LOOKING BACK AT 2022: Daily Record revisits top stories from July-September

Editor’s note: This story is the third installment of a four-part series looking back at the year that was — 2022.

As a new year draws closer, the San Marcos Daily Record takes a look back at top stories from 2022 — Dr. Kelly Damphousse, Ph.D., becoming Texas State University’s 10th president, Hopkins Street reopening after a two-year long construction project and the annual Mermaid Capital of Texas Fest taking place were among the top stories from July-September.

July

•Dr. Kelly R. Damphousse, Ph.D., became Texas State University’s 10th president on July 1. Damphousse hosted a meet and greet under the arch of the Denise M. Trauth and John L. Huffman Undergraduate Academic Center on July1, where he and his wife, Beth, connected with students, staff and faculty.

•A wildfire in Dripping Springs was 100% contained after burning approximately 357 acres, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The blaze, which began July 6, was contained by July 10. Firefighters and first responders from across the region battled the fire that began burning at Storm Ranch. The North Hays Fire Department responded to the blaze — officially named the Gatlin Creek Fire.

•The San Marcos community gathered to celebrate and dedicate a new art installation on July 30 near the San Marcos River. The “Guardians of the San Marcos River” art installation was designed and created by San Marcos High School students to depict the creation story attributed to the indigenous Coahuiltecan people

The “Guardians of the San Marcos River” is a permanent art installation located at Ramon Lucio Park, 601 South CM Allen Parkway, consisting of six panels depicting the creation story of the indigenous Coahuiltecan people and the five spirit guardians of the San Marcos River. Each panel has a tile mosaic designed by San Marcos High School students under the direction of Thom Rogers — project manager and former Visual Arts Team Lead at San Marcos High School. Each student was chosen by the San Marcos Arts Commission and received a $500 scholarship. There are more than 1,000 individual tiles that were created by SMHS students and faculty. In all, approximately 750 students contributed to the process.

Above, Dr. Mario Garza, Indigenous Cultures Institute board of elders chair, dedicates the new "Guardians of the San Marcos River" art installation on July 30.

•The effort to decriminalize marijuana in San Marcos took another step closer to appearing on the November ballot. San Marcos Interim City Clerk Elizabeth Trevino certified a petition which would have voters decide to decriminalize marijuana up to 4 ounces in the city in July

Mano Amiga, a grassroots immigration and legal reform organization, gathered 10,624 total signatures, according to a memo sent from the interim city clerk to Mayor Jane Hughson and the San Marcos City Council. Of the 10,624 signatures, 4,667 signatures were verified and 5,957 were invalid

August

•The long-awaited moment arrived. Valentino’s Pizza officially opens its doors today to an eager fan base of pizza enthusiasts on Aug. 3.

“You know it’s surreal to see something you’ve worked on for so long – in action. We did some test runs the last couple of nights and everything is working as it should,” said Cody Taylor, co-owner of Valentino’s. “I’m not going to lie, this morning (Aug. 2) I was nervous and about one o’clock I was really nervous. But we got the team together, got things organized, and people started coming in and we greeted fans with some great food and beverages.”

Valentino’s is located a 110 N. LBJ Dr.

•Hopkins Street reopened to traffic on Aug. 3 as a two-year project came to an end. Construction on the Hopkins Street Improvements Project between Bishop to Moore Street began in May 2020 to address drainage problems and reconstruct the street.

“There was no drainage infrastructure in the neighborhood and so one of the big problems we were trying to solve was drainage in the neighborhood,” said Richard Reynosa, City of San Marcos assistant director of engineering. “We did a prior project which brought the drainage infrastructure from Dunbar Park to Hopkins so that we could create the drainage infrastructure for Hopkins Street. So, there was a lot of flooding of homes and stuff and so that was a big aspect of the project.”

Hopkins Street between Bishop and Moore streets reopened to traffic on Aug. 3 as the two-year Hopkins Street Improvement Project came to an end. Above, a sign informs drivers that Hopkins Street is now open. 

