Alba Ranch due marker
Tigers cinch playoff berth
Modern romance
page 3
page 4
page 3
News-Dispatch Volume XXXX No. 19
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
75¢
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Two charged with firing at deputy during chase BY ANITA MILLER
The driver of a vehicle from which shots were fired at a Hays County deputy during a high speed chase is being held on a $2 million in bonds. The chase was from Dripping Springs to near Johnson City Saturday night. The alleged shooter’s bonds total $1.5 million.
Nathaniel Castro, 22, the alleged driver, and Klarissa Soto, 19, the alleged shooter, are both charged with evading arrest and aggravated assault on a public servant. The latter charge is a first degree felony and is punishable by a sentence of 5 to 99 years behind bars. According to Sheriff Gary Cutler Sunday afternoon, the deputy attempted to
stop a red 1999 Toyota at around 9:20 p.m. on Old Fitzhugh Road for an “issue with the vehicle’s registration.” The car briefly stopped but then took off and the pursuit reportedly reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour along U.S. 290. Affidavits in the case say “2 or 3 shots” were fired by the front seat passenger in
CASTRO
SOTO
the direction of the pursuing deputy before the vehi-
Central Texas man soda pops the question
ture of both suspects after sunrise on Sunday. Cutler acknowledged that calls from residents were key to the apprehensions, but said he could not confirm reports by the Blanco County Office of Emergency Management that the Reverse 911 System was activated in the
CHASE, 2
DSISD acquires land with an eye toward future schools BY CHASE ROGERS DRIPPING SPRINGS - The Dripping Springs Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a 64-acre land purchase during its Jan. 30 meeting. The property, located north of U.S. Highway 290 between Ranch Road 12 and Sawyer Ranch Road, is located within Headwaters at Barton Creek, a residential development in
BY ANITA MILLER Crazy in love, Brad Lytle was facing a decision: How do you make extra special that moment when two people commit to love each other forever, when the someone you are committing to is a no-apologies fan of all things Texan? His decision was to do it in a place iconic to Texas culture, a place dedicated to “The Friendly Pepper Upper,” no less. Lytle’s new fiancee Haley Rohde is an Austin resident and Texas State graduate whose family lives in Kyle. He’s a manager at the Spec’s store in New Braunfels and the two had been dating about two years when he decided his birthday on Jan. 30 would be a good time to pop the question. “She’s always grown up as one of those authentic Texas girls,” Lytle explained. “When her family would travel she would always have to have something from Texas – a Dr. Pepper, a Whataburger. That’s just how her family is.” And that tradition has in fact paid off – Haley’s mother won a $2,000 scholarship from Dr. Pepper years ago and her daughter actually used the money for college. “It’s a running joke that they got their money’s worth,” Lytle said.
cle crashed near the intersection of 290 and U.S. 281. One occupant was taken into custody, while Castro and Soto fled the scene, apparently taking the weapon with them. That triggered an allnight search that involved multiple agencies with helicopters, drones, SWAT teams and K-9 units, Cutler said, resulting in the cap-
Dripping Springs. The property is valued at $1.715 million and will be paid for with 2018 bond funds. The board identified and acquired the property “for the purposes of future school and school related facilities.” The board’s Jan. 30 decision seals the final approval of the purchase after an initial August, 24, 2019 vote introducing the idea.
Woman claims assault by news crew at forum BY ANITA MILLER
“She’s always grown up as one of those authentic Texas girls. When her family would travel she would always have to have something from Texas — a Dr. Pepper, a Whataburger. That’s just how her family is.” –Brad Lytle, man who proposed to his fiancee at the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco
It was a happy coincidence that he is from Waco, home of the iconic Texas soda, and the Dr. Pepper museum was a place they’d often talked
about visiting. Lytle’s sister Samantha took that idea and ran with it — why not propose there, she asked him?
He contacted the museum in early January, before he and Rohde took a trip to Las Vegas. While she was enjoying the sights, he managed to keep the secret. “Our whole time in Vegas I knew I was going to propose — she had no idea.” Over the next weeks he was in contact with the museum, where the staff was eager to go along. “It was actually the first proposal there,” Lytle said. “They were even kind of flabbergasted.”
DR. PEPPER PROPOSAL, 6
LAGNIAPPE DS Farmer’s Market still in its ‘winter home’
Even though the area has experienced periodic spring-like temperatures, it’s still officially winter, and the Dripping Springs Farmer’s Market is still being held in its “winter home,” the Dripping Springs Ranch Park Event Center. There, it is located under a roof and protected on three sides by the Event Center’s Vendor Hall. The market is planning upcoming special events including cooking
demos, tastings, healthy living topics and seasonal promotions. “The Event Center’s kitchen facilities and other amenities are perfect to help us bring in new events during the winter months,” said Market Manager Laurel Robertson.
ESC Region 13 accepting candidates for two board positions There’s still time for candidates wishing to serve on the Education Service Center Region 13
Board of Directors to file. The filing period for two vacancies on the board runs through Feb. 20. Candidates ma file on a board-approved form or in person between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the ESC office , 57-1 Springdale Road, Austin. Candidates for places 2 and 5 must live in Bastrop, Bexar (Comal ISD only) Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Comal, Fayette, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall (except residents in the Boerne ISD), Lee, Llano, Milam (residents must reside in Thorndale ISD) and Williamson. Education Service Center boards are elected by school district boards.
The woman at the center of allegations of assault against a KXAN reporter and his cameraman told the Hays Free Press she was shocked at the news crew’s behavior. Michele Hart said she was knocked from behind by reporter Jody Barr and then hit over the head with the heavy video camera during a candidates’ forum in Wimberley Feb. 5 that was sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police. Moreover, she said neither man apologized for what had happened. Hart said she was trying to ask a question of Pct. 3 Constable Ray Helm, who appeared at the forum along with Jessica Deatherage, his competitor in the March 3 Republican primary,
“I was pushed by this guy. I looked at him and said, ‘Excuse me? You just pushed me. I was trying to ask him a question,’ and the reporter said ‘Well, I was too.’” when the news crew pushed past her in what was actually the first of two confrontations. “I was pushed by this guy. I looked at him and said, ‘Excuse me? You just pushed me. I was trying
ASSAULT, 2
Education series focuses on protecting Hill Country water BY CAMELIA JUAREZ Community water advocates will come together from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 at the Wimberley Community Center to discuss creative and thoughtful uses for all types of water. The One Water: Cutting Costs and Protecting Our Aquifers is one of four learning events hosted by The Friends of Blue Hole Spring. The goal of the meeting is to hear the latest success stories, learn from Texas water experts, and identify new collaborators. The agenda is packed with local leaders like Hays County
Judge Ruben Becerra, Wimberley ISD Trustee Lori Olson and Texas House Representative District 45 Erin Zwiener. The keynote speaker will be Interim Executive Director, Chief Water Policy Officer Dr. Robert E. Mace, who will give a speech titled ONE WATER: What is It and How It Can Save Community Water Supplies. Mace will discuss the challenges Texans and Americans face as populations grow and climate change affects our water resources. “Across the U.S. and throughout the
ONE WATER, 2