Mason’s population is “shifting to the East,” said County Judge Jerry Bearden at Monday’s Commissioners Court meeting. This population shift, especially in precinct two, requires that the County redistrict. The Court will hold a public hearing on Monday, November 15, at 8:30 a.m. in the Stribling Room of the Mason County Library to discuss the required redistricting.
The City of Mason will be returning tens of thousands of dollars in federal funds that had been approved under the American Rescue Plan Act because of conditions attached to the money, according to a city official on Tuesday. “We decided to send it back because it had some stipulations in the contract that we really did not want to follow,” said City Administrator John Palacio.
Everyone wants to know when repair work finally will begin at the historic Mason County Courthouse; but the groundwork is being laid behind the scenes as contracts are being signed, agreements are being made, and money is being allotted. “We’ve gotten our contracts signed with Stoddard General Contractors to be our construction manager at risk and we have an agreement finalized with Patriot Erectors for the steel,” said Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden, on Monday.
MISD Superintendent Stan Whittle is “extremely pleased” with the testing results for the entire district, even after the disruption of the pandemic in 2020, he said at Monday night’s meeting of the Mason County School Board.
Whittle said Mason students showed improvement in 2021 in a five-year comparison of district test scores.
The 2021 Blue Ribbon Service Day was a huge success. Mason High School students and their intrepid faculty members fanned out all over town to help our friends and neighbors. Mrs. Cope’s group worked at the CASA House and cleaned up the flower beds and organized the storage building. They hauled off brush and other items.
When the Mason County courthouse was destroyed by an arsonist on February 4th of this year, it was an emotional blow for the residents of the county. The most visible symbol of Mason County, and a beautiful centerpiece to the historic town square, its loss was felt by not just the community; but, by the many other people around the area and the state who shared a connection to Mason County.
The reaction to the loss of the courthouse spurred many to action.
By Catherine Grace
On Monday, County Commissioners accepted a funding agreement for the Courthouse rebuild, discussed the increased need for ambulance service, and talked about upcoming redistricting requirements for Mason County.
The commissioners approved a resolution to accept a funding award of $10.1 million dollars from the Texas Historical Commission (THC) for the courthouse rebuilding project.
The rate of community transmission in Mason County, along with some surrounding counties, still is classified as “high,” but the number of cases is on a decline, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week. The number of active cases has declined nearly 70% compared to last week, according to the CDC on Tuesday.
The shooting that occurred in Mason County last month, which sent a man to the hospital, is unusual in the county, which has a low crime rate.
“This kind of incident is not typical of our county,” said Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden. “I can’t even remember the last shooting we had here.”
On the evening of Sept.
Both the City of Mason and the Chamber of Commerce will benefit from an uptick in Hotel Occupancy Taxes (HOT) collected from local lodging providers. The City has a long-standing agreement with the Chamber to allocate the HOT revenues to the City. Mayor Whitney Leifeste said the HOT revenues are growing and are much more significant than in the past.
