News

Austin County District Attorney Travis Koehn said he needs to review the findings of the Texas Rangers investigation into the death of Quincy Williams in the Austin County Jail before he can make any public comment.

Feral hog issues continue to plague Austin County, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Mike Novak. “The reason they are such a hot topic is they are very destructive to crops and land (by rooting), as well as being fierce competition for forage with native wildlife,” Novak said.

The Sealy City Council unanimously denied a variance application from Steinhauser’s for the installation of a 15-foot fence. The proposed fence was to mitigate the spread of feed dust and debris from the loading area. There have been complaints from nearby residents and filings with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality TCEQ concerning the dust blanket covering homes and cars.

The Multi-County New Landowner Education program is a series of eight informational meetings, seminars, and field days designed to make new landowners in Austin, Colorado, Fayette and Washington Counties aware of what types of agricultural enterprises are best for their property.

The Texas Senate last week unanimously approved a $16.5 billion package to lower property taxes and inject billions of dollars into public schools. As reported by the Texas Tribune, the three separate bills require the state to send at least $5.38 billion to public schools while at the same time raising the state’s homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000, with an additional $20,000 exemption for homeowners 65 and older.

The Blinn College District Marketing and Communications Department recently won six national marketing awards for publications that spotlight the College’s unique educational opportunities. The Collegiate Advertising Awards recognized Blinn with Gold Awards for its direct mail campaign recruiting local high school students and its brochure for prospective students visiting campus on Preview Days.

Sealy KC’s Famous Lenten Fish Fry Dinner, March 31 The Sealy Knights of Columbus will be serving their Famous Fish Fry Drive Thru Dinner Friday, March 31st, at the Sealy Columbus Club (KC) Hall at 1310 Hwy 90 West. Serving from 5:30 p.m. 7:15 p.m. Proceeds will be benefiting the Sealy Christian Pantry.

District 85 State Representative Stan Kitzman announced that he has authored HB 3750, a bill that would exempt firearms and ammunition as well as components of a firearm from sales tax. A staunch supporter of the Constitution, Kitzman believes that it is a violation of Second Amendment to tax something integral to exercising one’s rights.