The Llano County Sheriff’s Office was dismissed as one of five defendants in a federal civil lawsuit brought against the county by the wife of a Kingsland man shot and killed by deputies in 2022.
Judge Robert Pitman made the decision to remove the LCSO as a defendant on July 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.
The county, Sheriff Bill Blackburn, and LCSO deputies Byron Cervantez and Randy Shaw are still named in the suit, which was filed in April by Jillian Harrod and claims excessive force was used in the death of her husband, 40-year-old Justin Harrod.
Justin Harrod was shot and killed by Llano County deputies on Oct. 23, 2022, after Jillian Harrod called law enforcement to report her husband was drunk and possibly suicidal. According to the lawsuit, deputies found Harrod passed out facedown in his front yard and lying on top of a gun.
On June 5, Attorney Jason Eric Magee of Allison, Bass & Magee in Austin filed a motion to dismiss the case on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office but not for the county, Blackburn, Cervantez, and Shaw. Instead, the attorney filed answers to the original charges on behalf of the remaining defendants by the same June 5 deadline, denying all claims of wrongdoing.
Jillian Harrod said the Llano County Sheriff’s Office was the only defendant to seek dismissal, but when asked if she would agree to dismiss the other defendants if they filed similar motions, she said, “No, I would not.”
Jillian Harrod v. Llano County et al. is one of five civil lawsuits the county is currently facing. The other four are:
Leila Little et al. v. Llano County et al.—This case involves book banning and is currently before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where oral arguments will be heard by the full court sometime during the week of Sept. 23. A three-judge panel recently ruled 2-1 in favor of the plaintiffs.
Suzette Baker v. Llano County et al.—Former Kingsland librarian Suzette Baker sued Llano County on March 4 for wrongful termination. The case is before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, where the most recent motion was filed on July 10. The motion was Baker’s response to a defense motion to dismiss.
Mirelez v. Llano County et al.—The plaintiff in this case is currently in prison. He missed a final July 9 deadline to file a response to Llano County’s earlier motion to dismiss. Mirelez said he was shot and injured by a non-lethal weapon while surrendering to a SWAT team that included deputies from both Llano and Williamson counties.
“I am hoping the court will take the correct action and grant our motion to dismiss,” said Michael A. Shaunessy of McGinnis Lockridge in Austin, the attorney for the defendants. “We are waiting to hear from the court.”
Pressley et al. v. Nelson et al.—Two Llano residents are involved in this election lawsuit that was filed by five voters in three counties against Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, members of her staff, and the election administrators in Llano, Bell, and Williamson counties. Motions are flying in the suit, which claims that election practices in these counties could reveal voter identities. The latest motion was filed by the plaintiffs on July 11.
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public hearing on a conditional use permit to allow for quadplexes near Seventh Street and Avenue T
public hearing, discussion, and first reading of an ordinance to prohibit the feeding of wildlife on public property
discussion and action regarding a construction agreement between the city and the Marble Falls Inclusive Play Group for the development of an inclusive playground at Westside Park
discussion and action to authorize the submission of a Texas Parks and Wildlife Local Parks grant application in the amount of $750,000 for Westside Park improvements
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Adele’s Restaurant & Lounge brings an upscale menu with a twist to Marble Falls. The restaurant opened in early July at 112 U.S. 281, the former site of Flat Creek Enoteca.
“We wanted to do something different,” owner Cody Bone told DailyTrib.com. “We wanted to do a play on fine dining. We want to make fine dining fun.”
Adele’s features elevated American-style fare, wood-fired pizzas, a full-service bar, and an outdoor, pet-friendly patio space.
“We want to cater to all crowds,” Bone said. “If you come in a suit and want a martini, we want you to feel comfortable. If you come in with your dog and want to sit on the porch and eat a pizza and drink a beer, that’s fine, too.”
The restaurant also hosts live music indoors on Fridays and Saturdays. Once the weather cools down in the fall, patrons will be able to enjoy shows on the patio.
“Right now, it’s inside because it’s so stinking hot,” Bone said. “Anytime the weather permits, we’ll be outside.”
Adele’s Restaurant & Lounge is open from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for Sunday brunch. Visit its Facebook page for more information.
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Granite Shoals leaders applauded the city’s new finance director for getting the fiscal house back in order. Kevin Rule presented a formal fiscal year 2022-23 budget adjustment during the City Council meeting on July 9, bringing a long-term controversy of unanswered questions to a close one year after deadline.
