC has the technological savvy and expertise needed to increase the reliability of our 911 database and that’s what we’ve wanted all along,” said Carey Spence, deputy director of the commission, which manages the state’s 911 system. The testing was the source of conflict between the company and Southwestern Bell, which had been reluctant to allow them. As a part of the testing SCC proved that its database — which includes a list of phone customers’ names, addresses and phone numbers — works with Bell’s net work. The new database will be used in the state’s plan for wireless phone customers to have the same 911 protections as those provided for wired phones. Your Online College Bookstore A4 Save up to 40% on new textbooks. Get them in 1-3 business days. Guaranteed. I *Books delivered in no more than three business days or your shipping is refunded. Some restrictions apply. See www.varsitybooks.com for details. I
