Huntsville celebrates 40th annual fair on the square

The city of Huntsville’s 40^th annual Fair on the Square went off without a hitch, Saturday, Oct 4, where hundreds of patrons gathered to support the growth of local businesses.

Friday evening, the celebration began with local band Jerry Diaz and Hanna’s Reef holding a pre-fair concert at the Huntsville Beer Garden.

More than 300 booths lined the streets surrounding the Walker County Courthouse, selling everything from clothing and jewelry to deep-fried alligator.

The event kicked off at 12:00 pm, with a local cover band playing a variety of music, including classic rock, country and Texas beach music.

People from across the county and beyond, showed up to experience first-hand the excitement and deals that the annual Fair brings to Huntsvillians and shop owners alike.

The day brought with it weather perfect for the outdoor activities, countering last year’s scorching temperatures that sent many scurrying for cover. The owner of one antique booth deemed the weather, “absolutely perfect for sitting outside all day.”

Additionally, many stores made their debut appearance at the Fair, similar to Barbwire Barbie Boutique, a shop that travels to shows and fairs around Texas, and is owned and operated by Samantha Humphrey. The Boutique was helped by Huntsville city councilwoman Tish Humphrey, who greeted guests and aided in the upkeep of the booth.

In addition to the standard shopping experience found around Huntsville the fair was joined by food carts and stands from around the area that greeted patrons with more than the typical snow cones and lemonade.

Authentic gyros and fried alligator and shrimp attracted enough attention that one booth was forced to close down early after running out of supplies.

The fair came to an end around 5:00 pm as the band wrapped up the evening with a rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s 1969 Woodstock National Anthem and the crowds began to thin.

This proved popular with the masses, who made the fair visibly more popular than it had been last year, by far.

Montgomery Road collision sends one to hospital

This occurred outside of my apartment last night.

Banishment

After the publication of a recent article I wrote the Houstonian received a complaint from a fairly prominent board of directors in Huntsville.

As a result I have basically been banished from writing anymore. My editor has removed me from all long form reporting. They have me only writing briefs, and short stories on small time local events.

HEART OFFICIALLY BROKEN.

Ray Jasper executed for 1998 murder

Former small-time rapper Ray Jasper, 33, of San Antonio was executed Wednesday at approximately 6:35 p.m. for the 1998 murder of a David Alejandro.

Jay Jordan| Houstonian

Jasper was convicted of capital murder pursuant to Texas penal code § 19.03(a)in the 1998 case of Alejandro’s murder.

Alejandro, 33, was a recording artist, local musician and owner of his own recording studio in San Antonio. He was found murdered in his studio in an apparent robbery attempt.

Police arrested Jasper near the crime scene after he began acting strangely, according to KTRK-TV ABC 13.He was later found to have stolen between $10,000 and $30,000 in equipment from Alejandro’s studio.

During the trial, Jasper’s former girlfriend testified that he had planned the robbery of Alejandro’s recording studio and the possibility of murdering Alejandro as well. He went so far as to recruit two others to assist in the attack, according to the 1998-1999 police investigation.

With the aid of Steve Russell and Doug Williams, Jasper slit Alejandro’s throat before one of the trio stabbed the man to death. Russell and Williams received life sentences for their parts in the crime.

During the 2000 trial, the prosecution presented both DNA and fingerprint evidence of Jasper’s involvement. The jury handed down a guilty verdict after 15 minutes of deliberation, according to the trial logs.

Jasper was 18 at the time the crime was committed, according to the Associated Press. He spent his subsequent 14 years on death row unsuccessfully attempting to appeal the court’s decision.

As of February, Jasper gained some notoriety with the publication of seven-page letterhe wrote to Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan.

In the letter Jasper calls the prison system a slave industry and calls into question the sentences placed on some of his fellow inmates.

“I know a man who was 24 years old and received 160 years in prison for two aggravated robberies where less [than] $500 was stole and no violence took place,” Jasper said. “There are guys walking around with 200 year sentences and they’re not even 30 years old. It’s outrageous.”

