C4 The Fayette County Record, Friday, April 10, 2020 ......2020/04/10 · C4 The Fayette County...

C4 The Fayette County Record, Friday, April 10, 2020

VEGA LANDSCAPE• Lawn mowing • Flower beds • Fireplaces • Patios & Walkways • Rock Work • Chimney sweep

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SHREDDING and LAWN mowing jobs needed (years of experience) for retired dude with new tractor and now a lawn mower - Call (979) 966-7847 leave message.

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HOME REMODELING - cabinets - sheetrock - flooring - siding - painting - electrical - garages - shops -Thomas Faldyn (979) 702-1486

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GUNSLINGER FIREARMS - Gunsmithing, transfers, firearm sales - in stock or special order. 826 Old Lockhart Rd., La Grange, TX 78945 - (979) 253-0121

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NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED REVISION TO THE STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The Texas Commission on En-vironmental Quality (TCEQ) will offer a public hearing in Austin on May 18, 2020 at 2 p.m. at the TCEQ Park 35 Offi ce Complex, 12100 Park 35 Circle, Building E, Room 201S, Austin or remotely on the same day and time if necessary due to CO-VID-19 restrictions. The hearing is offered to receive testimony regarding a proposed voluntary Agreed Order with the Low-er Colorado River Authority (LCRA) Sam Seymour Fayette Power Project in Fayette County (Project No. 2020-022-SIP-NR) and proposed State Implemen-tation Plan Revision Regarding

Planned Startup and Shutdown Emissions for Certain Electric Generating Units (Project No. 2020-028-SIP-NR). Written comments will be accepted until May 26, 2020 and may be sub-mitted electronically at: https://www6.tceq.texas.gov/rules/ecomments/. For more informa-tion, visit the New Source Re-view Announcements webpage at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/nav/nsr_news.html or the Title V Operat-ing Permits Announcements webpage at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/nav/titlev_news.html. Please check these webpages before the hear-ing date for information about accommodations if the hearing must be conducted remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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ENGLE FARMERS MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION, INC. 310 F.M. 2238 Schulenburg, TX 78956

(979) 561-8132 (800) 571-7107 Fax# (979) 561-8173

ENGLE FARMERS MUTUAL INSURANCE - ANNUAL MEETING

HAS BEEN CANCELLED

The annual membership meeting of the Engle Farmers Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. scheduled for Saturday April 25, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at the KC Hall in Schulenburg HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

The meeting is RESCHEDULED for SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2020.

The membership will be notified of the rescheduled meeting as required by the Association By-Laws.

At this time, the office is closed to the public, but the employees are at the office to conduct business as usual. We are accepting payments during regular business hours (8:30 – 4:30) in a drop box at the front door. If you have any questions about your policy or to file a claim, please call the office at 979 561-8132.

Please publish the above article as a Legal Notice

Friday 04-12-2019, 4-19-2019, 4-26-2019Fayette County Record Jackie Daniels ph. 979 968-3155 [email protected]

SERVICES

FOR SALEAIR COMPRESSORS in stock - Ingersol-Rand. Also, Victor torches & Miller welders & supplies. See @ Electric Motor Service. 840 N. Jefferson, La Grange.

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MOBILE HOMES

BULLS FOR Sale - Black Angus, Limousin, Sim-Angus. Locally raised - Gentle. Breeding Ages. Top bloodlines. Family owned since 1975. Delivery available. Also Heifers. (979) 263-5829

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FOR SALE - 2-3/8", 2-7/8", 4-1/2", & 5" pipe. Also sucker rods. (979) 966-3447.

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LIVESTOCK / HAY

WE HAVE several sets of keys looking for their owners. You can come in to identify them at The Fayette County Record.

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FOUND ON the courthouse square Sunday: JLab wireless earbud case with the right earbud inside. If it’s yours, come pick up at The Fayette County Record office.

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FOUND

As the coronavirus pandemic threatens public health and the U.S. economy, more people are working from home on a regular basis. The move follows social dis-tancing guidelines as an attempt to slow the outbreak, but keeping scattered workforces connected and productive can be challenging for managers and employees.

“This is new terrain for all involved, but employees and their companies can come out of this stronger by learning how to work together even better while they’re physically apart,” says Dr. Jim Guilkey, author of M-Pact Learn-ing: The New Competitive Advan-tage — What All Executives Need To Know.

“Optimally, working remotely can sharpen the skills you have and open new avenues of training that broaden skill-sets and increase results. But technology alone can’t

smooth the transition to remote working, and both employees and business leaders must learn how to implement new structures and some new or tweaked processes.”

Dr. Guilkey offers tips for both managers and associates to make working from home work out well for their companies:

For employees:•Get started early. “When

going to the office, you normally get up and out the door early,” Dr. Guilkey says. “At home, this is more difficult. Get up, take a shower, and get started.”

• Create a dedicated work space. People who haven’t worked remotely may need to experiment with different approaches to find what setting works best for them. “Just because you’re not going to the office doesn’t mean you can’t have an office. Dedicate a specific room or surface in your home to

work,” Dr. Guilkey says. “You should associate your home office with your actual office. This cre-ates the correct mindset for being productive.”

• Structure your day like you would in the office. Workers need to adopt exceptional conscien-tiousness when it comes to divid-ing their day into intensive work, communications, personal time and family life,” Dr. Guilkey says. “Have an agenda. Schedule meet-ings and project time and stay on schedule.”

For managers: • Set expectations. “It is vital

that employees know what is ex-pected of them,” Dr. Guilkey says. “When will you be available? How long will it take to get back to someone?”

•� Create a cadence of com-munication. Without daily face-to-face interaction, there’s more im-

portance on communication. “A rhythm of communication is vital – daily check-ins, weekly one-on-ones, weekly team meetings, etc. ” Dr. Guilkey says.

• Take a video-first approach. “Video, with all the current tech-nology, is the most effective means of remote communication,” Dr. Guilkey says. “Invest in reliable tools.”

•Maintain company social bonds. One drawback of working remotely is the potential breaking of social bonds that are necessary for productive teamwork. “Video conferencing or a quick Google chat with a colleague is vital to keep relationships strong,” Dr. Guilkey says. “Employees miss face-to-face banter and impromp-tu discussions in the physical of-fice, so seeing faces on the screen daily is optimal for morale and a sense of normalcy.”

New To Working From Home Full-Time? Here are Some Tips on Staying Productive

There’s more For the Record

on Page A2 & C1

This news-paper is re-cyclable. Do your part to protect our future.

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Copyright 2020,The Fayette County Record, Inc.

La Grange, Texas 78945 Volume 98, Number 39 One Dollar per Copy

THE FAYETTE COUNTY RECORD

For The

record

TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2020

Burn Ban Is LiftedBurn Ban Is Lifted

WEATHER WATCH

This Week’s Forecast High LowTuesday: 79 67 50% chance of rainWednesday: 82 69 40% chance of rainThursday: 80 65 50% chance of rainFriday: 68 48 50% chance of rain

By ANDY BEHLENThe Fayette County Record

County Judge Joe Weber is-sued a local disaster declaration in response to coronavirus con-cerns Friday afternoon, March 13.

