Last week’s rains meant the previous year ended as it began, with torrential rain, a reminder of the power of nature.
One of the top stories for San Jacinto County for 2024 of course was the numerous deluges — a January rainstorm, a storm that started at the end of April and continued into May, and Hurricane Beryl made landfall in June.
According to NOAA statistics, San Jacinto County received just under 45 inches of rain in the first 6 months of the year; by comparison, the county’s average annual rainfall is 48 inches.
Throughout the county, the rains led to flooding, causing evacuations in certain neighborhoods, schools to close for days, and emergency shelters to open for weeks at a time to help care for displaced residents.
The Livingston Dam was under a watch by the Trinity River Authority as water was close to cresting, and residents downstream were advised to evacuate for safety in case the dam failed.
FEMA representatives set up shop in Coldspring after the April/May storms, helping residents come to grips with the loss of property and homes. TDEM, the Texas emergency management department, and FEMA were inundated with claims for lost items, vehicles and even lost work. The Red Cross set up several emergency shelters in a multi-county area.
School boards, city councils and the county all approved pay for the workers throughout the emergency, even those trapped by flooded roads. San Jacinto County also sought additional help from FEMA to begin repairing the road damaged by the floods.
In one of the storms, the roof of the county jail was damaged to such an extent that the state deemed the structure unsound and unable to house prisoners, which were then transferred to other facilities in the region.
Another problem plaguing the Sheriff’s Office over the last year was a failing communications system. At times, the system was completely inoperable, and the county only had cell phones to contact emergency personnel, firefighters and police.
Election concerns
It went without saying almost that the election last year was going to be a corker, especially at the federal level. However, several events in the county-level elections in SJC made the election one to watch locally.
In many elections in San Jacinto County, the races are decided in the primary, as there are very few Democrat candidates filing for a nomination. It was just such a case in the race for County Sheriff, as two Republicans — incumbent Greg Capers and challenger Constable Sam Houston — ran against each other, with Houston winning over Capers.
In June, though, Capers filed a lawsuit seeking for either a new election or to be named the winner since a complaint had been made that there were numerous votes cast illegally — enough to cover Houston’s margin of victory.
Over the next several months, the court dealt with several motions, most particularly several by Houston through his attorney to have the case dismissed. However, the judge assigned to the case denied them, and the case was due to go to trial in October. Then, the case was moved to Nov. 18, almost two weeks after the election.
A final motion to dismiss was filed, claiming that since the general election had been held, the court no longer had jurisdiction, which was granted.
In a separate incident, a candidate for Houston’s position as Constable, Peter Sparta, was arrested in January on a charge of impersonating a public servant for a case that occurred in Waller County. He was said to have pretended to be a deputy constable and pulled over a school bus and detained the driver.
Sparta fought the case on the grounds that he had never set foot in Waller County, and on the day in question, he was home recovering from a traffic accident, unable to drive. He also contended that the arrest was politically motivated, since it occurred on the day he was supposed to attend a “meet the candidate” event.
On April 5, the felony charge was dropped as “a case of mistaken identity,” leaving Sparta to participate in a runoff election set for May.
Reaching new heights
The Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD volleyball team climbed to a high rung on the postseason ladder, higher than it had in its history.
The Lady Trojans claimed the Area Championship title with two hard-fought wins in November, and then advanced to the regional round, where they lost to Franklin.
Head Coach Dwain Anderson praised his squad’s resilience at the time, saying, “It was a great season with a great group of girls. This team has been the building block for what’s to come for Coldspring girls’ athletics. It’s more than just volleyball; they have started what I expect to be the new expectations for our girls’ program.”
