Karnes Co. TX - NEWS - October 2004 This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Kimm Antell Copyright. All rights reserved. http://files.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************ October 5, 2004 This is last week to buy tickets for speech by Nobel Prize winner PANNA MARIA - The deadline to order tickets for the 150th anniversary luncheon featuring Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa is this week. Walesa, the founder of Solidarity and first president of a Communist- free Poland, will be the guest speaker at the luncheon as the nation's oldest Polish settlement celebrates its 150th anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 24. Other dignitaries participating in the celebration include Polish Ambassador Przemyslaw Grudzinski and members of the Polish American Congress. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John Yanta at Immaculate Conception Church in Panna Maria. A luncheon reception with dignitaries will follow at 12:30 p.m. Speeches begin at 1:30 p.m., followed by singing and dancing provided by the Polish children's group of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish of Houston. Tickets for the luncheon are $15 each and will be limited to 350. Confirmations will be made only after payment is received by Immaculate Conception Church, P.O. Box 9, Panna Maria, Texas, 78144. October 9, 2004 Yorktown defense dominates Kenedy KENEDY - Yorktown held Kenedy scoreless and allowed only 79 yards total offense as the Wildcats beat the Lions 14-0 in defensive District 29-2A matchup. Both Yorktown (6-0) scores came from running back Jesse Garcia who scored from the 12 and the 1. Garcia led the team in rushing with 58 yards with 16 carries. Kenedy (4-2) was led by A.J. Carvajal, who rushed 13 times for 49 yards. Karnes City 28, Refugio 27 KARNES CITY - Dustin Skloss rambled 14 yards for a touchdown and nailed the extra with 50 seconds to play, lifting the Karnes City Badgers to a 28-27 victory over the Refugio Bobcats in a District 29-2A opener for both teams. The Badgers had to score twice in the final nine minutes to pull out the victory and improve to 2-4 on the season. Refugio fell to 2-4. Jeff Butler, who rushed for 165 yards on 34 carries, pulled the Badgers to within seven points on a 5-yard run with 8:53 to play. Butler added another 5-yard TD run in the second quarter and hauled in a 70-yard TD pass from Taylor Griffin. Refugio jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead on a 2-yard scoring run by Ray John Silvas and a 15-yard TD pass from Morgan Murphy to Josh Soliz. David Canchola added a 1-yard TD run and Murphy scored on a 3-yard run for the Bobcats. Shiner rolls over Runge RUNGE - The undefeated and top-ranked Shiner Comanches scored on the first play from scrimmage on their way to a 31-0 shutout of the Runge Yellowjackets. Chris Baer, the game's leading rusher with 165 yards, started the scoring with a 50-yard TD gallop on the first play. He also had a 2-yard TD for the Comanches (6-0, 2-0). Trey Curtis also scored on a 1-yard run. Kyle Condel tossed a 36- yard touchdown to Nick Evans and Scott Shimek had a 31-yard field goal. Runge QB Casey Oldham threw for 116 yards for the Yellowjackets (3- 4, 0-3). Yorktown defense dominates Kenedy KENEDY - Yorktown held Kenedy scoreless and allowed only 79 yards total offense as the Wildcats beat the Lions 14-0 in defensive District 29-2A matchup. Both Yorktown (6-0) scores came from running back Jesse Garcia who scored from the 12 and the 1. Garcia led the team in rushing with 58 yards with 16 carries. Kenedy (4-2) was led by A.J. Carvajal, who rushed 13 times for 49 yards. Karnes City 28, Refugio 27 KARNES CITY - Dustin Skloss rambled 14 yards for a touchdown and nailed the extra with 50 seconds to play, lifting the Karnes City Badgers to a 28-27 victory over the Refugio Bobcats in a District 29-2A opener for both teams. The Badgers had to score twice in the final nine minutes to pull out the victory and improve to 2-4 on the season. Refugio fell to 2-4. Jeff Butler, who rushed for 165 yards on 34 carries, pulled the Badgers to within seven points on a 5-yard run with 8:53 to play. Butler added another 5-yard TD run in the second quarter and hauled in a 70-yard TD pass from Taylor Griffin. Refugio jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead on a 2-yard scoring run by Ray John Silvas and a 15-yard TD pass from Morgan Murphy to Josh Soliz. David Canchola added a 1-yard TD run and Murphy scored on a 3-yard run for the Bobcats. Shiner rolls over Runge RUNGE - The undefeated and top-ranked Shiner Comanches scored on the first play from scrimmage on their way to a 31-0 shutout of the Runge Yellowjackets. Chris Baer, the game's leading rusher with 165 yards, started the scoring with a 50-yard TD gallop on the first play. He also had a 2-yard TD for the Comanches (6-0, 2-0). Trey Curtis also scored on a 1-yard run. Kyle Condel tossed a 36- yard touchdown to Nick Evans and Scott Shimek had a 31-yard field goal. Runge QB Casey Oldham threw for 116 yards for the Yellowjackets (3- 4, 0-3). October 14, 2004 Karnes City administrator resigns to take a job in Dublin - Karnes County Last updated: October 13 11:25:25 PM Karnes City administrator resigns to take a job in Dublin E-mail Story to a Friend Printer Friendly October 14, 2004 KARNES CITY - In a