August 31, 2021

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TUESDAY

August 31,2021

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 4 www.UniversityStar.com

DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911

Brother of Iconic Village fire victim searches for answers in documentary

Opinion: Gov. Greg Abbott is not pro-life

Opinion: Local businesses need to evaluate their open carry policies

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FOOD

EYE LIKE YOU

Local snack kitchen promotes affordable, healthy snacking By Sarah Hernandez Life & Arts Editor starlifeandarts@txstate.edu A kitchen full of fresh ingredients and a drive to transform the fastfood industry is all Whitney Blandford and Keoki Anderson need to serve their community. As owners of the local snack kitchen Eye Like You, the duo is on a mission to bring their vision of starting a "fast fuel food evolution" to life, one nutritious snack box at a time. The concept of fast fuel food comes from wanting to promote healthy eating while maintaining the convenience and affordability that comes from consuming fast food. Eye Like You achieves this with its variety of $10 snack boxes that include nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and crackers. "I saw a charcuterie [board] once. And I was like, 'hey, that's really healthy.' 'hey, it can't cost that much.' And so, the $10 snack box was born," Blandford says. "I thought $10 is affordable, and it's nutrient food. It's a lot better than a hamburger combo meal at any fast food you can find. So, we just wanted to definitely stick to a social enterprise." In August 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Blandford, a public administration alumna, saw that the future of restaurants was uncertain. As a result, Eye Like You started as a food bike that she rode around San Marcos selling healthy sandwiches and vegan snacks. Thanks to the Red Bus Food

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PUBLIC DEFENDER'S

Hays County Law Enforcement Center sign, Saturday, August 28, 2021, at 1307 Uhland Road in San Marcos. RASIKA GASTI

County allocates $5 million for Public Defender's Office By Arthur Fairchild News Reporter

Eye Like You co-owner Whitney Blandford prepares a fruit box, Monday, August 30, 2021, at Red Bus Food Park. NATALIE RYAN

Park, Blandford and Anderson moved their business from a bike into a kitchen. The sole employees of Eye Like You, Blandford and Anderson, moved back to Texas last year after living in Hawaii and Guam for a few years. While out of the U.S., Blandford worked in the nonprofit sector for seven years on environmentalism and social service missions. Now, she uses her experience to market Eye Like You as a nontypical fastfood establishment. Anderson, a University of Guam Culinary School alumnus, uses his expertise to manage the business' food costs, prices and profits. Although they collaborate on figuring out what goes into the snack boxes, Blandford says Anderson is much more of a "foodie" than herself. In fact, many of the in-house snacks they provide

come from his ingenuity. "I walked into a restaurant one day and I've been hooked. And I've been in restaurants since '07. And that's what I do. That's what I love," Anderson says. "I like to experiment with kitchen stuff and recipes. And we like being out and involved with the community just bringing people together and being involved in things like that. Food brings people together just as much as the arts." Located inside the Red Bus Food Park's indoor food court on the corner of Chestnut Street, Eye Like You's menu offers glutenfree, vegan, keto and traditional options. A snack box containing foods sourced from local farmers and businesses is in the works. Anderson says supporting small businesses and staying connected with other local entrepreneurs has

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SAN MARCOS CISD

San Marcos CISD continues to enforce mask mandate By Timia Cobb News Editor starnews@txstate.edu

With the first week of the fall semester over, San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District students and staff continue to wear face masks as part of the district's mandatory mask mandate. The district's mask mandate was adopted after a 6-1 vote by the SMCISD Board of Trustees during a special school board meeting on Aug. 12. During the meeting, parents and local citizens against the mask mandate issued verbal attacks, warnings and threats toward the board members, calling the mandate unconstitutional as it defies Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order. In May, Abbott banned the enforcement of masks in governmentfunded establishments, including

Texas State athletes hope to profit off new NIL rules

A SMCISD student colors in class Monday, August 23, 2021, on SMCISD campus. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW FERNANFEZ

public offices, buildings and public schools. Disobeying the executive order could result in fines up to $1,000. SMCISD Executive Director of Communications Andrew Fernandez says the initial decision

to mandate masks on the district's campuses was influenced by the increase in local COVID-19 cases and the need to protect students. “I think for us, we're just looking SEE SMCISD PAGE 3

The Hays County Commissioners Court has moved forward with creating a Public Defender's Office (PDO) and will use $5 million from the American Rescue Plan to fund the project. A PDO will legally represent individuals who cannot afford their representation in court. Additionally, a PDO will accelerate the judicial process and promote a fair trial system for the defendant. The current model of court-appointed attorneys can be slow and leaves people waiting in jail for weeks or even months, a wait time that aims to be dramatically decreased once the office becomes operational. “Right now, people are in [jail] for months, not yet found guilty and have not yet seen a judge,” says Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra. "If you have a storage [unit] and don’t pay it for two months that stuff is all sold, you’ve probably lost your apartment, gotten your car repossessed and maybe gotten kicked out of school when it all could’ve been avoided.”

"RIGHT NOW, PEOPLE ARE IN [JAIL] FOR MONTHS, NOT YET FOUND GUILTY AND HAVE NOT YET SEEN A JUDGE," RUBEN BECERRA Hays County Judge

According to Becerra, the Hays County Jail is overpopulated and expensive. Inmates are outsourced every day to other jails in different counties. The weekly cost of outsourcing inmates was $50,000 in 2020. The creation of a Public Defender's Office will open space in the jail and help drive outsourcing numbers down. As of Aug. 22, 82% or 498 inmates in the Hays County Jail are held for pretrial and are still awaiting representation, according to the Hays County Jail Dashboard. Along with accelerating pretrial wait times, the Public Defender’s Office is part of Hays County’s cite and divert initiative. Cite and divert works to keep people out of jail and the PDO will give them representation if they are arrested. Becerra says crimes like felony drug offenses can have a devastating impact on individuals such as university students who may not have legal representation. “My biggest hope is to end arresting people needlessly. Of course, I do not excuse aggressive crimes or crimes against people. Victimless crimes like the one’s Governor Perry put out and the list of cite and release offenses, all that stuff should not bog our justice system down, our jails should not be overcrowded, and people’s lives shouldn’t be ruined,” Becerra says. Social justice organization Mano Amiga has pushed for the creation of a Public Defender's Office in Hays County since 2018. Despite an initial setback when a grant application through the SEE PUBLIC DEFENDER'S PAGE 2


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August 31, 2021 by The University Star - Issuu