ばっちゃに借りた本持って帰るの忘れた…

Dear diary, FML. Love, Melody.

A&M Consolidated defeated Elgin 15-7.

Finally I'm in bed!! Nighty night world!!! Peace out!!!!

My son was a victim of a murder/suicide. Losing a loved one by murder/suicide is very difficult.

@LaylaGrace rip sweet baby girl. You're home safe now.

No. 3 Elgin made quick work of Manor, winning 11-0 in 4 1/2 innings. Freshman pitcher Lauren Slatten had 12 Ks and gave up 2 hits.

Cody …

As there was no witness, there was nothing to be told. As nothing could be grasped, The story could unfold…

君ってほんと本を読まないよね！ と言われるなどする

Bastrop, Tx–Almost at the last minute March 8, Bastrop City Council Member Joe Beal drew an opponent for re-election to a second two-year term.

The filing deadline was 5 p.m. yesterday, and after 4 p.m. Tahitian Village resident Bob Parmelee appeared at City Hall on Main Street to file for a place on the May council ballot.

Previously only Beal, Mayor Terry Orr and Council Member Julie Hart had filed for places on the ballot. All three were first elected to office in 2008.

Over the past year Parmelee has emerged as an outspoken participant in various so-called Tea Party politicanl events in Bastrop and Travis County. Last fall he was ejected from Kerr Community Center in Bastrop for being disruptive during a gathering which featured US Congressman Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat.

Beal is a former general manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority. Previously he served on Bastrop’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

狐と踊れ新版で収録作かわってトールサイズ化となると表紙も一個さんのあれから変わるのよね、たぶん

Kuntryboy models will meet at 6:45 at pizza hut

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.

@laurizac FYI: your link is broken and doesn't work.

The next time you’re having a stressful day at work, imagine what Staff Sgt. Eric Haussecker’s day is like.

Haussecker, who is from San Marcos, disposes bombs and other explosive devices in Iraq. A member of a bomb disposal team in Baghdad, he lives out the Oscar-winning film “The Hurt Locker” every day.

Haussecker is featured in this short video on the BBC News Web site. He and other soldiers talk about the film and say it’s a pretty accurate representation of their work.
If you haven’t seen “The Hurt Locker” yet, I’d highly recommend it.

You can watch the video here:

BBC News — The real Hurt Locker bomb teams

Haussecker is seen in a hulking kevlar suit and helmet explaining how he and his comrades dispose of bombs — and how they try and keep their cool during such a dangerous task.

“You might rate this as a higher chance of getting injured or killed,” he says. “But I think accidents happen anywhere. And I think that when it’s your time, it’s your time.”

Exercise Myths http://bit.ly/WSX2t

little late but I have a new appreciation for Clint Black and his talent after TX Music Heritage Awards on Sunday.

Expecting Moms Embrace Massage http://bit.ly/2azFRD

@TyWilliamsMusic Only when hair and makeup is done!! LOL

Work on the $1.2 million Chestnut Street Improvement Project is moving along at a good pace, City Manager Mike Talbot said last Tuesday.
“All the water lines, sewer and storm water drainage are complete,” Talbot said of the project that runs from Water Street to the railroad tracks just east of Haysel Street. The project got under way in October 2009 and is expected to be finished this June.
The first phase of installing conduits for electrical, telephone and cable wires is also complete, Talbot said. As part of the overall beautification project of the street, utilities were moved underground and accompanying poles were taken down.
Enough work has also been done on curb/gutters and some sidewalks to allow residential driveways to be reconnected.
Soon to be installed are decorative aspects of sidewalks included implanted medallions that will tell some of the history of the El Camino Real trail.
Construction crews did have an unexpected discovery, Talbot said.
“They found a water line that runs under the new convention center,” Talbot said. “The line was not on our map.”
Talbot said it is not uncommon in older cities for unknown water lines to be discovered. He added that engineers are not sure if the water line is active.
“We will insert a valve that allows us to turn off the water (if it is active), he said. “If somebody is using that line we will probably hear about it.”

Finally got so sleep!!! But I didn't wanna wake up this morning

@ScarletThePug You have good parents! They know how to treat a senior lady Pug! #pughug to you and your good peeps! http://twib.es/t-E58TJ

*Sighh* Another amazing night | it's amazing how one person can change another's life so quickly and drastically. <3

goodnight everyone

@spidermeadows aww yeah!

"my teacher gave me detention today, so I ate the detention slip…detentions don't taste very good." – @nickkiowski

Dinner. It was gooood. Haha. http://twitpic.com/17hiiu

Dang my leg hurts right now cause at softball practice yesterday I pulled a muscle and it hurts really bad. UGHH!!

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

SkinnyOrangeCat posted a photo:

Jeff Lynch posted a photo:

Shot with a Canon Powershot G10.

© 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Available for Licensing and Purchase.

Blog – Serious Amateur Photography

Follow me on Twitter

A few spots still open for the Texas Landscape Safari this Spring. Come to Texas and join us in our wildflower hunt.

be looking for the new single wit lil ru

The Face of Winter http://bit.ly/5ru0O0

雨。雪とかいう話も。さむ

I uploaded a YouTube video — Are you Living Right? http://youtu.be/X6NEoixcbUA?a

just joined a video chat with 46 other people at http://tinychat.com/nastybynature #tinychat

RT @beckymanor: Your Massage Session http://bit.ly/4e9xaF

@estrella me to
HeHaSmEtWiStD

Supreme Court to hear solider funeral protests and whether protected by 1st Amend. http://tinyurl.com/yhqyuwo

Bastrop resident Robert C. Richards went ashore on D-Day on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Medals he earned include the Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart and Bronze Star, all with the 2nd Infantry Division in France.

Bastrop resident Robert C. Richards went ashore on one of the most famous beaches in history and has lived to tell about it at age 92.

But his beach wasn’t a beach for surfing or catching rays.
As Richards sat in his living room on Monday afternoon he recounted what happened on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 several hours after the historic D-Day invasion assaulted Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich.
Richards survived that day and another seven months of combat, during which he was wounded twice while serving as a Ranger scout with the 2nd Infantry Division.
“I landed around 4 p.m. on June 6 and served as a spotter for LCIs coming in on Omaha Beach,” Richards said, referring to small troop transports called landing craft-infantry.
And if the brunt of casualties were mostly over for that day on the four beaches the Allies landed on, the Germans were still shelling the beach and strafing it with fighter planes, Richards added.
Richards performed his landing duties so well on D-Day he received a special commendation from a colonel supervising the beach landing in his area.

Seeing action
Richards, born and raised in Williamsport, Penn., would soon see enough action away from the beaches.
As a scout he went out in front of advancing infantry units to set up fields of fire – that is, optimal directions for machine guns to fire at the enemy.
Richards also acted as an artillery spotter, calling in map coordinates for the location of German troops sighted.
“I was a corporal and I worked with another man, a private first class,” Richards said. “I was trained at both Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio and Camp McCoy in Wisconsin.”
His training also included a stint in Northern Michigan training on using snow skis in combat. Before landing in France he would undergo further Ranger training in Northern Ireland.
Richards described his German opponents as “damn good soldiers and dedicated.”
He was wounded the first time only 11 days after D-Day.
“I crossed in front of a German machine gun position,” Richards said. He was hit in the upper arm and grazed near his right eye.
“I was airlifted back to England for six weeks and then it was back in combat,” Richards said.
Richards shared a letter from his company commander at the time he was wounded in France, from Thomas Birch of Colorado Springs, Colo.
“I remember Mr. Richards as being one of those selected to constitute an advanced party (for scouting) for our regiment after the D-Day landings,” Birch wrote. “That assignment was an important one and obviously involved extra-hazardous duty.”
Richards was put out of combat action for good, he said, during the Battle of the Bulge in mid-December 1944.
An artillery or mortar shell exploded nearby and although fragments did not hit him he received a severe concussion from the shock wave of the exploding shell.
“It was the first day of the Battle of the Bulge,” Richards said.
He would remain in Europe, assigned to working with the Red Cross in Dijon, France until the end of the European war.
He received the Purple Heart twice and would also wear a Bronze Star, given to the 2nd Infantry Division for its performance under fire.
Richards returned to the U.S. and worked at a silk mill and then for an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a traveling furniture salesman, a job he said he loved.
He would go on to marry a Texas woman, which together with his sales position in the southern U.S., would bring him back to Texas.
“My wife, Gracie, from San Antonio and I had three children,” Richards said proudly. “In 1966, I left Pennsylvania and moved to San Antonio.”
Richards said he would like to return to France to honor his fellow soldiers, but doesn’t know if he’ll make it.
“I would sure like to go back there,” Richards said softly as looked at his military medals on his kitchen table.
And then he held up a photograph of him coming off of Omaha Beach the day after D-Day. An Army photographer had snapped it.
It is one of his prized possessions from the war, he said,

A Cornerstone of Health http://bit.ly/peaOy

Sports Massage a Must for Athletic Performance http://bit.ly/XGIcm

It another work week and hope everyone have a good monday

good morning everyone

マーヤが見たい。冬眠の話と、ミミズ氏が家をつくる話。

Just got back from seeing alice in wonderland. And finishing my portfolio.

The only thing that matters really,is that unjust action violates the rights of others.

Stop chasing the hype!! Come to our site an check out this video, you have nothing to lose!
http://fitmerc.wordpress.com/

@LTVsports wrong on so many levels

Chris Calaprice, a six-year survivor of pancreatic cancer, is traveling one mile on a motorcycle for ever person diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S. this year.

The Dude!!!!! Lebowski wins an Oscar! Total Awesomeness.

watching the #oscars. steve martin is weirdly sexy. great song by NPH <3

Yogurt, the Super Food http://bit.ly/4vg55Z

@GrangerSmith Bastrop, TX… right up the road from Austin

How to Protect Your Skin in the Dry, Cold Months http://bit.ly/7GbhWl

Kuntryboyz ent. In da studio wit lil ru

@aTrubow If you are looking for good sausage, Meyer's is the way to go. If you want good brisket, Southside Market is your best bet.

@IamHi_C http://2dopeboyz.okayplayer.com/2010/03/07/royce-da-59-over-freestyle/

Well I finally figured out how to follow someone on here…. Sad it took so long…LOL

Young team captain plans fundraiser

Relay For Life, the event that started in 1985 with a single man, has grown to being the single largest movement to help in the fight against cancer.
In the Bastrop County area, there are several Relay teams who routinely set records with their fundraising amounts. But there is one team captained by a young man that will capture people’s hearts.

Anthony Harris, a 13-year-old seventh grader at Bastrop Middle School, is on his second year of leading Team Blow Out Cancer, a team he started after his mother, Kelley, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Anthony Harris, right, with his mom Kelley, is fundraising for Relay For Life.

