The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 1994 Page: 1 of 20
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Bear Relays
begin Friday
'See Page 16
March 8 Primary
Sample ballo
JB piastrop JVMterttser
Vol. 14lf No. 1
Ex-county
official dies
at age 54
Jerry Mac Alexander, 54, of
Cedar Creek, died Saturday,
February 26, 1994.
He was bora May 17, 1939 in
Bastrop to Mac and Edith
Roberts Alexander.
He was a lifetime rancher at
Cedar Creek and a member of
Cedar Creek Methodist Church.
He was active in Bastrop
County politics and served 12
years as Commissioner of
Precinct #3 in Bastrop County.
He was a former member of the
Board of Directors of Texas
Thoroughbred Breeders Associ-
ation and had a great love of
1
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper
Since March l, 1853
50C
Bastrop, Texas
Thursday, March 3,1994
Jerry Alexander
horses. He was also a member
of Southwestern Cattleraisers
Association.
See ALEXANDER, Page 2
Smithville Hospital Authority
board members essentially
agreed Monday to rename the
new hospital the Smithville Re-
gional Hospital when it opens
early next year.
Board members are also ex-
ploring the legal possibility of
changing the by-laws to include
two board members from any-
where in Bastrop County rather
than having all members reside
within Smithville's city limits.
Audubon seated
Commissioners expand toad panel
Bastrop County commission-
ers reluctantly added an out-
spoken critic of plans to expand
the Lost Pines Golf course to a
panel which will draft a habitat
conservation plan for the endan-
gered Houston toad.
Local Audubon Society lead-
ers have pressed for a seat at the
table along side representatives
of the Bastrop County Envi-
ronmental Network, land devel-
opers, bankers, local govern-
ment officials and state and fed-
eral agency officials charged
with protecting the endangered
amphibian.
Commissioners Johnny
Sanders and Elaine Seidel
voiced a preference for naming
the Audubon Society's David
Carson of McDade to the panel.
Bat County Judge Randy
Fritz said Carson urged the ap-
pointment of the society's
Southwest Regional Director,
De De Armentrout of Austin.
Fritz argued that the wise
choice for commissioners would
be to "make the most vocal
critic (of golf course expansion)
put of the process" of drawing
up a regional habitat conserva-
tion plan for review by the U.S.
Classified —pi 18
Coming Up. .—pi 7
Deaths. a 3
Drug scene in Elgin described
By Davis McAuley
Editor
Jurors in Bastrop listened
Tuesday as a woman described
the ease with which she bought
crack cocaine on an Elgin street
corner late last year. On one oc-
casion, the professional drug
buyers said, she became fright-
ened as half a dozen young men
pressed against her auto vying
to supply her with drugs.
Linda Martin told the jury
hearing evidence against An-
thony Penson that she was paid
$700 weekly plus living ex-
penses to make drug purchases
and video tape the transactions
for the Capital Area Narcotics
Task Force. She is not a police
officer.
Penson, 35, charged with de-
livery of cocaine to Martin on
Nov. 22 last year, pleaded guilty
to the indictment Tuesday but
asked the jury to fix punish-
ment.
In presenting evidence about
punishment, prosecutors played
video tapes showing three occa-
sions during November when
Penson obtained or sold drugs to
Martin. \
They also presented testi-
mony that at the time of his ar-
rest in Elgin Jan. 14, Penson
was carrying some 60 rocks of
cocaine.
The jury was expected to be-
gin deliberations Wednesday.
Martin explained to jurors
how she recorded drug transac-
tions with the help of a con-
cealed video camera focused on
the front passenger seat of a
specially equipped Austin Po-
lice Department auto. She said
she used a variety of explana-
tions about why she could not
leave the car or roll down the
passenger side window.
Defense attorney Patrick
Gann said Penson pleaded
Hospital board studying
by laws change issues
Presently three of the seven
member board are appointed by
the city council and the re-
maining four are appointed by
the hospital board.
Board member Earl Walborg
recommended the change and
proposed that two of the four
members appointed by the hos-
pital be from other parts of
Bastrop County.
See HOSPITAL, Page 2
Fish and Wildlife Service, the
federal agency charged with
enforcing the Endangered
Species Act
Winning FWS approval of a
regional plan will clear the way
for adding nine holes to the
popular state park golf course as
well as commercial and resi-
dential development in the Lost
Pines area of the county, many
officials believe.
Without a regional plan in
place, private and state projects
in the area face the hurdle of
winning individual project
clearance from FWS.
"It's a good idea to get
(Audubon) in (on the planning
phase)," said Commissioner Lee
Dildy.
Audubon Society leaders
have repeatedly opposed {dans
for expanding the golf course
because construction would take
place in the endangered toad's
known habitat
In other business Tuesday,
commiuionefs:
• Called for a session with
Lost Pines Industries manager
Terry Hays about operations
-and finances of the county's re-
cycling center and garbage
transfer station.
• Announced the start of
work to convert empty space in
former Bastrop Hospital
building tr offices to local pro-
bation department operations.
