The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 60, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 22, 2007 Page: 1 of 15
fifteen pages : ill. ; page 24 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2007
500
"Che jBastrop 3docrtiscr
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977
Volume 154, Number 60
Bastrop, Texas
18 pages in two sections
FRIDAY NIGHT
FOOTBAI L
Hays 28
Bastrop 14
Travis 21
Elgin 17
Halletsville 21
Smithville 6
See page 8A for full
game report.
INSIDE
Bastrop freshmen fall
to Hays.
Page 8A
The mighty Bastrop
Yacht Club recalled.
Page 4A
Chimes in the wind.
Page 12A
WEATHER
O
■ Saturday's forecast:
Sunny
High: 94°
Low: 69°
Rain: 0%
■ Last week:
High Low Prec.
Wed. 93 72 none
Thursday 91 73 none
Friday 90 68 none
■ Provided by the KXAN School Weather Network.
INDEX
Classified ads 2B
Community 5A
Education 7 A
IssuesS Opinions...4A
Sports 8A
AUSTIN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
This newspaper
is recyclable
65668 78602 3
DNA test heats up cold case
By Davis McAuley
Editor
Bastrop police, aided by
computer and DNA advanc-
es, made an arrest Thursday
in a sexual assault case more
than three years old.
Kenneth Ray Henry jr.,
25, was jailed in Bastrop
Thursday evening and ordered
held on $200,000 bail. He is
charged in connection with
a sexual assault at the Oak
Grove Apartments at 1910
Wilson St. in April 2004. At
the time, Henry lived nearby
on Persimmon Street, accord-
ing to investigators.
According to public court
documents, investigators
obtained medical evidence
from the victim which includ-
ed the DNA profile of an
unknown suspect. The DNA
data was entered into state
and national databases, but
no immediate match turned
up. And there the case appar-
ently stalled until earlier this
month.
On Sept. 13 Texas Ranger
Rocky Wardlow told Bastrop
police that a routine search
of the Convicted Offender
DNA Index System, or
CODIS, had identified a
suspect, Henry, in the 2004
sexual assault.
A DNA sample from
Henry was collected prior
to his release from a Texas
prison after he served a term
for kidnapping, said Bastrop
Police Lt. Matt Wagner. The
sample was analyzed and
entered into CODIS, which
linked Henry to the 2004
case, Wagner said.
In signing an arrest war-
rant for Henry on Thursday,
21st District Judge Terry
Flenniken also authorized
investigators to collect addi-
tional DNA samples from
the suspect in an effort to
confirm the previous test
results, according to court
records.
_
Ml
The Bastrop Advertiser photos/Terry Hagerty
e got spirit,
how 'bout your
Bastrop High School students were showing their team spirit this
week — during freshman football games on Thursday night and at
a school pep rally Friday morning in preparation for Friday night's
football game against Hays Consolidated High School. Cheerleader
Nicole Jimenez was part of the cheering squad at a freshman game
Thursday evening at Erhard Field.
Shown left, Tracey Merino, left, and Bubba Johnson teamed up for
a two-legged race at the pep rally.
Bastrop reins in city tax rate
By Davis McAuley
Editor
a growing
police ser-
to mention
Over the past year the Bastrop
City Council has vowed to keep the
city's tax rate under 60 cents per
$100 value even as it pursues an
ambitious program of public works
and struggles to meet
demand for library and
Vices, for instance, not
fire protection.
And as officials went to work
this summer on a new budget for the
fiscal year which begins Oct. 1, the
council's stance clearly worried City
Manager Mike Talbot. He spoke on a
number of occasions about how dif-
ficult meeting that challenge would
be.
At one time during the budget
process, the council was looking at a
tax rate for the 2007-08 tax year of
more than 58 cents per $100 value.
