Sept 23 2014

Page 1

TUESDAY

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 VOLUME 104 ISSUE 19

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CITY

VIDEO Field to the Fans: Odus Evbagharu, Quixem Ramirez and Warren Schorr discuss Bobcat Athletics.

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STATE MADELYNNE SCALES PHOTO EDITOR

The San Marcos Police Department investigates an alleged shooting inside Gotta Habit Smoke Shop after an attempted robbery.

Attendant shot during attempted robbery at Gotta Habit Smoke Shop

By Nicole Barrios and Kelsey Bradshaw UNIVERSITY STAR STAFF

A

n attendant at Gotta Habit Smoke Shop was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery at approximately 6:20 p.m. Sunday on the 700 block of North LBJ Drive. The suspect, who is still unknown at this time, entered the smoke shop armed with a pistol. Upon entering the store, the suspect was confronted by the store attendant. The suspect then shot the attendant. It remains unknown if anything was stolen during the attempted robbery. The victim has been identi-

fied as Patrick William Reilly, a 25-year-old man from San Marcos. Reilly was shot once in the chest while struggling with the suspect. The gunshot wound was about two inches above Reilly’s heart. He was taken by San Marcos Hays County EMS to University Medical Center Brackenridge in critical condition. No new information is known on his condition. The suspected shooter is described as a Hispanic male, between 5’8” and 5’10,” wearing a black T-shirt and beanie cap. After hearing a loud “boom” or what he thought was a firecracker, Son Nguyen, construction worker at Shisha Zone, ran

to the front of the smoke shop. There he saw a male running from the store. Nguyen told his boss to call 911, and he then chased after the suspect. Police arrived shortly after, he said. Nguyen chased the man to the corner of the parking lot and ultimately decided to let him go. “I let him go because I have three little babies at home,” Nguyen said. “I didn’t want to be cornered. (I was) hoping I could be long distance from him. He could have run up and shot me.” Once Nguyen was back in

front of the smoke shop, he put his shoe on top of the bullet so it would not be lost. Employees of businesses within the 700 block of North LBJ Drive who witnessed the incident were contacted by police. Hannah Sears, Barefoot Campus Outfitter manager, said the store was closed when the shooting took place Sunday night. “I feel like he didn’t really have a reason to shoot whoever he shot, you know,” said Grace White, Barefoot Campus Outfitter employee. “I feel like it was just maybe someone being stupid because I felt like he

as well as a four percent merit pool shared by all employees. “Elected officials have had different pay increases than other employees have had in the past,” said Bert Cobb, Hays County judge. For the past two fiscal years, elected officials received a three

See BUDGET, Page 2

See EDUCATION, Page 2

See ROBBERY, Page 2

Dan Patrick, Leticia Van De Putte speak at Texas Tribune Festival In back-to-back interviews, State Senators Dan Patrick and Leticia Van de Putte discussed important topics and the upcoming election Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival. Both senators are candidates for lieutenant governor—Patrick is the Republican candidate, and

Van de Putte is the Democratic. Touching on issues important to their campaigns, Patrick and Van de Putte talked about immigration reform, women’s health and education. “Obviously the Republicans are not anti-immigrants,” Patrick said. “We’re not anti-anyone.” Patrick spoke about the state’s “wide-open” border. ISIS and al-Qaeda are a “real, present

threat” to Texans. Securing the border is necessary to protect citizens from terrorists and criminals. “As lieutenant governor, my role is to secure the border and protect your lives and reduce your property taxes,” Patrick said. Van de Putte was asked about women’s health, having been vocal during State Senator Wendy

Davis’ 11-hour filibuster last year to delay a bill that would ultimately close half of the clinics that perform abortions in Texas. “I support local leaders who are desperate to make sure women get the local health services that were ripped from them,” Van de Putte said. Medicaid would be “great” for

See SENATORS, Page 2

ALEXANDRA WHITE STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

COUNTY

Commissioners court sets county budget for $157 million By Alexa Tavarez NEWS REPORTER Last Tuesday, the Hays County Commissioners Court approved its proposed budget of $157 million for the 2015 fiscal year. At the meeting, an increase in elected officials’ salaries was approved as a part of the 2015 fiscal year budget. Future proposals of

standardizing law enforcement vehicles were also discussed but not approved. Several citizens spoke in the public hearing concerning a proposal from the Salary Grievance Committee to raise pay for the county tax assessor-collector and Precinct 4 constable. William Taff, San Marcos resident, questioned why the

court needed to raise taxes. Each individual tax burden should go down as the population increases, he said. “Maybe instead of raising taxes, we should lower them and allow people to take care of themselves,” Taff said. For other elected officials, the salary proposal included a four percent cost-of-living raise

By Kelsey Bradshaw NEWS EDITOR Kicking off the second day of the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival, Evan Smith, CEO and editor in chief of the Tribune, welcomed an audience of over 300 people Saturday to what he called “Woodstock for Wonks.” Held at the University of Texas at Austin, the festival lasted a total of three days. During this time, 200 speakers discussed issues including education, immigration and health care. A full day of keynote sessions was held Saturday. One-on-one conversations were staged with Gov. Rick Perry and State Senators Dan Patrick, Leticia Van de Putte and Wendy Davis. U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus also spoke at the keynote sessions. Patrick and Van de Putte were up first in 30-minute one-on-ones. Both candidates for lieutenant governor talked about education. “No child should be forced to go to a failing school,” Patrick said. He said he wanted to give school opportunities to every parent in Texas. Van de Putte talked about getting “high-stakes testing” off the backs of students. She said teachers should be able to go back to teaching instead of making sure students can pass a standardized test. “High-stakes testing is destroying the love of learning,” Van de Putte said. Perry said he still supports the Texas law that gives in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. Perry said moving up in education is important. “We have now moved to the second highest (high school) graduation rate in America,” Perry said. Too much “turmoil” is going on at UT, and there is too much focus on the university, Straus said. He spoke of the continuing conflict with the House committee that voted to censure Wallace Hall, University of Texas System regent. Hall was conducting an investigation about lawmakers’ influence in the UT admissions process. Straus, who often writes recommendation letters for UT applicants he thinks are qualified, said he hopes the state isn’t headed toward a place where students don’t want letters from lawmakers. “Once upon a time” there were a lot of students who could get into UT, he said. College students often worry about finding jobs after graduation. However, more and more jobs are appearing in Texas, Cruz said. “I think there’s a reason 1,000 people a day are moving to Texas,” Cruz said. “It’s where the jobs are.” He said people think with their feet and move to the places with the jobs. By investing in education, the state would be investing in the future of the workforce, Davis said. There is “no question” that Texas schools need more funding. “If we want to make sure we have the workforce for the jobs of tomorrow, we’ve got to make sure we’re investing in our kids,” Davis said. Investing in young people makes sense,

STATE

By Kelsey Bradshaw NEWS EDITOR

Trib Fest headliners discuss education

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