Anthony’s positive attitude is striking for someone so young, but he says when he found out about his mom’s cancer, he stayed upbeat.
“I knew everything was going to be alright,” he said.
Kelley says she knew before she got the formal diagnosis that she had breast cancer. But she also knew that her faith would get her, and her family, through it.
Anthony’s first year as captain of the team saw them raising more than $1,000 through the ‘purple toilet,’ – basically offering people the opportunity to put a large purple toilet in someone else’s front yard for a fee.
And this year the team is doing something similar with a large purple, birthday cake. But Anthony wanted to figure out a way for the team to raise even more money. He has set a goal of $1,500.
During that time the family volunteered to work the annual Pedal Thru the Pines fundraiser for the Family Crisis Center and that’s where Anthony’s father, Mitchell, got an idea.
Since Anthony loves to ride his bicycle, it was a natural fit to partner that love with a fundraiser and the Blowout Ride was born.
Slated for Saturday, April 3, the Blowout Ride is a 23-mile course that runs through both state parks. Registration is $25 before March 27 and $35 afterwards. Riders will get a T-shirt and goodie bag. Everyone is being asked to meet at 8:30 a.m. at the pool area at Bastrop State Park.
Team Blow Out Cancer consists of Anthony, his brother Michael, 15, Bill Stanberry, Pastor Susan Fox and Petra Webb. The seventh-grader explains why Relay For Life is important in the fight against cancer.
“Relay For Life has a lot of stuff that helps with cancer patients,” he said, giving examples of things that Relay funds pay for, including Hope Lodge and Road to Recovery, two programs that help people fighting cancer with lodging and transportation.
“Relay For Life makes people feel honored and happy that so many people care,” he said. “It motivates them.”
Anthony’s mother Kelley is doing well, but Anthony always knew she would.
“She’s a fighter,” he said, adding that his philosophy on life is similar to hers.
“Stay on the happy side,” he said.

r u the same kay byrd that went to paul w horn in 1960 – 65???? This is barbara abbott

…of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2).

“When you honor the birth family, you honor the child. When you don't honor the birth family, the child will… http://fb.me/6Byh0PA

As much as i hate it now, things might be taking a turn for the best. <3

Watching brüno with nick tanner and Megan. Lotsa dramas todays. /:

@Tanner_Johnson said I punch harder than @TRACE_TIROFF. Lol. Idk if that's a compliment or an insult. Haha.

My head fuckin hurts! Someone stepped on my $100 shoes & broke my toe-assssssssss!

Playing gears of war 2 again this game totally rocks!
HeHaSmEtWiStD

Oh by the way, i had to switch back 2 my old phone. The other 1was giving my mom & I 2 much frustration

A man on trial this week in Bastrop County District Court was convicted of tampering with evidence and sentenced to four years probation and a $1,000 fine by a jury of six men and six women.
Daniel Lee Holmes pled not guilty on Monday to a charge of altering or destroying methamphetamine in order to prevent its use in an investigation.
On Thursday afternoon the jury found Holmes guilty and later returned the probation time and fine during the subsequent punishment phase.
The incident which Holmes was convicted of took place on March 16, 2007 when Holmes was pulled over off of Texas 21 by Department of Public Safety officer John Vincent, according to courtroom testimony. During the process of the officer searching Holmes and the truck he was riding in, Holmes put a bag of crystal meth into his own mouth. Vincent then began to struggle with Holmes in order to retrieve the bag. The bag was retrieved and booked into evidence and later identified as containing methamphetamine.
Holmes’s attorney Vann Pressley made the case to jurors that Vincent did not have probable cause to pull Holmes over.
“He (Vincent) stopped Daniel Holmes that night and he started his fishing expedition…pushing around to see what would happen and casting his line to see what would come back,” Pressley said. The defense also made the case that Vincent was unnecessarily rough with Holmes during the arrest.
Prosecutors Phil Hall and Greg Gilleland disagreed and told jurors the facts in the case were clear.
“This (Holmes) is not a man who was beaten down and tortured, yet John Vincent has to hear this over and over again in this trial,” Hall said during closing arguments. “Ignore the rhetoric; ignore the half-truths; go back there and read the law.”
Following the conviction Hall said he was pleased with the results.

@roadace @Jamestexas that sounds terrible….

@garretjiroux why did you buy that book?

RT @H5AB WOW!! Houston just defeatede #3 UT 1-0 at Minute Maid Park.

@tanner_johnson and Megan and Regina left me and @nickkiowski at best buy. )':

To us a Saturday Night Special is a great big Chicken Fried Steak w/ gravy, mashed potatoes and something green – to make it healthy!

The Renaissance festival is full of intersting people to say the least.

Soo tired. Going back to sleep

Hot or Cold for Injuries? http://bit.ly/6shBQ1

Heading out on the Pedal Through The Pines ride. 62 miles. Wearing my CCC jersey in memory of Kathleen Carrico http://twitpic.com/16yfxx

Heading out on the Pedal Through The Pines ride. 62 miles. Wearing my CCC jersey in memory of Kathleen Carrico http://twitpic.com/16yfxx

actually I don't feel like driving into Austin. Truth be told.

Karen Pinard, a member of Bastrop’s Charter Review Committee, would like to see council members and the mayor’s position get a bit more money for their efforts.
Council members now receive $75 per month and Mayor Terry Orr gets $150 for what many agree is a substantial workload.
“I have a real problem with the compensation – it’s a huge responsibility (being on council),” Pinard said during a meeting of the charter committee last Monday.
Committee member Debbie Moore was even more direct.
“It’s crazy,” Moore said about the pay.
On a separate issue, committee member Rev. R.D. Smith raised the question of whether citizens might be better served voting by single-member districts, instead of the at-large procedure now in effect.
These were some of the points of discussion raised by the charter committee during their meeting Monday night, the third since being formed at the end of 2009.
The committee is composed of nine volunteer members from the community, and chaired by council member Ken Kesselus. They are tasked with reviewing and making recommendations for any changes to the city’s current 27-page “Home Rule Charter” which was adopted by citizens in an election held in May 2004.
The charter calls for a review process at intervals not to exceed six years.
“We passed the charter in 2002, so we are a little behind time in doing this review,” Kesselus said. “That’s why I was so eager to get the process rolling as soon as I took office as a council member.”
Kesselus said the mayor asked him to represent the council in the committee.
“The mayor looked at this committee as an extraordinary one requiring special attention,” Kesselus said. “He asked each of the council members to recommend a name and then he nominated whomever we listed and added a couple of others to flesh it out.”
The committee has held three meetings so far and is also seeking citizen input and comments.
Kesselus said after discussions, including citizen input, the committee will try to reach a consensus on any proposed changes to the charter. If a consensus cannot be reached, the committee would work by majority rule under Robert’s Rules of order.
Charter committee members are: Camilo Chavez, Willie DeLaRosa, Kesselus, Moore, Pinard, Brandi Smith, Rev. R.D. Smith, Lias Tantaksinanukij and Jeff Yarbrough.
Kesselus said the committee’s next meeting has not yet been set. Citizens can find out by calling city hall and watch for the listing in The Bastrop Advertiser.

Very fun night. Time to go home and CRASH.

Vegas baby, yeahhhh!!! Port fucking aransas for my last fling before the fucking ring!!!!!!!! 21 days left! Wooooo!-imagine me screaming…

Goin to bed, comment my photos and shit

Oh, and you should text me. 5126296246

Listening to music with shelbi and watching mr lang beat people/get beat at basketball XD

Feeling a bit philosophical, and hungry D:

When you plant a seed, a harvest is inevitable… what you do with that harvest is up to you.

Congratulate Tiny Timmy for WINNING the Bissell MVP Valuable Pet Photo Contest! Every one please! "around of… http://bit.ly/99eiqp

CEDAR CREEK — This is one that is going to sting for a while.
Austin High scored with two seconds left in regulation to tie the game and then went on to defeat the Bastrop Lady Bears 4-3 in a sudden death shootout.
Ironically, it was Kaylyn Butler’s shot in sudden death that just missed by inches was what lifted the Lady Maroons to the win.
Before that, Butler led a charge that tied the game after Austin High built a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the game.
The Lady Maroons controlled possession for the first 15 minutes of the game, but Bastrop wasn’t without its chances.
Butler and freshman Jaime Chamblee were just short on two separate occasions before Chamblee found the back of the net to finally put Bastrop on the scoreboard.
Chamblee caught a deflection by the Austin High goalkeeper after a shot attempt by Kendall Ayers, but the Lady Bears still trailed by a goal.
In the second half, it was all Butler,
The senior forward tied the game in the 52nd minute catching a loose ball off a deflection.
With 10:50 left in the game, Butler again was in the right place at the right time, catching another loose ball to put Bastrop ahead.
Bastrop’s defense and goalkeeper Jackie Navarette fought off every attempt by Austin High to tie the game,
As it looked like the Lady Bears were going to pull it out, Austin High sneaked in a goal with two seconds left to tie the game to send it into a shootout, Bastrop’s third straight.
In the shootout, Austin High scored on their first three attempts, while Kara Edwards’ first shot was blocked.
Kattie Patterson and Kerri Kelley scored to keep Bastrop in it and Navarette blocked the final two shots.
It was up to Stacy Smith to keep Bastrop alive, which she did sending it into the sudden death.
In the sudden death, Austin High scored and put all the pressure on Butler, who’s shot was deflected, but looked like it was going to roll in. However, it was just a couple of inches short.
The Lady Bears will close out the regular season on March 12 against Bowie.

A 6-year-old who had been in critical condition at Dell Children’s Medical Center after a wreck in Bastrop County last weekend died this morning, a Department of Public Safety spokesman said.

@Machocamacho16 I like that song. Lol. Jerk. (:

It's halftime and Bastrop trails 2-1.

The Lower Colorado River Authority is holding a public meeting Monday, March 8, to discuss ways to meet the long-term water needs in the lower Colorado River basin. The public is invited to attend. The meeting will be at the LCRA Service Center, 3505 Montopolis Service Dr., Building A, in Austin. An open house begins at 6 p.m. The discussion will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
At the meeting, participants will study and offer comments on a wide range of options in the draft Water Supply Resource Plan, which examines ways to supply water to the region for the next 90 years. Costs for the alternatives discussed in the plan vary from $3 million to $1.6 billion and public input will be crucial in helping the LCRA board choose a plan to supply water for future generations.
People may offer input on the plans by attending the meeting Monday or by completing an on-line form at www.lcra.org/watersupply/index.html. The draft Water Supply Resource Plan is posted online at: www.lcra.org/library/media/public/docs/water/wsrp/wsrpdraftplanrevsiedjan2010.pdf
The meeting Monday will help the LCRA as it prepares to set a long-term strategy that best serves the water needs in the lower Colorado River basin.
LCRA began the planning process began in mid-2008 with input from the public on water supply options and planning priorities. From there, the LCRA staff prepared the draft Water Supply Resource Plan, which includes three strategies to demonstrate the wide range of water supply options for the region.
Strategy I maximizes the benefits of LCRA’s existing water rights. At a cost of between $3 million and $5 million, it would meet projected firm water demands for at least 50 years, but would not meet firm demands through 2100. It would rely primarily on water from lakes Travis and Buchanan and through amendment of the four downstream water rights now used primarily for irrigation.
Strategy II pairs the benefits of existing water rights with significant conservation effort. At a cost of between $225 million and $525 million over 40 years, it would meet firm water demands to 2100. Aggressive conservation in this strategy would require LCRA to almost double the amount of water savings identified in the current LCRA water conservation plan adopted in the spring of 2009.
Strategy III is the most expensive option, with costs ranging from $721 million to $1.6 billion. It relies on existing water rights, current conservation programs and building one or more new supplies, such as an off-channel reservoir, desalination, aquifer storage and recovery, and groundwater importation.
The deadline for public input is March 19. To read the draft plan and give input, visit www.lcra.org/watersupply/index.html or e-mail watersupply@lcra.org.

