Here is a recap of what was featured in the Wednesday, Jan. 17, e-edition of the Taylor Press. The e-edition is emailed to subscribers and available at www. taylorpress.net.
ADJUSTED MLK PROGRAM HELD AT CITY HALL Taylor residents made sure what would have been the 95th birthday of a famous civil rights leader was celebrated, regardless of cold weather.
While the marching aspect was canceled due to freezing temperatures, organizers held part of the 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march and celebration at Taylor City Hall Monday, Jan. 15.
About 85 people attended the program, including trustees from the Taylor and Rockdale Independent School District, city officials, the Taylor ISD superintendent and elected officials.
Organizers concluded their program by saying their first meeting for the MLK Day Celebration Committee will be Feb. 20 at Taylor City Hall.
A broadcast of the full program was live streamed on the Taylor Press Facebook page.
HUTTO ON HOOK FOR $7.5M IN RACISM LAWSUIT
HUTTO – In what may be the closing chapter of the Odis Jones versus the city of Hutto lawsuit, United States Magistrate Judge Mark Lane has ruled on the city’s appeals and the amount owed to Jones has been reduced from its original $12.5 million.
The $5 million reduction in damages was attributed mainly to limits on awards rather than the facts presented in the discrimination and retaliation case. The judge appeared less than impressed by Hutto’s legal arguments.
The case was tried in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas – Austin Division. Trial began Feb. 27, 2023, and at the end of the one week, the jury awarded Jones the sum of $8 million in damages for his racial discrimination claim and $4.5 million for his breach of contract. The city filed multiple motions to appeal the judgement.
While the judge dismissed some of Hutto’s grounds for appeal – “A brief submitted seven months after trial was not the proper vehicle to argue for how the jury should interpret conflicting evidence or to take issue with the jury instruction,” he wrote – he found two points that affected the award amount.
One was the potential of the two awards constituting a “double recovery.” Lane states that based on that risk, Jones is willing to remit his $4.5 million contract claim damages award. Lane also ordered Jones to remit another $500,000 because his claim did not correctly itemize qualified legal expenses.
The judge gave Jones until Jan. 26 to agree to the reduction of award, and upon that accomplishment Lane said, “the court will deny the motion for new trial without condition.”
