February 8th, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–Jury selection began today in the August 2008 beating death of a Cedar Creek man. The accused, homeless 39-year-old Bryan Teague, faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.
State District Judge Chris Duggan is presiding over the trial in 423rd District Court. Larry Jones died from injuries sustained following a drug-related confrontation, including wounds inflicted by a pick ax, according to sheriff’s department investigators. The dispute began in a rural wooded area west of Bastrop frequented by transients and other homeless persons, officials believe.
Among the panel of potential jurors was Pct. 4 County Commissioner Lee Dildy, who did not attend a meeting of county commissioners Monday as a result of his jury service.
Tags: murder trial begins
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime | No Comments »
February 8th, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County commissioners today encouraged Sheriff Terry Pickering to negotiate a deal worth almost $600,000 to put more advanced Panasonic video and wireless equipment into 45 patrol cars this year.
The sheriff said his current budget can absorb the first year’s lease or lease/purchase payment of some $170,000, but he told commissioners he needs their agreement to fund the final three years of a payment plan contract. Pct. 2 Commissioner Clara Beckett urged Pickering to work with County Auditor Lisa Smith on current year budget revisions to allow the initial year’s payment.
The sheriff said the new in-car video equipment linked to laptop computers will make patrol operations more efficient and effective. The scanty video equipment now in use is outdated, he said.
Pct. 1 Commissioner Willie Pina and Pct. 4 Commissioner Lee Dildy did not attend Monday’s meeting.
Tags: police equipment
Posted in Bastrop County | No Comments »
February 8th, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–City council member Joe Beal became the first to put his name on the ballot today for a second two-year term in the office.
The present terms of Mayor Terry Orr and Council Member Julie Hart also end this year unless they win new terms in the May city elections. So far Beal is the only announced candidate.
Tags: Joe Beal
Posted in Bastrop City Council, Local Politics | No Comments »
February 3rd, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–This week marks the 26th anniversary of the unsolved murder of Bastrop County environmental activist Vicky Wharton, 31. Her body, with two dozen or so stab wounds, was found beside a rural road off FM 1704 south of Elgin on Feb. 6, 1984. Investigators at the time believed she died sometime the previous night.
Despite a flurry of publicity and investigation over the following weeks, no one has ever been charged, arrested or tried for the crime. Wharton was a leading organizer in efforts to stymie lignite strip mining plans first at Camp Swift, in Fayette County and later at the Steiner Ranch north of Bastrop. She was a founding member of the Central Texas Lignite Watch, the mother or grandmother of subsequent environmental organizations in Bastrop and neighboring counties. She was also a founding member of the Sayersville Historical Association focused on the rural community where she lived between Bastrop and Elgin on the banks of Big Sandy Creek.
The initial investigation into the murder was hampered by inter-agency rivalries during the 1984 primary election race for Bastrop County sheriff. In the late 1980s former sheriff Con Kiersey occasionally talked about reviving the investigation, but nothing occurred as a result. Still later Chief Deputy Sheriff Ronnie Duncan did reopen the case, but the only result was to clear a few possible suspects who had been the subject of early interest.
When Chief Deputy Charlie Littleton replaced Duncan in the sheriff’s department last year, he promised to look into the Wharton murder again. Littleton said recently that the only ongoing effort to solve the case is a regular check of DNA evidence preserved at the time against a growing data base of similar evidence gathered by law enforcement agencies in the years since. A Texas Ranger remains assigned to follow any new information, said Littleton.
Tags: murder unsolved for 26 years
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime, Environmental Movements | 1 Comment »
February 2nd, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department criminal investigators spent part of today seeking a search warrant for a site in Hays County which they believe may reveal the remains of a Paige cook who has not been seen since mid December last year and who may be a murder victim.
However two other men are already in jail for the death of 23-year-old Michael Van Dyke. Investigators believe Van Dyke was beaten to death at his Paige home late last year. Charged in the case are Dustin Dickman, 24, and Dennis Leetch, 25. Apparently Van Dyke has not been seen since about Dec. 15. On Dec. 27 relatives alerted authorities that he was missing.
At first investigators suspected that the victim’s body had been dumped in a stock pond or some similar body of water. However they now believe his body may have been burned at a site in Hays County, according to sources who asked not to be identified. Investigators spent Tuesday morning drafting an application for a warrant to search the suspected site for evidence.
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Tags: Unsolved murder
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime, Uncategorized | No Comments »
February 2nd, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–A Cedar Creek woman was sentenced to nine years in prison and another 10 years on probation for driving drunk and causing the death of one Irish tourist and severe injuries to another in a traffic accident on Texas 71 just west of Bastrop in September 2007.
