Al Gonzalez Community and Education Center.

How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."

2008-03-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

Why Public Schools Hate Home-schooling Parents by Joel Turtel

Home-schooling is a great success. That's why many public-school authorities hate home-schooling parents.

Home-schoolers are a direct challenge to the public-school monopoly. This monopoly makes it almost impossible to fire tenured public-school teachers or principals. As a result, tenure gives most teachers life-time guaranteed jobs. They get this incredible benefit only because public schools have a lock on our children's education.

If public-school employees had to work for private schools and compete for their jobs in the real world, they would lose their security-blanket tenure. That's why school authorities view home-schooling parents who challenge their monopoly as a serious threat.

Many school officials also can't stand the fact that average parents who never went to college give their kids a better education than so-called public-school experts. Successful home-schooling parents therefore humiliate the failed public schools by comparison.

Home-schooling parents also humiliate school authorities who claim that only certified or licensed teachers are qualified to teach children. Most home-schooling parents thankfully never stepped foot inside a so-called teacher college or university department of education. Yet these parents give their children a superior education compared to public-school educated kids.

Also, many public-school officials resent home-schoolers because the typical public school loses about $7500 a year in tax money for each child that leaves the system. Tax money is the life blood of the public-school system. Tax money pays for public-school employees' generous salaries, benefits, and pensions. Is it any wonder why school authorities don't want to lose their gravy train?

For these reasons, until fairly recently, most state legislatures either outlawed homeschooling or tried to strangle it to death with regulations. In 1980, only Utah, Ohio, and Nevada officially recognized parents' rights to homeschool their children. In most other states, legislators continually harassed or prosecuted home-schoolers under criminal truancy laws and educational neglect charges.

By 2004, however, pressure from parents, Christian home-schooling organizations, and recent court rulings pushed all fifty states to enact statutes that allow home-schooling, as long as certain requirements are met. These requirements vary for each state.

In spite of these statutes, many states and school authorities still harass home-schooling parents. That is because the Supreme Court slapped parents in the face when they gave local governments the right to regulate home-schooling. As a result, many home-schooling parents are still harassed by local school officials.

If you are a homeschooling parent, you must know how to protect your legal rights. To do this, you should seriously consider joining the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Founded in 1983, HSDLA provides its members with legal representation against local school officials who might harass you, demand to supervise your home-schooling, or demand to periodically test your home-schooled children. You can join at their web site, http://www.hslda.org.

The Rutherford Institute is another well-known organization dedicated to protecting parents' rights and providing legal help to home-schooling parents. Their website is http://www.rutherford.org.

Joel Turtel is the author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."

Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: lbooksusa@aol.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.

Article Copyrighted © 2005 by Joel Turtel
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

appellant, in his home, cannot be provided the quality of care and level of support and supervision that he needs and the TYC will?

2008-01-16T04:30:00.000-08:00

Yo,Peachy King why not tell these misers to put their "truancy" by putting a "matching" facility on the south side (Cine 6) that will meet the needs of the bike riders and skateboarders rec center?

Tru or false?

Lock up instead of physical education, why would an educated attorney ASSume that a government agency would possess the ability to:

"Under the record in this case, we find that the trial court did not err in determining that appellant, in his home, cannot be provided the quality of care and level of support and supervision that he needs to meet the conditions of probation."

Does that eliminate probation and enforces the incarceration with no Ways or means of oversight to insure that "provided the quality of care and level of support and supervision that he needs to meet the conditions of probation."

Hearsay
conjecture
speculation
clairvoyant
provide proof that he was better off,when it all started with "providers" of education or incarceration or "probation"????

What a waste of time this judge made of this child's future, without the insurance that this judge alleges will meet the needs in the "quality of care and level of support"

How is the child going to be "cared for"?

What quality is this judge "quality" defined by?

The same standard she would give for her own child?

I doubt it, with what intent was this child harmed??????

Where is the child's attorney?

NUMBER 13-04-552-CV

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

___________________________________________________________________

J.A.W.R., A CHILD, Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

___________________________________________________________________

On appeal from the County Court of Refugio County, Texas.

