Burnet County
BURNET — Emboldened by the success of an anti-sexting campaign, juvenile justice authorities are planning new initiatives to combat prescription-drug abuse and bullying, as well as to teach safety awareness to elementary students.
The nascent programs are part of a multi-prong effort to continue reducing crimes among minors while educating their parents in Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie, Llano and San Saba counties, said Marc Bittner, chief of the Juvenile Probation Department.
MARBLE FALLS — A political ad focusing on thousands in back taxes owed by sheriff’s candidate Joe Pollock launched on local radio by GOP opponent Sheriff W.T. Smith doesn’t tell the whole story, Pollock says.
“I am a little shocked he (Smith) is doing it,” Pollock said March 9. “He has no record to run on. So, he is digging up any garbage he can.”
BURNET — A top-to-bottom review of procedures at the Burnet County Jail is under way after an inmate made a short-lived break March 1, the second escape in more than two years.
Johnny Angel Ybarra, 40, apparently chiseled away at some cinder blocks in a handicap cell, removed a portion of the wall under a sink, climbed up to the roof through a skylight, then escaped by going through some razor wire, officials said.
Ybarra,who was convicted Feb. 14 of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a sexual offense, was captured at a private residence in Burnet about 7 a.m., just hours after he was reported missing, investigators said.
Editor’s note: Now that May 29 is the date of the party primaries, The Tribune will occasionally profile candidates from some of the contested races.
MARBLE FALLS — As the race for Burnet County sheriff grows more heated, former top cop Joe Pollock is telling voters he knows how to build and maintain jails.
Pollock, who was sheriff for 16 years until he was unseated by his former Chief Deputy W.T. Smith in 2008, is seeking the Republican nomination during the May 29 primary.
BURNET — Fresh approaches including desalinization plants must be found to solve the problem of water supply and distribution in Texas, a state lawmaker told listeners.
“It all boils down to money,” said state Rep. Paul Workman, who advocates desalinization plants to create potable water.
Along with more than 200 public officials and residents from Burnet and Llano counties, the Austin Republican attended the Jan. 26 water-issues workshop in Burnet at the Community Center, 401 E. Jackson St.
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