Facility reopened with 48 beds in November 2021 After receiving the green light to operate the Frio County Jail as a full-time facility last November, the sheriff’s office division passed its first annual state inspection last week. The detention facility reopened as a fully operational jail with 48 beds in November 2021. Numerous failed inspections…

Water restrictions continue in Cotulla Limits on residential and commercial use of city water supplies may continue through September in Cotulla, according to utilities supervisor David Wright, who told councilors last week that the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer level continues dropping at a foot per day. Wright also said he believes the city’s wells have reached the…

Heavy rain and limited visibility are listed as contributing factors in a crash that left a freight truck driver pinned behind the wheel for nearly an hour on Monday, August 15. Encinal police say that as much-needed rain swept across South Texas Monday morning a 29-year-old man lost control of the tractor-trailer rig he was…

Cannabis was packaged for commercial sale, investigators report Two suspects were jailed in Cotulla early Sunday, August 14, after being found in possession of marijuana and pills believed to have been laced with fentanyl. One of the suspects is also believed to have swallowed methamphetamine prior to being taken into custody. The La Salle County…

A view of the border crisis from oilfield security “I’ve found bodies out here,” the gate guard says quietly. “Some of the immigrants don’t make it. They’ll be trying to walk across all this. They just die.” The white heat of a blistering August afternoon cooks the South Texas landscape in an eerie silence. While…

Multi-agency response to reported shooting near downtown Pearsall police confirmed this week that habitual offender Luis Aguilar was not in a home where an armed stand-off of nearly three hours took place last Wednesday, and investigators are examining the man’s allegedly deadly conduct. Police say officers were dispatched to the home on Power Plant Road…

Police give chase when suspects flee traffic stops Several undocumented immigrants and their alleged smugglers have been remanded into custody in Encinal after a series of pursuits last week in which police intercepted the illegal transport. A Laredo teenager was arrested Thursday afternoon, August 4, after jumping out of a sedan in an attempt to…

Change of venue possible, clerk’s office reports Despite as many as 500 potential jurors being called for duty in a La Salle County sexual assault case last week, the trial has been stalled because attorneys were unable to select 32 final candidates from the mere 63 who put in an appearance. The case scheduled to…

Water wells across South Texas have begun to run dry at the height of an ongoing extreme drought and with continuous daytime temperatures in triple digits. One such well supplies the tiny highwayside community of Derby, halfway between Pearsall and Dilley. The water shortage reached a critical point this week, and county commissioners voted Tuesday,…

Pearsall volunteer firefighters are investigating a blaze that destroyed a historic home and injured one on Sunday morning. An emergency call was made shortly before 9 a.m. August 7, regarding a fire that had started in a large structure on Oak Street downtown. Pearsall volunteer firefighters were on scene within seven minutes to find the…