The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 65, Ed. 1 Monday, October 15, 1984 Page: 1 of 10
ten pages : ill. ; page 24 x 15 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.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:
Ex- superintendent
sues for $2*5 million
Cent-< xnc.
^allas Tx
75235
See story on Page 10
By Richard Goldsmith
Jack Bell, former superintendent
of the Bastrop School District who
resigned under pressure from
school trustees last April 3, filed
a $2.5 million laW^suit against
school board membersMn Federal
District Court last weeli alleging
violation of his civil rights.
Rumors that Bell planrjed such
a suit have circulated freely in
Bastrop for several months.
The suit also partially confirms
rumors that Bell was asked to
resign because of alleged miscon-
duct with female school district
personnel.
The suit filed by Bell’s attorney
says that on the day he was asked
to resign he was told “that charges
of sexual harassment had been
brought against him by a female
employee in the district.”
The suit alleges violation of
Bell's Constitutional rights by
school board members for not
allowing him to confront witnesses
against him or to have an attorney
present during the meeting at which
he resigned.
At the time of Bell’s sudden
resignation, school board members
refused to comment on the reasons
behind his departure. Bell left
Bastrop the same day he resigned.
He was Superintendent for
almost four years. The board had
given him a new three year con-
tract five weeks before he resigned.
Trustees who were contacted
Saturday said they still could not
comment on the reasons for Bells’
departure.
Bell, who now lives in Leander,
Texas, said Saturday “I’m letting
my attorney do all the speaking for
us on this. I would have no com-
ment at this time.”
Bell is now a teacher with the
Leander Independent School
District.
Papers were served on some of
the trustees Tuesday morning and
Board member Ray Long said the
law suit was discussed in executive
session by the board Tuesday night
during their regular monthly
meeting.
Hubert Linenberger, school
board president, said he wasn’t
overly concerned about the suit
because “I’m getting used to them
(lawsuits over firings) now.”
Long said he would “love to
discuss it, but I’m just going to
have to leave it alone. The law will
take its course.”
Asked if the suit might bring out
Continued on Page 10
tUlje Pastrmj JVMierttser
LARGEST
CIRCULATION
BASTROP
COUNTY
(Ummtg
25®
Bastrop, Texas
Monday, October 15, 1984
Clerk recognizes armed bandit
in Bartsch Kwik Stop robbery
Police expect to catch the man
who held up Bartsch’s Kwik Stop
Grocery at the corner of Perkins
Street and Highway 71 Thursday
night because the clerk who was
robbed recognized the bandit.
The store owner and police
refused to be more specific about
how much was taken than “several
hundred dollars.”
According to Bastrop Police Sgt.
Oscar Dungan, the suspect walk-
ed into the store about 9:30 and
asked to buy 10 gallons of gas. The
Tompkins convicted
in choking death
clerk noticed there was no car at
the pumps but the suspect told the
clerk that “the girl was fixing to
bring it around.”
The man then asked if he could
get change for a 50 dollar bill and
when the clerk opened the cash
register, the suspect reached over
and grabbed the money from the
about 160 to 170 pounds, with a
short haircut and cleanshaven. He
was wearing a white pullover shirt
and blue trousers.
tray.
Th
Owl killer sought
By Paula Gibson
An Advertiser reader spotted a
dead great horned owl hung from
a fence outside Kovar, in the
Western portion of Bastrop Coun-
ty last week, and brought the mat-
ter to the attention of the staff.
The killing of the bird is in viola-
tion of Texas law, and is punisha-
ble by a fine of no less than $10,
and no more than $200. According
to Captain Harold Oates, an officer
with the law enforcement division
of the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department in Austin,“It is a mis-
demeanor to kill any owl or hawk
in this state, and a separate fine will
be levied for each bird killed,” he
explained emphatically.
Why someone would kill one of
these creatures is a mystery.
