November 21, 2019 News-Dispatch by Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch

WISD debaters advance

D.S. plans to calm traffic

Mules end run for Tiger volleyball

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News-Dispatch Volume XXXX No. 8

Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982

75¢

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Pct. 4 Constable challenging Cutler for Sheriff seat in primary BY ANITA MILLER

operations and support, internal affairs, helicopHays County Sheriff ter command pilot and Gary Cutler has drawn a personnel and developprimary opponent. ment. He holds a Master Dave GraPeace Officer ham, who has certification been a partfrom the Texas time Pct. 4 Commission on Deputy ConstaLaw Enforceble since 2017, ment (TCOLE). has thrown his Cutler was hat into the ring first elected for the March in 2010 and is 2020 Republican seeking his third primary. term. GRAHAM According In August, to his web Cutler told page (daveforhays. the News-Dispatch com), Graham has 35 he would continue to years experience in law address challenges enforcement including presented by the coun20 years for the Dallas ty’s “unprecedented Police Department, 11 growth,” and noted his of them as a lieutenant. influence in the passage He touts his experience of the 2016 public safety as including tactical bond.

New Wimberley school named for Blue Hole BY ANITA MILLER The Wimberley Independent School District will now have two primary schools named for natural treasures. Blue Hole Primary School was selected as the name for the new campus at Ranch Road 12 and Winters Mill Parkway on Monday. The district already has a primary school named for Jacob’s Well. The vote, which was unanimous, came after an inclusive, twomonths-long effort to gather potential names from students, parents and members of the larger community. Ground was officially broken for the school, which will be the first One Water Campus in the state, in July. Plans are the 90,600-square-

foot campus will open in the summer of next year, ahead of the 2020 fall semester. The $13.3 million bond project voters approved in May 2018 will have a capacity of 800 students in pre-K through second grade and will feature 40 classrooms, a gymnasium, library, cafeteria and also several smaller reading and math intervention classrooms. The most unique feature of the campus, though, is its water usage. As a One Water Campus, it was constructed to utilize rainwater and HVAC condensate as well as treated wastewater, promoting a focus on conservation of natural resources, “green” stormwater infrastruc-

NEW SCHOOL, 2

Heartbreaking ending

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK, WFOTOS.COM

Dripping Springs High School senior Andres Flores-Perry reacts to the Tigers’ season-ending 28-27 loss to Manor in their bi-district playoff game. He was one of 36 seniors devastated by the defeat, which also affected fans, coaches and others.

Music, movement helping pre-K students to learn SUBMITTED REPORT

Movement and music make for a fun day for 118 pre-K students at Scudder Primary School at Wimberley ISD, and it is a proven way to teach this 3- to 4-year-old age group. While these fast-moving and always-thinking students run, jump and slide all around the gym floor, it’s not only in P.E. that they are constantly moving. “This is not just sit and get. Everything we are teaching students involves music and movement to keep them engaged, having fun and of course learning, sometimes without realizing how much they have

COURTESY PHOTO

MUSIC, MOVEMENT, 5 Landen Wright, Scudder Primary School principal Dara Richardson and Jude Hernandez.

LAGNIAPPE WAG Rescue Adoption Day

Come to Firehouse Animal Health Center-Belterra, Nov. 23, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and meet some of our fantastic dogs and puppies. All available adult dogs have been fully vetted, are heartworm negative, are micro chipped and have been spayed or neutered. Puppies have been vetted, parvo-tested, de-wormed and have had their shots current for their age and are micro chipped. WAG Rescue provides a spay/neuter voucher through Emancipet. The event is at 116 Hargraves Drive, Ste. C100, Austin. If you can’t come to an Adoption Day, WAG is always willing to arrange a meet and greet with you.

They can be contacted at info@wimberleywagrescue.org.

and other activities.

This year’s Giving Tuesday will take place on Dec. 3. In a call for the community to make generosity a core component of Central Texas lifestyle, ‘I Live Here I Give Here,’ an Austin-based nonprofit, has set a regional goal of 5 million actions-for-good during its campaign from Nov. 1 through Dec. 3. Actions-for-good range from donations to local nonprofit organizations, volunteering and pledging volunteer hours, sharing personal stories of giving on social media to inspire others, helping a stranger,

Hays County offices will be closed Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 27-29 for Thanksgiving. The San Marcos Municipal Court, located at the Hays County Government Center, will also be closed Nov. 27-29. Offices will reopen at their regular times on Monday, Dec. 2. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, all Hays County parks will be closed. Commissioners Court will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 26, but will not be held on Dec. 3.

