SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 BOTTLENECKED
VIRAL CRASH
Why COVID hospitalizations are more harmful than the virus.
Train, semi truck collision in Luling caught on video.
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Hays Free Press HaysFreePress.com
Vol. 127 • No. 23
Serving Hays County, TX
Hays County murder suspect apprehended STAFF REPORT
OCHOA
A Pflugerville man was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 25, on a capital murder charge related to the death of 16-year-old Donavin Sepulveda in Kyle in November 2020.
Olegario “Moses” Eliseo Ochoa, 31, was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Travis County Jail, where he will await extradition with a bond set at more than $1 million. The shooting took place in the parking lot at a
convenience store located in the 700 block of High Road in Kyle on Nov. 2, 2020. Following a homicide investigation by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, an arrest warrant for murder was issued for Ochoa by the 22nd District Court in Hays
County on April 15, 2021. Hays County authorities and members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force initiated a fugitive investigation to locate and apprehend Ochoa. Members of the task force developed information that Ochoa
had fled the area and was believed to be in north Austin. Ochea was the third suspect involved in the shooting. Robert Ochoa Jr., 32, and Ricardo Najar, 32, were already in custody at the Hays County Jail.
$5 million allocated for a Public Defenders Office
Hays CISD begins classroom closures STAFF REPORT Classroom closures in Hays CISD due to the spread of COVID-19 started just two weeks after the start of school. On Aug. 27, District 4 Hays CISD Board of Trustee Meredith Keller posted on Facebook, notifying others about some classroom closures in the district, but did not specify which schools or how many classrooms closed. In her post, Keller pleaded for parents to send their kids to school in masks. “Please just do it,” her post reads. “Even if you don’t want to do it. Even if you think your chances are real good that you won’t die or that other people can mask if they are the scared ones or if it feels uncomfortable for a minute. Please mask up your kids.” Keller said she wants kids to attend school; that they should be in class and attending pep rallies, football games, outside recess, to have lunch with friends and receive their education. “I know that I’m going to get the push back from folks that just don’t believe in it,” Keller wrote. “That’s okay. I can take it. What I can’t take is closing classrooms for a virus that can be mitigated by mask wearing.” The current number of COVID-19 cases is unknown in Hays CISD, as the district only updates infections every Monday.
BY SAHAR CHMAIS
Just breathe...
Mothers opt for out-of-hospital births due to COVID rules “I’m getting calls from pregnant women who have been vaccinated who are willing to submit to COVID testing just to birth without a mask and being told they can’t [in a hospital]. They are coming to us solely so they don’t have to wear a mask.”
BY MEGAN WEHRING HAYS COUNTY — Expectant mothers are starting to think twice about having their babies in a hospital. While COVID-19 case numbers are increasing daily, hospitals are having to make tough decisions when it comes to protocols and the number of visitors allowed per patient. Hearing the news that they would be required to wear a mask during labor, some mothers are leaning more toward out-of-hospital care. “I have had four or five phone calls within the last week because hospitals are saying moms are going to have
–Stephanie Saunders, a licensed midwife
to labor with masks on,” said Stephanie Saunders, a licensed midwife in Kyle. “I’m getting calls from pregnant women who have been vaccinated who are willing to submit to COVID testing just to birth without a mask and being told they
Coming Up SPONSORSHIP DEADLINE FOR EMPTY BOWLS PROJECT SEPT. 7
Show your pride in supporting a 23-year tradition that brings together chefs, potters, musicians and neighbors who provide relief to other neighbors in need through the Empty Bowls Project. The annual event is scheduled to take place Nov. 7, 2021 at Dripping
Springs Ranch Park. Businesses or individuals wishing to sponsor the event, may do so by visiting drippingspringsemptybowls. org or emailing kristigreene@ live.org. by Sept. 7.
IN NEED
Hays Food Bank makes plea for donations, volunteers.
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can’t [in a hospital]. They are coming to us solely so they don’t have to wear a mask.” Saunders recounted that her daughter traveled from her station at an Air Force Base in New Mexico to Texas just to escape the stringent protocols, as the
hospital said the reality is her husband may be allowed in one day but he may not be allowed in the next. Erica Steele, of Luminary Midwifery in San Marcos, agreed that there has been an influx of mothers and their families wanting a birth center birth. “Women started choosing to go outside of the hospital so they could have the power to choose who would be with them,” Steele said. “ It gives them the option to choose who can attend their birth, have more flexibility and still feel protected outside of the hospital.”
MIDWIFE CRISIS, 7
LAST CALL FOR KYLES!
Despite the cancellation of the annual Pie in the Sky Festival Labor Day weekend, Kyle officials are trying to gather as many people as possible with the name “Kyle” in an effort to break the world record for the most Kyles in one place. The gathering will occur on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 10 a.m. There will be a group photo and official sign in.
CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY
Remember, federal and state institutions and banks will be closed Monday for Labor Day.
The Hays Free Press Barton Publications, Inc. The Hays Free Press (USPS 361-430) published weekly by Barton Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 339, Buda, TX 78610. Periodicals postage paid at Buda, TX 78610 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Barton Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 339, Buda, TX 78610. ISSN#1087-9323
Hays County commissioners will allocate up to $5 million of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to create a Public Defender’s Office (PDO). After a long debate on whether ARP funds are viable to use on a PDO in Hays County, the allocation passed unanimously. The creation of a PDO has been in the works for about three years, and today, the commissioners nudged the project a little closer to the finish line.
PUBLIC DEFENDER, 7
Hays man charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child STAFF REPORT HAYS COUNTY – A 35-year-old Hays County man was arrested for continuous sexual abuse of a child – a first-degree felony offense. The Hays County BROWN Sheriff’s Office responded to the report on Sunday, Aug. 22, and Andrew Alan Brown was identified as the suspect in the case. Patrol deputies arrested Brown and detectives executed a search warrant of his residence. On Aug. 23, Brown was released on a $50,000.00 bond set by Magistrate Daniel Burns. This investigation is ongoing, according to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. Please call 512393-7896 if you have any information regarding this case.