Injunction Clears the Way for Power Plant Core Testing

A crowd of about 30 hopeful Fayette County landowners was disappointed when 155th District Court Judge Paul Huser granted an injunction allowing the Lower Colorado River Authority and its subcontractors to enter the land of four defendants to survey, core test and carry out other operations deemed necessary. Defendants in the case were Raymond G. Cox, H.W. Anderson, Ed Sarrazin and W.C. Haisler, and their wives. The ruling was made after an hour of sometimes heated debate between William J. Merrill, the attorney representing the Fayette County Landowners Protective Association, LCRA attorney Richard Halpain and Judge Paul Huser. Merrill argued that the City of Austin and LCRA did not have the right to eminent domain 60 miles away in Fayette County.

Larry Klein of La Grange and Mrs. Ray Kusey of Schulenburg were recipients of awards from the American Cancer Society, Fayette County unit.

Glen Urban, the son of Mrs. Alvin Toll and grandson of Mrs. Frank Friemel of La Grange, had been clowning around in the Illinois State Fair, Indiana State Fair and Kentucky State Fair. In Kentucky, the coliseum, which held 16,000 people, was full for every performance. Glen would also be clowning at the upcoming State Fair of Texas and rodeo in Dallas.

A fullback named James Cleveland, along with a couple of key miscues on the other side, combined to give the Columbus Cardinals a 13-0 victory over the La Grange Leps on Friday night. Robert Poole was the Leps’ leading gainer with 91 yards and also paced La Grange defenders with 11 tackles, assisted and unassisted.

Carmine Feed Store owner- operator W.J. Priebe had something happen he’d never experienced in his 85-plus years. When leaving his home to go to work, he grabbed his cap off the back porch hat rack, thinking it felt a little heavy. He put on the cap and took it off just as quickly to find a rolled-up grass snake measuring 24 inches in length coiled up in it. He snipped off the reptile’s head with a pair of hedge shears.

Funeral services were held for: Charlie J. Sommerlatte, 84, of Willow Springs; Martin T. Kaiser, 60, of La Grange; and Tommy John Marik of Flatonia.

Margaret Joost, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Joost of La Grange, was named a semi-finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Tests. Margaret was a junior in the fall of 1973 when she took the same test as 1 million other students in 17,000 high schools. Approximately 15,000 semi-finalists representing the top one-half of 1% of the nation’s most academically talented people were selected, including Margaret.

The City of La Grange’s 97-block street improvement program, the largest the city had ever undertaken, was 60% complete. Eighty-two blocks were streets that had been hard-surfaced, but the pavement had deteriorated to the point that re-working was necessary. Blocks in reasonably good shape were being patched, but for the majority, the old paving base was being scarified, stabilizing lime added and new two-coat surfacing applied. City Manager Jimmy Freeman said 38 carloads of coated stone had been purchased, with another 10 required to complete the project.

Two local bantam breeders won honors in the poultry show at the Washington County Fair in Brenham. James Roy Wessels, showing Black Old English, copped the best male of the show on a cock and best bantam display. His winnings included first and second cock, first and second hen, first and second cockerel, and first and third pullet. Wilburn Hackebeil of La Grange and Austin had best bantam female of the show, a Dark Cornish hen, along with other wins.

City sales tax receipts for 12 municipalities in this area increased 15.4% in recent months. The majority of this uptick was attributed to the effects of inflation. The biggest gainer for the latest three-year span was Schulenburg, with a jump of 57.3%.

A Western Auto Associate Store was celebrating its grand opening at 130 N. Washington in La Grange. The new owners were Larry and Anita Muir, formerly of Dallas. Another grand opening event was planned for Sweitzer Furniture and Hardware in the old Kneip Hardware Building at 136 W. Colorado. The firm was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Sweitzer, formerly of Houston.

Special services at First Baptist Church of La Grange would highlight a groundbreaking ceremony for a new education-activities building to provide additional Sunday School classrooms and a gymnasium- type auditorium that could host indoor sports like basketball. On the building committee were: chair Tyson Parker, Bob Simmons, Harvey Smith, Steward Brown, Duane Moore, John Shepard, Mrs. Judy Smith, Mrs. Jean Ingram, Brenda Read and Harold Atkinson Jr.

Clarence Munke, a longtime courthouse employee, went to work at The First National Bank of La Grange. He had been employed as a deputy in the office of Tax Assessor and Collector Gilbert H. Eck for 22 years.

For more great stories, visit Elaine online at www. elainethomaswriter.com/blog/ or call her at (979) 263-5031.