HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-07-03 Euless ArticlesDISTRIBC'TED TO:
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Notice is hereby given that, acting under and pursuant to the
Ordinance of the City of Fort Worth, on the day of June 18,
2008 XTO Energy will file with the Gas Inspector of the City
of Fort Worth, a rural class application to drill, and complete
and operate multiple wells on the Euless B Unit Iease located
west of the intersection of FM 157 and Trinity Boulevard,
north side. The property is located in the GW Couch Survey
Abstract 278, Conway Manor Blk 1 Lots 1A & 2A Tarrant
County, Fort Worth, Texas, shown on Official records of
Tarrant County, Texas. A public inforlnation meeting on gas
well drilling and permitting will be held on the day of July 3 1,
2008 at 6:30 pm at the Deborah Beggs-Moncrief Garden
(Botanical Gardens), Fort worth, Texas and on the day of
August 28, 2008 at 6:30 pm at the Riverside Community
Center on 3700 East Belknap, Fort Worth, ex as.
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Shirley Wood ,
EULESS - Shirley Wood, 55,
passed away Saturday, June 28,
2008, in Bedford.
MEMORIAL SERVICE: A celebra-
tion of life will be celebrated at 4p.m.
Tuesday at Lucas Funeral ljome,
1321 Precinct Line Road in Hurst.
SURVIVORS: Husband, John
Wood; daughters, Nannette Myers of
North Richland Hills, Kerri Frizell of
Fort Worth; grandchildren, layson,
Jonathan, Brooke and Jaycee; broth-
er, Ralph Williams of Dallas; sist'er,
Patti Reynolds of Sierra Vista, Ariz.;
and a host of family members and
friends who loved her dearly.
Lucar Funeral Hane
H~rst 817-284-RA
Wew and sign gwstbook at
www,star-tdegmom/obituaiPs
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IEULESS
Two brothers 'keep customers
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''-)come here from somewhere else and do this—we are living the American dream,"said Joe Seyedmorteza,right,with brother Mo. S-T/LAURIE L.WARD
II
l EULESS
The Mo and Joe show
tl ! j
L `i y
livens upPancho's i l �,
I
Sibling rivalry—and revelry—are the stock in trade for t u�4
two brothers from Kuwait. who compete to blend mis- 7:
chief with the menu at Pancho's Mexican Buffet in Eu :; € `
' less. The duo, who worked at the eatery as waiters for ,
nearly 20 years,recently returned to run it after a two- W.,,'.
year stint at an Irving restaurant. Customers who re-
"
member the guys—dubbed Mo and Happy Joe--are { ;tis
I back for more of their off-key singing and stunts with en-
chiladas.And business is booming. Since Happy Joe Seyedmorteza,right,and brother Mo returned to
Pancho's,business is up 30 percent. STAR-TELEGRAM/LAURIE L WARD
I
LA-
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Former waiters at Pancho's now run the place, and there are smiles all around
•
to eTMumy �'e tv i a
By TERRY LEE GOODRICH Freeway. The return of Joe and brother Mo *
tgoodrich@star-telegram.com (aka Flipper)means stellar service and such ,$ r % = y ,L .
EULESS—When the cash register at Pan- shenanigans as off-key singing and stunts ...-".;':$41);.,17',4,t...-.,"
cho's Mexican;Buffet began rejecting credit with enchiladas,longtime Pancho's custom- '_ " t '
cards, the ;morning could easily have ers say. They remember the brothers, who
morphed 14. to a blue Monday. worked as waiters at the restaurant for near
I!
But co-franchisee Joe"Hay y years. '
Happy Joe"Se ed- 1 20 '
morteza refused to let a malfunctioning ma- Mo and Joe,natives of Kuwait,left the Eu ha
chine ruin his mood. less eatery two years ago for an Irving Pane ,�� .
