Tales from the West Texas Dust

[Ft. Worth Star-Telegram:] (1.) Mr. Hillery Motsinger, administrator of the brand-new West Oak Cliff Charter School, was forced to push back the starting date of school for two weeks to accommodate a very unusual regulation by the City of Dallas. The building that the charter school is using has been determined by the city of Dallas to not be ready for occupancy because of an alleged shortage of 35 parking spaces at the facility - even though the facility has more spaces than the church or school will ever use.

"To get the number we need," Motsinger explained to the parents, "they take the number of pews in the auditorium, multiply that number by 12, divide by 18 and then divide by four. Don't ask me why..." The school's solution to the dilemma? Remove some pews from the auditorium.

(2.) Gov. George W. Bush, during a campaign swing in the eastern part of the state, was pushing a plan to spend a state treasury surplus espected to hit $6 billion by January by cutting school property taxes by $2 billion and using another $1 billion to improve public education. "It's a plan that prioritizes public education. But it's also a plan that prioritizes you - the taxpayer, " Bush told supporters.

[Austin American-Statesman:] Tropical Storm Frances lies in wait 170 miles E of Brownsville - and South Texas prepares for the worst. Maximum sustained winds were projected to be around 40 miles an hour Wednesday evening [9/4]. The storm was expected to make landfall at press time, but the disorganized system' lack of a well-defined center has been keeping meterorologists guessing. State agencies, including the Department of public Safety, Border Patrol, and Texas Parks and Wildlife are on standby to offer assistance.

[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal:] Chris Prentice has filed for the position of County Attorney in Hale County as a write-in candidate. That on the surface isn't unusual.

What is very interesting about Mr. Prentice's candidacy is that the very office that he is running for has been vacant for ten years--and the office itself has not been formally abolished. And since no one else has filed against, he will easily coast to office in November even if he is the only one who votes for himself.

Prentice tells the A-J, "I feel it is in the best interest of the citizens of Hale County to have an individual occupy this office...I trust they [the Hale County Commissioners] will fund the position commensurate with the responsibilities of the office." The county budget currently does not have a line-item in it for the needs of Mr. Prentice's position and will have to find room within overcrowded county facilities to accommodate him and his staff in the midst of a shortage of office space within county facilities. Prentice will serve a two-year unexpired term and plans to run as a Republican in 2000...

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