The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. [124], No. 69, Ed. 1 Monday, January 30, 1978 Page: 1 of 10
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.Julias, Texns
liastrop (Comity's Leading \euspaper - Since March /, 1853
Since March 1, 1853
Bastrop (Texas) Advertiser, Monday, january .10, 1978
Number 69.
Plane crash near Paige
claims Bergstrom pilot
BY LELAND PANNELL
A Bergstrom Air Force
pilot was killed Thursday
morning when his small twin
engine aircraft crashed into
a field three miles East of
Paige.
C.R. Waters, a resident of
Lincoln Lake Estates, said
he and his wife heard a plane
about 10:00 that morning.
Waters said "The way I can
remember is my dog hates
planes." Waters continued,
"He whined and barked
when he heard the plane and
I remarked to my wife that it
was only a plane.
Moments later, on his way
down the gravel road leading
to S.H. 21 Waters found the
wreckage of the plane about
300 yards from 21 resting in
the edge of a field nosed into
briars and small trees
bordering the fenceline.
Waters said he spotted the
plane right away and went
_
- s i- «..>. *
***&£*-£' ^ - %•!$
Downed
aircraft
Thursday morning a Bergstrom AFB pilot was killed when he crash
landed his military plane in a field near Paige. Arrow indicates furrow
where the plane made initial contact with the ground.
■ Staff Photo by Leland Panneli
In Elgin Hospital crisis
State Rep John Wilson pledges
Hospital district for Elgin
BY SHARON
SCHOMAKER
Before a group of over 50
Elgin citizens, State Repre-
sentative John Wilson
pledged to carry a bill
creating a hospital authority
through the state legisla-
ture. Discussion centered
around the steps required to
present the bill before the
State House by January 9,
1979.
Wilson said that two
provisions were required on
any bill before he would
carry it through the legisla-
ture. One is to hold a public
election which would provide
the amount of bonds issued
and validated by the voters.
A second provision is to
"self-destruct" his pledge in
five years, should nothing
have started on the issue.
In order to pass a bill
through state legislation,
Wilson said it would first
have to be written by
lawyers within the legisla-
ture. Wilson would then
introduce the bill to the
Speaker of the House, who
appoints the bill to a local
government committee. A
■ public hearing on the bill is
called thereafter, and a five
day notice given before the
hearing.
Once the bill gets out of
committee, it is set for
hearing on the House
schedule. Debate on the
proposal takes place at this
time and should the bill be
passed through the House,
"We are only half way
there," Wilson said.
A commitment from Sen-
tor William Patman is
needed before the bill can be
presented to the Texas
Senate. After Senate debate,
should the bill pass, it goes
before the Governor for his
signature.
The procedure for carry-
ing hospital authorities
through the legislature is
nothing new to Wilson, who
successfully shepherded bills
for both Nixon and Gonzales,
"lam at your will and would
be most happy to carry it for
you," Wilson told Elgin
citizens. He also told the
group that now would be the
time to consider building
costs, because of the
increasing price of construe,
tion.
Recommendations of the
remodeling and building
committee were adopted by
the Hospital Steering Com-
mittee in a eighteen to none
vote at the Tuesday night
meeting. Dr. Keely, spokes-
man for the committee, said
a tour and inspection had
been made of Fleeming
Hospital, in which it was
decided that to update
medical facilities and attract
good physicians, it would be
necessary to construct a new
hospital. This recommenda-
tion will now be sent to the
hospital board.
Shirley wins
sales award
Southland Insurance Age nt Joe Shirley pictured
holding the 'Hell ( im " jwrnrrf he won I or being
the leading agent Shirley, a Hdtirup resident. Mid
thai most his business ti from this are*
Stall Photo by ( Iy ! • I<rillui ,
Joe Shirley, Southland
Life Insurance Company
Agent of Bastrop, received
the annual leading agent
award for the Greater
Austin Area Agency based
on production in 1977. In
addition, Joe placed thir-
teenth, Company wide.
