and the fits are paid for under the federal ing, “That’s going to be really, really new

fits are paid for under the federal ing, “That’s going to be really, really new claims filed
omy at a AUSTIN — More than 15,000 Tex- stimulus package. difficult for thousands of Texans 113,489 continued claims
e. ans will exhaust their unemploy- “We really are working around who are losing their benefits.”
ment benefits by the end of July and the clock,” said Texas Workforce Hatchitt emphasized that people As of May 5, more than 353,000
Texans were receiving
July 15, 2009
could face a delay of months before Commission spokeswoman Ann who are eligible for benefits will re-
getting a 13-week federally financed Hatchitt, citing the need for “pro- ceive them retroactive to the date unemployment benefits, triple
extension because the state can’t gramming very complex federal re- they qualify. the number from a year ago.
SOURCES: CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY
program its computers fast enough. quirements into our current sys- But Baylor said those people may PRIORITIES, TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION
They’re among 82,000 Texans who tem.”
are on the last emergency extension Advocates for labor and for people See JOBLESS/8B

Alamo
olleges
n line for
U.S. aid
billion federal plan
ans ‘it’s Christmas’
the S.A. system.
ELISSA LUDWIG
wig@express-news.net

esident Barack Obama on

day unveiled a $12 billion
to help community colleges
are millions of people for a
generation of jobs.
hallenging critics, he said he
omed the task of turning
nd the economy.
love the folks who helped
us in this mess and then
enly say, ‘Well, this is Oba-
economy,’ ” the president SHAMINDER DULAI/sdulai@express-news.net
an outdoor crowd at Ma- Marco Garcia has been using his lunch breaks for the past 12 years to squeeze in a shave and a haircut at the 100-year-old barbershop at the
b Community College in Gunter Hotel. “I’ve known these guys a long time, they’re like friends. . . . And this is the only place like this,” he said. “It’s old school.”
ren, Mich. “That’s fine. Give
me. My job is to solve prob-
, not to stand on the side-

STILL IN STYLE
and harp and gripe.”
ith 33,000 students in work-
and continuing education
another 20,000 pursuing as-
ate’s degrees in applied sci-
, the Alamo Colleges are
positioned to capture some
e federal bounty, trustee Ro-

AFTER A CENTURY
o Zarate said.
t’s wonderful, it’s Christ-
” Zarate said. “We have in
e partnerships with almost
y major business concern
in San Antonio, and we
take advantage of that.”
Once part of a bigger ‘men’s center,’ basement COURTESY PHOTO
During the 1930s, the shop was open 24
he colleges have already be- barbershop at Gunter Hotel keeps on going. hours a day and featured 18 barbers.
ramping up programs in
areas such as health care
renewable energy, said Fe- BY JAMIE KLEIN now surround the barbershop still experts and willing to
Gunter . — which turned 100 this year, teach. Observing them at work,
St jklein@express-news.net
Hotel
y

the sole survivor of the “men’s Bosman said he realized that

N. St. Mary’s St.

dwa

COLLEGES/3B
am

The Gunter Hotel’s base- center.” he didn’t know as much about

N. Al
San An nio River

Broa

ment was once a men’s refuge. Lee Bosman, the shop’s own- barbering as he thought he did.
E. Houston St. In the 1950s, a man could feast er, was lucky enough to see “They were sculptors in
to

