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Headline News From Jan. 18, 2002 Issue

Pastor Leroy VanAntwerp dies in plane crash 

  TEMPLE, TX - Pastor Leroy VanAntwerp, formerly the youth leader at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Truth or Consequences for six years until last year, died after a plane crash at 5 p.m. Thursday in Texas.

Prospector invents shelter for the homeless 

  To freeze is to suffer. Suffering brings remedy. Wally Hesse of Truth or Consequences knows the solution to surviving the freezing cold on an extremely low budget.

17 change orders to EOC/Fire Station 
are ridiculous, says city commissioners 

  Truth or Consequences City Commissioners tabled approval of a 17^th change order to the city’s new emergency operations center (EOC) and fire station during their regular meeting Monday evening.

City cans proposed TCPD and Sheriff’s Dept. merger 

  Truth or Consequences City Commissioners on Monday moved to drop from consideration Sierra County Sheriff Terry Byers’ proposal to combine the city’s police department with the sheriff’s department.

Few city employees reassigned while others ‘fall by the wayside’ 

  Four of 13 City of Truth or Consequences’ employees whose jobs were eliminated as of Jan. 5 - to help resolve the city’s budget crisis - have secured other city positions, and nine “have gone by the wayside.”

Traffic stop nets meth bust  

  A traffic stop Monday night, Jan. 14, netted Truth or Consequences police yet another bust of the possible manufacture or trafficking of methamphetamine and the arrest of a local man.

Organizers share plans for two historic districts 

  Organizers of a proposed Hot Springs Spa and Hotel Historic District and a Monticello Plaza Historic District held an open house Monday afternoon and a public meeting Monday evening at the old Amin’s Department Store in downtown Truth or Consequences.

Driving while on cell phone banned for county employees 

  Following the trend to ban the use of cell phones in moving vehicles set by Santa Fe and other locales around the United States, Sierra County Commissioners will draft an ordinance banning county employees’ use of cell phones while operating county vehicles.

SVH may resume baby biz next year  

  Responding to a petition calling for the return of obstetric and delivery services to Sierra Vista Hospital, SVH Administrator Dee Rush said.

T or C is looking better all the time

  Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the adopted home of Ralph Edwards and all that worn-out crud, can hardly be called the jewel of the southwest, but the incessant complaints about its run-down condition have become tiresome.

Pastor Leroy VanAntwerp

dies in plane crash Thursday

Desert Journal Staff Report

TEMPLE, TX - Pastor Leroy VanAntwerp, formerly the youth leader at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Truth or Consequences for six years until last year, died after a plane crash at 5 p.m. Thursday in Texas.

He was a passenger in a twin-engine Cessna that plummeted into an unoccupied house in the middle of Temple.

VanAntwerp, 33, was traveling from his new home in Texas City, TX, to Temple with four other people. He died at the hospital in Temple while the pilot, Carl Huff, and another passenger, Angela Hallam, died at the crash site.

Two other passengers were taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

In T or C, VanAntwerp started the Powerhouse Youth Group and built it to a membership of 75 youths and teens. He also founded the Powerhouse Youth and Education Organization for job training.

A memorial service at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in T or C is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 26.

As of late he was the youth pastor of the Abundant Life Christian Center in Lemarque, TX. Angela Hallam is the daughter of the senior pastor of the church of 3,000 members.

VanAntwerp is survived by his wife, Laura Lee; his two sons, Leroy III and Tyler, all three of the family home in Lemarque, TX; his parents-in-law, Manny and Stella Blea of T or C; among many other family, relatives and friends.

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…A shelter made for humans in time of need

Wally Hesse slips his 65-year-old “young at heart” body into his HESSE Cocoon. He may not come out of it a butterfly, but he sure will survive a night in the freezing cold or perhaps a blizzard. Hesse said a grant is needed to develop and improve his shelter product.

Photo by Bill Johnson

T or C prospector invents shelter

for homeless and disaster victims

Now the trick is to improve

and bring project to fruition

By Bill Johnson of the Desert Journal

To freeze is to suffer. Suffering brings remedy. Wally Hesse of Truth or Consequences knows the solution to surviving the freezing cold on an extremely low budget.

The “HESSE Cocoon” he invented looks like a foam coffin. But according to Hesse, his “horizontal igloo” could save the lives or limbs of millions of frostbit, homeless folk, and keep them out of the grave.

