Bastrop Co. Judge’s Antibody Test Shows Positive for Covid
The Smithville Times
• Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape confirmed this week that results from an antibody test show that he unwittingly contracted the coronavirus, possibly in early February, which could mean the virus may have been spreading through the community earlier than local health officials previously theorized. On April 26, Pape underwent a serological test, which, using a blood sample, extracts antibodies that show if a person’s immune system has ever been in contact with the coronavirus and has recovered from Covid-19. That test came back positive and Pape believes that a respiratory illness he began feeling on Feb. 9, nearly a month before the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Texas, was Covid-19.
• On May 7 Bastrop County reported five new cases of Covid-19, bringing its total to 105. The new cases mark a 5% increase from May 6, when the county reported having 100 cases. The new case count does not include results from a one-day testing operation the Texas Military Department conducted in Smithville and Elgin on May 5. The department conducted over 200 tests at no cost to Bastrop County residents.
Giddings Times & News
• A passing motorist was able to help save a woman trapped inside her flipped and mangled vehicle by breaking the windshield and pulling her out after a rollover accident just south of Tanglewood on May 1 at 7:48 p.m. Jordan Christie Bell, 35 of Lexington, was driving a 2018 Ford Explorer at a high speed when she lost control and the SUV struck a tree and rolled several times. Bell suffered only minor injuries.
• Two Lee County bridges will be saved from structural damage by major log jams that have built up on Nails and Cedar Creeks over the last several years. The County Commissioners located a very specialized service capable of quickly removing the log jams and reducing the chance of damage to the bridges and adjacent pipelines from rising water and floating debris. The total cost of the operation is $20,000, but it is being shared with neighboring Washington County because Cedar Creek is between the two counties.
The Banner-Press Newspaper
• Officers were dispatched on May 1 at 9:13 p.m. to a shooting that took place at Park Place Apartments in Bellville. Two victims were shot in the parking lot of the apartments. One victim was transported by LifeFlight and the other by ambulance to Memorial Herman Hospital Downtown Houston. Both victims are reported to be in stable condition. Bellville Police Department investigators learned the gunman was 21-year-old Marco Antonio Juarez Jr. of Sealy, who has been arrested.
Lexington Leader
• On April 30, around 1 p.m., Phyllis Hawkins of Lexington was driving a 2020 Subaru Forester northbound on Hwy. 77 just south of Tanglewood in the outside lane. At the same time, Joshua Ray Brady of Rockdale was driving a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer. Brady was stopped in the inside southbound lane preparing to turn left onto CR 420 while another unknown vehicle was stopped in the inside northbound lane intending to turn left onto CR 415. Brady could not see Hawkins due to the unknown vehicle in the northbound inside lane, so Brady began turning, causing Hawkins to strike his trailer broadside. After the impact, Hawkins’ car caught on fire. Lee County EMS transferred Hawkins to CHI St. Joseph Hospital in Caldwell with unknown injuries.
The Examiner
• Grimes County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Plantation Lakes on May 3 when the owner discovered a skull while working on the property. The skull was confirmed to be human and other remains from what is believed to be from the same person were also recovered. The remains were located in an area thick with underbrush and appear to have been there for several years.