01-29-25

Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

The Uvalde Hesperian obtained the Uvalde County Jail media booking report for Sunday, January 26th and on the report, a person by the name of David Reyes, 46 years old, of Knippa was arrested and charged with Abuse of a Corpse Without Legal Authority and booked into the Uvalde County Jail the same day as Luis Ortiz Jr., 19 years old, of Uvalde who was charged with Murder and Abuse of A Corpse Without Legal Authority,

The Uvalde County Sheriff’ Office announced on Friday that a body was found Friday, January 24th under the Frio River Bridge on Highway 9o in Knippa. The UCSO and the Texas Rangers conducted an investigation at the bridge location that Friday afternoon which continued into the evening,

The following day, on Saturday, January 25th, the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office set up a command post at a small trailer park just north of Knippa on Highway 1049. The UCSP was accompanied by Texas DPS Officer a trailer park just north of Knippa on FM 1049.

Officials have not been released the identity of the person whose body was found.

The Zavala County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook Page that it assisted in the arrest and investigation of this case, The Uvalde Hesperian called the ZCSO on Tuesday morning, January 28th asking what part the department played and left contact information for the Zavala County Sheriff but has not received a call or email response back yet.

What is also still not been made public is the condition of the body found and what the likely cause of death was attributed to.

01-28-28

Michael Robinson |Uvalde Hesperian

Top Photo by Robinson

At the Monday, January 27th Uvalde County Commissioners Court meeting, Uvalde County Road Administrator Dee Kirkpatrick stated in his report to Commissioners a large pile of construction debris was found dumped near the Frio River Crossing on County Road 101 just north of Knippa.

It was suggested the area be patrolled by the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department deputies on a regular basis.

When Kirkpatrick was asked by the Uvalde Hesperian for more details after the court adjourned, he said the construction debris dumped consisted of scrap wood and interior construction materials and had already been cleaned up. The Uvalde Hesperian visited the location earlier today and found a few scraps of wood where the illegally dumped material may have been.

01-26-25

By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

The Uvalde County Commissioners Court is slated to meet on Monday, January 27, 2025, starting at 10 AM.  Commissioners Court will be held in the County Courtroom located on the first floor of the Courthouse

On the agenda, the Court will hear a report on the 2025 Budget for the Texas Hill Country River Region. 

Commissioners will also act upon reviewing a report on the Knippa Fire Truck and Park Improvement Projects as well as Knippa water lines and street improvement project.

See full agenda below:

See full agenda below:

by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

01-24-25

A Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office command unit along with several other sheriff’s department vehicles were seen at a trailer park located just north of Knippa at 897 FM 1949 Friday Afternoon. The Sheriff’s Office was accompanied by Texas DPS on a trailer down the dirt road lined with several trailers. Yellow crime scene tape was also seen placed over the road.

It is unclear what the reason was for the investigation or if it was related to the body discovered under the Highway 90 Frio River Bridge on Wednesday afternoon earlier this week.

By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

Top Picture by Robinson 

01-23-25

The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Officers and other officials were actively investigating the discovery of a body found under the Highway 90 Frio River Bridge into the early evening hours on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025. The Uvalde Hesperian learned from sources that a passing motorist called 911 alerting authorities of the body being seen under the bridge.

The dirt and gravel road which passes under the bridge is used by locals as an alternate route to get to the north side of Knippa when trains block access to FM 1049 from Highway 90.

The area where the body was found is used illegally as a site for dumping trash.

 Press Release from Sheriff Ruben Nolasco

01-23-25

By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

01/10/25

  As colder weather sets in and many of the fields having been plowed in the surrounding area, mice and rats are finding their way into residences, businesses, schools and other buildings.  Linda Lively of Falco Pest Management stated that this is a seasonal problem. She also said Falco Pest Management has mouse boxes available.

 Area schools may also be experiencing a problem with mice. The Uvalde Hesperian has received one report from a concerned parent over mice at the Knippa ISD campus buildings.  The parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I feel the school is not properly handling the mice/rat issue. I worry about potential disease.”  The Uvalde Hesperian reached out to the Knippa ISD District Superintendent for a comment yesterday and is awaiting a response.

