Page 2A • Thursday, September 3, 2020 • MySouTex.com

PUBLIC HEARINGOn the

Proposed City of Beeville Budget,Fiscal Year 2020-2021

Public Notice is hereby given that the Beeville City Council will conduct its second public hearing on the Proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 City of Beeville Annual Budget. The public hearing will be held at a regular meeting on Tuesday, September 8th, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. in the John C. Fulghum Event Center, 111 E. Corpus Christi St., Beeville, Texas 78102.

All interested persons will be given an opportunity to appear and be heard. If you are unable to attend, you may submit your written and signed views to the City Secretary’s Office at 111 E. Corpus Christi St., Beeville, Texas 78102 or by email: gabriela.hernandez@beevilletx.org.

A proposed budget is available for public inspection at the City Secretary’s Office and on the City’s website: http://www.beevilletx.org.

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by William J. Gibbs Jr.

Senior Reporter

PETTUS – On most days, motorists traveling on U.S. Highway 181 in Pettus will notice orange signs with black stenciled let-ters, advertising honey and various types of jerky for sale in James Lynes’ trailer parked off North Street.

“There are lots of differ-ent people coming through, from different parts of the state,” he said of his cus-tomers over the last few years.

Lynes, a retired oilfield consultant who resides in Beeville, maintains his business simply to keep cabin fever from setting in.

“I can’t sit at home,” he said. “I have to get up and make a little money.”

But on Aug. 23, he en-countered a setback. While walking along the roadway to gather up his four signs to go home, Lynes could not locate two of them.

“I thought they were blown over,” he said.

But soon, Lynes real-ized that someone had taken the signs. He posted on the Beeville Yard Sale Facebook page asking for whomever took the signs to return them. Lynes said a woman called him to say that her daughter had been at a flea market in Poth, where she saw the signs falling out of the back of a man’s SUV. That man was en route to San Antonio.

A lot of the responses to Lynes’ Facebook post were offers to help him.

“I had several people of-fer to replace the signs,” Lynes said. “I can’t believe the good that’s in a lot of people. Some of them of-fered to get materials and build the signs.”

He declined their help, opting instead to recre-ate the signs with some materials he already had. Still, Lynes said, “There are some great people in this community. I am so blessed.”

William J. Gibbs Jr. is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 361-358-5220, or by email at wgibbs@mysoutex.com.

Staff Report

BEEVILLE – The Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety continues to investigate a crash on U.S. Highway 59 west of the city that claimed the lives of two motorists.

According to Sgt. Nathan Brandley, DPS spokesman, the preliminary investigation has revealed that at approximately 3:33 p.m. Aug. 20, a Volkswagen Passat being driven by 50-year-old Saarah Rowshan of San Antonio

was traveling south on U.S. 59. She had been attempting to pass multiple ve-

hicles in a no-passing zone and collided head-on with a northbound Ford Focus being driven by 53-year-old Lee Roy Saldiva of George West.

Rowshan was pronounced dead at the scene, Brandley said.

Saldiva was transported to Christus Spohn Hospital in Beeville where he was pronounced dead.Thief steals

roadside jerky merchant’s signs

City, United Methodist Church mull paving partnershipby William J. Gibbs Jr.

Senior Reporter

BEEVILLE – With the build-ing that houses both the Beeville Police Department and Beeville City Hall set to reopen within the next month, along with the city’s fire department and municipal court being nearby, the lack of available parking is becoming ap-parent.

This is why at its Aug. 25 meet-ing, the Beeville City Council was considering a proposed partner-ship with the United Methodist Church. According to City Man-ager John Benson, the church was approached by Beck Broth-ers regarding the paving of an area adjacent to the fire depart-ment, which it frequently uses for parking and training. The church owns the lot and is asking the city to share the cost of the paving work.

Public Works Director Albert Bridge said the city’s portion of the cost, which would cover ma-terials, would be $11,000. Beck Brothers would do the labor.

“This particular parking lot has been used constantly, even weekly, by the fire department,” Bridge said. “It would help dur-ing the week to be extra parking for city hall, the fire department,

the police department and the municipal court.”

But City Attorney Frank War-ner sounded the alarm.

“We’ve got laws in this state regarding if you want to use pub-lic funds on private property,” he said.

Warner said the city could run into conflict because it would be hard to prove whether perform-ing the work would indeed serve public good. Furthermore, such work would have to be performed at fair market value without a dis-count.

A Beck Brothers representa-tive at the meeting said the total cost of the job is estimated to be $115,000.