__________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Chief Justice Valdez and Justices Hinojosa and Rodriguez

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Rodriguez

Appellant, J.A.W.R., a child, was found to have engaged in delinquent conduct[1] by committing the offense of endangering a child.[2] He was committed to the Texas Youth Commission for an indeterminate period of time not to exceed his twenty-first birthday. In his sole point of error, appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering him committed to the Texas Youth Commission. We affirm. As this is a memorandum opinion and the parties are familiar with the facts, we will not recite them here except as necessary to advise the parties of the Court's decision and the basic reasons for it. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A juvenile judge has broad discretion to determine the proper disposition of a child who has been adjudicated as engaging in delinquent behavior. In re K.J.N., 103 S.W.3d 465, 465-66 (Tex. App.BSan Antonio 2003, no pet.). Absent an abuse of discretion, we will not disturb the trial court=s determination. Id. An abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court acts unreasonably or arbitrarily and without reference to guiding rules and principles. Id. The guiding rules and principles in juvenile cases involving commitment outside the child=s home are found in the Texas Family Code. Id.; see Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 54.04 (Vernon Supp. 2004-05).

The family code permits a trial judge to commit a child to the Texas Youth Commission if: (1) it is in the child=s best interest to be placed outside the home; (2) reasonable efforts have been taken to prevent or eliminate the need for the child=s removal from the home; and (3) while in the home, the child cannot receive the quality of care and level of support and supervision needed to meet the conditions of probation. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 54.04(i).

II. ANALYSIS

By his sole point of error, appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering appellant committed to the Texas Youth Commission. Specifically, appellant argues that there is no evidence to support the trial court=s finding that Athe child, in the child=s home, cannot be provided the quality of care and level of support and supervision that the child needs to meet the conditions of probation.@[3] We disagree.

At the disposition hearing the State offered into evidence the Predisposition and Social History report prepared by the juvenile department. The recommendation in the report was that appellant be placed outside the home due to his need for more structure and discipline than was being provided by his parents. The report stated that appellant had been unsuccessful on a six-month deferred adjudication and unsuccessful on the subsequent court-ordered probation. Appellant was also unsuccessful on a second court-ordered probation on another cause. He was exhibiting serious signs of mental and emotional instability as well as more serious behavioral problems than in the past. The report also stated that appellant had failed to graduate to the eleventh grade because he did not complete his makeup work or his absences. Appellant had been referred for truancy.

Under the record in this case, we find that the trial court did not err in determining that appellant, in his home, cannot be provided the quality of care and level of support and supervision that he needs to meet the conditions of probation. We therefore conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in committing appellant to the Texas Youth Commission. Appellant=s sole point of error is overruled.

III. CONCLUSION

Accordingly, we affirm the order of the trial court.

NELDA V. RODRIGUEZ

Justice

Memorandum Opinion delivered and

filed this 7th day of July, 2005.

[1] See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 51.03 (Vernon Supp. 2004-05).

[2] See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. ' 22.041(c) (Vernon 2003).

[3] Appellant also argues that the trial court erred in making the following findings: (1) that no community-based intermediate sanction is available to adequately address the needs of the juvenile or to adequately protect the needs of the community; and (2) that the gravity of the offense requires that the juvenile be confined to a secure facility. However, these findings made by the trial court are not required by statute in order to commit a juvenile to the Texas Youth Commission. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 54.04(i) (Vernon Supp. 2004-05). Therefore, we will not address these findings as our conclusion would not affect the disposition of this appeal.

Nueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent

2007-12-28T02:59:00.000-08:00

Nueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent

With this precinct I have not a vote however, the County Commissioners are engaged towards progress for our community as a whole.

Dannoynted1:

"Our Large Family attended the "Annual Feast of Sharing" event held at the Bayfront Plaza.

Joe Benavides was one of our servers (i believe he was a soft drink server), and Mrs.Banales also was there with her husband.

I will not talk about the burnt tamale(only I got) but lets just say the mashed potatoes were the best my man says the rolls were the best.

Considering it is election time, I am surprised most politicians were absent. But with the way they rushed you out after you ate, You certainly did not have any time to "network".

The candidates that did attend, I apologize for not mentioning you as I was there only a small window of time..."

It was so different from the last time I went, which with regret, was not last year.

I must say the food was better at the events that cost money."

JK:

We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent but I do know Joe was working and he volunteered out of his commitment to the community. Joe has over the years volunteered and donated his services diligently. One might argue he is only volunteering his time and services because he wants to "get elected".

I dont believe this is the case. I have known Joe for a little over two years and I know his father. In the past, Joe Benavides has run a couple of times for office but, he volunteers regardless of whether he is running or not.