Southland is licensed in 45
States and the District of
Columbia. The Company has
approximately 4,000 Agents
and Brokers.
Joe and his wife. Iris, were
guests of honor at the
Greater Austin Area Agency
Awards Banquet at the
Ileadiiner's Club in Austin.
Saturday evening, January
21.
Some of Joe's production
accomplishments of fifteen
years are as follow*
National: member of the big
table. life Quality Award •
eight years, Sale* Achieve
mini Award ei|<ht years,
Health Insurance Quality
Award five year* Other
Club - Life Member (ten year
qualification required),
See "Award"
Page 3
up to it to see if there was
anyone in it. After finding
the pilot Waters went to
Highway 21 and flagged
down a car telling the driver
to, "Call the Bastrop Police."
Waters then continued
toward Paige on S.H. 21 and
located Highway Patrolman
Tommy Mosely at the
intersection of 21 and S.H.
71.
When Mosley arrived on
the scene he called the
Bastrop Sheriffs office and
told the dispatcher to notify
Bergstrom Air Force Base of
the crash.
The pilot was identified
Thursday afternoon as Cap
tain Paul W. Swalberg of
Delta, Utah.
Captain Robert Russell,
Base information officer, told
the press at the site that
Swalberg had left Bergstrom
about 9:06 a.m. that morning
and that they believe the
crash probably occurred
about 10:00 a.m.
Russell went on to explain
that Swalberg was on a
training mission that was
probably an exercise naviga-
tion.
Shortly after the crash
was reported to the Air
Force an RF4 jet made
several passes over the site
at low altitude photograph
ing the country side as the
investigators first gathering
data which officials hope will
reveal the cause of the crash-.
The first military person
nel to reach the site arrived
by helicopter about 12:30
p.m. and a convoy including
a portable radio station and a
fire truck arrived shortly
after.
The area was roped off
upon the arrival of the
military and officals im-
mediatly began tagging
pieces of the plane within
the roped off area.
Air Force information
officer Russell refused to
comment on possibly why
the aircraft went down but
did explain that a board of
In connection with 1200 lb. bust
Gilberto Garza pleads
guilty in landmark case
BY 1,EI.AN1) PANNELL
In what may be a
considered a landmark case
in Texas law Gilberto Garza
pled guilty before a ten man,
two woman jury Thursday in
21st District Court to
engaging in organized crimi
nal activity.
The conviction from an
October 17 bust in which
1200 pounds of marijuana
were bought by an under
cover agent of the Attorney
General's organized crime
division.
Five were arrested on the
evening of the 17th and
Gilberto Garza was the only
one of the five to elect a trial
by jury.
Tim James, head of the
Attorney General's organiz
ed crime division explained
C. R. Waters watches as
the Air Force investi-
gation begins.
Staff Photo—
accidents investigation
would be appointed and their
findings would be complete
in from four to twelve
weeks.
When questioned about
the availability of the data
gathered by the board
concerning why the aircraft
went down Russell explained
that the findings of the board
is privileged information and
in all probability the cause of
the crash will never be
released to the public.
Swalberg was the father
of four leaving his wife,
Jeraldine and daughters,
Kris, Mary, Catherine and
Helen.
Swalberg joined the Air
Force after graduation from
Brigham Young University.
See "Plane crash'
Page 2
Jake Pickle to speak
Smithville Chamber
banquet set
i«
lo
Mtxolx
Smithville's annual Cham-
ber of Commerce banquet
has been set for Friday,
February 3. The speaker
will be the Honorable J.J.
"Jake" Pickle, United States
Congressman from the
Tenth District. Also at that
time Smithville's Outstand
injf Citizen for 14 77 will be
named. Special guests will
be all of the personnel from
the recently opened Univef'
ity of T«iu* Environmental
a-nie Park, Huescher
I )l WlfclOft
IV fiaoowal Will Im held
at llit ftMDfllyiil* High
School Cafetorium at 7:30
with a social hour preceding
from 6:00 to 7:00 o'clock at
St. Paul's Parish Hall.