Weber also ordered the can-celling of the upcoming spring antiques shows in Round Top and Warrenton, an event that an-nually draws thousands of ven-dors and visitors from around the U.S. and the world.

“Though we have no cases of coronavirus in the county, and thus no loss of life, I can-not and will not put our county health providers in a position where they will be potentially overloaded by large numbers of people who might not really need treatment, but through fear and uncertainty might feel like they do,” Weber told the Record Friday afternoon.

“Large groups gathered at

once in our county, coming from all over the state, the country and even international areas have a potential to put significant stress on our providers, particularly with the coronavirus issues we now face,” Weber added.

Weber said Fayette County’s high population of senior citi-zens weighed heavily in his de-cision. Federal and state health experts say the elderly are par-ticularly at risk of serious illness or death from the coronavirus.

“We have to reduce expo-sure to them anyway we can,” Weber said.

The antiques shows are the only events Weber specifically ordered to be shut down. He called for organizers of other gatherings around the county to consider canceling their events as well.

“For other events scheduled in our county, some of which


Fred Houston and his fam-ily lost most of their belong-ings in a house fire in Freyburg. The home they were renting on Salem-Freyburg Road burned to the ground early Friday morn-ing, March 13.

Flatonia Fire Chief John Burleson said his department got the call around 11:20 p.m. Thursday night. The occupants were able to escape, although a six-year-old boy suffered from smoke inhalation, Burleson said.

“We think it was an electri-cal outlet,” Burleson said Friday morning, regarding the cause of the fire.

Flatonia Fire and Rescue responded with 12 firefighters. The house was fully engulfed in flames when the first units arrive. Burleson called for assis-

Pictured above are the remnants of the house the burned down on Salem-Freyburg Road early Friday morning, March 13. Photo by Andy Behlen

The home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived Fri-day morning.

Coronavirus: The Side EffectsGrocery Stores Packed, Many Events Cancelled as County Disaster Declaration Follows U.S., Texas Actions

Fayette County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) issued a statement to the public after they noted a rise in requests for service over the weekend.

“Due to the recent influx of concerns regarding the Coro-navirus, it is the perfect time to remind our citizens that ap-propriate reasons to call 911 for ambulance transport:

• Please do not call 911 for “flu-like” symptoms.

• Paramedics and EMTs have to transport patients to the Emergency Room and this will expose our EMS personnel, ER, staff and other patients to the potentially communicable viruses.

• Tying up ambulances for a non-emergency calls will likely delay our response to a true life-threatening emergency

• Any flu-like symptoms re-quest for an ambulance will take that unit, and staff, out of ser-

vice while it has to be cleaned through a decontamination pro-cess

• We are a rural department with a fixed number of staff and ambulances and cannot logisti-cally support an increase in non-emergency calls

• If you have a true medical emergency, call 911.

“If you have flue like symp-toms call your personal physi-cian’s office or 1-844-835-2748 (Tejas Health Care) to discuss treatment options over the phone or for any clarification you may need.

“Physicians can give the best recommendation over the phone without tying up an ambulance or overcrowding the Emergency room. Let’s limit the exposure of any illnesses in the waiting room setting and let’s keep our healthcare providers healthy so they can be there when our com-munity needs them most.”

Coronavirus Impact:• Antique Shows cancelled by order of the county judge’s disaster declaration

• Numerous other local events (from the Herb Forum and Festival Hill to the Country Music Opry at the KC Hall in La Grange) were cancelled out of precaution. • All Fayette County Schools closed this week (though LGISD was an-nounced they would be providing breakfast, lunch, and snacks to LGISD students at the student drop off area on Milam St. from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., March 16-20.

• All school extracurricular activities across the state were cancelled for the next two weeks by the UIL.

• Though local workers performed heroically, some empty shelves (particularly of toilet paper) and long lines at grocery stores greeted shoppers looking to stock up to stay at home for an extended period of time to wait out the virus. HEB modified its store hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to allow workers to better replenish shelves.

EMS Issues Recommendations Judge: ‘Reduce Exposure Any Way We Can’

People flocked to local grocery stores, stocking up to prepare to extended stays at home because of the coronavirus.

See County Judge, back page

By JEFF WICKThe Fayette County Record

Last week most events in Fayette County were still going on as planned, and that included the Best Little Cowboy Gather-ing in Texas at the Fayette Coun-ty Fairgrounds in La Grange.

And while the parking lot of the grounds were filled with RVs from as far away as Iowa and South Dakota, Ben Nestrell and his wife Nobby won the prize for farthest travelled.

They live in Australia, but Ben is a ultra-fan of old-time country music.

“Not the country music on big labels, but music with the fiddle, the steel guitar, I love Ray Price,” Ben said. “I love all the artists that are playing here. I have an excel spreadsheet with all the dancehalls and the perfor-

mances. I’ve been to Texas twice before.”

And even the coronavirus scare was not going to stop him from this trip, which included a 16-hour flight.

“In Australia things are pretty much like they are here I guess,” Ben said. “We’re not shaking hands.”

But even Thursday the coro-navirus had already impacted their trip. Ben grew up in Swe-den and he and his wife had made plans to join a Swedish tour group in Austin this week for more dancehall and country music festivities, but that tour was cancelled after the Euro-pean travel ban was announced, leaving the Nestrells scrambling to make travel arrangements on their own for after the Cowboy Gathering.

Australians Dance Their Way to Cowboy Gathering

Ben Nestrell and his wife Nobby came all the way from Australia to dance at the Cowboy Gathering Thursday. Photo by Jeff Wick

tance from the Schulenburg Vol-unteer Fire Department, which sent a tanker truck and another six personnel. Three vehicles were also damaged in the fire. Firefighters finished putting out

the blaze and left the scene af-ter 2 a.m. Fayette County EMS treated the home occupants at the scene. Deputy Ryan Mea-gher of the Fayette County Sher-iff’s Office also assisted.

Home Burns in Freyburg

With lots of local cancella-tions because of coronavirus concerns, please check with or-ganizers of events to make sure these submitted events will still be held:

Reunion Cancelled The Hostyn-Radhost School

reunion set for March 21 has been cancelled.

CDA Court #1962 The Catholic Daughters of

the Americas, Court Annuncia-tion No. 1962 family/anniver-sary dinner that was scheduled for Sunday, March 29 has been postponed and will be resched-uled.

Veterans Honor Veterans of Foreign Wars

(VFW) and the VFW Auxiliary will honor area veterans of Op-eration Desert Storm, the Ko-sovo Campaign and of Somalia at their March 17 gathering at the VFW Post Home at the Fay-ette County Fairgrounds North of La Grange on Hwy. 77. The Auxiliary will furnish a light meal at 6 p.m. and the Post will furnish drinks before the meal. All veterans and their spouses are invited to attend. Call (979) 968-3647 for more information.

