The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 2, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 5, 1994 Page: 1 of 46
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See Page 7
Bears race
to the wire
letters
editor
See Page 9
Jiastrop JVfrirertu ;
Vol. 141, No. 2
Texas* Oldest Weekly Newspaper
Since March l, 18S3
500
Bastrop, Texas
Saturday, March 5,1994
Candidates spend as election clock ticks down
By Davis McAuley
Editor
As the clock ticked down this
week before party primary elec-
tions for public offices in Bas-
trop County, candidates contin-
ued their search for votes and
early voters streamed into
polling places.
Low cost
housing
needs acute
By Janice Butler
Staff Writer
The lack of affordable hous-
ing is becoming a perpetual
problem for Bastrop County
residents, and at present there
daas not seem to be much relief
Hi right
City of Bastrop Housing
Authority Director Brandi
Maeker said that there are at
least 225 people in need of af-
fordable homes in Bastrop
alone.
"Some of these people have
been waiting one or two years
for a place to live. Some are
willing to pay up to $400 per
month for a place to live, but I
just don't have anything avail-
able," she said.
"We definitely have a need
for affordable low income
housing, but even the private
sector is hurting for housing in
Bastrop," Mrs. Maeker added
She said about 75 percent of
Bastrop Housing Authority's
applicants are living with rela-
tives. Hie situation is no better
in Elgin where some residents
have been on a public housing
waiting list since 1987.
Elgin City Manager Jack
Harzke admitted that there is a
housing shortage and said the
situation may get worse before
it gets better.
He said one company ap-
proached the city council sev-
eral years ago about building a
low income housing complex
for elderly citizens in Elgin.
8m HOUSING, Page 2
Selvera seeks
Elgin position
Incumbent Elgin councilman
Danny Selvera filed for a third
term representing Ward 2 this
week.
Selvera joined the city coun-
cil in August 1991 after Ed
Rivers resigned He, along with
Jimmy Lopez, represents Ward
2 residents in Elgin.
In other Elgin city council
races, Mertis Thomas has filed
for a place on file May 7 ballot
to represent Ward 1. Incumbents
JuHe Hanke and Bobby Walker
have filed to represent wards 3
and 4, respectively.
Wallace Lundgren and Eric
Gariaon are vying for the
nayor's seat Mayor Jan
3dvNder is not seeking reelec-
tion.
Tuesday is election day with
polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
By later afternoon Friday, the
last day for early voting, County
Clerk Shirley Wilhelm had
recorded more than 700 ballots
for Democratic Party hopefuls
plus more than 50 voters in Re-
publican Party races.
No GOP candidates are
seeking county offices this year.
Local candidate^ continued to
pour out campaign money all
through February, according to
reports filed with Mrs. Wilhelm.
And the top spenders con-
tinue to be contenders for the
criminal district attorney's job
where Bastrop lawyer Lamar
Wiginton hopes to unseat 10-
year veteran prosecutor Charles
Penick of Smithville.
Each reported spending more
than $8,000 in February, mostly
financed out of their own pock-
ets.
Penick reported borrowing a
total of $10,000 from Lost Pines
National Bank in Smithville to
cover February spending of
$8,189. The chief spending cat-
egories include postage, print
advertising, printing, photogra-
phy and sign painting.
Penick said his bank loans
are backed by certificates of de-
posit.
Wiginton reported pumping
$8,000 of his own money into
his campaign for district attor-
ney. At the same time he re-
ported spending $5,971 in
February for tee shirts, pho-
tography, telephone lists, mail-
ing labels, print advertising and
services.
In the race to succeed Randy
Fritz and Bastrop County Judge,
See CANDIDATES, Page 2
SPRUCE UP
Dealer sentenced
Jury imposes 40 years in prison
After deliberating just over
two hours Wednesday, a Bas-
trop jury sentenced an Elgin
drug dealer to 40 years in
prison.
Anthony Penson, 35, pleaded
guilty to delivery of cocaine as
the trial got underway Tuesday
and asked the jury to assess
punishment
Defense . attorney Patrick
Gann caned on the jury to place
Penson on probation. He had no
previous felony conviction and
held the same job for 13 years
after graduating from Elgin
High School.
Gann called on the jury to
place Penson on probation un-
der the control of a district
judge for up to 10 years instead
of sending him to prison, "a
graduate school of crime."