Will Joe Benavides continue to volunteer if he wins?

We can only know after we vote for him.

We do know his incumbent opponent was not volunteering at the Feast of Sharing.

We do know Joe Benavides' incumbent opponent was parading around with her hubby in tow. Was she making a statement? The message IMO was she is not worried about her challenger, she does not take him serious and she is not going to change her routine ways for her constituents. We do not know how she represents her constituency but we do know she is not going to change it.

All we can do is allow Joe Benavides to tell us how is going to represent his constituents.

We can ask him questions and hear his answers.

With Joe Benavides' incumbent opponent we dont have to ask her anything because we have her record to refer to.

The only thing I remember is that, "She could work harder" if she gave herself a pay raise.

I also know she was walking around when she should have been working.

As far as the Family name and integrity, we might should ask the ME about the trangressions.

Ask her about the real reason she decided to run.

Parkdale Bank: Ray Mc Murrey Is From Here, He Still Believes Like It Says In The Intro, "I'll be a straight-shooter & a square-dealer "& He Does "Reme

2007-12-28T01:12:00.000-08:00

Parkdale Bank: Ray Mc Murrey Is From Here, He Still Believes Like It Says In The Intro, "I'll be a straight-shooter & a square-dealer "& He Does "Remember The Alamo"

"I'll be as hardy of mind as I am of body. I'll be a straight-shooter and a square-dealer. My family name will be sacred My word will be as good as any contract. I'll remember the Alamo. I'll stick by my friends. And I'll eat more chicken-fried steak."

"We do not win by replacing a corporate Republican with a corporate Democrat," said Mr. McMurrey, speaking to about a dozen supporters at an East Austin residence.

Ray told me this before he spoke at his Official Announcement to run against the Corporate Democratic Military Industrial Complex Candidate for Texas US Senator.

A very passionate candidate who is anything other than a fake or what some like to call a politician.

Ray is not a Politician and this is a very very positive attribute.

Dont get me wrong he is very well suited for the Senate and the diplomacy is there but there is a sternness that demands his respect kind of like the respect and command he possesses in the classroom. I think we can all agree, if he can handle our youth in the classroom he will do well for us in Washington.

Two more things

Remember the Alamo

and

Stay tuned for Jan 2 next year.

"We do not win by replacing a corporate Republican with a corporate Democrat," said Mr. McMurrey, speaking to about a dozen supporters at an East Austin residence.

Ray Mc Murrey is from Corpus Christi.

He tells us upfront of his progressive leanings and his disappointment in both of the Hegemonic Parties.

Hegemony,.... Watch the Movie "Hot Fuzz".

Slavery is relative........I bet education is the lexicon of the Coup d'maitres

2007-05-30T00:27:00.000-07:00

http://stxc.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Back to conservatism for the GOP?

Lets separate out the Republican crony corruption from the ideology. What is conservatism? A belief that government has only one job - defending us against other people. No regulation of food, commerce, water, roads or power. No education or healthcare.

The conservative vision leads us to monopolies controlling our infrastructures and our basic needs. Buyer beware when you use that product or eat that meal. The conservative vision leads us to virtual slavery without slavery's basic benefits of food, clothing, shelter and healthcare.

Conservatism means feeling superior to the French, women, people of color, gays, and Hindus. That emotional high is supposed to pay for the lack of a living wage, safe food and water and a fair shake in business transactions.

Are Texans still buying it?

posted by CouldBeTrue @ 9:59 AM 0 comments links

?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

watt exactly are these carpet(baggers)buyers selling Texans? Justice?

Well a man come on the 6 oclock news
Said somebodys been shot, somebodys been abused
Somebody blew up a building
Somebody stole a car
Somebody got away
Somebody didnt get too far yeah
They didnt get too far

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that

Chorus:

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles well sing a victory tune
Well all meet back at the local saloon
Well raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
Weve got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets
Its time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send em all to their maker and hell settle em down
You can bet hell set em down cause

Chorus (x2)

CCISD: TAKS (Most Correct Answer): “I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong”

2007-05-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

CCISD: TAKS (Most Correct Answer): “I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong”

Need to read the Big Picture Click on Picture for Large Image

“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.”

Too often students are given answers to remember, rather than problems to solve”
Roger Lewin

“Instead of a national curriculum for education, what is really needed is an individual curriculum for every child.” Charles Handy

“The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance.”