The dynamics of what has traditionally been Democratic leaning primary elections in Bastrop County saw a significant shift on Tuesday as Republican voters showed up in numbers almost three times greater than their party’s average turnout for primaries.
With 5,768 total ballots cast by Republican Party voters compared to a total of 2,973 by Democrats, the GOP turnout not only exceeded predictions, but also caught election officials off-guard in terms of the number of ballots ordered for polling precincts.
Off the 21 polling precincts for Republican voters, eleven were forced to bring in photocopied emergency ballots due to the original optical paper ballots running out, according to Bastrop County GOP Chairman Albert Ellison.
The development in turn caused final count delays of close to an hour and a half as election officials were forced to transfer votes by hand from the emergency ballots to additional normal optical paper ballots that were ordered from Austin at the last minute on Tuesday.
When asked on Thursday about the ballot shortage, Bastrop County Elections Administrator Nora Cano said the situation could not have been predicted.
“There was an unprecedented amount of people coming in. There were new people coming in who had never voted in a primary,” Cano said.
Ellison also stressed the unexpected outcome.
“I have a clear conscious we did everything we could,” Ellison said. “Nora and I were both giving due attention to what was developing but there just wasn’t any way to anticipate what came.”
According to Cano and Ellison, GOP turnout in primaries has traditionally averaged between 1,800 and 2,000 voters. As a result, just over 3,000 Republican ballots were originally ordered. An additional order of ballots was then made in the midst of early voting that indicated a potentially strong GOP showing. Yet even the second order would not be enough ballots to go around and left Ellison and Cano ordering 2,700 more on election day itself.
“By about 10:30 a.m. we started getting calls from election judges saying they were already running critically low,” Ellison said. “It became clear pretty quickly that even ordering for double the turnout we normally have would not be sufficient to get us through the day.”
When asked about polling lines or any potential complications, Ellison and Cano emphasized that no voters were turned away due to unavailable ballots. The worst part of the shortage, they said, was the stress on election judges forced to watch ballots dwindle away without knowing if they would be replaced. The delay at the end of the night and the additional work transferring ballots by hand was also less than ideal.
“Unfortunately in this situation the number of people outnumbered the amount of ballots on hand but nobody was rejected or turned away,” Cano said.
Ellison was even more optimistic.
“I was real pleased with how it went,” Ellison said. “Ultimately we kept ahead of the demand and that was the number one goal for me.”
Tuesday’s primary election is the first in more than two decades where the number of Republican ballots cast have exceeded the number of Democratic ballots cast.

So, i just got hooked on 'Man vs Food.' All this grub looks great…im making a personal menu!

My take on Baylor's Brittney Griner's joke of a punishment and how sometimes the standard of behavior is contradictory http://bit.ly/bSqLoS

Baseball: Elgin gets by Liberty Hill 8-2 http://bit.ly/9VuR0j

Editor:

There have been a long string of taxpayer letters published in local newspapers which express frustration with the narrow scope of the community college discussion. Carolyn Smith, asked “Who decided Austin Community College is the most cost effective option?” Chet Drombrowki’s letter was captioned, “Will voters get to look at the other options.” There should be little surprise at the lack of choices presented in the ACC debate. After all, you can’t expect a salesman or a lobbyist to tout a competitor’s product. Tom Scott writes (Advertiser, Feb. 13), “Now its time for ACC to take over the process…” and “ACC will lead the process going forward…”
In reality there are many options, not just one. In order for the voters to make an informed decision they might consider some of the other possibilities for junior college education in Bastrop.
Here are some options for the prospective Bastrop college student and the Bastrop taxpayer to consider. In most cases a mix of these strategies would make sense.
N Fully exploit existing college entrance, “Affiliation Courses”: Every Bastrop student should be taking full advantage of high school courses which are accepted for college credit. In the Bastrop ISD, there are currently 120 courses that are acceptable by ACC, Blinn and other colleges. These courses are essentially free. Motivated BISD students should be taking a full course load, rather than “slacking off” in the final semesters. For each three-hour affiliation course taken, a student will save $459 based on ACC tuition rates or $276 based on more economical Blinn College. A student could take as many as 12 courses prior to graduation yielding as much as $5500 in student savings. Advanced placement courses can also be credited for college credit.
N Earn your education the old fashioned way, pay for it yourself: As the student is the primary beneficiary of his or her college education, it is only fair for students to pay their own way by taking a part time job or by executing a personal loan. There are at least a half-dozen federal grant and loan programs available to students. Ironically, as we appear to be entering a period of severe inflation due to the proliferation of entitlement programs and run-away spending, a student loan could rebound to the student’s benefit. A student who borrows 2010 dollars and repays with 2020 dollars may realize a financial windfall.
N Try Distance Education: For many basic courses in disciplines such as English, history, mathematics and business Aadministration, a brick and mortar campus is not needed. On-line education or “Distance Education” has become the standard for cost reduction and student convenience. Computers are now cheap and ubiquitous. Local community colleges, including Blinn College, whose district begins in neighboring Fayette County, offer many Distance Education courses as does ACC, MIT and virtually all other colleges of significance. These courses are open to all students in all counties of Texas. However, the tuition rates vary widely. The University of Phoenix, the pioneer in Distance Education, charges $1105 for a three-credit course, versus $459 and $276 for ACC and Blinn, respectively.
N Take advantage of the GI Bill: After military service, the GI Bill offers an affordable route to higher education that millions of veterans have used. It is also possible to take courses on various military posts throughout the world. While stationed on Okinawa, this writer took courses in business law, production management and operations research from the University of Maryland. To cite one current opportunity, the University of Phoenix currently offers courses at ten different sites in Germany.
N Attend an existing local college campus: If distance education is not suitable, say for a course requiring a hands-on facility, a student may attend a local campus in Austin (ACC, University of Phoenix, St Edwards, UT, etc) or in Schulenburg at the Blinn College campus which appears to be a compelling and economical alternative. The driving time to Schulenburg and Austin is comparable.
N Build a local ACC campus, or two: The proposal receiving all of the air time involves building a multi-million dollar ACC campus in Bastrop County. By this mechanism, most cost would be shifted from the student to the taxpayer. The cost of a three-hour course would drop to ACC “in-district” rates of $165, which is $111 cheaper than the Blinn out-of-district tuition. There is a parallel (and to this writer, bizarre) proposal to build an additional ACC campus in nearby Elgin. However, recent letters from Bastrop taxpayers indicate that they believe their taxes are already too high and statistics seem to bear this out. Annual tax rates ($ tax per $100 valuation) for Elgin, Bastrop, Smithville and Austin are $2.79, $2.64, $2.35 and $2.02 respectively. The added initial tax rate for the Bastrop campus, alone, would add about 10 cents per $100 dollar valuation or about $100 per year for a $100,000 home. This may be a small sum when considered in isolation, but not when seen as one more bale of straw loaded on the backs of poor taxpayers. Of course higher education costs are skyrocketing nationwide and we could see steep tax increases in the future. Tuition at UT has more than doubled just since 2003 when Tom Scott and others led an effort to “deregulate” tuition.
N Build a Blinn College Campus at a centralized location, say, near Smithville: It’s my understanding that the Smithville ISD sends many students to Blinn College in Schulenburg and is known to generally oppose the ACC alternative. Blinn College already has a campus in Schulenburg, 48 miles from Bastrop. Another campus, or a small Distance Education facility, could be constructed nearer to Smithville, for example, in western Fayette County.
N Wait Until spending is under control: Our country is currently undergoing a serious economic downturn. Unemployment (measured as they did in the 1930s) is already approaching 20 percent while federal spending is racing out of control as the national debt rises to catastrophic levels. Rather than fix the current insolvent entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, elements in Washington seem hell-bent on initiating new ones. Our country has been spent into bankruptcy by feckless national politicians.
While Bastrop taxpayers wring their hands over the irresponsibility in Washington, they have witnessed similar wasteful spending on a local level. Local taxpayers have financed a non-essential performing arts center, an unnecessary city hall, a dubious convention center and have spent huge sums on a local museum which has 1,200 visitors per year. Amazingly, justification for the convention center was partly based on cannibalizing existing trade from Bastrop private businesses. The Bastrop ISD turned down a $300,000 offer for an acceptable eight-court tennis facility in Tahitian Village in order to build a new, spiffy version for $1.2 million. Friends and neighbors, your intuitions are correct; your pockets are being picked.
A college campus is more justifiable than any of these past programs, but the money has already been wasted, and the taxpayer’s assets have already been plundered. Meanwhile our road infrastructure is poor, we have inadequate fire protection and some areas are exposed to flood risk.
Can we really afford to misuse our dwindling resources?
Arguably, at this point our local politicians should be adopting a strict austerity program and shutting off all possible discretionary spending. Until the economic storm passes, construction programs for community colleges should be tabled and students should depend on the existing excellent alternatives.

Bob Parmelee
Bastrop

There is good and bad  in sports.
Then there is the ugly, which was on display this week in Lubbock.
In case you haven’t seen — or heard about — the video of Baylor women’s basketball player Brittney Griner sucker punching Texas Tech’s Jordan Barncastle, you should look it up on YouTube.
That was just the bad.
The ugly happened Thursday when Griner’s mandatory suspension of one game for her ejection was extended by one game by Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey.
You read that right.
Griner is suspended for two games for sucker punching an opponent.
What makes this worse was that Big XII Commissioner Dan Beebe issued a statement saying that he accepted Mulkey’s decision, which was appropriate based on the severity of the act.
He’s joking, right?
I am afraid not.
Texas Tech issued a statement also Thursday, saying Barncastle suffered a broken nose and her status will be evaluated day-to-day. She could miss the rest of the season.
To make sense of all this, Griner sucker punches a player, consequently breaking the other player’s nose, gets slapped on the wrist with a two-game suspension and it’s considered appropriate?
Griner commits a Class A misdemeanor, breaks another player’s nose and gets an additional one-game suspension on top of her mandatory one-game suspension and it’s OK?
It’s not OK, it’s a joke.
If Barncastle wanted to press charges, and she could, Griner could be charged with assault causing bodily injury, a crime punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $4,000.
I don’t think Griner should lose her scholarship or be kicked off the team, but a season long  suspension is the proper punishment.
I might be opening up a can of worms here and probably comparing apples and oranges, but  in comparison, Gracy Mansfield and Heather Greene were dismissed from the Bastrop girls soccer team for an alleged outburst after a loss to Westlake nearly a month ago.
In this comparison, however, it’s two different coaches on two different levels of play handing down punsihments they see as appropriate.
In the case of Mansfield and Green, there was no physical violence in the alleged altercation, according to some of the recounts of the event I have been told.
None of the other players suffered broken bones and no one was ejected from playing, yet because of this alleged verbal altercation with their teammates, Mansfield and Greene were dismissed from the team.
Something doesn’t quite seem right.
Griner is a college athlete who is an adult and getting her education paid for. She got caught up in the moment, physically assaulted another player and got a two-game suspension.
Mansfield and Greene are high school students, therefore minors and  held to a lower level of responsibility for their actions, and are not under a scholarship.
They got caught up in the moment and let their emotions get the best of them, but got an expulsion.
With this comparison there are two different coaches, levels of play and philosophy with disciplining players, but one infraction was much more severe than the other.
Again, might be apples and oranges, but where is the standard?
Bastrop’s athletic policy on drugs, for example,  gives offenders three strikes before they are not allowed to participate in athletics.
On the first offense, the athlete that tests positive only gets a three week suspension, according to the Bastrop ISD Athletic Handbook.
Griner punches a player, committing a crime,  and has to sit for what adds up to a week.
Mansfield and Greene throw what could be labeled a temper tantrum and gets thrown off the team.
Bottom line here is that there are major inconsistencies with the expectations regarding conduct of athletes and the punishments enforced.
Obviously, neither infraction has to do with each other and Bastrop is not punishing Griner and Baylor isn’t punishing Mansfield and Greene.
However, by comparison one punishment is viewed as not severe enough and one might be viewed as too severe.
The point in all this ramble is there is a contradiction on the standard in which athletes are expected to behave and on what levels and the punishment they deserve.
Bottom line: does the punishment fit the crime?
It’s a fair debate.

