Pick up a pollinator seed pack page 7
Tigers take Cougars 52-39
DSHS hosts robotics competition
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXX No. 21
May races are unopposed in Dripping Springs, Wimberley BY ANITA MILLER The number of May elections scheduled to be held in Hays County has shrunk. Municipal elections slated in both Dripping Springs and Wimberley will not be held, since there are no contested races in either city. In Dripping Springs, Mayor Todd Purcell was up for re-election, as were Place 2 council member Wade King and John Knoll, who represents Place 4. City Secretary Andrea Cunningham said since all three races are uncontested, the election will be called at the body’s next scheduled meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Wimberley school district spends $7,000 on obtaining logo copyright, trademark BY CAMELIA JUAREZ
School district receipts show that more than $7,000 was spent to obtain the copyright and trademark of the Wimberley Texan Logo days after the first pride parade was held in the community. The News-Dispatch obtained receipts from
law firms involved that show the costs and dates spent on obtaining copyright and trademarks. The Wimberley Pride Parade was held Sept. 21, 2019, and many parents posted pictures in the days following of the logo altered to show a rainbow background. Records show that nine days after the parade,
WISD paid Fowler law firm $422.50 for “logo, copyright.” This was the first transaction between WISD and Fowler law
firm and the beginning of their process to obtain copyright and trademark. In October of 2019, parents were asked to remove the logo from their social media in an email from Superintendent Dwain York. On Halloween of last year, two separate transactions were made. The first was $195 for
PIPELINE’S COMING
BY ANITA MILLER “She did something crazy. That doesn’t mean she was legally insane.” That’s part of how Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau framed his case against former Kyle resident Krystle Villanueva on Tuesday during the first day of her capital murder trial. Villanueva, 27, is accused of killing her fiveyear-old daughter Giovanni Lanae Hernandez and then partially dismembering her corpse inside the mobile home the two shared with Krystal’s
CAPITAL MURDER, 2
copyright and $650 for copyrighting the trademark. The next day, $378.84 was spent on a “logo and media release” to Walsh Gallegos Trevino Russo & Kyle P.C., a law firm “dedicated to serving school districts,” according to its website.
WISD LOGO, 3
Witness confirms tripping at FOP forum BY ANITA MILLER
LOCAL RACES, 3
Kyle woman on trial for mutilating daughter
75¢
PHOTO BY ANITA MILLER
Construction begins on Permian Highway Pipeline Forty-two inch pipes make their way by Union Pacific Railroad to areas of Hays County were construction on Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway Pipeline has begun. The company says it hopes to start moving product on the controversial project in about a year.
Legal counsel offered on trial basis through indigent defense grant BY CAMELIA JUAREZ A study looking at benefits of legal representation at a first appearance before a magistrate for arrestees could be in the works in Hays County. The Hays County Commissioner’s Court approved a grant from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) to participate in a study examining potential benefits of such a program.
Commissioners unanimously approved the measure 4-0 with Pct. 3 Commissioner Lon Shell absent. The grant of $136,500 will be used to pay defense attorneys attending the bail hearings of a defendant in front of a judge. The study will be led by the Texas A&M University, The Public Policy Research Institute will explore five issues, according to TIDC applications.
The study will try to • Does counsel at first appearance have an impact on bail and pretrial release conditions decisions? • For those who are released pretrial, do defendants with counsel at first appearance exhibit lower rates of failing to appear than those without such representation? • Does counsel at first appearance impact case disposition, sen-
tencing, or pre- or post-trial recidivism? • Does counsel at first appearance have an effect on arrestees’ attitudes toward the legal system? • What is the cost-benefit ratio for jurisdictions interested in piloting this program? Currently, Hays County does not have a public defender’s office, which would provide an attorney if someone
DEFENSE GRANT, 3
LAGNIAPPE Wimberley Players perform ‘The Tin Woman’
Performances of “The Tin Woman,” a play about a woman’s life after she receives a heart transplant, continue through March 8 on the stage of the Wimberley Players. Written by Sean Grennan, the family comedy details the life of Joy and her post-tranplant life journey, which includes meeting the family of her donor. “Through sharing and stories, the two parties find that maybe all they need is a little bit of love,” a press release from the Wim-
Vote
Early voting continues through Friday for the primary elections. Election day is Tuesday, March 3. See page 3 for voting locations and hours.
Lone Star Farmers Market berley Players says. The production debuted on Valentine’s Day. Remaining performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, Saturday, Feb. 29, Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7.
Matinees will take the stage at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 1 and Sunday, March 8. Adult tickets are $22. Students with ID will be admitted for $8. For more, visit wimberleyplayers.org.
Stroll through the Lone Star Farmers Market and enjoy 40plus booths overflowing with Austin’s finest local produce and locally inspired artisan foods. Every Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Treaty Oaks Distilling in Dripping Springs.
An eyewitness to the altercation at the Feb. 5 candidate forum in Wimberley says a KXAN cameraman whose heavy camera hit a woman over the head was tripped by Pct. 3 Constable’s Office employee Darrell Ayers. “I saw the whole thing. I was standing there,” Abel Velasquez said. Velasquez said he was standing near Jessica Deatherage, who is challenging incumbent Ray Helm for the Republican nomination for Pct. 3 constable, when Michele Hart walked by with the KXAN news crew right behind her, after the conclusion of the Fraternal Order of Police-sponsored forum ahead of the March 3 primaries. “Ayers flew by me and put his foot out to trip the cameraman, which he did,” Velasquez said. “Boom, there went the cameraman.” He said Ayers then began to deny his actions. “He said, ‘I didn’t do it,’ but he did. He caused the cameraman to go forward and hit the lady.” Velasquez left the forum shortly after the altercation and was not asked for a statement by anyone from the Hays County Sheriff’s Department, which took the initial report after Hart said she wanted to file charges. He did, however, post to Facebook on Feb. 7. “My view on it is, if you’re an elected official you’ve got to take the bad with the good. Take your lumps and hopefully they will forgive you. What Ayers did is totally wrong.” Velasquez, a resident from San Marcos, has previously run for the position of Hays County Judge. Hart complained that the news crew had assaulted her. Video later released by KXAN did not show the actual point of contact, but did show Ayers jumping in front of reporter Jody Barr and pushing him backwards, then accusing Barr of stepping into him. In a news release from the sheriff’s office, the incident was described as involving “staff members of Hays County Precinct 3 Constable Ray Helm’s office.” Because of that involvement, the Texas Rangers were called out to take over the investigation. The Rangers have made no comments on the case.