“I got the idea of the shelter after freezing in the Superstitions of Arizona. There must be a better way beside a thin piece of canvas clothe between me and the freezing cold,” said Hesse, who at age 65 still feels “young at heart.”

“I was there with a mineral exploration company, which was unsuccessful like most of them.”

Still a prospector, Hesse said, “I came to T or C because I don’t like snow. I’m from Ruidoso.”

But it’s the snowy country where he got his idea to provide some form of shelter that will help the homeless or disaster victims survive the deadly cold.

Hesse said his immediate goal for HESSE Cocoons is to get a grant to further research his product and improve the basic model.

He said the four Polyurethane or Styrofoam slabs, which constitute the basic design of the shelter, perhaps could be fastened together with Velcro.

“The ultra-light product can be dropped from aircraft without a parachute under favorable conditions to stranded disaster victims,” he said. His shelter weighs less than the average dome tent, he added.

Hesse said he believes HESSE Cocoons can save a life for less than a dollar. HESSE is an acronym for Habitable Emergency Survival Structure Enclosures.

“The new year 2002 brings with it a hope for peace and happiness. But not for the many millions of men, women and children who will die of exposure unnecessarily on this planet.”

“A large percentage of these unfortunate victims could be saved by a survival unit dreamed up by a shivering prospector in his flimsy tent during a freak snow storm in the Superstition Mountains,” says Hesse.

That survival unit, he contends, could be a collapsible structure with over an inch of Styrofoam insulation everywhere.

He said he believes the cost of each unit could be kept at less than one dollar if it’s mass-produced.

“If high tech mass production can produce a digital watch that retails for less than $1, HESSE Cocoons can benefit from the same process,” he said. To manufacture the shelter, foam material could be applied to fabricated molds, he said.

“Molds can be modified to any shape to accommodate various specifications and individual functions,” he said.

“The shelter would be beneficial to war refugees in addition to homeless and disaster victims, etc.,” he said.

Besides protection from the cold and snow, the shelter also can be used to avoid insects, rain and sun, or could be useful as hunting blinds, or in camping and ice fishing excursions. It can be folded easily for transport, Hesse said.

Consumers could range from individual buyers to government contractors, plus unlimited foreign markets, Hesse said.

With a positive attitude, Hesse said, “These units will be in strong demand by the military, Red Cross, outdoor suppliers, etc.”

For more information, contact Wally Hesse at W.H. Mineral Exploration Co., P.O. Box 3254, Truth or Consequences, NM 87901; message phone (505) 894-2418 in the winter; (505) 257-2774 in the summer; or e-mail rolfwally@yahoo.com.

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17 change orders to EOC/Fire Station

are ridiculous, says city commissioners

By Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

Truth or Consequences City Commissioners tabled approval of a 17^th change order to the city’s new emergency operations center (EOC) and fire station during their regular meeting Monday evening.

Eight of the 17 change orders submitted by design and construction manager Engineer’s Inc. have actually saved about $400, City Manager Richard Ramsey said Wednesday.

Two others were disapproved. Remaining change orders total $12,027 with $13,297 in contingencies (for  unexpected expenses) remaining, Ramsey said.

All approved change orders will be paid for with State and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, which financed the EOC project, Ramsey said. The South Central Council of Governments (COG) is administering the grants.

“The city has historically handled its own CDBG grants, for example the senior center downtown. I never could understand why the COG was involved in the fire station and did the CDBG grant,” Commissioner Cookie Johnson said Monday evening, adding, “Seventeen change orders is ridiculous.”

“I know it’s good for us to have CDBG grants but when our city manager has no control over how anything is going to be built in this community, I think that from now on we need to step in and see that we have control if we’re the ones who have to pay the bill,” Commissioner Nadyne Gardner said.

“I don’t think COG ought to be making the allowances, I think the person it’s being built for should be doing this. It should be up to the city manager to approve any changes because we’ve done away with these bills and the bid overrides,” Gardner said.

“I don’t understand why every time the city starts to build a building or something we approve the plan and get the bid and by the time work begins here come change orders,” Mayor Everett Banister said.

“If we have to lower floor drains I would say the architect should be held responsible for that and should pay for it. All of these things look like there were just mistakes made and we’re supposed to pay for it? I don’t think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. I don’t understand wiring for the water heater at $315 - was it just omitted, was it wired wrong? I’d really like to have those people come and explain to us why we need to pay them an extra $315. I would assume that the architect drew in wiring for the water heater,” Banister said.

