The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 23, 1992 Page: 1 of 16
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L'^nn IX 76643
The Llano News
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Llano, Llano County, Texas 78643
Volume 102, No. 14
Deer Capital of Texas
Thursday, January 23, 1992
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16 pages In 1 section
Llano teen fights off assailant
Houston man held, bond set at $100,000
By Sara Wartes
A 16 year old Llano High
School girl narrowly escaped
from a would-be rapist on the
school grounds Friday night, ac-
cording to Llano Police Chief
Robert Sooter.
Charles Ray Johnson. 35. of
Houston was arrested later Fri-
day evening and was formally
charged with attempted aggra-
vated sexual assault of a child.
The incident occurred Friday
night after the girl had played in
a school basketball game in
Dripping Spr ngs. Sooter said
the victim reported that she was
approached by a man as she
waited alone for a ride on the
•teps of the Llano High School
Gym after returning from the
game fay bus.
Because most of the students
were still at the game in Drip-
ping Springs, the school ground
was virtually deserted, even
though a number of cars were
still in the parking lot. It was
raining, and the girl had taken
shelter under the overhang in
front of the gym to wait for her
ride.
When the victim refused his
verbal advances, the man at-
tacked her, putting his hand
over her mouth. As she strug-
gled to escape, he began to drag
her between the buildings where
they could not be seen.
"Investigation showed that
she was dragged 57 yards from
the original site during the
struggle and abduction. The
victim sustained bodily injury to
the face and neck and articles of
clothing were ripped off." footer
said.
Jewelry, shoes and a Jacket
were found scattered about the
crime scene, according to
Sooter.
We found that a clump of hair
had been actually pulled out of
her head by the suspect." Sooter
said.
The victim \vas able to strug-
gle free from her assailant by
slipping out of the varsity jacket
that she was wearing and ran
toward the parking lot where a
car was pulling up. The occu-
pants of the car heard her
screams and went to her aid.
Sooter said witnesses then
saw the suspect flee from the
parkjng lot in an 18-wheeler
diesel truck rig. An alert was put
out after police were notified
and the vehicle was stopped on
Hwy. 71, 25 miles east of Llano, ployed
by Horseshoe Bay police and an
off-duty sheriff's deputy who
had heard the alert on his radio.
The suspect was arrested and
taken to the Llano County Jail
where bond was set at $100,000.
Sooter described the suspect
as a black male. 6 feet 4 inches
tall and weighing 215 pounds.
He is currently on parole on a
robbery conviction and is etn-
as a truck driver by a
transport company out of
Houston. Sooter said the case
will be presented to the next
Uano County Grand Jury.
"I feel that the victim was for-
tunate to escape the assailant.
In my opinion there would have
been serious injury sustained if
someone hadn't driven up when
they did," Sooter said.
Better communication sought
after student is attacked
on return from basketball trip
By Sara Wartes
The attempted rape of a Llano
High School student waiting for
a ride following a basketball
game has caused school offi-
cials to review school policy and
Improve communication be-
tween students and sponsors,
according to. High School Prin-
cipal Dennis Hill.
The assault occurred when*
the girl was alone on the Llano
High School grounds after an
out-of-town basketball game.
Hill said school policy is that
the coaches or other sponsors
wait at the school until all the
returning students have secured
rides. But because of a mis-
communicatlon with the coach
who drove the bus Friday night,
the girl was accidentally left
alone.
Hill said Coach Ken Barring-
ton was the^ driver of the bus
which brought back to Llano
several students who had
played in the first two of six
basketball games between the
two schools Friday night.
Barrington dropped off three
girls at a car parked near the
"We want to em-
phasize to the kids
that we'll stay with
them." Dennis Hill
,
gym. Although he thought that
all three girls were leaving in the
car. only two of them did. The
third waited on the gym steps
for relatives to pick her up. It
was there that the attempted
sexual assault occurred.
Thinking the three girls all
had a ride, Barrington took two
boys to use the school phone to
call their parents and then went
to the front parking lot to help
another girl find her car keys.
After determining that the two
boys had secured rides and
succeeding in locating the
missing'keys, Barrington drove
back to the gym parking lot to
make spre the.three girls were
gone. Hill said. The car had left
the lot and he could see no one,
so" Barrington felt assured that
they were all accounted for.
