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Defending my church when no one else will
Guest Column Christine Flowers
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The accusations of pedophilia in the Catholic church have never faded from the public eye, and while there are moments when other cataclysmic events push the tragedies a little further back from our immediate view, the fact that children were abused by prelates is never far from our consciousness.
As a Catholic, I am particularly devastated by the black mark against my church. There are many Catholics who have abandoned the pews with an anger that approximates the searing white flame of a votive candle. There are others who never loved the church enough to be devastated by her failings, people who could not or did not want to live according to the difficult, demanding and yet necessary obligations of being a true Catholic. I belong to neither group. I still sit in those pews, coming back to them like the immigrant who comes home after long journeys. I find great peace there. I never hated the church for telling me things that I might not like to hear, things about sexuality or penance or the mandate to “be my brother’s keeper.” I am told to be generous of spirit, to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and not judge, and I find all of those things extremely difficult. It’s not a surprise that my patron saint, the only one I really pray to on a regular basis, is St. Michael, the angel with the sword and the kick-ass attitude.
And yet, I stay, because there is no other alternative for me. There is no other faith, no other place. For that, I am ridiculed and criticized, and for that I am doubly committed to remain in those pews. But the scandal of men who abused the innocence of children and young men, and who were aided and abetted in their crimes by fearful or venal administrators, has made me ashamed. It has placed me on the defensive with those who already hated a church that stood proudly for the dignity of the unborn and the sanctity of a marriage open to the creation of human life. It has made it difficult for me to say that we speak with one, holy, apostolic and moral voice.
Last week, a famous lawyer who will not be named here because he doesn’t deserve more publicity, admitted that he might have named the wrong priest in a lawsuit filed by his client, a 50-year-old who claims he was abused in the archdiocese decades ago.
As a lawyer, I am astounded at the fact that someone in my profession could have been so careless as to accuse the wrong person of committing a crime so heinous that it is considered by many to be worse than murder. I know that lawyers make mistakes, and I know that we are sometimes blinded by money or crusades or hatred of our opponents, but when you are dealing with claims of sexual abuse, you damn well better get your facts straight before you start pointing fingers.
It looks as if the person who should have been named actually died several decades ago. And when confronted with his mistake, the lawyer gave a comment that looked, sounded like and amounted to nothing more than an “oops.”
This is a problem. We have been saturated with news stories about immoral, criminal priests, to the point that it is now common to simply dismiss all Catholic priests as the punchline of brutal jokes. The media has made it easy to ridicule my faith and the good men who have devoted their lives to it.
But it’s not just the media. We now have lawyers, those members of my profession who are committing acts of near if not actual malpractice, subjecting the wrong defendants to accusations in the pursuit of some raw and vengeful justice.
I expect that many of my readers will be angered by this column. There are those who will never admit that the church, my church, has been treated unfairly by the press and the courts and by they themselves. They will recoil at any call for self-reflection, because the subject of child abuse is so horrible and soul-destroying. We need, and want, our sacrificial lambs.
But unless we take the time to examine these cases one by one, under a bright light that has the power to bring out flaws and discrepancies, we are no better than the people we accuse of abuse. Because false accusations are as destructive as true crimes.
And lawyers and journalists, of all people, should know that.
Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
cflowers1961@gmail.com
When did your rock last roll?
Guest Column by Jase Graves
Like many Americans allergic to adulting, I often zone out on Facebook when I should be doing something more useful – like scooping the litter box or lecturing my children about the dangers of social media. Inevitably, I come across one of those surveys posted by Facebook users who are probably planning to hack into my account and steal my pet selfies.
I recently saw a survey that asks you to identify various rock concerts you’ve attended, and since my teen years were in the 1980s, attending rock concerts was a rite of passage that ranked right up there with cursing at your Rubik’s Cube and sporting your first fuzzstache. So hold on to your Hacky Sack, and let’s do this!
FIRST CONCERT
In August of 1985, a friend’s parents dropped off two of my fellow 15-year-old nerdlings and me at the legendary and slightly dilapidated Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, LA, for the “World Infestation” tour of the hair metal band Ratt – with Bon Jovi, ironically, as the opening act. As we sat at the back of the venue’s top row seating with our mouths agape, we could actually feel our undeveloped mullets standing on end as we were initiated into the world of live power chords, drum solos, and overly excited girls with impressively permed, crimped, and teased hairdos as far as the eye could ogle.
