The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 92, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 10, 2009 Page: 1 of 12
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2009
50$
%k JSastrop Stduertiser
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977
Volume 155, Number 92
Bastrop, Texas
14 pages n two sections
Aide arrested for child porn
ormer gin teacher's aide charged, computers seized
By Jacqueline Davis
Staff Writer
A McDade man and for-
mer Elgin Middle School
teacher's aide was arrested
and charged with possession
of child pornography, a third
degree felony, after investi-
gators searched his home on
New Year's Day.
Jimmy Don Shanahan,
47, had child pornography
images at his home, the
Bastrop County Sheriff's
Office reported.
Investigators with the
Special Crimes Unit received
a tip that Shanahan had the
illegal materials. County
Court at Law Judge Benton
Eskew issued the search war-
rant for Shanahan's home.
Investigators seized print-
ed materials depicting child
pornography along with a
number of computers, USB
flash drives, VHS tapes and
computer DVDs.
Investigator Becky
Janysek said Shanahan had
no known criminal his-
tory of child pornography
charges. The investigation
will continue with forensic
examinations of the comput-
ers, USB flash drives and
viewing of volumes of VHS
and DVDs.
Shanahan was employed
for two years with Elgin JSD
as a teacher's aide, working
with a limited number of
special education children at
Elgin Middle School, said
Superintendent Bill Graves.
Shanahan was placed on
Jimmy Shanahan
leave Jan. 5 and his employ-
ment terminated on Jan. 9,
Graves said.
Child Protective Services
(CPS) is currently conduct-
ing an investigation, said
CPS spokesperson Chris
Van Deusen. The CPS
investigation began the day
of Shanahan's arrest, Van
Deusen said.
While Van Deusen said
he could not comment on
the specifics of the investi-
gation, he said in general,
such investigations involve
"talking to students, staff
and parents, trying to piece
together what might have
happened."
"These investigations
typically take a few weeks,"
Van Deusen said. "We notify
a number of people once
we conclude the investiga-
tion. We notify the principal,
the school board, the Texas
Education Agency (TEA)
and the State Board for
Educator Certification. It's
up to those folks to decide
what action they will take."
Graves said a letter about
See AIDE, Page 5A
ew sheriff lists top priorities for job
By Jacqueline Davis
Staff Writer
Newly elected Sheriff
Terry Pickering has seen
some long days during his
first week in office.
In his first two days he
came into work at 6 a.m. and
didn't leave until 8 p.m., he
said, getting his office orga-
nized and holding meetings
with supervisors, staff and
patrol deputies. But even
now that the real work has
begun, it appears he prefers
it to the campaign trail.
"The hardest thing for me
as someone in law enforce-
ment was going out and rais-
ing money," Pickering said
of his campaign. "I had a
difficult time going up to
people and saying, 'Hey
give me your money.'...The
campaign was hard work,
but I really enjoyed it."
But the responsibility is
now to deliver on the com-
mitments he made to the peo-
ple of Bastrop County—and
to establish his leadership
among a team who will be
asked to adjust to employee
changes, such as his replace-
ment of longstanding chief
deputy Ronnie Duncan with
A
HELP PUT A CUFF ON CRIME
The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Terry Hagerty
Newly elected Sheriff Terry Pickering has been keeping busy during his first week in office.
Charlie Littleton.
Pickering said early in
his campaign that his main
priorities as sheriff would
be tackling drug and traffic
problems.
He has described a three-
pronged approach in address-
ing drugs in Bastrop County:
Implementing higher quality
investigations on drug use
reports and increasing use
of confidential informants;
becoming more aggressive
with traffic enforcement to
increase the likelihood of
catching people with drug
warrants; and, failing that,
resorting to a "knock-and-
talk" system of approaching
suspected drug dealers and
questioning them directly.
This week, Pickering
added that one of his priori-
ties was to establish "com-
munity-oriented policing,"
where he will ask deputies
to get out into the neighbor-
hoods during their patrols,
stopping to chat with peo-
ple mowing their yards for
example, to create a greater
sense of visibility and cama-
raderie with the community.
He also wants to keep
officers working the same
patrols.
"In the past, they've
moved officers around, but
I think it's important to get
them in one area, have them
stick with it and become
really familiar with it,"
Pickering said.