In response to the letter, Alejandro’s brother, Steven Alejandro, noted Jasper’s inabilityto accept his fault in the crime and showed no sympathy toward the convicted.

“He has never accepted culpability or expressed remorse.” Alejandro said. “He is responsible for viciously ending the life of ‘the nicest man he ever met.’”

Members of the Texas Death Penalty Abolitionist Movement read poetry from Jasper’s recent book outside Huntsville’s Walls Unit just moments before he was executed as a form of protest against the death penalty.

Despite a personal aversion for the death penalty Alejandro told the 1.7 million readers on Gawker that Jasper wasn’t worthy of the cause.

“I have to say to my fellow death penalty opponent friends: Keep up your fight,” Alejandro said. “It is an honorable one. But do not use this man, Ray Jasper, as your spokesperson.”

Alejandro said he would not attend the execution, according to a statement he provided in his letter.

Jasper was executed by way of lethal injection, a practice recently called into question due to a nation-wide shortage of pentobarbital, a lethal drug delivered to death row inmates.

Yet, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice recently purchased enough of the drug to carry out the executions of five inmates, including Jasper, according to NBC News.

Bomb threat was hoax, police say

An icy half-day quickly became one of shivering terror after a bomb threat was called into the Lee Drain Building at Sam Houston State University Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of Stacy Hood |The Houstonian

An unknown individual called a high-traffic, on-campus phone number claiming a bomb had been placed in LDB, according to Ron Cleere, the University Police Department’s patrol sergeant and lead investigator.

According to Cleere, the call was made from apayphone outside of Huntsville to a common number.

Once aware of the situation, UPD released a KatSafe Alert at 1:13 p.m. and began clearing students, faculty and staff from the building.

UPD responded to the building and used the fire alarm to evacuate the building, Cleeresaid.

At the time of the evacuation, many students were unaware of the circumstances surrounding the sudden interruption of their classes.

“We were sitting in the middle of class when the alarm went off,” freshman criminal justice major Roby Pennartz said. “We were kind of nonchalant about it and thought it was just the tornado drill that was supposed to happen.”

Pennartz was referring to Wednesday’s planned tornado drill.

Pennartz said even with such little preemptive notice of the circumstances, students were calm about the evacuation process.

“No one really knew what was going on, so there really wasn’t a reason for anyone to be chaotic,” Pennartz said.

After successfully evacuating all persons from Lee Drain, UPD officers swept the building in search of the alleged explosive but found nothing.

A K-9 unit from Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was used to sweep the building yet found nothing of suspicion. The K-9 unit gave the all-clear at 3:20 p.m. and declared it safe for re-entry.

At 3:45 p.m., two and a half hours after the initial alert, a second KatSafe alert was released clearing the building for re-entry and allowing students to return to classes.

According to Cleere, while the evacuation of the building was quick, the perpetrator still managed to get a reaction out of the university, which was more than enough for them.

“I think we did very well,” Cleere said. “It was a very professional and orderly evacuation. But someone obviously wanted to cause a reaction and that’s what they got.”

No arrests have been made by press time.

If anyone has any information in relation to this criminal threat, call UPD at 936-294-1794.

Incumbents Otto, Brady sail through primaries

By: Kassidy Turnpaugh, Jay Jordan

Texas’s incumbent representatives successfully defended their spots on the November ticket after primary elections votes were tallied Tuesday.

Graphic courtesy of Lillie Muyskens | The Houstonian

The primaries select which candidate each party wants on the November ticket, but for Huntsville’s Republican candidates who do not have a non-Republican opponent, the winner of the primary essentially wins the position for which they’re running.

ALMOST OTTO-MATICALLY

State Rep. John Otto, R-District 18, has claimed victory for his fifth consecutive election.

Otto has held his title since 2004, but this is only the second time he has faced a challenger in the Republican primaries.

