The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 145, No. 39, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 11, 1998 Page: 4 of 12
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Page 4
THE BASTROP ADVERTISER
Saturday, July 11,199S
Issues & Opinions
1
f
; Li ti ers To
The Editor
Bastrop firemen have
stars in their crowns
H>ear Editor:
I
• I do not know how to say “Thank You” to the
'city of Bastrop for seeing my family through the
;.worst nightmare imaginable — the loss of a
tchild.
!{ On June 26, you rushed to help restore life to
jny grandson Hunter Perry. Although God had
;Dther plans for Hunter, this didn't stop you. You
‘came to be with Faith and Henry. You played
with Macey and Brad and held Chejsea in your
arms. You cried with them and he|p them all
close to you to ease the pain. I know you will
stay close to them to see them through the horror
So they learn to rebuild their lives.
. The City of Bastrop has a Fire Department
with the biggest heart. They kept a constant flow
of love through Henry's home as they continued
to Eight fires and see to the safety of Bastrop.
I sit here in Lampasas and I know my son and
his family are safe in your arms. I'm sorry that I
don’t know all your names, but I do know that
each of you deserve a star in your crown. Each
of you gave of yourselves, once again, to see to
the needs of others.
So I ask those of you in Bastrop that do not
know the members of your Fire Department to
stop by the fire station and express to them my
appreciation. These Fine men and women are the
ones that put their personal Jives on the back
burner so they may place their lives on the line
to sec to your safety and happiness.
Thank you Bastrop Fire Department for who
you are and for the love you expressed.
Trinka and “Jaws” Michael Perry
Lampasas
o
Court system in trouble;
child support is issue
! )ear Editor:
I would like to comment on the divorce retrial
if Christina Eaton/Wade Ferguson and the al-
eged actions of Judge Benton Eskew. It is my
wo grandchildren who are the ones who have
offered for the past three years with no child
upport from their mother.
The little children of Bastrop County are the
; >nes who should be considered when adults act
| in their own emotions and not according to the
! aws of this land.
' I can say that no man would ever walk away
■ irom a divorce case and not pay child support.
; rhen, why should a woman (young topless
! lancer) be able to walk away and never pay a
! xmny??
• Wake up Bastrop County and let's look at our
; jourt system. There is something wrong with
: his picture.
!» Christina Eaton brought this case back to
jeourt, not Charlotte Hinds. She wants a retrial
ipccause of sexual harassment in our courthouse.
;} I have been a foster parent now for seven
jVears and I have never seen this much mud-
ill inging ip or out of a courthouse.
! j I praise Charlotte Hinds for helping my son
;JWadc Ferguson get custody of his two young
[thildren. I also praise her for helping my son
; find another lawyer, when he was advised that
ihe was going back to court. It is hard to keep
!baying out the legal costs and raise a family on a
•yery limited income.
4 Child support should be paid in the state of
‘tfexas, no exceptions (even if you were a topless
ijjancer).
i‘ Beverly J. Wilsey
u Elgin
: Hinds’ conduct
i turn-off for voter
I
I Dear Editor:
I
i In response to Charlotte Hind's outburst in the
press condemning Judge Eskew only shows me,
;»“a registered voter,” that she has a hidden anger
!flying in wait.”
•; I would feel extremely uneasy to know that
Jjsomeone would even consider to vote for an up-
*! tight, lying vengeful person to hold the position
; our honorable Judge Eskew has held honestly
and has already proven he's an “open boot”
Shame on you Charlotte Hinds, but thanks for
showing the public your selfish-spoiled-self. ,
Mary Garrison
Cedar Creek
Osborn and Weilert
nix Disneyworld and
anger letter writer
Dear Editor:
Let me get this straight. Band parents and
students raise their own money and want to
spend it on a trip to Disneyworld for their spring
break trip and school board members Roger Os-
born and Evelyn Weilert don’t want to let them?
In his years on the board Osborn, in partic-
ular, has suggested that the public schools inter-
fere with parental rights, impose their values on
families and prevent moms and dads from
shaping the moral choices of their children.
Now, with breathtaking hypocrisy, Osborn and
his sidekick Weilert want to coerce band parents
and students into participating in their private
vendetta against the Walt Disney Corporation.
Family values? Please. Who appointed Os-
born and Weilert the self-righteous nannies/or
adult taxpayers? The funny thing about family
values is that no one can agree on exactly what
that phrase means. I find the recent resolution of
the Southern Baptist Convention, the body that
started this Disney-boycott nonsense, calling for
wives to “submit” to their husbands a prescrip-
tion for spousal abuse. I have known women
who have suffered years of physical and sexual
abuse because of this Neanderthal doctrine.
Faith helps victim through trial
Dear Editor:
I'm writing this letter in response to Rodney
Reed's mother's letter and J.T. Thomas' letter on
behalf of myself Vivian Harbottle, my children,
Stacey Stites* her family and everyone else who
Rodney has ever hurt.
First off, Sandra Reed said I testified under
oath that it was not Rodney Reed who raped me!
That is not true! I testified under oath that I
could not identify Rodney.