See RATE, Page 2A
Bastrop school tax rate is $1,501
By Terry Hagerty
Staff Writer
The Bastrop school board
Tuesday approved a property tax
rate of $1,501 per $100 valuation
for 2007-2008 — 12 cents below
last year's rate of $1.62.
The maintenance/operation por-
tion of the tax rate is $1.04. The
debt service tax will be 46 cents.
Under the $1,501 rate, the owner
of the following valued homes
would pay the amount in paren-
theses — if they didn't receive
a Homestead exemption: $50,000
($750.50); $100,000 ($1,501);
$150,000 ($2,251.50); $200,000
($3,302); $250,000 ($3,752.50)-
$300,000 ($4,503).
However, with a homestead
exemption of, for example, $15,000,
the $15,000 is subtracted from the
appraised value of the taxpayer's
See BISD, Page 2A
Officer
indicted
for porn
By Davis McAuley
Staff Writer
A former Elgin police officer
was ordered held on $500,000 bail
after he was indicted Tuesday for
possession of child pornography at
the police department in May.
Orval Roger Miller Jr., 46, was
jailed in Bastrop Wednesday after
his arrest by investigators with the
Texas Attorney General's office.
In a written statement, the office
said Miller left a computer thumb
drive with child pornography imag-
es m a police department com-
puter, where they were discovered
by another officer. The thumb drive
also contained Miller's resume and
"other personal documents," the
statement said.
After the discovery was reported
to Elgin Police Chief Jack Hensley,
he contacted the attorney general's
cyber crimes unit which pursued
the case.
Before coming to Elgin, Miller
worked as a community college
police officer in Austin, the attorney
general's office said.
In an unrelated Smithville case,
the same state grand jury meet-
ing in Bastrop this week ordered
Robert Lee VanHouten to stand trial
on charges he caused more than
$20,000 in damage to the band hall
at Smithville High School in July.
VanHouten was also charged in
separate indictments with two resi-
dential burglaries around the same
time.
School officials said damage at
the high school included smashing
a big screen television, throwing
drumsticks into ceiling tiles and
sound boards, spraying fire extin-
guishers over a piano and ""through-
out the band hall," tipping over
desks and breaking various other
items on July 19. The damage is
valued at less than $100,000.
VanHouten was also named in
indictments handed up in connec-
tion with a July 15 home burglary
and a separate residential break-in
on July 31.
Accidents claim two lives
By Davis McAuley
Editor
Two people died
in separate traffic
accidents in Bastrop
County this week, one
on Texas 71 Thursday
afternoon, the other
near Elgin on Texas 95
late Wednesday.
The Thursday acci-
dent near the intersec-
tion of Texas 71 and
Texas 21 shortly before
5 p.m. snarled rush
hour traffic for hours.
The mishap occurred
when an eastbound
vehicle driven by Susan
Moore, 46, crossed the
highway median and
collided with a west-
bound auto which
rolled over with four
occupants, according to
a Department of Public
Safety report..
One of the occupants,
Ellen McGurk, 39, was
pronounced dead at
the scene. Others in
the auto were Patrick
McAteer, 55, Sharon
Sanders, 59, and Paul
McGurk, 39. McAteer
was listed in serious
condition Friday after-
noon. Paul McGurk
and Sanders were listed
in stable condition.
DPS reported that
all occupants in the two
vehicles were wearing
seat belts.
In the wreck on Texas
95 near Elgin about 11
p.m. Wednesday, Evan
Spencer, 51, died after
the auto in which he
was a passenger rolled
over, throwing him
from the vehicle, said a
DPS report. He was not
wearing a seat belt.
DPS blamed the
mishap on high speed
which led the driver to
lose control.
The Bastrop Advertiser photo Terry Hagerty
A stack of Dell computers is evidence that the main renovation
work at Bastrop High School is nearing completion. Students
will also be able to get coffee at an attached "bistro" to the
library while they enjoy a book.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 60, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 22, 2007, newspaper, September 22, 2007; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252410/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.