Here is a link to video of Brittney Griner’s punch on Texas Tech’s Jordan Barncastle.

Editor:

Several schools in Bastrop ISD have experienced marginal and even chronically “unacceptable” outcomes per state accountability ratings. Last spring, district administrators and community leaders correctly zeroed in on shortcomings with vision/mission statements and goals which have encouraged critically valuable instructional resources to be focused on improving standardized test scores (TAKS) at the expense of subject mastery. BISD’s resulting outcomes have been: a) high drop-out rates, b) poor post high school academic performance, and c) marginal/poor state accountability assessments.
Last spring/summer, steps were taken to change all this. Laboriously derived new vision/mission statements and long-range goals were proposed to (and unanimously accepted by) the school board. BISD administrators followed up with an exhaustive search for tools, procedures, and instructional methods/processes that would lead to a holistic approach to education, addressing the developmental needs of all students in all grades in all schools.
Not simply another new curriculum, but a total revamp of classrooms with the goals of instilling in our students the skills required for 21st century success in continued academic pursuits and in the general workplace. These skills include: Problem solving, critical thinking, collaborating, comprehensive readers who write with clarity and effectiveness and who have the interpersonal skills to communicate effectively.
The community came together in support of the administration’s late summer proposal for district wide adoption of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program.
The IB program provides a framework for achieving the new mission and long-term goals. Graduates of IB programs have unprecedented acceptance rates to and success in all Texas public, private and faith-based universities and by all U.S. military academies. Many of these institutions provide IB graduates with incredible incentives in scholarships and college credits (up to 60 semester hours). There is no other competing program with similar proven results and with such impeccable credentials. That includes the AVID program which is being considered, even though it is prohibitively expensive and addresses only a small percent of BISD’s students.
Still, there are very sincere citizens in the community who resist the IB program. Their numbers are not large compared to the citizens who are demanding improvement, but they are vocal and their efforts have resulted in the administration’s latest plan to proceed at a snail’s pace with IB implementation.
I personally believe that we, the citizenry, cannot accept the continuing yoke placed around our teachers necks. Above all else, including tennis courts, we must encourage the board and the administration to proceed with single-minded purpose and take immediate action to address our academic problems. We must enable our teachers to do their jobs. I pledge my vote and my support to those school board members and school administrators who demonstrate their urgent resolve to hold student academic outcomes as the most important element of the BISD enterprise.
The BISD school board and administration have shown that they respond to citizens who make their voices heard. I challenge every caring, concerned citizen of Bastrop County to make your voice known. Be responsible. Express yourselves. Send your postcards, letters, and emails to top administrators and board members. Don’t leave out anybody. All you have to do is let them know that, if they want your vote and your support, they need to demonstrate their urgent commitment to fix the academic problems in BISD. If you are not an IB supporter, don’t just tear into it and the people who do believe in it. Do your homework. Propose and fight for alternative, equally attractive and equally effective solutions.
Contact information for each relevant BISD administrator and board member is provided at BISD’s website, http://www.bastrop.isd.tenet.edu.
Surely we can all unite behind the common goal and urgency of properly preparing our children for the demands of the 21st century. We can no longer afford to jeopardize our shared future by continued apathy. The time to act is now.

Marvin Conrad
Bastrop
mconrad@simplsystems.com

Editor:

Several schools in Bastrop ISD have experienced marginal and even chronically “unacceptable” outcomes per state accountability ratings. Last spring, district administrators and community leaders correctly zeroed in on shortcomings with vision/mission statements and goals which have encouraged critically valuable instructional resources to be focused on improving standardized test scores (TAKS) at the expense of subject mastery. BISD’s resulting outcomes have been: a) high drop-out rates, b) poor post high school academic performance, and c) marginal/poor state accountability assessments.
Last spring/summer, steps were taken to change all this. Laboriously derived new vision/mission statements and long-range goals were proposed to (and unanimously accepted by) the school board. BISD administrators followed up with an exhaustive search for tools, procedures, and instructional methods/processes that would lead to a holistic approach to education, addressing the developmental needs of all students in all grades in all schools.
Not simply another new curriculum, but a total revamp of classrooms with the goals of instilling in our students the skills required for 21st century success in continued academic pursuits and in the general workplace. These skills include: Problem solving, critical thinking, collaborating, comprehensive readers who write with clarity and effectiveness and who have the interpersonal skills to communicate effectively.
The community came together in support of the administration’s late summer proposal for district wide adoption of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program.
The IB program provides a framework for achieving the new mission and long-term goals. Graduates of IB programs have unprecedented acceptance rates to and success in all Texas public, private and faith-based universities and by all U.S. military academies. Many of these institutions provide IB graduates with incredible incentives in scholarships and college credits (up to 60 semester hours). There is no other competing program with similar proven results and with such impeccable credentials. That includes the AVID program which is being considered, even though it is prohibitively expensive and addresses only a small percent of BISD’s students.
Still, there are very sincere citizens in the community who resist the IB program. Their numbers are not large compared to the citizens who are demanding improvement, but they are vocal and their efforts have resulted in the administration’s latest plan to proceed at a snail’s pace with IB implementation.
I personally believe that we, the citizenry, cannot accept the continuing yoke placed around our teachers necks. Above all else, including tennis courts, we must encourage the board and the administration to proceed with single-minded purpose and take immediate action to address our academic problems. We must enable our teachers to do their jobs. I pledge my vote and my support to those school board members and school administrators who demonstrate their urgent resolve to hold student academic outcomes as the most important element of the BISD enterprise.
The BISD school board and administration have shown that they respond to citizens who make their voices heard. I challenge every caring, concerned citizen of Bastrop County to make your voice known. Be responsible. Express yourselves. Send your postcards, letters, and emails to top administrators and board members. Don’t leave out anybody. All you have to do is let them know that, if they want your vote and your support, they need to demonstrate their urgent commitment to fix the academic problems in BISD. If you are not an IB supporter, don’t just tear into it and the people who do believe in it. Do your homework. Propose and fight for alternative, equally attractive and equally effective solutions.
Contact information for each relevant BISD administrator and board member is provided at BISD’s website, http://www.bastrop.isd.tenet.edu.
Surely we can all unite behind the common goal and urgency of properly preparing our children for the demands of the 21st century. We can no longer afford to jeopardize our shared future by continued apathy. The time to act is now.

Marvin Conrad
Bastrop
mconrad@simplsystems.com

Editor,

The Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry (BCEFP) board members and staff would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to Frieda Weber, our committee chairperson and to Mark Weber, Frieda’s husband, for coordinating the successful BCEFP “Empty Bowl” event.
Over 600 community members attended the event and enjoyed the 35 different soups donated by Elgin and Bastrop restaurants and catering businesses. Music was provided by the Bastrop Academy Jazz Players. We hope you’ll join us in saying thanks to our generous sponsors and all of our energetic volunteers.
A special thanks to the citizens in attendance for taking time out of their schedules to support the event. The donations are a blessing to the pantry and the clients that need our help at this time.

Thanks again.
The BCEFP board members and staff

AUSTIN — Jordan Hahne has come up clutch for the McNeil Mavericks before, but not like he did on Thursday afternoon.
Hahne smacked a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift the Mavericks to a 14-2 mercy rule win over the Bastrop Bears on opening day of the 2010 Langerhans Invitational.
It was Hahne’s second walk-off home run of the season for McNeil.
Bastrop was held without a hit through the first two innings as the Mavericks built a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a pair of RBI-doubles from  Dave Rodriguez and Hahne.
Rodriguez also had a big day at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a double, triple and scoring three runs.
The Bears finally got a hit in the third inning when Kegan Johnson smacked a single to left field, sending Mike Hancock to third.
Hancock was plated on an RBI-single by Cade Staton to put the Bears on the scoreboard, trailing by two runs going into the bottom of the third inning.
That’s when everything fell apart for Bastrop.
McNeil’s Aaron Douglass reached first on an error and then Hanhe got his second double to send Douglass home.
Johnson hit the next McNeil Batter who then reached home on a fielder’s choice.
By the end of the inning, the Mavericks had built a 7-1 lead thanks to two Bear errors.
“We were not backing up our pitcher very well (Thursday),” said Bastrop head coach Mark Williams. “We need to play better defense. (Johnson) is one of our more consistent pitchers, but our defense didn’t do a very good job backing him up.”
McNeil added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, thanks to a sacrifice by Hahne.
The Mavericks’ senior first baseman went 3 for 3 with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs.
Bastrop didn’t quit and Hancock picked up the Bears’ only other run with a home run of his own.
That was it for Bastrop’s bats as McNeil pitcher Sam Smith gave up three hits and two earned runs.
Johnson took the loss in four innings of work, giving up four earned runs and eight hits.

Staff photo by Michael Adams/ Bastrop’s Michael Hancock (1) beats the pick-off throw to McNeil first baseman Jordan Hahne (29) Thursday afternoon at Maverick Stadium in Austin on opening day of the Langerhans Invitational.

Editor:
Thanks to the community for partnering with Mt. Rose Baptist Church in our Haiti relief efforts.
Through these efforts, we were able to provide the necessary funds to help pay for transportation to get needed medical supplies to Haiti.
We were also able to give $1,500 to Congressman Lloyd Doggett for the Clinton-Bush Haiti Relief Fund.
Mt. Rose Baptist Church is still accepting donations at First National Bank in Bastrop for Haiti relief.

