Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 1, 1999 Page: 1 of 22
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NUMBER 42
THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1999
GIDDINGS, LEE COUNTY, TEXAS 78942-0947
VOLUME 109
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Giddings attorney, Burleson DA
clash over validity of indictments
Judge rules indictment of Steve Keng's client was invalid
Courthouse centennial celebration
in May gives look into county's past
Open house, historic displays, parade, street dances set
Doug Westfall named Citizen of
Year at Chamber Banquet Friday
Guarding underground water now
big issue for many rural counties
Victoria County worried about Corpus Christi's water needs
the Giddings Area Chamber of fall after listing many of his
Commerce Banquet Friday contributions to the commu-
Air bags deploy without warning
as brothers ride on country road
Peytons warn parents not to let kids ride in front seat
Dozens of children have
died riding in front seat
after air bags deploy
brace ourselves," he said, "and
the impact (from the air bags)
Tours of courthouse,
costumed storytellers,
children’s day planned
The upcoming Lee County
Courthouse Centennial Cel-
ebration in May is expected to
House committee
■
f
Ernie's when the mishap oc-
curred.
"We were drinking our coffee
and riding along the unpaved
voted on the top issues.
Their major issues were then
brought to the total group for
discussion and voting. Thirty-
two top issues were reviewed.
Out of these, six received the
See FORUM, page 16
»
i
Local real estate company
owner Doug Westfall was hon-
ored as Citizen of the Year at
Firemen were called out at
10:59 a.m. and responded to
the call by 11:02 a.m.
Firemen reported that tires
and petroleum products
stored in the building caught
fire, adding to the blaze.
Plumes of black smoke rose
high into the sky and could be
seen from all over Giddings.
be a total loss. It was reported
t hat no insurance was carried
on the building. The property
is owned by Alton Beasley.
Employees at the business
were reportedly putting a mo-
tor in a vehicle when the mo-
passes Lee-Bastrop
. groundwater district
Charles Jones, State Repre-
sentative for House District 13,
last week supported House
committee approval of the bill
that creates a Lee-Bastrop
County groundwater conserva-
tion district.
Citizens, organizations honored with special awards
Mr. Westfall opened his full
cipient of the award, pre-
sented a plaque to Mr. West-
An indictment charging a
Caldwell man with making
threats against former Burle-
son County Judge Paul J.
See CLASH, page 17
The Lee County Open Forum
held Monday night at Giddings
High School drew 94 people
from the community who dis-
cussed issues and concerns for
1
GIDDINGS DECA students
who competed at the State
Conference in Fort Worth
are pictured, front row from
left, Tammy Sue Flores,
Priscilla Kieschnick, Amy
/i
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, se j
The brothers said they later
learned that air bags deploy at
200 miles an hour, so when
they do it's faster than the
blink of an eye and you don't
even see the bag hitting you.
Matthew, who was driving,
said he managed to put on the
brakes and bring the car to a
See DEPLOYS, page 15
Jackie Dube breaks
pelvis in horse-riding
accident at Snook
Jackie Dube, who is a fresh-
man at Texas A&M University,
broke her pelvis in four places
in a horse-riding accident at
Snook last Wednesday after-
noon.
The accident occurred about 3
p in. at a rodeo arena at Snook
in Burleson County where
Jackie keeps her horse. She
was working her horse training
it for barrel racing when it re-
portedly reared up and fell on
her.
She was rushed by ambulance
See DUBE, page 16
Gary Pietsch, last year's re-
SERVING LEXINGTON, DIME BOX, LINCOLN, SERBIN, NORTHRUP, PAIGE, LEDBETTER, FEDOR & GIDDINGS
PUBLISHED AND EDITED BY A NATIVE LEE COUNTIAN - - PREUSS PRINTING CO., INC.
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22 "
was like getting hit by a ton of Wednesday morning.
bricks." Damage from the fire at 510
Open Forum draws 94 as top
6 county issues are identified
groups worked to combine
some of their topics, they also
Mitschke. Middle row,
Karen Tobola, Jennifer Wil-
son, Molly Foster, Sponsor
Noel Christiansen. Back
row, Aaron Matthijetz, Chad
Dunkin, Cory Toatley, Ran-
Q O I
I" AAassj
service real estate agency in
1995. He was vice president at
Lee County Bank prior to
opening his own company.
Mr. Westfall is an active
member of First Baptist
Church in Giddings. He is an
active member of the commu-
See CITIZEN, page 21
Daylight Savings
to begin Sunday
Daylight Savings Time will
begin at 2 a.m. on Sunday,
April 4.
Be sure to move your clocks
forward one hour Saturday
night as Texas and most of the
nation goes off Central Stan-
dard Time.