special meeting Monday, David Carrothers resigned as administrator of Karnes City to accept a city manager's job in Dublin. His employment with the city ends Oct. 29. Mayor Jonathan Schulz II said a decision on naming an interim administrator will be made Oct. 26. He said plans are being made to begin advertising for Carrothers' permanent replacement along with filling the position left vacant when former city secretary Amelia Martinez stepped down Aug. 25. Carrothers, who was out of the county Tuesday, was offered the Dublin job late last week, the mayor said. "He was looking for a change," Schulz said. "I don't think he was disgruntled, not by any means." After meeting with Martinez on Tuesday, Schultz said she agreed to return to work on a part time basis "to help us over the hump until we can replace him." When Martinez stepped down, her administrative assistant Glenda Martinez assumed many of her duties. Dublin is near Stephenville in Erath County, southwest of Dallas, and has a population of about 4,000. October 17, 2004 Baldera lifts Lions to OT victory KENEDY - Jason Baldera scored on a 2-yard quarterback sneak to lift the Kenedy Lions to a 12-6 overtime win on Friday night in a District 29-2A triumph over the Nixon-Smiley Mustangs. The conversion kick failed, leaving the door open for a rally by Nixon-Smiley (1-6, 0-2), but the Mustangs fumbled for the first time in the game and lost it to Kenedy (5-2, 1-1). The game was tied at 6 at the end of regulation. Both teams scored in the second quarter. Kenedy scored on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Baldera to Patrick Salas with 10:36 left in the half. Nixon-Smiley answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cesar Velasquez to Stephen Villasana with 5:36 left in the half. Both conversion kicks failed. Mickey DeLeon rushed for 54 yards on nine carries for the Mustangs. Velasquez gained 36 yards on nine carries while Nixon-Smiley's Josh Garcia picked up 33 yards on six carries. Kenedy's A.J. Carbajal gained 90 yards on 14 carries while Baldera picked up 42 yards on nine carries and Paul Rodriguez had 34 yards on six carries. October 20, 2004 KENEDY - A Kenedy woman was killed Tuesday morning in a one-vehicle rollover accident. Brenda Moczygemba, 45, was driving eastbound on Texas Highway 72 about 7:30 a.m., according to a Department of Public Safety report. Her 2003 Ford Excursion, for unknown reasons, drifted to the right, off the paved shoulder and onto the grass. She made a faulty evasive action, veered hard to the left, and went into a broad skid across the roadway to the left. When the vehicle hit the grassy ditch on the left side of the road, it flipped over approximately five and a half times and came to rest on its top. Moczygemba was declared dead on the scene by Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Kathy Gustafson. DPS Cpl. Javier Reyes investigated the wreck. Services are pending with Eckols Funeral Home in Kenedy. October 22, 2004 Clerk killed in Connally Unit KENEDY - A clerk working at the Connally Unit on Thursday was killed by an inmate serving a life sentence who then killed himself. Rhonda Osborne, 33, was attacked by inmate Gary Laskowski at approximately 5 p.m. in a unit storage office of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Connally Unit in Kenedy, according to Mike Viesca, public information officer. She was pronounced dead at Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital in Karnes City sometime after 6 p.m. After the attack, Laskowski, 38, inflicted fatal injuries to his wrists and neck, and died at Kaiser Memorial. He was serving a life sentence on two counts of aggravated sexual assault out of Nueces County. The weapon he used upon himself was unknown, according to Viesca. No further details were available Thursday concerning the attack. Laskowski had a clean disciplinary record and was classified as a general population offender, according to Viesca. He was working as a support service inmate at the time of the attack. He entered the prison system on Dec. 15, 1988 and had been housed at the Connally Unit since Nov. 26, 2002. Laskowski would have been eligible for parole in October 2007. "Our hearts go out to Ms. Osborne's family and loved ones in this time of great tragedy," said Gary Johnson, the state prison department's executive director, in a press release. "We are reminded that those who work in the field of criminal justice put their lives on the line every day, all in the interest of public safety and the betterment of our society. We will never forget Ms. Osborne's sacrifice." The prison department's office of inspector general is investigating the incident. The Connally Unit, which opened in July 1995, employs about 738 employees and has a capacity of about 2,848 inmates. The unit houses general population and administrative segregation offenders. October 23, 2004 Karnes City rolls past Lions 48-20 KARNES CITY - Jeff Butler ran for four touchdowns and rushed for 177 yards to spark the Karnes City Badgers to a 48-20 win over the Kenedy Lions. Karnes City improved to 3-5 on the year and 3-1 in district, while Kenedy fell to 5-3, 1-2. After Jason Baldera hooked up with Patrick Salas on a 27-yard TD reception, Jeff Butler took over the show. Butler scored on runs of 1, 9 and 6 yards to put the Badgers up 21-6 at the half. Taylor Griffin connected