TERLINGUA MOON Vol. 26, No. 1 January 6, 2015 By MaeWestern 

"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy." --Anton Chekhov 

Vote next Tuesday!
The special tax roll back election is Tuesday, Jan. 13, from 7 am-7 pm at 
the Red Patillo Community Center in Study Butte/Terlingua. If you can’t 
make it next Tuesday, early voting is going on now at the Brewster 
County Courthouse in Alpine and will continue through Friday, Jan. 9, 
during office hours. (This is the only location for early voting.) Those
 who signed the petition last fall got this ball rolling. Now it’s time 
to do something about it and make your voice heard. VOTE!

Let’s hope power is restored by the time you read this:
(Jan. 4) This is Dan Laws to all our members in Brewster County. We have 
received calls from members stating that someone has told them that 
power will be restored this afternoon. Unfortunately, that is not true. I
 hate that people will start rumors like that. We are still estimating 
that it will be Tuesday, January 6, before power will be restored.
    
 I was on location today and can report there are five crews working to 
restore power. In the morning there will be 7 crews working. The 
pictures below were taken today so you can see what the conditions are 
on location. As I am sure some are aware AEP has several lines down, 
including the line from our Switching station to Alpine. Oncor, in the 
Midland Odessa area has lines down and Texas New Mexico serving in and 
around Fort Stockton has lines down. In my travels today I have seen 
contractor crews working for AEP and Texas New Mexico making line 
repairs to their facilities.
     I mention that simply to make the point that RGEC and its members are not the only ones that have been affected by this winter storm. RGEC is not the only electric utility 
that has lost lines during this storm and RGEC is not the only electric 
utility still making repairs. We have had a number of members affected 
by this line make all kinds of crazy accusations when they call in to 
ask for a status update. They say things like they have been by RGEC’s 
transmission line and no one is working on the line. folks that say that
 either don’t see well, don’t really know where the transmission line 
is, or are simply being less than truthful. The pictures below were all 
taken today.
     Muddy conditions pose the greatest problem for us 
right now. We have two dozers on location to pull trucks up and down the
 line and clear right of way, but it makes for slow going. While on 
location, the contractor working for AEP asked the rancher where we are 
replacing poles if he would use his maintainer to pull them through the 
mud. Please know that we are all having problems.
     I don’t want 
anyone to be misled. We will restore power as quickly as possible, but I
 would be careless to tell it will happen sooner than Tuesday afternoon.
 The good news is we may catch a break and it will happen sooner, but 
the reverse is true also, a worsening of the conditions could delay 
resolving this problem.

Weather or not, we had a party New Year’s Day!
The 25th Annual Blackeyed Pea Off went off despite the odds, complete with a
 little sunshine and a beautiful rainbow there at the end. This year’s 
winners were: 1st) Paula Osborne from Gulala, CA, and her partner Pat 
Hudspeth of Cheyenne, WY; 2nd) Stephanie Shiflit, newly of Terlingua; 
and 3rd) Herman Everett (last year’s winner), owner of the El Dorado 
Hotel and High Sierra Bar and Grill. There were 31 entries this year.
    
Honorable Mention goes to David Tinsley (all 12 of you!). Close to 
$2,000 was raised for Last Minute Low Budget Productions, and what great
 helpers they were in pulling this off.
Thank you to the musicians, too many to name here, but high energy music went all 
afternoon long. Special guest Tommy X Hancock and Pam Ware had their 
Tie-Off, with Pam winning 71-40.

 A BIG shout out goes to the 
area hotels, restaurants, and outfitters for another successful “Hot 
Date Raffle.” And thank you, Deputy Patrick, for being a good sport and 
letting us arrest and throw him in the historic Terlingua Ghost Town 
Jail. Bail was met promptly and all got to start their new year off with
 good luck!

TERLINGUA TOOL RENTALS 
Happy New Year to our 
customers and neighbors. There is something new in a line very 
frequently for those jobs you need to get done. Call or come by for your
 rental needs. Jimmy Taylor, owner 371-2621.

Got space?
Seeking a plot near Ghostown to park a 32 feet Avion trailer for nightly 
rental. Access to water and sewage would be great, but we can work 
around. Thanks. Jeff Leach (jeff@humanfoodproject.com)

Have
 some news you want included in the Moon? Send your submissions to the 
Terlingua Moon by Monday noon to be included in that week’s edition. 
Email to terlinguamoon@gmail.com.