Bluebonnet Opry The Friends of Bluebonnet

Opry meets on March 19 at the Silver Wings Ballroom in Brenham. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 along with door prizes. Funds are donated to Hospice Brazos Valley. Visit www.friendsofbluebonnetopry.com for more information.

Beyond GriefA six-week grief class about

moving forward is open to adults grieving the loss of a loved one. The recommended bereavement period of three months prior to participation is required. Call (979) 968-6913 to register for next series.

German SocietyThe Texas German Society

meets the fourth Monday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Randolph Recreation Center located at 653 E. Pearl Street in La Grange. Light snacks will be served and visitors are always welcome.

College Update Fitzpatrick at SHSU, B2


on Page A2

WEATHER WATCH

This Week’s Forecast High LowFriday: 76 58 Clear and coldSaturday: 76 61 Partly cloudySunday: 76 61 Partly cloudyMonday: 76 63 20% chance of rain

INSIDE TODAYSociety ........................ Page A4Obituaries ................... Page A5Sports ......................... Page B1Weekend ..................... Page C1Classifieds ...............Page C2-4Opinion ....................... Page D1Crossword .................. Page D2


INSIDEINSIDE


FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020



Increasingly, it appears an unseen death toll of the coro-navirus pandemic may be small businesses.

Susan Kuehler, co-owner of Bistro 108 in downtown La Grange said her business is down 90-percent in recent days. Tuesday they served four tables at lunch and 10 to-go orders.

People are staying home because of the fears of the pan-demic and/or because of govern-mental suggestions to do so.

“It’s hitting us very, very hard. We’re not 100-percent sure we’re going to survive,” Kuehler said.

Bistro employs 13 people and Kuehler said all have scaled back from 40 hours a week to 21.

“It’s the only way we could afford to stay open,” she said.

Many Fayette County busi-nesses like Bistro have faced the double whammy of less custom-ers now and the loss of the lucra-

tive Antique Show crowds after that three-week extravaganza was cancelled because of coro-navirus fears.

Kuehler said her husband and business partner Mike Mc-Cathern operates a wine bar for two weeks at The Compound during the antiques shows, and she has a restaurant at Round Top’s Henkel Hall that serves 300-400 people a day.

None of that will happen now.

“We really do live for those shows,” Kuehler said. “It pro-vides us with capital to pay bills throughout the year.”

Among the four tables that dined in at Bistro Tuesday was Craig Moreau, Chief of Emer-gency Management and Home-land Security in Fayette County.

“He looked at the things we were doing (in terms of safety, sanitation, increased distancing between tables, etc.) and said we’re doing everything right,” Kuehler.

But still the people are miss-

ing.“Every day is a new day, to-

morrow we’ll get up and come to work for as long as we can,” Kuehler said.

Wednesday they announced they were offering to-go food only.

Already Having to Consider ‘What am I Going to Cut?’

Over at La Grange City Hall, which closed its doors to the public at 10 a.m. Tuesday (though all city staff was sup-posed to be reachable by phone or email) La Grange City Man-ager Shawn Raborn said things will be rough for lots of local small businesses – and the city itself.

“There could be a huge number of our small business-es, down 20-30-50 percent,” Raborn said.

Eventually that trickles


Someone broke two win-dows at Adamcik’s Serivce Sta-tion in La Grange over the week-end. The business is located at the corner of Travis Street and Water Street, just east of the old river bridge.

La Grange Police Chief Da-vid Gilbreath said the owners re-ported the incident on Saturday, March 14.

“Someone threw two chunks of concrete through the glass windows, one facing Travis Street and the other facing Wa-ter Street,” Gilbreath told the Record on Monday.

Gilbreath said nothing was taken from the business, and there were no signs that anyone entered the business. Gilbreath said police have not determined a motive for the crime. He said the owner did not report any dis-

gruntled customers or employ-ees.

If anyone saw suspicious ac-tivity around the service station, please report it to La Grange Po-lice Department by calling (979) 968-5806.

“It’s just a little bump in the road,” Fred Adamcik said Mon-day afternoon. He said the busi-ness’s insurance is expected to cover the damages.

Adamcik’s Service Station Vandalized

Sheets of plywood covered the broken windows at Adamcik’s Service Station on Monday. Someone threw chunks of concrete through two windows at the business sometime Friday night or early Satur-day morning, March 13-14. Photo by Andy Behlen


La Grange Animal Control Officer Dean Ahlschlager re-moved 10 bats from the Nation-al Bank and Trust drive-through center last week. The building is located at 124 E. Colorado Street. The bats appear to have taken up residence inside a space between the motor bank’s ceiling and roof

“We can’t figure out how

they’re getting in,” Ahlschlager told the Record.

He captured three bats last Monday, three more last Wednesday and another two on Thursday.

“I’ve gotten 10 of them from there altogether,” Ahlschlager said.

“It’s the time of year when bats are migrating,” he added. “I think that’s why we’ve been see-ing more of them.”

Pandemic’s Hidden Death Toll: Small Businesses, Jobs

Many county businesses have gone to drive-through or curbside delivery only, like Super Donuts in La Grange. Others have scaled back hours for workers. Photo by Jeff Wick

Local Owner: ‘We’re not 100-percent sure we’re going to survive’

Bats Withdrawn From Bank Drive-Through

By REGINA KEILERSThe Fayette County Record

Here’s a roundup of infor-mation from Monday’s month-ly meeting of the La Grange School board:

ConstructionTony Nielsen, project man-

ager for the LGISD bond con-struction of Claycomb Con-struction gave an update on the construction of the new school. The renovation of the old ag building is moving fast. It will become the new special edu-cation and technology offices. Walls and studs are up and they are about 15% complete on dry-wall. They are planning to have 100% of the drywall complete sometime next month.

The 100 and 200 wings of the old elementary school came down this week. State Program Certification

The board of trustees of a

school district has the primary responsibility for ensuring that the district and/or schools com-ply with the requirements of the state educational programs. The state program monitoring guide serves an effective tool to ensure that we are in compliance with the requirements of state edu-cation programs. The programs the district is responsible for monitoring include: bilingual education, career and technical education, dyslexia, gifted and talented, prekindergarten notifi-cation and state compensatory education. After reviewing all the applicable indicators, Stacy Eilers reported that LGISD is in compliance within each state program. Residual Gift

The administration was notified in April of 2019 that the district was the beneficiary

More Demolition Happening Quickly at LGISD

One entire classroom wing at La Grange’s Hermes Elementary was reduced to rubble Tuesday morn-ing as the area is cleared for new construction, parking, etc. as part of the ongoing bond package. For perspective, the old cafeteria is in the upper left of the photo. Photo by Jeff Wick

See Businesses, back page

See School board, back page

Second Chance In light of recent concerns

regarding the COVID-19 coro-navirus, Second Chance Empo-rium sales store will be closed through the end of March. Do-nations will continue to be ac-cepted through the end of March using the following schedule: Donations drop-off hours Mon-day-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; closed Saturday and Sun-day. Do not leave donations out-side the gated area.

