LH Independent, April 2, 2020 by The Liberty Hill Independent

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2020

Volume 33, Issue 19

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April 2, 2020 | 50 Cents

COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS CASES & DEATHS MARCH 18

MARCH 22

MARCH 27

APRIL 1

8 0 194 5 15,219 201

19 0 410 99 44,183 544

37 1 2,052 27 122,263 2,112

55 1 3,997 58 185,101 3,603

Williamson County Cases Williamson County Deaths Texas Cases Texas Deaths U.S. Cases U.S. Deaths

SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

CASES BY COUNTY

CASES BY LOCATION IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY

HARRIS 680 DALLAS 631 TARRANT 273 TRAVIS 244 BEXAR 207 WILLIAMSON 55

22 CASES

AUSTIN CEDAR PARK GEORGETOWN HUTTO LEANDER ROUND ROCK LIBERTY HILL

33 CASES

TESTED IN TEXAS

CASES BY AGE 0-17 18-40 41-60 Over 60

9 7 10 5 7 17 0

MARCH 18 MARCH 22 MARCH 27 APRIL 1

1 15 25 14

SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES 3/31/20

5,277 11,167 25,260 47,857

SOURCE: WILLIAMSON COUNTY & CITIES HEALTH DISTRICTS 3/31/20

STACY COALE GRAPHIC

Gravell expresses need for testing

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor While Williamson County is well stocked with people working hard to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus and treat those infected, what it really needs is test kits. “We believe that our best case scenario is that one out of every 40 people that test positive are going to die,” County Judge Bill Gravell said. “That’s our best case scenario. We believe that we have thousands of tests that need to be performed and we can’t do that. I believe when we do have adequate testing you’re going to see the numbers of cases increase, but percentage-wise it will be proportional to what we’re seeing.” Monday, Gravell spoke with

the media in an afternoon news conference and said his greatest need was test kits, specifically for front-line first responders. “My biggest issue today is I’m trying to get enough test kits for our emergency first responders,” he said. “We’ve got paramedics, we’ve got firefighters and we’ve got individuals out responding on calls and I’ve got to be able to test our first responders.” The County’s first death attributed to the virus was announced Saturday, and came with a sobering reminder of how impactful one case can be on the community. “The gentleman that died was transported to the hospital,” Gravell said. “He died there and was tested. He was not an individual we had test-

ed before, we didn’t know he existed (as a positive case). We didn’t know he had been sick. I can assure you there are more like that.” That case resulted in a ripple effect that temporarily sidelined a number of first responders. “We didn’t know he was a positive test until after he had been transported,” Gravell said. “We immediately pulled that EMS crew out of service and pulled that fire crew out of service and the hospital crew was pulled out of service and put into self quarantine.” Currently three first responders remain in quarantine and Gravell said the others have been cleared. He would not say if any

See GRAVELL, Page 7

Health professionals race ‘the curve’

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor New terms such as social distancing, community spread, and the curve are cited at every turn as healthcare ofﬁcials try and explain how mitigation can be a critical factor in coping with the COVID-19 virus, but the data that illustrates the importance of these concepts isn’t always so easy to understand. A number of tests conducted, with the number of conﬁrmed cases thrown in next to the correlating death toll is important data, but it only tells the story to date based on the aggressiveness of testing efforts. Projections are what become most important in mitigation efforts and that is a much more ©2020 The Liberty Hill Independent

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sticky proposition. “There are different models that take different projections and there’s not one we have said is the Texas state model or that we are going by,” said Chris Van Deusen with the Texas Department of State Health Services. “We’re looking at all of those things as we’re doing our planning. We know we have some time left to continue to ﬂatten this curve and to continue to increase healthcare capacity as much as we can.” In the end, making sure the need for hospital beds, ventilators and healthcare workers doesn’t outpace those resources available today – or those that can be mobilized – is the goal. “We’re looking at those numbers and what those projections look like and we’re continuing to make those preparations. I can’t give you a date where we think it’s go-

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ing to play out because there’s no perfect information,” he said. “All of the models make assumptions and have inputs and as we move along I think we’ll be able to see if one of those models seems to be mirroring the situation more closely than others then maybe that will give us an indication, but we’re not at that point yet.” No one can predict the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in Texas, but Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said what he is being told by his healthcare sources is that late April is the most current projection, but he hedged, saying that projection was just the “best guess of really educated people.” “I’m seeing the peak is somewhere between April 26 and May 15,” he said. “But we do not know what

Kassie Smith, Charity Thornton and Jodi McCumber prepare food to be delivered by Community Blessing Outreach on March 25. (Courtesy Photo)

Local nonproﬁt delivers hot meals to seniors in need

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor For a decade, Christine McCarty has delivered meals to seniors as part of the Mealson-Wheels program. However, once the COVID-19 outbreak hit, the organization decided to temporarily suspend service – leaving a void that needed to be ﬁlled. As a result, McCarty and others from Community Blessing Outreach – a local nonproﬁt – sprung into action. On March 25, approximately 50 seniors who had been affected by the decision in Liberty Hill and Leander received meals from CBO. As far as McCarty is concerned, it was only proper, she said. “It just feels so good to help people,” said McCarty, a co-founder. “It’s the right thing

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if they hadn’t helped us. They raised $19,000 in six hours,” said McCumber. “After it was all over, we just sat down and cried thinking about all they had done for us and we said ‘We need to get involved with this and do this for other people.’” McCumber credited local businesses Texas Chrome BBQ and Traeger Grills for helping the program become a reality. “We couldn’t have done it without their support,” she said. “It wouldn’t have been possible.” But, it’s not only food that CBO has been providing homebound seniors with, said McCarty. “I got together with our board of directors and we decided to

See MEALS, Page 4

Socially distant together

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Every day at noon, the sound of the Panther Fight Song can be heard echoing down the streets of the Rancho Sienna neighborhood. In a show of unity and resistance during the COVID-19 crisis, seventh-grade band student Parker Bolin takes to his driveway every day with his Euphonium and begins playing. Bolin began playing the Euphonium in sixth grade and continued into the seventh grade, loving the experience of being part of the junior high band. The seventh-grader’s passion for the instrument has him regularly practicing over the extended break that students in LHISD are working through. “He’s one of those guys that really enjoys band,” said Bolin’s mother, Colleen Bolin. “Since we’re on this break from school and he’s very diligent at practicing, he’s kept it up.” The extra time at home under the school closure inspires

See CURVE, Page 6

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to do.” But, CBO’s reach goes far beyond the current calamity. The organization began serving Thanksgiving meals to people as part of “Operation Turkey” back in 2013, so getting involved during the current time of need was a natural extension, said Jodi McCumber, who is a volunteer with CBO. “We love what we do,” she said. “So, with everything going on now, we decided to get together and do something.” McCumber got involved with CBO in 2018 when her husband James was seriously injured in a car accident and the group came to the family’s aid when they needed it most, she said. “James missed nine months of work and needed two surgeries and we would’ve lost everything including our business

See BAND, Page 4

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Parker Bolin sets up outside with his Euphonium just before his noon performance of the Liberty Hill Panther Fight Song in the Rancho Sienna neighborhood. (Courtesy Photo)