LAST CONCERT
Since my wife and I are now the parents of three teen daughters who would rather fold laundry while watching Wolf Blitzer discuss geopolitics on CNN than hang out with us, we’ve caught a few concerts on our own over the past couple of years. Our most recent event was the Billy Joel concert at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. The show was fantastic, and it was great to remain comfortably seated with hundreds of other boring, middle-aged couples singing along to hits from our teen years while waiting for an opportune moment to take a bathroom break.
BEST CONCERT
I witnessed the epitome of 1980s British metal and poor spelling when Def Leppard performed in Shreveport for the “Hysteria” tour in 1987. Not only was I amazed by the laser show and Leppard drummer Rick Allen’s inspiring one-armed performance, but standing near the stage in my sleeveless Union Jack shirt, I was surrounded by hundreds of squealing teenage girls who didn’t seem to mind that I was there – or that I probably forgot to wear deodorant.
WORST CONCERT
Nothing against the R&B legend, but I only went to see Keith Sweat in 1988 because the girl I was dating at the time liked Keith Sweat. I’ve got about as much rhythm and blues as Mr. Rogers on his least-funky days in the neighborhood.
MOST SURPRISING CONCERT
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the 1988 Rush concert in Shreveport was a true revelation – despite the relatively small number of bodacious babes in attendance. From Neil Peart’s phenomenal percussion work that demonstrated what a truly inadequate drummer I was, to the Toronto band’s cerebral lyrics, the show left me feeling exhilarated, more respectful of Canada – and slightly smarter.
LOUDEST CONCERT
The concert that probably contributed most to the fact that I often can’t hear my daughters asking for money was the 1988 Texxas Jam “Monsters of Rock” festival at The Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The lineup featured such eardrum-slaying legends as Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken and Kingdom Come. Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar actually lost his voice at the concert – and I lost my ability to tell the difference between the smoke alarm and the microwave beeping when my chicken taquitos are ready.
It’s nice that my wife and I can still occasionally get away to see elderly 1980s icons taking advantage of the fact that their fans are now old enough to carry a line of credit. But these days, I mostly get my head banger fix from the praise band at church. And if I’m feeling particularly nostalgic, I’ll rock out to Def Leppard on my iPhone while I scoop the litter box and take a few pet selfies.
Graves is an award-winning humor columnist from East Texas. His columns have been featured in Texas Escapes magazine, The Shreveport Times, The Longview News Journal, and The Kilgore News Herald.
susanjase@sbcglobal.net
Outgoing Kyle City Council member Daphne Tenorio posed with a plaque honoring her service. With here are (from left) Council member Dex Ellison, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Rizzo, Council member Tracy Scheel, Mayor Travis Mitchell, Council member Rick Koch and Council member Alex Villalobos. PHOTOS BY JERRY HENDRIX
BY ANITA MILLER Michael Tobias was sworn in to the Kyle City Council representing District 6 on Feb. 4. He won the seat in a special election Jan. 25 to replace Daphne Tenorio, who had resigned her seat in order to pursue the Democratic nomination for Hays County Treasurer.
Tobias was sworn in by County Judge Ruben Becerra while the new councilman’s wife Teresa looked on.
“You’ve got big shoes to fill,” Mayor Travis Mitchell told Tobias in the moments before he was sworn in. Mitchell called the council a “fast-acting group that likes to make an impact” on the city. “I’ve watched you campaign — you have a similar mindset,” he said.
Adding Tobias to the council is “adding another ally, another partner in this process whether we agree on everything or not,” Mitchell concluded.
Given the microphone, Tobias thanked his supporters and family and vowed to serve the city of Kyle.
Tobias said he wanted to tell the city of Kyle and his constituents in District 6, “I will do my Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra administers the oath of office to Michael Tobias, who was sworn in as a member of the Kyle City Council Feb. 4, as his wife Teresa looks on.
–Michael Tobias, newly sworn in Kyle council member
best to provide service for you and provide for you.” When it comes to the council, he said, “I’m all about the team … we’re going to do some amazing things.”
Prior to the swearing in, council members expressed their thanks to Tenorio for her service. “Five years in office is a considerable time,” Mitchell said. “It takes a special person to give that much of their life in service to their city.”
Mitchell noted that Tenorio had “worked diligently to make sure your citizens were represented,” and said she had been a “valuable contributor to this body.” Council member Alex Villalobos thanked Tenorio for “keeping us grounded” and for “just doing the right thing.” “Your constitution is strong, your backbone is one of the strongest,” he said. “You will do things right regardless of whether anybody is looking or not.”
