One local veteran was overcome with emotions after being walked through his house that had been fully renovated over the weekend.
Retired Staff Sgt. Dave Caillouet is a former 19K battle tanker soldier who served many years at Fort Hood in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He lives alone with his faithful companion and service animal Otto, a 90 pound, robust black lab with the energy of a much younger dog, according to a news release from Surplus Americans, the nonprofit leading the renovation.
Surplus Americans, a San Marcos based veteran nonprofit founded in 2016, were the leaders on the renovation in connection with many other local organizations including the Fort Hood Area Habitat for Humanity. Founders Hunter Bruce and Jason White started the nonprofit immediately after the closure of The Brass House, Jazz and Blues Club, in Austin, where they both worked for many years.
Seven weeks later, the cause of the February Hilton Garden Inn fire may be lost in the hotelâs ashes after fire officials found no cause for the blaze.
On the evening of Feb. 19, the Hilton Garden Inn, located at 2704 O. W. Curry Drive in Killeen, was seen fully engulfed in flames as dozens of onlookers watched from the nearby Academy Sports and Outdoors parking lot.
At 8:27 p.m. Feb. 19, the Killeen Fire Department was sent to the hotel and upon arrival saw fire coming from the roof of the fourth floor of the building, according to a news release from the fire department.
The Killeen Independent School District responded Friday and Monday to the Heraldâs report on deceased bus driver William âBillâ Jonesâ familyâs account of the events surrounding Jonesâ death last fall.
Killeen ISD bus driver Jones died by suicide less than 24 hours after he was terminated by Killeen ISD following an accident involving a middle school student and a Ford F-150 on the first day of in-person school. Read more here: https://bit.ly/39Knjsa.
The Herald received responses from the district to a number of questions, including Jonesâ termination report, via email at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, but Herald staffers did not see the email until Monday morning.