with Justin Butler on a 59-yard scoring strike to open the third quarter scoring. Salas hauled in a 26-yard pass from Baldera for the Lions, before Jeff Butler added his fourth touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run to give the Badgers a 34-14 lead in the third quarter. Griffin added a 5-yard TD run and Dustin Witte a 2-yard run to ice the win for the Badgers in the fourth quarter. Salas, who rushed for 69 yards on three carries and caught two passes for 53 yards, found the end zone for the third time on a 49- yard run. Union chief says prison death should never have happened KENEDY - A union representative for governmental employees had several questions Friday concerning Thursday's death of a prison employee by an inmate, including whether the inmate had been properly classified and if the unit was properly staffed at the time of the attack. "This is a horrible tragedy. It makes you sick," said Brian Olsen, deputy director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "We see it as a horrible incident. It's sad to see something like this happen to that poor woman who wasn't expecting anything." Rhonda Osborne, 33, was killed Thursday by an inmate while she worked as a clerk at the John B. Connally Prison in Kenedy. The inmate, Gary Laskowski, then killed himself. "These inmates, you never know what they will do. I guess the first question would be about his classification - whether he should have been where he was," Olsen said. Laskowski, 38, was serving a life sentence on two counts of aggravated sexual assault committed in Nueces County. He was classified as a general population offender, according to a TDCJ report. Another question will be whether the unit had sufficient officers for the number of inmates. The shortage of correctional officers is an on-going problem in Texas prison system. "It has a lot to do with pay and it has a lot to do with benefits," Olsen said. "We're still not paying enough to attract professional people." He said that if 80 people go through the academy and are hired by the system, within three months 40 would be gone. "It's a vicious circle." The unit has 738 employees and has capacity for 2,848 inmates. The Advocate tried to find out how many of the employees are correctional officers and how many officers were on duty when the attack occurred, but could not get that information Friday. The union, which is 1.5 million strong nationally, represents about 4,000 correctional officers in Texas. Through the years, union members have battled for improved pay, benefits, training and issues dealing with safety for prison guards. "Even though we've made progress, we still have a long, long way to go to get to a professional level," Olsen said. Olsen said that while Texas has the largest prison system in the nation, Texas' prison guards are almost at the bottom of the list - 45th place - in pay and benefits. Louise Popplewell is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361- 552-2803 or lpopple@txcr.net. Prisoner incident another blow to Karnes community KENEDY - The Texas flag was at half-staff Friday at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's John B. Connally Unit and prisons across the state after Rhonda Osborne, 33, of Kenedy died of asphyxia in an attack by a prison inmate the day before. Osborne had worked for the Texas prison system for more than five years. She was an office clerk at the Connally Unit, from which her father had retired several years ago. The tragic death is the second shock wave to rattle the close knit Karnes City Independent School District, where Osborne's daughter is a sixth-grader at the junior high. The school's counselor, Brenda Mozycgemba, died Tuesday in a car accident on Highway 72 west of Kenedy. Mozycgemba's sons, a sixth-grader and a high school junior at Karnes City, are recovering from injuries suffered in the wreck. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has released few details of Thursday's deadly attack in a unit storage room. Preliminary autopsy reports from the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office showed that Osborne died of asphyxia after the attack by prison inmate Gary Laskowski, 38. According to information provided by the TDCJ, the attack occurred about 5 p.m. Osborne was pronounced dead about 6 p.m. after she was transported by ambulance to Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital in Karnes City. Laskowski used an edged weapon to inflict injuries to his neck and wrist and later died at the same hospital. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed over the weekend, said TDCJ spokesman Mike Viesca. "All of the evidence at this point indicates a murder/suicide," said John Moriarty, TDCJ's Inspector General, in a prepared press release provided to the media by e-mail. "We're continuing the investigation and have submitted evidence to the Texas Department of Public Safety's crime laboratory in Austin for analysis. It likely will be several weeks before all the evidence has been examined." About a dozen officials from the TDCJ's Office of the Inspector General, assisted by the Texas Rangers' Company D of San Antonio, worked round-the-clock to investigate the homicide, the press release said. Laskowski was serving a life sentence on two counts of aggravated sexual assault out of Nueces County. He entered the system on Dec. 