The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 139, No. 4, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 14, 1992 Page: 1 of 10
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BHS takes honors
in area science fair
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Texas’ Oldest Weekly Newspaper EQ C
Since March 1, 1853
Vol. 139, No. 4
Bastrop, Texas * Saturday,March 14,1992
BHS grad
still guides
candidates
Olsen pushing
for Tacos GOP
By Ellen Moore
Staff Writer
Bastrop High graduate and
home-grown Republican tbdd
Olsen, 29, has plenty to celebrate
this week after successfully
guiding Republican Judgi Craig
Enoch through the primaries to
his win over Charles Ben Howell
in the Texas Supreme Court race
for Place 1.
In the first place; it means tbdd
did a great job as campaign
manager for Chief Judge Enoch
of the 5th Court of Appeals in
Dallas. And number two, it means
Todd will have a job until
November when either Enoch of
Democratic candidate Oscar
Mauzy will be selected for Place
1 on the Texas Supreme Court
Bond issue debate
Thx group questions urgency
Todd Olsen
Bastrop school trustees joined
Superintendent Dr. Paul Fleming
to launch their campaign to
educate local taxpayers about the
upcoming $16.4 million bond elec-
tion Thursday.
Their first pitch was to a
Bastrop County Concerned Tax-
payers Association meeting.
The 7 p.m. meeting was held at
the Bastrop County Justice
Center. The bond issue portion of
the meeting opened with Dr.
Fleming explaining why the bond
issue is needed and how the
On the eve of the primaries last
Tuesday, Todd didn’t know what
he’d be doing next week.
When asked what he’d do if
Judge Enoch lost in his race
against Powell, Olsen promptly
replied, “I try not to think about
that I]m not thinking beyond this
point. I won’t have a job either
way (judges don’t create staff
jobs the way other candidates
do). Maybe after the election I’ll
buy a small farm and grow beans
for the rest of my life.”
When it was suggested that the
only job riskier than politics was
farming, Todd laughed and
agreed. “Instead of being at the
mercy of the voters, I’d he at..tha jmi nai
mercy of the weather,” he saidl^n^mg
money would be spent.
Speakers representing the tax-
payer group, former Bastrop
school trustee Jerry Neef and
former school board candidate
Roger Dillon, voiced their con-
cerns following Fleming’s presen-
tation. Questions from members
Massed throughout the
«•
See OLSEN, p. 2
“No one wants a bond issue. No
one wants to ask for more taxes,
but we are desperately over-
crowded and have students stuff-
ed in every crook and cranny,”
Fleming said.
He explained that the Bastrop
school district is large, covering
450 square miles with an enroll-
ment of 4300 plus.
For three consecutive years in
the mid-80s, the district had a
enrollment growth in double
digits. District enrollment grew
from 3049 in 1983 to 4307 this year,
Fleming said.
The school board has purchas-
ed portable buildings and
renovated hallways, offices and
the administration building to ac-
commodate new students, but
now there is no additional room,
according to the superintendent.
He then broke the bond issue
down campus-by-campus and ex-
plained the costs involved.
In the first proposition of the
bond issue, trustees are asking
for two new schools, an elemen-
Sewage dumped
Main under river shut down
Record rainfall and river flows
since December are still taking a
heavy toll on city facilities and
the environment, Bastrop of-
ficials learned this week.
The latest casualty is a six-inch
sewer force main under the Col-
orado River which evidently rup-
tured sometime March 4-5, pour-
ing 130,000 gallons of raw sewage
daily into the water, according to
Director of Water and
Wastewater Mike Fisher.
The line transports all
wastewater generated west of the
river to the city treatment plant
on the east bank.
At 6:15 p.m. Monday the city
council will meet to review tire
situation and consider funding
temporary repairs or other
emergency measures, said City
Manager JoAnn Wilcoxen.
Fisher suspects the force of
high flows and the repeated rise
and fall of the river since
December has undermined a con-
crete anchor block which holds
the line in place as it emerges on
the east side.
The same line was damaged,
leaking sewage into the river, by
high flew In January 1991.
After the break was confirmed
March 9, flow through the line
was halted.
Since Tuesday the city has
hired vacuum tanker trucks to
haul wastewater from the west
bank pump station to the treat-
ment plant.
Fisher said hauling costs
through Friday had reached
$4,500.
The hauling will continue at
least through Monday when
Fisher hopes the river will be low
enough to allow an inspection in
an effort to locate and assess the
damage more accurately.
An attempt to spot the break
Friday was foiled by high water,
said Fisher.
By Monday, however, he ex-
pects the river to recede to six to
seven feet after the Lower Col-
orado River Authority shuts flood
gates on the Highland Lakes over
See BREAK, p. 2
Trustees order classrooms
for Elgin High with windfall
Elgin High School students will
have a little more classroom
breathing room next year thanks
to approximately $384,000 in extra
state funding.
