The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 56, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 6, 2008 Page: 1 of 18
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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2008
500
The Bastrop adocrtiscr
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977
Volume 155, Number 56
Bastrop, Texas
20 pages in three sections
Bastrop's Daryl McFarlin
celebrates a TD.
See FOOTBALL, Page 8A
Fire claims Elgin business
By Jacqueline Davis
Staff Writer
A major structure fire
at a downtown Elgin dry
cleaning business gutted the
building and proved diffi-
cult for firefighters to attack
Wednesday, said Elgin Fire
Chief Larry Foehner.
The fire at Modern
Cleaners and Laundry at
20 Depot St. began around
12:47 p.m., but the Elgin Fire
Department did not leave the
scene until 7 p.m.
The power was turned off
from the building and sur-
rounding businesses were
evacuated as a precaution
due to the smoke. A total
of 44 firefighters, including
units from the Bastrop and
Bluebonnet volunteer fire
departments, helped at the
scene.
The fire was a challenge
because of the structure
itself, Foehner said. The
building was situated like
two buildings in one —a later
addition after the building's
original construction—with
a wall down the center. On
top of that, the roof had been
raised and an attic had been
added to the building. The
fire inside was burning from
the middle wall upwards into
the attic, he said.
"We had to fight the fire
from two different sides of
the middle wall and then
from each side of the build-
ing,"Foehner said. "Fire was
traveling from the roof of the
old building into the floor
of the second attic addition.
The fire was between the
two, which made it difficult
to fight."
Eventually the attic caved
in, with the business sign
flattening and eventually
collapsing. Firefighters had
to knock a side wall out to
attack the fire in the middle
wall, Foehner said.
Preliminary information
suggested the fire could have
been caused by the explo-
sion of a piece of equip-
ment inside the building, but
Foehner said the fire was
still under investigation and
that he had made no ruling
in the fire's cause.
The last major structure
fire in downtown Elgin was
a lumberyard that caught fire
in December 2005,. Foehner
said.
Amy Miller, director of
community development,
said the building was in
the historic district of the
city, which is listed in the
National Register of Flistoric
Places, but that the building
itself was probably only 40
to 50 years old.
The business is
owned by Sammy Webb.
jdavis@bastropadvertiser.com
is
The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Jacqueline Davis
A Bluebonnet volunteer firefighter hoses down Modern
Cleaners and Laundry at 20 Depot St. in Elgin, which
was engulfed in flames Wednesday afternoon.
a
K . t'J
r
i
Soldier glad
to be home
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
Photo courtesy of Michael Granado
Michael Granado, far right, takes a rest in a village in northern Afghanistan. Overseas, he served as a ser-
geant major in the U.S. Army; now stateside, he serves as director of student services for Bastrop ISD.
Michael Granado was probably more than ready to return
to a desk job for Bastrop ISD.
The director of student services for the district — and
former principal at Bluebonnet Elementary School —
served 15 months in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, from
February 2005 until May 2006.
A former drill sergeant with 28 years of reserve and
active duty, Granado rose to the rank of sergeant major and
helped train members of the newly formed Afghanistan
National Army.
He worked in Northern Afghanistan and was based in
Mesar i Sharif, an area also heavily occupied by enemy
Taliban forces.
Granado helped develop a training program in which
Afghanistani non-commissioned officers — referred to as
NCOs in the U.S. military — gained respect and acknowl-
edgement from senior Afghanistani officers by training and
leading fellow troops.
In American military forces, NCOs are composed of
See ARMY, Page 5A
Road work continues through director resignation
The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Terry Hagerty
Workers with Smith Construction con-
tinue work along Pecan Street.
By Cyndi Wright & Jacqueline Davis
Editor / Staff Writer
Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot said
relief is in sight for area residents putting up
with road construction near downtown and
on Eskew and Perkins Streets.
Contingent upon the weather, Talbot
hopes that the Pecan Street project will be
substantially completed by Nov. 1.
'They are rapidly trying to get the road
base down to prepare for paving," Talbot
said. "We still have the sidewalks and other
items to complete."
Talbot acknowledged that the area needs
rain, but said in order for the projects to
finish on time, the weather will have to
cooperate.
"A week of rain would be catastrophic,"
he said.
Over on Eskew and Perkins, Talbot said
that even though there is still a considerable
amount to be done, the crew is on time.
"We are looking at pretty much the same
time frame," he said, "but they are slightly
ahead of schedule."
Predicting a mid-October to early
November finish date for that project, Talbot
reiterated that weather could be a factor.
Additionally, that project includes an off-
site major sewer line that will begin at the
Sonic, run east down the service road and
run south to the lift station.
"It did not make sense to do all those
infrastructure improvements and not put in
that new sewer extension,"Talbot said.
On Aug. 29 the city received notice that
Public Works Director Lee Weatherford had
resigned his post.
Weatherford worked for the city for five
and a half years, overseeing street work,
drainage and various construction projects,
See ROAD, Page 5A
INSIDE
I VFWs Pina, Dudley honored in Orlando 3A
1 Young stallion amazes horse world 10A
I Restoring the Bastrop football tradition 1C
WEATHER
INDEX
■ Saturday's
Partly Cloudy
High: 97°
Low: 68°
Rain: 10%
■ Last week:
High
Sunday 97°
Monday 95°
Tuesday 95°
V\fednesday 95°
Thursday 94°
forecast:
Low Prec.
71° 10%
72°
72°
71°
71°
10%
20%
20%
20%
Letters to Editor
4A
Obits
7A
Sports
8A
Lifestyle
.10A
Classified ads,....
...1B
Sports Special....
,.1C
65668 78602 3
AUSTIN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
This newspaper
is recyclable
Cheerleading, a demanding task
By Benjamin Rizk
Special to The Advertiser
It's not all glamour and
fame under the Friday night
lights for Bastrop ISD cheer-
leaders.
Football game time —
and well before the season's
start — involves the com-
mitment by these student
athletes of many hours of
training, including precision
gymnastic moves.
Three schools field
cheerleaders: Bastrop High
School, Bastrop Middle
School and Cedar Creek
Middle School.
"We have practice at the
school for about six hours
every other day," said Alexa
Sanchez, a member of the
BHS freshman and JV cheer-
leading squads.
See CHEER, Page 5A
*****
: : =
The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Terry Hagerty
Cedar Creek Middle School cheerleaders Victoria Whited (from left) Tatum Carrillo
and Jena Azevedo show their jumping ability at the Aug. 23 Back to School bash
at Erhard Field. Cheerleading squads are at Bastrop High School, Bastrop Middle
School and Cedar Creek Middle School.
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 56, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 6, 2008, newspaper, September 6, 2008; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252510/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.