"Lunch is on us,"he breezily told the cus cho's before company officials urged them � yr;
tomers,returning their credit cards."Happy, to come back.Since they put up the banners, a .r
happy,happy" on May 17, sales have increased by more ire
"MO AND HAPPY JOE ARE,BACK!" pro- than 30 percent,Mo said. Mo Seyedmorteza takes taquitos to a table. "We
claim huge banners at the Mexican restau- Mo and Joe's mojo is working. cooked.We cleaned...whatever it took,"he said of
rant at Industrial Boulevard and Airport their early days in the business. s-T/LAUR�e L wARD
I
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Mo"Flipper"Seyedmorteza does his signature flip of a plate of warm enchiladas over customers'heads. STAR-TELEGRAM/LAURIE L.WARD
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I Their notion of mala y the The dream an sticking days a week—of- back,„ she began working at
customer happygoes beyond_ rant,
Mo short for Mohamr;;3d around until past'.:,Pancho's part time:
prompt iced-tea refills, say , • - midnight to' plan business "It's nice to have back the
l
'Mo, 42, and Joe, 40, both of ' -was the-first to leave Ku- strategy with the help of cus- family,”she said. -
I • have noble ."Alot ofpeople wait. He set out for Texas in tomer-turned-friend Les' Fernando Nogueira,oper
have problems and want to 1985 to major in computer Christiansen of Watauga, an' ations director for 11.Pan-
•have a little fun," Joe'said. engineering at the University accountant. ` - ! cho's restaurants in Texas and '
"That's what Mo and Happy of Texas at Arlington. ' "We cooked. We cleaned. Louisiana, said the brothers-
Joe are about. "U.S.is No. 1,"he said. 'We were managers, busoys, are,in one word,phenome
• "People are the same, Joe — born Yosof fol- whatever it 'took," Mo said.. nal.
whether you're rich, poor, lowed a year later to major in "We like to learn everything.' ' "Business is booming in
I
;white,black,Spanish,regard- business administration at We don't like to be at any- Euless,"he said.
l ss of woearinur haon; het er the University`of Northfiexas body's mercy."" the restaurants,
have them at all '
Y g in Denton. But they unable to ants, I'd be rich,"
shirt," he .said. It doesn't In 1987, Mo took a job at work the magic in Irving that',he said.
' even matter whether you tip- Pancho's making'sopaipillas, they had in Euless,perhaps in From the view of those in,
."Mo said:"Regardless of who clearing tables, working the part because the restaurant the buffet line, the brothers -
you are,we will not leave you buffet line and waiting tables:. had lower visibility,corporate are"awesome,"said longtime
alone until you have a smile He persuaded his brother to. .officials said. Mo-Joe fan Judy Anders, 39,
'
mother
on your face.By-the time you take a job there two years lot= When` Pancho's bigwigs of Richland Hills as,she, her
leave,.you will be..." er. , =" decided to close the Irving " and other 'relatives''`l
"Happy, happy, happy!" They became` American Pancho's, they urged the chowed down recently."They
IJoe said. citizens and left`college to brothers to take over the Eu- give great service, and they ..
When a woman_ said the rise through the ranks in food less franchise. Former' `cus cut up."
brothers needed to offer service. ". " tourers said they missed the Anders' brother-in-law'
;marshmallow sauce as well as Because of some'corpo- brothers and their antics,and Russ Felski,intown from Riff
honey for their fluffy sopai- rate changes three'years ago Mo and Joe ;were•nostalgic 'falo,N.Y.,looked up from his
pillas,they stocked up. -for a time,the restaurants about their Euless days,too. plate. . ..
When a regular extolled sold- packaged instead of "I came all the way from ..
the virtues of Gummi Bears, freshly made food—they de- Rave reviews ' 1 New York to see them," he
Mo hustled to a nearby store parted. They later accepted "To come here'from some I said.
and returned bearing bears. an offer to take over the frail- where else and do this—we "Really?' ` ,
When a customer strolled chise in Irving,paying a per- are' living the "Americans "No,".Felski'said,returning
into' Pancho's 'before the centage.of that store's profits dream,"Joe said. ' to his enchiladas:
lunch rush the other day`the to the Paricho's corporation. Anna Sinclair, who teach-
111 brothers greeted him as if he' There were naysayers. es seventh-grade language Sibling revelry
were the prodigal son.' A former Pancho's honcho arts at- Creekview Middle Come to Pancho's when Joe is!
"The nice man.is,here!" called them"silly,dumb wait- School in Saginaw,had a job not there, and you'll have a
they chorused. "Yea!" 'They ers"without the smarts to run at Pancho's years ago,during. great time, the brothers say.
ad singa cappella. rs, b now. .the brothers' first round.; Come when Mo has the day
clapped. �a:business,Mo said "=
They PP But the brothe. y When' she heard theywere off, and you will still have a-
' "We're loud but not beauti- husbands and fathers;dug in. blast,they say. .
,ful,"Mo said. 'They worked from 7 a.m. But two brothers are better
• • And then there's the antic to 9 p.m.at the Irving restau- than one.