Farm Bureau In response to the COVID 19

Virus, the Fayette County Farm Bureau Office will be closed to the public starting Wednesday, March 18 until further notice. We will still have staff in the of-fice to make changes, answer bill-ing questions, take payments etc. over the phone, that phone num-ber is (979) 968--5889. If you still need to make payment by check or money order there will be a drop box outside the front door Monday – Friday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. You can also make your payments online and access your policy information on the website www.txfb-ins.com.

Round Top Family Amid growing concerns and

the country’s issuance of a State of Emergency regarding the cor-onavirus the Round Top Family Library will be closed March 16-21 and all programs/classes cancelled this week. Thank you for your support and under-standing. Round Top Family Library is located at 206 W. Mil St. in Round Top. Visit www.il-ovetoread.org or call (979) 249-2700.

Family Time What local families are do-

ing during the pandemic.


The Fayette County Junior Livestock Show was quickly moved up to Thursday and Fri-day this week, March 19-20, in response to the novel corona-virus outbreak. The event was originally scheduled for next weekend, March 26-28.

“The Board of Directors and Committee members decided to move the FCJLS show up to this Thursday and Friday due to the uncertainty of what will happen over the next weeks and months,” said County 4-H Youth Development Agent Kayla Kas-par in a letter to parents sent out

Tuesday. “The sale is postponed to a later date and more informa-tion will be coming about that,”

Stock Show President Wade Mozisek told the Record that show organizers met with the Fayette County Office of Emer-gency Management and the City of La Grange before making the decision. He said the stock show put the following precautions in place at the recommendation of county and city officials:

• Animals will be shown out of their trailers with a few exceptions. There will be no resale, the animal will remain in the child’s possession/property and go home with the child.

• Only one parent will be allowed

Jr. Livestock Show Moved Up; No Spectators Allowed

See Livestock, back page


on Page A2

INSIDE TODAY


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FOR THE

RECORD



WEATHER WATCH

This Week’s Forecast High LowTuesday: 84 59 Partly cloudyWednesday: 88 64 Partly cloudyThursday: 90 68 Partly cloudyFriday: 90 67 Partly cloudy

Sports ......................... Page B1County Living ............. Page C1Classifieds ...............Page C2-4Community ................. Page D1Religion ....................... Page D2Society ........................ Page D3Obituaries ................Page D3-4

Second Chance In light of recent concerns

regarding the COVID-19 Coro-navirus, Second Chance Empo-rium sales store will be closed until further notice. Donations will not be accepted. Please do not leave donations outside the gated area.

Farm Bureau In response to the COVID

19 Virus, the Fayette County Farm Bureau Office will be closed to the Public starting Wednesday, March 18 un-til further notice. We will still have staff in the office to make changes, answer billing ques-tions take payments etc. over the phone, that phone number is (979) 968--5889. If you still need to make payment by check or money order there will be a drop box outside the front door Monday – Friday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. You can also make your payments online and access your policy information on the website is www.txfb-ins.com.

LGISD Offi ce The La Grange ISD Ad-

ministration Office lobby will be closed beginning March 23-27. If you need assistance, con-tact the Administration Office at (979) 968-7000 as phones will be monitored.


Fayette County has its first official case of coronavirus.

Fayette County Emergen-cy Management Chief Craig Moreau confirmed Friday that one Fayette County resident has tested positive for the virus.

Moreau said the person is a

man in his 60s. Moreau would not disclose where he lives and status of family members, citing patient privacy concerns. He did say that man who tested positive is not the individual who was be-ing tested in Schulenburg. The results of the Schulenburg test were not available in time for this publication.

Moreau said the patient is in isolation recovering at home and is “not extremely sick at this point.”

“We’ve been expecting this for a while,” Moreau said. “Frankly, I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen a case until now. It’s going to happen. It’s going to spread. We’re likely to have

more cases.”Moreau said the man is be-

lieved to have been infected through contact with another person outside the county. Tex-as Department of State Health Services has questioned the man about places he has visited, Moreau said. So far, it doesn’t appear that the man had many

contacts with people in Fayette County. Moreau said state offi-cials are looking into the man’s travel outside of the county.

County Judge Joe Weber is-sued a statement Friday about the patient.

“We do know that the per-son infected has had no recently

Above, Fayette County Ag Ex-tension Agent Kayla Kaspar hands out awards for roaster chickens at the Fayette County Junior Livestock Show. Exhibi-tors practiced social distanc-ing by kept plenty of space be-tween each other at the show. Although the show went on, there were few in attendance, and possibly more animals than people. The event was moved up to Thursday and Friday last week in anticipation of corona-virus shut downs. Only one par-ent per exhibitor was allowed to attend. The sale was cancelled. Details about the sale will be announced at a later date. Photos by Andy Behlen

Adjusting, But Carrying on Amidst Social DistancingKeep Six Feet Between Those Chickens

After Weeks of Nervousness, Fayette Co. Has First Confi rmed Coronavirus Case

The lines aren’t long just at the local grocery store. Saturday, Yonder Way Farm just outside Fayetteville had a crush of people there to buy the farm’s fresh eggs, vegetables, bread, milk and meat. (No, there was no toilet paper for sale.) So many people came out for the farm’s regular open market on Satur-day morning that Yonder’s Jason Kramer had to stop cars halfway down the driveway to wait for the sales area to clear. At the farm, Lynsey Kramer and the couple’s four children took orders as shoppers remained in their cars. Then the girls would bring the goods out in bags and boxes. The happy buyers would drive off and Jason would send another half dozen cars down the road. The mood was happy, helpful and grateful. Photo by Bill Bishop

Becoming a Drive-Thru Culture


Few locals have had their lives impacted as much as resi-dents in nursing homes.

No family visits, no volun-teer programming, no eating to-gether in their cafeterias.

Even something as comfort-ing as the weekly bingo games were changed.

And for those residents, that impact started long before most other people in Fayette County.

Way back on March 12, management of Care Inn in La Grange made the decision to close their facilities to anyone but staff, days before it became mandatory nationally.

Chris Slimmer, president and majority owner of LTC Summit, which owns Care Inn and nine other nursing facilities said it was a tough decision but the right one.

“We were certainly worried about the decision. It’s a dignity issue,” Slimmer said. “We strug-

gled with it, We knew we were risking family members being upset with us. We feared losing

residents, families pulling them out of our facility, but we knew that even if that happened, it was

still in the best interest of the safety of everyone.”

Slimmer said the situation

in Washington state, where 30 nursing home residents died, in-fluenced their decision making.

Slimmer said the response from family members of resi-dents has been positive.

