San Jacinto County News - Breakout

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By Tony Farkas
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COLDSPRING — A property owner in San Jacinto County sought answers about why he had no access to his property, as the road is not maintained.

County officials, however, claim the road is not a valid county road, only a public road, and the county could not legally work on it.

At the regular court meeting on Wednesday, Elian Gutierrez said he has discussed the lack of access to his property, particularly after heavy rains, with the county saying every other home in the Lake Livingston Acres subdivision does have access.

He said he has visited with Commissioner Laddie McAnally about finishing the road; nothing was done except a sign was posted saying the county does not maintain that road. He said it was done without a vote, as he reviewed court records about it.

Faulkner said the state Legislature required all counties produce a road map, which was done, and public meetings were held, and at that time, he did not know if Gutierrez’ road was on that.

Gutierrez said he was told that he pays taxes in that area just to have roads finished.

McAnally said that according to his information, the road was not a county road. Faulkner said that the county has never accepted that road for maintenance, even though it is designated a public road. The county’s actual responsibility on that stretch is about 1,400 feet.

Gutierrez asked what his next steps should be, since it was unfair that the rest of the subdivision has maintained roads; Commissioner Donnie Marrs said it was unfair that the county took in undeveloped subdivisions that need roads.

“I get these real estate companies sell these people from all over the United States (property) that’s nothing but swampland and expect us to build a million-dollar road to a $2 piece of property,” Marrs said. “It will never happen. These real estate companies should be liable; them’s the people you should be talking to, not coming up here griping at us.”

He said that if it happens once, then everyone wants work done, and if the county refuses, then residents will file charges with the DA’s Office and commissioners go to the federal penitentiary.

In other business, the county:

•approved the renewal notice and benefit confirmation with the Texas Association of Counties;

•approved a change in Integrated Prescription Management’ billing structure;

•approved bond renewals for three county employees;

•approved bids for a tractor and asphalt grinder;

•approved issuing a credit card for the jail transport officer;

•approved the rehire of Garrett Plymate as a jailer, provided he passes the state jailer exam;

•approved the bid for contract hauling;

•approved an economic development workshop for June 29; and

•approved a $37,000 donation from Keith Moran to pay for materials to pave Forest Service Road 217.

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SJNT staff

POINT BLANK — Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Kim Webb is looking to give more to her county than being a JP.

Webb said she has noticed many people on social media were in need of essentials like food and diapers, so she and some others came up with the idea to create boxes that would have essential resources — all for free.

To facilitate that, Precinct 4 now has a blessing box outside the office, which is located at 225 Boat Launch Road in Point Blank. She said her group is in the very early stages of developing the program.

To help move things along, Webb is seeking help from the community, and would like residents to donate non-perishable items, such as canned goods, and all manner of hygiene products would also be welcome.

Web said all donations will be for anyone who is in need, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and she said she hopes the program will grow to be a blessing to the community.

The program will be registered soon at www.littlefreepantry.org, which also has other ideas for helping the less-fortunate.

For information, contact the judge’s office at (936) 377-2131.

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Woodlake native Cmdr. William Ashley, commanding officer of Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra Blue crew, salutes sideboys during a change of command ceremony on Canberra’s flight deck on May 19. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Vance Hand

Special to the News-Standard

NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO — Cmdr. William Ashley relieved Cmdr. Michael G. Tyree as commanding officer of Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra during a ceremony aboard the ship, pier side at Naval Base San Diego, on May 19.

Ashley, a native of Woodlake, was previously the executive officer of Canberra Blue crew.

As the first commanding officer of Canberra, Tyree led the ship’s more than 9,000 nautical mile sail-around from Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala., ultimately passing through the Panama Canal to their homeport of San Diego.

Ahead of the ship’s ceremonial commissioning scheduled for this summer, Tyree and his crew excelled in multiple ship and crew certifications, including the ship’s light-off assessment, search and rescue certification, and anti-terrorism certification.

A symbol of the deep partnership between the U.S. and Australia, Canberra is the second U.S. Navy vessel named for Australia’s Capital Territory. It is scheduled to be ceremoniously commissioned in Sydney, Australia, on July 22.

Canberra is one of 15 ships homeported in San Diego as a part of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One. Littoral Combat Ships are fast, optimally manned, mission-tailored surface combatants that operate in near-shore and open-ocean environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats.

LCS integrate with joint, combined, manned and unmanned teams to support forward-presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence missions around the globe.

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The Town Hall Meeting sponsored by Sheriff Greg Capers was a packed house. Residents of San Jacinto County wanted to know what is going on along the border of Texas-Mexico.

By Charles Ballard
SJNT correspondent

COLDSPRING — A mass shooting in Cleveland has brought the crisis at the Texas border home to many in San Jacinto County, and Sheriff Greg Capers held a town hall meeting to discuss and inform residents of the scope of the problem.

At the event on Thursday, Capers told a packed house he thought it was important to share the actual facts and had area elected officials and several border county sheriffs relate their experiences.

The guest speakers shared their experiences and in particular talked about how San Jacinto County needed to protect itself from drug cartels.

Speakers included Rep. Ernest Bailes, who talked about the efforts legislators took in the recent session; Sheriffs Raymundo Del Bosque of Zapata County and Roy Boyd of Goliad County provided information on how they are combating cartels and immigration; and Capers and Coldspring Mayor John Benestante talked about the affect on local residents.

Capers said there currently are three Mexican cartels operating in the county and the Sheriff’s Office is doing everything they can to contain them.

Benestante said the drug problem is not new to San Jacinto County but is a lot worse now.

“They used to run marijuana along the banks of the Trinity River in order to get it in to the U.S. and distribute it,” he said.

All speakers emphasized something needs to be done today.