Dripping Faucets Empty Water Tower in Giddings

Giddings Times & News

• It wasn’t broken water mains or busted pipes in Giddings that led to the string of below-freezing days in mid-Feb. without running water for the entire city as many people believed it was actually something much simpler than that. Faucets left dripping all over town for five days to prevent broken pipes during the historic freezing weather is being blamed on the big drop in water pressure that led to residents having no water for a period of time. “When 2,500 City of Giddings water customers all leave their faucets dripping while we’re having a rolling power outage at the same time, by 3:30 a.m. Sunday night our water towers were all emptied,” said Director of Public Works Spencer Schneider. Residents consumed 6.5 million gallons of water from that Tuesday through Friday.

The Columbus Banner-Press

• On March 21 at 12:22 a.m. Austin County Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to the 600 block of FM 1371 in regard to a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, deputies found a severely injured horse that appeared to have been dragged on the roadway. Additionally, the injured horse had been shot at least two times. The horse was euthanized by deputies on the side of the road and was removed by TxDOT. The horse, a gelded gray and white quarter-paint/Arabian mix, was scanned for a microchip. A microchip was found but it was unregistered. Deputies are currently working with the chip manufacturer to identify who purchased the chip and ultimately identify the owner of the animal.

The Brenham Banner-Press

• The daughter of Brenham Fire Chief Ricky Boeker has spoken out about her father’s apparent forced retirement. After City Manager James Fisher confirmed the city is discussing early retirement options with Boeker that include eligibility for the city’s health insurance and separation pay, Amanda Landry released a statement detailing the lead-up to the decision and expressing her disappointment. In her statement, Landry says the city’s choice to move on from Boeker came shortly after Winter Storm Uri, stating Fisher met with Boeker to tell him “his time was up, and he needed to retire early.” She says Fisher did not give a specific reason for the decision, other than wanting to “go into a different direction” with leadership. She called what was done “cowardly,” adding that Fisher called Boeker during the storm to help his family after their home suffered a busted pipe. Landry says retirement should be a decision made by the retiree and believes Boeker did not get the “fairy tale ending” that he deserves after spending over 30 years with the fire department, many of which as a volunteer.

• The Prather for Governor 2022 campaign kicked off in Brenham on March 26. Chad Prather, host of “The Chad Prather Show” on BlazeTV and popular YouTuber, began his campaign for the 2022 Texas Governor election. Prather, who is running on the Republican ticket, said many of the events which transpired in 2020 helped persuade him to throw his hat into the governor race.