News

TAYLOR CITY COUNCIL Second/Fourth Thursday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 400 Porter St.

AUSTIN – The Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) invites Texas women veterans to join its Women Veterans Network at a virtual event on March 23. The event will highlight services and benefits available in various areas of the state and provides the opportunity for women veterans to join the network, meet regularly and share their stories. Veteran attendees will receive “Proudly Served” buttons. Texas has the highest women veteran population in the nation with over 200,000 women veterans.

By the end of summer, the Taylor Animal Shelter’s capacity will increase from 17 to 30 kennels for canines awaiting forever homes. But the situation for the shelter, which is maxed out and cannot accept new dogs, could get worse in the short term.

“ F orever 16.” “Forever 23.” “Forever 28.” T-shirts and posters memorialized the ages of fentanyl-poisoning victims in Williamson County Expo Center’s South Hall March 7, as families came to hear the latest news in this war on opioids. At the event, Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason awarded $25,000 each to Texas Against Fentanyl and A Change For Cam, to be used toward fentanyl awareness and education.

The city is seeking federal assistance to hire nine new firefighters in the next fiscal year. At the March 9 meeting, the Taylor City Council unanimously approved Fire Chief Daniel Baum’s recommendation to apply for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant by March 17 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for full salary and benefits for the nine positions over three years.

HUTTO – The city recently discovered that legally-required city council executive session recordings are missing. According to statements made at the March 2 council meeting, exactly how many, how and when they disappeared is unknown.

The Leo Livingston Fund grant committee is actively accepting applications to help local non-profit organizations again this year. The Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley administers a charitable endowment fund that was created in memory of Leo Livingston by his wife Doris Livingston, benefits nonprofit organizations in the Taylor community.

Here is a recap of what was featured in the Wednesday, March 8, e-edition of the Taylor Press. The e-edition is emailed to subscribers and available at www.

Though Winter Storm Mara hit our area more than a month ago, cleanup costs for the city continue to skyrocket. At the March 9 meeting of the Taylor City Council, Public Works Director Jim Gray said initial estimates he had given of $1 to $1.5 million for emergency debris removal could be six or even seven-fold higher.

Taylor and Hutto Independent School Districts joined 248 other statewide districts requesting the Texas Education Agency reconsider an upcoming “accountability refresh” predicted to negatively impact the A-F grades given to school districts and campuses.

Some roads are getting wider. Traffic signals are being added.

“Someone should do something, but nobody really talks about it.” That was the thought Isabella Tebeau, a former volunteer for the Williamson County Sherrif’s department’s Victim Service Unit, kept having every time she learned about another instance of childhood sexual abuse. “I heard multiple times that children had fallen victims to predators, and I was always thinking someone should do something,” she said.

Heritage Square Farmers Market The Farmers Market is typically every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Heritage Square, 400 N. Main St. in Taylor. For updates, visit https://www. facebook.com/heritagesquarefarmersmarket.

KIWANIS CLUB • Meets every Wednesday at noon at Sirloin Stockade, 3607 N. Main St.

3K FROM STAFF REPORTS [email protected] Sexual abuse of children is a topic that is rarely talked about, but a group of community leaders are hoping to raise awareness about this issue and funds to protect vulnerable youth in Williamson County. The Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center, a nonprofit organization providing education and child advocacy and bringing together a wide array of stakeholders, will be a partner in the first ever Break the Silence 3K Walk/Run and Kid’s Fun Run on Saturday, April 15 in Murphy Park.