Along with being com-
munity-oriented, Pickering
said he wants to institute
"problem-oriented polic-
ing," in which the sheriff's
office identifies individual
problems, attacks them and
takes care of them one by
one.
"Then we can have mile-
stones," Pickering said.
"You can celebrate those
See SHERIFF, Page 5A
gin ho ds weekend retreat on po ice dept.
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
After a series of com-
plaints against the Elgin
Police Department, city
council members will gather
today during a retreat to dis-
cuss interactions among the
police department, citizens
and city officials.
The workshop, which
is open to the public and
starts at 9 a.m., will be at
the Arbuckle Ranch at 736
INSIDE
WEATHER
School Board Appreciation Month kicks off 2A
County Sonic Drive-In robbed for second time
3A
Rosanky car museum is hidden treasure 8A
■ Saturday's forecast: 0bits 2A
Mostly Clouds / Wind Community 5A
High: 54°
Low: 32° Living 8A
1 1 °°/o Classified ads 1B
■ Last week: )
High Low Prec. Sports
Sunday 61° 32° 0%
Monday 67° 36° 0%
TUGSday 64° 34° 0% austin^ommunity newspapers
Wednesday 56° 34° Zo This newspaper
Thursday 53° 31° 10% is recyclable
7 65668 78602 3
Upper Elgin River Road.
On Friday, Mayor Marc
Holm said council mem-
bers would discuss "police
issues," among several sub-
jects.
The weekend meeting
comes on the heels of sev-
eral other meetings in which
community members have
expressed dissatisfaction
with the operations of the
police department, includ-
ing the handling of citizen
complaints.
At meetings on Dec.
16 and Dec. 19, some citi-
zens claimed they had been
physically manhandled by
police and others said writ-
ten complaints submitted to
the department were either
lost or not sufficiently acted
upon.
Elgin officer Steve Ou
was terminated from his job
Dec. 18 after he was vid-
eotaped — from a sheriff's
deputy car camera on Dec.
12 — breaking out a side
window of a driver who was
pulled over after fleeing
during a traffic stop. Police
later arrested the man, who
appears in the video to be
complying with a deputy's
instructions to exit the car.
Elgin officials have not pub-
licly cited the incident in
connection to Ou's losing
his job.
In today's Advertiser (see
page 4), a woman claims
another Elgin officer, and
later his supervisors, did not
properly address her com-
plaint after her daughter was
assaulted.
The Saturday retreat
Holm said the idea for
the retreat was "to feel a
little more comfortable"
and have a meeting away
from city facilities. He said
police department personnel
are not officially part of the
meeting, but might attend on
their own.
Holm acknowledged that
citizens who showed up
for a Jan. 6 council meet-
ing were perhaps frustrated
when the council did not
discuss recent citizen com-
plaints concerning the police
department.
Holm did most of the
talking under an agenda
item titled, "Discussion and
possible action regarding
Police, Council and Citizen
Relations."
After the meeting several
See COUNCIL, Page 5A
Disadvantaged students not keeping up
By Cyndi Wright
Editor
Economically disadvantaged
school children in Bastrop County
are not keeping up with their non-
disadvantaged peers when it comes
to TAKS passing rates, according to a
study released last month.
The Center for Public Policy
Priorities'1
a non-partisan group
that studies policies and practices
that impact low-income Texans, has
released "The State of Texas Children:
Texas KIDS COUNT Annual Data
Book 2008-09," a resource that said
it provides a look at the well-being
of children in Texas and for every
county in the state.
The report cites 80 percent of
Texas' economically disadvantaged
students passing the TAKS Reading,
and 68 percent passing the TAKS
Math tests, compared to 93 percent
and 84 percent of their non-disadvan-
taged peers, respectively.
Bastrop school children who are
considered economically disadvan-
taged have passing rates of 76 percent
for reading and 60.9 percent for math,
compared to their non-disadvantaged
peers' passing rates of 90 percent and
77.9 percent, respectively.
"We acknowledge that much
research supports the data in this
report," said Betty Richardson, BISD
assistant superintendent for curricu-
lum and instruction. "We continue to
work diligently with students, parents
and the community to reverse this
trend in our community."
This year's data book includes
a special essay on "Closing the
Educational Gaps," revealing that
community and statewide factors play
a pivotal role in a child's academic
achievement.
"In every grade, fewer economi-
See STUDENT, Page 5A
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 92, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 10, 2009, newspaper, January 10, 2009; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252546/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.