Local News

Child grooming charge hits firefighter

3 weeks ago By Allison Drinnon

A veteran Houston firefighter charged with child grooming found himself in handcuffs after a five-month investigation by the Bellville Police Department. Jason Gaines, 46, is accused of sending sexually suggestive messages to multiple juveniles over social media, according to a Police Department statement released last week.

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County delays data-center moratorium for public hearing

3 weeks ago By Allison Drinnon

County commissioners are asking for the public’s input on a possible measure to more thoroughly screen or redirect data centers even as a developer warns a legal challenge could be the result. On June 8, Austin County Commissioners set a public hearing and a potential vote on creating a new vetting process and finding future construction zones for battery energy storage systems, or BESS, and data centers.

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Brookshire plans Juneteenth parade, community celebration

3 weeks ago By Alesia Woolridge, Interim Area Editor

The city of Brookshire will celebrate Juneteenth with a full day of activities, entertainment and community fellowship on Friday, June 19. The celebration will begin with a Juneteenth Parade.

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City Council selects Zapalac as mayor pro tem

3 weeks ago By Allison Drinnon

The City Council has named a new backup mayor — Place 5 Councilman Edward Zapalac — and started wide-ranging budget discussions including police funding. Also during the June 2 session, the council continued with the first reading of an amendment to the town’s noise law to limit loud and disturbing sounds inside and just beyond city limits.

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Princesses celebrate compassion, creativity and reading

3 weeks ago By Allison Drinnon

Young girls from Brookshire and Sealy twirled in princess gowns and tiaras while making balloon animals and reading a new children’s book from local author Glenn Dollison in a release party, Thursday, June 4.

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County considers data-center moratorium

1 month ago By Allison Drinnon

BELLVILLE — Austin County commissioners are poised to pull the plug on battery energy storage systems and artificial intelligence data centers at their next meeting. The commissioners are expected to introduce a moratorium June 8, joining other local governments trying to push against the growing high-tech industry expanding across the state.

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Sealy revamps stadium turf, adds pads for athletes

1 month ago By Evan Hale

Sealy Independent School District has been working hard to replace the nine-yearold turf at TJ Mills Stadium before the start of the next football season. The change is coming because the current turf has reached its lifespan, and Sealy ISD wants to ensure safety on their field because so many kids use it.

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Paxton sweeps Cornyn in primary

1 month ago By Allison Drinnon

Republican and Democratic candidates made decisive victories both in Austin County and statewide in the primary runoffs last Tuesday, May 26.

Republican Runoffs

After receiving a last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump after early voting had started, current attorney general Ken Paxton won the party’s candidacy for U.S. senator, defeating incumbent John Cornyn. Paxton earned 74.03% of the votes in Austin County and 63.84% statewide.

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Sealy recognizes students' extracirricular achievements

1 month ago By Evan Hale

The Sealy Tigers and Lady Tigers had a fantastic year where they accomplished so much together. There is more to Sealy than just sports though, and their fine arts teams as well as FFA had great years.

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Brazos ISD delays Prop B again, schedules town hall

1 month ago By Brenden Kipfer

The Brazos Independent School District school board stalled plans again for the Proposition B bond to seek more community input, Thursday, May 28. The Brazos ISD school board was set to act on the proposed athletic improvements after an online survey gathered community input.

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