Word: crystalize
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...have seen prices escalate drastically, gas bills are an irritating burden. For at least a few, the costs have become intolerable. This is one reason why, during last winter's gas shortage in the North, Southerners flaunted bumper stickers reading: LET THE YANKEE BASTARDS FREEZE. The town of Crystal City, Texas, is not a typical case-but it is an instructive one. For more than two weeks, the 8,000 citizens of Crystal City have been doing without natural gas. It was cut off after the town refused to pay its supplier, the Lo-Vaca Gathering...
...Life in Crystal City has not been severely disrupted. The mostly Mexican-American population continues to work in the fields and the cannery; no businesses have shut down. Many people are taking cold showers or heating water in pans. They are cooking with firewood and butane and on hot plates, though some complain that tortillas do not taste as good cooked on electric skillets as they do on iron ones heated by gas. Civic organizations are sponoring free cookouts for people who cannot fend for themselves. But when cold weather arrives, Crystal City will be in more serious trouble, because...
Several city utility companies, including those in Austin, San Antonio and a number of small towns near Crystal City, refused to pay the increases to the producer and went to court to seek reductions. The utility companies continued to charge their customers the full rate, but they put the difference between the lower and higher rates in escrow accounts until the courts ruled on the matter...
...Crystal City took more provocative action. In 1972 its city council voted unanimously to keep charging its customers 34? per 1,000 cu. ft. The town fathers contended that they had no choice, since more than 67% of the residents are below the poverty level. But the decision was also in keeping with the town's combative political reputation. The birthplace of the militant Mexican-American La Raza Unida (the United Race) Party, Crystal City has stressed racial solidarity at the expense of economic growth. As taxes soared, businesses have fled...
...When Crystal City refused to pay the higher rates, Lo-Vaca terminated its contract and filed suit for payment. During the 30 months that the case was being decided, the town continued to get gas without paying for it. Last June the court ordered it to pay up. Insisted Lo-Vaca Attorney Joseph Jaworski (son of Leon, of Watergate and now Koreagate fame): "It's time to stop this legal circus. Other customers of Lo-Vaca want to know why they should have to pay full price for gas and Crystal City doesn...