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The Bastrop Advertiser bastropadvertiser.com Texas’ Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977

Volume 158, Number 93 THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012 50¢

City

MLK Day COUNTY

COUNTY

Museum progress on a roll

Helping youth education Illegal burning smokes county investigator

Trees help give land a new start

By terry HagertyAssistant Editor

The new home for

the Bastrop County Historical Society Mu-seum and Visitor Cen-ter is moving full steam ahead.

The construction at 904 Main St., the site of the former Bastrop city hall, has most of the interior demolition completed and the pre-liminary work for the concrete building pad expected to completed before the end of Janu-ary, according to muse-um officials. The over-all completion date is on schedule for October.

Gaeke Construction Co., under project su-pervisor Wesley Rus-sell, began renovation and additions to the fa-cility in early November 2011 after some envi-ronmental issues were

By terry Hagerty Assistant Editor

The words to “The Negro National Anthem” were sung with a moving spirit as Bonita Middleton and Dock Jackson led the audience Sunday after-noon in the opening verse,

“Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty.”

The occasion was the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Schol-arship Memorial Ser-vice at Bastrop’s Mount Rose Missionary Baptist

Church. The gathering of church and community leaders was a testament to both the legacy of Dr. King and the history and im-portance of the local youth scholarship program that originated in 1988.

By Denis MCginnessStaff Writer

Within an hour after county commissioners lifted the burn ban in late December 2011, Bastrop County environmental enforcement investiga-tor Gretchen Gardner had her hands full re-sponding to illegal burns. She wasn’t alone – area volunteer firefighters responded to dozens of calls as huge fires blazed well into the night – even though burning at night is illegal.

Gardner is still re-sponding to calls about outdoor burning and she’s issuing citations if they’re illegal.

“The community as a whole and even some law enforcement officials are not aware of the out-door burning regulations, many of which are being violated,” Gardner said.

Gardner suggests that landowners call their lo-cal fire departments be-fore they begin burning, provide an address and let officials know when they will burn and what is being burned.

Valuable time and resources that could be used elsewhere are being depleted when firefight-ers have to respond to outdoor burns.

“Don’t start your out-

By eriC BettsStaff Writer

Last Friday, 250 Bas-trop County landowners gathered at McKinney Roughs Nature Park to attend the county’s first post-fire habitat manage-ment event, a day-long workshop designed to

teach them how to care for the flora, fauna and soil of their fire-affected property.

For many, the first step was simple: picking up some flora to restore the landscape with.

TreeFolks, an Aus-tin-based nonprofit, dis-tributed 350 trees to

landowners to help them begin their reforesta-tion, including varieties of cedar elm, desert wil-low, Texas persimmon and burr oak. Executive director April Rose said she hoped the donations would address what she

insiDe

gooD FenCesTexas’ Agriculture Commissioner helped a local rancher rebuild his fire-damaged fence.

—Page A3

reCovery PLanCounty officials updated residents on the disaster recovery plan.

—Page A3

state ParKsOur columnist gives an update on the county’s state parks.

—Page A2

CaLenDarThursday, Jan. 19n 6 p.m. – Camp Swift Range public meeting at Bastrop Convention Cen-ter, 1408 Chestnut St. in Bastrop. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public meeting to present infor-mation on the upcoming Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study at the Camp Swift Range Com-plex, a Formerly Used Defense Site, located near Bastrop. USACE represen-tatives and their contractor will provide information on the upcoming investigation and answer any questions the public may have.

Saturday, Jan. 21n 6 p.m. – First annu-al benefit banquet for Bastrop Pregnancy Re-source Center at the Bas-trop Convention Center, 1408 Chestnut St. in Bas-trop. Tickets are $35 indi-vidual.Call Jennie Brim-hall at (512) 629-8781 for more information.

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inDeXNews Page A2Obits Page A2Community Page A3Sports Page B1Classifieds Page B4

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New digs at old city hall set for fall completion

Terry Hagerty/Bastrop AdvertiserRobbie Sanders looks over construction plans for the new home of the Bastrop County Historical Society Museum and Visitor Center.

Contributed photo by Gretchen GardnerBastrop County Environmental Enforcement Investigator Gretchen Gardner has been busy covering outdoor burns across the county, many of which have broken county and state regulations.

Terry Hagerty/Bastrop AdvertiserJewell Hodges, seated, and Judi Hoover join hands during the MLK Scholarship Memorial Service.

See MUSEUM, page A6

See MLK, page A6

See BURN, page A6

See TREE, page A7

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millions of trees on pub-lic and private land dev-astated by the Bastrop County Complex Fires which broke out Sept. 4, 2011.