Sincerely,
Rev. R.D. Smith
Pastor, Mt. Rose Baptist Church

The Elgin Wildcats beat up on a tired Liberty Hill team Thursday evening, picking up a 8-2 win over the Panthers on the first day of the Southside Market Baseball Tournament at Elgin High School.
Liberty Hill was playing in its second game of a doubleheader and got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning, but Elgin tied it up in the bottom of the inning.
Then the Wildcats led 6-2 lead going into the final inning.
Jacob Cantwell got the win on the mound for Elgin, striking out three batters and one earned run.
Leading hitters for Elgin were Justin Lundgren, who was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored and Geno Perez, who went 2-4 with a run scored.

Staff photo by Michael Adams/ Elgin’s Jose Ramos slides safely into second Thursday evening in Elgin during the first day of the Southside Market Baseball Tournament.

The Elgin Wildcats beat up on a tired Liberty Hill team Thursday evening, picking up a 8-2 win over the Panthers on the first day of the Southside Market Baseball Tournament at Elgin High School.
Liberty Hill was playing in its second game of a doubleheader and got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning, but Elgin tied it up in the bottom of the inning.
Then the Wildcats led 6-2 lead going into the final inning.
Jacob Cantwell got the win on the mound for Elgin, striking out three batters and one earned run.
Leading hitters for Elgin were Justin Lundgren, who was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored and Geno Perez, who went 2-4 with a run scored.

Staff photo by Michael Adams/ Elgin’s Jose Ramos slides safely into second Thursday evening in Elgin during the first day of the Southside Market Baseball Tournament.

Editor,
What is going on with the School Board for BISD?! I read with great dismay about the board’s approval to spend $1.2 million for new tennis courts at BHS. I know the current facility for the tennis team may not be the best, but in this economy, is it wise to deplete our fund balance?
Just because there is “$3.1 million set aside for construction costs” is it necessary to spend it? Henry Gideon is quoted as saying “While the courts at Tahitian have served us well, it’s just not as practical as having them on campus.” What’s next? If it’s not “as practical” for our athletes to use facilities off campus, should our board vote to use the remainder of the fund balance construction allocation to construct a golf course on campus for the golf team? I’m sure they would appreciate not having to travel to improve their golf game.
Taxpayers in our district need to vote for school board candidates who are fiscally responsible. Our district is growing, and with growth, there’s a need for more campuses and upgrades to existing campuses. If the construction allocation is spent on athletic facilities, where will the money come from to make other necessary upgrades to our campuses? Will we have to have a new bond election – which raises our taxes – to make these necessary changes?
The decision about the tennis courts has already been approved – with very little input, if any, from the taxpayers. I encourage all taxpayers to become more involved with what our school board is doing and use your voice at election time to choose candidates who are “forward-thinkers” and will manage our hard-earned money more wisely.
Jenna Seymour
Bastrop

@woscholar Thanks. Went walking the city last night with no problems. Hope my luck continues!

This isn't good for Steeler Nation. RT @HarveyLevinTMZ Ben Roethlisberger Accused of Sexual Assault http://bit.ly/aSrC1X

According to an announcement by the City of Dripping Springs:

Rain or shine, Dripping Springs Farmers Market is set to open March 20 for its second year of operation. The seasonal market’s business hours are 9 a.m. to noon on scheduled Saturdays through the Fall harvest season which concludes Nov. 20.

Booths are located in the grassy area of the Triangle, at the intersection of U.S. 290 West and Ranch Road 12. Free parking has been designated in the graveled section of the property.

View Larger Map

With a mixed offering of fruits and vegetables, eggs, plants, herbs, flowers, and handcrafted items, the Dripping Springs Farmers Market will be bigger and better than ever. Due to consumer demand and a successful first year, many of the market favorites including Bella Verdi Farms, Onion Creek Farm, EIEIO Farms, Lazy 8 Ranch, Twin County Dorper, Los Sombras, Jupiter’s Child, Bell Springs Products, Vibrant Naturals and Bubby’s Biscuits will all return.

Many market-goers will be thrilled to hear that a local eatery has agreed to sell their popular food and drinks at the farmers market this year. Crucita’s Taco Village will be on hand to sell breakfast tacos.

Live entertainment including local acoustic performers will also be added for the enjoyment of the growing crowds. Anyone interested in providing live entertainment should contact City of Dripping Springs Parks Director Ashley Seay or City Secretary Jo Ann Touchstone at 512-858-4725.

With plenty of room to grow, regional vendors and skilled artistic merchants are welcome to participate in the upcoming market days. Booth space is available for $15 a day, after the initial city-required annual vendor permit of $30. All items sold in the market must be either grown or made by the seller. Please call Parks Director Ashley Seay or City Secretary Jo Ann Touchstone at 512-858-4725 if you have any questions or need additional information.

Booth space rental forms and the market rules and regulations are available at City Hall, 511 Mercer St., or on the Dripping Springs Farmers Market Web site.

2010 Dripping Springs Farmers Market Schedule

Saturdays 9 a.m. to Noon

March 20

April 3, 17

May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

June 5, 12, 19, 26

July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31

August 7, 21

September 4, 18

October 2, 16

November 6, 20

*Schedule may change. Check the City of Dripping Springs Web site at
www.cityofdrippingsprings.com and Dripping Springs Farmers Market web site at http://dsfarmersmarket.yolasite.com for updates.

Hahah thanks to my knee i just walkd all period lol!
MiSgUiDeD_gHoSt

It was a food lover’s delight at last weekend’s 7th Annual Empty Bowl Project.
The fundraiser for the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry, held at Bastrop High School, had a high turnout of people who came to sample delights from Central Texas restaurants.
But it was also for a very good cause.
“We came here because we trying to help out the food pantry,” said Rachel Riffe, from Paige. “The money goes further here, by buying tickets, because the food pantry can take the money and buy foodstuffs in bulk.”
And what was Riffe sampling?
“This Italian vegetable I’m eating has everything in it,” Riffe said. “It’s really delicious.”
Adrene Bracewell had come from Elgin to help support the food pantry.
“It’s just a very good cause,” Bracewell said. “Anything we can do to help out the Bastrop County food pantry is worth it.”
Bracewell said of her potato soup, “It’s real tasty. And I tried some very good sausage soup.”
Some of the other popular delights included a Sopa Azteca con albondigas (Aztec soup with meatballs), made by caterer Libby Pulley. The delightful concoction contained meatballs of ground lamb in chicken broth with chile pasilla, chile ancho and tomato.
Besides the silent auction of wonderful works of art, there was plenty of entertainment, including music by Bastrop’s Academy Jazz Players.
Not to be outdone by the music, chef Teresa Human, who works food service for the Bastrop Independent School District, had her own running dialogue with customers she served.
“I’m an officially approved Cajun chef by the state,” Human joked as she served up a tasty gumbo soup. She was working with Lorri Ballard, also a BISD chef.
“The Empty Bowl project is all about feeding the hungry people all over our county,” Human said.

Please Retweet if you think taxes and government spending are out of control. Join the online march to DC at http://OnlineTaxRevolt.com now!

man, subs who don't givva fuck are awesome. x]

@MaryMcMax that seems to happen a lot with an iPhone.

good morning everyone

@DolceVeritas Me too

My ears feel so bad. Like I'm in deep water and the pressure is pushing into my ears. ): but doc said I have no infection or anything.

@Machocamacho16 glad I could be your entertainment for the evening. Thank you, and goodnight.

@DolceVeritas My bday isn't til april tho

Dear EarthTalk: I have a new linoleum floor, which I chose partly for its eco-friendliness. How do I clean and maintain it without using harsh or…

We don't become culturally relevant when we become like the culture, but rather when we model what the culture hungers to become.

Gonna get to talk to my favorite person tonight

Got my septum done, Ily Alexx

killer headache. super sleepy. still must raid…

is listening to The Black Parade CD in honor of Bob Bryar leaving MCR. :/

Heard about a Homeless Community out in the woods in Bastrop. Did some hiking…couldnt find them. Will try again next week. I wanna serve!

Nothing says sprung in Texas like baseball and BBQ. At Elgin for the Southside Market BB Tournament where they are grilling brisket!

at #nsww Been waiting for this session…!

Bastrop County AgriLife Extension Service is sponsoring the third program on drought recovery for beef cattle and forage producers March 23 at the Elgin VFW Hall,118 Old Sayers Rd. in Elgin.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., with the program beginning at 9 a.m. Registration is $10 per person if paid by March 19. Late registration is $15. Registration includes lunch, refreshments and handouts.
Topics of discussion and speakers include a pesticide laws and regulations update, Dr. Mark Matocha, agriculture and environmental safety program specialist; broadleaf weed management after drought, Dr. Paul Baumann, extension weed management specialist; brush and weed management and their effect on stocking rates, Dr. Bob Lyons, extension range specialist and Dr. Larry Redmon, extension agronomist; and preventative health programs for purchased/incoming/new cattle and internal parasite management, Dr. Thomas Hairgrove, extension veterinarian.
Register and pay registration fees by March 19 at the Bastrop County Extension Office, 901 Pecan St. in Bastrop. Pending approval with the Texas Department of Agriculture, four hours of CEU credits will be offered to private, commercial and non commercial pesticide license holders.
Call the Bastrop County Extension Office for more information at (512) 581-7186.

Show is called ‘Mixed Emotions’ for a good reason
Photographer Carol Lyon is the current featured artist at the Bastrop Fine Arts Guild gallery. Carol is most well known for her animal photography.
A new treat is in store for art lovers as, for the first time, she mixes portraits into this show that runs through the month of March. Called “Mixed Emotions”, it’s just that. All of her photographs will elicit at least two different emotions. Some will make you laugh out loud and then feel slightly guilty for doing so; others will melt your heart, then give you courage, while others will repel and fascinate you at the same time.
Her work has been published in collections through the Vermont Photographic Workplace, has shown in galleries in Austin and Houston and will be displayed at prestigious art shows such as Houston’s Bayou City, Fayetteville’s Art Walk and Rockport’s Art Festival this spring. Her work has been seen in the Bastrop area at the Lost Pines Cancer Center, McKinney Roughs Nature Park, the chamber of commerce, the Bastrop Public Library and visitors’ center and is in a continuing display at Fat Cat on Main Street.
The intriguing art show “Mixed Emotions” can be viewed the entire month of March from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Sunday at 1009 Main St. in Bastrop at the guild’s Fine Art Gallery. An artist’s reception will be held March 5 from 6-8 p.m. at the gallery and is open to the public. For this special show, most framed pieces will be $50. This is an excellent opportunity to start collecting a local emerging artist.

