By Ken Esten Cooke —

Officials for the Fredericksburg Independent School District (FISD) announced Thursday, Sept. 5, that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit stemming from a sexual relationship between a teacher and student.

The lawsuit developed after an improper relationship was documented between then-student Stephanie Crounse and Fredericksburg High School (FHS) physics teacher and coach, Michael G. Stevens.

In the settlement, the school district, FISD superintendent Marc Williamson and former FHS principal Lynn Blackwell were released from further claims.

In addition, attorney Charles Frigerio, representing the City of Fredericksburg, reported Tuesday that additional claims against FHS campus policeman and teacher Christopher Ayala were abandoned and dismissed without ever having been any financial settlement negotiated. Frigerio called the claim against Ayala “baseless.”

Crounse’s attorneys originally brought the suit against the district, Williamson, Blackwell and Ayala – in addition to Stevens – claiming her civil rights were violated because they failed to prevent the sexual abuse before or during the reported seven months the relationship took place.

The legal document also claimed Crounse was ridiculed, “benched” during her sports participation and removed from an extra-curricular activity.

Williamson, Blackwell and Ayala all denied knowledge of the relationship or that they “should have known,” as the suit alleged.

“The district is glad to have closure on the issue and move forward,” Williamson said. “While we recognize that an employee at the time abused the teacher-student relationship, this agreement reinforces the fact that district personnel responded in an appropriate, professional manner.”

Terms of the agreement were not released, but Williamson confirmed no tax dollars were to be contributed in the final settlement. 

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

By Lisa Treiber-Walter —

“Biting the bullet” and moving ahead on what are being described as some of the biggest decisions in the county’s history, Gillespie County Commissioners voted unanimously Monday, Sept. 9, to:

• Approve a $30 million budget for 2014,

• Hike the property tax rate by 6.69 cents, and,

• Approve a $12,073,877 guaranteed maximum price proposal for contruction of the new jail.

“We don’t like it any more than you do, but we’ve got to bite the bullet and move on,” Commissioner Billy Roeder told a county courtroom packed with citizens who shouted out such things as “We need an additional hearing!” and “We demand a revote!”

In the end, however, those folks were told that their time to speak had come and gone at the county’s previous public hearings on the jail issue last summer and during the county’s budget and tax rate hearings held Aug. 30 and Sept. 3.

“I appreciate all the phone calls I’ve had, but now is not the time to complain,” Commissioner Curtis Cameron said. “The time to complain was before the (jail) bond issue was even voted on.

“Most of our budget increase has come from the bond issue to build a new jail,” Cameron confirmed, adding that the process started over two years ago with a study to see if a new jail was, in fact, needed.

Affirming the decision was the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, who has allowed the Gillespie County Jail to continue operating under waivers in spite of overcrowding issues.

After that, studies began on jail designs and costs.

 “As a court, we didn’t want to spend that much money without letting the people of the community decide on it so we decided to have the bond election,” he said.

“We all know that there were 6,323 who voted for the bond election (in November 2012), 4,188 who voted against — exactly 60.15 percent for and 39.85 percent against,” Commission Donnie Schuch said.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Fredericksburg Music Club is bringing back American guitarist Christopher McGuire for a concert on Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Fredericksburg United Methodist Church.

This year, he will be joined by Slovenian guitarist Mak Grgic. 

The 3 p.m. concert will feature a varied performance with music composed by Vivaldi and Stephen Foster.

Donations will be accepted to help with the cost of the concert.

The club would also like to acknowledge a grant from the Gillespie County Hotel and Occupancy Tax fund that helps with the costs of this concert.  

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

The annual fall-winter leaf collection program by the City of Fredericksburg is scheduled to begin on Monday, Nov. 18 and will end on Friday, Jan. 31.

During this program, residents are encouraged to gather leaves from their property and rake them to the street, according to Lea Feuge, city engineering technician.

Residents are reminded of the following guidelines which will ensure pick up:

• Rake leaves onto the street, 12 inches from the curb.

• Do not rake limbs, twigs, wire, rocks, bricks or other debris along with the leaves for collection. Any items other than leaves that are picked up will damage the leaf collection equipment and will not be picked up for that reason. If it is not possible to remove debris from a leaf pile, residents are asked to call the City of Fredericksburg Street Department to make arrangements for a special pick up using a loader and dump truck. There will be a minimum $100 charge for this service.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

It was three days of loud, live music along with good food at the Hill Top Café.

Officials called the 16th Annual Big Band Bash "Three Nights of Musical and Culinary Magic".

