By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

03-24-26

   If you’ve ever driven in a rural part of Texas and stopped at an old gas station back in the day and asked the manager on duty for directions to a location and have been told. “go straight for two miles and turn left at the intersection where the old dance hall used to be,” this little story might be a good segway into a topic that has a real basis in reality here in Uvalde County. 

  The Uvalde Hesperian recently spoke with Uvalde County Commissioner Roy Kothmann after the Monday, March 23rd, Uvalde County Commissioners Court meeting. Hesperian asked, when has the Uvalde County road map been officially updated. He stated the last time a group was appointed to review all county roads was maybe 26 years ago and they designate roads based on input from citizens.

Why it matters:

  While Kothmann went on to say the county isn’t actively paving new county roads, over time existing county roads become shorter as sections of public roadway are abandoned by the county and turned over to private property owners who petition the County to abandon parts or all of a county road. 

   This happens when a landowner buys land on both sides of an existing county road and effectively surrounds the public road with land owned by one private owner. 

  Such an occurrence was made official at Monday’s Uvalde County Commissioners Court meeting where the court voted to abandon one entire county road and a portion of another. 

 This happened in 2025 with another county road. In both instances, a private gate is placed over the once public road creating a dead-end not reflected on the official Uvalde County map. Additionally, Google maps and other maps may not get the memo either and show a road on map that appears to be one or two miles in length when in reality the road dead-ends much sooner,

 With parcels of land being bought and sold over the years, county road sections that are abandoned continue to create a greater level of inaccuracy with road maps.

03-23-26

By Michael Robinson

  The Uvalde County Commissioners Court meets two times a month on the second and fourth Monday of the month. At this morning’s meeting, the chair reserved for the Uvalde County Attorney was empty. At the meeting two weeks ago, the Uvalde County Attorney’s chair was empty.

When was the last time John Dodson was present?

Where’s Waldo? Where’s John Dodson?

by Michael Robinson| Uvalde Hesperian

Top image credit: Google Map

03-22-26

A landowner is requesting Uvalde County abandon a portion of CR379 and CR380 in its entirety.  Marshall S. McCrea, Ill and Castle Rock Ranch, LP claim to own private property on both sides of these two public roads and currently has a fence over CR 379 which connects to CR380. Also included in the agenda packet is a picture of a sign posted near the entrance of CR 329. The property and two county roads up for consideration are located between 3-5 miles southeast of Utopia.

The item is Number 7 on Monday’s March 23rd Uvalde County Commissioners Court meeting scheduled for 10AM in the 3rd floor Uvalde County Uvalde County Courtroom.

In the motion submitted to Uvalde County, is says, “Over 15 years ago McCrea followed the statutory process to abandon County Road 379 and County Road 380 just east of where they connect in Uvalde County as shown on Exhibit ·B”. The County records still show that such abandonment is not represented on County maps. McCrea owns the real property on both sides of the portion of County Road 379 and County Road 380 further described in Exhibit “A”. McCrea is once again requesting the County to abandon Country Road 79 and County Road 380 at McCrea property line.

McCrea erected a gate located on the McCrea property line and has been locked for over 15 years. By this Motion, McCrea asks the Commissioners’ Court to abandon the portion of County Road 379 described in Exhibit “A” and abandon County Road 380 in its entirety, described in Exhibit “A” attached hereto.

Also, the motion states, “Uvalde County records indicate that County Road 3 79 and County Road 380 both “dead end” and do not connect with any other existing County maintained road. ”

Uvalde Hesperian questions: According to the motion included in the Uvalde County agenda packet pertaining to this item, it states the owner stated a statutory process to abandon CR 379 and 380 and the property owners placed a gate over the county road. While the county maintains the roads as county property for 15 years, the public has not had access to the county roads beyond the gate. Why hasn’t the county acted sooner?

What is the total combined length of two county roads that the property owner wants the County to abandon? What is the valuation of the roadway to be abandoned?

by Michael Robinson-Uvalde Hesperian

03-18-16

   A cold war era F-16 warbird found an unusual place to cool its proverbial jets from a trip between two air force bases. The jet is being transported from Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls to Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio. The jet is taking a pit stop on the Uvalde’s Tex-Best parking lot until Saturday when it will resume its journey to Laughlin Air Force Base.

Pictures of the military war bird have been recently popping up on local social media pages.

Also, a number of curious local residents have stopped to get pictures including one woman who wanted a picture of herself with the plane.

  The Uvalde Hesperian visited with Logistics Coordinator Andrew Scott, with Wild Companies, Inc, who has been contracted to move the F16 between the two locations and is managing the aircraft on the journey. Andrew’s stepdad is one of the owners of the company.

  According to Scott, the F-16 is not air worthy but will be used by the Laughlin Air Force Base for on the ground pilot training. 

