New Bastrop Skate Park Comes with $395,00 Price Tag
The Bastrop Advertiser
• The city of Bastrop will move forward with a planned skate park at Fisherman’s Park despite a significant cost increase to the project. After receiving construction bids for the approximately 5,000 square-foot skate park in February, $290,000 was budgeted for the construction project, which was awarded to Artisan Concrete Services. The project included a base bid of $246,000 for the skate park. Two additional features could be added at a cost of $27,000 and $16,000 each. The skate park, with the added features, would have cost $289,000, just within the amount the city budgeted, but as part of the design process, a geo-tech report was completed and remediation to the existing soils at the project site was proposed, substantially increasing construction costs. Should both features be included in the skate park, the remediation would add more than $106,000 in additional costs to the project. The total project cost with both features and remediation would be about $395,000, compared to the previously estimated $289,000. City Manager Paul Hofmann and city staff are now tasked with finding the additional money needed to complete the project.
The Navasota Examiner
•Lamond Morris, 36 of Bedias, was arrested Oct. 12 after forcefully entering a home without consent. At approximately 12:30 p.m. Navasota Police Officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Teague Street for a report of a disturbance. Officers arrived and discovered a naked man, identified as Morris, had forcefully entered the house on Teague Street. The residents of the home stated Morris was naked and assaulted a juvenile while inside the home. Morris was taken into custody for burglary of a habitation/ assault, a second-degree felony. Due to the state being under a disaster declaration, the charge is enhanced to a first-degree felony. Morris confessed to being under the influence of PCP. He was taken into custody and booked in the Grimes County Jail.
• Three suspects were arrested on Oct. 4, after a suspicious call led to the discovery of multiple drugs and two individuals with outstanding warrants. Navasota Police were dispatched to the 1700 block of E. Washington at approximately 8:50 p.m. for a report of suspicious activity. Officers located a vehicle occupied by three individuals. They were identified as Paul Reyna, 28 from Navasota; Isaiah Garza, 21 from Navasota, and Elizabeth Moody, 34 of College Station. Reyna had an outstanding warrant in Grimes County for possession of marijuana. Garza had an outstanding warrant from Brazos County for assault on a public servant. A police K9 arrived on the scene and the vehicle was searched on probable cause. Officers located several drug paraphernalia items including a black box filled with various narcotics; methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, synthetic marijuana, and over $2,000 cash.
• William Charles “Charlie” McMillan was 7 months old when he was elected mayor at the Whitehall Community Volunteer Fire Department annual fundraiser in Oct. 2019, making him the youngest mayor in the history of the United States of America. The gifted 18-month old retail politician who loves to shake hands and kiss “colleagues” has never told a lie or broken a promise and never makes campaign gaffes, because he cannot yet speak. He is continuing to run on his 2019 campaign motto, “Make America Kind Again” and the two main planks of his candidacy are Pro-Life and Pro-Adoption since he himself was adopted. You can play an important role in helping Charlie win re-election on Nov. 7, at the Fire Department’s monthly barbecue fundraiser by making a financial contribution to Charlie’s campaign. One-hundred percent of your gift will go to the expansion and improvements of the Fire Station which will allow for faster response times to emergencies that could result in lives saved. Each dollar given represents one vote cast. Charlie is currently running unopposed.
Elgin Courier
• A new bus station is on its way to downtown Elgin after a groundbreaking ceremony was held. Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) is a regional transportation district serving the non-urbanized areas of Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Travis and Williamson Counties. Transit services that will originate from the future Elgin CARTS station include the CARTS interurban bus route and the CapMetro 990 route to downtown Austin, as well as full-service Greyhound services. The station is also located on CapMetro’s planned Green Line rail network extension. The station will also have restrooms that will remain open to the public during city events downtown. The station is expected to be completed after 10 or 12 months of construction.
The Brenham Banner-Press
• The former president and CEO of Blue Bell Creameries has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Austin on seven charges in connection to an alleged scheme to cover up a deadly listeria outbreak in 2015. According to a press release from the U.S. Justice Department, Paul Kruse was charged with six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The indictment states the company was notified in February 2015 by state officials that two ice cream products from the Brenham factory tested positive for listeria. Blue Bell recalled all products in April 2015 after they were linked to ten listeria cases in four states, including three deaths in Kansas. In May, Blue Bell pleaded guilty in a related case to two counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products. It was sentenced in September to pay criminal penalties totaling $17.25 million, and agreed to pay an additional $2.1 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations regarding products manufactured under insanitary conditions and sold to federal facilities, including the military. Kruse was previously charged by criminal information in May, during the temporary closure of grand juries in the Western District of Texas due to COVID-19. The information was later dismissed without opposition from the government, but the grand jury has resumed operations and now sets out the charges against Kruse.
• At 2:10 p.m. a two-vehicle wreck in Hempstead on Oct. 18 ended with the death of two Hempstead locals. The wreck was caused when a Ford Escape traveling eastbound on U.S. 290 failed to yield while attempting to turn on FM 1736. The Escape was struck on the passenger’s side by a Toyota Highlander. Gary and Janice King, both 77 years old, were transported to the hospital where they both passed away. An Austin family of five was inside the Highlander. The mother and one child were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
Giddings Times & News
• A missing person case that went on for nearly four decades has finally been solved with the use of forensic investigations and DNA profiling. The story dates back to Nov. 17, 1984 when the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was contacted regarding skeletal remains found by hunters in a field off of CR 200, about five miles west of Giddings. Those remains, consisting of only four bones, were sent to Texas Tech University and examined by a forensic anthropologist. They were determined to be that of a white male, age 30 to 39, although no leads were developed at that time. Over the years, many other test and facial reproductions were done but there were still no leads. In 2019, the DNA was sent to DNA Doe Project for forensic genealogy and to HudsonAlpha Discovery for whole genome sequencing. This year The DNA Doe Project reported that the remains may belong to James Hamm and a potential relative was believed to be a brother, Eugene Hamm living in Florida. Eugene was contacted and he did say James has been missing since 1984. A DNA sample from Eugene confirmed that the remains were a biological match. James was in his early 30’s, lived out of state and was in Lee County on business. It is undetermined the cause of his death.
• Giddings firemen received a call at 12:35 a.m. on Oct. 16 as a barn in Ledbetter was discovered fully engulfed in flames. The glow from the burning building could be seen from over 5 miles away, as the structure at 2115 FM 180 was being consumed by fire.