APRIL 29, 2020 TESTING
FAMILY TIME
County announces free COVID-19 tests for uninsured, indigent.
Family of 12 finds the gift of family time during pandemic.
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News-Dispatch © Barton Publications, Inc.
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Vol. 126 • No. 4
HaysNewsDispatch.com
Serving Buda, Kyle and Northeast Hays County, TX
Governor allows retailers, Hays CISD restaurants to reopen May 1 Graduation BY ANITA MILLER
Gov. Gregg Abbott’s stay at home order “will be allowed” to expire on Thursday and, on Friday, restaurants and retail outlets have the green light to reopen with restrictions. Barber shops, hair and nail salons and
Barber shops, hair and nail salons and gyms will remain closed for the time being.
gyms will remain closed for the time being. Abbott unveiled his plans Monday to reopen the Texas economy in
phases, saying it’s time to get Texans back to work, but according to guidelines from “data and doctors.”
Abbott said he is proceeding despite “precautionary tales” of new outbreaks in China. “It’s hard to get rid of this virus because it is so contagious,” he said, adding that restrictions on reopening will be designed
RETAIL OPENS, 2
BY SAHAR CHMAIS
Retailers wary despite given go-ahead to open
Graduating seniors feel disheartened because they have been robbed of their ceremonies, events and even proper goodbyes from friends and teachers. But excruciating as it may feel for these students, their parents share a similar pain. “When you put your kids into the classroom as they walk into kindergarten, you are literally starting their career as a student,” Deira Robertson said with tears in her eyes during a Zoom interview. “You envision it all.” Makenzie Obray hugged her mother when she noticed the emotional distress Robertson was going through. Robertson wanted to hold back the tears, but this will be the only graduation ceremony she will witness for Obray, who is a spe-
BY SAHAR CHMAIS
Amy Krell, owner of Ellipsis Boutique at the Buda Mill & Grain, offers curbside pickup and delivery to her customers.
PHOTO BY DAVID WHITE
Based off of Gonzales’s experience with re-opening, business owners worry how they can fund their payroll and pay bills if they do not have a customer base. Open-
ing again means paying employee wages, advertisement, electricity and water bills and risking the spread of the coronavirus. With many people on
furlough, unemployed or working from home, non-essential retailers like clothing boutiques will have a much smaller
RETAILERS WARY, 12
County looks at COVID-19, November elections BY ANITA MILLER
Jennifer Anderson gave an overview during Tuesday’s The full extent might not meeting of the Comyet be known, but there’s missioners Court of the no argument that the county’s voting population COVID-19 pandemic will and measures being taken complicate the November to ensure the health and 2020 elections. safety of poll workers, emThe election in Novemployees and voters. ber will cover everything The snapshot showed from the office of the that as of April 22, the President to municipal county had 143,586 regand school board elections istered voters, including postponed from the spring. 26,345 over the age of 65. Elections Administrator Some of the 3,931 regis-
TXST RELIEF
Texas State University provides $30M in assistance to students.
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tered voters over the age of 65 filed an application to vote by mail. Another 61 applied to vote by mail because of a disability. In November 2016, the last Presidential election, 63.17 percent of the county’s registered voters cast ballots. Anderson said with a 60 percent participation rate, more than 86,150 residents will vote in Novem-
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS, 12
COVID-19 Count……… 2 Community………… 4-7 Obituaries……………… 7 Police Blotter…………… 8
On May 16 there will be a community event to honor all the graduates. At around 6 p.m., the students will drive through the neighborhoods in their decorated cars as residents step out of their homes to cheer. cial needs senior at Jack C. Hays High School. The prom dresses students bought will hang empty, fields where last
HCISD GRADUATION, 5
Kinder Morgan downplays Hays County road permissions BY ANITA MILLER
INDEX
Retail-to-go is the first phase in Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to re-open Texas and its economy. On pen and paper, this plan sounds simple, but implementation and fear surrounding the coronavirus pandemic give retailers pause. On April 24, non-essential retail businesses were given the green light to start selling their merchandise with certain restrictions. They can sell products if provided through delivery, mail or pick-up options. But businesses in Buda do not feel ready to take the leap. They have financial and health concerns that they cannot put to rest. “The biggest variable in this equation is do people feel safe to go out again?” said J.R. Gonzales, executive director of the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce. “You can have all the precautions and safety measures and mitigate a hundred ways, but if the consumer does not feel safe to go out, the consumer will not go to your business.”
Seniors will celebrate with drive-through
Kinder Morgan downplayed the impact of a decision by Hays County Commissioners to rescind permission to cross county roads. That decision was made in the wake of a construction accident March 28 that sent tens of thousands of gallons of drilling mud and drilling fluid into the Trinity Aquifer. More than a month later, work remains stalled at that site in Blanco County near Chimney Rock Road. Kinder Morgan spokesman Allen Fore told the Hays Free Press that the commissioners’ decision will have little impact because the project only crosses five Hays County roads and two crossings in eastern areas of the county have already been completed. He described the original agreement with the county to allow road crossings as
School News…………… 9 Service Directory…… 10 Public Notices……… 11 Classifieds…………… 11
It’s not clear what the effect of the disruption of the oil market that occurred in mid-April has had on the project, if in fact there is any impact. “very technical,” and part of an “original round of permits” secured “some time ago.” He also explained the difference between a “bore” under a roadway and horizontal drilling, which is what went awry under the Blanco River. Horizontal drilling, he said, is done on a “gradual slope” to a depth of 30, 40 or 50 feet, while road crossings are a simple bore
KINDER MORGAN, 12