OCTOBER 2, 2019 KYLE KIN
WILD WIN
Descendants of Kyle family attend annual fundraiser
Rebels outlast Bowie in wild 35-34 win
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Hays Free Press © Barton Publications, Inc.
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Vol. 124 • No. 27
HaysFreePress.com
Serving Buda, Kyle and Northeast Hays County, TX
Lehman graduate found dead in vehicle BY ANITA MILLER
early on Wednesday. Sept. 25. Police said the vehicle A gofundme account has was in the parking lot of been established to help a “closed business” in the the family of Ben Verse pay 2200 block of Interstate for his funeral expenses. 35 in Kyle. He was proVerse, 19, of Kyle, was nounced dead by Hays found dead in a vehicle County Pct. 2 Justice of
the Peace Beth Smith. Police said little else about the case except that the vehicle Verse was in was discovered by an officer on routine patrol at approximately 12:35 a.m. and that the case is under
investigation as a homicide. Smith would not add any details. “There’s nothing that I can release unfortunately because of the ongoing investigation,” she said. “I cannot impede that.”
According to the gofundme page, Versa was a graduate of Lehman High School where he had been a student athlete. “Ben was one of those guys who could walk in the room and get every-
one to laugh and smile,” Will Engleman posted on Lehman High School Athletics. “Ben was taken from us too soon.” Funeral arrangements were unknown at press time.
Candidates tout infrastructure, police support BY URSULA ROGERS
PHOTO BY MOSES LEOS III
Runners Race for the Stars
Runners of all ages hit the pavement in Kyle Sept. 28 for the 3rd annual Fuentes Elementary Race for the Stars 5K race. The event was a fundraiser with proceeds going to help send fourth graders at the school go to Camp Champions in April. In addition, many of those who participated also ran in the Officer Solis Memorial Mile, held in memory of late Kyle Police Officer Fernando Solis as well as in honor of suicide prevention and awareness month. See more photos, page 7.
Kyle council questions finance on 911 dispatch co-location When the idea of a co-located, meaning shared, 911 facility was first voiced back in 2016, it seemed like the perfect solution to a hard-learned lesson. The floods of 2015 had, in fact, provided a trial run. When the Blanco River went on its deadly rampage in May of 2015, it forced the county’s tele-
“If the co-location agreement requires us to pay some kind of additional amount we have to weigh that against what kind of services we receive.” –Travis Mitchell, Kyle Mayor
Department – a location that was also low-lying but far from the worst of the flooding. Kharley Smith, then
communicators to move from the Law Enforcement Center on Uhland Road in San Marcos to the San Marcos Police
the county’s emergency management director, told the commissioners court as they were considering the 2016 bond election that the situation of sharing 911 resources worked so well that the county personnel did the same thing when the Blanco River rose again in October for 2015. Smith touted “stream-
911 CO-LOCATION, 14
COMING UP Buda Market in the Park
County to meet about ranch conservation
The Buda Chamber of Commerce invites residents and visitors to spend Saturday, Oct. 5 browsing Buda’s historical downtown greenbelt. “Market in the Park” will be 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Admission is free. Onhand will be artisans, antiques, musicians and more.
The Hays County Pct. 3 Office will host a public meeting Wednesday, Oct. 9, to discuss recent efforts to conserve portions of El Rancho Cima. The meeting will be held at the Wimberley Community Center, 14068 Ranch Road 12, at 6 p.m. El Rancho Cima, also known as the Boy Scout Ranch, is located 18 miles west of San Marcos on Ranch Road 32 along the Devil’s Backbone. The property includes Sentinel Peak, which at more than 1,200-feet-high is a landmark for anyone traveling the route. The 2,300-acre ranch was recently sold by the Sam Houston Area Boy Council of Boy Scouts, which was steward of the property for more than 60 years, and the new owner has subdivided the property.
BEING BUDA
Buda businesses finalists for commerce award.
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INDEX
BY ANITA MILLER
News……………… 2, 4, 5 Opinion Page………… 3 Sports…………………… 6 Education……………… 7
Investing in infrastructure, better support for the Police Department and promoting business growth were some of the top goals, as candidates for the Kyle City Council debated during a luncheon. The Kyle Chamber of Commerce held a forum luncheon Sept. 24 where candidates for city council spoke about their plans for the city. The four candidates include Dex Ellison (incumbent) and Yvonne Cale, running for District 1, and Robert Rizo (incumbent) and Amanda Stark running
Kyle City Council Candidates DISTRICT 1
Dex Ellison Yvonne Cale
DISTRICT 3
Robert Rizo Amanda Stark
for District 3. The League of Women Voters of Hays County moderated the forum that
KYLE CANDIDATES FORUM, 5
Committee to address dangerous dogs in Kyle BY ANITA MILLER On the heels of two dog attacks in as many months, the Kyle City Council voted last week to form a committee to revise and update the city’s ordinance regarding dangerous dogs. Mayor Pro Tem Dex Ellision and Council member Daphne Tenorio will both be a part of the committee, which also may include residents whose lives have been affected by dangerous dogs, it was decided in the Sept. 24 special called council meeting. One such resident is Shonte Gordon, whose poodle-terrier mix CJ was killed in July by three pit bulls who broke through a fence in her Kensington Trails neighborhood. Animal Control officers took a report but instead of taking the dogs to the shelter to be quarantined, they allowed the owners to keep the dogs at home. “I do not feel safe in my home. I do not feel safe in my community. I fear for the safety of children and the elderly in Kensington Trail,” Gordon said. Gordon said she and her family moved into their new home in
Community………… 8, 9 Business…………… 10 Service Directory…… 11 Classifieds………… 12, 13
“I do not feel safe in my home. I do not feel safe in my community. I fear for the safety of children and the elderly in Kensington Trail.” –Shonte Gordon, whose dog was killed by pit bulls in her fenced back yard
July and the dog attack happened just three days later. She said her 13-year-old son was in the back yard with CJ when the neighbor’s dogs came through the fence. “My son ran back into the house before the dogs could attack him,” she said. “Unfortunately he could not save CJ.” Since that happened, Gordon said, she learned from a police report that there have been complaints filed about those dogs dating back to 2014. The last two complaints to come in regarding those dogs, she said, were filed in March and April of this year — the first one
DANGEROUS DOGS, 13