Hill said he has talked to the
coaches and has sent a memo to
the faculty to encourage in-
creased communication be-
tween teachers and students in
similar situations in the future.
"We want to emphasize to the
kids that we ll stay with them, if
their parents haven't arrived yet.
These coaches and sponsors
stay with kids until everybody is
picked up. Sometimes they even
take them home." Hill'said.
Hill said they are investigat-
ing legal means to keep trucks
and other unauthorized vehicles
from parking on the school
parking lot during after-school
hours. He said he will also ask
the.(Clty police to step up patrols
around the school campus.
"I thtnk this has brought home
to tneldds that you can't be too
CarefuL Even if you know every
body in Llano, you don't know
who might be passing through."
he said.
Waggoner Carr to speak
at 68th Chamber Banquet
Outstanding Citizen and Hajl of Famer to be named
Weather
January 1992
Jan.
13
High
48
Low
27
Rain
.00
Jan.
14
53
27
.00
Jan.
15
51
21
.00
Jan.
16
42
22
.00
Jan.
17
41
36
J*5
Jan.
18
39
31
.03
Jan.
19
50
26
.00
Jan.
20
59
27
.00
Rainfall for January •
1.47
Waggoner Carr will be the fea-
tured speaker at the 1992 Llano
County Chamber of Commerce
Banquet to be held Jan. 31.
Carr, an Austin attorney,
served as attorney general of
Texas from 1963-67 and
speaker of the" Texas House of
Representatives from 1957-61.
In 1966 he was selected Most
Outstanding Attorney General
in the United States.
In recent years, Carr has been
active In the American Legion,
serving as state commander in
1983. He is associated with the
law firm of De Leon. Boggins &
Richards in Austin.
The banquet marks the 68th
year the local Chamber has met
to honor outgoirfg directors and
recognize citizens for out-
standing service. The banquet
is open to anyone who would
like to attend.
Two awards are presented at
the banquet each year. The Out-
WAGGONER CARR
standing Citizen Award is pre-
sented to a resident who has
shown outstanding leadership
and service in the community
for the past year and given ser
vice above and beyond his or
her profession.
Hall of Fame nominees are
people over age 65 who have
shown outstanding leadership
and service over many years.
This award is limited to resi-
dents of Llano County for at
least 15 years.
Nominations are solicited by
the chamber from people of the
community, but Chamber Man-
ager Jackie Hatfield empha
sized that the recipients are not
selected by the Chamber of
Commerce.
"All the Chamber does is act
as a vehicle for this award, and
we purchase the plaques. The
directors have no idea who has
even been nominated." she said.
This year's winners have been
chosen by three previous win-
ners in each category. They
score nominees based on the
reasons given In the nomination
letter as to why a person is de-
serving of special recognition.
In 1991. the late Sue Brewer
was named Outstanding Citizen
and Eugene Russell was named
Hall of Fame winner.
The banquet this year will be
held at the Llano Community
Center and is catered by Broth
ers Bar-B-Q. The menu for the
banquet Is shrimp salad, thick
pork chop, wild rice, broccoli
and cheese casserole, hot rolls
and peach cobbler.
Tickets for the event are $10
and may be purchased from any
Chamber member or at the door.
NEW CITY MANAGER TOM DONALDSON
Donaldson named
—•*—---------------------**>-*--4 ft * ’
new city manager
By Sara Wartes
By a unanimous action, the
Llano City Council has named
Tom Donaldson to the city
manager 'post vacated by the
retirement of George Rogers
Dec. 31.
Donaklson. 56. has served as
city manager in six .cities, three
of them in Texas ' Hr holds a
master's degree in public ad-
ministration and city manage-
ment from the University of Ok
lahoma. Although he was con
sidering returning to school to
get his Ph.D. and teach. Donald
son said he changed his mind
when he heard about the possi
blility of coming to Llano.
"I was very, veiy impressed
with the mayor and city council.
They had a real strong commit
menl to the community. I de-
cided I would.like to give it a try,"
he said.
Listing recycling as one of his
priorities. Donaldson said he is
also interested in Llano's zero
discharge wastewater plant and
is familiar with city electric util
ity systems. His undergraduate
degree at Colorado State Univ
versity is in math and physics.