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Orders extended as COVID-19 case numbers increase

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Williamson County health officials announced five new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the County total to 55. To date, no cases have been confirmed in Liberty Hill, but the Stay Home Stay Safe order for the county and declarations by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are having an impact on local businesses and schools, officials say. County Judge Bill Gravell applauded local compliance with the County order limiting mass gatherings and encouraging social distancing through staying home and only getting out for essential needs. “Folks complied really swiftly with that,” he said. “With the Stay Home Stay Safe order, law enforcement has visited multiple locations and they have found nothing but compliance. Now there are some areas where we are having to do some double checks, for

example our parks, and we’re just making sure that social distancing is occurring. To my knowledge, no restaurant or bar owner has been arrested. To my knowledge, all non-essential businesses have been respectful of the orders.” The local order has not been extended, but Abbott issued a statewide order that extends to the end of April and also announced all schools would remain closed until at least May 4. According to the Governor’s order, effective April 2, essential services allowed to remain open consist of everything listed in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s guidance on essential critical infrastructure workforce, and include public health, transportation, food and agriculture among other businesses. Religious services are also deemed an essential service and must either be conducted virtually, or abide by appropriate social distancing measures

if in-person. “In short, what this provides is that Texans are expected to limit personal interactions that could lead to the spread of COVID-19, while also still having the freedom to conduct daily activities such as going to the grocery store, so long as you are following the presidential standard of good distance practices,” Abbott said. According to the executive order, businesses people should avoid visiting in-person include gyms, massage parlors, tattoo and piercing studios, cosmetology salons, and dining-in at restaurants and bars. Drive-through or takeout orders are still allowed and encouraged, Abbott said. “In particular, all services should be provided through remote telework from home unless they are essential services that cannot be provided through remote telework,” according to the order. Liberty Hill Mayor Rick Hall indicated Wednesday morning

that while the City Council would have to vote on the issue to make it ofﬁcial, the May 2 municipal election would now be cancelled and postponed.

Community assistance In addition to the efforts of Liberty Hill’s Operation Liberty Hill, community non-profits and faith-based organizations in Williamson County are stepping in to fill an identified gap in services. The Community Organizations Assisting in Disaster (COAD) have set up drop-off donation sites for non-medical items to be delivered to vulnerable populations and elderly residents. They are primarily in need of new goods in original packaging that are in short supply such as: Hand sanitizer Antibacterial soap Disinfectant wipes Latex free gloves NEW thermometers Eye protection goggles or glasses Face shields Protective Gowns Adult and child diapers Cleaning supplies Other items not listed above will not be accepted at this time. These items will be distributed to social service and non-profit organiza-

Area Worship Plans

With the ban on mass gatherings, local churches are ﬁnding ways to worship together without gathering together in the church sanctuary. Check each church’s website for more information or additional worship times and opportunities. Andice Baptist Church: 11 a.m. Sunday on Facebook/ andicebaptist Cross Tracks Church: 10 a.m., Sunday on Facebook/ crosstrackschurch Coupon necessary for discount at time of purchase. Some restrictions apply. Coupon not valid on some items. See store for details. Expires 04/16/20.

tions who will deliver them to Williamson County residents in need. The donation drop-off location in Liberty Hill is First Baptist Georgetown, 111 Holmes Road, Monday to Thursday from 1-5 p.m. For more information on these drop-off sites and their hours of operation, please send an email to COVID-19@wilco.org or call 512-943-1600.

Housing protections Steps have been taken to provide relief on home mortgages at the federal level, but Abbot announced Wednesday that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has taken initial action to provide tenant-based rental assistance for Texans experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. Other assistance programs Texas Health and Human Services announced SNAP and Medicaid benefit renewals currently due will automatically be renewed so existing clients can maintain continuity of coverage. To ensure benefits continue, Texas requested and received federal approval to automatically extend benefits for recipients who were up for renewal. Renewing the SNAP and MedFellowship Church: 9 a.m., Sunday online at fellowshiplh. com First Baptist Georgetown (Georgetown and Liberty Hill campuses): 9:30 a.m., Sunday, Facebook/firstbaptistchurchgeorgetown First United Methodist Georgetown: Recording of weekly service is available at 8:30 a.m., Sunday on the Church’s YouTube Channel Florence United Methodist: 10:45 a.m., Sunday, Facebook/ FlorenceNJUMC

icaid applications automatically means that those who were up for a renewal do not have to call or complete their renewal to receive continuous coverage. SNAP and Medicaid benefits are extended until further notice, and Texas HHS will continue to provide updates to the public during the coming months. Additionally, as authorized by Section 2302 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Texas is also waiving interview requirements for households applying for SNAP. As part of that, households are not required to complete an interview before approval if identity has been verified and mandatory verification steps are completed. Waiving interview requirements means people do not have to come into an office or call the agency about their application or renewal, and HHS can process applications as they are received and make eligibility determinations faster. Texans in need can apply for benefits, including SNAP and Medicaid, at YourTexasBenefits.com or use the Your Texas Benefits mobile app to manage their benefits.

The Grove: 9 a.m., Sunday on Facebook/grovetx.church Life Springs Church: 10 a.m., Sunday online at lifespringschristianchurch.com One Chapel: 9 a.m., Sunday, online at online.onechapel. com RockPointe Church: 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., Sunday online at rockpointechurch.com Union Hall Baptist Church: 11 a.m., Sunday online at uhbc.com

Liberty Hill Police Blotter Prepared by Liberty Hill Police Department

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Week of March 23-29, 2020 The Liberty Hill Police Department responded to or self-initiated a total of 300 incidents resulting in six cases, four citations, 15 warnings and one arrest. Weekly Highlights: - On March 23 at approximately 1:44 PM, officers responded by phone for a fraud complaint. - On March 23 at approximately 8:56 PM, officers responded to RM 1869 for the impound of a vehicle. - On March 24 at approximately 8:24 AM, officers responded to Bryson Bend for a suspicious incident. - On March 24 at approximately 8:25 AM, officers responded to the 13000 block of W. SH 29 for a theft complaint. - On March 24 at approximate-

ly 12:51 PM, officers responded to the 14000 block of W. SH 29 for an animal bite. - On March 24 at approximately 11:17 PM, officers responded to Hillcrest Lane for a noise complaint. - On March 25 at approximately 12:17 PM, officers responded to the 12000 block of W. SH 29 for a disturbance. - On March 25 at approximately 9:04 PM, officers responded to Taylor Smith Drive for suspicious activity. - On March 26 at approximately 10:27 AM, officers responded to the 2000 block of RM 1869 for a theft complaint. - On March 26 at approximately 10:25 PM, officers responded to the 300 Block of US 183 to assist the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office with an accident. - On March 27 at approximate-

ly 4:26 AM, officers responded to the 3000 block of US 183 to assist the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. - On March 27 at approximately 11:41 AM, officers responded to the 14000 block of W. SH 29 for a disturbance. - On March 28 at approximately 7:56 PM, officers responded to a traffic hazard resulting in the arrest of female adult for driving while intoxicated. - On March 29 at approximately 12:31 AM, officers responded to Quarry Lane to assist the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. - On March 29 at approximately 3:14 AM, officers responded to the 16000 block of W. SH 29 for a traffic hazard. - On March 29 at approximately 9:40 PM, officers responded to Independence Ave for a theft complaint.

