JUNE 10, 2020 WE’RE NOT DONE
HCISD BUDGET
Hays High alumnus experienced racism growing up, wishes better for community.
School board irons out $247,789,473 school budget.
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Hays Free Press © Barton Publications, Inc.
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Vol. 126 • No. 10
HaysFreePress.com
Serving Buda, Kyle and Northeast Hays County, TX
County leaders condemed for sharing racist Facebook posts
Head of Hays CISD influenced by George Floyd’s daughter BY ANITA MILLER The gut-wrenching image of George Floyd as his life drained away under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer sent shock waves around the world. But for many, the reaction of his six-year-old daughter Gianna–“Daddy changed the world” – was equally impactful because it addressed the future. Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright was among those struck by the little girl’s words. Wright released a statement to the public last week (it is printed in full on Page 3). In it, he promises the establishment of a Diversity Advisory Council to guide the district through this troubled time. “Over the course of
Hays County protests
BY PATRICK SVITEK THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
PHOTO BY ANITA MILLER
COUNCIL ON DIVERSITY, 2
IDing clusters
What you need to know about contact tracing BY SAHAR CHMAIS Hays County’s health department has been doing contact tracing since it found its first coronavirus-infected patient, and this method has helped the department hold down the spread of COVID-19 in several instances. “It has helped us to identify a couple of clusters that were linked back to people who tested positive and were asymptom-
CONTACT TRACING, 12
Republican leaders in five Texas counties shared racist Facebook posts, some of which also floated conspiracy theories, leading Gov. Greg Abbott to call for two of them to resign. Abbott and other top Texas Republicans called for the resignation of the GOP chairs in Bexar and Nueces counties after they shared on social media a conspiracy theory that Floyd’s death was a “staged event,” apparently to gin up opposition to President Donald Trump. There is no evidence to support that claim; Floyd, a black Minnesota man, died last week after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. “These comments are disgusting and have no
RACISTS POSTS, 12
PHOTO BY CHASE ROGERS
PHOTO BY ANITA MILLER
Hays High School students including Megan Desu (left in top photo) lined Main Street in Buda on Saturday in a show of support for nationwide demonstrations against police brutality. Similar gatherings have been held in Kyle and San Marcos over the course of the past week.
When life gives them Corona, newlyweds-to-be make lemonade
opening up their doors but have not yet hosted
CORONA WEDDINGS, 10
BURLESON ST. SNAG, 2
PHOTO BY KATHLYN DRAGNA
Dani Braun and her fiancé Patrick Sherek make the most of their wedding celebration by doing a social distancing photo shoot and sharing photos with friends and family.
dings look like and how do venues social distance these highly sociable events?
SPORTS
Soccer athletes earn post-season honors.
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The News-Dispatch heard from two wedding venues in Dripping Springs which are
BY ANITA MILLER When voters approved Kyle’s $35 million road bond election in 2013, they were long past ready for improvements to Burleson Street. Especially for those shy of Interstate 35, Burleson affords an alternative north-south corridor. But it hasn’t been open in almost two years and the population of Kyle has grown considerably during that time. Seven years after that bond election the project, which has been fraught by issues including weather, may still be on tap for completion around the original projected time. That said, the required documentation surrounding the latest snag is a traffic jam all its own. Because the project involves crossing a Union Pacific Railroad line, it basically means going by the railroad’s rules. And the very specialized work
BY SAHAR CHMAIS Couples plan for their wedding day more than a year in advance. And they pay thousands of dollars and spend countless hours organizing little details of their special day. Hundreds of these large emotional and financial investments have been skewed by the coronavirus in Dripping Springs, the self-proclaimed “Wedding Capital of Texas.” Wedding venues are able to resume their work at 25 percent indoor capacity (and no outdoor limitations). Couples who already postponed their plans will not receive the wedding they originally had in mind, so there is the question of what will these wed-
Latest Burleson Street snag due to railroad crossing
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