Open studio
“Open studio” at the Mary Nichols Arts Center is rapidly becoming a great success. Last week there were more than 10 artists (not including the children in Stephanie Shroyer’s group who were having a make-up class) working on everything from collage, painting, learning how to use Adobe Photoshop to decorating gourds.
Membership is not required for anyone who wishes to drop in between 1-8 p.m. You can bring something to work on or just come along to observe and be in the presence of other creative people just like yourself.
First Saturday
Remember that this weekend is the first of ten “First Saturday Arts Festivals” in Smithville. You can see original works of art and can meet the artists who create them.
The Ann Powell Train will be there to give tours of our historic town and children can enjoy working on art projects – all at no charge. You’ll be able to sit under the 100 year old oaks and enjoy live music by Sarah Page, the Peterson Brothers and perhaps even Tom and Jim Watts. This festival runs from 10-5 p.m. at the park surrounding the gazebo at the south end of Main Street. Tell your friends to meet you there.
Mary Nichols
The new show “A Texas State of Mind” will open at the Mary Nichols Gallery, 301 Burleson in Smithville. The gallery is open from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays and on Wednesdays from 1-8 p.m. This show, celebrating the history of the great state of Texas will be in the gallery until the end of April. Everyone is invited to the opening reception on March 12 from 5-8 p.m. Enjoy some refreshments, a glass of wine and meet our talented artists who are sharing with you their impressions of what makes Texas great. Call me for more information at 577-5252.

First bloom
Sponsored by Elgin Arts and Artisans, “First Bloom” is an outdoor show featuring an artists’ showcase of fine arts and crafts. The event will be held at Veterans’ Park, between Depot Street and Central Avenue in downtown Elgin, Saturday, April 24 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The showcase is an “artist only” event. Exhibited work must be of professional quality, designed by the artist and created with the artists’ own hands. Artists working in all media are welcomed.
This year, “First Bloom” will be held in conjunction with Dia de los Ninos at Elgin Public Library and the city-wide Purple and White Jubilee, a homecoming celebration for graduates (1940s through 1990s) of Elgin High School, so the town will be full of potential buyers.
Sign up deadline is April 12. Interested artists can find further information and download an application at http://www.scribd.com/doc/27399275/First-Bloom-2010.

Postcards
The Family Crisis Center is building public awareness through an art postcard campaign titled “Share Your Voices–Speak Out Against Sexual Violence.” Use your creativity and imagination to create an image on a 4×6 card stock postcard and share your voice by speaking out against sexual violence.
You may use whatever materials you choose: Metal, wood, fabric art, paints, images, words, phrases or mixed media. The postcards will be collected by Family Crisis Center staff or can be returned to the Center’s office located at 431 Old Austin Hwy in Bastrop.
The deadline for entry is March 24. Please do not sign your name on the front side of the postcard. However, please provide your name on the backside of the postcard allowing your entry to be matched to your name on the signed release.

Area residents should be alert to recent scams involving phone calls and computer access.
The Austin-American Statesman recently reported that someone was contacting people whose phone numbers were in the newspaper’s classified ads and asking for credit card numbers and other information.
On Monday, Advertiser publisher Mark Gwin said although the scam apparently hadn’t involved the Statesman’s affiliated Austin Community Newspapers, which includes the Advertiser and The Smithville Times, residents should still be on the alert.
“The callers had gotten phone numbers out of classified ads and were posing as employees of the newspaper,” Gwin said. “They would say something like, ‘Your credit card number didn’t go through,’ or ‘We transposed the credit card numbers.’”
Then the caller would ask for the full credit card number, Gwin added.
“All scams are the same; you shouldn’t give out personal information over the phone unless you make the call,” Gwin said.

England calling – again
Once again, a scam based on a “stranded in England and need money” e-mail has hit a Bastrop resident.
Dock Jackson, who works for the office of Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald, said he was the victim this week of an email sent to hundreds of his colleagues claiming that Jackson was stranded in England and needed financial help.
“The email said I was stuck in the U.K., lost my passport, credit cards and I needed money to come home,” Jackson said.
Jackson said, as far as he knows, no one fell for the scam.
He said the e-mail went out to state and national political organizations with which he was involved, including one of the campaign groups for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, when she was running for the Democratic nomination for president.
Many Bastrop County employees also received the e-mail, including Sheriff Terry Pickering.
“When I got home I saw the e-mail but I had already been contacted by Ken Cruise and knew not to open the e-mail,” said Pickering, referring to a warning from the county’s integrated technology expert, Cruise.
Jackson said some of his colleagues tried to learn the origin or identify of the scammer.
“Some of my friends played with the e-mail and tried to get as much information as they could,” Jackson said, adding they were able to get the scammer’s Internet processing number.
“I am going to the Attorney General with copies of the e-mail,” Jackson said. “The Bastrop Police Department has already sent out an alert to all neighboring counties.”

Three local high school students will have their artwork displayed at the Bastrop County International Women’s Day celebration this Saturday in Bastrop.
Sarah Solomon, Johnathon Wenske and Kali Reed won first, second and third place, respectively, for the Bastrop County IWD art contest, which awards cash prizes to any person working toward their high school diploma, helps educate the next generation in women’s issues and celebrates the women of Bastrop County.
According to Mary Beth Gradziel, who has been involved with Bastrop County IWD since it started 10 years ago, the celebration features several talented, interesting and articulate women of the county.
“The year before it started, a couple of our members – Linda Lesso and Carrie Knox – were at the celebration in Austin and asked themselves why they had to travel so far to celebrate International Women’s Day,” Gradziel said. “They started the celebration in Bastrop in 2000 and have rotated throughout the three cities in Bastrop County (Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville) each year since.”
Throughout the years, the festival has grown and changed, but the theme has always remained the same – a celebration that honors women and allows the county to experience its vibrant and diverse community, she said.
Gradziel said that when trying to choose the winners of the art contest, Bastrop County IWD looked at certain criteria.
“Each year, there is a theme that needs to be followed, there is a deadline and it all needs to be done by a Bastrop County high school student,” she said.
Solomon, a senior from Smithville High School, won with her depiction of the contest theme, “Women creating positive steps connecting the past and future.”
Solomon said that she found out about the contest in her art class.
“Everyone in class worked on something for the contest,” she said. “The theme had to do with creating positive steps with circles, so I decided to connect the past and future through a time warp made out of circles.”
According to Solomon, there is a woman going into the time warp in her piece, creating footsteps through time. The circles get smaller and smaller as time goes by, like an optical illusion, she said.
Solomon is the daughter of Mollye and Robin Solomon and plans on attending Florida College, where she has already been accepted, to major in theatre and possibly receive a minor in both art and teaching.
“I really want to be an actress, but if that doesn’t work, then a cartoonist or an art or theatre teacher,” she said.
As the first place winner, her art will be featured on the Bastrop County IWD T-shirts, tote bags and bandanas for sale at the celebration. Solomon will also receive a cash prize, roses and a T-shirt, and her art will be framed and on display at the event.
Wenske also learned of the contest in art class, saying that he did not get a chance to enter into it last year and he thought it would be a good opportunity to get his art out.
“I first started with the Virgin Mary and put a circle around her head because of the theme of circles with positive steps,” Wenske said. “I made the steps she walked on yellow because it’s a positive color, and I also included the woman’s symbol, which is a circle and a cross.”
He said he would like to attend either the University of North Texas or Texas A&M Corpus Christi to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts as an art teacher.
“It seems like they both have pretty good art programs, so I think they are good Wenske,” he said.
He will receive a cash prize, roses and a T-shirt as the second place winner.
Reed, a Smithville senior and the daughter of James and Renee Reed, said she too participated in the contest because of her art class.
“It took me a while to think about what I was going to do,” Reed said. “I was looking at stuff, knowing that I had to connect the circles in the theme in some way. That’s how I came up with a chain.”
Reed said she either wants to attend the University of North Texas or Texas State University – San Marcos to receive a degree in fashion.
Like Wenske, Reed will receive a cash prize, roses and a T-shirt as the third place winner.
Gradziel said that this year’s Bastrop County IWD celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with the reading of the proclamation at the Bastrop County Courthouse.
“Then, everyone participating – families, dogs, horses – will march around the courthouse over to the Ascension Catholic Church for the rest of the celebration,” she said.
According to Gradziel, at the church, there will be a pot luck lunch, piano music and featured speakers. The contest winners will be awarded at the end.
“We encourage women to bring their own work for display at the celebration,” Gradziel said.
In previous years, she said women have brought quilts, pine needle baskets, clothing, puppets, dolls and even Christmas stockings.
“This year, like every year, I would like to see acknowledgement of what women have been doing and what they have accomplished,” Gradziel said.

Three children are dead and four persons injured following a two-car collision in northern Bastrop County this past weekend.
Those killed in the crash Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Texas 21 and U.S. 290 were identified as nine-year-old Paul Gonzalez, eight-year-old Noel Gonzalez and a five year old girl, Leah Gonzalez, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson.
All three victims were children of 26-year-old Pricilla Gonzalez who was a passenger in a 2000 Dodge Caravan being driven by 30-year-old Tiffany Bowman.
Both women were injured and taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge where they were later released Sunday night.
Apolinar Saldana, 1, and Angie Gonazlez, 6, were also injured in the crash and transported to Dell Children’s Medical Center. As of Tuesday afternoon, Saldana was still listed in critical condition while Angie Gonzalez was listed in good condition, according to Matilda Sanchez, spokesperson for the Seton Family of Hospitals. Both adult women and the five children were from Houston.
The accident occurred close to 4:30 p.m. Sunday when the van being driven by Bowman failed to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic as it was in the process of turning off U.S. 290 onto Texas 21, said the DPS.
The minivan was struck by a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 whose driver was not injured.
The only occupant of the van listed as wearing a seatbelt was Pricilla Gonzalez, according to the DPS.

A 44-year-old Bastrop County man who allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and then kicked down a door that struck and injured his girlfriend’s mother, was arrested last Thursday by deputies with the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office.
Steve Ford was booked in the Bastrop County Jail for assault causing bodily injury, family violence and injury to a child/elderly/disabled person.
According to reports from the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, Ford became involved in an argument with his girlfriend at one of her neighbor’s homes on Thursday evening.
Ford allegedly pushed his girlfriend to the ground, punched her in the face then pushed her down a flight of stairs.
He also reportedly picked up box cutters during the altercation in a threatening manner. After leaving the neighbor’s home, Ford returned to his girlfriend’s home where he allegedly kicked down a door that his girlfriend’s mother was standing behind. The door reportedly struck the 67-year-old woman causing a laceration. When law enforcement officers arrived they observed broken furniture strewn about the house and the smell of alcohol on Ford, according to reports.
The victims were not hospitalized.

Margaret E. Williams, age 84, of Bastrop, Texas was called by our Heavenly Father on February 26, 2010.
Margaret is survived by her husband Benjamin Williams to whom she was married to for 66 years, a sister Beatrice Staples of Kentucky, four daughters, Darcus Tate of Bastrop, Peggy Eaton of Austin, Mary Whitsit of Bastrop and Daisy Littleton of Colorado. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.
A memorial gathering will take place in July.
Rest now my wife for your adventure now takes you to
higher places and do not worry, we will be together
again some day. Love your husband.

Next week http://www.nws.noaa.gov/floodsafety/... Turn Around Don't Drown

I love Rudy's BBQ sauce. About to head to watch Bastrop-McNeil baseball here in a few, stopped at Rudy's for lunch.