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OPINION Filling the sports void isn’t easy

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor So, this is it. What life is like without sports. We experienced it once before during our lifetime in the wake of 9/11 and how our landscape was forever changed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. But, this is different. Back then, we knew it was only a matter of time until everything got back to normal. Sure, there was the specter of terrorism still looming as the games resumed and a back-ofyour-mind awareness of thing like crowded public places – such as games or concerts – being prime targets. Somehow, we moved on. Is terrorism, which momentarily put all of our lives on hold, any less likely now than it was on September 11, 2001 – nearly two decades on from that fateful day? Perhaps. But, it’s still something we live with -- the very real and distinct possibility something very bad may happen anywhere at any time. Still, we carry on and sports is

a big part of that process. When Major League Baseball resumed its schedule on Sept. 21, 2001, with a game between the Mets and Braves at Shea Stadium in New York not far from Ground Zero, it was a monumental step in the healing process of an entire nation. Our games were only interrupted for 10 days before we could regain some sense of normalcy despite the gravity of what had just taken place and changed our lives forever. For proper perspective on the time frame, it’s already been nine days as we write this since the Panthers last played a game – the baseball team at a tournament near Houston on March 12. By about this time 19 years ago, we had recovered enough to begin normal activities and pursuits again. But, one big difference this time around is it’s an invisible enemy we face. Not to mention this time, it’s the entire world – not just America. Games from Liberty Hill to London to Luxembourg and every place in between are frozen and with them a part of our souls. Scary part is we don’t know how long, either. Unlike the last time we found

ourselves in this situation and a head of state could appear on television and assure us it was okay to resume our normal lives, this time we just don’t know. Could be weeks – even months. Go up to Liberty Hill High School on an average weekday afternoon and the place is an absolute whirlwind of athletic activity. From Panther Stadium itself on the field or the track running around it, the auxiliary practice fields, the baseball and softball diamonds or the tennis courts. Busy bees going about their business as they ready themselves for the next competition. But, now we don’t know when that next competition will be and it saddens us a great deal. Both the girls’ and boys’ soccer squads should have just embarked on their respective playoff runs in the quest for a state title. Instead, nothing. The purple-and-gold flags atop the stadium continue to be blown by the unrelenting Central Texas winds, but they look down on a lonely logo at the 50-yard line. Sports is an awful big part of

Letters to the Editor

Stop panic-buying

Dear Editor: THERE NEVER WAS A FOOD OR SUPPLY SHORTAGE! What caused this? People began to panic and hoard because they thought they would not be able to get what they need. Because they feared food shortages, etc. That IS NOT the case. If we all shopped as usual this would not have happened! We could still be going to the store and shop without all of these lines and empty shelves. There may very well be a shortage if this continues. Manufacturers will be unable to obtain raw goods to produce and stores will face long term shortages. Although we all are affected, nonproﬁts like Hope House are only a few of the many organizations who experience shortages of food and supplies. Their residents are severely disabled and cannot fend for themselves. They have 35 residents and four homes to look after. Staff scramble to meet their needs and the staff also face more stress during their shift and personally. It affects their ability to care for them. And I have to wonder why this is even happening! I am pleading with the public to slow down and go back to normal shopping. Think about it. If we gave the stores a break (which they are now

asking for) and allowed them to restock and we make an effort to only buy what we need currently, this could return to normal. People need to realize that food, toiletries, cleaners and goods will STILL be here. Why hoard or rush to stand in line when we can still get our needs met as always? They can still go to the grocery stores under the shelter in place orders. We can get back to normal habits and food supplies will still be available in the long run. The long lines and number of people crowded into stores today is an even further risk of spreading this virus. We must try, we must ban together and sacriﬁce now to stop this! Division and anger are causing additional issues. I know of a young girl who has been so verbally abused in a grocery store that she had a mental breakdown. A man who threw a case of bottled water at an employee because he couldn’t buy two cases. The stress and strain on the employees, businesses and distribution lines can cause another major problem! We can stop this madness if we just think about what and why this is happening! People are panicking because they think they cannot get what they need. They must realize this is NOT the case. PLEASE everyone, do your part to stop this madness.

a lot of peoples’ lives. Whether it’s the weary factory worker who watches a game at a local bar with a cold one after another day of manual labor, the executive who is under immense pressure to produce at the corporate level or just your average individual who uses the games as a way of breaking away from his or her reality – if only for a few hours – a brief respite from whatever might be troubling them at the moment. Makes one wonder what the world was indeed like before the advent of organized sports. What did people do when there were no games? We’re ﬁnding out. Only back then there wasn’t a void because you can’t have a void resulting from something that was never there to begin with. So, we live off memories. Replays of old games on television or online provide a distraction, but it’s rather surreal when one watches something from the past and tries to pretend it’s from the present. Doesn’t seem to have quite the same attraction or appeal. All we can hope and pray for at this point is the opportunity to once again experience the games we love. Sooner rather than later.

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT Thursday, April 2, 2020 Page 3

Ye ole publican’s prayer for mercy

A monster that we couldn’t hear coming or even see Fleet footed whose evil magic is strong Came roaring from mysterious regions When we’d had it so well, so long As long as it stayed over there, over there A certain invincibility, more curiosity held Unaware the clock ticking for me, thee Wondering for whom the tolling of the bell

At first they said it’s not for clean Christians Then it was only the old, with underlying conditions Then it was stand apart, the distance of the depth of the grave Now its randomness, with a probability of distribution But the rules kept changing, like the path of a hurricane For princes and us paupers, of rational sense bereft Two were in the field, two were grinding at the mill, One was taken, the other one left Sleeping on the decks beneath, So far untouched by the gale Sailors were throwing all things overboard Flipping ancient coins, I’m chosen for the whale Overcome with Tussaphobia, Deep in the belly of Moby My successes mock, my priorities embarrass The movie of my life plays before me Always working, fighting for others, self-esteem built by others Wasted time, false idols, and loads I can’t bear Not enough time spent fishing, loafing, loving with brothers Corona-19, it’s me, not you, standing in the need of prayer ~ By WILT CUTTER, Columnist