...that earned Mo the nickname .in "We complete each other," '
' Flipper. s ' < r;.-..� �' Mo said.
: Years ago, an unfortunate ,9a '\` f<, p (Brotherly love aside,each
encounter with a freezer door ,� claims to be his mother's fa-
left him with a jammed . 4, } vorite.)
and torn ligaments in h t m1
g ;, � .�« a xS'� , v � Rarely, there is a blip on
I -his left hand. Rather than R .� f s �" 1
xY � i if'07g 3 � , their happy-happy -screen..
•hoping his cast would trigger FAt , R� >, fFx ; On a recent day, during the
sympathytips, he honed a `, ' � '''' lunch rush,the deep-fried so-
' :one-handed stunt with his ,m -,` r � .
Z � paipillas refused- to rise- to
•right hand,flipping anenchi- , ''; their accustomed heights.Joe .
•lada-laden plate with nary a ` §fid' i , •4.„„0,,,,, kicked a wall, an employee
spill.These days,he is equallyv.„.n,,,,,,,..-:,...‘:-., -,..„,,,„.i . confided.
I .adeptwith his other hand. . 'Is."'" But the next batch was.
"I tell customers,'Don't try 4. ,-, better. Joe's spirits soared as
this at home, because your ',10i.-.44,k4.;" 1..,..,,.;,'-': speedily as his brother flips
' mother is going to get mad at Mo Seyedmorteza,center,and brother Happy Joe tease waiter Juan enchiladas.
.you when you make a mess, Ha days are back,"he
Mo said. Hernandez, 16,about his hair during the dinner hour at Pancho's. said. "Hay ,Y
STAR-TELEGRAM/LAURIE L WARD ppy,happy,happy"
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Area trash costs are piling up
TRASH COLLECTION
Climbing gas prices to bhne as garbage rates rise throughout Metroplex -
By JESSICA D~LE~N Bedford Councilman Chris -
jde~eonmstar-telegram.com Brown voted against the price Steeper in Fort Worth those residents pay subscrip-
High fuel prices have pumped up the hike in his city, Saying home- ~ort Worth has. higher trash tion rates rather than fran-
cost of groceries, airline fares and owners would likely see an- rates than dther cities because chise rates. Cities pay fran-
even trash rates. other jump when Bedford's the trash division is run as an chise rates and have the com-
"It's a significant part of our operat- contract comes UP for renewal enterprise fund, as though it is mercial base to subsidize the
ing expenses," saidTim Powell, gener- in 2009, a business, said Kim Mote, the residential rates.
al manager for the Allied Waste trash "Instead of having two rate assistant director of solid- Residents in unincorporat-
collection company in Fort Worth, increases in less than a Year) waste management. ed areas also pay more be-
"With fuel, everything goes up as let's cut our residents some The division cannot dip in- cause haulers have to drive
well." slack," he said. to the tax base to cover ex- longer distances between
Since the beginning of the year, the The Southlake City ~ouncil penses, while other cities can houses, Powell said.
trash haulers for Arlington, Bedford, voted to renew its contract, draw from their general fund, But homeowner Ashley
Burleson, Euless Haltom City, Hurst, which expires in October, with Blackrnan, who lives on Keller-
North ~ic'~=~ill~ and Richland Duncan Disposal. The new Mote said. Hicks Road outside Keller, dis-
Hills have raised residential collection contract includes a proposed Fort Worth's fees also cover misses that argument, saying
rates. Watauga residents will see theirs 82-cent-per-month increase other items, such as yard that cities surround the house.
rise this month. And the Southlake Ci- in residential garbage rates, to waste collection, drop-off sta- "Seriously, we'reinthe city,"
ty Council approved a rate increase take effect in October 2009. tions, illegal-dump collections he said.
Tuesday night. The city extended the Contract and a Customer Service call staff writers Adrienne Nettles, Susan
for five years, city spokeswom- Center. Trash Costs are eSpe- Schrock and BIII Teeter contr~buted to Mansfield is considering a rise of an Pilar Schank said. cially steep for residents in un- this report.
l8 Or an extra $1'27 a month Keller residents may also incorporated areas. Oct' because of in- see their rates go up this year Paul R. Felts. 67, who lives ,ESSKA oErr&4 817-68s-3932
creased cOstsl spokeswom$ before the city's contract with on Golden Triangle Boulevard Belinda Willis said. Allied expires in 2010. near Keller, got a bill of $97.56 '
cities' such as Bedford and '$1 anticipate them coming for three months: $72 for trash
Ws7 Allied sooner or later," City Manager service, $18.60 for fuel recov- crease prices ,in the of the$ Dan O'Leary said. "We'll listen ery, $5.66 in state tax' and a contracts. * to what they have to say." $1.30 administrative fee.