Reynosa said Hopkins Street was long overdue for maintenance. Alongside adding a drainage system, the project also added electric utilities. The project included traffic calming measures with reduced street width, reduced speeds and three raised intersections. Bricks were also added to the sidewalks and on the three raised intersections along with decorative street lighting for aesthetic appeal.

The city selected Jordan Foster Construction, an Austin-based company, as the construction contractor for the project. The project cost an estimated $10,070,388 with $3 million funded through a grant from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Reynosa said the project stayed within its budget.

•First United Methodist Church San Marcos celebrated its 175th anniversary on Aug. 7. The Methodist Presence in San Marcos began as a meeting of nine people at the home of John Pitts. First United Methodist Church San Marcos commemorated 175 years as it reflected on a heritage shaped in the heart of the city, honoring its history and welcoming back former pastors.

The church hosted a day full of events celebrating the historic event on Sunday, Aug. 7., including tours of the sanctuary, showcase of a 1929 quilt, scrapbooks and a time capsule. A worship service led by co-pastors Adam and Danielle Knapp took place where Bishop

Robert Schnase spoke on a video, honoring the church’s 17th anniversary. District Superintendent Rev. Dr. Ricky Sanderford provided the sermon. A luncheon took place following the worship service to wrap up the day’s events.

•The Hays County Local Health Department reported two confirmed monkeypox cases on Aug. 12. The monkeypox cases came amid a spread of the virus across the United States. Texas State University reported that an individual in its community tested positive for monkeypox on Aug. 23.

•An unidentified 15-year-old sophomore enrolled in Hays CISD died from a suspected fentanyl overdose in San Marcos on Saturday, Aug. 20.

This marked the third suspected fentanyl death of a student at Hays CISD in  a month, school officials said. The students would have attended Johnson and Lehman High Schools. Hays CISD held a media availability  on Aug. 24 to discuss what the district Chief Communication Officer Tim Savoy called “a crisis.”

“When you have your third student death, that’s a crisis,” Savoy said. “That’s a pattern. At that point, it’s ‘clear the calendar, clear everything off your desk, this is the number one priority.’”

•Texas State University set a new freshman enrollment record for the 2022 fall semester with a 14% increase since last year, according to preliminary numbers from the first day of class. More than 7,590 freshmen are enrolled at Texas State for the fall semester. In fall 2021, 6,625 freshmen enrolled for the semester, which was the previous record holder for class size.

•San Marcos High School’s football team received a recommendation for a two-year ban from the playoffs by the District 27-6A District Executive Committee. John Walsh, San Marcos athletic director and head football coach, said several players who transferred were ruled ineligible for transferring for athletic reasons. Walsh also said the alleged players involved in the ruling played on the same select youth football team as middle schoolers. Walsh continued to say that the district will appeal the DEC’s ruling to the University Interscholastic League, which oversees high school athletics in the state.

The ban would have been effective starting this season, meaning that barring a change after the appeal process San Marcos would be unable to qualify for the 2022 UIL State Championships regardless of record.

San Marcos’ playoff ban was eventually reduced to one year, which would begin in the 2023 season.

September

•Texas State University announced it surpassed $200 million raised for its NEXT IS NOW capital campaign. The university’s goal for the largest fundraising campaign in its history is $250 million. Texas State said it raised more than $30 million as of Aug. 26 during its 2022 fiscal year, which ended Aug. 31.

TXST’s NEXT IS NOW capital campaign aims to advance initiatives focused on student success and to move from a Carnegie R2 designated university to an R1. The university publicly unveiled the fundraising campaign on Oct. 8, 2021, however, it was operating in a silent phase since 2014.

Above, Texas State University President Dr. Kelly Damphousse rides into Bobcat Stadium in a motorcycle during the Bobcats' game against Florida International on Sept. 10.

•San Marcans and Hays County residents gathered on Sept. 17 to take part in the inaugural Hispanic Heritage Exhibition Walk. The event celebrated Hispanic culture and kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month. The walk began at Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos and ended at the Hays County Historic Courthouse.