The fire, the most destructive in Texas history, destroyed some 1,660 homes and raged through 95 percent of Bastrop State Park, as well as through sur-rounding private forest lands.

The project — a partnership between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Arbor Day Foun-dation and the Texas A&M Forest Service, aims to plant four mil-lion drought-hardy Lob-lolly pine seedlings on about 16,000 acres of land over the next five years.

The project is ex-pected to cost more than $4 million, or about $1 per seedling, according to Tom Harvey of the Texas Parks and Wild-life Department.

He noted that while naturally-occurring na-tive pine seedlings are sprouting in a form of natural rejuvenation, the trees which will be planted starting this winter have been grown from seeds the Texas A&M Forest Service collected in the 1980s and 90s.

“It’s about bringing back the trees,” Harvey said. “It’s a very natural and very great partner-ship.”

Dan Lambe, vice president of programs for the Arbor Day Foun-dation, said he was “proud” to be launching the program to help re-forest the burned areas of Bastrop.

“It’s about bringing life, health and beau-ty back to Bastrop,” Lambe said. “It’s about restoring habitat, re-storing the ecosystem, restoring the beauty of the Lost Pines area.”

The Arbor Day Foundation is leading the reforestation fund-raising efforts, he said, and has secured finan-cial commitments from corporate sponsors such as Mary Kay, Inc., Fe-dEx, Chili’s Grill and Bar, Nokia and Apache Corporation.

“The Lost Pines Re-covery Campaign is about bringing life back to Central Texas,” Lam-be said. “These trees are part of the long and important history of the people and land of this state.”

He also noted that at a price of $1 per tree, or about $500 per acre, any level of support from an individual or a corporation is appreci-ated.

“We are excited about this opportuni-ty,” Lambe said. “With the help of the com-munity and with the corporate sponsors and the partnerships we have, we will make a difference.”

State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, R-Lexington, spoke about a study done at Texas A&M Univer-sity of 85 state parks, which found the parks brought in on the or-der of $400 million for the state and created more than 11,000 jobs for communities across Texas.

He noted the jobs created by the parks, the leisure activities they provide and the economic impact are all good reasons to re-store the trees lost to the fires in Bastrop State Park.

He also noted it’s a long-term effort.

“We know this is not a short-term proj-

ect,” Kleinschmidt said. “It’s a quality-of-life issue for future generations.”

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission member Bill Jones began serving on the commission just days before the fires broke out. He noted the first official duty was a tour he took of the park af-ter the fire.

“My heart was sad-dened by what I saw,” Jones said. “The pic-tures in the paper and the video on TV didn’t do it justice. The land-scape looked more like the surface of the moon than of one of our prized state parks.”

He noted being “struck” by the heroic efforts to save struc-tures and that the same efforts that went into saving the park will now be put forth into restoring what was lost.

“Let the healing be-gin,” he said.

Saturday, September 1, 2012 The Bastrop Advertiser • Page A3

TREES: Arbor Day Foundation leading fundraising

By ERin GREEnStaff Writer

The return of the age of chivalry and gallantry is near.

The Bastrop Inde-pendent School Dis-trict is inviting the community to come see the EarlyAct First Knight Tournament of Champions student orientation ceremony at Bastrop Rodeo Are-na, on American Le-gion Drive.

Three separate cer-emonies will be held over two days at the arena.

The first ceremo-ny will be at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 4, for students from Blue-bonnet, Cedar Creek and Red Rock elemen-tary schools, followed by a ceremony at 1 p.m. for the students of Emile, Lost Pines and Mina elementary schools.

The final ceremony will be held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 5, for the students of Bas-trop and Cedar Creek intermediate schools.

According to its website, www.eafk.org, EAFK is a revolu-tionary character and ethics education pro-gram for kindergarten through eighth-grade students which is sponsored by the Bas-trop and Cedar Creek Rotary Clubs through a special grant from the Bastrop Education Foundation.

According to EAFK, the program is a com-prehensive course of study encompassing the entire student pop-ulation which teaches ethics, service and Ro-tary tradition along-side core academic subjects through a unique combination of classroom curriculum, Rotarian-led service, dramatic live-action visuals and parent ed-ucation.

EAFK, which is based on Sir Randall

Parr’s Knights of the Guild, brings the val-ues of noble charac-ter and service above self alive for children through the time-less theme of gallant knights and chivalry and helps instill in children character traits such as respon-sibility, honesty, per-severance, confidence and discipline.

In a presentation on the program made to the BISD Board of Trustees in June, Ce-dar Creek Rotary Club member Gilbert Solis explained how the pro-gram has helped curb discipline problems at Bluebonnet Elemen-tary School.

“If you talk to the teachers and the staff at the school, you’d see there’s quite a bit of improvement, not only in discipline issues, but in how they talk, how they act,” Solis said.