“We moved an A10 about a month ago and we parked it at a construction yard somewhere.” Scott said.

” We move a lot of these aircraft.” Scott said.

According to a Wikipedia article on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, “The General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fourth-generation fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics and produced by multiple companies, including General Dynamics until 1993 and Lockheed Martin until 2017.^{[3] ”} 

“Since entering service in 1978, the F-16 Fighting Falcon has become one of NATO’s most popular fighters,” an article from defenseandaviation.info said.

The article also adds, “Much of that popularity came from the film “Iron Eagle” (1986), in which a young aviator flew in an F-16 to a country fictitious (but very similar to Gaddafi’s Libya) to rescue his father.”

  According to information on www.govtribe.com it states: “Wild Companies, Inc. is a veteran-owned, for-profit small business headquartered in LaGrange, Georgia, that has been registered with SAM.gov since August 2021. The company specializes in providing specialized logistics, transportation, and relocation services to federal agencies, with a particular focus on complex, high-value equipment and infrastructure projects. Wild Companies demonstrates expertise in managing time-sensitive, technically demanding operations that require specialized handling, compliance with security protocols, and skilled labor across multiple federal agencies.”

A rainy afternoon couldn’t dampen the energy in downtown Sabinal on March 7, as the grand opening celebration for Rustic Charm by The Ranch Wife brought together local businesses, musicians, and community members. During a live broadcast from the event, Robert Miguel of Uvalde Radio welcomed a surprise guest to the microphone—Sabinal native and rising musician Kay O’Neill.

A Hometown Musician on the Rise

Balancing Music and College

New Music on the Way

Supporting a New Local Business

By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

Thursday, March 12th, 2026

    On December 7th, a $756,348.69  Uvalde County awarded to DKM Enterprises LLC a contract to build seven low-water crossings on tributaries of the Leona River.

CR 428 is one of the seven low water crossings that is included. In order to construct the low water crossing, it was stated by Uvalde County Appraisal District Grant Writer Carl Esser that temporary access to adjacent private property be acquired.

  At the Monday, March 9th, Uvalde County Commissioners Court meeting, agenda item #13 was approved by Uvalde County which is a contractual agreement for temporary access of a strip of privately owned land referred to as Williams Ranch (5W), a Series of J & C Williams Investments LLC.

   County Road 428 located in the Deer Valley area north of Uvalde, CR 428 is one of the Leona low water crossings awarded to DKM Enterprises in December 2025. DKM will begin work within the next few months. According to County Commissioner Ronald “Ronnie” Garza, there are a number of residents who use that road as well as school buses.

  The County approved the terms of the contract for temporary access which will cost the county $500 a week for a maximum of five weeks. 

  According to Uvalde County Grant Writer Carl Esser, who presented the agenda item to the Court he said, “It will require a temporary bypass road (484 linear feet in length) to allow both incoming and outgoing traffic.” 

  Other considerations include a strand fence and a 14-foot gate on the north side of the bypass road to be installed by a private contractor. Esser stated a quote from Kimball fabricating to build the fence is estimated at $3,800.  According to Esser, the fencing is needed to keep livestock from venturing onto the Wright County Road.

  He went on to say limestone base will be laid down for the bypass road and at the end of the day, the limestone base material will be retained by the private property owner.

 Carl Esser responded to a public records request submitted to Uvalde County by the Uvalde Hesperian with additional details bypass roadway including the width of the road as well as the amount of Limestone base to be used and its cost:

Breakdown of Costs for Temporary Access Agreement

1. $500/week for maximum of 5 weeks                       $2,500.00
2. Fence and Gate Cost estimate:                                    $3,500.00
3. Temporary bypass road cost of materials:
4. Total estimated cost of materials                               $1,834.00

       Total costs for Temporary Access Agreement           $7,834.00

Article Submitted by CPLC Uvalde Head Start

03-10-26

Reading to children is one of the most important ways to support early learning and language development. That is why CPLC Uvalde Head Start Center is celebrating National Reading Month this March by promoting the benefits of reading to young children.

Last week, our classroom celebrated the stories of Dr. Seuss. Teachers read books aloud to help build early language and listening skills while encouraging children to explore the joy of reading. The children also participated in hands-on activities such as painting, looking at pictures in their favorite books, and creating their own Dr. Seuss hats. These activities promoted creativity, imagination, and active listening.

According to the Office of Head Start, books often introduce children to new vocabulary that they may not hear in everyday conversation, helping strengthen language development.

The Head Start Center has served Uvalde families for 30 years and has been operated by Chicanos Por La Causa since 2021. Today, it provides high-quality early childhood education to about 50 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, along with support services for their families. By partnering with parents and the broader community, the center helps children prepare for school and life while promoting healthy development and lifelong learning.