The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 87, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 25, 2008 Page: 1 of 15
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2008
50$
%k JSastrop Stdoertiser
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977
Volume 155, Number 88
Bastrop, Texas
20 pages in two sections
Jammed up downtown
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
You know the sinking feeling.
You turn onto the Loop 150
bridge that crosses the Colorado
River into downtown, and the
cars are already stacked up on the
bridge.
Depending on your patience
level, it's either too much or some-
thing you have to deal with for
short periods during workdays.
Or during a big downtown gath-
ering such as the recent car show.
Or during monthly artisan gath-
erings on Main and Pine streets.
Or ... .
City Manager Mike Talbot
recently responded to several
Advertiser questions about what,
if anything, can be done for the
traffic jam that usually comes to a
head at the intersection of Chestnut
Street (also referred to as Loop
150 through downtown) and Main
Street.
Advertiser questions/
Talbot's responses
1. Have you heard comments
about the traffic logjams at Chestnut
and Main from the public, recently
or in the past, or whether at council
meetings or from visitors to city
hall?
Talbot: "Periodically, over the
last two and a half years since I
have been here, citizens have defi-
nitely expressed concerns about
the amount of traffic on Chestnut/
Main Street area.
2. Do you think it's a traffic
problem or not — every town has
it choke points when it comes to
traffic, right?
Talbot: "I believe over the
past few years there has been an
increase of traffic in the Chestnut/
Main street area. Rather than being
able to get through the downtown
in a couple minutes at certain times
during the course of the day, it
(sometimes) takes longer. But
there are many factors that con-
tribute to the amount of traffic.
"As an example, I normally try
See JAMMED, Page 6A
rums
on tap
African parade
winds down
Ma ri Street
on Saturday
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
The drums are calling you
to Main Street this Saturday
at 1 p.m.
And even if you don't
show up, you'll likely feel the
beat — literally — if you live
anywhere near downtown.
Bastrop's New Years
Cultural Arts Festival, cele-
brating the dawning of 2009,
gets a boost with the Africa
Comes to Bastrop Parade, led
by renowned West African
drummer Moussa Diabate.
Later that night, Bastrop's
own Hannibal Lokumbe will
conduct the World Premier
Jazz and Inspirational Concert
at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Lost
Pines Resort. The Lost Pines
Community Choir will also
perform.
The parade
The true fun of the parade
is that the population is invited
to "jump in and dance" as the
parade winds it way through
downtown and around the
courthouse square.
"The parade features the
world class Master West
African drummer Moussa
Diabate and his 14-mem-
ber African drum and dance
ensemble and a stilt walker,"
said Lokumbe, who coordi-
nates the event.
"At the end of the parade
See DRUMS, Page 4A
anta visits lodjfe
The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Terry Hagerty
Santa made an early Christmas stop at Bastrop's Mina Lodge #1456 last
weekend to greet youngsters, such as Anthony DiBenedetto, who had a
ready smile.
Hicks last
day at court
By Mark Gwin
Special to the Advertiser
It was a fond farewell for
outgoing Pet 1 Commissioner
Peter Hicks on Monday
morning.
"He's spent a year on
this court, and during that
time he's done an exception-
al job," said County Judge
Ronnie McDonald, as he
thanked Hicks for his service
during the commissioner's
regular meeting.
Hicks was appointed
in January 2008 to fill the
position after David Goertz
resigned as commissioner
in the wake of corruption
charges.
He quickly got down to
business, and during his year
paved 19 roads in Precinct 1.
For his part, however, Hicks
demurred any credit.
"It's not a single person
seat up there," said Hicks.
"It's the other elected offi-
cials, the road and bridge
crews, the support staff.
Everybody contributes to
making things happen."
Hicks hopes to go back to
working in the Emergency
Management Department of
the county, and said he will
continue teaching classes for
the Texas A&M system on
disaster incident manage-
ment.
As for lessons learned dur-
ing his tenure? After years
of making presentations to
commissioners, he found
himself on the receiving end
of them only to discover "It's
a whole lot different to be on
the other side of the bench,"
Hicks said with a smile.
New fees in JP court
to add mediation
services
Commissioners also heard
from Stephen Jarrard, an
assistant district attorney for
Bastrop County and a board
member of Bastrop County
Dispute Resolution Services.
The board, which cur-
rently provides mediation
services to those in district
court and county court at law
as an alternative to trial, has
recently expanded its servic-
es to include the Justice of
the Peace Courts.
However, because the
group is funded by $10 fees
collected whenever a case is
filed in the district court at
law or the county court at
law, it was suggested that a
filing fee be included in JP
cases to help fund mediation
in those courts. Jarrard pre-
sented a petition, signed by
all four of Bastrop County's
JPs, that called for a $5 filing
fee to be added to all cases
filed in JP court.
"This group uses no coun-
ty tax dollars, and when we
settle a case, that means it
doesn't go to trial," Jarrard
told commissioners. "By
keeping cases out of the
courtroom, it saves county
taxpayers money."
The mediation services
are offered on a sliding cost
scale to make them more
affordable to interested par-
ticipants. Commissioners
unanimously agreed to the
new fee in JP courts.
See HICKS , Page 6A
INSIDE
"Call Mom" 7A
Falke: Player of the Year 1B
Students make African masks 8B
WEATHER
■ Thursday's forecast
Partly Cloudy
High: 67°
Low: 56°
Rain: 10%
■ Last week:
High Low Prec.
Friday 78° 58° 30%
Saturday 78° 36° 10%
Sunday 63° 36
Monday 63° 37
Tuesday 65° 39
INDEX
Looking Ahead 2A
Community 3A
Obits 8A
Sports 1B
Classified ads 5B
V\fednesday 66° 44°
10%
0%
0%
60%
65668 786D2 3
ii
AUSTIN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
This newspaper
is recyclable
mall school and bi,,r dreams
By Jacqueline Davis
Staff Writer
Bastrop has a sizable
contingent of parents who
want something different for
their teenagers than what the
public school system has to
offer.
Many of those parents
homeschool their teens; oth-
ers cart them day after day
to accredited private schools
in Austin.
However, a two-year-old,
non-accredited school called
Cornerstone High School,
and the separate Cornerstone
Academy, aim to remedy
the long drives with a local
alternative in Bastrop. Both
programs use one building
at 125 Lower Red Rock Rd.
"The only difference
between our school and any
other private school (aca-
demically) is the accredita-
The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Jacqueline Davis
Cornerstone math instructor Mark Gardner's Algebra I
class focuses on the day's lesson last Wednesday.
tion," said Billy Helm, who
runs the school's athletic
program and teaches a few
classes. "I've already seen
what the school can do and
the quality of education that
was given to my own daugh-
ter."
Her SAT scores were good
enough to get her into Texas
A&M University, accredita-
tion or not, Helm said.
"I see this as such a great
opportunity to raise kids up
in our own community and
join up with parents and
partners who really share
the same vision," Helm said,
who added the school's pri-
ority is making sure teens
have a local way to get a
quality Christian education.
The school is bent on
making sure the students
are college-ready, focusing
heavily on math and English,
assigning a large amount of
writing homework and urg-
ing high schoolers to take
dual credit courses through
Austin Community College,
Helm said. The students are
tested often, with a focus
on the SAT, rather than the
TAKS (Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills.)
When you add Tribe
Consolidated, an affiliated
athletic program, to the acad-
emy and the high school, you
have a unified trio under the
umbrella name of Academy
Funding of Bastrop.
Randy Ray, founder of
See SCHOOL, Page 6A
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 87, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 25, 2008, newspaper, December 25, 2008; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252541/m1/1/: accessed June 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.