“The one that gets me is restroom exhaust switches, that’s got to be a mistake,” Commissioner Johnson said.

“These are just normal things that you have in a contract that the architect puts in when he draws up the plans and then the contractor builds according to the plans, the mayor added.

Jim Creek of Engineers Inc. said he would be glad to come to a commission meeting to explain the change orders, Richard Ramsey said, adding that he thinks it would be a good idea.

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City cans proposed TCPD

and Sheriff’s Dept. merger

By Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

Truth or Consequences City Commissioners on Monday moved to drop from consideration Sierra County Sheriff Terry Byers’ proposal to combine the city’s police department with the sheriff’s department.

Under Byers’ proposal the TCPD would be eliminated and 10 of the department’s 15 officers, from chief on down, would be retained as sheriff’s deputies. The sheriff’s department would provide law enforcement services to the city and county at a savings to the city, according to Byer’s proposal, of about $250,000 per year.

Almost the entire city police department appeared at commissioners’ regular meeting Monday evening to oppose the merger.

TCPD Chief David Bryant read to commissioners a lengthy list of objections to the proposal.

Businessman and former T or C mayor Bobby Allen said during public comments the city had previously considered and rejected a proposal to combine the police and sheriff’s departments.

Allen read a speech to commissioners opposing the plan and commending the city’s boys in blue and the county’s men in black.

Commissioner Lois Reaver-Black moved that consideration of the sheriff’s proposal be postponed until commissioners are better informed. Reaver-Black added that T or C’s and Sierra County’s citizens should be involved in any decision to consolidate the two local law enforcement agencies.

But Mayor Everett Banister, Mayor Pro-tem Nadyne Gardner and Commissioner Jimmy Rainey were not content with postponement and moved to drop the idea altogether and never hear of it again.

The mayor stroked TCPD officers saying all that’s wrong with the department is that there aren’t enough officers and they aren’t paid enough.

Relieved and jubilant TCPD officers and staff left the meeting applauding commissioners’ decision to abandon the proposed merger and protect their jobs.

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Few city employees reassigned

while others ‘fall by the wayside’

By Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

Four of 13 City of Truth or Consequences’ employees whose jobs were eliminated as of Jan. 5 - to help resolve the city’s budget crisis - have secured other city positions, and nine “have gone by the wayside.”

Britt Maxwell, the city’s utilities office manager until Jan. 5, met the requirements for the position of grant/economic development coordinator, an extension of the grant writer position Danielle Thomas resigned from in November, city personnel director Rose Scott said this week.

Maxwell will continue to perform some utilities office duties because he was instrumental in setting up the department’s improved tracking system and can provide a valuable service to the city with his extensive training in the city’s new computer system, Scott said.

Maxwell didn’t really have the seniority over other city employees to secure the job but no other employee whose position was to be eliminated applied, Scott said.

Maxwell in his new position will be paid $13.68 per hour, the same he earned as utilities office manager and that Danielle Thomas was paid as grant writer.

Maxwell was initially hired as utilities office manager on an emergency basis in August 2000 by then-city manager Sam Isom. The duty was previously performed by former joint utilities director and assistant city manager Gene Hoskinson, Scott said.

Maxwell is Isom’s daughter’s friend’s brother, Isom said in a past interview.

Angie Amin, administrative assistant to former city managers Isom and Evelyn Renfro, served for about a year as the personnel director’s assistant.

Before her position as personnel assistant (or HRO tech) was eliminated on Jan. 5, Amin got her old job as administrative assistant back following Vicki Rivera’s resignation in October.

Scott Eversole, code enforcement officer until the position was eliminated and the duty returned to the building inspector on Jan. 5, is now the city’s safety officer, replacing Garland Teston who died last month.

Mari Cruz Magdaleno, a clerk/typist in the city clerk’s office until Jan. 5, is now an account technician in the purchasing department.

But other city employees whose positions have been eliminated were unable to secure other city jobs. Former assistant city manager Mark Huntzinger, one police officer, a pot hole crew worker, a facilities management worker, a weed control worker, a water department employee, a part-time parks employee, a part-time library assistant, and a part-time recreation department worker “have gone by the wayside,” the personnel director said.