“There was a great outpour-ing of support, even at the nine other facilities. They said, ‘we get it, it means a lot to us.’ We have been so appreciative of that understanding, and it made us feel even better about our deci-sion.”

Slimmer said staff members have been assisting residents in the use of I-pads to they can use video technology – Facetime and Skype – to communicate with their families.

But just closing the nursing home to visitors was not enough.

Last week Slimmer said Care Inn started implementing social distancing tactics.

“We couldn’t even have group meals anymore, so the meals are being taken

Virus Concerns Impact Nursing Home Residents Like No Others

Care Inn posted images of residents on their Facebook page, with messages to their loved ones. See Care Inn, back page

See First Case, back page

Native Hero? Case growing that baseball

Hall of Famer was born in Fay-ette County.

See Sports, Page B1


on Page A2

WEATHER WATCH

This Week’s Forecast High LowFriday: 88 70 Partly cloudySaturday: 77 53 40% chance of rainSunday: 78 60 Partly cloudyMonday: 79 61 80% chance of rain

INSIDE TODAYObituaries ................... Page A5Sports ......................... Page B1Weekend ..................... Page C1Classifieds ...............Page C2-4Public Notices ............ Page C4Opinion ....................... Page D1Crossword .................. Page D2


INSIDEINSIDE2020 SPRING/SUMMER

FAYETTE COUNTYWELCOME TO

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

ROUND TOP • SCHULENBURG • FLATONIA • LA GRANGE • FAYETTEVILLE • CARMINE

JUNK GYPSIES

SISTERS AMIE AND JOLIE SIKES PUT DOWN ROOTS IN ROUND TOP

WANDER INNWANDER INNTHE TEXAS

INDEPENDENCE

Wine Trail

FAYETTE COUNTY’S

Concert Scene

A GUIDE TO LOCAL

Church Picnics




FOR THE

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FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020



Even the thieves seem to be heeding warnings about the coronavirus.

Schulenburg Police investi-gated a burglary at Tillie’s Cafe that happened sometime over the weekend. The business is lo-cated at 621 North Main Street in downtown Schulenburg.

Police Chief Troy Brenek

said whoever was responsible pushed in a plexiglass window to gain entry. Once inside, he said they sprayed everything down with a can of Lysol that was found inside the business, before taking $150 in cash, some checks that were already filled out and some ice cream.

“I don’t know what they were going to do with the checks, because it’s not like they

could cash them,” Brenek said.Brenek said the burglar or

burglars left through the front door and locked it behind them. Police found some latent finger-prints, he said. However, he said the coronavirus crisis has slowed processing at the crime lab that the department uses. Therefore, it could take some time to deter-mine whether the prints belong to a suspect or an employee.

Tillie’s announced last week that it would close on Saturdays and would only offer take-out service after Governor Greg Ab-bott ordered restaurants to stop taking dine-in customers last week.

Brenek said his department is seeking leads in the case. If anyone saw anything suspicious around Tillie’s over the weekend, please call the Schulenburg Po-

lice Department at (979) 743-2677.

The Record asked Brenek whether he thought the crime was committed by someone in-tentionally taking advantage of the crisis or possibly by some-one acting out of desperation due to the crisis.

“I don’t know if it’s that,” he said. “I do think its someone

Even the Criminals Are Taking Coronavirus Precautions


The cars kept arriving at the AMEN food pantry Monday in La Grange.

And ten volunteers worked hard to keep the bags of grocer-ies coming to them.

Fears of the coronavirus have brought so many things in this world to a halt, but not the spirit of service the food pantry volunteers have.

So many volunteers showed up Monday that one had to be sent home because of the state and county wide orders to keep

gathering of people to 10 or be-low.

“We’ve had lots of volun-teers and they all are in the 60-65 age range or older. They have been real troopers.” said AMEN President Cassie Girard.

“I’m 82 and I think I’m one of the youngest volunteers,” joked Glenn Altwein.

Wasn’t he scared of the coro-navirus?

“I’m retired Army and re-tired LCRA,” Altwein said. “I guess I’ve already been exposed to a lot worse stuff.”

But the volunteers were

taking precautions. The format of the food distributions was changed to drive-through to accomplish social distancing. Food was pre-bagged into por-tions based on family size.

One volunteer, Linda Olt-mann, wore a facemask as she talked to the clients coming to get food.

“So many people are in need,” Oltmann said. “We need to be here for them.”

Keeping the food pantry op-erational is tougher than ever.

Because of the coronavi-rus scare, people that have the

means are stocking up on food at the grocery store, wiping out many items, meaning the week-ly donations to the food pantry from HEB and Walmart have dwindled to almost nothing. So Girard has had to dip into the food pantry’s funds just to buy groceries to give to clients. A $10,000 gift to AMEN from the Fayette County Disaster Recov-ery team helped, but Girard said more donations (of non-perisha-ble food and money) are needed and appreciated, especially be-cause the pantry is currently ex-panding its service.

“If you need food assistance and you are not registered, we are not requiring qualifications, we are waving that like we did during Hurricane Harvey,” said Girard.

The food pantry pick-up times have also been changed to Mondays from 2-5 p.m.

“To hear and see these cli-ents, you know they are really appreciating this,” said volun-teer Stell Midgett.

You can bring donations by the pantry at 805 Mode Lane in La Grange Monday afternoons or call (979) 968-3943.

Schulenburg Cafe Sprayed Down With Lysol Before Money was Taken

Service Above SelfFood Pantry Volunteers, Many of Them Older, Keep Working During Pandemic to Feed Those in Need

Food pantry volunteers, left to right, Ralph Streicher, Glenn Altwein and Linda Oltmann were taking precautions (all wore rubber gloves and Oltmann wore a face mask) but they said it was important to keep volunteering at the food pantry, especially during this time of coronavirus impact. Photos by Jeff Wick

Celebrate FayetteEventually Fayette County is

going to be back and better than ever. Inside today, you’ll find lots of ideas to help celebrate when it does (we know you have extra time to read now!)

* This glossy magazine was printed prior to many corona-virus postponements, so make sure to double check any upcom-ing events included inside.


Fayette County still only has one confirmed case of coro-navirus as of Thursday, March 25. That person remains in iso-lation. Fayette County Emer-gency Management Chief Craig Moreau said many more have tested negative for the virus, al-though he declined to say how many people have taken the test.

County Judge Joe Weber asked citizens to “stick with the plan” during the coronavirus cri-sis.

He said citizens should take the following precautions:

1) If you have symptoms, call a medical provider and dis-cuss your symptoms with them. If your health providers instructs you to self-quarantine, follow their instructions.

2) Not everyone needs a coronavirus test. Weber said Fayette County and the State does not have enough test kits to test everyone. Your medical provider will determine whether you need to be tested.

3) Take personal responsi-bility in regard to hygiene and gathering in groups. Wash your hands often. Try not to touch your face. Avoid shaking hands and close physical contact.