Send Letters to the Editor by email to news@LHIndependent.com

Erland Schulze Hope House

Choosing politics over public health

Editor’s Note: The editorial referenced in the letter below, invited comments from the Mayor and Council members regarding their decision March 23 to hold an election in May. While this council member suggests the City will now cancel the election, the decision is subject to a Council vote. Dear Editor: Last week’s editorial {“No responsible reason to hold City election in May”, March 26, 2020} has become typical of the brand of irresponsible journalism/opinion tactics that the Independent seems to revel in these days. I want to make it very clear - I did not choose politics over public health. When I cast my vote to move forward with the May election as the editorial alleged I chose HOPE. Hope that things would get better quickly; hope that we would be able to get back to the business of steering the city into the bright future we as this council are moving our city towards. There was much discussion by all council members on this agenda item would it be possible to have it in May, if we should consider postponing it, would we get

lost in the bigger November election, if it would be safe, ifs, what ifs and maybes. The consensus was “if we didn’t make the decision to have it in May, and have the hope that this virus would end sooner rather than linger” then, we would have to go with the only option available being a November election. At the time of the meeting we had the right as a city to make that decision. The motion was made to reﬂect if things didn’t get better as we HOPED then we would follow the next steps by changing the date of the election. If the covid-19 outbreak didn’t lessen then of course we could not safely keep the May election date. It wasn’t rocket science and it was a part of the discussion. The Independent never called me to ask me why I voted the way that I did. An assumption was made apparently without my input. I can only wonder why. We were in good company as our school board had it on their agenda to discuss this possibility, as did other cities. Cedar Park opted for the May election date as did several others. They all made their individual choices based on May or November that they felt met the individual needs of their communities. None of them were wrong. Whether these entities agreed with our choice as a council or not I respect their decisions. With the new

proclamation issued by Governor Abbott on May 31, there will not be an election in May. There may now be a possibility of these elections being held in June or July. A new chance of not being a part of the November election process might be a possibility. I think that if this option does materialize other cities and schools will have an interest in selecting this as a better choice than the November option. Time will tell. This date may also have to be set aside if the course of this pandemic is not slowed down. It is now being said that this virus is cyclic and that even if it slows down it will probably become a problem again in the fall. Who knows there may not be a November election? Seems far-fetched now but who would have ever thought we would be in this situation three months ago? What then? Next thing you know the Independent will blame the city council for orchestrating all this? A global pandemic just to get the mayor re-elected so he could get paid a salary that still isn’t really enough money for the hours he puts into his ofﬁce? And by the by how did we manage not to have any opponents for the two council places? After all that $1000 dollars a month salary is going to make us rich - right? I work hard to do what I think is right for this community and I don’t do it for the money. I

didn’t get into this with the idea of getting paid, but with the constant harassment and misinformation that the Independent spins I can guarantee you if I was doing this for the money it wouldn’t be enough! However, I am here and I am going to continue to do what I think is right. I am here for a dream for this community that began 21 years ago. Our community is ﬁnally in a place as a city to be able to steer our destiny after all these years and I would hate to think that a disgruntled newspaper with their own agenda would be the driving force to derail our community. The Independent is not supposed to make the choices for the council or to speculate with their made up whys on why we do what we do. They are just supposed to present the facts. This endless procession of bullying tactics, picking and choosing bits and pieces of alleged facts that the Independent has deemed as facts and manipulation of those to spin fairy tales along with the making of baseless allegations of why we do what we do is not what a newspaper is supposed to be about. Kathy Canady Liberty Hill City Council Member

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

TWC working to manage volume of unemployment ﬁlings

BUSINESS

Ofﬁcials from the City of Leander, as well as County Commissioner Cynthia Long (third from right), shovel dirt at the Northline Development’s groundbreaking ceremony in early March. Upon completion, the Northline project will provide Leander and Liberty Hill with retail, residential and ofﬁce space, as well as a large town square area with a park. (Courtesy Photo)

New Leander development will beneﬁt Liberty Hill community

By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer LEANDER -- The City of Leander broke ground in March on a 115-acre downtown development project, which is slated to create a hub for retail, residential and ofﬁce just ﬁve miles from Liberty Hill. The development, called Northline, is between Highway 183 and 183A, near the Capital Metro’s Leander Station, Austin Community College’s San Gabriel campus and the new St. David’s Hospital project. The City of Leander has committed $15 million in funding toward the project for public infrastructure, including streets, parks and trails. Northline is being developed by Northline Leander Devel-

opment Company, which is affiliated with Tynberg LLC, a Texas-based real estate investment and development firm, in conjunction with the City of Leander. “Liberty Hill is a short five miles from Northline and will offer the residents of Liberty Hill significant retail, entertainment, restaurant and shopping options, as well as office and employment opportunities, hotels and public gathering spaces for events and more,” said Alex Tynberg, owner and developer of Northline. “Northline is going to become a hub for all of Williamson County, transforming the greater Central Texas region.” The first phase of the proj-

ect is under construction, and includes the horizontal infrastructure in the “town square,” which will be the main community center of the project and will include a public park surrounded by retail, ofﬁce space, hotel and residential facilities. That phase of the project is expected to last 18 to 24 months, with the development of buildings to follow afterward. The “town square” center will also include an event lawn, a pavilion and entertainment stage, an outdoor living grove, play areas with water features, and space for community events like farmers’ markets and festivals. Full buildout of Northline is expected to take 10 to 15 years, but upon completion, the downtown development will have 300,000 square feet of retail space; 700,000 square feet of ofﬁce space; 2,000

BAND

Community Blessing Outreach delivered 150 meals to 50 Meals on Wheels clients on March 25. (Courtesy Photo)

MEALS

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get these people whatever they may need right now,” she said. “Everything from prescriptions they couldn’t get to things like toilet paper or anything else.” CBO provided 50 seniors three meals each on March 25, but it certainly won’t be the last time, said McCarty. “We’re going to keep doing this every Wednesday until Meals on Wheels is back up and running,” she said. “Next, we’re expanding into Round Rock, serving about 100 people in all, or 300 meals.”

Thursday, April 2, 2020

According to McCarty, the program is simply an example of the kind of people who make Liberty Hill and the surrounding area so special. “Our community is awesome,” said McCarty. “All of the people are volunteers who also work full-time and we hope what we do will inspire others to do the same and make the world a better place.” Donations and volunteers can got to www.communityblessingoutreach.org for more information.

apartments and 300 townhomes. “With booming growth in Austin’s northwest corridor, a development of this scale has been a long time coming,” Tynberg said. “Leander is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, with the population more than doubling in the past eight years.” Adding to the area’s growth is ACC’s San Gabriel campus, which can serve up to 2,500 students, and the soon-to-bebuilt St. David’s Hospital, which will create approximately 200 new jobs. “The city has lacked a true central destination,” Tynberg said. “Northline is creating a walkable, urban hub where residents of Leander and the greater Central Texas community can gather and thrive.” For more information on the Northline project, visit www. northlineleander.com.

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many different ways of killing boredom. In their battle against complacency, the Bolin family attempted an experiment that ended up inspiring Parker’s daily performance of the Panther Fight Song. “We were doing an experiment in our neighborhood to see if we could hear him from a couple of streets over. It was our own version of family fun,” said Colleen. “When we did it one day, we realized we could really hear him. That led to a fun conversation about how cool it would be if he played for inspiration for the community and the other kids stuck at home.” An extended vacation from school may have sounded appealing at ﬁrst, but students lose the opportunity to see their friends, go to the classes they enjoy and they lose routines they are accustomed to. Colleen said that for Parker, playing every day at noon helps ﬁll the void left by not attending band, it helps to keep a routine intact and create a sense of normalcy. “He’s a very routine-oriented guy, so the fact that he isn’t in school to play made him think about how else he could

have the outlet that wasn’t just practicing in his bedroom,” she said. It wasn’t long before word of Parker’s inspirational idea caught the attention of others. After mentioning it to her friend Apryl Kuhn, she felt this was something her sons could get involved with as well, expanding to another part of Liberty Hill. “I just thought it would be cool since everyone was separate to do something to bring everyone together,” she said. “Even though we’re all at our own houses, we could come together. That’s what the band is for, to pep and cheer everybody up. What better time to do that?” Kuhn envisions the reaction from the community as almost an inspirational scene. “I’m just imagining people sitting in their houses, twiddling their thumbs and wondering what to do. Then they hear from different parts of the neighborhood, different parts of the ﬁght song,” she said. “I see it like in a movie, everyone slowly comes out of their house, and they get that Panther spirit, and it just boosts everybody.” Helping take things to the

