Contributed informationBEEVILLE – The Bee

Soil and Water Conserva-tion District recently an-nounced the winners of their 2020 Poster and Essay Contest.

The students participated in the 42nd Texas Conserva-tion Awards Program. The subject was: “Where would we BEE without pollina-tors?” Awards will be pre-sented at a later date.

The winners are as fol-lows:

BeevilleSenior Essay Winners

1st Place: Kacey Russell (She also won 1st place at

the Area III Level) 2nd Place: Matthew Juan

Cardona3rd Place: Rayanna Perez

Skidmore-Tynan Poster Contest1st Place: Anissa Gonza-

les

PettusPoster Contest

1st Place: Payton Gomez2nd Place: Tayanna Ola-

chia3rd Place: Julia Bridge

Junior Essay Contest1st Place: Hayleigh Cruz2nd Place: Payton Gomez3rd Place: Emma Beu-

champ

BSWCD announces poster and essay contest winners

Page 2A • Thursday, June 4, 2020 • MySouTex.com

361-366-3086

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BEIC awards near $116K in relief grants

BEEVILLE – A group of small business owners in the city can breathe a little easier thanks to the Beeville Eco-nomic Improvement Corp. (BEIC).

That is because at a May 26 special meeting, the cor-poration’s board voted unan-imously to award grants to-taling $115,795 as part of its COVID-19 Disaster Relief Grant Program. The pro-gram, which is in coopera-tion with the Bee Area Part-nership (BAP), is awarding qualifying businesses up to $9,999 to pay for rent, small business assistance for ex-penses directly related to the coronavirus crisis or three months’ worth of payroll. Prior to its decision to award the funds, the board voted to stipulate that businesses re-ceiving funds must spend the money within 90 days.

City Councilman Eric Holland, who also serves as the BAP’s treasurer, said 41 businesses applied for aid. However, many of the ap-plications were disqualified because they were not com-plete.

When awarding the funds, neither the board nor Hol-land named the recipients or the projects for which the money would be used. When the Bee-Picayune asked for this data, Holland said it only could be obtained by fil-ing an open records request.

According to the infor-mation provided in the re-sponse, BEIC awarded funds to 29 businesses. Of those

grants, 17 were for rental as-sistance, with amounts rang-ing from $2,400 to $9,999.

Seven small business as-sistance grants, ranging from $3,400 to $9,999, were ap-proved for small business assistance. The remaining five projects for payroll as-sistance were funded from $2,500 to $9,999.

During the discussion about the grants, BEIC board member Orlando Vasquez relayed concerns he had heard from some area business owners. He said they complained that there was not enough time to com-plete an application because of when they found out about the program. The ap-plication process opened as of the BEIC’s May 5 meet-ing, and all applications and supporting documents were due to be submitted May 19. It also was the subject of an article in the May 14 edition of the Bee-Picayune.

“This application, really, I don’t think it’s difficult for myself,” said board member Libby Spires. “It may take a little bit of legwork, if you do it yourself, to actually get the finance information.”

Businesses awarded grant funds are:

• Bee Royalty Party Place, rental assistance, $7,500

•Roma’s Italian Res-taurant, rental assistance, $5,400

• The Dance Studio, rental assistance $3,900

• Wicker Basket, rental as-sistance, $3,000

• Beeville Donuts & Café, rental assistance $6,750

•Total Graphics, small business assistance, $7,100

• Bee is for Books, payroll assistance, $2,500

• FIXiphone, rental assis-tance, $2,400

• A Place for Paws, rental assistance, $5,250

• Bella’s Cottage Inc., rent-al assistance, $3,450

• BTX Fitness, rental as-sistance, $6,000

• Bee Family Fun Center, small business assistance, $9,525.25

• Fuller Tractor, small business assistance, $9,999

• Kids R People 2 Daycare, payroll assistance, $9,999

• Lazy R Saddle Shop, rental assistance, $3,705

• VFW Post 9170, small business assistance, $9,900

• Taqueria Vallarta, small business assistance, $9,999

• Gasthaus Berliner Bear, rental assistance, $4,290

• Quick Silver Inc., rental assistance, $9,906

• Mira Vision, rental assis-tance, $4,500

• B-Paleteria, rental assis-tance, $2,850

• TLC Pharmacy & Medi-cal Equipment, payroll assis-tance, $9,999

• Full Circle Village, rental assistance, $9,999

• River Bend Sports Bar, small business assistance, $9,999

• Flipping by Faith Too, rental assistance, $4,500

• Beeville Dental Care, small business assistance, $3,400

• Laugh, Love and Learn Child Care Center, payroll assistance, $9,999

• Hattie & Hazel’s, rental assistance, $9,999

• Westmoreland Electric LLC, payroll assistance, $9,999.

by William J. Gibbs Jr.

