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REPUBLICAN BILL GRAVELL FOR COUNTY JUDGE
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Williamson commissioners OK precinct map

11/15/2021

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Claire Osborn
Austin American-Statesman USA TODAY NETWORK
The Williamson County Commissioners Court has redrawn the map for the county’s four precincts after the release of 2020 census numbers.
Some residents said the court redrew the map to favor Republicans and approved it too quickly, but the county judge said that no elected officials were drawn out of their districts and that most of the public supported the map. The county commissioners adopted the map on a 4-1 vote after the first public hearing about it at their meeting Tuesday. The map determines the portions of the county that commissioners, constables and justices of the peace represent. Redistricting is done once every 10 years after census numbers are released. The new maps will be used for elections beginning in January. One of the changes involves extending parts of Precinct 4 west of Interstate 35. The new parts include the Behrens Ranch neighborhood in Round Rock, the town of Weir, the town of Jarrell and areas west of it, and the eastern part of Georgetown.
“In the past decade, Williamson County’s growth has been predominately focused on the west side of the county,” Commissioner Valerie Covey said in a news release. “Both precincts 2 and 3 were over the population target while precincts 1 and 4 needed more residents to make the precincts as even as possible.”
Precinct 4 is currently all in eastern Williamson County, including the towns of Hutto and Taylor and a portion of Round Rock. The changes to Precinct 4 will dilute the votes of minority communities, said Taylor resident Jose Orta, speaking on behalf of the League of United American Latin Citizens District 7.
“Instead of taking the growth of Latinos into account and working with Latino communities, you have intentionally drawn gerrymandering maps that dilute the votes of people of color,” he told the commissioners.
Orta later said the Latino votes were diluted because some of the voting precincts in Round Rock in Precinct 4 that traditionally voted Democratic had been moved to Precinct 1. He also said that Jarrell and Weir, which have been added to Precinct 4, are heavily Republican.
The county’s estimated population is 609,017 and has grown 44% since the 2010 census. The ideal population for each precinct in the proposed map, which is the county’s population split by four, is 152,254.
The number of people in a precinct can’t deviate more than 10% above or below the ideal number, according to state law. The new map has 158,935 people in Precinct 1, 148,465 in Precinct 2, 150,578 in Precinct 3 and 151,039 in Precinct 4, according to county officials.
Precinct 1, which includes parts of Round Rock and Austin, has more people in the new map than other precincts because it is not expected to grow as much since it doesn’t have much vacant land, commissioners said Wednesday. Precinct 2, which still includes Liberty Hill and parts of Leander and Cedar Park in the new map, is the fastest growing precinct. Precinct 3 in the new map still includes Florence, most of Georgetown, part of Leander and part of Cedar Park but has added two municipal utility districts west of Round Rock.
Jan Pelosi, who lives in a part of Austin that is in Williamson County, said the new map splits up cities and neighborhoods in favor of Republicans. “It’s blatantly transparent that maps were redrawn to protect Republican incumbents,” she said. “Precinct lines were redrawn to pack as many Democratic voters into Precinct 1,” Pelosi said after the meeting. “The Republican areas of Precinct 1 were carved out and moved into Precinct 4 and Precinct 2 and 3 to protect those areas.” Pelosi said during the Tuesday meeting that there had been no public hearings until the “work was almost done.” Covey said Tuesday that there was only a short amount of time to work on the map because of delays in the release of census numbers due to the pandemic. The commissioners also had to wait until Oct. 25, when the governor signed the state’s redistricting maps. Those maps were necessary to draw the county’s map. Covey on Wednesday said the county did not find out until Nov. 1 that its deadline to submit new precinct boundaries to the secretary of state is Nov. 13. “This information cut our timeline a week short and limited the amount of time to receive public input,” Covey said in a statement. Steve Armbruster, the chairman of the Republican Party of Williamson County, also defended the new map at the Tuesday meeting. “I see it as doing the best job possible in balancing the population,” he said. “I did a lot of research into redistricting at the state level, and one of the things you are not allowed to do is you are not allowed to look at race.” The new map moves the Fern Bluff and Brushy Creek municipal utility districts near Round Rock from Precinct 1 to Precinct 3 but also adds much more of Round Rock to Precinct 1.
Commissioner Terry Cook, the only Democrat on the Commissioners Court, objected to those changes Tuesday, saying she paid more attention to the MUD boards than Covey, the Precinct 3 commissioner, would. Covey said she is very involved in her precinct and has already reached out to members of the Brushy Creek MUD board. “They are not going to see any less level of attention because that is my job,” Covey said.
County Judge Bill Gravell said he was not seeing public outrage over the new map. The public was invited to comment on the proposed map on the county website, and 102 people supported it, Gravell said. Twenty-four people opposed it, and 13 people had questions, he said.
“Not one elected official was drawn out of their precinct,” he said. “If this county wanted to be nefarious and gerrymander, every person could have been drawn out. … I think it’s pretty dadgum fair with the timeline we had.”
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Veterans honored during ceremony in Georgetown for Veterans Day