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…Swearing in special deputies

Tom Bustamante (left), Acting U.S. Marshal for the New Mexico District, administers the oath of office for new Special Deputy Marshals who are charged with assisting the U.S. Marshal’s Service in the apprehension of federal fugitives in Sierra County and surrounding areas in conjunction with a Multi-Agency Federal Fugitive Task Force. Sworn in are (from left) Sierra County Sheriff Terry L. Byers, Lt. C.J. Oskins, Sgt. Glenn C. Hamilton and Deputy James M. Coulter, all of the county sheriff’s office. Chief Deputy Michael Apodaca, also one of the new special deputies, is not shown.

Photo Courtesy of the Sheriff’s Office

Traffic stop nets meth bust in T or C

Desert Journal Staff Report

A traffic stop Monday night, Jan. 14, netted Truth or Consequences police yet another bust of the possible manufacture or trafficking of methamphetamine and the arrest of a local man.

Charges of trafficking by manufacture, possession with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, expired registration and display of improper registration were leveled Tuesday in the Sierra County Magistrate Court against Christopher Gossman, 44, of 818 N. Kopra St. in T or C. The trafficking count is a second degree felony; the distribution charge is third degree; and the remaining three counts are misdemeanors, according to the criminal complaint filed by TCPD Sgt. Ron Wrye.

Sgt. Wrye said in the statement of probable cause he followed a blue Oldsmobile Cutlass traveling eastbound on Fourth Avenue at about 7:55 p.m. Jan. 14.

He noticed the sticker on the car’s license plate was the wrong color for the current year’s registration. As such, he had dispatch check the vehicle registration through Department of Motor Vehicle records.

Dispatchers advised Wrye that the plate expired in 1997 and that it should have been displayed on another vehicle.

Wrye said Gossman, the driver, pulled into the parking lot at 311 N. Date St and he then stopped behind it as it came to a stop. Gossman immediately stepped a distance from the car, appearing very nervous, Wrye said in the statement. “Particularly, [Gossman] was shaky, his speech was jittery, and he rambled in his conversation.”

Wrye said he discovered the car’s tag, which was upside down in the ledge under the rear window, belonged to another vehicle.

“At that point I informed [Gossman] that, owing to the invalidity of the registration documentation, I was required to seize the vehicle. [Gossman] immediately heightened his nervousness and requested that he be given a break,” Wrye’s statement said.

While doing an inventory search of the vehicle, Wrye noticed a leather bag on the floorboard of the driver’s side. Inside the bag, Wrye found several hypodermic needles and clear plastic baggies that were either empty or contained a white powdery residue or white crystals.

The bag also held glass bottles that appeared to contain iodine crystals and red phosphorous, both being among the several chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine, which is a controlled substance and central nervous system stimulant.

Wrye said the powder tested positive for amphetamine in a field test.

While looking into another leather-like black bag, TCPD Det. Ron Huff found a wallet that contained three checks, which appeared to be counterfeit, Det. Wrye’s statement said. The checks were identical to counterfeit checks that the detective had been working on in another case.

The magistrate court set bond for Gossman at $25,000 cash.

<<<   >>>

Organizers share plans

for two historic districts

Hot springs bath spa area & Monticello Plaza on list

By Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

Organizers of a proposed Hot Springs Spa and Hotel Historic District and a Monticello Plaza Historic District held an open house Monday afternoon and a public meeting Monday evening at the old Amin’s Department Store in downtown Truth or Consequences.

About 100 persons from T or C and Monticello attended the meeting.

Participating in the projects are the Sierra Community Council, Sierra County Historical Society, Sierra County Arts Council, New Mexico Main Street and the Monticello Heritage Foundation.

Organizers including Pat Rocco and Sue Lowell, president and coordinator Sierra Community Council, respectively, hope to designate downtown T or C between Van Patten, Main Street, McElroy and Date Street as a historic district to increase T or C’s tourism industry and awareness of the city’s history.

Organizers have surveyed the area and have identified numerous buildings that will “contribute” to the historic district by virtue primarily of being built during T or C’s (or Hot Springs’) hot bath heyday from the 1920s to the mid 1950s.

Property owners in the historic district, if designated, may qualify for tax breaks and other state and federal incentives to repair or improve their properties.

