Archive for the ‘Bastrop County’ Category

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Child sex abuse suspect freed on bail Friday

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering had barely finished briefing the media Friday on the arrest of a top-ranking department officer when the suspect, charged with a series of sexual offenses involving a nine-year-old girl, posted bail and was released from jail.

Lt. Eddie L. Matthews, 45, was taken into custody about 8:45 a.m. Friday and ordered held under $100,000 bail. Jail records show that Matthews was released at 3:21 p.m. after a local bail bond company posted a bond the same day.

Pickering scheduled a media briefing on the case for 2 p.m. Friday, but the session did not begin until almost 2:30 p.m. It lasted about 30 minutes.

Matthews, a 16-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, was in charge of the patrol division prior to his arrest. He was immediately suspended from duty pending an internal departmental probe, said Pickering. Matthews is accused of repeated assaults on the girl beginning last year.

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Posted in Bastrop County, Crime | No Comments »

Sheriff’s Dept. Lt. jailed on child sex charge

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–A veteran Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department supervisor was jailed today on charges he sexually molested a nine-year-old girl repeatedly since October 2009.

Lt. Eddie L. Matthews, 45, was arrested at 8:45 a.m. Friday and ordered held in the Bastrop County Jail under $100,000 bail, according to public records and a statement by Sheriff Terry Pickering. A 16-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, Matthews was also suspended with pay pending an internal sheriff’s department investigation, said Pickering. Matthews had been in charge of the sheriff’s department uniformed services sections, including the patrol division, according to the sheriff.

The investigation began Feb. 25 when an Elgin police detective contacted Texas Ranger Brent Barina about child sexual assault allegations against Matthews, according to a court document. Barina subsequently met with state Child Protective Services officials, interviewed the girl’s mother and arranged for the child to be interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Bastrop. Matthews was also interviewed and denied any inappropriate conduct, according to Barina.

The child said she had been repeatedly molested and assaulted by Matthews since October 2009, according to a sworn statement by Barina.

In a press statement Friday, Sheriff Pickering said the alleged offenses did not arise from the officer’s law enforcement duties, and the alleged victim “was not a stranger” to Matthews.

The formal charge against Matthews is “Continuing Sexual Abuse of a Child,” an offense which carries a penalty, upon conviction, of 25 years to life in prison without parole.

Bastrop County employment records show that Matthews worked for the sheriff’s department from January 1993 to July 2004, then was rehired in January 2005. Pickering said Matthews had received a number of commendations for his job performance during his time with the department.

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Early voters flood party primary election polls

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Bastrop, Tx–Bastrop County election officials were shipping additional ballots to busy voting places this afternoon because of heavy turnout in both Republican and Democratic races for party nominations to the November general election for county, state and federal offices.

In a dramatic turnaround from recent polling patterns, voters in the Republican primary are outnumbering their Democratic counterparts by a margin of almost two to one. Through Feb. 25, 1495 ballots in Bastrop County had been cast in the GOP primary. Through the same period only 844 votes had been cast in the Democratic primary.

Today was the last day for early voting in the primaries. Election day is Tuesday, March 2.

Four years ago, when Texas staged its last election for governor, Bastrop County’s early voting primary turnout reached only 611 Republican ballots and 832 on the Democratic side.

GOP primary interest is centered on a heated contested for the governorship as well as contests for the party’s nomination for county commissioners in Pct. 2 and Pct. 4, not to mention four Republicans seeking to challenge the incumbent Democrat, Bill Weddle, for the Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace bench.

Weddle also has a Democratic opponent, Dickie Henderson, and Pct. 4 Commissioner Lee Dildy is facing a Democratic Party challenger, Michael Flowers, as well.

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Posted in Bastrop County, Local Politics | No Comments »

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