This means everyone will
lose an hour's sleep except
those who retire an hour ear-
lier Saturday night.
ther in search of the precious water has spurred local offi-
commodity. cials to seek legislation to give
This is the second in a two- more control over its use.
part article on why rural coun- Victoria County is among
ties are trying to protect their those seeking a groundwater
underground water supply and district. Their worry is Corpus
how the Alcoa mining agree- Christi.
ment with San Antonio to buy See WATER, page 15
Rep. Jones, a co-author of the next 3 to 5 years.
I louse Bill 2237, applauded the Some 200 issues were ident
efforts of the I louse Nat ural Tied and discussed during sma
See DISTRICT, page 16 group sessions. As these small
A garage at Lee County Mo-
tors, four vehicles, and an as-
sortment of items burned up
in a fire in Giddings last
Two men on their way back to road when suddenly we hear
the Boy Scout camp north of this loud explosion and are hit
Giddings got a real scare when in the head and chest (by the
the air bags in their car de- air bags)," said Matthew, who
ployed without warning. lives in Houston. His brother
Matthew and Mark Peyton, lives in Brenham.
who are brothers, said they Their nephew, David Peyton
were driving back from Gid- of Austin, was riding in the
dings on County Road 121, just back seat of the 1997 Pontiac
off FM 141, about sunrise on Grand Prix SE.
Tuesday, March 16 after get- "We hadn't hit anything, so
ting donuts and coffee at we didn't even have a chance to
Giddings DECA students
to compete at Nationals
Eleven Giddings High School nies were held on Thursday
DECA students participated evening, which included a de-
at the DECA Texas Associa- cade tribute and a keynote
tion 53rd Annual Career De- See DECA, page 2
velopment Conference in Fort
Worth March 11-14. Seven Little League opening
students will be advancing to .
compete at the National CDC ceremonies Monday
in Orlando, Florida, April 23- Lee County Little League
28. will hold opening ceremonies
The state conference con- at the Giddings City Park
sisted of competitive events Monday, Apr. 5 at 6 p.m.
and school-to-work work- Games will be played at 7 p.nV.
shops. The opening ceremo- on all five fields.
A clash between local attor- The controversy is over
ney Steve Keng and Burleson whether indictments issued by
County District Attorney the 335th District Court grand
Charles Sebesta over invalid juries over the last three years
indictments is heating up. are valid.
Forming water districts
• /MaA gives some control over
dy Jackson, Ray Perez. thirsty big-city needs
Chad, Ray, Aaron, Karen, Trying to guard their water
Molly, Jennifer and Tommy has become a high pri-
willadvancetonationalsin for rura.....unties as large
Orlando, Hondo, April 23- cities reach out further and fur-
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BLACK SMOKE pours out with an air pack. The struc- were reportedly installing
of Lee County Motors on U.S. ture was a total loss, esti- an engine in a car when the
77 south in Giddings last mated at between $75,000 fire started and quickly
Wednesday morning, March and $100,000, destroying the spread to the building. They
24 as firemen prepare hoses building, four vehicles inside all got out safely.
to fight the blaze and go in and equipment. Employees - Times & News Photo
Fire causes total loss at local garage
Damage at Lee County Motors estimated at nearly $100,000
between $75,000 and tor caught fire. The fire spread
$100,000. The building and to the building and firemen
vehicles were all considered to were called out.
draw area county judges as May 13-15.
well as state legislators for the "General Robert E. Lee, for
parade and ceremonies plan- whom the county was named in
ned that day. 1874, is a brilliant leadership
The historic courthouse was example," said Judge Lee.
built in 1899. In conjunction with the cen-
This 100th anniversary event tennial will be the annual Lee
will be a three-day celebration, County Sheriffs Posse Western
Thursday through Saturday, See CELEBRATE, page 18
"uscgs Si
,.ke
" 4 #
night. nity.
Other awards presented • 4- wag
Other awards were also pre- 4 A • g
sented at the banquet: »
The Outstanding Business of k
the Year award was presented I,
to Bobby Lehmann Trucking. ‘
Bobby Lehmann accepted the • $.
special honor from Mike Mor- • 4 4
gan, last year's recipient. 4,
Outstanding Non-Profit Or- A 8
ganization of the Year award A8
was shared by the Giddings gg
Rotary Club and the Lee
County Sheriff’s Posse. Mark
Johnson, Kenny Urban, and
Mark Goodson accepted the E
awards, while Fay Rodriguez
presented them. DOUG WESTFALL
See AWARDS, page 15 Citizen of the Year
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Preuss, L. M., III & True, David G. Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 1, 1999, newspaper, April 1, 1999; Giddings, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1611896/m1/1/: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center.