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By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor While the public health picture is changing rapidly every day due to the COVID-19 virus, it is nearly matched in pace by the changing economic and employment landscape as businesses temporarily shutter or reduce staffing in response to stay at home orders. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is on the front lines of the economic response, working to accommodate the increase in filings and incorporate new rules and programs. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with very unique challenges and problems,” said TWC Executive Director Ed Serna. “First of all because of the severity and the magnitude of the issue, and second because of the broad nature of it. We are very familiar with dealing with emergency situations. The unique situation we’re presented with COVID-19 is different than anything anybody in the state has dealt with regarding the sheer magnitude of the problem as well as the pervasive nature of the problem and the number of individuals and families it is affecting.” To illustrate the sudden surge facing TWC, Serna said the agency typically handles 13,000 phone calls a day in its four call centers around the state, but on March 22 those centers fielded 100,000 calls. “People are very frustrated because they can’t get through,” he said. “The total number of people trying to get through to our call center is in excess of 800,000 individuals.” As March progressed, week-

ly claims increased. Claims went from 3,000 to 9,000 in one day, then to 25,000 the next. By the next week, the weekly total was 150,000. “We are now close to 30,000 claims a day for unemployment insurance benefits,” Serna said. The skyrocketing claim totals take a toll on call centers as well as the TWC website. “We’re taking staff from other divisions throughout TWC and assigning them to our call centers,” Serna said. “We are also taking staff in the call centers and expanding our hours of operation. We’re looking for ways once we add staff to expand hours even more.” The agency is working to hire 100 additional staff members to take calls, and adding new technology to enhance ability to respond to the heavy call load and online filings and inquiries. “The volume of individuals visiting our TWC website and our employment benefits site is incredibly higher than normal,” Serna said. “We receive and take most of our employment insurance claims over the web. Those systems have been inundated with people trying to access the system. We’ve increased server capacity, we’ve also increased the number of servers we have available so we can serve more people online.” If filers have trouble getting through on the phone or getting on the website, Serna encourages patience. “I would recommend that people continue to call at different times or continue to access our system online at different times,” he said. “We’re

next level, Liberty Hill High School Band Director John Perrin – having caught wind of the idea – is helping organize a larger group of students to follow Parker’s cue. “I got an e-mail from one of the band parents saying that one of the seventh-graders was going out and playing the ﬁght song at noon,” said Perrin. “So, I thought I’d push it out to the high school kids, and Mr. Clarkson pushed it out to the junior high kids so we could all get out there and do this.” The reaction and excitement from students are evident as they quickly take to the idea, not just band students, but students in other programs like cheer. “One of my drum majors has two siblings in the band, so she got out in the driveway and conducted while they played,” Perrin said. “Her other sister is a cheerleader, and she did the cheer routine to the ﬁght song.” Some students lucky enough to have neighbors who are also band members are playing together. “There are some backyards that back up to each other, and one of them is a snare drum

player, and the other plays saxophone,” said Perrin. “He starts playing his snare drum from his yard, and the saxophone player plays along with him. It’s these fun little things that are happening now.” Perrin is working to put together a compilation of videos of students playing their instruments and plans to share them online. “We want to make sure that the community knows that this stuff happening isn’t going to tamp our spirit down,” he said. “We’re part of a great community, and it’s hard when a great community has to separate itself.” As the mother of the student who started things, Colleen Bolin is amazed at the eagerness of the community to support this movement. “It was really cool to see, we weren’t expecting anyone else to think it was a cool idea, but he was out there, and it grew,” she said. “I saw messages on my neighborhood from people who had gotten the memo from the band director, like a call to arms saying let’s get out there and do this. It was cool to see that and to see it in other neighborhoods.”

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Thursday, April 2, 2020

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Page 5

Battle of the Books ignites the ﬂame of creativity

By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer George R.R. Martin once said that “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one.” A group of Liberty Hill Junior High students is living as many lives as possible and embracing the love of reading through the Battle of the Books competition. “I’ve done it two years in a row now,” said eighth grader Matthew Garner. “The state has a list of books that have been recognized and the teams get to read all the books, you don’t have to read them all personally, but the team as a whole has to cover them. Then you go to the competition where it’s pretty much trivia.” Liberty Hill has participated in the event over the last few years, and this is the first time the teams are being led by LHJH Librarian Katie Ann Prescott. Together with their instructor, the groups began preparation in late 2019. “We started in September, trying to figure out who was going to be on our team,” said Prescott. “We did several quizzes. We started with 30 kids total, and as we continued with the quizzes, the teams got narrowed down based on who did the best on the quizzes.” Once the final group of students was whittled down, they were divided into two teams, the “Knights of the Book” and “Lacking Shelf Control”. As part of the event, teams are required to come up with their team names and create original posters with their team name on them. “By January, we knew who the two teams were because you’re only allowed to take six total kids for each team,” Prescott said. “We were able to build two teams, and we took a group of 11 kids. I feel like they did really well, especially since we had four 8th graders and the rest 7th graders.” For the competition, teams are required to answer questions about the 20 books. Questions consist of multiple-choice, true/false, quote identification, and book identification. The quiz show consists of two

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The Knights of the Book and Lacking Shelf Control of Liberty Hill Junior High include Maddie Reid, Alena Rios, Monique Achumuma, Ayodele Haman-Achu, Hayleigh Yeargain, Matthew Garner, George Spivey, Addisyn Carter, Hunter Crumlett, and Sophia Hoyle. rounds, with 25 total questions in each series worth one point. Teams are given 30 seconds to discuss and answer each question. “I would say we read most of the books and maybe all of them as a group, but the questions caught some of us off guard,” said seventh grader George Spivey. Preparing for the competition requires anticipating the questions that are going to be asked. “I feel like you kind of study for the wrong questions sometimes,” said eighth grader Addisyn Carter. Of the two teams, “Lacking Shelf Control” took second place. Despite a strong ﬁnish, Prescott believes there’s room for improvement. Brainstorming ways to improve for next year began almost immediately after the event. “Some of the conversations we had on the way home were about preparation. I asked them, ‘What do you think

would prepare you to do better?’” Prescott said. “We had weekly meetings, but a lot of the onus is on them because they have to read the books.” Prescott believes the key to success for the teams moving forward is keeping the existing high levels of excitement steady. “We aren’t doing book reports, that sounds horrible and like the perfect way to kill the love of reading,” she said. “I think that it’s really a matter of continuing to get them excited about reading. Next year what we may do is incorporate some more fun aspects of it and give them a chance to talk about the books more.”

