Coronavirus and its local effect
Runoff election for State Board of Education
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXX No. 24
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
75¢ Thursday, March 19, 2020
Not due to Coronavirus
Dripping Springs May 2 election canceled STAFF REPORT
The Dripping Springs City Council has cancelled the May 2 General Election as all candidates running were unopposed following
the candidate filing period that ended on Feb. 14. Due to the candidates running uncontested, the city is not required by law to hold a municipal election. All the uncontested candidates
were declared winners. Mayor Pro Tem Bill Foulds was elected mayor. He will be replacing Mayor Todd Purcell, who is stepping down in May. Incumbent Wade King was
elected as Council member Place 2. April Harris Allison was elected as council member Place 4, replacing current member John Kroll who did not run again. Elected members will
be sworn into office at the May 12, city council meeting. With Bill Foulds assuming the mayor position, that leaves a position open in Place 3. At the May 12
Two DAs refuse to prosecute former Pct. 3 employee
Texas Parks open for business during Spring Break
BY ANITA MILLER The latest salvo in a years-old dispute between Hays County Pct. 3 Constable Ray Helm and his former employee Gary Griffin came last week when two GRIFFIN Central Texas district attorneys declined to prosecute Griffin on charges he was arrested on in January. Helm had sought the warrants, which were signed in January by 453rd District Court Judge David Junkin. Junkin was appointed to his position in November 2018 by Governor Greg Abbott. They had accused Griffin, who served more than 20 years as a constable in Williamson County, with misuse of official information, which is a 3rd degree felony, as well as tampering with governmental records, a state jail felony, abuse of official capacity, a Class A Misdemeanor and two counts of theft by a public servant, both Class B Misdemeanors. Griffin turned himself in to authorities Jan. 9 and was released the same day on person recognizance bonds. On March 10, both Hays
PCT. 3 DISPUTE, 7
meeting, the city council will decide whether to hold a general election for Place 3 or appoint someone to the position. For more information, call 512-858-4725.
STAFF REPORT
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Dripping Springs mother Paige Powell prepares to plant a tender kiss on her son Beckettt as he lay in bed. At right, the sunny child’s happ face.
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Family shows strength as 5-year-old Dripping Springs boy has tumor removed BY CAMELIA JUAREZ The worst thing a parent can experience is watching their child suffer, but a Dripping Springs mother only recalls all the miracles that healed her son. Paige Powell’s 5-yearold son’s strep throat diagnosis turned out to be a tumor in his head, but finding it sooner rather than later was the first miracle. Her easy going, long haired youngest boy
Beckett was staying up all night crying about his head hurting and that’s when Powell knew that this was different. Beckett’s headaches continued and his neck became so stiff he could not turn his head to look at others. Pediatricians said Beckett could possibly have an abscess from the strep virus that would need to be drained surgically, but after a CT scan they
found a tangerine sized tumor at the base of Beckett’s skull. Powell felt helpless wanting to cure her son herself, but disbelief was awash. “It is unbelievable I mean in every sense of the word. It's weird because I've seen stories like these pop up on social media and you always feel for those parents but you really never think this would be my story, so it's even weird saying it now,”
Powell said. At the Texas Children’s Hospital, a doctor recommended by Powell’s friends was coincidently on call to perform Beckett’s surgery. Dr. William E. Whitehead was a miracle worker. In Powell’s blog post a nurse assured Powell that Beckett was in great hands. “Dr. Whitehead ain’t got no quit in him,” the
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For families running out of options for Spring Break, the Texas Parks system has a message: Come visit. Texas State Parks are open and running, and note that “outdoor spaces are well suited to increased social distance.” There are, however, a few steps people can take to assure their part in keeping healthy. For one, potential park visitors can print day-use and camping permits at home and bring them, which will cut down on the time it takes to check in. Visit twpd.texas.gov and create an account to get started. Then select “Print Tickets & Daily Entrance” and follow instructions. This should be done 24 hours or more ahead of the expected visit. Also, visitors are advised to pack extra soap and hand sanitizers, even though both are stocked in park restrooms. Consult the Department of State Health Services for additional information on best practices. Parks are also waiving cancellation fees through March. To cancel without a fee, call 512-389-8900. Parks have implemented more stringent protocol for cleaning restrooms and other common areas, and will continue to monitor the developing situation.
A few considerations for working at home BY MIKE CATO
In between washing our hands with soap for 20 seconds several times a day, many are having to work and study from home, some for the first time. There are some technology considerations. One is that there may be more people at home doing higher demand internet activity than normal. Not only are you working from home, but students are back at home and may not be able to return to their schools given the announcements of extended spring breaks, or to spend the remainder of the semester away from campus. The cheerful reply to “don’t come back to campus or work” announcement is “we’ll do remote
learning and meetings.” But if you have a meeting at the same time as a student has a remote class, there may be congestion on your internet service, depending on the quality of service you have (or is even offered in your area). In addition, with your neighbors also working/schooling from home, the capacity the internet service provider has allocated to a specific geography may be stretched for the neighborhood And if you haven’t done video chats or meetings before, you may not have the equipment or space set aside for it.
INTERNET SERVICE Most of us have two internet service providers: our home internet (Spectrum, AT&T Uverse, Frontier, etc) and
through our cell phone providers. The home internet generally has no data caps, so only overall speed is the major concern. If you have a higher level of service, you may not have problems with multiple people doing their internet work (or play) at the same time. Others with lower levels of service may need to coordinate with the household to avoid bottlenecks in internet service, or pay more. (“You can’t stream movies while I’m on a video conference, or your sibling is in a remote class.”) Mobile internet service through cell phone providers often has monthly data caps, though the trend is to have “unlimited” service. However, “unlimited” does not mean they will not slow
down the speed after you reach the pre-determined amount of activity. If you want to use the mobile internet service to ease the load on the home internet service while still at home, remember to temporarily turn off WiFi in the phone’s settings. This of course depends on how good the mobile internet service is at your location. The FCC has asked internet service providers to suspend broadband data caps and not terminate service or apply late fees during the COVID-19 outbreak. The big ones such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Comcast & Charter (Spectrum’s parent) have all pledged support. If you’re not using one of them, you might check with your provider for its policy.
PRIVACY
You may want to set aside or create a space that does not have any personal pictures or views of passing household traffic, and that it relatively quiet. (And yes, we’ve all seen viral videos of toddlers walking in on parents in the middle of a video meeting from the home office. Very professional!) With multiple people in the household doing work/study-from-home limiting available quiet spaces, there may just have to be humorous apologies.
EQUIPMENT Your laptop and phone already have cameras and microphones built in.
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