Susan Moore, convicted of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault last week by a jury in Bastrop, will serve up to nine years in prison and then begin a 10-year term on probation, ruled 423rd District Judge Chris Duggan.
Prosecutors said Moore had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for drivers following the accident.
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January 27th, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–Tuesday the city council agreed to issue $7.4 million in new construction bonds at an interest rate of 3.856062%. The offer from FTN Financial Capital Markets was the lowest of eight bids received earlier in the day. Six of the eight bids offered interest rates below 4% on the city bonds rated A+ by the agency Standard & Poor’s.
The funds will pay for completion of work on a new 15,000-square-foot city hall and a 26,000-square-foot civic center, utility and landscape improvements along Chestnut Street and some $1.2 million in electric utility upgrades, said City Manager Mike Talbot. In 2008 the council issued some bonds to begin the Chestnut Street, city hall and convention center projects.
Earlier this month the council approved the lowest qualified bids for city hall and convention center construction. The Chestnut Street work is about half done and should be completed this summer, said Talbot. The new city hall should be finished by year’s end and the convention center early in 2011. The electric system upgrades should be completed within a year, said Talbot.
Bastrop Power & Light customers will see any added costs reflected in electric rates. Convention center costs will come from hotel room rental taxes and the Chestnut Street work will be covered by a half cent sales tax which goes to the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. Cost of the new city hall, approved by voters in 2003, will show up in the debt service segment of city property tax bills.
Citing Standard & Poor’s bond rating report, Council Member Joe Beal said the city’s financial management team has “saved us a lot of money” in interest costs over the next 30 years.
Council Member Julie Hart agreed, saying “I’m excited to see these (interest) rates.”
Tags: new bond issue
Posted in Bastrop City Council | No Comments »
January 26th, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–A jury of nine women and three men heard opening arguments Jan. 26 in the intoxication manslaugher and intoxication assault case against a 59-year-old Cedar Creek waitress in 423rd District Court before District Judge Chris Duggan.
Susan Moore faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the manslaughter charge. She is also eligible for probation because she has no prior felony convictions. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in court Tuesday.
Evidence will show that Moore had more than twice the legal blood alcohol level in her system when her vehicle slammed into an auto headed in the opposite direction shortly before 5 p.m. on Texas 71 just west of Bastrop on Sept. 20, 2007, killing an Irish tourist and severely maiming another passenger, said Assistant District Attorney Greg Gilleland in his opening statement to the jury Tuesday afternoon. The accident victims “didn’t have a chance,” he said. Moore “wasn’t driving friendly,” Gilleland added.
In his own opening statement, defense attorney Neal Pfeiffer told the jury that other evidence will show reasonable doubt that Moore’s blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was more than the legal limit for intoxication. “Alcohol did not cause or contribute to this accident,” he said. “(Moore) is not guilty.”
According to investigators, Moore had left her job at Hill’s Cafe in Austin about 4 p.m. on the fatal day and was driving home when the accident occurred.
Tags: intoxication manslaughter case
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime, Traffic Fatalities | No Comments »
January 26th, 2010
Bastrop, Tx–What may have been the first highway traffic fatality of 2010 in the area took place about 4:48 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Texas 21/71 and FM 20 just west of Bastrop.
Reported dead at the scene was 47-year-old Bradley Goble who was driving east on Texas 71 when his vehicle crossed the median and struck another auto, according to a Department of Public Safety report.
Posted in Bastrop County, Traffic Fatalities | No Comments »
January 26th, 2010
Elgin, Tx–After four and a half years on the job, Elgin City Manager Jeff Coffee told a staff meeting Jan. 26 that he’s resigning effective June 1, according to independent sources who contacted Bastrop-News.com during the day. Coffee could not be reached for comment.
Coffee reportedly told his staff he is leaving the city’s employ for other opportunities. By day’s end the Elgin Courier web site had posted the text of what it said was Coffee’s letter of resignation to the city council.
Tensions between the city manager, the council and mayor have been growing for more than a year. Some critics have pointed to the city’s allegedly weakened financial position during Coffee’s tenure. Others have questioned his handling of some personnel management issues and administrative changes involving the city’s economic development functions, parks and recreation programs and the controversial purchase of an 80-acre site on Elgin’s west side for future economic development near US 290 and the Capitol Metro rail line between Austin and Giddings.
Coffee came to Elgin under something of a cloud, since his license to practice law in Texas was suspended near the same time by the State Bar of Texas. A dispute over service to a client from whom he had accepted a fee was the source of the complaint, according to public records. Before being hired in Elgin, Coffee had never held a post in municipal government.
One veteran observer of Elgin politics, who asked not to be identified, said conflicts among city council members involving the city manager had become “a tired act” which needed resolution.
Tags: city manager resigns, Elgin
Posted in Bastrop County | No Comments »