In the program, he said, students learn of a four-way test they can use before engag-ing in a certain behav-ior.

These test points have the student ask him- or herself four questions: “Is it the truth?”; “Is it fair to all concerned?”; “Will it build goodwill and bet-ter friendships?”; and “Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

Every six weeks, Solis said, students who exhibit good be-havior and use the four-way test receive character awards. In addition to receiving the awards, the stu-dents also participate in a knighting ceremo-ny.

Additionally, stu-dents may earn the ti-tles in the order of pag-es, squires or knights, according to the Early-Act First Knight web-site.

For more informa-tion on the program, log onto www.eafk.org.

BiSD

Not ‘joust’ another day

file photoKnights Cass Garcia and Amber Parr joust during the Early Act First Knight character education program last year at Bluebonnet Elementary School Monday.

By ERin GREEnStaff Writer

Got a traffic ticket within the city and nev-er paid it? Do you have a citation for disorderly conduct, for tall weeds or an unmowed lawn from six months ago that you forgot to pay? Or maybe that ticket was for another city or-dinance violation?

If you have gotten a ticket for any of these and you never took care of it, now would be the time.

Unless, that is, you want to run the risk of being arrested at home, at work and/or in front of friends and family.

The City of Bastrop Municipal Court is holding its annual war-rant roundup and for those with delinquent

fines and outstanding warrants, now is the chance to take care of them before city law enforcement personnel start knocking on doors the week of Sept. 10-14.

This isn’t to be con-fused with the state-wide warrant roundup initiative, which hap-pens in March, said Phyllis Mathison, court administrator for the Bastrop Municipal Court.

The local warrant roundup covers every-thing from traffic tickets within the city and dis-orderly conduct charges to city ordinance viola-tions and curfew and failure to attend school violations — any Class C misdemeanors — Mathison noted.

“We like to do the local (roundup) in Sep-

tember to kind of let the local people know these tickets need to be taken care of,” Mathison said. “When the state one happens, it’s for many agencies, but this is our local department here in Bastrop. We have quite a few local people who have ignored their tickets.”

But for those who come in to take care of their obligations, Mu-nicipal Judge Charlotte Hinds is “very lenient,” Mathison said. “She al-lows payment plans.”

Municipal Court warrant clerk Kim Wal-ters said the city’s got 2,950 outstanding war-rants and noted that not taking care of the fines they’ve incurred can lead to problems other than possibly get-ting arrested.

“If you don’t take care of these, you can’t renew your license,” Walters said. “If it’s not taken care of, they can also put a hold on your registration. There are multiple levels of checks to get people to comply. People think (these fines) are like a bill. It’s not a bill. It’s a court order.”

She also encouraged anyone who is not sure whether they have an outstanding warrant to contact the court.

“If someone’s in doubt whether they have a warrant, by all means call,” Walters said.

To take care of a fine or to find whether you have an outstanding fine, call 512-332-8653 or visit the court at 104 Grady Tuck Lane.

COURTS

Bastrop warrant roundup is here

Continued from page A1

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Executive Director Carter Smith makes his opening remarks at the Lost Pines Recovery Campaign announcement Tuesday at Bastrop State Park. Seated from left are the other speakers at the event, Texas A&M Forest Service state forester Tom Boggus; Texas A&M Univer-sity Chancellor John Sharp; Bastrop County Judge Jim Wither; Texas State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt; and Arbor Day Foundation Vice President of Programs Dan Lambe.

Erin Green/Bastrop AdvertiserFrom left, Texas A&M Forest Service forester Tom Boggus, State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Executive Director Carter Smith and Arbor Day Foundation Vice President of Programs Dan Lambe ceremonially water several trays of Loblolly pine seedlings at the Lost Pines Recovery Campaign announcement Tuesday at Bastrop State Park.

BISD kids to attend program orientation at rodeo arena

bastropadvertiser.com

INSIDE

SPORTSBastrop, Elgin battle for Bastrop County supremacy.

—Page B1

FALL BACK!Don’t forget to set your clocks one hour back on Sunday, Nov. 4 for standard time.

GOLDBISD has set the bar high once again for transparency.

—Page A3

CALENDARSaturday, Nov. 3n  10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Doggie adoptions at 1832 Farmers Market, 1302 Chestnut St. Spon-sored by Friends of the Bastrop County Animal Shelter.

Sunday, Nov. 4n  10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Benefit for Nicole Torres at Bastrop Bre-whouse, 601 Chestnut St. Nicole has many medical expenses due to an illness. She is a wife and mother of four with no insurance. Help raise funds for a hospital bed and medicine.