District Attorney Charles
Penick called the evidence
Sidewalk modifications at Bastrop's Calvary Episcopal Church, top photo, and yard work
aft the Pfeiffer House bed and breakfast were among the Improvements going on in antici-
pation of the city's first promotional showcase for tour operators who could bring more
visitors to boost the local economy. See story on Page 3.
against Penson "the strongest
criminal case I've ever been as-
sociated with. This is not a case
for probation."
In closing arguments
Wednesday, Penick urged jurors
to "tell drug dealers you will not
tolerate this (activity), the cit-
izens of Bastrop County are out-
raged."
.. Evidence in the case included
\i)deo tapes of three transactions
in which Penson delivered $40
worth of crack cocaine to a
hired operative of the Central
Texas Narcotics Task Force.
Other trial evidence included
testimony from police indicating
that Penson held more than 50
rocks of crack at the time of his
arrest Jan. 14 in Elgin.
Gann said scarce state prison
beds would be better occupied
by violent criminals.
Smithville woman says
she's not trial witness
Linda Martin of Smithville is
worried because a California
woman with the same name
testified against an Elgin drug
dealer this week in state district
court in Bastrop. } >
Smithville's-Mrs. Martin said
Thursday she was the object of
a number of angry or threaten-
ing telephone calls after a story
on the trial of Anthony Penson
appeared this week in the Bas-
trop Advertiser.
The story named Linda Mar-
tin, a California native and con-
tract employee for the Capital
Area Narcotics Task Force, as a
key witness against Penson. The
witness told jurors she is not a
police officer but was paid $700
a week plus living expenses by
the task force to buy drugs in
Elgin and record the transac-
tions on video tape with a cam-
era concealed in a car borrowed
from Austin police.
A jury in the case against
Penson handed down a 40-year
prison term for delivery of co-
caine. The maximum penalty
was 99 years or life in prison.
"I'm worried," said
Smlthville's Mrs. Martin. "Last
night was scary. I don't want a
bomb or something put in my
car."
The trial witness said she has
previously undertaken jobs
much like the Elgin operation in
California and in Austin.
See MARTIN, Page 2
Rise in juvenile crimes worries investigators
Juvenile crimes have steadily
increased in Bastrop County
over the past two years, and the
crimes are not only becoming
more violent but many involve
weapons, according to Bastrop
County Sheriffs Department
Juvenile Investigator Chris
Walker.
"Well always have kid stuff,
but kid stuff doesn't include
burglaries, assaults and
weapons. Already this year
we've had three incidents that
involved weapons being at or
near a school. That's three more
than we had last year," he said.
Juvenile offenders are getting
younger and younger with most
of them being between 14 and
16 years old but some are as
young as 12, the investigator
added.
The schools are looking into
ways they can help remedy
some of these situations, but the
ultimate responsibility rests with
the parents. It seems that more
and more it is being put upon
the courts and the schools,
Walker said.
"I understand that in most
homes both parents work, but I
don't think that justifies the lack
of discipline kids get. it's not
always easy, but we have to
teach our children what is right
and wrong, to control their ac-
tions and take responsibility for
them.
"In the home, most children
are rewarded for what they are
supposed to do instead of being
disciplined for doing what they
are not supposed to do," he
added.
People tend to think the juve-
niles involved in crime are from
low socio-economic families,
but that is not always the case.
As a matter of fact, the most re-
cent burglaries in Bastrop
County have involved juveniles
from good socio-economic
families who didnt lack for
anything, and most of them
stole things that had little value,
said Walker.
"I have six kids who were re-
sponsible for 17 cases ready to
go to juvenile court," he said,
pointing to a stack of files on his
desk.
"These are kids that come
from what most people consider
to be good families. They don't
need anything and yet they are
willing to go to jail for stealing
a flashlight I just dont under-
stand," Walker said.
"I'm not sure why these kids
felt that they needed to steal. I
think for most of them they
know that they can and not
much will happen to them. In
the juvenile jukice system, there
is not really a deterrent against
crime.
"The system has the same re-
volving door that the adult sys-
tem has. If a juvenile knows
how to work the system, he or
she can be out in three months,"
8ee JUVENILES, Page 2
;
• i
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 141, No. 2, Ed. 1 Saturday, March 5, 1994, newspaper, March 5, 1994; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth409796/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.