The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 29, 1998 Page: 1 of 26
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50C
ritablisbrb 1669
Llano, Texas 78643
Volume 111, No. 3
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I l
fiTS iTTiT i i § h
Early voting for the Novem-
ber 3 General Election comes
to a close Friday.
As of press time Tuesday,
more than 1,635 votes had
been cast. There have been
560 early votes cast in Llano,
507 in Horseshoe Bay and 425
in Kingsland along with 143
votes by mail.
(See Sample Ballot on Page
19)
In the five contested races,
the following candidates are
running:
•. County treasurer - Demo-
crat Debbie McDaniel Carter
and Republican Diana Cum-
mings
Carter is a native Texan and
is currently the Executive Di-
rector of the Highland Lakes
Family Crisis Center. She
has a Masters Degree and is
looking to reestablish cooper-
ation and professionalism
among other county offices.
Cummings holds Masters
Degree from the LBJ School of
Public Affairs and his retired
from spending 25 years with
the State Comptroller’s office.
She is looking to improve ef-
ficiency and effectiveness of
the treasurer's office while
closely monitoring the coun-
ty’s invested assets.
• Commissioner Pet. 1 -
Democrat Tommy Patterson
and Republican W.L. (Bill)
Kinney.
Patterson is from Sunrise
Beach where he owns and op-
erates T-Mart General Store.
He has lived in the area 18
years. He is looking to help
maintain the quality of life
and will continue to preserve
private property rights.
Kinney is from Horseshoe
Bay and has lived in the area
10 years. He is a retired en-
gineer from Marathon Oil.
He is looking to encourage
adoption of a long-range,
comprehensive plan for the
county while helping to im-
prove the community service
program for county inmates.
• Commissioner Pet. 4 -
Democrat Leon Tucker and
Republican Jim Myers.
Myers is a lifelong resident
of Llano ,vriiere he attended
Llano High School. He owned
a Lone Star Beer Distributor-
ship for 28 years and is now
retired. He is also a long-
time rancher. Myers is hop-
ing to improve roads and also
hopes to boost the court’s plan
for a new law enforcement
center.
Tucker has lived in Llano
for 40 years where he is a crew
chief for the City of Llano wa-
ter treatment plant. He also
has managed a large ranch
for the past 19 years. His goal
is to hold down taxes and
vows to be a full-time com-
missioner.
• Commissioner Pet. 2 -
Democrat Keith Faulkner
(incumbent) and Republican
Wayne Chism.
Chism is a life-long resident
of Llano County. He graduat-
ed from Llano High School
and is a building contractor.
He has been on the board of the
Llano Crawfish Open, Inc.,
that helps the Llano County
Special Opportunity School.
Faulkner is running for his
second term on the court. He
is a retired construction con-
tractor and was instrumental
in reopening the Lakeshore
Branch Library.
• Justice of the Peace Pet. 2 -
Democrat Lilly A. (Lanny)
Stephenson (incumbent) and
Republican Harvey Klee.
Stephenson has been the JP
for the past 20 years. Before
that she was a crime preven-
tion officer for the Houston
Police Department, where she
also served as a homicide de-
tective. She was among the
first female homicide detec-
tives in the state.
Klee, a six-year resident of
the area, was an attorney,
mediator and arbitrator in
Sugarland and Los Angeles
and most recently, has acted
as a court-appointed mediator
for the 33rd Judicial District.
Local candidate for State
Representative, District 73 is
Republican Randy Leifeste
who is challenging three-
term Democrat, Bob Turner.
(See page 18 for more on the
state race.)
Jf* ah, p • w
Llano News
Thursday, October 29,1998
Deer Capital of Texas
24 pages 2 sections
jury hands down ruling in jail rape
An Austin Jury has ruled that while a female inmate was in fact sexually
assaulted while in custody in the Llano County Jail, neither the county nor
sheriffs officers were responsible.
Tina Wisdom sued Llano County, Sheriff Nathan Garrett and several jail-
ers for $10 million claiming she was sexually assaulted by Johnny Joe Pe-
sina.
According to Wisdom, the case was never about money.
“It was about the truth,” she said. “I wanted everyone to know that I had
been telling the truth all along”
In September, A Llano County motion for Summary Judgment was de-
nied. A statement concerning the summary judgment handed down by the
court it was noted that, “It is apparent from the evidence Pesina was not
closely supervised by the jailers.”
The statement went on to say, “The jailers themselves undertook sorpe
questionable practices. For example, jailers and inmates would watch x-r&ted
videos together. However, compared to other jailers, Holland Ligon stood
above the rest as an unprofessional jailer.”
In testimony, Ligon objected to the charges against him. However, short-
\ f
/
' ly after the case was filed, Ligon was dismissed from position as a jailer by
Garrett. It was also noted that Ligon was not on duty at the time the alleged
assault took place.
Pesina was an inmate in Llano County Jail and was a trusty during the
time of Wisdom’s incarceration. She alleged he continually came into her
cell and made sexual advances and finally, assaulted her. He wax being held
on charges of indecency with a child, to which he later pled guilty and re-
ceived 40 years in prison.