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”

Nueces De La Parra: Corpus Christi Watchdog Authority: When the District Attorney has questions and the SOS has cleared the Candidate to run, how can

2007-05-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Corpus Christi Watchdog Authority: When the District Attorney has questions and the SOS has cleared the Candidate to run, how can there be criminal proceedings?

Whichever suits the interest of the "Pick and Choose" self dealers of Del Mar College. The voters made their choice; but it is not the choice of the "Pick and Choose" self dealers, so they whine. Always changing the rules in the middle of the process and calling it due process and they actually believe their own prevarication. It is requested that the AG attend the board meetings and closed sessions in the interest of Del Mar Taxpayers, Faculty and Student body as the AG did in the Kenedy Foundation debacle with Rene Gracida.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

Facility director Efrain Gomez is ready to get back to work building community programs available to all ages.

2006-08-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

Rec center aims to reach out to everybody in fall

Adult programs planned as kids return to school

By Israel Saenz Caller-Times
August 13, 2006

Martin Sauceda is not quite ready for school to begin.

The Wynn Seale Middle School student has spent his summer walking down the street from his home on Morris Street to the Gonzalez Education and Recreation Center, where he spent his days swimming, hanging out with friends and playing basketball.

Last week he was still sweating from a game before it was time to go home.

"I just like it here because I get to hang out with my friends," said Martin, 12. "And I want to be a basketball player when I grow up."

Martin and the other 170-plus kids the center has attracted daily this summer may not look forward to school starting Monday, but facility director Efrain Gomez is ready to get back to work building community programs available to all ages.

After a summer of providing youth-driven recreation and educational programs, the center has about a month to prepare fall programs the facility has never hosted.

Change has been a constant for the center, which was founded by Dallas businessman Al Gonzalez in 2005.

It switched hands from the Boys & Girls Club to the Gonzalez Education and Recreation Center in May.

Youth activities will continue into the fall, but the start of school brings an opportunity to extend services to adults and senior citizens, Gomez said.

"During the school year, we can reach out to everybody," he said. "We'll be able to have more diverse programs."

So far, a room where General Educational Development courses will take place sits empty, but Gomez said the center will have it ready by early to mid-September for the program's debut.

The center also will offer computer and English literacy courses, as well as swimming, food and nutrition classes to seniors.

Gonzalez has donated between $700,000 and $1 million to the facility, Gomez said, and the center is looking for other sources of money.

"(Gonzalez) wants the community to take ownership and keep the center going," Gomez said.

The center held a boxing tournament fundraiser in late July, and Gomez hopes to raise between $80,000 and $100,000 with a golf tournament in October.

The center also is working with the city of Corpus Christi's Model Block Program, which began with a parade Saturday morning that ended at the facility. In tandem with the program, the center will house a city office and police substation in the center to coordinate the Model Block Program.

Carlos Truan, former state senator and first vice chairman on the center's board of directors, said the center's inclusion in the program could bring in several hundred thousand dollars, and that new fall programs will be a "shot in the arm" for the city's Westside.

"The center is attracting the community as a whole - not just young people," he said. "I think we're going to succeed."

Contact Israel Saenz at 886-3767 or saenzi@ caller.com

The center's founder and financier Al Gonzalez stood in the morning sun rubbing his forearm as he welcomed paraders under a blaring sun.

2006-08-13T02:34:00.000-07:00

Block party creates air of unity

Brownlee a focus of city's revitalization plan for $550,000

By Mike Baird Caller Times
August 13, 2006

A siren's blast prompted hundreds of children to parade alongside city leaders on Morris Street to reclaim the Brownlee corridor neighborhood.

"We cheered for the police," said Natalia Valerio, 8, as she waved a small American flag. She's one of dozens of the Corpus Christi Police Athletic League program youth who marched.

"It's 'cause they help people," said her 6-year-old brother Romeo Valerio.

People peeked from the solace of their homes as music blared, and many wandered over to the festival of folks gathering at the Gonzalez Education and Recreation Center.

"This is so beautiful," said nearby resident Josie Lopez, 54, as she walked with her granddaughter into the center's parking lot.

"I'm offering to help," she said. "It's not just for kids. Parents need this hope most."

The center's founder and financier Al Gonzalez stood in the morning sun rubbing his forearm as he welcomed paraders under a blaring sun.

"I'm sweating and still have chills," he said. "This unity between city leaders and residents is unbelievable."