Taking to Facebook after the results came in, Otto expressed his appreciation of the continued support he has received.

“[My wife] and I would like to thank you for your encouragement and support,” Otto said. “I am grateful and humbled by your confidence to continue representing your interests in Austin. God bless you and the great state of Texas.”

Otto took the polls with 61.8 percent of the nominative votes, according to the Texas Tribune.

Challenged only by fellow Republican Terry Holcomb, and having no Democratic opponent for the fifth time, Otto has an all-but-guaranteed return to the Texas House of Representatives awaiting him.

Holcomb, a newcomer to Texas political races, received 38.2 percent of the vote.

Despite a somber loss, Holcomb exited with a final call to action and a reminder of all his campaign represented.

“We fought a good fight,” Holcomb said. “We were able to bring something to District 18 that has been missing for some time. Truth, hope, conviction and the desire to right the wrongs in our state. This fire that has been lit will not be extinguished now.”

Holcomb also eluded to his potential run in the 2016 representative elections and refused to view Otto’s win as a loss for his campaign.

“This is far from over, and we now begin the journey to 2016,” Holcomb said. “I want to thank all of my many friends, family and volunteers and my amazing campaign team. Last night was not a loss. It was a building block to victory.”

KEV-WIN BRADY

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-District 8, came out on top after 68 percent of voters chose him to be the only major-party candidate on the November ticket.

After ousting fellow Republican challenger Craig McMichaels, who only received 32 percent of the vote, Brady said on Facebook he was “appreciative.”

“In an anti-incumbent year it was a decisive win, and I have [my constituents] to thank,” Brady said. “Now, let’s get back to work in Washington to stop the liberal Obama agenda and get our country back on track.”

McMichaels said that although he lost the election, he was still victorious in one way.

“Although this is not the result we were working for or expecting we did pull off a small victory in the fact that no other opponent to Brady has ever received more than 23 percent of the vote,” McMichaels said on Facebook. “We would like to thank the many supporters, volunteers, and poll workers who have dedicated a large portion of their time to get us to this point.”

Before the vote, Brady announced that he is challenging Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., in the bid for the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Midterm elections will be Nov. 4.

Campus police bust women with quarter pound of marijuana

A February drug bust has the Walker County district attorney’s office filing drug charges against two women who were allegedly transporting massive amounts of marijuana.

University Police Patrol Officer Keith Underwood pulled over a reportedly stolen car at 12:07 a.m. Feb. 16 at the 500 block of IH-45and found that the car contained two women and approximately a quarter pound of marijuana.

The alleged driver, Tiffiney Holland, was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and a state jail felony of possession of marijuana, while the alleged passenger, Ashley Battie, was charged with felony possession of marijuana.

Since the pair were allegedly carrying more than two ounces of marijuana, they could face fines of up to $10,000 and 180 days in a state jail if convicted.

At this time it is unknown whether the two women will face any additional charges such as intent to distribute.

A trial date has not been set for Holland or Battie.

Although it is not uncommon for Sam Houston State University Police Department to come across drug-related contraband, the amount of marijuana allegedly found in this case made the situation more unique than others, according to Police Chief Kevin Morris.

“It is not unusual or surprising, but it’s not all that often.” Morris said.

The bust is reminiscent of a similar occurrence in Bearkat Village during the fall semester of 2012 where UPD seized nearly half a pound of marijuana from a student.

Despite being the fourth most common crime that UPD sees, according to their yearly statistics, the number of drug offenses has been drastically decreasing.

The number of arrests related to drug crime has dropped from 80 arrests in 2012 to 37 in 2013.

Obamacare is put on hold for small business owners

Another delay was added to the Affordable Care Act Monday and its mission to help every American obtain a form of health insurance.

Courtesy of Jay Jordan

Initially intended to make sure that all small business employers would provide proper health coverage to all full-time employees, ACA set an original deadline for compliance for Jan.1, 2014.