County offices Giving Tuesday, closed for Dec. 3 Thanksgiving

El Rancho Cima buy gets the county’s OK SUBMITTED With a majority vote by the Hays County Commissioners Court, the Nature Conservancy, in partnership with Hays County, is now free to move forward with a planned acquisition of more than 530 acres of the historic El Rancho Cima. The acquisition is slated to officially close on Nov. 22 and represents a $13 million effort to safeguard an iconic piece of the Texas Hill Country. The area supports a number of wildlife, aquatic and rare plant species that are threatened by accelerating development. The acreage has been specifically identified as habitat for

the federally endangered golden-cheeked warbler. On top of the property’s ecological importance, it’s also one that the public has long wanted to see protected. The property was previously owned by the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which operated it as part of its historic El Rancho Cima camp for more than 60 years. Scouts from across Texas came to this property, hiked in its hills and swam along the shores of the Blanco River that runs through it. The tract is situated 18 miles west of San Marcos along the Devil’s

El Rancho Cima, 2

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News-Dispatch

News -Dispatch PHONE: 512-268-7862 FAX: 512-268-0262

PUBLISHER Cyndy Slovak-Barton csb@haysfreepress.com

EDITOR Anita Miller anita@bartonpublicationsinc.com

REPORTERS Nathalie Cohetero Camelia Juarez PRODUCTION David White david@haysfreepress.com Elizabeth Garcia design@haysfreepress.com ADVERTISING/MARKETING Tracy Mack ads@bartonpublicationsinc.com

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PHOTOGRAPHER Wayland Clark PROOFREADER

Dripping Springs Adopts Traffic Calming policy SUBMITTED Due to an increase of requests from residents regarding neighborhood traffic concerns and the installation of additional traffic calming devices such as speed bumps and speed cushions, the city of Dripping Springs has developed a Traffic Calming Policy to outline and standardize the application and review process. To date, requests for traffic calming devices (to reduce adverse levels of speeding and cut-through traffic in the city), have been addressed on a case-by-case basis. The new policy provides a comprehensive framework for those requests. It’s designed to implement successful traffic calming programs that are responsive to requests and that also address the safety and quality of life issues within the city’s existing budget. The Traffic Calming Policy considers two types of adverse impacts: adverse levels of speeding along a defined roadway segment; and adverse levels of cut-

through traffic within a defined bounded area. The policy outlines among other things: • The request process and required information for the request. • Requirements of evidence of support from the neighborhood or the community affected. • Speed mitigation & minimum cut-through traffic thresholds. • Funding criteria, including who is responsible for costs associated with the calming devices. • Design, implementation, and maintenance of devices. • A limit on the number of requests and time separation between requests for the same locations. The City of Dripping Springs worked with the city’s Transportation Committee and Transportation Consultant (HDR) to develop the Traffic Calming Policy. The complete policy can be found on the Transportation Committee section of the city’s website, cityofdrippingsprings.com/page/city. transportationcommittee.

Jane Kirkham CIRCULATION MANAGER/ Verna Wommack paper@ haysnewsdispatch.com

News-Dispatch (USPS 011 - 401) is published weekly except for the weeks following July 4 and Christmas by Barton Publications, Inc., 113 W. Center St., Kyle, TX 78640.

$42 local, $59 county, $62 out of state. Periodicals Postage paid at Buda, TX. Email paper@ haysnewsdispatch.com for subscriptions and address changes. POSTMASTER: send address changes to News-Dispatch, PO Box 339, Buda, TX 78610 LETTERS GUIDELINES We welcome locally written letters to the editor on timely topics of community interest. We ask that you keep them to about 350 words in length and that you not indulge in personal attacks on private individuals. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. All letters should be signed by the author and include a daytime phone number where the author can be contacted for verification. Letter writers are limited to one letter per month. Letters can be emailed to csb@ haysfreepress.com.

The Blanco River at El Ranco Cima.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

El Rancho Cima Continued from pg. 1

Backbone and includes frontage on both sides of the Blanco River. The new acquisition is funded in part by Hays County, which will be contributing $7 million at closing using bond money set aside for environmental mitigation, including golden-cheeked warbler habitat protection. The Nature Conservancy will

pay the remainder of the purchase price and will retain temporary ownership of the property. Hays County plans to eventually purchase the property at The Nature Conservancy’s cost and operate it as a public park and preserve-the Nature Conservancy will continue to hold a conservation easement on the land.