I love the folks Riverwa

lk
The at Rathskeller’s buffet, get some of what he calls the their own right,” Bosman said.
Alamo steamed in the Turkish bath “golden days.” At 27, after re- “Just to see those old-timers
who helped get us E. Co
mme
rce S
and then talk shop while get- tiring from the Navy and a and how they were, that’s how
t. ting a shave, haircut and shoe- short stint with aviation com- I learned to be a true barber.”
n this mess and Area of detail W. M
arket
St. shine at the hotel’s barbershop. pany Swearingen, he gradu- Compared with 70 years ago,
hen suddenly say, HemisFair Before venturing home, he ated from barber college and the barbershop at 205 E. Hous-
Park could stop on the main level to started at the shop in 1975. He ton St. might seem short-
Well, this is 0.25 MILES buy jewelry for his wife. never left. staffed. Bosman, 61, and Dave
Obama’s economy.’ Most of the businesses Four barbers from the 1930s Luce are the only barbers, and
closed in the 1960s, and the ho- were still working there — frail
That’s fine. Give it EXPRESS-NEWS GRAPHIC tel’s housekeeping services and a little slower, they were See BARBERSHOP/5B
o me. My job is to
olve problems, not
o stand on the
delines and harp Schools plan ahead in case swine flu returns
nd gripe.” Concerns include mySA.com problem,” he said of the swine be drafted by the government to
RESIDENT OBAMA Keyword: Health flu. provide vaccines as well. These
peaking at Macomb
contact with public, To read the latest Northside Independent are all unknowns at this time.”
ommunity College in still providing meals. updates on swine flu. School District, the area’s large- No vaccine is available yet,
arren, Mich. st, has created a 16-member but Belinda Pustka, superin-
BY LINDSAY KASTNER District, is working with school task force to prepare for any fu- tendent of Schertz-Cibolo-Uni-
lkastner@express-news.net districts to prepare for the ture flu outbreaks and related versal City Independent School
swine flu, which he noted special circumstances. For in- District, said she expects that
When the first cases of swine comes at a time when school stance, districts may be asked students will receive the first
flu were diagnosed in area stu- and health officials must also to use their buildings for vacci- doses and that districts won’t
dents in the spring, local school plan for back-to-school inocula- nation centers. need to worry about inoculating
 led 6,000 in the Netherlands. The ea’s 5.7 million residents. cer of the Corps’ Galves- coastline. Phil Bedient, director
series of details are being worked They also say it would ton district. The Ike Dike would be of the Severe Storm Pre-
tractable out, but the idea has al- help protect the nation’s Texas isn’t the only justified simply by the diction, Education and
ould ex- ready won the support of biggest, most vital con- place considering battling protection it would offer Evacuation from Disas-
d of Gal- some members of a state centration of oil refiner- nature with brute engi- the $15 billion petrochem- ters Center at Rice Uni-
he other. panel studying disaster ies and chemical plants. neering force: This year, ical complex along the versity, said authorities
be closed preparedness. But detractors say the engineers floated a pro- Houston Ship Channel, should consider a more
rance to Project backers, who dike could inflict environ- posal to build giant mov- said Bob Mitchell, presi- natural approach — let-
torm ap- hope to secure federal mental damage, obstruct able barriers to protect dent of the Bay Area ting marshes and barrier
funding for the barrier, the ocean views of some New York City from hur- Houston Economic Part- islands re-establish them-
modeled say it would save homes residents and end up trap- ricanes and rising sea lev- nership. The complex pro- selves to help hold back
largest and lives among the ping floodwaters in the els caused by global vides much of the coun- floodwaters.

