Grand Jury Indicts Three and Offers Three Recommendations

The Fayette County Grand Jury for the spring term of the 155th District Court presented three recommendations into open court in its report to District Judge Paul Huser. First, it proposed the county auction of outdated furniture that was no longer functional or occupying needed storage space. Second, the grand jury asked that an audit of county records be made for the first time in many years because the county had recently undergone substantial changes in administration. Third, the poor condition of county roads, especially in Precinct 3, needed to be addressed and brought up to standard. The grand jury also returned three felony indictments.

In his July report, Fayette County Sheriff T.J. Flournoy said hot checks were still coming in every day, in addition to calls regarding cattle theft and burglaries. He urged the public to stay alert and contact his office if they noticed anything suspicious. Sheriff Flournoy also mentioned that his office had been involved in picking up three runaway girls from the state school, two runaways from the Giddings State School, and a runaway girl from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

July set weather records for temperatures and moisture. The mercury climbed to 100 degrees or more on seven days, peaking on July 26 when the thermometers hit a torrid 103. By comparison, there was only one 100-degree day in 1973. With regard to rainfall in July 1974, only 1.99 inches were gauged, upping the annual total to 18.66, almost four inches below normal.

The Carthage Little Leaguers, in their advance to the East Texas championship of District 14, had not seen pitching like that of La Grange’s Greg Trlicek before the teams did battle. The La Grange righthander was almost invincible as he led his mates to a 4-1 bidistrict triumph and prepared to make a bid for the Texas State title the following week. La Grange was the champion of District 13.

Gold’n Crisp clobbered Fashion Dress Shop, 18-1, in the first Ladies Softball League encounter. Anita Dippel, the winning Gold’n Crisp pitcher, gave up only six base hits. Barbara Liska collected two of them. The victors punched out 14 licks, including singles by Nancy Malota and two each by Mildred Hrachovy, Gloria Ferguson and Natalie Wubbenhorst. Miss Liska was the losing pitcher.

Karstedt Feed opened up a three-game lead in the La Grange Slow Pitch Softball League with a 15-6 victory over Prause’s Market. B.J. Kalina was the winning pitcher as Karstedt banged out 19 hits and took advantage of four Prause errors. Dean Neisner was three-for-three at the plate for Karstedt, while Johnny Dawson was three-for-four, including a home run, and Dwayne Roberts two-for-three with a homer. Melvin Melcher was the losing pitcher for Prause’s.

An unusually large delegation of freshmen would lead the charge when La Grange Leopard football aspirants reported for the 1974 season on Monday,Aug. 12. Head Coach Ben Bloomer said he expected about 40 freshmen. The issuing of shoes and socks would be the first order of business of the new season. It would also be the first of one-a-day conditioning drills beginning daily at about 5:30 p.m. and continuing until around 7 p.m. The first week would concentrate on the kicking game, running plays, stances and other general basics.

The Rev. Willie Rotter Jr. of Bellville was conducting the Sunday morning worship service at St. John Lutheran Church in Rutersville. The Rev. Rotter had been a member of St. John, Rutersville before studying for the ministry. Prior to serving in Bellville, he was the pastor of both the Maxwell-Lockhart and Fredericksburg congregations for five years.

Glenda Moellenberndt and Janet G. Zimmermann of La Grange were on the honor roll at Texas Woman’s University. Richard Kana and Elaine Warhol were included on the dean’s list for the spring semester at St. Edward’s University in Austin. William H. Schovajsa of La Grange was on the spring honor roll at North Texas State University. Karen K. Baumbach of La Grange, Nancy Aschenbeck of Round Top-Carmine and Roger Dale Schulze of Fayetteville were on the Blinn College honor roll for the first semester of summer school.

Funeral services were held for: Isabell, the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Villaneuva of La Grange; Eddie E. Prihoda, 55, of Ellinger; Ernest H. Schulze, 87, of Winchester; Mrs. Antonia A. Heinsohn, 89, of Rutersville; Fritz J. (John) Eilers, 84, of La Grange; Henry Otis Gilliam, 64, a native of Muldoon; Clem David Richardson, 84, a former resident of the La Grange area; and John F. Scheel, 69, of Ellinger.

Several La Grange residents were surprised to see a passenger train pass through Smithville. It was an Amtrak train, formerly known as the Texas Chief on the Santa Fe, which had been detoured on the M-K-T by way of Smithville because of a derailment near Bellville. It was making the Houston-Temple run. The Katy made its last passenger train run through La Grange in the 1940s.

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