Staff -

Eagle Pass

Police arrested Angel Javier Rodriguez, 19, and his 16 year-old brother as responsible for the severe beating of Carlos and Jose Esquivel on saturday morning in the early morning hours at their home on Church Street. Lieutenant Aldo Escamilla informed The News Gram that after some investigation, the arrests were made and it appears that there have been problems between the brothers in the past. Angel Javier Rodriguez was booked into Maverick County Jail on two charges of aggravated assault and was fined $50,000.00 for each count, a $100,000.00 bond. The juvenile was transported to Del Rio to the juvenile detention center. According to the report, the two suspects arrived at the Esquivel residence at 4:00 A.M. on Saturday and knocked on the door. The victims answered and were beaten severely, one with a metal pipe to the head. One of the brothers was transported to San Antonio and underwent surgery to repair damage to his head. Police continue to investigate the causes of these actions.

A.D. Ibarra -

Eagle Pass

The Special Meeting of Maverick County Commissioner's Court held on Monday began as a formal introduction by District Judge Amado Abascal of new County Auditor Fidencio Ortiz who will work to steer the County into smoother waters as the proposed new budget for the Fiscal Year 2013 was not approved on this day as previously reported. Ortiz comes in at a pivotal time in County financial history as they attempt to attack the existing deficit with budget cuts, layoffs, potential reimbursements and unfortunately for the common layperson and the taxpayers of Maverick County, a proposed tax increase. After the introduction of the new apointee, former Fire Chief Guadalupe Cardona approached Commisioner's Court and attempted to make his case against that very issue by giving those gathered a brief history lesson on what Maverick County used to look like many years ago. He mentioned that his family used to live on Kifuri and the only things in that area of Maverick County were two ranches and what he called a <Brecha>, or man-made walkway, not even a road much less Eidson Road or the Siete Lomas subdivision which exists today. El Indio Highway was a thing of the future in those times. He also mentioned that back then they would never ask anything from the County. He remembers that 80% of the general population were migrants and he made sure to mention the fact that migrants built this community when our community was a land of in what he termed 'Puros arroyos'. Since then our County has grown and instead of progress, he feels the County has regressed and continues to lose machinery and are completing fewer projects every year even mentioning that the County should consider closing the Road & Bridge Department for six months in order to save money due to this lack of progress. Needless to say, Cardona asked the County to not raise taxes, to look for other alternatives for raising the capital to get the County out of debt. In a way, Cardona's wishes were answered albeit temporarily as Commissioner's Court tabled the entire agenda until Thursday to give the new auditor time to look over the proposed budget while also holding back on the discussion and possible action of adoption of the new tax rates which evidently will be approved as a breakdown was handed out as to the amount of revenue generated with and without the proposed tax increase was handed to commissioners. The Budget Workshop ended at 6:12 P.M. and the meeting was adjourned.

Staff -

Eagle Pass

At approximately 5:30 P.M. Eagle Pass Police reported to the Burris Law Firm in response to a call made in an alleged hostage-like situation in which a secretary of the firm was held against her will in an office for hours. Lieutenant Moses Peña informed The News Gram that Brian Burris, 39, was taken into protective custody after the incident and was temporarily detained at the Eagle Pass Police Department, was questioned and after acting in a manner not determined to be normal to officers, was evaluated by MHMR personnel. Burris was ascertained to be physically well, responsive yet incoherent and was transported to Laurel Ridge Hospital in San Antonio for further evaluation. Again, Peña mentioned that Burris is being held in protective custody for his sake and for that of his staff as the investigation continues into the probable causes of his erratic behavior. According to Peña's interview with members of the press, Burris was talking to his secretary for hours and the door remained locked for the duration of said conversation and according to witnesses, he would not allow her to leave the office. After personnel outside the office alerted authorities as well as the woman's husband of the issue. When authorities arrived they noticed that the door had been either forcibly opened or was attempted to be forcibly opened. The scene at the law firm's facilities was that of law enforcement units surrounding the perimeter around the offices located at the corner of Ceylon and Quarry Streets across from a local bank and a local flower shop and caddy corner to what used to be Eagle Lumber which has since been demolished. K9 officers were also called to search the office and two shotguns were found and confiscated. Peña also mentioned that the case remains under investigation there are many witnesses yet to be interviewed while Burris remains in protective custody.