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Beyond quizzes Every student took different favorites from the reading list, being inspired to try different genres and sometimes to pick up a pen themselves. “I tried to read From Twinkle with Love, but I couldn’t because it was a lot of romance,”

said Carter. “I thought Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World was pretty good.” Ivy Aberdeen stands out as a character that some of the kids can relate to. “Her situation seems so familiar to situations that I’ve gone through in my life,” said seventh grader Maddie Reid. One thing the Lone Star list books provide is avatars that are similar in some way to students. It allows them to explore other sides of themselves but in the shoes of a different character. “You can learn different perspectives from books,” said seventh grader Alena Rios. “You can learn what some people are going through, and that kind of teaches you not to pick on kids. Some books give that perspective or moral that ‘Hey you shouldn’t do things like this.’” In some cases, it’s a lot simpler than that. As Matthew Garner puts it, “The real world is boring.”

The benefit of diving into different worlds and seeing the perspectives of a variety of characters ignites the fires of imagination and creativity in the students. That creativity is taking the form of stories and books that members on both teams are writing themselves. “My story, I’ve already started kind of writing it,” said seventh grader Hunter Crumlett. “It’s about this girl. She was kind of popular and dated everybody, but at the end of the day, she was alone. Then these bombs go off, and she’s hiding in her bathroom. There are going to be mindless cannibals.” The post-apocalyptic setting is one of the preferred settings for several of the students. For Garner, the sci-fi genre is the world he prefers to inhabit. “In mine, there’s an alien invasion, and they kill all the adults because they’re more interested in studying the children,” said Garner. “They’re a very homogeneous species, and humans are all very different, and

it’s even more prominent in children. The aliens are trying to study the children and figure out what makes them different from each other and how they can have that. Still, there’s also this underground society that’s trying to take the Earth back.” Another popular genre that’s gained more traction with the advent of the Internet is Fanfiction. Fanfiction is a story based on already established properties covering everything from movies to video games and beyond. “I like to make fanfiction as a continuation to stories,” said Carter. “I like to explore what if this didn’t happen or what happens now.” From post-apocalyptic worlds to Earth under alien control, or from high fantasy lands to kingdoms of fire and water, the students in the “Knights of the Book” and “Lacking Shelf Control” are cultivating their creativity and expanding their minds through both reading and writing.

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Hoops boss delayed retirement after dramatic victory

By SCOTT AKANEWICH Sports Editor Eight and 11. The first was the amount of time left in the Liberty Hill boys’ basketball squad’s Class 4A state semifinal game against Decatur at the Alamodome in San Antonio on March 8, 2019. The second was the deficit the Panthers faced entering the fourth quarter, with their season in the balance. But, there was much more at stake for Head Coach Barry Boren. “Right before we tipped off, I told (UIL Executive Director) Charles Breithaupt this was probably going to be it for me,” said Boren, of his plans to end his 40-year coaching career. “Everything had been leading up to it.” However, before the venerable bench boss could ride off into the sunset of retirement, his players had other plans. “Decatur had already beaten us earlier in the year and we had been down in this game by 16 points,” he said. “But, then we started to come back.” After chipping away at the Eagles’ seemingly-commanding advantage, Boren and his club found themselves on the verge of successfully completing its comeback. “We were down by a point with six seconds left and they missed a free throw,” he said. Senior Parker McCurdy made sure the Purple-and-Gold would avenge the Panthers’

CURVE

57-37 defeat at the hands of the Eagles on Dec. 27 by hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer to send Liberty Hill to the state championship game – and prevent their coach from retiring. When the clock read zero, it was the Panthers who had come all the way back from the brink for a 53-51 victory after having outscored Decatur by an 18-5 margin in the ﬁnal quarter – what was supposed to be the ﬁnal eight minutes of Boren’s coaching career. Not so fast, he said. “We were back in the hotel later that night,” Boren said. “My wife was already sleeping and I called my daughter and told her if we had lost, I would’ve retired.” Seemed as if Boren wasn’t quite ready to call it quits, after all – despite the fact it appeared as if all the pieces were in place for a timely departure from the game. “I had just been presented with a plaque earlier that night commemorating my 700 wins,” he said. “Everything lined up to make a good exit.” However, it wasn’t to be. Although there were certainly some who had a different idea, said Boren. “A lot of people thought I should’ve retired after that,” he said. “They told me, ‘From now on, you’ll feel like a failure if you don’t make it to state.’” So, Boren and his players went on to play Oak Cliff Faith Fam-

ALEX RUBIO PHOTO

Liberty Hill head boys’ basketball coach Barry Boren was convinced to put retirement plans on hold after his team’s heroics at the state ﬁnals last season. ily Academy the following day and ironically lost by the same score that they had prevailed by the previous night. Fast-forward nearly a year and he was back once again patrolling the sideline during a postseason matchup – this one against Boerne in the regional quarterﬁnals on the heels of a campaign that produced a 28-8 record and a district championship. Alas, there would be no return trip to San Antonio this season after a 57-54 defeat ended the Panthers’ season and left Boren with yet another decision to make concerning his

future. Upon their return home, he delivered his annual season-ending speech to his players. “I like to call it my ‘State-ofthe-Union’ address,” he said. “I told them we’ve set the bar so high now with all the expectations we’re going to have.” In addition, Boren emphasized to his team the impact their success was having on not only themselves, but others. “We won a ton of games and this is where we’re at now,” he said. “People are jealous of Liberty Hill and want to be

is present in the community and it should instruct everyone to take steps to try and limit their exposure and limit the exposure to anyone else.” Beyond their local numbers, it is important to see how the virus has spread from some of the original locations with confirmed cases. “It is a whole array of statistics and numbers coming at people, but people should also look at what’s going on elsewhere in the state because we’re seeing that most of the cases were first in the large metropolitan areas then we have seen it filtering out from there,” Van Deusen said. “I think we continue to see new counties added to the list every day and we continue to see the number of cases rise, and so I think it is something people need to be paying attention to.” The virus has been confirmed, as of Tuesday, in 122 of 254 counties, with Harris (563) – the Houston area – Dallas (549), and Travis (206) counties reporting the most cases. The lack of test kits throughout the state has made gathering reliable and up to date data even more difficult, but Van Deusen said that situation is improving. “We continue to see testing ramping up,” he said. “In Texas, we started seeing cases a little bit later than other parts of the country, certainly the west coast and New York area, so a lot of the private labs really focused their attention on those areas first. But over the last few weeks, we have certainly seen the number of tests in Texas continue to ramp up as the big national providers and private labs that do busi-

ness in Texas get more and more of their testing capacity online.” Testing roadblocks can be as simple as a lack of swabs for gathering samples. “We know some providers have had difficulty getting the swabs used to take the nasal swab to run the test,” Van Deusen said. “I think there are certainly still challenges with that. We’re continuing to work with our federal partners on getting those supplies out into the community.” The correlation between testing and total confirmed cases is unmistakable, though. “We certainly expect as testing continues to ramp up that we will find more cases,” Van Deusen said. “We know that no matter what the illness, you name it, we’re not going to identify every single case. You can assume there is more of it going around than has been identified by a laboratory test. We want to test as many people as possible, we want to identify as many cases as we possibly can, but we always know there is likely more illness out there than we’ve identified.” Once the test kits are more readily available, Van Deusen said the lag time in getting results remains. “If it is done through the public health system at one of our labs here in Texas, like our state lab here in Austin, that turnaround is usually two or three days, it could be a little longer or a little shorter,” he said. “The same issue is on the private side, it depends on the lab. Some are doing testing here in Texas, some are sending it to locations in other states and that obviously

