Archive for the ‘Bastrop County’ Category

« Older Entries

Ex alcohol agent faces trial for teen sex assault, oppression in Bastrop

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–A former law enforcement agent for the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission was ordered on May 25 to stand trial in Bastrop on charges of official oppression and sexual assault of a child younger than age 17. The state grand jury for Bastrop County returned two indictments against former TABC agend Joe Chavez this week.

Chavez was released from the Bastrop County Jail on $225,000 bail last June 12. The alleged incident, involving a teen and sting operations aimed at alcohol sales by local retailers, took place May 30, 2009, according to investigators. The grand jury indictments, which are not evidence of guilt, name Chavez on charges of sexually assaulting the girl as well as official oppression,that is, acting “under color of his employment as a public servant, namely as a law enforcement agent for the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission.”

Following the arrest of Chavez, TABC officials announced a state wide review and overhaul of rules for sting operations involving field agents and and underage informants working with them.

No trial date has been set.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime | No Comments »

Grand jury orders teen’s trial in Mom’s murder

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–A 15-year-old from McDade was ordered to stand trial for murder in the August 2009 death of her mother, 42-year-old Tracy Belllard. Haley Bellard was 14 at the time of the incident.

Last week 423rd District Judge Chris Duggan in Bastrop ruled that Haley Bellard can be tried as an adult for her alleged role in her mother’s death. On May 25 the state grand jury for Bastrop County returned an indictment against the teen, in effect sending the case to trial . An indictment indicates that grand jurors decided there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. The action also serves as formal notice of a felony charge against a defendant. An indictment is not evidence of guilt in any case.

Since Duggan’s ruling earlier this month, Haley Bellard has been held in the Bastrop County Jail under $100,000 bail. Previously she had been held in a juvenile facility in Seguin.

Also charged in the death of Tracy Bellard is 18-year-old Joseph Douglas. He is in the Bastrop County Jail under $750,000 bail. Criminal investigators believe Tracy Bellard was shot to death in her McDade home last Aug. 14 after she tried to break up a romantic relationshiip between her daughter and Douglas.

Prosecutors said it could be another year before the case comes to trial.

Tags: ,
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime | No Comments »

Girl, 15, can be tried as an adult in Mom’s shooting death, Bastrop judge rules

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–After a hearing today a state district judge ruled that 15-year-old Hailey Bellard can be tried as an adult for the shooting death last August of her mother, Tracy Bellard, 42, of McDade. The teen was immediately arrested on a murder charge and ordered held in the Bastrop County Jail under $100,000 bail.

Hailey Bellard had been held in a juvenile detention facility since she and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Joseph Douglas, were questioned in August 2009 about the disappearance of Tracy Bellard, who worked at the family restaurant, Mimi G’s, on FM 1441 north of Bastrop. Douglas, also charged with murder, remains in jail under $500,000 bail.

District Attorney Bryan Goertz said he will seek a grand jury indictment against Hailey Bellard next week. Grand jury action is required to send any felony case to trial.

Criminal investigators believe Tracy Bellard was shot to death at her McDade home after she repeatedly tried to interfere with a romantic relationship between her daughter, 14 at the time, and Douglas.

Tags:
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime | No Comments »

New office building tops county construction plans

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County officials this week formally published notice that they plan to borrow $10.8 million to finance a variety of projects including a new office building, road and bridge improvements and technology upgrades.

The plan is to issue certificates of obligation, a form of bond debt obligation which does not require prior voter approval. More than half the total, some $5.5 million, is earmarked for the county’s four road and bridge precincts. Specific projects are not identified in public documents immediately available for review.

The next largest project is a proposed $4 million office building on Jackson Street to house operations of the tax assessor’s office and the county’s development services department. The county already owns the site on the east of Jackson near the county jail and Bastrop Central Appraisal District offices. Construction could begin later this year, an official said.

The tax assessor presently operates out of the Courthouse Annex at 804 Pecan St. in Bastrop. Development Services is housed in the former Kershaw & Jenkins law offices at 802 Water St. across the street from the main Courthouse complex.

The remaining bond funds will go for technology improvements, mostly emergency service and jail communications, as well as a communications tower site in the Rosanky area.

Posted in Bastrop County, business plans | No Comments »

Rosanky’s DD Ranch owner dies in Houston

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Dan Duncan, possibly the richest man in Houston, died at his home there March 28, according to an AP report. He was 77.

He was also owner of the DD exotic game and hunting preserve south of Smithville in the Rosanky area and a publicity-shy figure in the Smithville community.

The company he founded in 1968, Enterprise Products Partners LP , and took public in 1998 owned some 48,000 miles of oil, gas and petrochemical product pipelines in the U.S. as well as 25 natural gas processing plants, according to the AP report. The cause of death was not immediately announced by the company.

His wealth, estimated at $9 billion, put Duncan among the 100 richest U.S. residents, by some accounts.

The Rosanky exotic game ranch was apparently an outgrowth of one of his personal passions, big game hunting. The “Double D” spread included herds of large game animals from North America, Africa and Asia which were carefully managed for hunting by Duncan customers and guests. The lavish grounds include a luxurious hunting lodge, fishing lake, and meat processing facilities.

In 2002 Duncan attracted wide attention after being suspected of illegally shooting sheep and moose from a helicopter while on a hunting expedition in Russia. He was never formally charged with a crime in connection with the incident. He insisted that he and others on the trip did not know the activity was illegal.

