The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 11, 2009 Page: 1 of 10
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SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2009
50$
Bastrop 2ldo eraser
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper Since March 1, 1853 Semi-Weekly Since Sept. 5, 1977
Volume 156, Number 12
Bastrop, Texas
12 pages n two sections
Fire destroys home
Preliminary evidence points to suspicious cause of fire
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
A lack of strong winds,
some recent rain and a com-
bined response from area
firefighters helped keep a
12-acre fire in Red Rock on
Wednesday from spreading
much further.
"As dry as it was a
couple of months ago, that
would have made matters a
lot worse yesterday," Five-
Points fire chief Kevin
Gielselhart said as he revis-
ited the scene Thursday
afternoon at 148 Stephanie
Lane.
Though a state fire mar-
shal was not due to inspect
the scene until Monday,
Gieselhart said the fire that
started in a mobile home
appears to have a suspicious
origin though he empha-
sized he was only speculat-
ing from several pieces of
preliminary evidence.
He said a woman driv-
ing by the wooded area
surrounding the mobile
home said she spotted sev-
eral people moving quickly
away from near the home
as it went up in flames.
Also, radio traffic
of firefighters being dis-
patched to the area includ-
ed a description that three
persons running away from
the scene were reportedly
picked up in a blue — pos-
sibly a Dodge — truck.
Gieselhart said he also
See FIRE, Page 3A
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The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Terry Hagerty
Five-Points Fire Chief Kevin Gieselhart puts out a hot spot Thursday at the site of a mobile home fire
that occurred in Red Rock Wednesday.
1 leading problems tack ed
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
(Editor's note: This is the last of
three articles looking at early child-
hood reading in the Bastrop school
district.)
An uneven start
Students come to kindergarten and
first grade at Bastrop schools with
uneven academic abilities, particularly
in the key area of developing reading
abilities.
Reading plays a crucial role in
whether students will eventually mas-
ter other subjects, educators agree.
Many Bastrop students have already
been nurtured at home when it comes
to reading, and they often have a sig-
nificant jumpstart on classmates who
haven't been read to at home.
This uneven start to basic academ-
ics is often a catch-up game that can
continue for years sometimes with
successful results through additional
mentoring at school. At the other end,
student frustration from falling behind
might lead to them dropping out of
school.
In 2006-07, 576 Bastrop ISD stu-
dents did not meet grade promotion
requirements due to their scores on the
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and
Skills (TAKS) test, according to Betty
Richardson, the district's curriculum
advisor.
For third-grade reading, the first
year that students are required to take
the TAKS test, 24 students didn't meet
promotion requirements due to TAKS
scores. Of those 24, 11 students were
retained in third grade, while 13 were
promoted to fourth grade.
For 2007-08, 649 Bastrop students
did not meet promotion required due
to their TAKS scores.
In the third grade, 31 students fell
into that categoiy 15 were retained
and 16 were promoted.
Administrators, including princi-
pals, said that decisions whether to
promote students are decided after
group consultations, including with
parents.
Attention starts early
Parents of BISD students are clued
in early on what reading expectations
will be for their children, said Renee
Wenske, BISD's reading specialist.
"Some of the schools have The
National Institute for Literacy pam-
phlets that have a checklist of what
See READING, Page 3A
INSIDE
Smithville's new superintendent picked 2A
Shelter's open house a success 6A
Lady Bears softball 3B
WEATHER
■ Saturday's forecast:
Isolated T-Storms
High: 79°
Low: 64°
Rain: 30%
■ Last week:
High Low Prec.
INDEX
Obits 2A
News 2 A
Living 6A
Classified ads 1B
Sports 3B
Sunday 81°
Monday 84°
Tuesday 87°
V\fednesday 85°
Thursday 80°
53°
53°
59°
62°
58°
70%
0%
0%
20%
20%
II I
AUSTIN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
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Two candidate
orums on tap
By Terry Hagerty
Assistant Editor
Two upcoming forums
will detail the platforms of
area candidates running in
the May 9 election.