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we have because we have no testing.” What’s at stake in Williamson County is knowing how far its current resources can extend. Access to ventilators is something being monitored closely, both in hospitals as well as for first responders. “Recently I issued an authorization to purchase six ventilators for ambulances in Williamson County and we are stepping up as we need to with that to help,” Gravell said. Currently in Williamson County there are 315 hospital beds available, 90 intensive care unit beds, 65 ventilators for children, and 221 adult ventilators across seven hospitals. Plans are being made for a filed-type hospital if needed, but Gravell was not ready to share details on where or how large it might be. “We’re working on a temporary hospital location, but we’re not disclosing the location at this time,” he said. “Our team has been working on the temporary hospital for at least seven days and now we’re working with state emergency management. When the State of Texas deems that it is necessary for us to have that alternative hospital locally, then they will provide the doctors, nurses and all that is necessary.” Rather than needing mobile hospitals, health officials continue to cite the curve, and the ability to flatten it or lessen the number of cases to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system. Texas and the United States continue to be on the upward trajectory of the curve today. “We’re certainly on the upswing,” Van Deusen said.

“We’re on the increasing part of that curve now and that’s where we need everybody’s help. That’s the most important thing people can do is try to help flatten that curve and make it go up less quickly, and maybe make it not go up as high, so we won’t exceed the ability of the healthcare system to care for people that need it.” Flattening the curve means fewer cases of the virus at a slower rate of infection, and healthcare professionals and public officials say that’s where all the new orders are coming from. “That’s where the social distancing comes in and where the advice to stay home comes from,” Van Deusen said. “There are various different models that have had different projections, but what they consistently show is the more you do that social distancing the fewer cases you’re going to have all at once, and hopefully, by all working together, we can avert the issue of the healthcare system running out of room or the ability to care for people.” As residents essentially self-quarantine, they filter through daily reports of testing, cases and deaths from the virus, but without the mountains of data being digested by researchers it can be difficult to know what to make of the numbers. “One of the key things is to look at where it’s present in Texas and the change over time,” Van Deusen said. “If we continue to see things accelerate, particularly in someone’s local area, I think it’s something that people should pay attention to. It shows this virus

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like us.” Next year will see the Panthers move up to Class 5A and face the likes of Cedar Park, along with the Georgetown and Leander schools, but there will be no quarter given as the so-called small ﬁsh in the big pond. “Just because we’re moving up to Class 5A doesn’t mean the pressure and expectations are going to go away,” said Boren. “I think we’ll be darned good.” But, the most poignant part of his address to his players was the reading of a prayer he had written while away from the

team for a week while tending to wife, Sue, who is battling cancer and was receiving treatment in Houston. “Basically, it was a thanks for all the memories and relationships I’ve gained,” he said. “I got emotional and then I look up at the players and they’re getting emotional, too.” During the week following the Panthers’ elimination from the postseason, Boren began conducting his exit interviews with all of his players from the varsity to the JV and freshman – an experience that he said helped bring proper closure to another entire season of memories. “The kids were in limbo at that point,” said Boren. “They were just in the gym shooting around in street clothes.” Until the Friday before spring break, when the seeds were planted for next season’s memories. “I had all the seniors leave until I had the 14 returners from the varsity and JV and 10 freshmen,” he said. “I got to work all of them out for the ﬁrst time getting ready for next season.” More numbers on scoreboards and more memories waiting to be experienced. But, nothing like McCurdy’s shot, said Boren. “You watch all the buzzer-beaters over the years at various levels,” he said. “So, it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to actually be involved with one.”

The WilCo Planning Team includes, from left, Aubrey Holmes, Emergency Management Specialist; George Strebel, IT Manager; and Patricia Pulliam, County Clerk Justice of the Peace Precinct 2. (Courtesy Photo) builds in a little extra time to get those tests to a lab if it is somewhere else.” Work to control the spread in Williamson County – beyond stay at home orders and social distancing – boil down to thorough tracing and investigation when a case is conﬁrmed. The County has put teams of three on each case, focused on tracking the locations visited and people the patients with the virus have been around. “Generally on a team is a statistician, someone keeping a written record, generally a seasoned or retired detective and a nurse,” Gravell said. “Those three make a team, and for example, every new case we have, that team of three does an investigation into that person. “Those three communicate with (those who test positive) virtually and they look at every place they have been, every person they’ve been in contact with within a certain time frame, then that team comes back and they start communicating with those other folks that would be within that possible infected range and ask them to self-quarantine. That

group goes on another master list (the team is) daily checking up on.” Officials say that most who contract the virus will be able to recover at home, and so far, there is no specific treatment for COVID-19. “We know that folks are working on getting some kind of antiviral drug that could treat infections, hopefully shorten the infection and alleviate the symptoms,” Van Deusen said. “But we don’t have that yet. It will likely come before a vaccine.” The goal for patients is to manage their symptoms, said Van Deusen. “You want to make sure people stay hydrated, making sure you treat their symptoms, and most people will be able to manage that at home, especially those who are otherwise healthy,” he said. “If people can manage symptoms at home we encourage them to do that so that the healthcare system can serve people who aren’t able to do that. For the vast majority of people they will recover just fine without the need for hospitalization.”

Thursday, April 2, 2020

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LHISD adjusts to remote instruction By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor School closures may mean students are not sitting in their classrooms with teachers every day as they march toward the end of another school year, but that doesn’t mean the need to teach and learn has gone away. When the possibility of school closures was only a discussion – in the midst of Liberty Hill ISD’s spring break – the district began the wheels turning on a plan that would provide instruction remotely for the students eventually stuck at home across six campuses. The original school closure notice has since been extended twice, now reaching into the ﬁrst week of May. “There are a lot of questions and uncertainties out there right now from everyone to make sure we are doing what is needed,” said LHISD Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Toni Hicks. “What we did when all this came about is over spring break we started planning. We recognized that

students, parents, and certain staff as well were unfamiliar with this online learning platform. So over spring break, our work was to put training modules in place.” Two parallel tasks were undertaken by the district – getting technology into the hands of students, and preparing lessons for them to complete remotely. The district did a phone survey ﬁrst to determine who had access to technology at home. “We did the survey to make sure how many devices and what Internet access our families had,” Hicks said. “Then our team put together a task force to call any family that didn’t respond to that survey.” They quickly found out, though, that just because a family had a computer, it didn’t mean a student would have access to it because parents were now working remotely as well. The week of March 23 was when LHISD distributed in excess of 2,000 devices to students. Another initial goal of the district was to provide general

updates and changes through its website with information from the Texas Education Agency, updates on STAAR testing, and information on learning from home. “We wanted all those resources available for families all in one place, and we rolled that out at the beginning of last week, so we could get out as much information on what we know and what our plan is moving forward,” Hicks said. As lessons were prepared and the best platforms and resources identiﬁed, the district also had to make sure everyone could learn to use them effectively. “We put it online because it’s not just our teachers who need to know how to utilize these tools, but also our parents and our students,” Hicks said, adding that the offers and pitches from online learning platforms have overwhelmed even district ofﬁcials. “It’s overwhelming to us as educators and we did not want to overwhelm our families and our kids. We took what we found was the best resource available and we then nar-

rowed it down to just a few pieces so that our families had access to online resource tutorials as well as online resources for instruction.” Those resources are broken up by grade level on the district site, and into what Hicks identiﬁed as choice boards provided online for families “What this does is it tells families this is the learning outcome we have to achieve, and here are some choices,” she said. “It is a menu of instructional pieces that our families can choose from. This is just to maintain learning through this week. We’re not introducing any new standards. We know right now and understand, because we’re all dealing with it, is the stress our families are under. So we are rally trying to be sensitive to that. So during this time, March 30 to (April 3) we are maintaining learning.” This week was the initial week for the online learning and the focus has been on familiarization with the tools and practice of the skills