Warner said it was possible that the city could work out a rental agreement with the church for use of the lot.

Following an executive session in which the council discussed a

water sales agreement with the Beeville Development Authority and had a discussion with insur-ance consultant Roland Barrera, the council held a workshop re-lated to the 2020-21 budget. A public hearing on the budget at the beginning of the meeting gar-nered no participation.

Each of the department heads who have been participating in the city’s budget workshops have been proposing minimal spend-ing plans inclusive of cuts. City Secretary Gabriella Hernandez said prior to the meeting that the city is looking to cut more than $1 million from the entire budget.

“Every department is being cut,” she said.

The preliminary budget, Her-nandez said, includes no increas-es in the number of employees for the next fiscal year. She said the cuts are necessary due to the revenue shortfall caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a project-ed increase in insurance rates and property taxes and other city fees not being increased during the previous year.

The council is attempting to adopt a budget by Sept. 8 at the earliest, Sept. 22 at the latest, Hernandez said. The 2020-21 fis-cal year starts Oct. 1.

William J. Gibbs Jr. is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 361-358-5220, or by email at wgibbs@mysoutex.com.

Signs like these, advertising James Lynes' jerky trailer, often greet motorists on U.S. Highway 181 in Pettus. Two of the signs recently were stolen. (Contributed photo)

Two die in crash on U.S. 59

Kidnapping drama ends with Three Rivers standoffby William J. Gibbs Jr.

Senior Reporter

THREE RIVERS – A Corpus Christi woman is safe, and the man accused of kidnapping her is be-hind bars after police say the two were located at a home in the 1500 block of Cadillac Drive here.

According to the Cor-pus Christi Police Depart-ment, Paulina Hernan-dez, 22, of Corpus Christi was the subject of a state-issued CLEAR (Coordi-nated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue) alert since witnesses reported that she was forced from her home at gunpoint Aug. 13. The witnesses said the man holding the gun, who then left with Her-nandez in his vehicle, was her ex-boyfriend, 23-year-old Thomas Anthony Hutchins III.

The search began for Hernandez and Hutchins and Corpus Christi police issued warrants for his ar-rest, charging him with aggravated kidnapping,

aggravated assault and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit an-other felony.

Chief Vance Roberts of the Three Rivers Police Department said that at 7:49 a.m. Aug. 15, an of-ficer was dispatched to Hutchins’ mother’s resi-dence on Cadillac Drive after officials received in-formation that his vehicle was there and that Her-nandez might be inside the house. The officer located Hutchins driving the ve-hicle nearby and activated his overhead lights in an attempt to initiate the traf-

fic stop. Instead, Roberts said Hutchins ran from the vehicle and retreated into the house as others inside ran out. Because the officer noticed a bulge in Hutchins’ pocket that appeared to be a weapon, he retreated and called for backup.

The rest of the occu-pants in the house, includ-ing Hernandez, escaped

the home, but Hutchins remained inside, Roberts said. Police evacuated sur-rounding homes includ-ing those in the Knob Hill addition while instructing the elderly residents of a nearby apartment com-plex to shelter in place.

Members of the Three Rivers Volunteer Fire Department blocked off nearby streets to keep

motorists away, and Aca-dian EMS and the Live Oak County Emergency Management Agency also were standing by.

“We found out later that he did have a gun because he fired a shot when we were on scene,” Roberts said.

Police secured the scene until Corpus Christi of-ficers and personnel from

the U.S. Marshals arrived on the scene, he said. Also responding to assist were members of the Live Oak County Sheriff ’s Office, Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety troopers, Texas Rangers, the Federal Bu-reau of Investigations, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game War-dens and George West Po-lice Department.

“They all came together very well,” Roberts said. “ ... I would estimate we had over 150 law enforce-ment agents in the area at this given time.”

After being unable to negotiate with Hutchins, members of the Corpus Christi Police Depart-ment’s SWAT team fired tear gas into the house, which prompted him to come out and surrender.

Roberts said no one was injured.

Hutchins is being held in the Nueces County Jail in lieu of $170,000 total bond.

William J. Gibbs Jr. is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 361-358-5220, or by email at wgibbs@mysoutex.com.

Hutchins

Vehicles used by personnel from multiple law-enforcement agencies line Cadillac Drive in Three Rivers Aug. 15, as members of the Corpus Christi Police Department SWAT team attempt to negotiate with a man who has barricaded himself inside a house. (Contributed photo)

‘ ‘“We’ve got laws in this state

regarding if you want to use pub-lic funds on pri-vate property,”

– City Attorney Frank Warner