News

October is Pastor Appreciation Month and the Jackson County Herald-Tribune is publishing a special tribute page for pastors. Ads are $30 and $50 each and the deadline is Friday, Oct. 17 for the Oct. 22 issue. Call Pam at 782-3547 for more information or to place an ad for your pastor.

    Do you wash or rinse your produce after buying it? Have you ever seen any creepy critters crawl out when doing so? Sometimes the business of the day can get in the way of taking proper care of food that’s grown from the ground or off of tree branches.
    Robin and Cippi Palacios of Edna recently found an unwelcome guest in their bag of green grapes – a black widow spider. “I’d bought the grapes the day before and was going to rinse them off to have a snack before bed,” said Robin. “I saw something hanging in the bag, kind of moving. I put it down really fast when I could see the hour glass shape, it was plain as day. I called Cippi and he double-bagged it to take it to the grocery store.”

    Texas Republicans on the campaign trail visited with Jackson County voters last week. 13th Court of Appeals candidate Doug Norman, Senate-hopeful Gary Gates, State Representative Phil Stephenson, and State Representative and Senate candidate Lois Kolkhorst joined candidates for our own local offices for a “Meet and Greet,” where they discussed the important issues faced by the state of Texas and Jackson County.
     Topics on the table were education, budget, and preserving personal rights and freedoms. Education is especially important to Kolkhorst who says she has two children in the public school system and believes that the key to educating Texas children is to understand that they do not all learn in the same way and to trust that their teachers know what they need to learn.

    A move to remove Bill Jones as administrator and CEO of the Jackson County Hospital District was unsuccessful following a divided vote following executive session on Sept. 25.
    With board president Willard Ulbricht and board members Rodney Roberson and Jimmy Lopez voting for a motion to “go in another direction” with the administrator, and David Darilek, Nathan Sappington, Nils Mauritz, and Janet Chanek voting against, Jones narrowly kept his position.
    Jerry Adelman was not at the meeting and Elida Benavides abstained from voting.
    Jones said he was taken by surprise at the motion. Since the discussion was held in executive session, specific information concerning issues surrounding the board members’ dissatisfaction with Jones is not available.
    “I feel like I have been unfairly accused,” Jones said in a phone interview. “It’s disappointing to see the board act in this fashion.”

    Former Ganado ISD superintendent Jeff Black was indicted by the Jackson County grand jury on Sept. 30 for indecency with a child/sexual contact.
    Black, 54, served as Ganado ISD superintendent since 2004, but has been on paid administrative leave since May 15, 2014.
    According to the indictment, on two separate occasions, Sept. 15, 2004 and Aug. 11, 2010,  Black “intentionally and knowingly engaged in sexual contact with a child younger than 17.”
    The indictment came from the grand jury that met January through June of this year. They were called back by a special order signed by the judge extending their term by 90 days to consider the evidence against Black.
    Black turned himself in at the Jackson County Detention Center early Wednesday morning with bond set at $30,000 and was released at 11:28 a.m. Arraignment has been set for Oct. 23.
 

The Texas Department of Transportation’s Yoakum District is pleased to announce the appointment of two longtime employees to supervisory positions in Victoria and Jackson counties, effective Monday Sept. 29.

In Victoria County, Andy Brzozowski has been selected as the Maintenance Section Supervisor for the Victoria County Maintenance Office. Andy has been with TxDOT for almost 28 years, and was the Matagorda County Maintenance Section Supervisor for the past 10 years. Andy began his TxDOT career working in the Jackson County Maintenance Office.

A Jackson County Sheriff's deputy is in stable condition in a San Antonio hospital after being pushed off a bridge during a traffic stop early Saturday morning. According to Jackson County Sheriff Andy Louderback, Deputy Brian Martin stopped a vehicle on the FM 616 relief bridge at 1 a.m. Saturday morning for suspected drunk driver. The driver, Adam Twardowski, pushed Martin over the bridge and fled the scene. Martin was taken to Citizen's Hospital in Victoria and transferred to a hospital in San Antonio where he is in stable condition with a broken femur and broken vertebrae, according to Louderback. Twardowski was arrested in Wharton County and is being held on a $250,000 bond on charges of aggravated assault on a public servant with serious bodily injury. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Congressionally Mandated Payment Reductions to Take Effect at Beginning of New Fiscal Year
Ranchers Applying for LFP Support Who Have Scheduled Appointments by Sept. 30th Will not be Impacted

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Jackson County District Clerk’s Office is accepting applications for full time Deputy Clerk.

Full-time position requires applicant have strong office skills in using Microsoft Word, Excel, Xerox machine, and internet. Must be able to multi-task with ease and have quality people skills with professional appearance and attitude. High school diploma or its equivalent; be bondable; previous office experience preferred; attention to detail a must.