Fayette County Sheriff Keith Korenek reports that on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at approximately 10 a.m. Interdiction Investigator David Smith conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on I-10 westbound, at the 663-mile marker for a traffic infraction. Investigator Smith detected several criminal indicators and consent to search was granted. During the search, Investigator Smith located tampering to a natural void in the rear wall of the vehicle. Smith then located several vacuum-sealed bundles of U.S. currency, which were hidden and packaged consistent with that of drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The monies were taken to the bank and totaled to $136,000. The driver, identified as 30-year-old Herbert Martinez Jr. of Laredo, was arrested and charged with money laundering a 3rd-degree felony. Martinez was transported to the Dan R. Beck Justice Center.

The pantry will continue for the month of October as a drive-thru format on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, however beginning with the month of November the pantry will begin serving clients inside the food distribution area of the warehouse.

Schulenburg and La Grange firefighters put out a small grass fire near Swiss Alp Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 30. The call initially went out the La Grange Fire Department around 1:30 p.m. Schulenburg VFD was called a few minutes later. The fire was located in an area near the border of the two departments’ service areas. The property owner reported that workers had cleared some brush and stacked it on several piles around the property about two months ago. They were waiting until the County lifted the burn ban to set the brush piles on fire. The set the fires on Wednesday. “Everything was fine this morning, but then the wind picked up this afternoon,” the property owner told the Record. One of the brush fires located in a low spot behind a tank dam got out of control. The fire spread to surrounding grass. The two departments quickly got the fire under control. No one was injured and there were no major damages. Photo by Andy Behlen

The La Grange Optimist Club is beginning its 40th year as a service organization in La Grange. That 40th year began in a special way Saturday Sept.

The communities in portions of Fayette, Lavaca, and Lee Counties in and around La Grange, Schulenburg, Fayetteville, and Weimar announced that Colorado Valley Communications was recently named a Smart Rural CommunitySM (SRC) provider by NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. SRC is a national network of communities powered by innovative rural broadband providers that are building a brighter future for small-town America.