Senior Reporter

Deputy, K-9 find $25K in Xanax at traffic stop

BEEVILLE – A city resi-dent is free on bond pending consideration of his case by a grand jury following his recent arrest during a traffic stop.

According to Chief Dep-uty Ronnie Jones of the Bee County Sheriff ’s Office, deputies assigned to Opera-tion Border Star conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling north on U.S. 181 in front of Americana Arms May 23 at 4 p.m. The ve-hicle was driven by 20-year-old Jeremiah Martinez of Beeville.

Deputies reported that during the traffic stop, they became suspicious of Martinez’s activity, lead-

ing them to believe that he was involved in other crimi-nal activity. Deputy Robert Meakins’ K-9 Pollet was utilized, and Pollet alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.

Deputies then searched the vehicle and found a small bag of marijuana and many bags containing more than 650 grams of Xanax pills. The Xanax pills have

an estimated street value of $25,000, officials said.

More than $1,200 in cur-rency also was found in Martinez’s possession.

Martinez was trans-ported to the Bee County Jail where he was booked on charges of manufacture and delivery of more than 400 grams of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 3 – a first-degree felony – and possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana. If convicted, he faces a term of 5 to 99 years, or life, in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Jones said that, as of May 26, Martinez posted a $20,000 surety bond and a $1,000 personal recog-nizance bond and was re-leased.

by William J. Gibbs Jr.Senior Reporter

Martinez

A small bag of marijuana, multiple bags containing Xanax pills and more than $1,200 in currency were found in a vehicle during a traffic stop on U.S. 181 south of Beeville May 23. The Xanax pills, which had a total weight of 650 grams, have an estimated street value of $25,000. (Contributed photos)

Prayer, healing serviceFirst United Methodist Church, 106 E. Cleveland, will resume

their monthly prayer and healing service on June 7, at 5 p.m. They will meet in the sanctuary instead of the prayer chapel to observe social distancing. All are invited to attend this service to receive prayer for themselves or request prayer for others. This service is held on the first Sunday of each month, and all are welcome. For more information, call the church office at 358-3350 or Nellie Boenig at 542-6684.

Mother’s Morning OutBeeville First United Methodist Church’s Mother’s Morning

Out Program is now taking spring 2020 registrations. The MMO Program is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information, call Yolanda Garcia at 361-542-8927.

Booster meetingThe Beeville All Sports Booster Club will meet Monday, June 15,

to elect new officers. The meeting will take place in the A.C. Jones High School Fieldhouse at 6:30 p.m.

BAM Art To GoThe Beeville Art Museum is offering Art To Go in kits on Tues-

days at 1 p.m. for pick up at the ramp entrance. These kits contain materials and instructions to create a child friendly art related project and change each week,; quantity is limited.

Teacher birding workshopThe Welder Wildlife Foundation is calling all 7th-12th grade

teachers and inviting them to join them for an online “Birds In the Classroom” Teacher Workshop and learn about ecosystems, habi-tat, biodiversity, sustainability and adaptations through birding.

“Birds In the Classroom” is free, fully online and will be held July 27-31. Apply by July 10 at wildlife.tamu..edu/teachbirds.

BOY – Ethan Angel Pierce, born May 15, 2020 (6 pounds, 8 ounces) in Beeville to Matthew and Jessica Pierce. Grand-parents are Maria and Joe Serrano and Les and Anita Pierce, all of Bee County.

Bee County Sheriff Alden Southmayd carries a box into the new Carlos Carrizales Jr. Law Enforcement Center May 20. The building, for which officials broke ground in 2018, is the new home of the sheriff’s office and will house all of its administrative offices. It adjoins the new Robert L. Horn Jail, which was set for state inspection May 27 ahead of inmates being moved there in July. The current jail building, constructed in 1989, will be razed. (Photo by William J. Gibbs Jr.)

Sheriff office move

Births

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