Asbestor. removal is complete,
said Sanders.
But the $67,500 left to com-
plete the project may not be
enough. "We will get to the
point where we need more
money," he said.
facing Elgin's
Social worker Jeannie Kennedy, seated, works with Dianne Reyes on
Advocacy Outreach agency.
Needs surface at agency
Homelessness adding to demands on volunteers
By Janice Butler
Staff Writer
Advocacy Outreach in Elgin
opened its doors two years ago
to help a handful of local dis-
abled residents with legal and
health care issues.
Since then volunteers have
provided assistance to 420 indi-
viduals, an alarming number of
whom are homeless, according
to Director Beth Rolingson.
She said that over 200 fami-
lies in the Elgin area are dis-
placed from their homes and
living with relatives, and there
are another 30 individuals who
are living on the streets.
"When we opened the doors
here, we were not real sure what
was going to happen," she told
The Bastrop Advertiser last
week. 1 ' *
"We initially planned to help
people with terminal diseases,
especially those that are HIV
positive, get their estate issues
in order. But when we opened
the door, we were flooded with
people and problems," accord-
ing to Mrs. Rolingson.
There are plans to open a
Department of Human Services
office in Elgin, but right now
Advocacy Outreach is the only
service organization that has of-
fices in the city, she added.
"Advocates spend a good
deal of time transporting clients
to social security or disability
hearings, medical, food stamp
or WIC (Women, Infant and
Children) appointments.
"Last year phone service av-
eraged 250 long distance calls
per month and average service
actions rose to 60 per
month," according to a recent
Advocacy Outreach newsletter.
Mrs. Rolingson said that
many clients either do not have
a telephone at home okr they do
not have homes.
"Rural homelessness is a real
hidden phenomenon. In Elgin,
people view the homeless as
transients, but there are 30 street
people here and most of them
were bora and raised hoe," she
said
"Most of the homeless here
are temporarily homeless. They
Tr either down on their luck, or
they've fled an abusive family
situation. Some are even
teenagers who are trying to at-
tend school," added Mrs. Rol-
ingson.
"We help them in any way
we can because we feel we're
fighting the clock. Once a per-
son becomes a homeless*person
living on the streets, it's really
difficult to remedy the situation
and keep their motivation and
self-esteem intact" she ex-*
plained.
According to the director,
many of Elgin's homeless sleep
in cars and have no place to
wash or shave. Their clothes are
unkept and dirty, and they have
no place to cook.
Mrs. Rolingson continued,
"there are some partial truths to
rumors of the homeless regard-
ing their use of alcohol and
drugs but many are on the way
back to the mainstream."
When DHS offices open in
Elgin, there will be less trans-
porting for advocates to do, but
Advocacy Outreach will still
Sae AGENCY, Page 2
guilty because "clearly he is
guilty (under state law)."
At the same time Gann sug-
gested during cross examination
that Martin stimulated drug traf-
fic in Elgin near Central and
South Avenue C. by making re-
peated buys in the area from as
many individuals as possible.
Martin said she attempted to
film at least two purchases from
each suspected drag dealer.
She denied suggestions from
Gann that she also enticed
young men she approached in
the area not only with the
See SCENE, Page 2
Trench
cleared for
transplant
Bastrop honor student Chad
Trench was rushed to Bracken-
ridge Hospital Tuesday after his
lungs shut down on him.
By Tuesday afternoon he was
feeling better but still in guarded
condition at the hospital, ac-
cording to his grandmother,
Bonnie Price.
"He's really a little fighter,"
she said.
He recently passed prelimi-
nary tests in St Louis, Missouri
for a lung transplant, but the op-
eration is not scheduled until
late July or August
"I hope we can make it He's
on a list with five other people.
There's a possibility that he'll
come up sooner, but we just
don't know," Mrs. Price said.
The 11-year-old suffers from
a rare, perhaps inherited, disease
that has left him with only 30
percent use of his lungs.
"The weather has a lot of af-
fect on his lungs. When it
changes like it did Tuesday, the
humidity gets in and locks them
up," his grandmother explained.
"I think he was scared this
time. He was begging to go to
the hospital. Normally we have
to fight him," she added.
He had his mother call 911.
When paramedics could not get
him to respond to the shots they
administered, they requested
StarFlight Mrs. Price said.
See TRENCH, Page 2
Blaschke runs
in Smithville
Renee Blaschke filed for a
place on the May 7 Smithville
City Council ballot Tuesday.
She was appointed to the
council February 14 and cur-
rently holds the seat left vacant
by Clinton Wright when she
joined the Lower Colorado
River Authority board of direc-
tors.
According to City Secretary
Brenda Page, Mrs. Blaschke is
filing to fill a one-year term.
Other council members up
for reelection this year are Mark
Bunte, Charlie Jones and Mayor
Vernon Richards.
All three filed for reelection
last week.
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 1994, newspaper, March 3, 1994; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth409790/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.