The White House announced the second of two delays on this section of ACA, setting the new date for January 2016.

The part of the ACA in question applies only to employers with between 50 and 99 employees, but Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) finds the situation to be a sign of impending issues with the ACA.

“I think local businesses of all sizes are hurt by ACA,” Brady said. “Delaying mandates a year doesn’t solve the problem here.”

As it faces pushback and delay with smaller businesses, ACA continues to press with Brady and his steady opposition to the Act.

The delay adds two more years of “uncertainty” according to Diane Calmus, Legislative Assistant to Brady.

“What it is doing is delaying the date by which the employers have to either provide coverage or pay a fine,” Calmus said.

However, some business owners are thankful of the delay.

“I am quite pleasantly surprised,” National Retail Federation spokesman Neil Trautwein said to Reuters. “This is beginning to look more like something the business community can live with.”

The president continues to postpone the realization of his flagship legislation in an effort to appeal to voters in anticipation of the upcoming midterm elections, according to Brady.

“The president doesn’t want to be held accountable,” Brady said. “The law just isn’t ready. The answer is for all mandates to be repealed.”

While small business owners can take a deep breath and reevaluate how to handle the eventual implementation of the mandate, individuals in need of insurance do not have so much time.

The official deadline to gain insurance and avoid paying fines is March 31 and open enrollment will not reopen until September 1.

Any persons without coverage between these dates will be subject to finesof one percent of their yearly household income, or $95 per person in a household. The latter method caps off at $285.

In addition, the fines accumulate on a monthly basis and average out at the cost of coverage.

Execution

I live in Huntsville, Texas, a town known primarily for the fact that we perform executions.

That being said there is almost always a wealth of protestors and they were definitely hanging around town yesterday.

The execution of convicted murderer Suzanne Basso occurred yesterday and was, as usual, surrounded by protesters and supporters.

This also led to everyone in town talking about the case and their stance on the death penalty.

What really pushes my buttons is people who want to say the punishment was too harsh without knowing the case details.

This woman convinced a mentally disabled man to come down here in 1998 under pretense that she loved him.

Once he arrived she held him captive and tortured him, as well as convinced other parties to join in on the abuse.

She also openly admitted to having a sexual relationship with her mental ill son.

Nonetheless, she tortured this man to death.

If you want more horrid detail, trust me you can find it out there.

Its just despicable.

Laptop Bull Crap

I honestly don’t think I can handle anymore bad luck or bull crape from life.

A while back my laptop broke and I took it to Affordable PC Repair in Huntsville, Texas.

Originally I was told my PC would be ready fir pick up after two days. I show up three days later and they haven’t even looked at it.

The kid there then tells me he has been trying to pry the disk drive out of the PC by force. I have to show this guy his to actually take apart my computer.

At this point I am understandably nervous to leave my laptop with these people who did not even know how to work with a Lenovo.

I wait for my ride home and while I am waiting the kid tells me he cant work with me hovering. Of course this posses me off more.

I leave my PC there because there is no other repair shop in town.

A week later I get a call from the repair shop. They found that my PC has a broken motherboard.

Interesting enough seeing as that wasn’t the problem when I took it in. It is now a $700.00 paper weight and my position at the newspaper is in jeopardy.

When they told me the motherboard was broken I asked for the price on a new one without installation and they told me $300.00. I look up the proper motherboard later and it is only $80.00.

I swear to Glob. I have the worst frickin’ luck with computer repair services.

My last laptop I took in to have my screen repaired by Bestbuy. While they had my PC they managed to physically break my harddrive.

I am so close to losing my whit right now that it has lost all semblance of humor.

I make this posy so that if any persons near Huntsville, Texas ever read this they will know to never go near Affordable PC Repairs.

They are incompetent, rude, unreasonable, lazy and irresponsible not to mention shifty and will fudge prices when you talk to them.

They quoted me $60.00 to look at my computer only to quote my mother $45.00 and call me a liar when it came to the price and date quotes they originally gave me.