BARBERSHOP
CONTINUED FROM 1B

Drew Miller is the sole porter, a

job combining shoeshining and
custodial duties.
In 1937, it was a 24-hour barber-
shop with two cashiers, six mani-
curists, five porters and 18 barbers.
Three shifts — day, night and over-
night — kept it running.
olf, US When a customer walked in, ev-
entered
009. He ery barber rose from his stool. A
onio, TX
ager) & strict code of silence forbade them
devoted from soliciting his business, but
survived
s, Elea- barbers were sneaky. One might
s Elaine casually snap a cabinet shut or
n Anto-
dace Ei- squeak his shoe, causing the cus-
TX. He tomer to look over. Then, the smil-
ean and
medals ing barber would motion the cus-
efense tomer toward his chair.
LC, Ko-
, WWII “And that’s how they got you,”
opean- Bosman said. “They had tricks to
mpaign
Korea get the customer’s attention.”
Ameri- These days, Bosman and Luce,
l, Com-
e, Unit- 48, greet customers with a big hel-
Medal,
, Para- lo and a handshake. They keep
edal Ar- coming back.
Medal SHAMINDER DULAI/sdulai@express-news.net
Occupa- Like Nick White, 45, who moved
Armed to San Antonio almost two years Owner Lee Bosman cuts attorney J. Frank Onion III’s hair at the Gunter Hotel’s barbershop, which still does things
Medal,
Armed ago. In need of a haircut, he the old-fashioned way, with scissors instead of clippers and straight razors and warm towels instead of blades.
l and 4 searched online and found out
Wolf was
f Grand about the basement refuge on the there in 1909, and some of the mir- hum when he evens the edges — Channing (“Hello Dolly”). Henry
& A.M. Gunter Hotel’s Web site. rors are the same age. The barber most of the cut is done with scis- Guerra, the WOAI radio personal-
as past
on and “I like things that have historic chairs are 62 years old — and must sors and a comb. An array of co- ity, frequented the shop, and Arch-
Knights meaning,” White said. “The bar- be sent out of town if they need re- lognes and aftershaves clink when bishop José Gomez is now a bi-
e family
Friday, bershop has been around for 100 pair — and the sinks are about 90. Luce organizes them. weekly customer.
set Fu- years — I think that’s something White said he and Luce always Miller, 26, takes exactly 10 min- A short stack of Playboy maga-
PM. The
begin at special.” talk — updating each other about utes per shoe. His father, who also zines had been in a rack but were
ent will
emorial But he was nervous. No barber their kids and home repair pro- shined shoes, taught him the trade hastily moved to a table, face
n lieu of had ever mastered his specific jects. as a child. down, when the archbishop first
may be
name to style the first time around. But the shop can also be quiet, “I was 8 years old and I came walked in. They haven’t been put
League “It takes a bit of time to explain even when Bosman and Luce both home and said, ‘I’m hungry.’ My back on display.
what I want,” White said. “But on have clients. dad said, ‘My boots are dirty. This The shop thrived in the 1910s,
Dave’s first attempt — he got it “You let them talk to you first,” will work out for the both of us,’ ” when barbers not only used leech-
right.” Bosman said. “If they grab a paper he said. es on customers, but filled dental
White explained that he is a and read it, you leave them alone. The shop draws its clientele cavities after a trim. It endured the
bank executive and needs to look Sometimes they have to get out of from the local business and legal 1930s, when a barber might per-
the part. the office, get a haircut and relax.” communities, plus tourists and form 14 shaves before a single hair-
“This is a coat-and-tie environ- When silent customers arrive, even the occasional celebrity. cut on a typical day. It survived
ment. You can’t look like Scooby Bosman, Luce and Miller begin a Songwriter Paul Williams visit- two months under water when the
Doo, all shaggy and whatnot,” barbershop symphony. ed daily while the singing duo the San Antonio River flooded down-
White said. “You have to look pro- The soft clip-clip of Bosman’s Carpenters were performing in town in 1928.
fessional.” scissors and the swoosh of Miller’s town. Other customers from the “And that was just the first
Even the shop’s furniture is his- polish brushes against leather fill nearby Majestic Theatre have in- hundred years,” Bosman said.
toric. A hat rack in the corner was the shop. Bosman’s clippers only cluded James Taylor and Carol “Just wait for the second.”

EZ III
SCHOOLS Pustka said. “We’re hoping
to get out ahead of this.”
Another concern is how
become a massive Meals
on Wheels program?” Gon-
zalez said.
spokeswoman Deb Cald-
well said the district’s food
service staff can handle off-
tinue in the event of a shut-
down, though she stressed
that such efforts may ulti-
1 CONTINUED FROM 1B to continue providing Other districts are also site distribution if it must. mately be unnecessary.
y!! meals to students if schools considering how to feed “They haven’t necessar- “That’s based on the as-
e been
brate cerned with keeping an are forced to close. students even at a time ily started any formal plan- sumption that schools
s.
ive my eye on children at in- Educators were directed when residents may be ning but they definitely would be closed, and I
me. creased risk for infection. to “consider alternative asked to avoid group activ- have experience with this,” don’t know that that’s the
essings
riends. “They’re telling us to be mechanisms for delivery of ities. she said, noting that hot direction they will be giv-
se &
vigilant about students school meals to at-risk chil- In addition to delivery, meals were prepared off- ing us from the state,” said
n, with asthma. I’ve spoken dren” in a recent letter districts could prepare food site when Johnson High Pustka, whose district was
&
with principals already from Education Secretary for pickup from one or two School opened. the only local one to shut