A month ago, the City Council picked the neighborhood bordered by Crosstown Expressway and South Staples, Agnes and Morgan streets as the first target of the city's new Model Block Program aimed at ridding inner-urban decay.

It's a revitalization plan, funded with a $550,000 federal grant, to increase household income, home ownership and the quality of life for the 2,659 residents by binding builders and nonprofit organizations to develop affordable housing. It also aims to clean up and develop the more than 100 vacant lots in the area.

The city is placing an office and police substation in the center to coordinate the Model Block Program, said City Manager Skip Noe.

"A big part of community policing is building a relationship with people to prevent crime," said Police Chief Bryan Smith, as he jockeyed a golf cart into position for the parade. This is a great opportunity for everyone to work together with a common goal of betterment, he said.

More than 160 children daily already find refuge from negative activities at the Gonzalez Center, said Juan Castillo, 71, one of the center's board members.

"It's teaching me the responsibility my mom goes through," said J. D. Mendoza, 14, an incoming freshman at Ray High School who was assigned community service at the center after a problem at school. He finished his required hours by mopping floors, cutting weeds and cleaning up messes in the building left by other youngsters, he said.

"I kept coming back to volunteer because I love it here," J.D. said. "I've worked more than 102 hours in a month."

The Corpus Christi Veterans Band spurred dancing Saturday, while city department representatives discussed water conservation and ecological awareness programs. The center gave out about 300 chili dogs, water and other drinks, and some youngsters signed up for basketball, kickball, martial arts and cheerleading at a Corpus Christi Police Athletic League booth.

Health department officials also gave dozens of free "Back to School" vaccinations.

"Ouch," Bridgett Perez, 14, yelled moments before a small plastic bandage was placed across her left upper arm.

She didn't cry, her older sister Leslie Perez, 15, said while grinning.

"It's wonderful for everyone to pull together to get all the problems out of here," Leslie said of the block party and program. "It's like a good shot in the arm for the whole neighborhood."

Contact Mike Baird at 886-3774 or bairdm@ caller.com

There's no need to tell Al Gonzalez about divine intervention

2006-07-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

A Unity of Historical Districts within the Body of Christ. Al Gonzalez Center, Rene Rodriguez Youth Center, Mikal Watts Philanthropist and Power Broker, Donald Trump Critique of our Community in preparation for his turning the UN around (like Iacocca 180'd Dodge). Del Mar College, TAMUCC, Solomon Coles Center, Whataburger Field, The Harbor Bridge Foundation, The National GI Forum Archives and the Hector P Garcia Institute of Education, Integrity, Culture and Public Policy. The Ann Matilde Kenedy Fernandez School of Law with a Strong Arm Watchdog Student Body. We can put it together with a consolidated UNITY but the only way it will work is by the engagement of our youth and our family support system being injected with an active vigor. Conceptualize a Bill Gates installed community outreach system ( provide a whole South Texas with wireless Laptops) implementing the cutting edge transparency features while locating the meetings in the America Bank Center once a month or so. A Berkshire Hathaway mixed with a W R Grace Corporate digital roundtable for the meeting format so as to enable an engagement for the whole community of South Texas and not unlike the "emergency command center" sans the leaky city hall; coordinate our community outreach effort from the roundtable. We got a lot of things to accomplish like the Education and the engagement of our youth in sports participation, community improvement JOBS where they can earn. Make the money out there for all to see, just like on the TELETHON for everyone to watch the fluctuation with the effort they provide. Make the Contract Award Process and the Grant Process check and balance one another. Welcome the Jewish Community Center like where Brent Chesney is familiar and model a state of the art Summer Camp and Winter Camp and it can be done free of charge, to all. Like a YMCA / YWCA with swimming, tennis, golf, boxing, wrestling, dancing, nursery school, Science camps all with the coordination of fixing and restoring our Historical Communities, neglected, crime ridden, and impoverished communities. Everything for the most part is already there; we just need to put it together.

Trial by Fire

SBA lender helps ex-councilman survive a host of troubles at refinery
By Cheryl Hall
March 31, 1996

SAN ANTONIO - There's no need to tell Al Gonzalez about divine intervention. The former Dallas city councilman had so many "burning-bush experiences" as he struggled to salvage a small refinery here that he has no doubts about miracles.

"Not to sound churchy," Mr. Gonzalez says as he strolls contentedly through his small facility on the south side of town, "but you don't put together a $75 million program without a nickel. We did. We were blessed."