County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau (center) traveled to Austin on Monday to pick up supplies of personal protection equipment for use by fi rst responders and healthcare workers in Fayette County. Interns Brenden Gilbreath (left) and Chris Story (right) demonstrated some of those supplies, including face masks, gowns and eye protection. Gilbreath, a student at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Story, a student at Texas A&M in College Station, are assisting the county offi ce of emer-gency management while their classes have been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis. Photo by Andy Behlen

Avoid large gatherings. Do not gather in groups of more than 10. Only go out in pubic for es-sential business and emergen-cies.

“If we stick to that plan,

then we’ll be OK here in Fay-ette County,” Weber said. “Law enforcement and the judge can-not make that work. It’s the in-dividual people in the County doing those things that’ll make

it work.”Moreau travelled to Austin

on Monday to pick up N-95 face masks and other personal protection equipment to be used by local medical providers. Last

week the county was running low on those masks, which are recommended for use by medi-cal professionals during the coronavirus crisis.

“The priority for those masks will be our medical pro-viders,” Weber said. “We have been gathering requests from the hospital and our health pro-viders around the county.”

Weber said the state and fed-eral government do not consider Fayette County a high priority for medical supplies, due to the high number of coronavirus cas-es in urban areas.

“They’re going to be push-ing that stuff to the hot spots,” Weber said.

Moreau would not say how many masks he was able to pick up. However, he said the county now has enough for all first re-sponders and healthcare work-ers in the county.

“Fayette County should not have any transmission due to a lack of personal protection equipment,” Moreau said on Wednesday.

Healthcare providers around the county are running low on hand sanitizer. Fayette County EMS picked up five gallons of sanitizer from Bone Spirits

Still Just One Confi rmed Coronavirus Case in Fayette County

See Update, Page A6

United Evangelical All services at United Evan-

gelical Lutheran Church at Swiss Alp are closed through the end of the month. Hymns, scrip-ture, and prayer service at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday on Facebook. Folks are invited to join in wor-ship. The sanctuary is open for prayers 24/7, but you are asked to keep safe social distancing while you are encouraged to come and pray.

LGISD Closed The La Grange ISD Admin-

istration Office lobby will be closed beginning March 23-27. If you need assistance, contact the Administration Office at (979) 968-7000 as phones will be monitored.

Blinn Star Party Please be advised that the

Star Party that was scheduled for March 27 on the Schulen-burg Campus of Blinn College has been cancelled.

Fish Fry Postponed The fish fry drive thru sched-

uled for March 27 at the KC Center in La Grange has been postponed until further notice.

See Crimes, Page A6


on Page A2

INSIDE TODAY


INSIDEINSIDE




For The

record



WEATHER WATCH

This Week’s Forecast High LowTuesday: 79 53 Partly cloudyWednesday: 78 59 Partly cloudyThursday: 79 67 50% chance of rainFriday: 77 57 50% chance of rain

County Living ............. Page C1Sports ......................... Page C4Classifieds ...............Page C2-3Community ................. Page D1Religion ....................... Page D2Society ........................ Page D3Obituaries ................... Page D4

The Fayette County Recycling Center and drop off locations will not accept any recyclables until further notice. The County made the move in response to the coronavirus pandemic after learning that the virus can stay on cardboard or plastic for hours or possibly days.

“We’re trying to keep the recycling workers safe from contact,” said Drew Brossmann of the Pct. 4 Road and Bridge crew, who is overseeing the recycling center while his boss, Commissioner Tom Muras, is on tempo-rary medical leave.

The recycling center will continue to accept house-hold garbage in the blue or pink county bags. The re-cycling center in La Grange and the drop off locations around the county will keep their regular business hours.


Fayette County now has a second confirmed case of coronavirus. County Emergen-cy Management Chief Craig Moreau reported Saturday even-ing, March 28, that a woman in Fayette County tested positive for the virus.

Moreau said he received the report from state health of-ficials, who did not provide the woman’s age or where in the County she lives. The state health officials did report that the woman is at home in isola-tion, Moreau said.

“To their knowledge, this is not connected to the first case

we had,” Moreau said.The first confirmed case

was reported over a week ago on Friday, March 20. That person was a man in his 60s.

“We’re getting less informa-tion from the state than we used to,” Moreau said. “They’re not releasing age ranges any more. I used to be able to provide dis-

patchers with the address of a confirmed case, so first re-sponders could take precautions. But they’re not releasing that in-formation anymore.”

Moreau said state offi-cials told him that community spread of the virus is inevitable at this point, and first respond-ers should take precautions like

wearing facemasks, eye protec-tion and gowns on all calls.

Moreau said the county does not plan at this point to modify the existing emergency orders, such as the prohibition on gatherings of more than 10 people and the order banning inside dining and drinking at


Last Friday, President Donald Trump signed a $2 tril-lion stimulus package that Congress passed last week aimed at alleviating the economic fallout from the coro-navirus pandemic.

The most immediate effect of this legislation will be $1,200 checks sent to each person making less than $75,000 annually ($2,400 for a couple making less than $150,000 annually), plus $500 per child.

The package helps the health care industry respond-ing to the pandemic by providing an additional $100 bil-lion for hospitals, $11 billion for vaccines, therapeutics,


An accidental chemistry ex-periment caused a brief scare in Schulenburg Thursday morning, March 26.

Schulenburg Police received a call a little after 10 a.m. re-porting noxious fumes coming from property across James Avenue from the Dairy Farmers of America plant. The property was the location of a company that made diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).

Police called for assistance from Schulenburg Volunteer Fire Department, which in turn called for assistance from the Fayette County Emergency Management Department. Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau said he arrived around 10:30 a.m.

“This gentleman was mak-ing DEF fluid and had went out business and had to get all his stuff out of the place,” Moreau said.

Some of those materials in-cluded the chemical ingredients to DEF.

“He already had a lot moved out, and (Thursday) he was trying to get more moved out,” Moreau said. “He decided to mix two chemical totes to-gether, to consolidate, and he started an exothermic reaction that produced some vapor. It was smelly and people started calling it in.”

Moreau called his counter-part in a neighboring county, Colorado County Emergency Management Chief Chuck Rog-ers, who is an expert in hazard-ous materials.

“He took some readings and determined we needed to get the pressure off the container,” Moreau said. “So he geared up and went to purge the tank. I was the backup guy, in case he went down, I could drag him out. Schulenburg Fire Chief Jeff Proske was there with a fire hose to deluge us in case the reaction

Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau (left) and Colorado County Emergency Management Chief Chuck Rogers (right) prepare to purge a chemical tote that was producing noxious fumes in Schulenburg last Thursday. Photo courtesy of Chris Story


The liquor business is booming.While lots of small businesses are feeling some pain

from the coronavirus shutdowns, area liquor stores are seeing record sales. The owners of LG Spirits in La Grange, Larry Glass and Grace Pulkrabek, say the past two have been very busy.

“People are buying liquor by the case” Pulkrabek said. “People were worried that we were going to run out, but we were really stocked for the antiques fairs.”