15, 1988 and arrived at Connally on Nov. 26, 2002. He would have been eligible for parole in October 2007. At the time of the attack, he had a clean disciplinary record and was classified as a general population inmate. TDCJ spokesman Mike Viesca said Laskowski was a support service inmate, which allowed him to work within the prison unit. Osborne had worked for the TDCJ for more than five years. Her daughter has attended Karnes City schools since kindergarten, and Osborne was very active in the schools during her only child's elementary years, said Karnes City Superintendent Bernard Zarosky. "This has been a tragic week here," he said. The school district brought in a crisis team after the accident involving the Mozycgemba family, and just as school officials thought the situation would improve, they got word of the tragedy at the Connally Unit, he said. The crisis team includes local clergy, counselors from neighboring school districts as well as specialists trained through the district's Safe Schools/Healthy Choices grant, Zarosky said. The Connally Unit is an all-male, maximum-security prison with 738 employees, about 560 of whom work security jobs, according to the TDCJ Web site. The unit houses more than 2,800 inmates who are separated according to their behavior into general population offenders and administrative segregation offenders. The latter group is under tighter security with restricted privileges and movements, Viesca said. Following Thursday's attack, the entire prison was placed in lock- down, meaning all movement by offenders within the system is tightly restricted, Viesca said. The Connally Unit, which opened in 1995, has been the site of several well-publicized incidents, including the biggest prison break in state history. In December 2000 seven inmates tricked and overpowered guards and civilian workers. They later killed an Irving police officer while trying to rob a sporting goods store and made their way to Colorado, where all but one, who killed himself, were apprehended in January 2001. More recently, TDCJ confirmed a lock down of 400 prisoners in December 2003 due to gang-related activity in the unit. In April 2003, two inmates were hospitalized after an attack by two other inmates, and in January 2003, a female employee was held hostage for three hours by an inmate who also was serving a life sentence for attempted aggravated sexual assault as well as assault of a public servant. Robin M. Foster is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361- 275-6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com. October 25, 2004 Lech Walesa visits Polish community PANNA MARIA - In America's melting pot are several important ingredients that can be found here in Panna Maria, the oldest permanent Polish settlement in the country. They include struggle and hardship, faith and freedom. Panna Maria continued the celebration of its 150th year Sunday by welcoming a world leader whose faith led him to achieve freedom from communism for Poland, a historic event that heralded the end of the Cold War and transformed the world in the 20th century. Speaking in front of the restored Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Lech Walesa compared the hardships of early Polish settlers in Texas to his own struggles to defeat communism in his country in the 1980s. What made these human struggles great, he said, was that the Polish people united under the banner of their faith and morality. As the world becomes less divided by borders and more connected globally, that same faith and morality will determine the success of today's superpowers, Walesa said. Sunday's activities in Panna Maria ended the 28th Bi-annual Polish American Congress that began in Houston on Friday. The congress focused on Panna Maria's 150th anniversary as well as Polish American contributions in the fields of science, the humanities, culture and architecture. Walesa was the keynote speaker at the congress and at Sunday's celebration, which also included Mass said by Bishop John W. Yanta, a luncheon in the community hall for more than 400 visitors, entertainment by a Polish children's group and speeches by Walesa, Polish Ambassador Przemyslaw Grudzinski, Yanta and members of the Panna Maria Historical Association. Walesa, whose speech in Polish required a translator, joked that he has had trouble finding a place in today's world. If he were to go back to unions, he would now be in a very small union since there are not many Polish presidents yet, he said. Perhaps some American presidents would join his union, he said. But then they might have trouble deciding who would be president of the presidents' union, he joked, referring to America's indecisiveness in the last presidential election. What he is certain about, however, is that men of faith will be needed to lead the third millennium of Christianity, he said. Europe has rejected God and based its constitution only on freedom, leaving morality for the private sphere of man, Walesa said. The approach may seem appealing, he said, but such a utopia leads to formation of commissions, then commissions to study commissions and commissions to study the commissions that are studying commissions until our grandchildren will be forced to revolt, he said. "What will we then return to?" Walesa asked. He pleaded to people of faith to find new solutions for the world