But Mr. Gonzalez was also cursed - beset by the business equivalent of the Bible's seven plagues.

Deadly toxins, expensive cleanups, tangled red tape, deaf bankers, a soured contract, a disastrous explosion and an insurance Catch-22 struck in successive waves.

Thanks to string-pulling friends, tireless workers and an unrelenting lender, the power remains on at AGE Refining Inc. - short for Al Gonzalez Enterprises.

The nation's only minority-owned refinery, which produces highly specialized fuel for military jets like the U-2 spy plane, expects to post $40 million in sales this year, meet a $1.6 million payroll and add $116 million to the Alamo City's economy when multipliers are applied.

Now that his plant is running safely in the black, Mr. Gonzalez would like other small businesses to know that when traditional bankers turn tail, there are options.

His came in the form of The Money Store, a Sacramento, Calif.-based lender, and its Texas chief, Bob Wagner of Austin.

The Money Store Investment Corp. is a 30-year-old publicly held financial services company that loaned $4 billion last year, much of that in home-equity loans nationwide. About $440 million was in loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, making The Money Store the largest SBA lender in the country by a wide margin - as it has been since 1983.

In Texas, The Money Store issued $27 million in SBA loans last year, including about $1 million to Sambuca Mediterranean Jazz Cafe in Addison and $1.5 million to Freedom Furniture Rental for a Dallas warehouse.

Then, of course, there was the $1.1 million in real estate and working-capital loans that bailed out Mr. Gonzalez in November.

"Throughout this whole thing, it would have been so easy for these folks to do what every other lending institution in the United States did," a grateful Gonzalez says, gesturing to Mr. Wagner. "But they rolled up their sleeves and said, 'OK. We believe in your business. How can we get this done?'"

Mr. Wagner, who heads up The Money Store's five-office Texas operation, expects to lend $42 million to small companies in the state this year for acquisitions, renovations, expansions and asset-based refinancing.

"Al is a perfect example of how the SBA program can step in and help a small-business owner, in this case with a property that could definitely be classified as a single-purpose, special-use facility," Mr. Wagner says. "How many banks know that much about oil refineries as collateral?"

He didn't know much either, but the government guaranty allowed him to look beyond collateral and concentrate on the underlying business.

He liked what he saw: $32 million in contracts riding in Al Gonzalez's pocket. "People in our own company asked, 'Why do you want to make a loan on a refinery?'" Mr. Wagner says with a smirk. "We answered, 'This is Texas. You've got to have at least one.'"

What goes around, comes around. Mr. Gonzalez's tale seems to bear witness to that.

His story actually starts back in the Texas heyday of the early '80s, when he was in the oil-trading business and landed a deal to supply crude to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at $29 a barrel. Shortly thereafter, the price of oil plunged.

The government asked Mr. Gonzalez for a price break. Instead, he surrendered the contract. Polly Duhaine, who oversaw those contracts, used his giveback to coax similar concessions from the majors.

"As a result," says Mr. Gonzalez, "we saved the government something like $47 million. That really endeared me to those people."

Little did he realize that he had taken in a marker that he'd use when his business world fell apart. Mr. Gonzalez, who had prospered in energy and construction, was down-and-out in North Dallas by 1991.

"When I got off the council, I rode things all the way down," he recalls. "I was really hurting and didn't know what I was going to do."

He didn't want to leave Dallas, so he called Washington to ask about any energy deals he might bid on. It turned out that Ms. Duhaine was the contracting officer for military jet fuel purchases, and she wanted to give him a chance at some business.

"Integrity plays a great part in awarding contracts," she says from her office in Washington. "He'd previously performed effectively, ethically and honorably."

The only catch to the government deal was Mr. Gonzalez had to manufacture the fuel himself. "So, I started looking all around the country for a refinery," Mr. Gonzalez says. He heard about a mothballed property in San Antonio and went to look.

"The biggest asset wasn't the plant itself, it was the people," Mr. Gonzalez says. "They knew the plant. I thought, 'If I can get this plant, these guys can make it run.'V"

The facility was valued at $10.5 million. Mr. Gonzalez paid just under $3 million with no money down and the owner toting the note for three years.

That was 1992. His first year as a refiner was tough and the learning curve steep. The second stellar. He made enough money to pay bills, add business and improve the facility.

