House Fire Claims Lives of Giddings Couple

Giddings Times & News

• The Giddings Volunteer Fire Department was paged out to an early morning house fire that claimed the lives of a local couple on Nov. 23 at 1:45 a.m. The burning structure was the home of C.W. and Mary Hales at 5328 E. Hwy. 290. The Lee County 911 call center had been notified by a medical alert company that a panic alarm had been triggered at the Hales’ residence and the Hales were trapped inside their burning home. The Hales’ long-time employee and caregiver, James Williams arrived at the home and attempted to rescue them from their burning bedroom. Williams desperately tried to put out the flames on and around the Hales, but the room continued to fill with flames and smoke until the building began to fall down around him. Williams narrowly escaped and suffered burns and smoke inhalation. Giddings and South Lee County VFD extinguished the blaze. The Texas Fire Marshal will conduct a standard fatality investigation into the cause of the fire.

The Examiner

• Zachary Reyes, 21, a suspected drug dealer from Navasota has been arrested after a shooting in College Station. College Station police arrested Reyes after reportedly attempted to shoot someone at a party early on the morning of Nov. 22. According to police, Reyes was asked to leave the house when he allegedly fired multiple shots at the man who asked him to leave. Police said nobody was injured in the shooting. Police found two guns on Reyes, along with a large amount of cash, about 45 grams of marijuana, and a digital scale. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful carrying of a weapon, manufacture, and delivery of a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana. Reyes remains in the Brazos County jail on an $83,000 bond.

The Bastrop Advertiser

• Starting in December, Bastrop residents will have a new option available to travel from place to place in the city. Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) is set to use the city of Bastrop to debut its new on-demand ride service, CARTS Now. The service will come in addition to the existing interconnected services offered by CARTS such as country bus, interurban coach, and metro connector. CARTS Now will primarily give the customer an Uber-like experience, but with trained, certified drivers. The service is scheduled to operate Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and promises curb-to-curb rides anywhere within Bastrop’s city limits that will arrive within 15 minutes of being requested. Each ride will cost $2. Rides in the electric vehicle beginning Dec. 14 will be free thanks to the Energy Department grant. While the CARTS Now service zone extends throughout Bastrop, only a portion of this zone will include the electric vehicle service zone because the electric vehicles are slow-speed vehicles, and are restricted to a maximum speed of 35 mph. The CARTS Bastrop station at Hospital Drive is currently undergoing renovations. The station will soon feature a staging area and charging station for electric vehicles, and the facility will be used as the hub for the electric vehicles.

• The Bastrop YMCA will discontinue operations and programming on Dec. 18 as financial losses related to the coronavirus pandemic forced the YMCA of Austin to close the Bastrop branch. The Bastrop YMCA, a subsidiary of the YMCA of Austin, has provided health, recreation, and wellness programming since 2011. During these nine years, the YMCA of Austin invested more than $1 million in the Bastrop community through the Bastrop YMCA, according to the organization. YMCA of Austin President and CEO James Finck said that operating the Bastrop branch resulted in an average annual loss of $150,000. “For all that time up until we got hit with the coronavirus, all of our other sites that were a lot larger could help subsidize Bastrop,” Finck said. “We’re just not in that position anymore. These are heartbreaking decisions that we have to make.” This left the Bastrop branch on the cutting room floor when the YMCA of Austin had to explore significant costsaving measures. Finck said the Bastrop location is the only YMCA of Austin branch that is expected to be closed.

Elgin Courier

• An inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution of Bastrop, a low-security facility on Highway 95 between Bastrop and Elgin, has died due to COVID-19. According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons released on Nov. 23, inmate Charles Fankhauser was evaluated by institutional medical staff for symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and transported to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation on October 22. While he was at the hospital, Fankhauser tested positive for COVID-19. Fankhauser was placed on a ventilator on November 14 after his condition declined. He was pronounced deceased by hospital staff on November 20. Fankhauser, 64, had long-term pre-existing medical conditions that are listed by the CDC as risk factors for developing a more severe case of COVID-19. He was sentenced in the Southern District of Texas to a 97-month sentence for possession of child pornography. He had been in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution of Bastrop since Dec. 18, 2019.

The Weimar Mercury

• On Nov. 23 Colorado County Commissioners voted 4-1 to decline funds from a grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) Grant Application. In a Sept. meeting, commissioners approved the grant on a 3-2 vote. CTCL provided grants to local election jurisdictions across the country to help ensure election offices have enough staffing, training, and equipment necessary so every eligible voter could participate in the Nov. 3 election. County Elections Administrator Rebecka LaCourse said Texas Association of Counties contacted the county saying they were eligible to receive the $14,900 private grant with “no strings attached” which was given by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. Some commissioners were against the grant because they believed Zuckerberg has and is still censoring the President of the United States and free speech. Several individuals also spoke against the county accepting the grant saying it “sends the wrong message to our community” and that there are “always strings attached.”

What the Neighbors Are Talking About

A look at what’s making news just over the county line.