and, for the next five to 10 years, influence the world by participating to shape those solutions. "Our Polish experience, your experience has proved to us that as long as we base ourselves on values...on faith, we win," Walesa said. "With the human conscience at the center - that is the safest guardian of the individual. The higher civilization progresses, the more danger and the more need for human conscience." "We would like for the U.S. to lead in that direction. No other generation has this opportunity. We are the chosen people living on the threshold of a new century, a new era. The era of deep divisions, deep separation into blocs and borders is past." Wherever there are opportunities, there are threats, Walesa said. He reflected on his struggles as a young man with about 20 people to help him fight the communist system that was imposed on Poland after World War II. People felt helpless after taking arms against it, then staging riots, all of which ended in bloodshed, he said. Then something incredible happened - a Polish pope was elected. Pope John Paul II visited his homeland on his first pilgrimage and told the people, "Don't be scared. Transform the face of the earth," Walesa said. Suddenly, Walesa said, his 20 helpers became 20 million. U.S. Presidents Reagan and Bush, and Russian Presidents Gorbachev and Yeltsin, helped continued the struggle toward freedom, he said. As a man of faith, Walesa said he was not surprised that it occurred the way it did. As Polish Americans move ahead in today's world, he encouraged them to remain united "under the banner of Our Lady." Walesa was presented with gifts from the state of Texas, including a state flag and a state Senate proclamation, and by Karnes County - "the Polish Plymouth Rock of America." During the activities, he posed for countless pictures with Polish Americans participating in the congress from all over the country. He also posed with the Polish children's group from Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Houston, which entertained during lunch with traditional Polish songs. The celebration of Panna Maria's 150th anniversary continues through December. The community was founded in December 1854 by 100 families who came to America from an area of southwestern Poland known as Upper Silesa. Loretta Niestroy of the Panna Maria Historical Association is a fourth generation descendant of those settlers and welcomes tourists to the community located on Farm to Market Road 81 in Karnes County. More information is available by visiting . Robin M. Foster is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361- 275-6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com. October 30, 2004 Runge 14, Louise 0 RUNGE - Runge limited Louise's ground game and Gabriel Gutierrez rushed for 241 yards and two scores to lead the Yellowjackets to a 14- 0 victory in District 31-1A. Runge (4-5, 1-4) got a 64-yard run from Gutierrez in the first quarter, and Casey Oldham ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. In the third quarter, Gutierrez scored again, this time from 18 yards out, but the two-point pass attempt failed for the 14-0 final. Louise (1-9, 1-5) struggled for offense, amassing only minus-15 yards rushing. Clay Zboril passed for 127 yards, but was picked twice by Gutierrez and Oldham. Oldham was picked twice himself. Louise's Barry Kutach and Thomas Garcia had the interceptions. Runge won despite being penalized 12 times for 120 yards. Kenedy 35, Bloomington 7 KENEDY - Down 7-0, Bloomington fought back to force a tie in the first quarter, but Kenedy scored 28 points in the second half to claim a 35-7 victory in District 29-2A. The Lions (6-3, 2-2) got on the board early when A.J. Carbajal scored on a 68-yard run and Patrick Salas added the extra point for a 7-0 lead. But Bloomington scored on a 9-yard run by Cody Hoffman with a minute left. Hoffman added the extra point for a 7-7 margin that held up until halftime. It was a season-high in points for the Bobcats, who fell to 0-9 on the season and 0-4 in district. In the second half, Salas caught touchdown passes of 48 and 38 yards from quarterback Jason Baldera, and Carbajal added his second touchdown run of the night in the fourth quarter. Bryan Hartsfield added the last touchdown on a 3-yard run. Carbajal finished the night with 221 yards. Baldera picked off two passes for Kenedy, and David Salas had the other pick. October 31, 2004 Karnes City triumphs over N-S KARNES CITY - Taylor Griffin threw three touchdown passes to lead Karnes City to a 35-20 District 29-2A win over Nixon-Smiley. Karnes City improved to 4-5 on the season and 3-1 in district and moved into a three-way tie for first place with Refugio and Yorktown. The Badgers also clinched the Division I playoff berth and will meet Van Vleck in bi-district. Nixon-Smiley dropped to 1-8 and 1-3. Griffin completed six of his nine passes for 129 yards and threw scoring passes of 18 and 9 yards to Jeff Butler and 78 yards to Justin Butler. Jeff Butler carried 24 times 178 yards and also scored on a 3-yard run. Derek Skloss scored on a 48-yard run for Karnes City, which had 344 yards of rushing. Nixon-Smiley rushed for 309 yards. Caesar Velasquez paced the Mustangs with 16 carries for 120 yards, including touchdown runs of 4 and 1 yards. Josh Garcia had 16 for 115 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run.