Bastrop County News

As the search continued Monday for two men who escaped from a Bastrop County federal prison, authorities said they obtained security camera footage of one of the men at an Austin grocery store and think he may be headed to Mexico.

Two inmates with drug-related convictions have fled from a federal prison facility about 30 miles southeast of Austin.

It may not be readily apparent in all the gloomy talk about the state of the Central Texas economy, but the region will continue to grow, and that growth will intensify aggressive competition for water.

The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority is negotiating a deal with a water developer that would pump as much as 45 million gallons of water per day from Bastrop and Lee counties to the San Marcos area for distribution to burgeoning development southeast of Austin, river authority officials have said.

A former police officer in central Texas will spend time behind bars for possessing child pornography.

A Bastrop County jury sentenced former Elgin police officer Orval Roger Miller, 48, on three third-degree felony counts of child pornography possession.

A Central Texas Marine is the latest casualty of the war in Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Cody Stanley was killed on Wednesday during a combat operation in the Helmand province.

A rain system continued to push through Central Texas Monday, dumping steady, heavy rain in many areas and prompting a flash flood watch across the area.

Enrollment at Austin Community College, already at a record high, needs to increase even more to meet local work force needs and to help position the region for a bright economic future, according to a report by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

To farmers, this week's rain is like liquid gold falling from the sky. "We love it, we love it," said Roger Mogonye, a Bastrop County farmer.

Fire Chief Brandon Bancroft is taking a similar job in Bastrop County. He will become chief of the Bastrop County Emergency Service District One, just east of Austin, starting Oct.

Agriculture extension agent Bob Whitney said interest in farming seminars, such as this one on sheep and goat ranching, has increased.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN BASTROP COUNTY... FAYETTE COUNTY... * UNTIL 915 PM CDT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED AN * URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR... SOUTHERN BASTROP COUNTY... CALDWELL COUNTY... SOUTHEASTERN COMAL COUNTY... FAYETTE COUNTY... NORTHERN GONZALES COUNTY... GUADALUPE COUNTY... SOUTHEASTERN HAYS COUNTY... * UNTIL 700 PM CDT.

Ask around the Waco medical community for an authority on what's wrong with the American health care system - especially as it touches the low-income and uninsured - and fingers point to Dr.

Jan McGill got help from others this summer after her 87 schnauzers were seized.

The new drought monitor Thursday showed conditions were virtually unchanged since last week.

The family of Larry Goodwin has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against UPS in which one of their trucks collided head on killing Larry on July 29 in Bastrop County.

Buescher State Park Superintendent Jamie Hackett releases Houston toads at Bastrop State Park on Monday.

Recent rains in Central Texas have cleared the way for the release of about 160 endangered Houston toads, hand-raised at the Houston Zoo, at Bastrop State Park, zoo spokesman Brian Hill said Thursday.