The earlier forum, for
school board candidates
only, will be held Thursday,
April 23, at Bastrop
Intermediate School at
509 Old Austin Highway
(behind H-E-B).
The three teacher union
groups sponsoring the
forum, students and the
public will submit questions
at this forum.
Voters will get to hear
Bastrop City Council and
school board candidates
at a combined forum on
Monday, April 27 at the
Bastrop Opera House at 711
Spring St.
Council candidates are:
Place 1 -Bill Peterson and
Tommy Oates; Place 3-
Kay Garcia McAnally and
Camilo "Cam" Chavez III;
Place 5-Ken Kesselus and
Christy Kosser.
Incumbents Willie
Delarosa, Terry Sanders and
Dock Jackson have come to
the end of their term limits
and cannot run for addi-
tional terms.
School board candidates
are: Jim Clark and incum-
bent Jim Allen for Place 1;
incumbent Karen Halladay
See FORUM, Page 3A
Use of old
city hall a
hot topic
By Jacqueline Davis
Staff Writer
Can Bastrop afford to turn
its old city hall into a muse-
um and visitor's center? If
so, are there better uses for
the available funding? Is it
what the public wants?
These were the questions
central to
Tuesday
night's spe-
cial public
hearing on
the future
use of
the aging
build-
ing after
city staff
moves into
ayet-to-be-
built city
hall on Chestnut Street. The
museum concept brought out
many comments in support
of the project's educational
and cultural benefits -but it
also raised thorny questions
about the project's financial
constraints and whether or
"7 he Bastrop
bunty Historical
Society car't do
this alone..,
—Mary McMurrey,
BCHS president
not it was the best use of
Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT)
funds.
The night began with a
joint presentation by Bastrop
County Historical Society
leaders Mary McMurrey
and Frank Huffman, who
are proposing the city enter
into a 40-year lease for $10
a year with
the histori-
cal society
and that the
city provide
$500,000
from HOT
funds to help
renovate the
old city hall,
an expense
McMurrey
called "an
investment
in Bastrop."
"The Bastrop County
Historical Society can't do
this alone, but we're willing
to put ourselves on the line
to raise the money (on our
side) if the city will provide
See MUSEUM, Page 3A
Loca coup e
part o M 150
By Cyndi Wright
Editor
Next weekend, April
18-19, Bastrop will watch
as approximately 13,000
cyclists ride in the MS 150
from Houston to Austin to
raise research funds to fight
multiple sclerosis.
But not all of Bastrop will
be bystanders - a local group
has been among those from
Bastrop who actually partici-
pate in the ride.
Bastrop residentDonFlory
started the team Norma's
Flyers in 1989, named after
his wife, who was diagnosed
with MS in the 1970s.
Norma's Flyers is a team
that consists mostly of fam-
ily members, but over the
years has also seen friends
take part. Since the team's
inception, Norma has gladly
sheltered and fed the team's
members, and when Don quit
actually riding in the event in
2001, Don and Norma have
continued to provide support
for the team. Last year, the
team consisted of a daughter,
Taryn Scholz, her brother-
in-law, John Scholz, and a
granddaughter, Amy Scholz.
The couple's son David has
also been a constant rider.
"Our riders are so impor-
tant to me," Norma said.
"That family support is so
essential to the person with
MS."
Don has spent most of
his life as an athlete and
still rides his bicycle approx-
imately 20 miles a week.
He worked for NASA for
several years, then later as
an environmental chemist.
Now mostly retired, he said
the important work the MS
Foundation does cannot be
See MS 150, Page 3A
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Norma Flory is the inspiration behind the MS 150 team
Norma's Flyers. She and her good friend Liz Paradis,
pictured here left to right, help support the team by
putting them up for the night and cooking a good
breakfast on Sunday morning. Also pictured, riders
Randy Wilkin and Don Flory.
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 11, 2009, newspaper, April 11, 2009; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252572/m1/1/: accessed June 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.