San Marcans and Hays County residents gathered on Sept. 17 to take part in the inaugural Hispanic Heritage Exhibition Walk. The event celebrated Hispanic culture and kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo

•Hays County Commissioner Walt Smith had an outstanding DWI charge dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Smith pled no contest as part of the plea agreement and received nine months probation and a $200 fine. According to court records, Smith’s DWI charge stemmed from an incident that occurred on April 28, 2021 where he crashed into a vehicle near the 2200 block of Lake Austin Blvd. in Austin. An officer observed that Smith had “bloodshot and glassy eyes,” according to the arrest affidavit, and the commissioner was charged with driving while intoxicated. That charge was dismissed at a hearing in Travis County on Sept. 16, according to court documents.

In the type of plea Smith accepted, the defendant, however, does not accept nor deny responsibility for the charges but agrees to accept punishment. According to court documents, the commissioner will remain on probation for nine months under the Travis County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. Smith will have to take a drunken driving class and receive counseling or treatment that a supervision officer designates. Smith also must install an ignition interlock system on his vehicle for five months. He’ll have to provide breath samples for analysis for alcohol before the vehicle will start.

•The San Marcos City Council approved designating an unnamed alley alongside The Marc as “Boyhood Alley,” named after Richard Linklater’s 2014 film which San Marcos was featured in. The resolution passed by a 6-1 vote during its regular meeting on Sept. 20.

The name was first proposed by Lost River Film Fest in partnership with Judge Ruben Becerra’s office, which “has long been an ardent champion of cinema, and in particular, enticing the film industry to invest and create content here in Hays County,” according to Co-Founder Jordan Buckley. Boyhood Alley, located adjacent to The Marc and across from the Hays Historic Courthouse on the Square, is the backdrop in a scene from the film, in which friend Jill (Evie Thompson) reveals to protagonist Mason (Ellar Coltrane) one of his schoolmates has a crush on him.

The name proposal received unanimous support from several groups, including San Marcos Convention and Visitor Bureau; John Fleming, Dean of the College of Fine Arts & Communications at Texas State University; the Downtown Association; the Office of Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra; and the San Marcos Film Society.

•The sixth annual Capital of Texas Fest took place on Sept. 24. A day full of mermaids began with the Mermaid Promenade — a parade traversing the streets of downtown San Marcos.

•Amid election season, Hays County Commissioner Walt Smith voiced concerns about Judge Ruben Becerra’s tax history as the court prepared to approve the 2022 tax rate during a commissioner’s court meeting on Sept. 20.

Documents from the Department of Treasury — Internal Revenue Service — point out two federal tax liens for non-payment pending in Small Business/Self Employed, Area #5. The documents, as provided by section 6321, 6322 and 6323 of the Internal Revenue Code, read they are giving a notice that taxes, including interest and penalties, have been assessed against the following named taxpayer. Becerra was listed on one document, while he and his wife Monica were listed on another.

Becerra said the claim he owed more than $1 million dollars was false, despite the liens posted on the Hays County Clerk’s Office’s website. “I'm so grateful that I don't owe the million dollars because you can only imagine how much I had to have made to owe a million dollars, that’s magnificent,” Becerra said. “I would have had to make $5 or $10 million. Wow … It's untrue.”

•Hays County Commissioners unanimously approved RFP specifications for an organization to assist with the creation, development, and operation of a Pet Resource Center during its Sept. 27 meeting.

•The City of San Marcos broke ground Friday on the Fire Training Center located at 4710 Airport Highway, which will serve as a training ground for the San Marcos Fire Department as well as the San Marcos Police Department, EMS and neighboring fire departments.

“Our fire department began as an all-volunteer run department in 1884,” Mayor Jane Hughson said. “Times have changed. We are growing at a fast rate and our needs are growing also. We’re breaking ground today on our very own training facility.”

The Fire Training Center is being constructed through the 2017 bond package. The training facility will include residential and high rise live fire training, rope and trench rescue, confined space rescue, vehicle extraction, and fire, police and EMS integrated response training.

Phase 1 of the fire training building project was approved by the San Marcos City Council in 2019, which includes the construction of a two-story residential burn building and corresponding site infrastructure improvements. Capital costs for the project are currently estimated at $2 million, according to the City of San Marcos.