See LHISD, Page 8

A message from Operation Liberty Hill:

Several of you have asked what we need at Operation Liberty Hill’s food pantry. The most important thing we need is prayer. We continue to serve our community but are using different methods so please pray for the protection of those who serve and our clients. As more people are coming for assistance and we are delivering food to the shut ins, our needs are increasing also. Of course monetary donations are also needed since we can still order through Central Texas Food Bank. Here is a list of items needed:

Disinfectant Spray Lysol or Clorox Wipes Hand Sanitizer Masks & Masks with respirators Family Sized Canned Ravioli Canned Pasta Sauce Canned Black Beans Canned Pork & Beans Canned Sloppy Joe Sauce Small plastic jars of jelly

Small plastic jars of mayonnaise Bread Cheese Dried Pinto Beans Monetary donations can be made on our website at operationlh.org and by mailing a check to Operation Liberty Hill, P.O. Box 1081, Liberty

Hill, TX 78642. Thank you so much! In Christ, Susan Baker Executive Director Operation Liberty Hill 512-778-4175

County Judge Bill Gravell (center) works with county employees to secure emergency equipment and resources this week. (Courtesy Photo)

GRAVELL

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county employee has been diagnosed with the virus. County ofﬁcials have been working to get more test kits but have had little success to date. “We have limited tests and because we have limited tests there are some protocols that have been put in place,” he said. “We are working feverishly to ﬁnd the testing. Just like you guys hear on the national level about testing and

availability, at the local level it just doesn’t exist. That’s my number one priority.” The County has 113 tests in its stock, and Gravell couldn’t say how many residents had been tested to date, but that there were 42 positive tests. He cautioned that the seemingly low number of cases is most likely due to a lack of testing ability. “I know how many folks are sick right now, I know how

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many folks are in intensive care and I know how many folks are at home sick,” Gravell said. “I know there are some senior adults that are at home, planning on dying at home. Right now the priority is sustaining life and reducing the loss of life.” Some private testing has been done, but Gravell was also concerned about residents turning to any medical provider for testing answers.

“Some have been done through Seton or Scott & White, and perhaps some have been done through small businesses,” Gravell said. “Candidly, a concern I have is there are some being done through illegitimate providers that are charging exorbitant amounts and they’re not even tests our medical team would allow our own staff to take because they’re not proven tests.”

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UNEMPLOYMENT

Continued from Page 4 continuing to improve it so it should be more accessible as we progress. We know it is very frustrating and it is also at times very scary for individuals who have been let go from work. I assure you we will help everyone that needs help. I know it is hard to hear, but I ask people to be patient with us.” He also wants to reassure those needing services that everyone who qualifies and needs assistance will get it. “There’s enough funding now and if necessary we will seek additional funding from the federal government to see that everybody who needs benefits gets benefits,” Serna said. “You should not have to worry. That is one of the things you do not need to worry about.” To apply for benefits, filers can call 800-939-6631 or file online at twc.texas.gov. The call centers are now open Saturdays as well. Two measures put in place last week by Gov. Greg Abbott are meant to help speed the process and eliminate some hurdles during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have eliminated the work search requirement,” Serna said. “Normally if you are on unemployment you have to prove to us you are looking for a job. We’ve also eliminated the week waiting period, suspending that.” Serna also said if filers were given a deadline to respond to a TWC representative, they would not be penalized for

missing that deadline. A delay in filing will not impact benefits as they are tied to date of layoff, not the date of filing. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump March 27, provides for additional federal programs impacting unemployment benefits. Pandemic Unemployment Compensation provides up to $600 more per week for filers for up to four months through July 31. Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation makes available an additional 13 weeks of benefits beyond the traditional 26-week period. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance opens benefits to workers who do not traditionally qualify, including contract workers and the self employed. Qualification for these programs will be determined through regular filing with TWC. “I know this is a trying time and people are very frustrated, understandably so,” Serna said. “It is our goal to alleviate the problems you are facing. We have a great deal of understanding about what you’re going through. The staff we have at our call centers and the staff we are adding to our call centers work in your communities and they see and are impacted by COVID-19 as you are.”

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LHISD

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

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already learned. Hicks said the district is recommending 30 minutes of reading and 30 minutes of math each day. “Because our direction is we have now extended our Stay Home Stay Safe plan, we will roll out a stage two for that,” Hicks said. Expectations for how teachers can connect with students and families and provide assistance have been shared across all campuses. “I sent an e-mail to all the principals with a schedule for our staff,” Hicks said. “What should staff be doing on Monday, what should they be doing on Tuesday and so on. Starting on Wednesday of last week, every teacher was to reach out to the students and schedule ofﬁce hours if you will. What that means is they have an hour each week for video con-

ferencing and two hours each week for phone conferencing with kids or families to provide that remote support for their learning.” The ﬁrst week was all about checking on students and families and touching base regarding what was happening. Hicks said helping students succeed in the new home learning environment can be as simple as remembering a few things. “Have a schedule where students know that this time of day every day it is learning time,” she said. “Have a time where they are behind a computer, but also have a schedule that allows for outdoor learning. Kids need an opportunity for exercise and exploration and creativity and so be able to recognize that is as equally important as that online learning

experience.” The resources available go beyond basic core classes to include career and technology curriculum, ﬁne arts, physical education and even other support services. “What you’ll see on there also are student support service resources, addressing those social and emotional learning aspects,” Hicks said. “The health and wellness of our families is very important to us and we wanted to make sure they had resources available to them at the click of a button.” District leaders say this new learning approach will continue to evolve, but Hicks said the groundwork laid in recent years has made it possible to start quickly. “We really came together as a team and made sure that starting on day one of this

Stay Home Stay Safe we were ready to go with resources for our families,” she said. “Part of this is because of the systems we have developed over time in the last few years. We have cadres of teachers who help us in developing our curriculum and we have leaned on them heavily to create the resources and instructional plans for our families. They worked with all teachers so every teacher had input into what our plan is going forward and that has been tremendous for us.” And at the core of all of it for Hicks is that reminder to her that students are always the priority. “This shows the excellence of our teachers, that make sure that no matter what, even in this time of crisis, that the number one priority we have is our kids.”

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Thursday, April 2, 2020

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