A Llano County Grand Jury no-billed Pesina on the Wisdom case but lat-
er indicted him on a second charge of sexual assault by inmate Cathy May-
nard. Maynard later filed a similar case against the county, which is still
^endipg.
Officers were relieved of financial retributions because of failure to ptpve
Deliberate Indifference on the part of the plaintiff, according to Wisdom.
Wisdom still maintains that the assault could have, and should have been
prevented. For now^she feels positive about the outcome and has not yet
''consulted her attorney about a possible appeal.
n. » •>.
Local races set
BE CAREFUL OUT THKKE .... Saturday is Halloween. These Organization, there were lots of games and even a very hotly
youngsters got a head start on the festivities last Saturday at the contested costume contest. Here, the seventh graders strut their
Fall Festival at Llano Elementary. Sponsored by the P.I.E. stuff. s
Terroristic threats.
A *•
Local man faces charges
A Llano man was arrested recently on
charges of making terroristic threats toward a
black charter bus driver from Austin.
Les Newman, 22, is accused of making ra-
cial slurs and threatening Michael Wayne
Franklin. According to City of Llano Police
Chief Stan Oldham, the incident occurred in
the Circle K Parking lot at the intersection of
Hwys. 16 and 71.
The charge of terroristic threats is a Class B
Misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in
jail. Newman posted bond of $5,000 and is
awaiting trial in Llano County Court.
Franklin was driving a chartered bus for
Westlake High School students who were re-
turning to Austin from San Angelo. When the
bus stopped in Llano, Franklin alleged that
Newman began yelling racial slurs. He re-
ported that a reference to getting a rope and of
the Jasper incident was made, possibly refer-
ring to the black man who was dragged to his
death in the East Texas Town in August.
Oldham said that if Newman is found guilty,
and it can be proved that the comments were
solely racially motivated, the charge cun be
increased to a Class A Misdemeanor and a
longer jail term.
“We had two Westlake school teachers who
were witnesses in the ordeal,” said Oldham.
“At this point we’re just waiting for a trial date
to be set.”
Oldham said that an officer drove by the
scene and was flagged down by Franklin. At
the time, he sent Newman home. It was later
that the charges were filed.
“I’ve bent over backwards to be cooperative in
this matter,” said Oldham, who has made
several trips to Austin interviewing Franklin
and the witnesses. “I’ve tried to let these people
know that this is an isolated incident, very out
of the ordinary and% not characteristic of
Llano.”
Oldham also said that Franklin has been
through the area on several occasions and has
never before been harassed.
“We just want to act swiftly in this matter
and bring it to a conclusion,” Oldham com-
mented.
Board updated on building
The Llano Independent
School District Board of Edu-
cation was given a update on
building projects by Architect
Chuck Fields during a regu-
lar meeting last week.
The board met at the Llano
High School Gym where it
was given a tour of the newly
completed dressing room
facility. Also, the board was
given an assessment of the
damage to the gym floor that
was caused by a leak between
the addition and the old gym
wall.
At least one third of the gyq>
floor will haws to be replaced
and according to Fields, must
be complete by November 16
in time for basketball games.
Fields reported that the addi-
tion to the Elementary School
will be completed by the
spring semester of 1999 and
the Lakes Area Primary
School will be complete by the
fall of *99. He is expecting the
construction of the new high
school to take 14-16 months.
The board also discussed
possible ways to name the
lakes area school, which will
be constructed in Kingsland.
They suggested having a con-
test of sorts in the near future
and are soliciting ideas from
the public.
Fields explained that the
process of bidding the con-
struction phase has been set.
The school will be taking
competitive sealed bids. That
process will allow the district
to check for reliability and
quality of contractors and
subcontractors before award-
ing bids.
In other action the board:
• Approved the hiring of an
additional aide at the high
school for a special education
class for emotionally dijT*
turbed students. The aide will
only be hired if the need aris-
es in the near future.
• Approved the hiring of Kay
Center as a full-time math
teach at Llano Junior High
through the end of the semes-
ter.
WEATHER
OCTOBER 1998
High Low
Oct 20 65 58
Rain
.18
Oct 21 61 53
.03
Oct 22 73 55
.00
Oct 23 71 45
.00
Oct 24 76 40
.00
Oct 25 79 53
.00
Oct. 26 80 61
.00
Rain this week:
41
Rain this month:
457
Total for year:
25.09
Data collected by Luke Rogers,
Wolf Mountain Ranch, Llano,
Texas. ,
FORECAST
Courtesy of Bob Rose,
LCRA Meteorologist
Thursday:
Partly cloudy and warm. A
high in the middle 80's.
Friday-Soturday:
Increasing cloudiness with a
slight chance for showers and
thunderstorms.
10-Day Outlook:
Temps: Near Normal
Rain: Above Normal
Riverl
Llano River I
l!8CFSasof1
Deaths:
Loieta Bob Sims
Ruby Mae Ellis
P
5
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Stephenson, Jimmy. The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 29, 1998, newspaper, October 29, 1998; Llano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1118338/m1/1/: accessed July 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Llano County Public Library.