Billy Ray Hall, age 79, passed away after a brief illness on Sunday, February 28, 2010 with his loving family at his side. He was born the middle son of E.R. (Shorty) and Velma Hall in Iowa Park.
He is survived by his loving wife Edna Jean who he loved very much. He is survived by his seven children, daughter Deborah Wright and her husband John Wright of Blue, Texas, daughter Vicki McMillan and her husband Kenny McMillan of Bastrop, Texas, daughter Nelda Connelley of San Antonio, daughter Rebecca Hall of Austin, daughter Kelly Gearman of Austin, son Michael Hall of Salt Lake City, Utah, and daughter Teresa Bostick and her husband Robert Bostick of Buda, Texas. Billy is also survived by his younger brother, Max Hall of Odessa, Texas. Billy leaves behind 16 grandchildren, David W. Cooper, Randy McMillan, Russell McMillan, Scotty Connelley, Libby Connelley, Kimberlee Miller, Sarah Connelley, Ysabel Cuellar, Alex Gearman, Taylor Gearman, Michael Ray Hall Jr., Adrianne Hall, Christopher Hall, Alex Hall, Megan Bostick and Rachel Bostick as well as 10 great grandchildren.
After graduating from high school in Levelland, Texas, in 1948, he served in the US Air Force. After his tour of duty, he graduated with honors from Texas Tech University in 1955 with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. He started his petroleum engineering career with Core Laboratories and later joined the Texas Railroad Commission as Assistant State Director of the Oil and Gas Division which he retired from in 1994 as Director of the Oil and Gas Division. While at the commission he was instrumental in drafting the current laws and guidelines for the oil and gas industry.
Billy’s loves were his family, high school football, working in his yard, Hershey kisses and a good bourbon and coke. Over the course of his life he kept a detailed journal of the moments and events that mattered to him. He then had it published as a book for his family. This was his legacy of love for those he left behind. The hole he leaves in our lives is enormous, for he was truly larger than life. But, the one thing he taught all of us is that love and time heal all wounds and there is nothing stronger than family.
He is preceded in death by his mother, Velma Hall and his father, E.R. (Shorty) Hall and his oldest brother, Martin Hall of Odessa.
Visitation was held on Tuesday, March 2 at Marrs-Jones-Newby Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, March 3rd at Marrs-Jones-Newby Chapel. Mr. Hall will be laid to rest at Fairview Cemetery in Bastrop.

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Voters are heading to the polls to choose their candidates for offices including governor, State Board of Education, the Texas Legislature, and U.S. Congress.

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goodnight everyone

Lost, season 3… BEGIN!

内臓のAirMacの調子が悪くてネットに繋がらなかった。事務所に置いてあるWinMEで仕事してたけどブルースクリーンが二度も起きたｗ

I knew my pals at @KXAN_News would come through RT @rwallacekxan We've got Brittney Griner's punch coming up on KXAN at 10.

Lady Panthers still lead 6-2 going into the bottom of the sixth!

citizen for boysenberry jam posted a photo:

citizen for boysenberry jam posted a photo:

citizen for boysenberry jam posted a photo:

http://twitpic.com/16gy9q – FW:

Now that the Bastrop ISD has approved a $1.2 million construction bid for a brand new tennis facility at Bastrop High School, ground is set to be broken in coming weeks pending approval from the Bastrop City Council of the plans.
The project bid from Giddings-based Gaeke Construction was approved in a six to one vote – BISD Board President John Eaton being the lone dissenter – during the Feb. 16 monthly school board meeting.
Following the board’s approval, Bastrop ISD Director of Operations Henry Gideon said that contractors will be reviewing plans for the eight courts and be ready to start moving dirt as quickly as possible.
“As soon as the city releases us with the site plan’s approval then we are going to start moving in equipment,” Gideon said this week.
Construction of a new tennis court facility has been proposed by the BISD since at least the late 1990s and was unsuccessfully included in three separate bond elections beginning in 2001, according to Gideon.
In recent years, facing increasing dissatisfaction with the facility BHS utilizes at Tahitian Village, the project was again proposed. This time, however, the necessary funds would be drawn out of the district’s Designated Fund Balance that includes $3.1 million set aside for construction costs.
According to Eaton, that funding mechanism has been the main reason behind his objection to the project. The last time the tennis court issue was brought up in the Nov. 17 school board meeting, for example, Eaton also found himself alone in his stance, especially with the idea that the BHS should utilize the new courts being built at Cedar Creek High School.
“We have state-of-the art tennis courts coming online next August at Cedar Creek High School which is a facility which will be substantially underutilized for several years,” Eaton said on Nov. 17. “We have an immediate solution to accommodate all our needs without expending $1.2 to $1.3 million of our fund balance.”
The school board president’s suggestion was not well-received by fellow trustees, such as Johnny Sanders, who in that same meeting told Eaton, “Let’s put it to bed tonight John. This thing is going to happen.” Other trustees including Jim Mills said the courts at Tahitian Village were “in horrible shape” and had become a “safety hazard.”
During the February school board meeting Eaton’s opposition was more subdued and only expressed through his vote. When asked later about his vote against the project, he reiterated his issue with the funding.
“I was not in favor of the method in which we chose to fund the project,” Eaton said. “I would like the superintendent to look at other funding options before it comes in front of the board for a vote.”
Regardless of Eaton’s stance, the project is moving ahead full steam. Gideon says the new BHS tennis facility will be similar to the one built at CCHS except in the color of the courts (traditional green instead of blue) and the layout design (side by side instead of a square grid). Included in the project are a concession stand and restrooms that will be shared with the soccer facility. The total cost is currently projected at $1,128,803 plus approximately $123,438 in soft costs, which are costs that are not direct construction costs.
Depending on weather conditions and assuming the work starts soon, Gideon says he is eyeing a five to six month completion schedule.
“It is going to be a good project,” Gideon said. “It has been a desire of the district for a long time. We are a 4A, 5A school district. While the courts at Tahitian have served us well, it’s just not as practical as having them on campus.”

you like me but you go back to your ex? you shouldnt have made a quick decision before thinking about this. you just made this alot worse

Blehhh. Easy taks test. If i didn't get a four on that essay, i'm gonna punch somebody.

@JohnRandolph918 That will be a kick ass show!!

UPDATE 2:20 p.m.: The contempt order against Davis was dismissed on Tuesday, according to the Hays County District Clerk. No further details are available. Davis has not returned calls for comment. Judge Gary Steel declined to comment because the case is ongoing.

EARLIER: Austin lawyer Edmund “Skip” Davis is in trouble with a judge again, only this time it’s in Hays County.

An order to take Davis into custody was issued after a judge said Davis twice failed to appear at a murder trial in which Davis is the defense attorney.

Davis missed a hearing on Feb. 16, so Judge Gary Steel ordered Davis to appear in court on Monday to explain his absence. Davis missed that, too.

Steel has ordered Davis to pay a $500 fine and serve 180 days in jail.

Davis did not immediately return a call for comment this morning. He is not in custody, according to Hays County Jail records.

You may remember Davis as the lawyer charged with contempt of court in state District Judge Charlie Baird’s courtroom. During a September trial, Davis said “I love this (expletive)” in front of the jury and then denied it. Baird sentenced Davis to 10 days in jail and fined him $1,250 but delayed the imposition of the penalty.

Instead, the two worked out a deal in which Davis would pay $500 to the food pantry at the St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church, a charity Davis chose, and would pay $750 to Meals on Wheels, which Baird picked.

Davis also was ordered to work five days for Habitat For Humanity.

In Hays County, Davis is defending 20-year-old Zackhary Allen James, who has been charged with murder. James is accused of shooting a man to death following a fight at a San Marcos apartment complex in August.

Gearing up for the big event are, left to right, Mapster, Judy Thompson, Cheryl Gartner, Big Daddy and Kathleen Handy with her two children, Phillip, 1 and Nicholas, 3.

Children’s Advocacy Center’s annual Cowboys & Caviar on tap for March 27

Sexual abuse of a child – it’s a subject that no one wants to talk about and everyone hopes will never be their problem. The statistics are grim. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 3.2 million reports to Child Protective Services of child abuse in 2007 – 8 percent of those were sexual in nature. It’s believed that one in every five boys and one in every three girls will suffer some form of sexual or physical abuse before their 18th birthday. It’s easy enough to understand why most would prefer to stay as far away from this tragic problem as possible. The people who voluntarily step up to work on these front lines care deeply enough to try and right the wrongs, even though dealing with it sometimes makes it hard to sleep at night. It takes a tough man or woman to crawl down in that darkness with a child – and pull them back out into the light. And even though the members of Bikers Against Child Abuse, or BACA, are about as tough as it gets, even they will admit to having trouble controlling their emotions around these volatile and devastating circumstances.
To honor these men and women for their commitment and courage, BACA, Lost Pines Chapter, will be the honorary chairs of this year’s Children’s Advocacy Center’s main fundraiser, the sixth annual Cowboys & Caviar, scheduled for Saturday, March 27 at Smithville’s Riverbend Park.
“We honor those who have made a significant impact for the center by helping spread the word and volunteering,” said Kathleen Handy, this year’s chair for Cowboys & Caviar. “They do a lot for the children.”

BACA
BACA was started in 1995 in Utah by a licensed child therapist who saw a need for a group like BACA to help innocent victims overcome the trauma they have been subjected to, and help them to face their abuser in court. And it’s easy enough to imagine that any child may feel empowered if he or she has several leather-clad, chain-bearing biker types forming a protective barrier around them. The rewards for both bikers and child can be plentiful. But there are sacrifices, gladly made, too.
“An important part is that we hope to make them feel comfortable with themselves,” explained ‘Big Daddy’*, president of the local BACA chapter. “We want them to stand tall when they get on the stand. We become extended family.”
It all starts when a child enters the legal system. If the child’s family invites BACA in to help, an ‘adoption’ is arranged. Big Daddy became involved when he saw an adoption in the local newspaper.
“I knew when I saw it that it was exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “When I saw ‘Mapster’ and ‘Big Foot’ walk in wearing their vests, they were bigger than life.” Mapster says that even though he had the perfect upbringing, helping kids who have run into trouble has turned into a calling.
“It’s like nothing else,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of things and taken pride in doing them, but the first time you see a kid going from hiding to pumping their fist, it brings tears to some eyes.”
He means his eyes – and he’s not the only one. When Big Daddy found himself getting emotional, he wondered if it was normal.
“It didn’t take long to find out that it was normal,” he said. “You can level it out but there are times when the circumstances are extraordinary and it all comes out.” Mapster agreed. “The strength of some of these kids is amazing,” he said.
Adoptions take about an hour and it’s typical for 20 or more bikers to show up. When they roar noisily down a suburban street or rural dirt road, people notice. A certificate is presented and the child comes to understand that he now has a new extended family of brothers and sisters – brothers and sisters who are not afraid to go to the mat with him. The child receives a BACA vest with his or her name on it and, if acceptable to mom, gets the ride of his or her life on the back of a motorcycle. Most kids come out of this ceremony with a new lease on life, BACA and Center members agree.
“If you haven’t hooked them by then, when you take them for that ride, it’s a done deal,” said Mapster. “It’s all about empowering them to feel good about themselves.”
What BACA members do for abused children cannot be overemphasized, according to CAC director Cheryl Gartner.
“It’s amazing that they take their time to show this child that what happened to them is not okay and it’s not their fault,” said Cheryl, director of the CAC. “These guys are out there doing it – they jump in full force. I interview a lot of kids. You can see and feel the terror they’ve had to live with. These guys come in and give those kids a sense of safety. I can call them at the drop of a hat and I know they will be there.”
Besides the adoption ceremony, BACA members have different levels of involvement with abused children, including putting up a barrier between the child and his or her abuser.
“We are not a vigilante group,” Mapster said. “However, if there is a need, we are more than willing – and able – to be the obstacle between the child and further abuse.”
That may include camping out at a child’s house and escorting them to and from school until the threat has gone away.
“One of the best things is to pull up for a follow up visit and realize that the child has moved on and doesn’t need us anymore,” said Big Daddy. “That’s when we know we have done our job.”
And even if that happens, the group stands ready to come back if necessary.
“Once a BACA kid, always a BACA kid,” Mapster said.
BACA applicants are subjected to full background checks and must be active for a year as a support member before they earn their BACA patch. Both Big Daddy and Mapster know they are where they should be right now.
“I had never found a real place to give back,” Mapster explained. “ It was a natural match between my love of bikes and the opportunity to give back.”