The Hurst City increased City officials across the re- ''1 get picked up once a
trash rates when it extended week, no recycling," he $aid.
its contract, which would have said they have not re- ~h, average cost is $8.13 each
expired in February 2009, by ceived many complaints time his trash is
five years, Finance Director about the price hikes. Powell, of Allied Waste, said
Anita Thetford said. The new North Richland Hills the rates are higher in unin-
Contract allows Allied to ask spokeswoman Mary Peters corporated areas because
for increases based on fuel said the city of about 65,000
prices-and cost-of-living ad- received fewer than a dozen
justments. complaints about the in-
Allied uses diesel fuel in its crease, its first in more than
trucks. Nationwide, the aver- five years.
age price of a galIon of diesel
has increased from $2.91 in
May2007 to $4.45 inMay2008,
according to the federal Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics. Even
5;- I::!yizg ir, bulk, ,4lIied spent
$1.67 more per galIon for die-
sel over a year.
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Sources: Citles STAR-TELEGRAM
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IPANAMANIAN LITTLE LEAGUERS
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:Roberto Dela Espada,a pitcher for the Colon,Panama,team,shows his form as he delivers a pitch to a batter for the Dallas Mustangs during a game in
Euless.
- - - SrAR-TELEGRAM/M,L GRAY
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t lastplaying
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7 { A Panamanian Little League team travels to North Texas
' '-:::::';-';''''''.. v..*'. '', ' k Y,} this week and gets to experience play on grass fields for the I
Tt ' first time thanks to a retired Bedford electrician who grew
Carmen Cooper,coach of the Panamanian youth baseball team for those tip in Panama.Each night this week the team will play dif-
10 and younger,center,offers words of inspiration during:R huddle with her ferent opponents in the Mid-Cities area. ,
team before starting a game. STAR-TELEGRAM/M.L GRAY
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oung Panama players visit North Texas
They visit Euless to play local }ti a y. " "Ido this out of love for the kids
is n
• e League teams. ,,: ,. and for my country, Gaugh said
+a " ;r �; of the players from Colon,al poor
▪BRAD GRAY .. "``x
bgray@star-celegram.com ', l city on the north end of the Pana
. ma Canal."They're at risk of join-
LESS—This week,Michael Al ? �j a �'.' ' ing gangs. Some of the kids that
ado doesn't have to worry J„, , V-1-_,,,, F x are killed and getting killed are as
to as much about his infielders ,: _ k `' ' young as 14 years old."
making errors behind him when: sr , {' "� His Panamanian friends at
pitches. , `t,'''` xg �A work pitched in with seven other
That's because the 14-year-old `s5�, flights.
x �� � �, g
Jamanian gets to play on grass ;_ �,^. �, i. I didn't ask them or anything.
D xtF»kP ,, „
fields for the first time. ., and just t Id them what a do-
o Iw s
Alvarado and his 32 team- ` `''' " ` , ing," Gaugh said. "Two guys said
tes traveled from Colon,Pana- -„ " #t, they'd get ;two, and three other
ma, to Euless this week to play friends each got one."
a Little Leaguers. f,r hi all,flights for the 32 players
Each night since Monday, the tr y 5 cost$39,000.The rest of the mon
-
>r<teams have played different .._ ,}' e a.., ey came from the players'parents
opponents from the Mid-Cities Hurst resident Patricia Daley, niece to Sydney Daley, who helped bring the or other Panamanian families in
a. Carrying little more than players to Texas,talks to Panamanian catcher Sergio Dela Espada. s-r/M.L.GRAY the Dallas area.
ir equipment bags,the players, The players'first stop in Texas
e stayed in the homes of their �� I Wish we had fields like this. They're was the Rangers Ballpark in Ar-
opponents'families after games. lington, where the Rangers took
11It is such a good experience, very nice to play on, and the ball bounces on the Philadelphia Phillies on
I'm so grateful," Alvarado straight." Sunday evening.All of the Pana-
said. "I wish we had fields like manian players watched ESPN
this.They're very nice to play on, Michael Alvarado, Panamanian pitcher back home and grew up fans of
the ball bounces straight." Panamanian players such as Mar-
The journey wouldn't have Little League. lines, sponsored five flights with iano Rivera and Carlos Lee.
