By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZThe Paz Files
LLANO, Texas - The weekly newspaper is full of news: tours at the ancient jail have been nixed by engineers worried about a roof collapse, a community salute to first responders, and the touching story about a city vendor who did a job without getting approval and now wonders if he'll ever get paid. It's the little things that move the ground in Texas's small towns. A happy-go-lucky crowd of just a tad over 3,000 call this town home.
But it shakes its own trees enough to give everyone the idea that things may be slow, but they're never boring. Llano, located about 70 miles northwest of Austin on Highway 71, has two competitive newspapers, the Llano County Journal and the Llano News, which crows it has been the hometown newspaper for 183 years. It is the more staid version of local news. It's front page this week carried the buzz of a story headlined: "Llano Elementary School Names Interim Principal."
In the Journal, that story about the vendor, a local security business owner by the name of Bode Barker, had the county judge, Wayne Brascom, asking commissioner's court to pay the man. Barker, argued the other commissioners, undertook the work without getting what is equal to gold in smalltown government transactions: a purchase order.
Barker's Cher-Tex Communications installed cameras at several county communications towers needed, he said about discussions he'd had with county employees, to prevent vandalism. He billed the county a little more than $4,000 for the work he did last month.
Discussion at the commissioner's court meeting was country as country could be.
As published in the Journal, the issue unfolded like this, after County Judge Brascom asked that Barker be paid:
"Do I hear a second?" Brascom said.
When no commissioner seconded the motion, Brascom expressed his displeasure.
"Can I ask why there is no second?" Brascom asked again.
"I'll second it so that we can get on with an up-or-down vote," Commissioner Johnnie Heck threw out.
Brascom's request went unheeded and the vendor was not paid. According to the newspaper, Barker's bill will enter the bureaucratic pipeline, with Barker told he'd have to again meet with county employees to set the matter straight, to re-inforce the guideline that all county expenditures needed that purchase order before any work could be undertaken.
In smalltown towns, rules and regulations magnify. And $4,000 in tiny Llano is four grand, no small amount to sneeze at during a struggling economy. Interestingly, the "Llano County jail Log" published by the Journal shows a sprinkling of arrests to do with credit card abuse/fraud and the passing of hot checks. Non-payment of child support and public intoxication gets their share of listings in the log.
On a sunny Friday, Llano is a quiet town. Not much going on at the city square with the ornate courthouse as centerpiece. Diners were few at The Acme Cafe & Grill, a converted dry goods store on the square charming square. It's been the property of Maurie and Jim Beasley since 2004.
"Maurie Kay grew up on a farm, in a little bitty town called Fred," read the notes on its menu, "...just a spit'n distance from Louisiana, where pick'n peas, shuck'n corn and peel'n shrimp were all national pastimes. Maurie Kay learned how to cook from a slew of relatives that believed food was the main attraction. With Cajun aunts, Italian uncles, Alabama cousins, a reunion was a time for catching up and sharing recipes."
It's a cute cafe, with wooden floors and a high ceiling, but the food is nothing to make you drive in every weekend. Prices stay in the $7 and $8 range per plate, nothing spectacular. Chuck Wagon Chili Pie will set you back a mere $5.29, a slice of pecan pie is only $2.99.
It'll sell you those desserts, but, as the menu instructs: "Ask about our whole pies and cakes...24-hour notice required..."
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11 comments:
Yep that sounds like small town USA.
Take a break dude, most of the blogs put articles and change them every 3 or 4 days.
I bet it losts of energy to write up something everyday.
Enjoy the time off, besides selling books is probably more profitable.
That Losoaya character has had the same write up for about a week. Probably the new semester is giving him more work and last time to blog, he has been critical of Jerry Deal, but Deal has his bloggers and they see no wrong with his bent views.
Hey, Mr. Editor, anon is right, you don't have to write one story every day, screw that crap.
Besides, we kind of miss Jr. Bonner, bring him in, and let the punkie cowboy write some stuff.
I agree, a story every 3 days, is not a bad schedule.
Wow, Jerry Deal de-certified as a journalist, wow, their is too much for the senior citizen. Everyone needs to chill out.
By the way, what happen to Chili Perez killer?? I say, it was Von Bulow. Arrest him immidiately.
Mr. Editor: While I dont always agree with your opinions about our RGV towns, I do like reading a variation of articles based on REAL towns and REAL characters. If I want to read made up stories I can read Dan Brown or Carlos Fuentes, oh, question to you, Mr. Editor: Are any of your books available on Nook?
This story about "small towns" reminds me of the city of Pharr. One main street, Pharr is not in the mid valley, not in the upper valley (eventhough the town is considered part of the upper valley). What I get from your blog entry is that while food might be different (in the valley all you find is tacos for breakfast and lunch), small towns are the same no matter where you go. Most,not all, people that compare the town of Llano to our valley towns will say horrible things about our small valley towns and those things that are wrong in the valley will seem "cute", "interesting", "historical" if the town is any town but our valley towns.
Write whatever pleases you, its your blog.
*Woman from B'ville.
ANON:...I don't necessarily write what pleases me, as much as what may interest me on any given day. I look for news, but there are days when news is nowhere to be found, which is when I knock on the barn door and roust Junior Bonner from his sleep. On other occasions, I'll shoot Von Bulow or Klement a note at their Nazi potlucks, or Bob Veacruz at the Port Isabel Yacht Club, where he lives with a nubile nymph from Brownsville. That's the drill; there are no ulterior motives, no hate for any one region of the country, just a lot of danged opinions, which, in the final analysis, is what makes us all flawed Human Beings...- Editor
I wasn't aware the editor of the Paz-files was on the board of STIJA. Now, Mr. Editor, seriously how can you judge Jerry Deal fairly, when all you do is write nasty articles about him.
I would say, let the women of La Placita evaluate him, what say you??
That is one neat el camino on the top of your editor's comment section. A picture is worth 1000 words.
ANON:...I sit on the STIJA board at times, yes. As for Jerry Deal, our articles about him are not "nasty." We merely note his failings as a true journalist, and only because he ignores the WhiteWings debt story - it cost city taxpayers money when that baseball team can't pay its bills to the city in a timely manner, as per a contract. Deal does much good, but he is no journalist. Not when he takes pot shots at elected officials without interviewing them (Sallie Gonzalez, JJ Gonzalez, Danny Castillo, Rick Morales). We don't defend any of those people, but we can see that he is unfair in his approach to their candidacies. I think he knows it, too. Perhaps he'll turn it around at some point soon... - Editor
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