The bash took place at the Café Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 7-9.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

By Richard Zowie —

A tiny octopus, a trumpet mouthpiece, a cell phone casing, a rocket and a key ring holder with the letters FISD stenciled on it in a three-dimensional font.

They’re all red and plastic, but they also have something else in common. All were made using a 3D Machining Printer.

On Monday, Nov. 11, Fredericksburg High School (FHS) students gave a demonstration of the printer to members of the Fredericksburg Independent School District trustees.

A design was entered into the AutoCAD (computer-aided design) software program and then the 3D machine processed the digital model and “printed” it into a three-dimensional solid object.

Daniel Nguyen showed the crowd a rocket, about a foot and a half in length, designed and previously printed by fellow FHS Principles of Technology II aerospace engineering student Austin Walter. 

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Thirty-nine youth competed in the Gillespie County 4-H Food Challenge on Nov. 6 at the Gillespie County Extension Office.

The 4-Hers competed in three age divisions — junior, intermediate and senior, and the top two teams in each age category will advance to the District Food Challenge contest in San Marcos at Texas State University on Dec. 7.

Awards for first place were donated by The UPS Store.

Following are the results:

Junior Division

Fruit and Vegetables

1. Shamrock Chefs — Carson Barnes, Zoe Maurer, Daniel Raab, Lexi Sione and Arianna Watson.

2. Fun Loving Cooks — Caiden Davis, Harley Merz, Clara Stehling and Rose Vetti.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

By Matt Ward —

More than a year after the Stagecoach Theater closed its doors, Fredericksburg’s only movie theater will soon reopen under a new name, new ownership and vintage style complete with an “old-school” hand-changed marquee.

The rebranded Fritztown Cinema, owned and operated by Sloan Ruth, will be welcoming movie fans back to its location at 2254 U.S. Highway 87 South on Monday, Nov. 25.

Though a complete slate of films to be shown is not available, Ruth said that the upcoming movie sequel, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” will be among the films shown in the theater’s soft opening.

“We want people to come watch the Hunger Games here, if they’re willing to wait three days,” Ruth said.

While next week’s debut will be considered a “soft opening,” Ruth said the theater plans to have a large grand opening celebration in December.

“I had some technical experts from Austin who specialize in theaters come in and they said that we have the best screens and the best sound system, so I’m thrilled that the quality is so high,” Ruth said.

A small pizzeria complete with beer and wine bar is still under construction and will not be completed before the cinema opens.

“It’s not like any pizza here in town,” Ruth said. “The (pizza) here is all good, but it’s all different. Mine will be totally different.”

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Paying tribute to the men and women, past and present, who have served the United States, the National Museum of the Pacific War held its annual Veterans Day Program on Monday.

Serving as this year’s keynote speaker was Gen. Edward Rice, United States Air Force Commanding Officer of Lackland Air Force Base (ret.).

Monday’s program held in the Memorial Courtyard opened with a formation flyover and a Missing Man formation flown by the Hill Country L-Birds followed by a bagpipe prelude by Patrick Regan.

Presenting the colors was the National Security Agency of the Central Service Section based at Lackland Air Force Base.

Under the direction of Tricia Eilers, the Ambleside School Choir sang the National Anthem, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Cadet Lieutenant Marcus Robles of the Fredericksburg High School NJROTC.

Capt. Roger Spencer, U.S. Navy (ret.), offered the invocation, followed by a welcome by Joe Cavanaugh, director of the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Helen McDonald, program director at the National Museum of the Pacific War, recognized the veterans attending.

Recognized as the oldest veteran attending was Sam Sorenson of Fredericksburg. He was born in 1916 and served in the United States Navy.

The Ambleside School Choir sang a medley of songs prior to the keynote address by Rice.

A rifle salute followed by the Nimitz Living History Detachment and “Taps” were echoed by Bill Smallwood and Lt. Col. Randy Richter (ret.).

The National Security Agency/CSS retired the colors.

Following the program was a bagpiper presentation in the Samuel B. Roberts Pavilion.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Filing opened Saturday, Nov. 9 for candidates wanting to run in the Gillespie County political party primary elections, set for March 4, 2014.

The primary races will define party candidates ahead of the Nov. 4, 2014 general election.

As of press time Wednesday morning, no contested races have developed.

County posts up for election this year include:

County Judge — Incumbent Mark Stroeher has filed for re-election.

County Clerk — Incumbent Mary Lynn Rusche has filed for re-election.

District Clerk — Jan Davis has not yet filed for re-election.

County Treasurer — Laura Lundquist has filed for re-election.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

By Richard Zowie —

The Fredericksburg Independent School District board of trustees voted at their Monday, Nov. 11 regular meeting to begin soliciting bids for three projects that would be financed from the capital projects fund.

