Migrant Story Part 1
Former publisher rebuilds
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County gets hispanic Chamber of Commerce page 6
News-Dispatch Volume XXXIX No. 40
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
75¢ Thursday, July 18, 2019
Dripping Springs halts work at controversial wedding venue BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
PHOTO BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
A participant at a July 12 vigil in San Marcos advocates for improved conditions and treatment of migrants along the border.
Vigil protesting conditions of immigration facilities held BY EXSAR ARGUELLO
Activists and community members July 12 banded together at the Hays County Courthouse to call for an end to inhumane conditions reported at several immigration detention facilities along the border. Those who joined in on the vigil also prayed, protested and condemned controversial efforts of the U.S. government toward migrants in
The vigil was held in light of purported Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids this past weekend. In Texas, these raids were expected to occur in major cities across the state.
what some local leaders are calling concentration camps. Hosted by local immigration activists and criminal justice reform group Mano Amiga, the
vigil was held in light of purported Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids this past weekend. In Texas, these raids were expected to occur in major
cities across the state. Tomas Diaz de Leon, an organizer with Mano Amiga, said Hays County residents should stay engaged and vigilant to bring awareness to the crisis at the immigration centers. Diaz de Leon said facilities like the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall and the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor are
IMMIGRANT VIGIL, 6
County DA to prosecute weed laws despite hemp bill passage BY KATIE BURRELL
Despite a new state law allowing for the production, transportation and sale of hemp in Texas, Hays County’s top lawyer still intends to prosecute any and all marijuana cases going forward. On July 11, Hays County District Attorney Wes
Currently, possession of marijuana is the leading arrest charge in Hays County and has been since 2013, according to documentation provided by the Hays County Judge’s office.
Mau said in a release his office will continue to accept marijuana possession and distribution cases from law enforcement. The DA’s office will “continue to deal with those cases as justice requires, as well as any additional charges under the new law.” In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 1325 which could allow for the possession, production and distribution of industrial hemp crops and products. According to the DA, hemp is Cannabis sativa L., a plant containing less than 0.3 percent of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. However, production of hemp will remain illegal in the state until the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) submits, and receives approval of, a “state hemp plan” to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to the TDA website. The TDA, which will have oversight of hemp production in the state, said they are awaiting USDA guidance
ing arrest charge in Hays County and has been since 2013, according to documentation provided by the Hays County Judge’s office. The data does not provide information on 2012. The county is also under scrutiny for the hefty before submission of a cost associated with the plan. USDA guidance is jail, the jail’s expansion expected to come in by and exporting inmates to fall 2019, according to outside prisons to allethe TDA website. viate overcrowding. PreTDA officials anticivious reports show Hays pate starting the hemp County spent upwards growing application of $100,000 annually to process by 2020. ease overcrowding in the But Mau’s move drew Hays County jail. criticism from county Hays County Judge Ruactivists who cited law ben Becerra and Chief of enforcement’s history Staff Alex Villalobos have with marijuana charges. said they are hoping to “Continued crimiincrease cite-and-release nalization for low-level practices in the county, marijuana possession especially for marijuana embodies Dumb on usage. Crime, especially when Kyle City Council it’s shamefully been our Member Daphne Tencounty’s leading arrest orio said she supports charge at least since leniency on marijuana in 2012, and, meanwhile, response to Mau’s recent numerous counties statement. across the state – in“Skyrocketing including our neighbor Travis to the north – have mate housing costs and abandoned prosecutions extreme court backlogs continue to create a altogether,” said Karen challenge for Hays CounMuñoz, representative ty. The pursuit of minor for Mano Amiga, a Hays marijuana prosecutions County activist group. only creates additional Mano Amiga has a costs and time conhistory of supporting straints,” Tenorio said. cite-and-release and She added many Texas has rallied for criminal justice reform, and more counties have already halted minor prosecturecently, indigent crimiions of low-level marinal defense. Currently, possession of marijuana is the leadWEED LAWS, 2
After multiple environmental violations and allegations of polluting a neighboring creek, Dripping Springs city officials have placed a stop-work order on the Mark Black Wedding Venue. The stop-work order is the latest chapter in a saga that began with Mark Black’s plan to build a wedding venue on property along Crystal Hills Drive in Dripping Springs’ Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ), or external boundaries. On July 9, Dripping Springs Mayor Todd Purcell announced the stop-work order, which was met with applause from residents who attended that evening’s city council meeting. “At 11:05 we issued a full stop work on the project,” Purcell said. “It’s not a victory or ‘let’s run the lap.’ I want you all to understand we are looking at this very carefully.” Purcell said the city
On July 9, Dripping Springs Mayor Todd Purcell announced the stop-work order, which was met with applause from residents who attended that evening’s city council meeting. council is consulting with city staff and its city attorney to educate themselves on the matter and how to move forward. “But I felt like we needed to take a pause and look at this closely before we move forward,” he said. The decision to halt construction is in light of a new site development plan submitted by Mark
WEDDING VENUE, 2
County contracts medical services for juvenile center BY EXSAR ARGUELLO Unable to fill two licensed vocational nurse (LVN) positions at the Hays County Juvenile Detention Center caused county leaders to eliminate the positions entirely and contract services to a private company. With the help of Wellpath, LLC, the county will work with the company to provide an LVN, registered nurse (RN) and physician to administer healthcare services to the population at the facility. The action to enter an agreement with Wellpath and eliminate the two LVN positions was unanimously approved by the Hays County Commissioners Court on July 2. Hays County Juvenile Detention Center Administrator Brett Littlejohn said the facility has never had an LVN, RN and physician as part of the program. “It’s something we’ve never really had much of, and the reason I am asking of this is that we’re not able to fill the positions in the nursing staff,” Littlejohn said. “It’s a risk and liability to the county because I can’t get these positions filled.” Littlejohn said the agreement could potentially alleviate expenses to the county by having a nurse and doctor available to assist during emergencies. Wellpath will provide 16-hours of nursing a
The county will work with Wellpath, LLC to provide an LVN, registered nurse and physician to administer healthcare services to the population at the facility. day and three hours a week for a doctor to the facility. It’s unknown as of press time how much the agreement will cost the county. According to the company’s website, Wellpath provides medical and behavioral health care to jails, prisons, inpatient and residential treatment facilities. “It’s not that we’re eliminating the services of the nurses, but we’re providing those services through a nurse, physician and LVN,” said Hays County Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe. County Judge Ruben Becerra said the county is not eroding any components of the facility, but re-tooling the medical component to provide better services. “it seems like a very good move forward so we can fill a long-standing void that’s just been hard for the county to staff…,” Becerra said.