Still, he desperately needed long-term financing. "My payments were horrendous. We papered the country trying to get a loan. We went to every local bank and couldn't get any money."

One plea found its way to The Money Store in Austin, which was undeterred by the obstacle that other lenders found so daunting.

"There was a 20-year documented history of spills, discharges, releases and sludge pits," explains Mr. Wagner. "We were presented an environmental report that, to my recollection, was in excess of 400 pages."

But The Money Store decided in early 1994 that if Mr. Gonzalez could clean up the mess to the satisfaction of regulators and indemnify the plant from future claims, it would provide a 15-year real estate loan.

Finally, Mr. Gonzalez could see from here to there. That would turn out to be from here to eternity.

In the midst of getting his complex loan package in order, the government changed the way it set fuel prices, using benchmarks that made it impossible for contractors to make money.

A lucrative government business quickly turned into a losing proposition for AGE, and 1994 ended on a very sour note.

The government realized its mistake and refigured its pricing formula. But its new math wouldn't go into effect until April 1995. In the meantime, Mr. Gonzalez was in a serious cash bind. He had to beg suppliers and his banker to give him a little more time until the contract kicked in and the deal with The Money Store was signed.

The night before the new contract was to go into effect, the plant went up in a ball of fire. It took 150 firefighters to douse the flames.

"It was devastating," says Frank Del Angel, the refinery president who arrived on the scene to see the heart of the plant destroyed. "We all felt it might be the end."

The next morning, Mr. Gonzalez called 60 dazed workers together to confirm those fears. He tearfully told them that Ryder was coming for its trucks, the utilities were about to be cut off, he couldn't meet payroll and was headed to the hardware store for a heavy chain and padlock.

"Our local bank wasn't going to work with us," Mr. Gonzalez says, his bitterness still apparent. "The insurance company was going to wait until we got the plant fixed before it would give us any money."

Friends with clout persuaded the bank and trucking company to hold off a little longer. One buddy gave him $200,000 to tide him over. Workers went without pay. And Mr. Gonzalez promised the insurance company he'd have the plant back in business in 30 days if it would give him some up-front money to get the work started.

"I brought all the men together," he says. "They got to see me real humble. I'd mortgaged everything. I'd sold my house on Park Lane. Everything I had was in this place. I told them, 'Guys, this is my last shot.'"

A couple of times payroll wasn't met, but the workers kept going around the clock. Twenty-eight days after the fire, - and two days under the deadline - AGE Refining was back making jet fuel and money.

As the little guy among giant refineries, Mr. Gonzalez remains determined to maneuver with extreme caution. He knows that if he goes toe-to-toe with the big boys, he's going to get stomped.

"We take the crumbs that the majors don't want," he says. "We'll do small things that are too cumbersome for them to deal with."

For example, AGE shares the U-2 fuel deal with Exxon, but the major has opted not to deliver on its share for a while, making AGE the sole supplier. "It's such a comparatively small quantity for Exxon. But for us, it's a really neat deal."

Mr. Wagner's first inclination after the blaze was to call off the deal. "As a lender, if you're doing a property-based loan and it burns down, it's tough to fund the loan," he says with a soft chuckle.

But somewhere during the year and a half that it took to clear environmental and legal hurdles, Mr. Gonzalez's loans ceased to be numbers on paper for Mr. Wagner. "You get a feeling about somebody, and you want to do everything you can to help them. I felt that way about Al."

So he stuck with him - despite raised eyebrows at corporate headquarters in California. In a strange twist, he says, the fire ended up being a positive. Necessary insurance was in place and eventually paid for the business interruption and plant damage.

"We had to overcome some objections within our company. Refineries explode," he says matter of factly. "When they wanted to know what would happen if the plant burns down, we could say, 'It did, and here's what happened.'"

It's provided a feel-good experience for all concerned, says Mr. Wagner. "Particularly," he adds with a laugh, "if Al stays in business and repays the loans."

Upbeat workers here pledge they'll help their boss do just that. Having tasted death twice, they have no appetite for a third course.

The past six months have been decidedly better, and Mr. Gonzalez is breathing easier. "By December, we'd caught up with everyone, just like we said we would," he says. "The most important thing is, we salvaged those jobs."

So when Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Wagner tour the plant together and see brown gook being turned into high-grade jet fuel, they share a bond rarely found these days between a borrower and his lender.

The two have survived a firestorm.

Cheryl Hall is the Financial Editor of The Dallas Morning News.