Those projects are a new ag facility, renovation of Fredericksburg High School Stadium and track and the replacement of the Fredericksburg Middle School’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system.

At the meeting, they also discussed possibly using effluent water for high school sports fields and money saved in an energy conservation program.

This week, the trustees will also continue their superintendent search and further narrow the field.

Special building projects

According to financial figures, the FISD currently has a little under $9 million in its capital projects fund.

The trustees examined one estimate on the ag facility, three on the FHS stadium field and one on the FMS HVAC program.

The ag estimate was about $1.6 million, which it may bid in parts, while the football field estimates ranged from $750,000 to about $820,000. The FMS HVAC estimate was for $1.9 million.

Board president Lorrie Hess added that the current estimates were merely to give the board an idea of plans and rough financial estimates. They will solicit formal bids for each project.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Readers of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post will be receiving their newspaper one day early next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, Nov. 28.

The newspaper will be published on Tuesday, Nov. 26, instead of the regular publication date of Wednesday, Nov. 27.

As a result, home delivery subscribers will receive their papers on Tuesday afternoon while local readers who normally receive their paper in the mail on Thursday should get their copies on Wednesday.

With the early publication date, the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post has also announced that deadlines for inserting news items and advertisements in next week’s paper have been moved up.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Hill Country Memorial Hospital has received special recognition in the Malcolm Baldrige Best Practice category for Leadership.

HCM Hospital and Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., are the only two hospitals in the U.S. to merit that distinction in the 2013 award process.

HCM will be recognized and presented the Best Practice Leadership achievement in April 2014, at the National Baldrige Quest for Excellence Conference in Baltimore, Md.

On Nov. 12, HCM Chief Executive Officer Jayne Pope received news of the Best Practice Leadership recognition from Robert Fangmeyer, executive director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“Being considered for the Baldrige award is validation of our remarkable team members’ work and their commitment to provide quality, compassionate care to the communities we serve. We could not be more proud.” Pope said. “Going through the selection process has been a valuable experience, and to be recognized for Best Practice in Leadership is an incredible honor.”

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

By Richard Zowie —

The end of a nearly 140-year era is approaching for two Fredericksburg businesses with 19th century roots.

The Beckmann Furniture Company closed on Jan. 1, 2013, and the Beckmann Funeral Home will close in 2014.

The properties are being sold to Security State Bank, which is located in front of them at 201 West Main Street.

On Tuesday, Nov. 19, a heavy equipment truck was at work tearing down the furniture store. That lot is being converted into a new parking lot for the bank.

Randall Beckmann, who has co-owned the businesses with his mother, Jan Beckmann, and his sister, Barbi Hagel, said the funeral home would close “sometime after January 1.”

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

One team and two individuals have qualified for state competition following the District 4-H Food Show and Nutrition Quiz Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Kerrville Church of Christ.

The 4-Hers compete in three divisions (junior, intermediate and senior,) but only senior division winners are eligible to advance to the state level.

Advancing to the State 4-H Roundup in College Station in June will be the Senior Quiz Bowl Team and Food Show winners Rachel Howell and Dylan Sione.

Serving as judges or volunteers/coaches at the District 4-H Food Show and Nutrition Quiz Bowl contest were Cheryl Sione, Danielle Granville, Shelly Verstuyft, Karen Watson, Megan Skelton and James Heimann.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

More than 200 riders took to Gillespie County’s back roads to challenge themselves and get an eyeful of picturesque fall color.

The 14^th Annual Fall Foliage Frolic Bicycle Tour was held Saturday, headquartered at the Tatsch House at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park.

“Riders took part on one of three routes, including 25 miles, 42.3 miles and 58.5 miles,” said Ethel Pedraza, spokesperson with the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club, which sponsored the event.

That club also hosts the LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour, which is held annually each March. 

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

Axis, elk, alligator, and …prizes?!...are all on the menu for the Gillespie County Wild Game Dinner this Saturday, Nov. 23.

The Gillespie County Fair Grounds will open at 5:30 p.m. for a night of exotic tastes, hunters’ exhibits, prize giveaways, auctions and more.

Admission tickets cost $20 per person and may be purchased at Arrowhead Bank, Stroeher & Olfers and Lochte Feed and General Store in Fredericksburg, as well as at Allied Ag in Stonewall. Prize drawing tickets are also available for purchase at those locations.

Admission and prize tickets may also be purchased at the door on Saturday night.

This year, organizers have planned for additional seating areas, plus have gathered some 20 percent more prizes for the drawings so that the item giveaway list numbers well over 200 items.

Also featured Saturday night will be a silent auction featuring over 100 items, among them four guns.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!