happened without Sydney Daley, During his time back in Bed- his employee discount. "It was so great to see these
tired electrician from Bedford. ford, he was invited to bring his He heard about the trip while guys, and I am going to save my
ey grew up in Panama and teams'to Texas. He had no idea at a picnic in Dallas with other ticket to show off to everyone
yed there in the San Francisco how it was going to work out. families from Colon. back home," outfielder Andrew
Giants winter ball system before "I didn't expect to do this,"Da- Gaugh said he has spent more Schollon said. "They pitched
ving to the United States and ley said."I went back and tried to than$40,000 over the course of 20 great,and Carlos Ruiz,the Phillies
ng the military> get some sponsors to see if it was :years helping fund scholarships catcher,is from Panama,too,so I
l*
After he retired,Daleyb ought a possible." for Panamanian athletes to play was rooting for him."
house in Colon and spent his win- That's where James Gaugh at ;U.S. junior colleges and
there umpiring professional stepped in. Gaugh, 62, a retired jumped at the opportunity to
eball and organizing the local baggage clerk for American Air- help. BRAD GRAY,817-390-7697
1
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DATE DISTRIBUTED 7 / 3 =) ' DATE OFARTICLE 7 NE WSP,4 PER F FVS T
NORTHEAST LOOP 820
officials may pay
$25 milli~n to end dispute
They say they don't
want to cause delays in
construction to fix the
worst bottleneck in the
Metroplex.
By GORDON DICKSON
gdickson@star-telegram.com
PLAN0 - The North Texas
Tollway Authority will consid-
er paying $26 million to the
Texas Department of Trans-
portation to end a dispute that
threatens to delay the widen-
ing of Northeast Loop 820.
Bidders for the roadwork,
which would widen the four-
lane bottleneck to six free
lanes and four toll lanes, have
been critical of the project be-
caqse the tollway authority
would collect the tolls but isn't
required to post a bond guar-
anteeing that the developer
wiU be paid.
The $26 million would be
placed in a special account
that would be tapped only if
the tollway authority is unable
to perform its duties. In that
event, toll collection would be
turned over to the Transporta-
tion Department, which is al-
ready capable of collecting
tolls electronically.
The compromise with the
Transportation Department
will be discussed during the
tollway authority's next board
meeting July 16.
The Loop 820 work was
originally supposed to begin
in 2005, and is now scheduled
to be under contract by the
B Honkin' Mad - Keep pace with
transportation issues at
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end of this year as part of a
project known as the North
Tarrant Express. The project
also includes new toll and free
lanes on Interstate 35W in
north Fort Worth and on Texas
1211183 in Bedford, Euless
and Hurst.
State law mandates that the
tolltvay authority collect tolls
on Metroplex roads, even
those built by private develop-
ers. The developer is supposed
to manage the roads and re-
ceive toll revenue for 52 years.
But the tollway authority isn't
required to post a bond guar-
anteeing that the developer
will be paid.
Related project
The compromise would also
resolve a $52 million dispute
with the Transportation De-
partment over the value of the
Texas 121 toll road north of
Grapevine.
Last year, the tollway au-
thority paid the state $3.2 bil-
lion for the right to collect tolls
on Texas 121 for decades to
come - and the Transporta-
tion Department can now
spend that money on other
highway and rail projects in
North Texas. But the two sides
were still $52 million apart on
estimates of the long-termval-
ue of interest payments.
A $26 maion payment by
the tollway authority would
represent half of the disputed
amount, requiring the two
sides to essentially meet half-
way, said tollway authority
Executive Director Jorge Fi-
gueredo. It would simulta-
neously end the North Tarrant
Express and .Texas 121 dis-
putes between the agencies,
he said. ' Transportation Depart-
ment Executive Director Arna-
deo Saenz suggested the com-
promise Monday, Figueredo
said.
Tollway board Vice Chair-
man Victor Vandergriff of Ar-
lington scolded the tollway
staff for not offering a compro-
mise of its own, and instead
waiting for the stateTranspor-
tation Department to come
forward.
"We can't just say no," Van-
dergriff said. "We have the
ability to do something posi-
tive. We did . . . but the other
side came up with it first."
--
GORDON DICKSON, 817-685-3816
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