Monday, Nov. 5n  6:30 p.m. – Prayer on Election eve at Bas-trop County courthouse gazebo.

Friday, Nov. 9-Satur-day, Nov. 10n  Veterans Day activ-ities through the week-end in downtown Bas-trop. Free drive in movie Friday night at Fisher-man’s Park. Classic car show featuring hundreds of cars on Main Street. Ceremony at 11:11 a.m. honoring veterans.

Saturday, Nov. 10n  9 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Se-nior Center annual Christmas craft ba-zaar, 1008 Water St. in Bastrop.n  9 a.m. – Pine Street Market Days.

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INDEXNews Page A2Obits Page A2Opinion Page A6Sports Page B1Classifieds Page B4

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The Bastrop Advertiser bastropadvertiser.com Texas’ Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977

Volume 159, Number 80 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2012 $1.00An edition of the

BY CYNDI WRIGHTEditor

Early voting in Bastrop County seems to be on track to mimic or be slightly less than early voting ballots marked in the 2008 General Election.

Early voting ended yes-terday at 5 p.m. Voters taking advantage of the two-week period that began Oct. 22 voted at the Bastrop County courthouse annex, Elgin Pubic Library, Ce-dar Creek United Method-ist Church, Smithville City

Hall, Wyldwood Baptist Church, Red Rock Commu-nity Center, Rosanky Bap-tist Church and Celebra-tion Community Church.

On Election Day, Nov. 6, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters will vote in their precinct voting

locations (see list on page A8). To find out what pre-cinct you are in, check your voter’s card.

By Thursday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m., 12,973 early ballots had been cast. The last day

Early voting lags behind

Bringing Bastropstate parks back to life little by littleBY SARAH ACOSTAStaff Writer

The Friends of the Lost Pines State Parks, with the generous help of others, are turning the trees green again through the replanting and res-toration of the pines lost during the devastating wildfires last September, which ultimately burned 96 percent of the park’s land.

Nationwide, donations from companies and orga-nizations large and small have helped to purchase a large quantity of supplies needed to attack the issue at hand.

The Friends of the Lost Pines is a non-profit or-ganization that supports

both Bastrop and Bue-scher state parks - parks that were built in 1935 with labor from the Civil-ian Conservation Corps.

Their mission is to as-sist the parks’ staffs in management and conser-vation of the natural and cultural resources, for the use and enjoyment of present and future gen-erations.

The mission of Friends is accomplished by enlist-ing and coordinating the involvement of citizens and organizations wishing to help. Friends’ support may include providing in-formation about the parks and their resources to the public, assisting and edu-

Photo courtesy John CobbFriends of the Lost Pines State Parks treasurer Faye Cobb, left, stands with Lost Pines member Donna Fiebrich who was presented with a $250 check from Arbor Day Foundation for restoration and replanting efforts at the parks.

Erin Green/Bastrop AdvertiserLana, Sydney and Miranda Crum stop to enjoy the circus - the flea circus, that is - put on by Jay Ryan at the Halloween celebration in downtown Bastrop Wednesday. For more pictures from Halloween in Bastrop, see pages A4-5.

Don’t ‘flea’ Halloween

Totals from 2008 election slightly higher than this year

VOTE

See VOTE, page A8

PARK

BY ERIN GREENStaff Writer

What exactly is it that makes Bastrop special? Unique? What makes your Bastrop neighbor-hood a special, unique, quintessential part of Texas?

The producers of a new public television show want to know.

Producers for the up-coming Public Broadcast-ing Station series, “One Square Mile: Texas,” are seeking input from as many different commu-nities as possible across Texas for the series which will explore life and cul-ture from the microcosm of one square mile.

But with 268,820 square miles throughout the state, producers need input as to which one-square-mile areas they will include in the five-episode first season of the show.

“The goal is to gar-ner input from as many different communities across the state as to what square miles we should feature and hopefully uncover some great and potentially unknown cor-ners of the state,” said se-ries producer Carl Crum.

The show will include

COMMUNITY

Show focuses on unique aspects of Texas

See COMMUNITY, page A3 See PARK, page A3

BY TERRY HAGERTYAssistant Editor

Cedar Creek High School senior Lucia Garcia is excited about Tuesday’s presidential election. She cast her ballot this past Monday at the Bas-trop County Courthouse.

“It was an interesting feeling to be able to vote for the first time in a presiden-tial election, but it was a lit-tle confusing because there

Terry Hagerty/Bastrop AdvertiserCedar Creek High School senior Lucia Garcia, 18, voted for the first time in a presidential election.

See ELECTION, page A8

ELECTION

Studentstalk aboutfirst vote

“It’s just ridiculous the money they’re spending.”

—Lucia Garcia, Cedar Creek H.S. senior,

on political advertising