Mayor Pro Tem Robert Rizo noted all Tenorio has done for the city and added, “Your service comes from the heart.” “It’s been a pleasure serving with you and I’ve learned a lot from you,” Council member Rick Koch, whose seat on the dais is next to Tenorio’s, said to her.
Tenorio kept her own remarks short. “Five years flew by,” she said. “I thank staff for being overwhelmingly supportive even though sometimes I can be a little abrasive.”
To Tobias, she said, “Michael, I know you will lead from the heart.”
County to use grant to fund mental health worker position
BY CAMELIA JUAREZ The Hays County Sheriff’s office is looking for a social worker who will respond to mental health crisis calls and follow up with patients post hospitalization.
The social worker’s job is designed to provide some relief to the understaffed mental health authority, who provides mental health services to several counties and to provide quicker assistance to individuals in a crisis. Currently, the mental health authority, Scheib Center and the five mental health deputies respond to crisis calls. However, Scheib is understaffed and handles multiple counties and mental health officers are not on-duty at all times or might be busy handling another situation.
Lt. Steve Cunningham spearheaded the mental health grant valued at $62,304 said the goal of the grant is to hire a fulltime social worker to handle crisis situations more efficiently than waiting for professionals.
“Instead of Scheib, they'd have to come out, it might take them several hours. Sometimes no one is available to respond immediately. And there's times the patrol officers are sitting around for several hours waiting for someone to show up and do an evaluation,” Cunningham said. “A case worker just speeds up the process of trying to assist somebody in getting screened. And maybe if they need inpatient that'll speed up the process there as well. And if they need outpatient, then they can provide resources to the individual for follow up and treatment.”
The caseworker would be responsible for deciding if the person needs to be hospitalized or if they can de-escalate the situation on the scene. Currently, the Mental Health Unit at the Sheriff’s office has a similar role, but they are needed on patrol, Cunningham said.
An additional duty would be to follow up with people after their hospitalization or after de-escalation. Cunningham said the caseworker will be notified of a person’s release to provide follow up information and help them become a stabilized member of society. “If they don't get follow up, then they could become a wrong term called repeat offender. But then they go revert back to a crisis. Again, the hope is that we don't have to deal with that, to that magnitude. So the follow up visit is to help them continue to the path of either counseling or making sure they're taking their meds,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said patrol officers try to follow up with people who experienced mental episodes by knocking on their doors, but the case worker will be a greater resource as an expert on mental health. The grant approved by the commissioners court in October will provide a full-time, one-year salary for the caseworker. The case worker will only be able to work 40 hours a week and for one year. Cunningham said hopefully they can get the position filled soon, so they can bring more resources to people dealing with health issues.
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Video shows altercation at forum hosted by Fraternal Order of Police Forum foul
BY ANITA MILLER Video released by KXAN of a candidates forum in Wimberley Feb. 5 does not show the moment when Michele Hart was hit over the head by a television camera; but it does show a pattern of hostility towards the news crew she later accused of assault. Hart told the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch last week that the station’s cameraman deliberately hit her with the camera in an attempt to get to Pct. 3 Constable Ray Helm, who along with his challenger in the March 3 GOP primary, was speaking at the Fraternal Order of Police-sponsored forum. Hart, who said she is pressing charges, had complained that the news crew was “pushing people out of the way asking questions” of Helm.
But the video, released by KXAN News Director Chad Cross, shows Darrell Ayers,
who is listed on the county’s web page as a part of Helm’s staff, step in front of and physically push reporter Jody Barr as he was attempting to question Helm after the forum’s conclusion. A news release from the Hays County Sheriff’s Office appeared to confirm Ayers’ involvement, describing the incident as “an altercation … involving an Austin area television crews and staff members of Hays County Precinct 3 Constable’s Ray Helm’s office.”
Two segments of video were released by KXAN. In the first, taken before the start of the forum, Barr approaches Helm and asks a question and Helm responded that he was not going to be interviewed. KXAN says that Helm had “declined multiple requests since November to schedule an interview” with the station, instead sending written responses. During the course of that interaction, Helm was occupied with his phone when he told Barr, “You can go away” and, “Get away from me.” The second piece of video shows Barr once again A screenshot from KXAN footage shows Hays County Pct. 3 Constable’s Office employee Darrell Ayers step in front of and push KXAN reporter Jody Barr during the Feb. 5 candidate forum in Wimberley.
approaching Helm after the forum’s conclusion and Helm waving him off before Ayers gets in front of Barr and pushes him. No video was released of the actual forum, or of any questions Helm may have answered. The forum was one of several throughout the county ahead of the March 3 primaries. Helm did not show up for one last week sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Hays County, though his primary opponent did.
