Colorado County to Welcome First Brewery And Taproom
The Banner-Press
• Harbert’s Garage, located at 535 Walnut St. in Columbus, will provide a home for Colorado County’s first brewery and taproom. Hound Song Brewing Co., founded in late 2019, is beginning to take shape inside the historical building. The brewery will focus on producing a core lineup of low to moderate alcohol beers, traditionally brewed throughout Germany, the Czech Republic and the U.S. The brewery will also tap seasonal and rotating small batch beers that align with the company’s mission to create balanced and flavorful beers.
New Ulm Enterprise
• Tri-County ER, a remote emergency department of Bellville Medical Center, will be located in Sealy at 1036 N. Circle Dr. Suite 102 and is scheduled to open May 11. The project had been in the planning stage for several months, however the arrival of COVID-19 prompted a faster opening to serve Sealy, south Austin County and the surrounding areas.
The Colorado County Citizen
• The Columbus ISD softball complex drew a number of comments from the public at the April 20 CISD school board meeting. Erica Kollaja said the proposed location of the softball field would be right next to her house and wanted to know why costs for the project, estimated at $2.4 million dollars, weren’t made public. Vince Leibowitz said he felt the school district was taking the easy way out in using reserve funds instead of asking for a bond to acquire land.
Giddings Times & News
• Aparis Higgs, 32, and Ricky Caldwell, 19, both of Austin, robbed a store in Chappell Hill and were planning to do the same thing again in Giddings, but an officer pulled into the parking lot to foil the plan and started a high-speed chase that ended in McDade. Bastrop County deputies were able to deploy spike strips on the highway near McDade. Their arrest helped clear up the robberies that occurred in Giddings at the CEFCO and Rattlers convenience stores. Giddings Police Department, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, DPS Troopers, Brenham Police Department, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers were all the agencies involved in the capture of the suspects.
• The body of Hunter Biehle, who was in the U.S. Navy when he died unexpectedly at Coronado Naval Base in California on April 10, was honored by hundreds of people as the hearse came through Giddings on April 27. Biehle is the son of Paul and Jennifer Biehle of Lexington.
• An 18-wheeler collided with two other vehicles at the intersection of Hwy. 290 and Orange Street on April 23 at about 4:45 p.m. Involved in the collision was a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Steven Hughes of Giddings, a 2019 Freightliner tractor-truck driven by Anthony Pitts of Houston and owned by Glass Wholesalers Inc. of Houston and a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder driven by Corey Moore of Giddings. The Chevy Tahoe continued through the parking lot of the Los Primos Meat Market and came to rest just short of the sidewalk at the entrance of the store. The third vehicle spun into the turn lane on impact and one person was transported to the hospital by ambulance with unknown injuries.
The Smithville Times
• Chris Kirby, a Bastrop attorney who works for the Tuck Law Group, is helping seniors to prepare their health care orders amid the coronavirus pandemic. Kirby has been licensed for 30 years and is offering to draw up a medical power of attorney at no cost for Bastrop County residents who are 55 or older. “The pandemic is the driving force behind it,” Kirby said about his offer. “People are seriously thinking about the need to have someone around who can make medical decisions for them if they’re incapable due to illness or injury.”
• On Thursday, April 30 Bastrop County reported five new cases of COVID-19 bringing its total to 76. On Wednesday, April 29 the county reported eight new cases making a 13% increase in cases in one day. From Sunday through Thursday, when the county’s coronavirus count grew from 56 to 76, the county saw a 36% jump in cases. “The number of positives will continue to rise with testing,” Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said. “These new cases were people who presented to a doctor late last week, with symptoms of COVID-19. The record daily increase is further evidence that we are not out of the woods with this deadly disease here in Bastrop County.” The county had performed 350 coronavirus tests at its testing site as of Thursday, with about 22% coming out positive. The county last week also performed 150 tests on random residents for a local prevalence study, but those results are not yet available.
The Shiner Gazette
• After a lengthy discussion, the Lavaca County Commissioners’ Court voted to extend an amended COVID-19 Disaster Declaration on April 27. Individuals urged the court to open Lavaca County and not to extend the disaster declaration. The court voted unanimously to strike the phrase from the original disaster declaration that read a violation of the declaration may be punishable by a fine or confinement in jail. The court then voted unanimously to extend the amended disaster declaration until its next regular meeting on May 11.