Those events were cancelled two weeks ago, which might have led to an oversupply for the store. Instead,

Woman Becomes Fayette’s Second Confirmed Coronavirus Case

Signs of the Times

Everything’s Turned on Its Head as Community, World Deals With PandemicLiquor Business Booming Leaders Support Stimulus No More County Recycling

Left to right, signs in La Grange tell the tale of a shifting way of life because of the coronavirus pandemic: LG Spirits, like so many businesses is drive-thru focused; La Grange intermediate School shares a message of hope for their students; and Second Chance Emporium, the non-profit powerhouse, closed until further notice.

Thursday afternoon around 1:14 pm the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a structure fire on Anchor Ranch Loop in the Cistern area. The Muldoon Fire Department was notified and responded to the scene along with Deputy Terry Guentert. Upon arrival a barn was fully engulfed and the Muldoon Fire Department re-quested assistance from the Flatonia Fire Department who also responded. The fire was extinguished and two tractors, a zero degree lawnmower, and a pickup truck were also destroyed in the fire. The cause of the fire was from fuel that ignited while filling a lawnmower. There were no reported injuries. Photo by Jeff Wick

Four Vehicles Destroyed in Barn Fire

Chemical Mixture Creates Dangerous Situation in Schulenburgwasn’t what we thought it was.”

Fortunately, all went accord-ing to plan. Rogers vented the pressure off the container, and the chemical reaction quickly

dissipated.“The Colorado County

Judge was nice enough to let their emergency manager leave while a pandemic is going on,

so we really appreciate that,” Moreau said. “It was a very nice gesture. It saved us from having to call a hazmat team from San Marcos or Houston.”

See Beer, Page A4 See Elected Officials, Page A4

Fayetteville ISDFayetteville schools are

closed through April 3 by order of governor. Meals for pickup must be ordered no later than 7 a.m. at (979) 378-3016 (FISD Hotline). Pickup Monday-Fri-day 10:30-12:30.

Sons of Hermann The La Grange Sons of

Hermann Lodge #8 will be can-celling their monthly meetings until further notice.

Pecan Field Day In response to the COV-

ID-19 pandemic, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will be postponing the Colora-do/Fayette County Pecan Field Day scheduled for April 15.

Your patience and under-standing is appreciated as we work with state and county of-ficials. The primary concern is the health and well-being of our community and families.

Please contact the AgriLife Extension offices at (979) 732-2082 (Colorado County) or (979) 968-5831 (Fayette Coun-ty) if you have any questions.

Player of WeekGet to know Flatonia star

softball pitcher Annie Char-naza.

See Coronavirus, Page A3


on Page A2

INSIDE TODAY


INSIDEINSIDE




For The

record

TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2020


WEATHER WATCH

This Week’s Forecast High LowTuesday: 85 68 Partly cloudyWednesday: 87 68 Partly cloudyThursday: 79 59 90% chance of rainFriday: 65 53 40% chance of rain

Religion ....................... Page B2Obituaries ................... Page B4County Living ............. Page C1Classifieds .................. Page C2Public Notices .........Page C3-4

Legion, AuxiliaryWith concern for the mem-

bers, The American Legion Post and the Legion Auxiliary Unit No. 102 regular meet-ing scheduled for Wednesday, April 8 at the VFW Home in La Grange has been cancelled.

Sons of Hermann The La Grange Sons of

Hermann Lodge No. 8 will be cancelling their monthly meet-ings until further notice

Quade Werchan The Quade Werchan

American Legion Post 338 and Auxiliary of Round Top has cancelled their April 9 meeting.

Holiday Schedule La Grange City offices

will be closed Friday, April 10 in observance of Good Friday. Waste Management will be working their normal garbage and recycling schedule. If you need additional information, call (979) 968-3127.

Hermann Sons The meeting scheduled

for April 12 is cancelled and the next scheduled meeting is June 14.

Recycling Center The Fayette County Recy-

cling Center is still accepting tin cans, aluminum, aluminum cans and glass.


An employee at the La Grange McDonald’s tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau said the employee is a male in his 20s. He was the fifth person to test positive for the virus in Fayette County.

The first word many people in La Grange heard about the McDonald’s case came from a Facebook post from a person who asked why the store had not closed after learning about the test result. According to a store representative, the La Grange McDonald’s did close for a “deep cleaning” after management learned about the test.

A person who represented Kevin Moore, the owner-operator of the restaurant, said Moore hired an outside company to sanitize the location on Wednesday, April 1. Management ordered other employees who worked with the man to stay home. The man has not been at work since the previous Friday, March 27.

“I spoke with the Texas Epidemiology Team, who said what was done to clean and sterilize the La Grange McDonald’s is in line with what has been done at other restaurants around the state,” Moreau told the Record on Thursday, April 2.

County Judge Joe Weber said state officials gave Moore permission to reopen the store after the clean-ing.

Weber’s office issued a statement the following day, Friday, April 3, which stated, “Regional Epidemiolo-gists deemed the store safe to re-open after measures were taken to clean the store in line with industry stand-ards and noted the risk to patrons was ‘low to no risk.’”

Precautions and Anxiety on the Rise as Coronavirus Cases Continue to Mount Here


The rapid rise in coronavirus cases last week resulted in a meeting Thursday night among several members of the county’s healthcare community. Among the deci-sions to come out of the meeting was to centralize one testing location for coronavirus at the fairgrounds.

“It’s to keep sick people out of the clinics,” said Craig Moreau, Chief of Emergency Management. “It’s to protect our doctors and medical personnel.”

Testing at the centralized site, which begins this week, still requires doctor’s orders.

Among the other agreed upon actions from that meeting of local medical professionals:

• Consolidating the monitoring of known and highly suspected cases with the assistance of Fayette County nurses on generous loan from the school districts.

• Continuing efforts with the dispatch center to pro-tect first responders and limit exposure to all patients which is proven to reduce transmission from patient to responder and responder to patient.

• Changing of EMS and hospital treatment and trans-port protocols.

• Requesting additional Personal Protection Equip-ment (PPE) from the Fayette County, State of Texas, and United States strategic reserves.

• Distributing sanitation supplies for medical provid-ers in cooperation with the Agriculture Extension Agents.

• Developing methods to provide local alternatives to the overburdened State Health Services.

• Developing methods to increase the information delivered to and received from Epidemiology teams.

“These methods and the continued help from com-munity volunteers and faith-based institutions will give us the best chance to deal with every new challenge that this global pandemic presents to Fayette County,” the county said in a press release.


Thursday was one of the scariest days yet of the coronavirus pandemic in Fayette County.

Friday was one of the most hopeful.On Thursday the number of confirmed conoravirus

cases in Fayette County mushroomed from four to 10 in a matter of hours.

Friday one more case got added to that list (the 11th), but one also was taken away.