School trustees agreed to spend
some $392,000 to build an eight-
classroom wing, two new
restrooms and renovate the high
school restrooms when they met
Friday morning.
Construction on the new wing
could begin as soon as May 1.
In addition Pfluger and
Associates, the architectural firm
hired earlier this year by
(trustees, will evaluate building
three to see if it pan feasibly
house additional classrooms.
The building is currently used
for die drama department and
storage; according to Superinten-
dent Dr. Paul Willis.
He explained to trustees that
the state appropriated $50 million
for emergency school funds and
he expected EISDto receive very
little if any.
Hie ranking was based 55 per-
cent of the wealth of the district,
15 percent on growth and 30 per-
cent on local tax effort.
Recently Dn Willis learned that
Elgin ranked 65 out of 1,000-plus
school districts, he said.
Hie school district was set to
take bids for portable buddings
estimated to cost $177,000.
However because of the funding
news, Willis suggested the
emergency meeting before
Spring Break to check trustee in-
See ELGIN HIGH, p. 2
Advertiser Phota/Jantce Butler
Smithville Art League member Faye Holub has dolloped with oil paining for a number of years.
Above she displays her still-life painting of oranges and daisies that she began Monday, but in-
sists it is not near completion.
Smithville artists in league
Art league home refurbished for programs
,By Janice Butler
Staff Writer
Since acquiring the old Mary
Nichols home at 401 Burleson
earlier this year, the Smithville
Art League is off and running
with oil painting and calligraphy
classes each week.
Since the art league formed
last June, membership has grown
to almost 45 people, each in-
terested in some form of art
whether painting, sculpture or
quilting, according to Faye Holub.
vice-president of programs.
The group was organized with
five goals in mind:
•lb increase civic-minded
fellowship among practicing ar-
tists in Smithville.
•lb promote public interest
and appreciation, for the
achievements of local artists.
•lb aim for the highest stan-
dards of. art by sponsoring exhibi-
tions and participation in com-
petitive shows. ,
•7b provide a gallery for the
exhibition and sale of members’
art work and other exhibits ap-
proved by the board of directors.
•lb establish a studio for
working groups and to influence
and encourage artistic talent in
area youth.
Mrs. Hollub said Doris Jones,
who has enjoyed oil painting for
a number of years, is the master^
mind and president of the
organization.
“Mrs. Jones and her husband
retired from Houston to
See ART LEAGUE, p. 2
tary school (grades K-4) and an
intermediate school (grades 5-6).
They propose to take away all
portable buildings from Emile
and Mina Elementary, and most
from the middle school and the
high school.
Additions and renovations at
the four schools in the (jQstrict
now are estimated at close to $8.5
million.
A $1.1 million 500-seat
auditorium is the only item in
Proposition 2.
“Since 1985 the district has con-
sistently raised taxes to just
below tiie roll-back rate. Is this
expected to continue?” asked
Dillon.
Fleming said school trustees
could have gone seven cents
higher last August and chose not
to.
He added that by getting rid of
50-year-old buildings and por-
See BISD, p. 2
Middaugh
release set
March 15
A former City of Elgin
employee convicted of involun-
tary manslaughter in the
December 1990 drunk driving
death of an Elgin woman is set to
walk out of Bastrop County Jail
under stern probation conditions
March 15.
Last month 21st District Judge
John Placke agreed to place Alan
D. Middaugh of Smithville on
shock probation after six months
behind bars. In July Middaugh
pleaded guilty in connection with
a fatal head-on collision with Don-
na Gail Jones on Texas 95 in
Bastrop and was sent to state
prison to begin serving a 19-year
sentence.
With Middaugh back in court
Tuesday in Bastrop, Placke set a
series of restrictions and condi-
tions of probation for the re-
mainder of his sentence,
including:
• A one-year suspension of his
drivers license.
• Two years of intensive super-
vision by local probation officials.
•Daily Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings for the first 90 days of
probation and a minimum of four
AA meetings each week for the
remainder of the term.
•400 hours of unpaid com-
munity service work.
•A $1,000 fine.
The most unusual condition re-
quires Middaugh to install at his
own expense a Guardian In-
terlock system in his auto.
The requirement, probably a
first in Bastrop County, means
the vehicle will not start until the
driver blows an alcohol-free
breath sample into the device,
said Assistant District Attorney
John Hawkins.
The prosecutor said he urged
the Guardian Interlock system in
anticipation that defense attorney
Neal Pfeiffer will seek a court
See MIDDAUGH, p. 1“
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 139, No. 4, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 14, 1992, newspaper, March 14, 1992; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth756164/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.