  Silvia Ocasio, the owner of RedBack Pest Management said she starts getting calls about mice and rats starting in September when the weather starts changing.

   The Uvalde Hesperian called TJ Moore Lumber Yard Ace Hardware and asked if they still had mouse and rat traps. The clerk who answered said that a customer just came in and bought a whole lot of stuff. The clerk also said that they still had rodent traps in stock.

 The following article from the Centers of Disease Control or CDC provided information on identifying and dealing with unwanted mice: Controlling Wild Rodent Infestations

Press Release submitted to the Uvalde Hesperian

12-20-2024

The Uvalde Tex Best Convenience Store donated toys to the Knippa Volunteer Fire Department. We will be distributing this Sunday

12-10-24

Article submitted by Addison Day

As assigned by their ENGL-1301 Professor, Professor Ruiz, this group of Knippa Collegiate students banded together to face a topic they felt strongly about. These girls discussed and brainstormed ways to present the brutalities of reality for children around the world in a respectful manner while taking inspiration from Jonathen Swift in his article, A Modest Proposal. In this article, they offered a satirical solution to the problem, while at the end proposing a true suggestion in order to grab the attention of those around them. 

Stolen through a Screen

  Statistics from the year 2022 state, one in six kids ranging from ages nine to twelve have experienced romantic or sexual conversations with an online-only contact. To make things worse, one in eight children of the same age range had shared a nude image with an online-only connection. (Thorn, Online Grooming) These statistics have only become increasingly worrisome over the recent years, from 2022 to 2023 reports of children being
victims of sexual exploitation online shot from 32 million to 36 million. (USOPC) Although systems have been instituted to prevent online child trafficking such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, which allows individuals to report suspected sexual exploitation of children, something more must be done. Access to social media allows children to meet and interact with strangers, which must be prevented.

  In order to prevent children from speaking with strangers online, their access to social media will be revoked until they turn sixteen. This will prevent them from having such easy access to people who they do not know, and who want to harm them. In schools, if the district chooses to do so, the students will have access to heavily monitored and restricted devices which will be used only for school purposes. This would be good for the workforce, as there would be jobs monitoring which needed to be filled. Although firewalls could be instituted, children can learn their ways around this, and firewalls are not always reliable.

  If the school does not choose to allow access to technology, then the students will have to find other ways to complete their assignments. The students will have to use physical textbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. This may seem arbitrary and impractical, but if these ways of completing assignments worked in the past, then they will work now. Although the assignments may take more time, it will allow the students to remain safe from a whole other
world being the internet.

  The solution previously suggested may seem extreme, as our world today relies so heavily on technology. However, online child trafficking is a large-scale issue which requires a real solution. Many people use technology under someone else’s name and image. This is deceitful to all those they come into contact with on the internet. This act, known as catfishing, causes around 55%-65% of online child trafficking. (Thorn) In order to prevent this, social media
apps must require pictures of the user to be submitted along with facial recognition to verify that it is the same person. Another measure which must be taken is the children must take a seminar similar in educational levels to that of Driver’s Ed. In this seminar the children will learn of the dangers of trusting people online.

  Children need to be protected from the dangers of social media. We should not only protect the children, but a punishment should be applied so child trafficking can potentially be prevented. The punishment should be applied to anyone who is involved in the act of child trafficking. The punishment should be life in prison with no chance of parole. The victim should not be alone, there should be support groups put in place. The victim should be able to have
someone to talk to. Overall, we have a big issue, online child trafficking, but we can try our hardest to prevent it. Our job is to keep the children safe, if you see something say something. We are in this fight together to stop child trafficking.

Websites used
https://eightdaysofhope.com/app/uploads/2022/11/Human-Trafficking-Statistics-and-Online-Safety.pdf

https://www.usopc.org/news/2024/april/26/dhs-launches-know2protect-public-awareness-campaign-to-combat-online-child-exploitation-and-abuse-with-many-public-and-private-sector-partnersincluding-google-meta-snap-roblox-nascar-u-s-olympic-paralympic-committee-boy-scouts-of-america-national-police-athletic-league-and-more#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20National%20Center,reports%20received%2010%20years%20ago