The first person in Fayette County to contract coro-navirus more than two weeks ago has fully recovered said Craig Moreau, Chief of Emergency Management. “He quarantined at home, followed doctors’ orders and now he’s back to living his normal life. He’s actually probably the healthiest person in Fayette County right now because he’s got all those antibodies that the rest of us don’t have.”

In a troubling development, however, Moreau said that some people that were exposed to coronavirus and were supposed to be quarantining were not doing so.

“Police are now watching them 24 hours a day sev-en days a week. It’s a huge waste of resources, and it’s very upsetting to me that people won’t do what they are supposed to,” Moreau said.

A statement from the office of emergency manage-ment Friday underscored just how the coronavirus has touched so many different walks in life in the county: “The cases are spread throughout our county, and rep-resent a cross section of citizens that are here. We have men and women ranging in age from 20s to 80s, and vary in vocation, socioeconomic identification, and culture. We have cases that have been in our county for their whole life, and those who were only visiting when they began to feel ill. Every citizen should know that everyone represents a possibility to spread the vi-rus.”

The Struggle to Stay Clean, CoveredRaymond Jurecka, left, and Albert Benford, right, spray off the playground equipment Friday morning at the Fayette Public Library with a bleach solution and then rinse it off. They have been doing so at all the La Grange parks daily in an effort to keep them safe. Photos by Jeff Wick

Garry Schellberg, treasurer of the AMEN food pantry picks up some donations from a local business while wearing a face mask for pro-tection against the spread of coronavirus.

11 Cases, One Recovery McDonald’s Employee Tests Positive in LG

Centralized Testing to Begin


It is a tragic commentary that in the current state of our world, the largest health crisis in modern history is having a dam-aging effect on the bottom line of our local hospital, and other health care workers.

Tammy Hartfield, Chief Nursing Officer of St. Mark’s said the number of patients in general are down at the hospital – that’s in large part to federal and state rules to curtailing non-emergency surgeries.

“There are concerns because of the volume of the hospital has decreased and people are wor-ried about adequate income and hours,” Hartfield said. “Some staff members have voluntar-ily cut hours because their kids are home or things like that and some are using personal time off time.

“Because of the lower pa-tient volumes, we are having to utilize staff in other depart-ments. We want to keep people employed.”

St. Mark’s, Other Local Healthcare Providers Are Hurting Hartfield said there have not

been layoffs at St. Mark’s, but that has not been true of other health care facilities in Fayette County.

Dr. Karen Roberts, a La Grange dentist, said her prac-tice and others have taken huge financial hits since rules were put place to only do emergency dental procedures.

“Those of us in the La Grange dental community have

been mandated to not see 95-98% of our patients,” Roberts said.

“However, we are still taking care of and seeing those patients (2-5%) with true dental emer-gencies (infection, bleeding, severe trauma, severe pain). We are able to triage these patients, keeping them out of the ER’s, allowing hospital staff more op-portunities to treat patients af-fected by COVID-19.”

They are diagnosing patients over the phone.

“I’ve basically had to lay off all my employees, it’s just my-self and one other person,” Rob-erts said.

Roberts said that morato-rium on anything but emergency procedures will last until at least April 30.

In other information about St. Mark’s:

• Hartfield said the hospital stands ready to be utilized by Austin’s St. David’s in the case their clinical affiliate becomes overwhelmed, but St. David’s has not had to use any St. Mark’s facilities yet.

• Hartfield said not all pa-tients coming to the hospital with COVID-19-like symptoms are being tested. Some with only minor symptoms are just being ordered to return home and self quarantine.

• The hospital does have “adequate” personal protective equipment but can always use more.

• New hospital rules were put in place March 31, calling for no visitors inside the facil-ity with a few exceptions of one visitor for end-of-life caregivers, caregivers for minors and car-egiver for the disabled.

• St. Mark’s employees are being encouraged to bring a change of clothes to work, and showers are available to them on site so they can take precautions before returning home. St. Mark’s Medical Center in La Grange has experienced a huge drop-off in business because of the

requirement to delay non-emergency surgeries because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Adjust to Survive Local restaurant owners

talk about how they’ve had to adapt to new rules and a new normal amidst the coronavirus precautions. Page A4

Not Subscribing to the Record Yet? Here’s a Small Sampling of What You’ve Missed in the Last Few Weeks

Call (979) 968-3155 or visit www.fayettecountyrecord.com to subscribe to our print and/or digital edition.

By H.H. HOWZEThe Fayette County Record

We asked Teague’s Tavern owner Don Teague how his Round Top establishment is far-ing under the circumstances. Teague, in a prior career, was an award-winning newsman and broadcaster. These were his thoughts:

“I don’t think any restaurant is doing well. Restaurants in cit-ies can use Google Eats, etc., but we don’t have that option. The insurance for turning my staff into delivery drivers would be astronomically expensive. Round Top is a tourist destina-tion. When tourists are not here, it’s really hard to survive during the week. It’s day to day that we have to look at what the situation will be. On a Monday through Friday basis, without a popula-tion center and you have to keep

the electric bills paid, it’s a tough way to go.”

At this point Teague is open four days a week: Friday, Satur-day, Sunday and Monday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., only takeout and curbside delivery but full menu.

“There could be a point where we don’t do (a full menu),” he said, “because some of the things we have to order in bulk. That hasn’t happened, but you can’t have a lot of product sitting in your restaurant.”

They are following the state law that if you order food, you can have a bottle or can of alco-hol to take out. It has to be in the container it came from the man-ufacturer in and sealed. That means no margaritas or mixed drinks, and that right there is a big profit killer.

Teague is isolating at home

and goes to the restaurant as little as possible. “I’m 54, so I haven’t quite reached the age group, but I had a bout of the flu last year, spent a week in the ICU, so I’m doing everything I can to limit my exposure. I will drop by to drop off paychecks. Often I have my manager come out to the car and grab whatever.

“It’s frustrating from a small business and restaurant perspec-tive, and I’m not saying this is unfair, no one is doing this on purpose. Restaurants are singled out as a place to avoid. Our res-taurant is family owned by my wife and I; it’s really a struggle.

Teague has issues with the way the Federal assistance is structured: “These SBA loans, the paycheck protection pro-gram. They are offering to give me money to pay my employees. I have 18, and only two are in the

restaurant right now. Small busi-nesses are being asked to finance the Covid-19 crisis. We are be-ing asked to pay our employ-ees instead of having them go on unemployment. Money will come back, but that’s assuming the business survives. But we don’t know if the restaurant will survive. It’s time to renew our liquor license. That’s thousands of dollars. We are shut down; we don’t have any revenue. If we lay people off in the end and have to shut down, we personally are on the hook for the money (to pay back to the government).

“I’ve talked to many small businesses, especially restau-rants. The employees want to work and I want to pay them. I’m sure Chili’s will still be around. I don’t know how many small family-owned restaurants will be.”

Teague’s Tavern Owner: ‘Small Businesses Are Being Asked to Finance the Covid 19 Crisis’

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