“There has been lots of misinfor-
mation passed down through each
generation that owls are destructive
to farm fowl, particularly chick-
ens,” Oates pointed out. “In real-
ity, the bird is extremely beneficial
to farmers and ranchers because
they are one of the best natural con-
trols over mice and other rodents
that feed on grain products stored
in barns or silos.”
Any person witnessing a killing
of one of these nocturnal birds is
urged to contact the nearest game
warden, or call the Texas Parks
and Wildlife’s toll free number,
1-8QP-792-1112.
Jack Harrison Tompkins was
convicted Wednesday of voluntary
manslaughter in the killing of
Charles O. Esquivel who was
choked to death at the American
Fireworks Stand on Highway 71
December 30, 1983.
A jury of seven men and five
women deliberated for four and a
half hours before they brought in
the verdict.
Tompkins remains out on
$25,000 bond pending sentencing.
He waived sentencing by the jury
and asked to assessed his punish-
ment by presiding 21st District
Judge John L. Placke. Placke said
he will sentence Tompkins in 30
days after a presentencing in-
vestigation is complete.
The case had an unusual exhibit
entered into evidence. Tompkins
took a tape recorder with him the
night he killed Esquivel and
recorded the hour an a half of
events that led up to the death.
Both prosecution and defense
agreed there was no doubt that
Tompkins killed Esquivel.
But Defense Attorney David
Bonham argued that Tompkins
Continued on Page 10
he clerk was then ordered to lie
on the floor.
Dungan said the clerk recogniz-
ed the suspect and told him “I
know you. I went to school with
you.”
The man then showed the clerk
a gun he was holding in his hand
and again ordered her to lie on the
floor, which she did.
The suspect fled on foot. He is
described as a black male in his
■ early 20s, about 5-feet-10-inches
tall, of slender build weighing
After the suspect left, the clerk
called across the street to Bartsch
Drive Inn to tell them she had been
robbed and then she tried to follow
the suspect on foot. The clerk told
Dungan the suspect ran south on
Perkins and then west at the first
turn where she gave up the chase.
Dungan said he arrived at the
scene minutes after the robbery,
but the suspect was not found.
Sheriffs deputies and Highway
troopers looked for the man for
several hours.
Dungan said he expects an arrest
in the case soon because the clerk
was able to recognize the man.
“We're going to get the guy,"
he said.
Transfer station vowed to halt
illegal dumping on Pershing Rd.
Absentee vote starts Wednesday
Absentee voting for the Nov. 6
general election begins Wednes-
day, Oct. 17, at the County Court-
house in Bastrop and will continue
through Friday, Nov. 2. The
County Clerk’s office will be open
for absentee balloting from 8a.m.
to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. Mon-
day through Friday.
Election of judges and alternates
were getting official notices of
duties in the mail this past
weekend.
Voters will be balloting on presi-
dent and vice president of the Unit-
ed States; as well as members of
Congress; members of the Texas
Legislature and other state, district,
county and precinct offices and
eight proposed amendments to the
Texas Constitution.
Bastrop County Judge Clyde
Clardy issued the official list of
polling places, noting that there are
no changes in the places, but there
are some new election judges and
alternates named to fill vacancies.
County polling places include: 1.
Jr. High School. Hill and Farm
Streets, Bastrop; 2. Fire Station,
111 N. Ave. C, Elgin, 3. City
Hall,•Smithville; 4. Rosanky Com-
munity Center, Rosanky; 5. Cedar
Creek School House, Cedar Creek;
6. TP&L Civic Room, 25 N.
Mam, Elgin; 7. Pin Oak Church
Hall, Pin Oak; 8. Faith Lutheran
Church. McDade; 9. Watterson
Community Center Watterson.
Also: 10. Red Rock School, Red
Rock; 11. Old Paige Schoolhouse;
Paige; 12. Old Gymnasium, Smith-
ville; 13. Sr. High School, Cedar
and Hill Streets, Bastrop; 14.
County; Courthouse, Pine Street.
Bastrop; 15. Union Hall Baptist
Church, Utley; 16. Sacred Heart
Catholic Church, Elgin; 17. Kovar
Community Center, Kovar; 18.