The DNA on my case has been in the freezer
for two years, it matched Rodney's. I don't have
to identify him and as far as this being a black
and white thing I wouldn't care if the man who
raped me was green, he still raped me!
I feel bad for Rodney's children, like his
mother said. But I had to look my three daugh-
ters in their faces when they found out their
mother was raped also, and talk about being un-
der a gag order.
Try keeping your mouth shut for two years
when you know you went and got all the tests
and did everything you could do, going into the
hospital and talking to the police for hours and
hours right after you got raped.
I did what I had to. I will live with this the
rest of my life and so will a lot of other people. I
thank Lisa Tanner and Charles Penick-for the
job they did. My children thank them, also.
Mrs. Reed also said no power is as powerful
as God's, I believe that with all my heart. That's
what gets me through everyday!
I talked with Stacey's mother during the trial
after I testified. Her faith helps her get through
everyday. I've lived in Bastrop 17 years and I
know a lot of people—Rodney was not one of
them!
After the trial Was over I thought I could puT
this behind me. But someone in Bastrop has
something to say about me everyday. Some of
Rodney's family have said “it’s white women
like me who ruin black men like him.” Why, be-
cause I was walking down the railroad tracks
while he was around?
Believe me I've never been sorrier for doing
anything in my life. I understand how Rodney's
family feels. I would feel the same way if it was
someone in my family. When I.pray, I pray for
them also!
Rodney's mother also said “only evil can have
such a cold heart to tear a person down.” How
many did her son tear down? Too many to
count, I say!
Maybe she should have been in the courtroom
so she could look at the pictures the jury had to
look at! If I sound very bitter, it's because I am!
Vivian F. Harbottle
Bastrop
Cedar Creek ambulance service poor
Dear Editor:
It has been brought to my attention that the
county is not getting all of the ambulance cover-
age that it has paid for. The contract that has
been in place with Rural Metro since January
1996 requires that an ambulance be kept in the
Cedar Creek area and be fully operational at all
times. Only recently has Rural Metro begun sta-
tioning an ambulance in the Cedar Creek area on
two days of the week.
As a resident of the Cedar Creek area, I hope
I don't have an emergency on one of the other
five days of the week. An ambulance coming
from my part of the county could reach me in 10
minutes rather than the 20 minutes it takes to get
from where the ambulance is currently being
parked in Bastrop. That extra 10 minutes could
make the difference between life and death.
Instead of enforcing the contract with Rural
Metro, our county officials seem to be making
excuses for them. They say that Rural Metro
doesn't have any place to house the ambulance.
Nowhere in the contract does it say that the
county is responsible for providing housing for
the unit That is part of the responsibility that
Rural Metro took on when they entered into the
contract. Besides, none of the other ambulance
units provided by Rural Metro are “housed.”
They are kept outside.
When the county renegotiated the contract
with Rural Metro last year, they increased the
allowable response time in the unincorporated
areas of the county from 15 minuses 59 seconds
to 19 minutes 59 seconds, allowed for the trans-
port of three prisoners per month and increased
the compensation to Rural Metro from $17,333
per month to $24,937 per month.
Our costs were increased by 40 percent to
transport three prisoners a month and allowable
response times in unincorporated parts of the
county were increased by 25 percent. Who are
the commissioners serving, the citizens, Rural
Metro or themselves?
The Rural Metro contract is coming up for
negotiation again in August. Let's urge our
commissioners to quit reducing service during
the renegotiations and enforce the requirement
of an ambulance in the fastest growing part of
the county.
In fact, why not put the contract but to bid?
Hans Yeager
Cedar Creek
County Health
Dear Editor:
Thank you to everyone who participated or
donated to the Bastrop County Health Fair held
June 26. It was a great success with approxi-
mately 400 people in attendance.
Over $20,000 in free services were provided
by participating agencies!
Special thanks to the following for their do-
nations: Smithville Lost Pines Bank, Salad
Fair big success
Master, Sysco Food Services, HEB, Wal-Mart,
Smithville Vietnam Vets Association, First Na-
tional Bank, Picket Fence in Smithville, LCRA,
C&G Printing, Bastrop Independent School
District, Gwen O'Barr Insurance Agency and
The Deli Station in Smithville.
Barbara Remsing, Chairperson
Health Fair Committee
Does this mean the school district should boy-
cott Southern Baptists? My family values say so,
but my belief in the Constitution and my sense
of fairness say no.
Osborn and Weilert are engaging in a gutless
political game — finding scapegoats to divert
the public's attention from real problems. These
two should back off and let the parents decide
for themselves if they want to send their children
to Disneyworld or any other destination.
It's their money.
Michael Phillips
Bastrop
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Publisher: Steve Taylor
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Editor: Davis McAuley
Sportr, entertainment editor/
production manager: Keith Magee
Staff writers: Jason Suchomel (news),
Ellen Moore (features, events)
Contributing writers: John Stoiarek,
Ernest Simmons, Donald Williams
Contributing photographers: Charles Bell,
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 145, No. 39, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 11, 1998, newspaper, July 11, 1998; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1177888/m1/4/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.