“This (adjustment), in my opinion as a finance director, is a little late,” Rule told the council. “But there is nothing wrong with it coming forward at this time. Going forward, our budgets will be done in a timely fashion.”
According to Rule, budget adjustments are typically made as needed when unexpected expenditures pop up or changes have to be made mid-year. These adjustments must be officially approved by the council in an open meeting. The council unanimously approved Rule’s fiscal year 2022-23 budget adjustment on Tuesday night.
Granite Shoals was $1.5 million over budget for 2022-23. Rule was hired in May 2024 and has since cleaned up last year’s budget discrepancies. This week’s budget adjustment clarifies the numbers and shows exactly how the city spent its money and where it came from.
“What, in essence, this does is it makes us compliant with the expenditures that we did in last year’s budget,” Rule said. “This really is just to move past (the 2022-23 budget) so we can focus on the remaining three months (of this budget cycle) here and then the new budget that we have coming forward.”
“Having Kevin in the office is certainly an asset,” City Manager Sarah Novo told DailyTrib.com following Tuesday’s meeting. “He’s skilled at what he does, and it is wonderful having somebody paying full-time attention to our budget. We’re right in the middle of the budget cycle, and everything looks to be on track.”
Granite Shoals will receive its certified property values on July 25, which will allow for more solid planning for the fiscal year 2024-25 budget.
The city plans to hold public budget workshops on the following dates:
Tuesday, July 16
Tuesday, July 30
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Tuesday, Sept. 3
The new fiscal year officially begins on Oct. 1.
“I am so happy that we have you here to help us go through these budget amendments,” Mayor Pro-tem Steve Hougen told Rule following his presentation.
“Where were you the last few months?” joked Councilor Judy Salvaggio. “We’re very happy to have you here now.”
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Granite Shoals is looking for the best shots of the city’s most photogenic trees. The deadline to submit your images to the community photo contest is Aug. 10. Winners will be notified by Aug. 15.
The contest’s theme is “Heritage Trees in Granite Shoals.”
“In alignment with the mayor’s proclamation to establish July as ‘Heritage Oak Tree Celebration Month,’ we’re kicking off a fun community photo contest to help capture and preserve some of the amazing trees throughout Granite Shoals,” reads a media release from the city.
Submit up to four photos to marketing@graniteshoals.org. Include your full name, phone number, and titles for your photos.
All submissions must be your original work. No artificial intelligence-generated images will be accepted. Your photos may be used for promotional purposes by the city, but you will be given credit and recognition.
“Use your imagination and camera to bring the old trees in our city to life,” reads the release.
July 2024 is Granite Shoals’ first Heritage Oak Tree Celebration Month. The City Council had been working on ways to preserve the city’s heritage trees since January before settling on a proclamation dedicating a month to the largest, oldest, and most majestic oaks in the lakeside community.
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Burnet County budget requests for the coming fiscal year are $14.3 million more than last year’s total budget, but the county is expecting only about $2.8 million more than last year’s revenues.
County Judge James Oakley briefed the Commissioners Court on the budget.
“There is some prioritizing to do,” he said during the July 9 meeting.
The numbers are based on an assumed 3.5 percent tax increase as allowed by Texas Senate Bill 2, which is the maximum allowable tax increase from year to year, plus taxes on new construction, Oakley said. SB2 was approved by the Texas Legislature in 2019.
The county should receive its certified property appraisals by July 25, which will be used to determine the tax rate and incoming revenue. The deadline for submitting a preliminary budget is Aug. 15. The Commissioners Court must hold public hearings on the proposed final budget and tax rate by Aug. 27.
“We’re trying to go through (the budget requests) and make sure that everybody gets what they absolutely need, and trying to establish the difference between want and need, and to keep equity among all the elected officials and departments,” Oakley said.
The Burnet County Sheriff’s Office alone requested nearly $3.5 million in budget increases for new personnel and equipment and to cover general increases in the costs of goods and services.
Oakley also noted that certain expenses, like $900,000 for state-mandated voting equipment, had to be paid, which also cut into the budget. According to the judge, this unfunded mandate will have to be spread over multiple years.
“I’m very confident in the fiscally conservative approach that I take, but in this case alone, the maximum amount of (new revenue) available doesn’t even fund the Sheriff’s Office request,” Oakley said. “We try to be efficient in our spending, but there are some things you just don’t have control over.”