News School: One Water Plan Continued from pg. 1

ture and open space preservation. “We’re excited to get this project underway, and are really looking forward to that first day of school experience for all our younger students at this spacious, state-of-the-art green campus, in a little over a year from now,” Wimberley ISD Superintendent Dwain York said. Trustees had received nearly 300 suggested

names, with that of former principal Tucker Blythe featuring prominently. To honor him, the district named the new school’s gym Tuck Blythe Gym. Blue Hole is a spring-fed swimming hole surrounded by 126 acres of natural forests and grasslands. Jacob’s Well is an artisian spring. Together, the two attractions draw thousands of visitors to the Wimberley Valley each year.

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Police Blotter The following is a tally of all calls made to law enforcement within Hays County between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, 2019. Inj to Child/Eld/Disabled......................................... 1 Civil Matter............................................................... 7 Information............................................................. 14 Compliance Check................................................ 11 Property- Lost/Found/Imp...................................... 7 Civil Standby............................................................ 1 Sex Offender Registry............................................. 2 Alarm Business...................................................... 41 Alarm Residential.................................................. 35 Animal Calls........................................................... 73 Field Euthanasia.................................................... 13 Loose Livestock.................................................... 19 Assault..................................................................... 7 Assault – Aggravated.............................................. 1 Sexual Assault......................................................... 1 Assist EMS............................................................... 9 Assist Fire Dept..................................................... 12 Assist Outside Agency.......................................... 14 Burglary Habitation................................................. 4 Burglary Vehicle..................................................... 10 Criminal Mischief..................................................... 6 Illegal Dumping........................................................ 2 Death Investigation................................................. 4 Disturbance Noise................................................. 18 Disturbance Physical Fight................................... 12 Disturbance Verbal................................................ 21 Child Custody.......................................................... 8 Violation of Order.................................................... 1 Marijuana................................................................. 3 Alcohol Violation...................................................... 1 MIP Tobacco............................................................ 3 Fraud........................................................................ 5 Harassment............................................................ 10 Harass/Stalk/Thrt General...................................... 1 Threat....................................................................... 3 Mental Health Follow Up......................................... 9 Mental Health Invest............................................. 14 Mental Health Transport.......................................... 6 Canine Search......................................................... 1 Canine Training........................................................ 1 SRP Drill................................................................... 4 Missing Person........................................................ 7 Runaway.................................................................. 3 Jail/Prisoner Escape............................................... 1

Public Assist.......................................................... 13 Community Contact.............................................. 20 Disabled Vehicle.................................................... 26 Foot Patrol............................................................... 8 Close Patrol......................................................... 112 Flagged Down......................................................... 4 Parental Discipline Assist........................................ 1 Welfare Concern.................................................... 41 Suicidal Person........................................................ 7 Investigation............................................................ 3 Supplement........................................................... 63 Suspicious Circumstances................................... 19 Extradition................................................................ 1 Suspicious Person................................................... 7 Suspicious Vehicle................................................ 25 Wanted Person........................................................ 4 Indentity Theft.......................................................... 1 Theft....................................................................... 13 Vehicle Theft............................................................ 4 Recovery Stolen Vehicle......................................... 1 Accident Minor...................................................... 36 Accident Hit and Run.............................................. 8 Accident Major/Injury............................................ 17 Accident Fleet.......................................................... 1 Accident Unknown.................................................. 1 Abandoned/Stored Vehicle................................... 12 Traffic Control/Direction.......................................... 4 Directed/Area Enforce........................................... 23 Traffic Hazard......................................................... 27 Attempt to Locate................................................. 72 Parking Enforcement............................................... 5 Traffic Stop........................................................... 415 Trespassing/Unwanted........................................... 7 911 Abandnoned/Open....................................... 212 911 Hang Up............................................................ 1 Discharge Firearm................................................... 7 Private Tow/Repo.................................................. 30 Alarm........................................................................ 1 Outside Fire............................................................. 1 Smokeing Investigation........................................... 1

Below is a sample of events reported by law enforcement from Nov. 4 through Nov. 10, 2019. The location is where the event was reported or responded to and may not necessarily be where the event occured.

LEGAL NOTICES

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Thursday, November 21, 2019

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Agency Activity

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Time

Location

HCSO

Assault

11/11/2019