Tickets to the event,
which is open to the public,
are available at the Chamber
of Commerce office in
Smithville at $4.00 each
Because of limited seating
facilities it is requested that
tickets be purchased in
advance or that reservations
See "Banquet"
Pane 3
Friday that the case is the
first to be tried under a new
organized crime statute.
The trial began Tuesday
afternoon and continued
through Thursday.
Garza surprised the
prosecution by pleading
guilty after the jury was
empaneled.
Although the trial could
have ended then District
Attorney Neil Pfeiffer felt
the jury needed to hear the
evidence to be able to assess
an appropriate sentence.
After deliberating about
two hours the t welve person
jury returned a verdict of
guilty and assessed punish
ment at twelve years in the
Texas Department of Cor
rections and a $10,000 fine.
Upon hearing the verdict
District Attorney Neil Pfeif
ferrequested that bail be set
on Garza in the amount of
$100,000. Granted, Garza is
int the Bastrop County Jail
presently awaiting formal
sentencing and transfer to
Huntsville.
The other four arrested in
the case have pled guilt y and
waived a trial by jury and
are currently awaiting form
al sentencing.
District Attorney Pfeiffer
explained to the ADVER
TISER Friday the new
organized crime statute
enables the state to hand
down stiffer sentences in
See
"Landmark case"
Page 2
Inside...
Community Calendar
Piney Philosopher
Byling ••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Hospital News
Area Deaths -
Echoes of the Past
Court Records
Classified Ads
Page 2
Page 2
Page 2
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 4
Page 9
Tahitian Village to
build public airport
BY SHARON
SCHOMAKER
Bastrop residents have
heard rumors of an airport
for some time and now it
appears those rumors are
about to become reality.
The 4,000 fool long
airstrip, to be a public
airport, will be privately
owned by Tahitian Village.
The airport and residen-
tial subdivision will be
located South Highway 71 on
Pecan Street in an area
known to long time residents
as "Ford Field."
"This will definitely be a
boost to the Bastrop area, as
we expect heavy use to come
out of Austin," Bill Hicks,
project director of Tahitian
Village said.
The airport will be
privately owned by Tahitian
Village. George Gantt, an
airplane dealer in Smithville,
has proposed to build
hangers, operate and main
tain equipment with the
airport, in addition to selling
airplanes.
Land within the proposed
airport area is now being
bladed, for a runway capable
of landing any twin engine
plane. The airstrip should be
complete within three
months, Hicks said.
In addition to the airport,
and located within the same
area, Tahitian Village also
planned to develop a 40 to 50
unit housing subdivision.
"Platts were filed back in
1972," Hicks told the
ADVERTISER. "These are
the first homes in unit five
owned by Tahitian Village to
sell in the mid $30,000. price
range," Hicks added. "Hous-
ing is scheduled to undergo
construction within 60 days."
Tahitian Village, owned by
First National Alliance in
Houston has 7500 lots, of
which 60 to 70 per cent are
already sold out, Hicks said.
With the construction of a
See "Airport"
Page 2
Library
to be
closed
Bastrop Public Library at
1008 Water Street will be
closed for inventory until
T hursday.
This inconvenience is not
without validity; Bastrop
Public Library is seeking
state accreditation and the
inventory is only one
requirement.
5
I
I ormer Governor Preston Smith wa <aoghl by an ADVI N IISI M photographer
Ihursday afternoon M oling a ropy ill lakl Monday'* ADVI M MSI H Smith
%IO| |M'd by the Advertiser of lire I 4in| 4igrntig lor the goverriio \ feral
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Pannell, Leland R. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. [124], No. 69, Ed. 1 Monday, January 30, 1978, newspaper, January 30, 1978; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth335066/m1/1/: accessed June 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.