Calvary Baptist Church, Bastrop;
19. Bluebonnet Acres Fire Depart-
ment, Bluebonnet Acres.
Absentee voting for the entire
county is done at the Bastrop
County Courthouse, County Clerk
office.
Smithville house story
‘not true’, says Wagner
By Joseph Shields
"A complete and total fabrica-
tion, without any basis in truth,"
is what Bastrop businessman Dr.
Gerald Wagner labeled a story that
he was negotiating for a house in
Smithville in hopes of turning it in-
to a bed and breakfast inn.
Talking with a Bastrop Adver-
tiser and County News represen-
tative before the luncheon Saturday
during the Historic Preservation
Seminar, Wagner said he was “not
going outside of Bastrop” to ex-
pand his hobby of collecting and
restoring historic buildings. ~
The Smithville weekly paper had
reported Wagner was negotiating
for a home on the Colorado River
to be turned into a bed and
breakfast inn.
” Without referring to the publish-
ed story, Wagner said it was the
product of a fertile imagination and
had no basis in truth or fact.
Wagner, who retired to Bastrop
from a computer business in
Austin, currently has several pre-
Civil War buildings he has moved
onto his Wilson Street property in
Bastrop for restoration and display.
By Richard Goldsmith
Trying to make good on a cam-
paign promise to Precinct 1 voters,
Commissioner Tom “T.J.”
Adams plans to have a transfer sta-
tion for trash in place by the first
of the year.
Adams said he is trying to
negotiate the purchase of three to
five acres off of Pershing Drive
already used illegally by residents
as a dump. The property is owned
by Larry Craddock Jr., who is
special counsel to Gov. Mark
White.
Adams said the site, which is
near his Pershing Drive grocery
store, is a health hazard sheltering
several colonies of rats and other
vermin.
If Craddock refuses to negotiate,
Adams said he might have to resort
to condemning the property.
“He (Craddock) doesn’t seem to
want to talk to us. but I’m not go-
ing to let this go on much longer,”
he said.
Last month, Adams told the
Advertiser he planned to have a site
ready to receive garbage from
residents by the end of November.
Friday he revised that estimate
somewhat and said he hopes to
have the dump ready by January
“before my elected term official-
ly begins.”
Adams’ elected term begins in
January, but he was appointed to
complete the term of Commis-
sioner Bryson French, Sr. who was
convicted of theft and had to resign
as part of his probation
requirements.
Adams also considered another
site owned by Joe T. Hodges off
of Phelan Road. But he said the
transfer station will need a three-
phase electrical hookup to run a
giant trash compactor and the cost
of wiring Phelan Road would be a
prohibitive $15,000.
Three-phase power is already
available at the Pershing Drive site.
Adams estimates it will cost
under $10,000 to set up the station
on Pershing, including the three
phase electrical hookup, fencing,
concrete pads for the dumpsters
and $6,000 for the land.
Adams plans to contract with
Browning Ferris Industries to haul
off garbage from the site to a land-
fill the company operates in Travis
County near Manor. BFI will
charge the county a monthly fee of
$550.
Residents will be charged a fee
to dump at the transfer station. The
fee will vary according to the type
and amount of debris. Those fees
have not yet been determined, but
Adams has said they range from 50
cents to $5.
Adams plans for three 42-cubic-
yard dumpsters and a compactor
for the site to be manned by a coun-
ty employee.
A permit from the state Depart-
ment of Health may be necessary
according to the volume of refuse
handled at the dumping station.
STATE DEMOCRATIC Party
chief Bob Slagle was in Bastrop
Saturday for a shirt-sleeve ses-
sion with local party workers and
4
Linda Potter, chairman of the
Bastrop County Democratic
^ P^ bv Joseph Shields
i*- „.t:.
? 4 ;
. &m
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.
Goldsmith, Richard. The Bastrop Advertiser and County News (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 65, Ed. 1 Monday, October 15, 1984, newspaper, October 15, 1984; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth746743/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.