KXAN said that in a written statement to Hays County deputies, the cameraman, who was not named, “said he was ‘shoved by who a witness told me was Darrell Ayers,’” which caused him to fall in the direction of Hart, who said the camera came down on the back of her head. As is protocol when a law enforcement agency is involved, the Texas Rangers have been called in to investigate the incident. KXAN said the station “has attempted repeatedly to contact the Rangers for an update on the investigation but so far has received no information.”
The sheriff’s office said it would not comment further.
PHOTO BY ANITA MILLER
Buda woman killed in Hwy 21 wreck
Traffic on Hwy. 21 was blocked for hours Monday morning in the wake of a four vehicle-collision near Cotton Gin Road that killed 60-year-old Yolanda Reyes of Buda. Preliminary reports from the DPS are that it involved four vehicles, one a dump truck. The wreck occurred at approximately 6:55 a.m.
Most municipalities saw strong February sales tax allocations
BY ANITA MILLER Every municipality in Hays County, with the exception of two, saw double-digit increases in their monthly sales tax allocation from the State Comptroller’s Office and all but one are also ahead by double digits for the year to date.
According to statistics for February, Buda saw a monthly increase of 34.26 percent and is ahead by 28.96 percent compared to the first two months of 2019. Dripping Springs’ monthly rebate grew by 13.95 percent and the city is 16.40 percent ahead of last year at this time.
Kyle’s monthly rebate grew by 17.48 percent and the city is ahead 19.19 percent for the year so far.
For Mountain City, the monthly increase skyrocketed by 97.38 percent. Mountain City’s allocations for the first two months of his year are 90.68 percent larger than 2019. Niederwald also saw huge increases, 48.96 percent for the month and 51.38 percent for the year so far. San Marcos’ increases were 31.09 percent for February and 12.23 percent for 2020 so far.
In Wimberley, the monthly allocation went up by 15.76 percent and by 20.74 percent for the year so far.
Woodcreek saw a monthly allocation increase of 21.73 percent and for the year is 20.8 percent ahead of 2019. Hays City, however, experienced a decrease of 31.35 percent in its monthly allocation and is down by 34.74 percent for 2020 so far. Uhland also saw a decrease but a lesser one, .26 percent. For the year to date, Uhland is still ahead by 1.72 percent.
Statewide, Comptroller Glen Hegar said monthly allocations are up by 9 percent. Year-to-date payments grew by 6.77 percent.
PAWS Shelter of Central Texas is a non-profit, no-kill shelter operated primarily on donations and adoptions. 500 FM 150 E, Kyle, TX • 512 268-1611 • pawsshelter.org All animals are fully vaccinated, spay/neutered, microchipped and dewormed. Sage is a female, 1 ½-year-old Calico. She is absolutely stunning and has an amazing personality to match. She is confident and charming with a slight flair for theatrics. She loves to talk and mutter about her latest drama but only until she gets her way. She simply seems to enjoy making a small scene for the sake of attention. All that said, Sage loves affection and will readily climb herself in your lap for a cuddle session. Zeus is a male 2-year-old Labrador/Kelpie mix. He is a gung-ho, sweet natured, exuberant boy who is ready to make a splash in life. He does super well with all walks of life, dogs, and even cats! He enjoys spending time romping in the play yards with his pals and going for walks around the shelter property. He also knows some basic commands and would love to learn more from you.
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TxDOT shows deadly reality of teens not buckling up
SUBMITTED REPORT
Nearly half of Texas teens killed in vehicle crashes in 2018 were not wearing a seat belt. Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of deaths among teenagers, but one simple click could help change that. That’s why TxDOT’s “Teen Click It or Ticket” campaign urges teens to click it each time they are in a vehicle. In 2018, of the 264 teen drivers and passengers killed in vehicle crashes in Texas, 111 were unrestrained. “For teens, getting a driver’s license is a rite of passage, but when they start driving, they aren’t thinking about how their lack of experience places them at
greater risk of getting in a crash,” said TxDOT Executive Director James Bass. “Tragedy can strike in an instant which is why we hope all parents, teachers and other influencers are urging teens to buckle up each and every time no matter how
BUCKLE UP, 11
Don’t let falling temperatures raise your bill.
