September 16, 1999
Athletic director buys $11,000 in new uniforms
MARFA — The $1,300 worth of new sports uniforms ordered over the last two weeks should transform the sometimes ragged appearance of Marfa Shorthorn teams into a look as impressive as district rival Wink, Athletic Director Pat Ward told school board members Tuesday night.
The frenzy of uniform purchases comes after a school board meeting earlier this month in which a group of parents pleaded with school board members to support the buying of new uniforms and equipment for their sports-active daughters. Those parents perceived a disparity in the way money was divided between girls’ and boys’ teams, where the girls wear tattered and sometimes quite old uniforms but the football team uses new equipment and sports new jerseys.
In response to their concern and the needs of all athletic teams, the board directed Ward to order the new uniforms. Uniforms for virtually every sport and team have been ordered with plans to pick up the rest later this year. “We appreciate that you’ve done this in a timely manner,” said school board member Laura Brugette. Girls’ varsity volleyball uniforms will hopefully arrive before district competition, said Ward, but the junior varsity uniforms may not arrive in time to use them this season, nor will those for junior varsity football. Uniforms for both girls’ and boys’ junior high basketball should arrive in time for that season.
Ward went on to update school board members as to the general status of the athletic department. “We still need one more coach,” he told them. With the recent resignation of a newly-hired female coach, Ward pointed out that a female coach or sponsor is necessary’ for times that girls’ teams travel with their male coaches. “It’s desperately needed there,” Ward said. “I need a female with a pulse.”
Magazine says Marfa is the travel destination
MARFA – Little ol’ Marfa is rubbing shoulders with some exotic travel destinations throughout the world, according to the September issue of Esquire magazine.
The Presidio County seat is up there with Brasilia, Vienna, Havana and Vietnam as a place to be and be seen. “Before searching the horizon of the evening sky for the mysterious Marfa Lights, check out sculptor Donald Judd’s museum, the Chinati Foundation,” the gentleman’s publication states.
Presidio County Commissioners Court news
Assistant District Attorney Steve Spurgin also addressed commissioners Monday, updating them on his recently instigated plan to save the county money through the expedient resolution of cases. The creation of empty beds at the Presidio County Jail means an opportunity to rent that bed space to federal entities for their inmate population overflow, at a rate of $38 per day, per inmate.
So far in Spurgin’s month-old plan, six cases have been re-solved, cases in which the individuals involved left the jail anywhere from seven to 32 days earlier than they would have in the former system. “That’s 146 days saved in bed space to be rented,” Spurgin told commissioners. “Or $5,548 in funds saved as a result.”
The assistant district attorney’s office hopes to dispose of several more cases in the near future, Spurgin said. He also reported that the local population in the jail hovers between 17 and 20 inmates.