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The window replacement project at The Falls on the Colorado Museum in Marble Falls has moved to the first floor now that all of the second-story windows have sponsors. The windows at the museum were deteriorating, and many were damaged in a late spring hailstorm.
“The window restoration project is crucial for maintaining the building’s historical integrity and improving its energy efficiency,” said museum board Chairman Amanda Seim in a media release.
Sponsors paid $5,000 for upstairs windows, which had to be completely replaced. First-floor windows will be renovated at a cost of $3,500 each.
“Each sponsorship will include a plaque recognizing the donor’s contribution, prominently displayed on the sponsored window,” Seim said.
Replacing the windows is just part of a renovation project currently underway to shore up the 133-year-old structure and open the top floor for exhibits on the history of Marble Falls and the Highland Lakes. The second story has been closed to the public since the museum moved into the building in 2010.
The Old Granite School is owned by the Marble Falls Independent School District, which dedicated $250,000 to strengthening the second floor and fixing cracks in the exterior. That work is nearing completion.
Museum officials are raising an additional $250,000 to replace the windows and repair two staircases and banisters as part of Phase 1. Phase 2 will involve raising $250,000 to outfit the space for exhibits.
The Falls on the Colorado Museum is located at 2001 Broadway in Marble Falls. Hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Admission is free.
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The Raising Cane’s “coming soon” mystery has been solved. Two local teens, ages 17 and 16, claimed responsibility this week for purchasing and erecting a sign in late June announcing the fast food restaurant’s imminent opening at what used to be a Jack in the Box at 2711 U.S. 281.
The pranksters contacted DailyTrib.com after a July 5 story on its website quoted Raising Cane’s corporate office as saying “we do not have a location planned for your area.” The sign had disappeared by then.
“We’re homeschooled, so we didn’t have a chance to do a senior prank,” the 17-year-old told DailyTrib.com in a phone interview. “This was our version of it.”
The two young Marble Falls residents, who are not named because of their ages, decided to come forward after seeing the massive amount of attention the story received on DailyTrib.com’s Facebook page.
LEFT: This photo of a ‘coming soon’ sign for Raising Cane’s being erected in front of a vacant building off of U.S. 281 in Marble Falls was emailed to DailyTrib.com as proof of responsibility from two homeschooled teens who called it a ‘senior prank.’ RIGHT: A screenshot of an order receipt for a Raising Cane’s ‘coming soon’ sign the pranksters say they purchased. Courtesy images
The friends were inspired by another senior prank they saw online. This past April, seniors from Northeast High School in Pasadena, Maryland, put up a “coming soon” sign in their small town for a Trader Joe’s grocery store, drumming up buzz on social media.
The Marble Falls teens ordered their Raising Cane’s sign online, along with a few zip ties, and put it up late at night on June 21.
The 17-year-old said they chose Raising Cane’s because his brother repeatedly said he wished the famous chicken finger restaurant would open a location in Flatrock Crossing, an outdoor shopping center planned for south Marble Falls.
The teens both said they were worried the prank wouldn’t land because three days went by without anyone noticing. Their fears were alleviated when hundreds of locals took to Facebook to give feedback on the possibility of a Raising Cane’s coming to the area.
The sign was up for 12 days, but the pranksters do not know who took it down. Both said it would be interesting if a Raising Cane’s were to come to Marble Falls as a result of their gag.
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Burnet County might have found a way to exert more authority over subdivisions and developments when it comes to groundwater.
County Commissioner Damon Beierle and Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District General Manager Mitchell Sodek were among 50 regional officials at a Hill Country Alliance summit on how natural resources can be better managed and preserved.
“We are starting now to find a way to do it and see if we can get that (priority groundwater management district) designation in 2025,” he said. “It opens up a couple of chapters in the (Texas Local Government Code) that would help us make a stronger groundwater availability study.”
A priority groundwater management area is defined as one that is experiencing or expected to experience critical groundwater problems within 50 years.
If Burnet County receives the designation, it would give the Commissioners Court access to Section 35.019 of the Texas Water Code, which allows for more stringent requirements on groundwater availability studies for proposed subdivisions and developments.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ultimately designates management districts, but Beierle and Sodek said the support of Burnet County’s state legislators, Rep. Ellen Troxclair and Sen. Pete Flores, could move the process along.
Sodek told DailyTrib.com collaborating with leaders from other area counties experiencing similar growth and development was valuable.
“It’s useful to learn what our counterparts are doing to manage growth and water at a county level,” he said. “I think it’s always a positive to get like minds together.”
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