"I like to have a good relation-
ship with,th'e business commu-
nity. I haven t met the Chamber
of Commerce people yet. but I'm
I
looking forward to having a good
relationship with them," he said
Donaldson and his wife. Ann.
have two sons, the younger a Ju-
nior at Texas Tech and the older
a junior at (hi University of
Houston after completing a lout
of duly in the Air Force. Ann
plans to attend Tarleton to
complete hit certification Ip
teach, and hopes to eventual!#
teach in (he Llano school sys-
tem.
The Donaldsons first became
familiar with the Texas Hill
Country during the three years
he seived as city manager of
Lampasas. Ap avid fishermaitr
Donaldson saicl he caught sev-
eral 15 pound stripers in Lake
Buchanan while living in Lam-
pasas. His other passion is
whitewater river railing. He has
taken his 15 fool Avon inflatable
boat down the Salmon River in
Idaho and the Green River in
Colorado. It is a hobby his wife
enjoys too. and they hope to try
a fork cj the Salmon RiVer on
their next excursion. ■
In a somewhat unusual move,
Donaldson recently took back
the name Of his real lather,
which he had used until the aj*e
of 13. At that time his
stepfather adopted l\im and he
O SeepageA-13 5
apt/]
Drug task force approved,
water leak tackled by council
Llano City Council Monday
evening agreed to Join a Re-
gional Anti-Drug Abuse Task
Force and look further into a
water leak at Moore Memorial
Park, approved 1992 holidays
for the city, heard a request from
Ben E. Keith to close a portion
of Chattanooga Street and
passed a resolution praising re-
tired City Manager George
Rogers.
Llano Chief of Police Robert
Sooter asked the council to en-
ter Into an agreement between
the counties of Llano, Blanco,
Burnet, Mason and San Saba In
an "Interlocal Assistance
Agreement" to participate in tlie
Joint investigation and appre
henslon of criminal drug deal-
ers.
Marble Falls Police Capt. Greg
Clark, speaking for the task
force, told the council that the
task force would be funded, if
approved, by a $300,000 federal
grant through CAPCO.
Clark said that he should
know by May 1 if the grant will
be funded and the task force
might be in place as early as
June 1.
Water Problem
Residents Roberta and Leroy
Strayhorn who live adjacent to
/
Moore Memorial Park had dam
age to their property as a result
of a water leak at the memorial
park when a faucet on the water
fountain parted causing "a vig
orous leak" according to Mar
garet Hardin, assistant city
manager.
The leak soaked the brick wall
on the east side of the park
causing problems for the Stray
horns, Hardin explained. "They
requested the wat^be perma-
nently cut off to the park as they
were concerned about the wall
possibly collapsing In the fu
lure," Hardin said.
Council members suggested
that Don Stewart, city engineer,
look into the matter and, see if
there is structural danger.
Holidays
The council agreed to sej/en
holidays for 1992: Memorial
Day. May 25; Labor Day. Sept. 7:
Thanksgiving. Nov. 26-27;
Christmas. Dec. 24 25; and New
Years. Jan. 1. *
Street Closing
Officers of Ben E. Keith Co.
met with the council concerning
the closing of a portion of Chat-
tanooga St. and an alley adja
cent to the present Keith build-
ing at 1,604 Bessemer. Troy La
Grone, president of Ben E. Keith
Beers, explained that the coi#-
pany is planning a 23,000 sq. ft.
expansion to their facility hereS
They need the street closed »
that the additional building cap
• be connected to the present lo-
cation. The council voiced the^-
Initial approval of the plan but
explained that 0 public hearing
would be necessary before clo*
sure of the street. LaGrone told
the council that if action
approved construction would be
underway this summer and Hie
project could be completed be-
fore the end of the year.
Resolution
The council unanimously
passed a resolution praising
George Rogers who retired as
city manager Dec. 31.
The resolution points out that
Rogers began working for the
city July 7. 1947. in the electrical
distribution department, was
appointed acting city manager
in 1962 and appointed city
manager in 1963. "He served in
this rapacity with the highest
degree of Integrity and profes-.
sionalism" until his retirement
Dec. 31. 1991.
"Official recognition and ex*;:
pcession of sincere gratitude is
hereby extended to George C-
Rogers." the resolution states. j
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Buckner, Walter L. The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 23, 1992, newspaper, January 23, 1992; Llano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1097873/m1/1/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Llano County Public Library.