11/11/2021

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GEORGETOWN, Texas - An assembly bugle call opened the annual Veterans Day celebration at the memorial plaza in Sun City. This event in Georgetown is one of the largest in Williamson County. 
Bob Simmons, an Army Special Forces sergeant, was among the older veterans to attend. "It’s fantastic we get to realize people really do appreciate what we did, because I was in when there was people, who were having problems with the military," said Simmons.
The guest speaker was Command-Sergeant Major Cliff Burgoyne. He praised the current generation that still serves, and those who recently retired, noting that the United States now has the largest population of young veterans since the Vietnam War.

City of Kyle hosting Veterans Day Parade on November 13Local veterans will be honored in Kyle and following the parade there will be a flyover, live music, games, and more. FOX 7 Austin's Tierra Neubaum gets all the details.
"When thinking in terms of military service the meaning is clear, military service is providing care and security for our nation and our fellow service members may we as a country never forget our servicemen and women," said Burgoyne.
The ceremony included a special recognition for those who wore a uniform during the 19-year-long War on Terror with a plaque placed next to the main memorial plaza wall. An unexpected surprise for new veterans like Kevin Owenswalker and Lt. Col. Jason Vincent.
"It’s humbling to be amongst all the other veterans it’s kind of…I’ve kind of…join the crowd and it’s something I never saw it coming when I joined," said Vincent.
Owenswalker was also surprised by the recognition. "It’s an honor. To follow the rest of everyone else before me, so hopefully I’ll be remembered like those guys before me," he said.

Ceremony at Austin Veterans Park and Plaza to celebrate veteransThree different memorials were relocated to the park to commemorate the Vietnam War, Korean War, and hostile action in Beirut.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell recognized gatherings like this are difficult during a pandemic, but the event can help pull communities together.
"It’s not only therapeutic for the nation, it’s the right thing to do," he said. "These are men and women who have stood in the gap for our nation, the breach, they stood in the middle of conflict, and to have a day to honor them and recognize them is important."
The Veterans Day ceremony ended with one final salute. It was announced that a set of memorial bricks was purchased by an anonymous donor to honor the last casualties of the evacuation in Afghanistan. The names of the 13 service members who died at the Kabul airport will be etched into the bricks and placed at the center of the plaza.
Another big way veterans are being honored is a Field of Honor in Georgetown. It’s the fifth year the local Rotary Club has hosted the display of more than 1,500 American flags. It wraps up on Saturday.
Link to the story Veterans honored during ceremony in Georgetown for Veterans Day (fox7austin.com)

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Williamson County OKs Johnson & Johnson opioid settlement | kvue.com

11/2/2021

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The settlement will bring $314,000 directly to the county along with access to a regional program fund of more than $6.3 million.
​
KVUE Staff
Published: 5:13 PM CDT November 2, 2021
Updated: 5:13 PM CDT November 2, 2021
 WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas — On Tuesday, the Williamson County Commissioners Court approved a settlement in the County's opioid litigation against Johnson & Johnson. 
The settlement will bring $314,000 to the County this year in recognition of the County's past opioid remediation. This also gives the County access to regional abatement program funds of more than $6.3 millions.
The County filed a claim against the giant pharmaceutical manufacturer and other defendants in 2018 for "bringing an oversupply of opioids" into the Central Texas county, according to a release from Williamson County.
“We are happy to see money begin to come in so we can provide more help to residents of Williamson County in combatting the opioid epidemic,” Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said. “Williamson County was a driving force for the statewide settlement, and we expect this to be the first of multiple settlements with other defendants that focus on Texas and address needs within Williamson County.”
Williamson County said it worked alongside Attorney General Ken Paxton to secure a settlement of more than $291 million for the state of Texas to "resolve opioid related claims." The county said most of the settlement will be sued for opioid abatement programs throughout the state that will be overseen by the Texas Opioid Council. 
Paxton announced the statewide settlement last week, saying the the agreement would mostly follow the terms of the Global Prescription Opioid Settlement Agreement that was announced in July 2021.In the release announcing the commissioner court's approval, Gravell highlighted the work the county is already doing to combat the opioid crisis.
“WilCo’s Mobile Outreach Team is gaining national attention through its work to identify those at risk of opioid overdose and provide Narcan,” he said.
Narcan is an opioid overdose reversal medication that can reverse a fentanyl overdose if administered in a timely manner following the overdose. Texas law allows anyone to possess and administer naloxone in a presumed opioid overdose.
“We will continue to do all we can to help families find treatment for their loved ones and to help save lives,” Gravell said.
Williamson County OKs Johnson & Johnson opioid settlement | kvue.com
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