AUGUST 8, 2018 CLOTHES CLOSET
CENTERED
Hays CISD to open clothes closet accessible to all students.
Rebels senior center ready to give it his all in 2018
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Hays Free Press © Barton Publications, Inc.
75¢
Vol. 123 • No. 19
HaysFreePress.com
Serving Buda, Kyle and Northeast Hays County, TX
Hays County constables request $93K salary BY CARLIE PORTERFIELD
the five Hays County constables would get a raise Meeting the price point of $26,062, bringing each of neighboring entities person’s salary to $93,824. is leading Hays County For all five constables constables to request a to receive the raise, Hays roughly $26,000 pay raise. County would expend John Ellen, Hays Coun- an additional $100,310 ty Pct. 5 Constable, said all annually, starting in the constables in Hays County fiscal year 2019 budget, currently earn $67,762 a which the county is in the year. Under their proprocess of balancing. posed increase, each of “It’s a sizeable jump,”
Under the current proposal, constables currently earning $67,762 could get a raise brining each constable’s salary to $93,824.
Ellen said. “But it’s really playing catch up, is what it is.” Constables in Hays County earn significantly less than those
in neighboring counties. In FY 2018, Travis County constables made $103,447, while Bexar County constables made $93,767. Williamson
County constables had a $80,772 salary. This year, all five constables agreed to get together and ask for a raise. During salary negotiations, the county looks at eight specific Texas counties to compare salaries to and aim to be in the middle in terms of wages, Ellen said. But when it comes to
BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
BY CARLIE PORTERFIELD
PHOTO CARLIE PORTERFIELD
Visitors were invited by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to write comments and concerns on sticky notes and put them on maps of the proposed alignment during an Aug. 2 open house on the RM 150 realignment.
Residents share input at TxDot RM 150 open house BY CARLIE PORTERFIELD
A proposed Ranch-toMarket 150 alignment has driven neighbors apart over the best way to handle growth and development from Kyle to Dripping Springs. On Thursday evening at Wallace Middle school, the cafeteria was full of residents poring over maps of a potential revised RM
RM 150 was never intended to serve the population it is now, according to TxDOT. It has not been expanded since it was built in 1956. Since then, the growth in Hays County has exploded, and outpaces most of the state.
150, which currently exists as a two-lane roadway that stretches from Kyle to Dripping Springs, serving
much of the cross-county traffic by connecting RM 12 to I-35. The event, hosted by the Texas Depart-
ment of Transportation (TxDOT), drew more than 200 people. RM 150 was never intended to serve the population as it is now, according to TxDOT. It has not been expanded since it was changed in 1956 from a smaller FM to an RM road. Since then, the growth in Hays County
RM 150 OPEN HOUSE, 5
Homeless man caught breaking into occupied home in Leisurewoods BY MOSES LEOS III
A homeless man faces a burglary of a habitation charge after he tried to break into a Buda home July 28, while the homeowner was present. Chad Jason Brown, 42, of Dilley, was booked into the Hays County Jail July 29 on the charge, which is a second-degree felony. While the incident
“All that went through my mind (at the time) was to protect myself.” –Heather Watkins, Leisurewoods homeowner
was frightening for Buda resident and paraplegic Heather Watkins, she was ultimately relieved she didn’t have to use her .38
AFFORDABLE Kyle sits in sweet spot of home affordability.
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INDEX
HOME RULE CHARTER, 14
CONSTABLES SALARIES, 2
Family fights ICE for custody
Possible Kyle charter change causes unease Tempers flared Tuesday as Kyle residents and city leaders sparred over a slew of proposed charter amendments slated to go on the November ballot. While the Kyle City Council ultimately approved taking the amendments to voters by a 6-1 vote – Place 6 Council Member Daphne Tenorio voted against the measure – many believed the proposed changes might not have been properly vetted. Charter amendments proposed for the November election run the gamut, with potential changes including tweaking the process for city council to give themselves raises and whether or not a city manager can live outside city limits. But the lack of a charter amendment committee, which is made up of citizens, rubbed Kyle residents the wrong way, voters and coun-
what constables make, Hays County ranks second to last, just above Comal County, where constables make $54,817 a year. Ellen said the increase would help level out the pay that constables in comparable counties receive. “It’s something that hopefully we would have
caliber handgun for protection. “All that went through my mind (at the time) was to protect myself,”
News………………… 1-5 Opinion……………… 3 Sports…………………… 6 Education……………… 7 Community………… 8-9
Watkins said. According to a Hays County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit, deputies were dispatched to the 600 block of Pine Siskin Drive regarding a criminal trespass call. Watkins made the call after she heard someone walking around on her back porch around 11:30 p.m. July 28. At the
BUDA BREAK-IN, 5
Business…………… 10 Church Directory…… 11 Classifieds ……… ... 12 Service Directory…..... 13 Public Notices…… 12, 14
A Buda family’s fight to get an undocumented relative out of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody continues, even as they believe her mental health is quickly deteriorating. Janelie Rodriguez, 25, is currently being held at the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall. According to family members, Rodriguez suffers from a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are impaired and she loses contact with reality. According to Rodriguez’s family, she is not receiving the medical attention and medication she needs, based on her condition during visitation. “I asked to be put in my own area away from other people because of my psychosis,” Rodriguez told her family when they visited her in Pearsall. “Right now they have me in a holding area with 16 other people.” The lack of medical treatment at the facility is starting to take a toll on Rodriguez’s body and she is often toying with the thought if the fight is worth the trouble. Without her medication, she suffers from frequent hallucinations, which was evident during her family’s visitation. Mano Amiga, an immigration activist group in San Marcos, is working with an immigration attorney and Rodriguez’s family to get her the help she needs. Everyone detained by ICE will eventually receive a court date after at least a month’s time, said Karen Munoz, co-founder of Mano Amiga. But Rodriguez needs help now and the organization is look-
ICE DETENTION, 9