Posted in Bastrop County, Environmental Movements | No Comments »

Deep water well drilling ban extended by board

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–The Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District board extended its temporary ban on new permits to drill for water in the most prolific underground formation in the area at a meeting Wednesday. A board resolution extended the moratorium until some key data is available from state water planners, including the Texas Water Development Board.

The current statewide water planning process calls for determining a number of basic factors including what is called managed available groundwater (MAG) and desired future conditions for aquifers (DFC). The Lost Pines board, which oversees groundwater resources in Bastrop and Lee County, cannot by itself determine those numbers, and when that work will be complete is not clear to officials.

Lost Pines officials imposed a moratorium on new drilling into the Simsboro aquifer last month amid growing pressure from private water interests to boost allowable pumping sharply and soon. District officials fear they may have already issued drilling permits for more water than is likely to be available over the next 50 years without depleting the aquifer.

Extending the ban was denounced by officials of a water marketing group, End-Op, which hopes to complete a deal to sell up to 56,000 acre feet of water a year to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority for use in the San Marcos area or further south. As much or more Simsboro water is also being sought in Lee and Bastrop County by other interests, including the Brazos River Authority.

Tags:
Posted in Bastrop County, Environmental Movements | No Comments »

Murder trials ordered in death near Paige

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–A state grand jury on Tuesday handed up indictments against two men charged in the beating and/or stabbing death of a Paige cook late last year.

Dustin Dickman and Dennis Leetch were arrested late in Januray in connection with the death of Michael VanDyke, 23, who had been working as a cook at the Old Frontier restaurant in Paige before his disappearance about the middle of December. Sheriff’s department investigators believe the two assaulted VanDyke outside the Paige area residence he shared with Dickman and Dickman’s girlfriend, who has not been charged in the case.

Investigators also believe that VanDyke was initially buried in a shallow grave near the residence but later moved to a rural site near San Marcos where the body was burned, possibly beyond identification, over a period of perhaps 36 hours.

Dickman and Leetch are both being held in the Bastrop County Jail under $500,000 bail each. An indictment by grand jurors sends the case to trial but is not evidence of guilt.

Tags:
Posted in Bastrop County, Crime | No Comments »

County approves bus unit buy

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County commissioners agreed Monday to spend $1,500 for an old bus to be outfitted for command and communications duty in emergency or police operations.

The 1986 former Cap Metro bus will come from Williamson County, which no longer needs the vehicle, said Mike Fisher, the county’s emergency management coordinator. His office already has the radio and related equipment needed to outfit the unit, said Fisher.

The price will be covered by seized drug money held by the county sheriff’s office. The bus “still has some useful life in it,” Fisher told commissioners.

Posted in Bastrop County | No Comments »

Drought costs local ag producers millions

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–The value of agricultural production in Bastrop County last year fell more than $20 million from 2008, a drop blamed on severe drought conditions which extended back to 2007, according to a report delivered to Bastrop County commissioners on March 8.

The report by Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent Rachel Bauer estimated total production in the county at $46.9 million for 2008. That total fell to $26.2 million in 2009, she said.

In 2006, before the onset of a multi-year drought, the total production was valued at $63.2 million.

Bastrop County’s biggest products, hay and cattle, also took the biggest hits, according to Bauer’s figures. Hay production, valued at $5.7 million in 2006, sank to $2.3 million last year.

Beef cattle production, which reached some $34 million in 2006, fell to an estimated $24.9 million in 2008 and sank to $16.7 million in 2009 as producers thinned or sold off herds while grass and water disappeared during the dry period.

Pecan production, which topped $3 million in 2007, dipped to less than $1 million in 2009. Vegetables were valued at $1.9 million in 2007 but fell to $837,000 last year.

A few minor production categories showed increases, however. Bauer estimated the value of hogs in 2006 at $45,000, a number which had more than doubled to $99,000 by 2009. Hunting, recreation and timber production also either held steady or showed small gains since 2007, according to the report.

Posted in Bastrop County | 3 Comments »

Local Republicans flood polls to pick candidates

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–GOP voters swamped polling places in Bastrop County today in party primary elections to select nominees for local, state and federal offices, delaying the final tally to name winners, losers and runoff hopefuls.

Democratic ballots were fully counted and winners determined by about 10:30 p.m., with party voters favoring the two incumbents who had primary opponents.

Republican poll watchers were still waiting for the final ballots to be counted at 11 p.m. Some GOP polling places ran out of printed ballots and voters were forced to fill out makeshift ballots which were then transferred to a form which could be counted by an optical scanner, officials said.

Incumbent GOP County Commissioner Clara Beckett in Pct. 2 seemed headed to an easy renomination over challenger Adam Meuth. With some votes still out, Beckett held a 1047 to 431 vote lead.

The race was much closer between Republican Pct. 4 Commissioner candidates seeking to challenge Democrat Lee Dildy in the November general election. David “Rocky” Palmquist held a narrow 342 to 321 lead over rival Ron Jay, with results from one voting box still to be reported. The winner will face the veteran Democrat in November.

Dildy overcame a challenge from Michael Flowers for the Democratic nomination, 502 to 444, with all ballots counted.

In the contest which has drawn the most candidate interest this year–for Pct. 1 justice of the Peace–Democratic incumbent Bill Weddle turned back challenger Dickie Henderson, 503 to 325.

On the Republican side in Pct. 1, Justice of the Peace hopeful Donna VanGilder apparently won a four-way race without a runoff. With one voting box still to be reported, Van Gilder had 708 votes (54.7 percent) with a large lead over other GOP candidates including Vann Pressley with 279, J.W. Snell with 221 and Sue Fruge with 84.

Tags:
Posted in Bastrop County, Local Politics | No Comments »

« Older Entries