Organizers assured property owners that they will be under no restrictions as to what they can do with their properties - such as what color they can paint their buildings or what kinds of materials they can use - unless they apply for and use public funds.

Organizers will need to raise $6,950, which they hope to get from private donations and contributions and from the City or Truth or Consequences and Sierra County, to complete their survey and present a final report to New Mexico Historical Preservation Division.

The Monticello Heritage Foundation, also represented at Monday’s meeting, has little or no interest in economic development or tourism but wish to preserve Monticello Plaza for its historic value.

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SVH may resume baby biz next year

By Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

Responding to a petition calling for the return of obstetric and delivery services to Sierra Vista Hospital, SVH Administrator Dee Rush said to  Sierra County Commissioners on Thursday the hospital’s number one priority has been to find practitioners willing to provide OB/GYN services in Sierra County.

Rush said she can’t manufacture obstetricians or family practitioners, nor can she force them to move to Truth or Consequences.

“The fact of life is that OB/GYN specialists are not going to come to T or C because they can’t make a living here,” Rush said after commissioners’ meeting.

Rush said, however, she has been in contact with two qualified family practitioners that may be willing to come to Sierra County and that SVH may reestablish routine deliveries by the start of next year.

“That’s provided we can recruit these two people. We’re willing to hire them, we’re willing to develop the program. We have to find two doctors that are willing to live here,” Rush said.

Rush said obstetrics and delivery has been an interrupted service at SVH for the last 10 years and that emergency deliveries are performed in the hospital’s emergency room.

SVH, like most small hospitals, is not c-section capable nor certified for high-risk obstetric procedures, Rush said. High-risk patients are transferred to other facilities such as University Hospital in Albuquerque, she added.

Maternal Child Healthcare Coordinator Susi Renee said that in response to the community need, the Public Health Department is willing to provide pre-natal care without duplicating services provided at SVH.

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T or C is looking better all the time

Editorial by Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the adopted home of Ralph Edwards and all that worn-out crud, can hardly be called the jewel of the southwest, but the incessant complaints about its run-down condition have become tiresome.

While there is still plenty of room for improvement in the way of beautification, or at least “de-uglification,” in this funky little desert town, it’s time we give the bellyaching a rest and acknowledge and appreciate the improvements that have been made in recent years. Here are a few examples, with apologies for any I’ve overlooked.

Gone is the abandoned and unsightly car wash next to the Barbecue on Broadway, and along with it, the old service stations at Main and Broadway across from Bullock’s and on Broadway opposite the Fast Stop. Also banished from our sight are the dilapidated houses  and  old  Snuffy’s Lounge and Turtleback sign where a gleaming new ALCO store now stands.

Hay-Yo-Kay Hot Springs on Austin looks better all the time (good work Steve!) and the nearby Weaver Apartments, not long ago among the worst-looking in town, are now much cleaner and more attractive.

Nice artwork on Xochi’s building and mural on Smith’s Office Supply, Joe’s Barber Shop too got an attractive new paint job only a couple years ago.

Chinese Pistache trees planted by T or C’s MainStreet Association have enhanced Main Street and Broadway.

The long-vacant building at 608 N. Date, now occupied by attorney Matt Reynolds and an Allstate Insurance office, has recently undergone a facelift and looks a heck of a lot better than it did. So does the Sierra Grande Lodge, and good luck to Serge and Guy, I hope their reported million-dollar investment in Truth or Consequences will pay off for them.

Which brings us to the matter of incentive and reward. Improvements, beautifications, or just the demolition of an old car wash, cost money. Without an order  pursuant  to  some  city  ordinance,  if  any such exists, property owners will require some incentive before undertaking the repair, or removal, of their run down holdings.

Once an investment is made a return is expected and owners, in T or C especially, can little rely on money they will earn from their improved properties.

Property owners, taxpayers, or paying customers will ultimately foot the bill for the much cried out for improvements.

Those of modest means beware: make T or C too nice and you may not be able to afford to live here anymore and will be forced to go on down the road to cheaper, and crummier, towns. I have seen a few in my travels where I wouldn’t stop for gas let alone take up residence.

But whatever your motives, pride, profit, or other, my thanks to all of you who have improved your properties and are making Truth or Consequences, my adopted home, an ever nicer place to live. If this keeps up, we may soon be able to say “pride” and “Truth or Consequences” in the same sentence and mean it.

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