BELTON â Hometown heroes emerged as one of the themes Saturday morning of the Belton Fourth of July Parade. The rain held off and a cloudy overcast kept the temperature down during the 1½-hour parade, which followed a short program on the north steps of the Bell County Courthouse.
The main speaker, Brigadier Gen. Brett Sylvia, acting 1st Cavalry Division commander at Fort Hood, underscored remarks made earlier by Randy Pittenger, president of the Belton Chamber of Commerce, concerning hometown heroes. Sylvia included police officers, firefighters, educators responders and educators in that group. Other unheralded persons in the past year, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the winter storm, he said, have been truck drivers and grocery store workers.
BELTON â Bell Countyâs streak of passed jail inspections will continue as the Sheriffâs Department announced this yearâs results Monday.
Maj. Shane Sowell, the countyâs jail administrator, told Commissioners during their workshop that the inspection results were announced last week. He said this was the 34th consecutive year the county has passed the assessment despite some minor issues.
The inspection of county jails is administered annually by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, with both Bell County and Collin County tied for the longest streaks of passes.
âWe did pass the jail inspection last week, with a couple areas of technical assistance as you are aware,â Sowell said. âSo we will get those issues addressed and corrected and move forward. I am really proud of the staff and I look forward on continued success on that page.â
James Skrabanek, 71, a lifelong SPJST member, was in charge of cooking the pork sausage links.
âWe prepared them and smoked them on a barbecue pit Saturday,â he said. âWeâre expecting to sell 1,000 plates. Itâs a little more than usual. Weâre anticipating a good crowd. People are out and about now.â
The menu also included fried chicken, potato salad, seven-day coleslaw, iced tea and dessert (cheesecake if you were lucky). Volunteers started serving at 11 a.m., with dine-in and drive-through takeout available.
Other activities included a bake sale of kolaches, cakes and pies. Under the pavilion, a polka jam featuring four different bands started at noon, with a little country and western thrown in. At 3 p.m. Bell County Sheriff Eddy Lange began auctioning off an assortment of donated items.
BELTON â The issuing of more than $138 million in new debt was approved by Bell County officials Monday as a way to fund multiple proposed infrastructure projects, including jail expansion.
The new debt â in the form of certificates of obligation â was unanimously approved by the countyâs Commissioners Court. While the money is set to be used for multiple projects, most of it is allocated for an expansion of the countyâs jail.
Commissioners initially voted back in March to announce their intent to issue the debt, which will be paid back over the next 20 years.
County Judge David Blackburn said in March that the growth of the county, while bringing benefits, also meant increased costs.
The names of 134 people were read aloud Tuesday morning in front of the Temple Police Department, with each being an officer around the state who has died over the past two years.
After canceling it last year due to the pandemic, Temple hosted this yearâs countywide recognition of officers who have died across the state. Bell County Sheriff Eddy Lange read the names of those officers who have died either in the line of duty or from COVID-19.
The Bell County Peace Officer Memorial is an annual event, held each year at one of the countyâs several law enforcement agencies on the Tuesday of National Police Week.