Giddings Meat Market Pit Boss Dead at 65
Giddings Times & News
• The owner and pit boss at a long-standing meat market and restaurant in Giddings has died. Gerald Birkelbach, owner of City Meat Market, died unexpectedly on the morning of Feb. 18 at the age of 65. Birkelbach worked at City Meat Market for 41 years. The market has been featured in outlets like Texas Monthly and CNN, and has received multiple best barbecue awards. In a statement, City Meat Market said Birkelbach was “a legend that many people knew and many wanted to see,” and was “genuinely a hard worker and a good person.”
The Navasota Examiner
• A family of five lost their home at 1007 Leake St. in Navasota on Feb. 15 during a latenight fire and the fireplace may be the source. The department was dispatched at 10:32 p.m. to possible smoke in the Leake St. residence. When Engine 85 arrived on the scene, there was heavy smoke and fire, and the front of the home was collapsed. It took two hours to extinguish the fire because extremely cold temperatures hampered the effort. No injuries were sustained and the cause of the fire is under investigation, however, it is believed to have started around the fireplace and chimney. The family was without electricity for several hours and like many times before used their fireplace as a source of heat. Chris Woodard purchased firewood from a local store and burned it in the fireplace, however something about the burn this time was amiss which left him cautious to the point that he refused to go to sleep with the rest of his family. He said he wanted to ensure the fire in the fireplace had completely died down because there was a little more smoke this time, the sound was different and at one point he even touched the walls because it sounded as though there were flames within the walls. He stayed awake as his wife Maria and their three children, Chris “CJ,” age 13, Ariana, 9, and Martin, 8, went to sleep in the living room. At approximately 10:30 p.m. Chris noticed flames coming from the ceiling. He quickly had his family exit the home and call 911.
• Contractors digging near the intersection of South Railroad and Johnson St. on Feb. 11 damaged a 12” water main that left utility workers working tirelessly throughout the night in frigid temperatures and the entire city without water. At approximately 4 p.m. the break was discovered and employees worked diligently to repair the leak. The large leak quickly depleted the water in the system and in the water towers. Since the leak was a short distance to the city pump station located on Malcolm St. the shutoff valve had to be turned off at the pump station to prevent water from continuing to fill the hole where the broken water main was located. Although the community was inconvenienced, they rallied around the city workers who worked to restore water. The water outage forced many businesses to close and left citizens unprepared with no time to gather water for necessities such as flushing toilets or bathing. Crews repaired the broken water main just before 11 p.m. but the process of restoring water to the citizens was far from complete. “Once the pipe was repaired and the new piece was installed, workers had to start the process to pump water back into the system,” explained Navasota City Manager Brad Stafford. “You have to build it back up slowly to prevent water hammer in the pipes.” The city must remain under a Boil Water Notice. Navasota Independent School District kept in contact with city officials and elected to begin school at the regularly scheduled time on Feb. 12. NISD Superintendent Dr. Stu Musick stated all campuses had water except Navasota High School and Navasota Junior High. Those campuses began receiving water at approximately 9 a.m. with low water pressure. Stafford anticipated the chlorine residual to be reached by Feb. 14 and the Boil Water Notice to be lifted on Feb. 15 but due to inclement weather conditions, the city was unable to get a water sample to the lab to be tested. The city is looking at contracts they had with the contractor that was responsible for breaking the water main to see if they were digging within the parameters stated in the contract.
The Bellville Times
The City of Bellville will have a new police chief on April 1st. The current chief Larry Matthews has announced his retirement effective as of March 31st. Longtime Bellville resident and police lieutenant Jason Smalley has accepted the position. Matthews has been the Bellville chief since 2003. Smalley has 21 total years in law enforcement, working with Harris County, the Austin County Sheriff’s Office, and Bellville Police since 2005. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2008. Smalley is a 1992 graduate of Bellville High School. He and his wife Jenni have two children.
What the Neighbors Are Talking About
A look at what’s making Opinion just over the county line.