CAC
The CAC offers hope and help to children who have been abused and their non-offending family members. In 2007, the Center helped more than 800 children in Bastrop, Fayette and Lee counties. The center provides abused children with a warm and non-threatening environment in which they can feel safe to talk about their abuse during forensic interviews that can be used to help put predators away.
Besides their own trained staff and volunteers, the center is comprised of members of law enforcement, district attorney’s office, medical professionals, Child Protective Services and more.
Each year, the CAC sponsors Cowboys & Caviar, their main fundraiser. The CAC has seen a large part of their normal governmental funding dry up in the last year, so the need for help is larger than ever.
“Government funding has been cut significantly,” Handy said. “We’ve seen an 18 percent increase in the number of children we are interviewing. Our needs are up and our funding is down. We really need the community to support us.”
Cowboys & Caviar is so named because the event can be as dressed up – or down – as the attendee is comfortable with.
“What I like about our event is that it is fun,” Gartner said. “You can get dressed up – the caviar component – or just kick back in jeans – the cowboy component.”
Gartner said she believes that people will help if they understand what the Center does.
“The business we deal with is ugly,” she said. “This year, we decided that people really need to hear more about what we do. We want to make sure people understand the impact their donation has.”
Cowboys and Caviar starts at 6 p.m. The event includes a silent and live auction and both Gartner and Handy were excited to tell about the big live auction item – a 14-day stay at a private home in Crete, Greece at Agia Pelegia beach. Tickets to the event are by pre-sale only and the CAC is still accepting sponsors. Call 321-6161 for more information.

*Psuedonyms are used to protect the members of BACA from retribution at the hands of the accused child abusers, and because children are more comfortable with names that sound friendly and familiar.

Shannon Voigt, age 57, of Red Rock passed from this life on March 1, 2010 after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was born November 22, 1952 in Austin, Texas to L.E. and Dorothy Ellis Harris.
Shannon graduated from Bastrop High School and obtained her Bachelor of Science in education from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University). She taught for 28 years in the Bastrop Independent School District elementary schools. She loved her students and friends at Mina Elementary very much. Shannon also greatly loved her Dallas Cowboys.
She was preceded in death by her father, L.E. Harris.
Survivors include: her husband of 39 years, Carroll Voigt; sons, Jimmy Voigt and wife Mandy, and Zach Voigt all of Red Rock; a daughter, Misty Hill and husband J.D. of San Marcos; her mother, Dorothy Harris of Bateman; 8 siblings, Jack Spurlock and wife Tena of Red Rock, Richard Spurlock and wife Pauline of Red Rock, Jimmy Harris and wife Nadine of Smithville, Brenda Tucker and husband Ronnie of Rockne, Jeffrey Harris of Bateman, Julie Jones and husband Craig of Smithville, Zachary Harris and wife Teri of Smithville, and Mandy Bundick and husband Darren of Lake Jackson; 4 grandchildren, Baylee Voigt, Haiden Hill, Caleb Hill, and Cole Hill; and a brother-in-law, Todd Voigt.
The family received guests at Bastrop Providence Funeral Home on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. Funeral services were at the funeral home on Thursday, March 4, 2010 with burial following in Bateman Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society in care of Margaret Hanna at First National Bank in Bastrop.

Forever in our hearts
Roland M. Hug, 52, of Bastrop, Texas passed away peacefully at his home on February 27, 2010 surrounded by his loving family after fighting a courageous 17-month battle with brain cancer.
He was born to Rosa Anna Haelg and Josef Hug in Neuenhof, Switzerland on January 1, 1958. He was raised in Wettingen AG, Switzerland and studied and worked as a CAD Architectural Draftsman for several years. In his 30’s, Roland moved to the United States and began working for in the Hotel & Restaurant Business. He worked his way up to a Food and Beverage Manager after 18 years. His career would ultimately bring him and his wife to Bastrop, Texas, where he was part of the Charter Team responsible for opening the Hyatt Resort Lost Pines in Bastrop.
He was preceded in death by his only brother, Herbert Hug.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 9 years, Sandra Hug-Aegerter; his parents, Josef and Rosa Anna Hug-Haelg; his three sisters, Jolanda Kost-Hug, Sonja Geissmann-Hug and Beatrice Braun-Hug. He also leaves behind several aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service was held Thursday, March 4th at Ascension Catholic Church in Bastrop, Texas with Rev. Dr. Carla Cheatham (Chaplain) for Heart to Heart Hospice in Austin officiating. Relatives and Friends were all together to celebrate Roland’s life. An Interment Service is scheduled for a later date at Brunnenwiese Cemetery in Wettingen AG, Switzerland.
The family would like memorial contributions to be made in Roland’s honor, to the National Brain Tumor Society at www.braintumor.org.
Arrangements and care were entrusted to the staff of Elgin Funeral Home.

Milton died peacefully from cancer, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Bastrop, Texas on February 26, 2010.
He was born December 5, 1937 in Live Oak County, Texas in the community of Ray Point to August and Lena Wieding. He attended Cadillac School in Pawnee, graduating from Pawnee High School in 1956. After briefly attending Texas A&I in Kingsville, he moved to San Antonio to work for the City Public Service. Later, he lived in Yorktown and Victoria where he owned and operated LM Bumper until his retirement in 1999. After his retirement, he then moved to Bastrop, Texas in order to be closer to his two daughters.
Milton’s passion was serving his Lord through the Sunday School programs at his churches. First, at St. Paul Lutheran in San Antonio then, St. Paul Lutheran in Karnes City later, Palm Valley Lutheran in Round Rock and ultimately completing his service to his Lord and Savior, at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin.
Milton is preceded in death by his parents and one grandson, John George White.
Milton is survived by his wife, Mary; two daughters, Beverly and husband Bill Blase of Round Rock and Yvonne and husband Darryl White of Round Rock; five grandchildren, Lindsey Blase, Megan White, Zachary White all of Round Rock, Michael Blase of Austin and Ben Blase of Corpus Christi; one great-grandchild, Hannah Powell of Round Rock; three sisters, Lee Smetzer of Seguin, Gladys Spielman of Devine and Ruth Haack of Lakehills; one brother, Stanley Wieding of Seguin; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and all his family from the congregations to whom he loved and served.
The family would like to thank the Bastrop Asera Care Hospice, especially Beverly and Sherry who stayed with us through his last day and Pastor Roth for his love, prayers, and guidance to Milton and our family.
The family received guests at the Elgin Funeral Home. A Funeral Service was held at Tuesday, March 2 at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin with the Reverend Carl Roth officiating. An Interment Service was scheduled for the following day, March 3rd at 12 p.m. at Pawnee Cemetery in Pawnee, Texas.
The family asks that memorial contributions be made in Milton’s Honor to the Grace Lutheran Church Sunday School, 801 W. 11th St., Elgin, TX 78621.
Arrangements and care were entrusted to the staff of Elgin Funeral Home.

The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals has ruled that State District Judge Dan Mills will continue to preside over a criminal case involving former Pedernales Electric Cooperative executives despite being a member of the co-op.

Visiting Judge Bert Richardson made the same ruling in December; the appeals court upheld this ruling late last month.

Attorneys for the former PEC officials — former General Manager Bennie Fuelberg and his attorney Walter Demond — argued that Mills stands to benefit financially if restitution is ordered in the case. After Richardson’s ruling, they asked the 3rd Court of Appeals for an opinion on visiting state District Judge Robert “Bert” Richardson’s decision, in an effort to overturn it and force Mills’ removal.

Fuelberg and Demond each face three felony charges: misapplication of fiduciary duty in excess of $200,000, theft of property in excess of $200,000 and money laundering between $100,000 and $200,000. Through their lawyers, both have denied the charges.

The next hearing in the case is Friday, March 12, in Johnson City.

is at home

Wins and losses do not matter that much to Bastrop soccer player A.J. Yates.
While still a competitive player, Yates has a different perspective on the soccer field after battling — and winning -— a fight bigger than anything he has seen as an athlete.
On May 18, 2009, at the age of 17, Yates was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Nearly one year after his fight with cancer, Yates is now cancer free and back on the soccer field for the Bears.
“It really put things into perspective for me,” Yates said. “For me, I want to win, but winning isn’t everything.”
A week after he found out about his cancer, Yates had his cancerous testicle removed.
He then went through a chemotherapy treatment that began in June and finished up in September.
It was a process Yates said was probably harder on his mother, Rachel Yates, than him.
“(Mom) was there all the time,” he said. “I am the youngest in the family and I think it hurt her more than it did me.”
While going through this difficult time, Yates said he had a great support system, which included head coach Robert Watson and his teammates.
Yates said Watson gave him a book about Austinite and cycling champion Lance Armstrong, who also battled testicular cancer.
“I looked at (Lance) for inspiration a lot during this process,” Yates said. “I said, ‘if (Armstrong) can do it, so can I.’ This was just a bump in the road and I can get through it.”
He said he made up his mind long ago that instead of trying to play in college, he would concentrate on his studies in classical archeology when he attends the University of Texas in the fall.
“It never really went through my head that I wouldn’t play this season,” Yates said.
“I think about (the cancer) every time I step on the field. I went through something pretty bad and I play each game like it might be my last game.”
The Bears have just three games left on their schedule and it will be the final three games Yates will play competitively.
When that final horn sounds on his soccer career at Bastrop, soccer won’t be about winning and losing.
For Yates, it’s about something much bigger.
“I went through this and it proved to me I can do anything I want to do,” he said. “There are people that don’t get through this, so I feel pretty lucky.”

Contributed photo by Larry Overall/ Bastrop soccer player A.J. Yates

Elgin ranked 8th in current Class 4A TGCA State Softball poll http://bit.ly/9gb2qT

@debjjk4 Thanks hun!!

Bastrop's softball team opens district tonight at home against Pflugerville at 7 p.m.