Inside: NISD board votes to leave school bond off November ballot Page 6A

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SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

V OL . CXXVIII , N O. 330   THE ADVOCATE FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS SINCE 1880   50 Cents

Carter & Company

Bailout fallout
employees Beau
Jansen, left, and
Heath Hebert
remove water
damaged materi-
als from the Bevil
Oaks Baptist
Church.
Valentino Mauricio/
Area borrowers could feel pinch of vote to reject rescue plan
The Enterprise
By HEATHER NOLAN
and DAN WALLACH Do you agree with the House's rejection
THE ENTERPRISE SpeakUP of the $700 billion bailout bill?
Tell us at BeaumontEnterprise.com
Southeast Texas might not feel

Repairs will take time the devastating effects of the

House’s vote to turn down a fed-
eral rescue package like other
parts of the country, local bankers
here at home.”
The House voted 228 to 205
against a $700 billion bailout plan
for the nation’s financial system
its history.
The legislation would have
allowed the government to buy
bad mortgages and other bad
Contractors: By RYAN S. CLARK
THE ENTERPRISE
Contractors attributed the
two-year target to varying
say. on Monday, despite warnings assets held by troubled banks and
But borrowers here will feel a from President Bush and con- financial institutions, according
Ike not all as ORANGE — It could take
damage across Southeast pinch. gressional leaders of both parties to the Associated Press.
Texas, the cost of materials, “We’re in serious financial trou- who predicted the economy That would have strengthened
bad as Rita, up to two years before Hur- and an uncertain timetable ble,” said Kevin Brady, a Republi- could plunge without it. those companies’ balance sheets,
ricane Ike construction of insurance settlements can who is a member of the Joint On Wall Street, the Dow Jones making them more inclined to
but could take projects are completed, a with property owners. Economic Committee. “This industrial average sank almost lend.
few area contractors said won’t be contained (just on Wall 800 points, a drop of almost 7 per-
as long to fix Monday. IKE, page 5A Street). It’ll affect bank accounts cent, the largest single-day loss in BAILOUT, page 4A

Dr. Martin
Luther King
BISD students get back to work Fiesty cat
Jr. Middle
School
Principal
Mike Shel-
hitches a
ton walks
through the
seventh-
grade wing
ride out
on the first
floor to
check on
progress of
of Bolivar
the Hurri- Feline first seen at beach
cane Ike house found in Beaumont
restoration
work. The family’s vehicle upon return
school was
one of By BLAIR DEDRICK ORTMANN
two that THE ENTERPRISE
suffered
major dam- Three weeks in deserted Port
age in BISD Bolivar was apparently enough for
when wind one gray cat, who hitched a ride
destroyed under an Escalade and made it
the roof. unharmed to Beaumont Monday.
Twenty “When we drove up to the house,
classrooms, we heard him again,” said Aretha
including Saldana, a 44-year-old home deco-
labs were rator. “It was amazing. How did he
do it?”
damaged.
Saldana and friend Cathy Black-
Photos by
Dave Ryan/ well were in Port Bolivar to meet
The Enterprise with an insurance adjuster at
Blackwell’s beach house when they
heard the cat’s terrified cries from
what used to be the deck, 12-feet

Changes
above the ground.

CAT, page 4A

INSIDE

Return to school in Beaumont marked

by hurricane stories, campus damage
By EMILY GUEVARA
THE ENTERPRISE
BEAUMONT — The laughs
were audible as the students in
June Rocio’s first period class
raced for the empty chairs.
The theater students at Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Elementary
School were playing a warm-up
game of lion, tiger and bear —
racing to find a new chair when
their character’s name was
called. But smiles soon turned
to tears for some.
Rocio invited students to
share about their experience
with Hurricane Ike. Some
spoke of last-minute evacua-
tions, riding out the storm,
waiting for electricity and even
the death of a pet.
“I thought we was going to
fall off,” said 12-year-old Teddy
ONLINE
◆ See video and a photo
gallery of the damage at
Martin Luther King Jr.
Elementary School at Tammy McKinley/The Enterprise
BeaumontEnterprise.com
Knighton. The seventh-grader
Happy endings
said he spent the latter half of Pets rescued after Hurricane Ike
the storm on his roof with his A tattered sign still hangs on the wall of reunite with their owners or get a
the seventh grade wing damaged by fresh start, possibly in a new state.
SCHOOL, page 4A Hurricane Ike. Friends & Family: 1B

INSIDE Classified ........5C Obituaries ........8A Dow Nasdaq Average price of a

Advice & TV......2B

Comics ............4C
Features ..........1B
Opinions ........10A
Puzzles ............3B
gallon of regular gas
in Southeast Texas:
As of Monday morning
$3.55
Sources: AAA, Oil Price Information Service
Business ..........6B Markets ..........5B Sports ............1C -777.68 -199.61

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