News

The Stephens County Commissioners Court approved last week a reinvestment zone inside the county. The reinvestment zone covers the area for a proposed wind farm by NextEra Energy. The approval of a reinvestment zone came after a public meeting Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Stephens County Courthouse.

Members of the public had the opportunity to speak for or against the reinvestment zone with several members speaking against and no members of the public in attendance speaking in approval of the reinvestment zone.

Years of difficulty are coming to an end this weekend as the Friends of Historic Breckenridge prepare to kick off the 2023-2024 Performance Series. The series will mark the theater’s first full series since 2019.

Located at 116 E. Walker S., National Theatre, much like other businesses, took a hit and struggled to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened in 2021, but was unable to host a full series of shows.
The theater looked to return to a full schedule, including movie showings in 2022 until a hailstorm on May 13 forced the cancellation of the entire schedule.

The Texas 2023 general election is scheduled to take place Tuesday, Nov. 7. There are no local elections on the ballot. Included on the ballot are 14 Texas constitutional propositions.

Early voting will take place weekdays at the Stephens County Courthouse beginning Monday, Oct 23 and run through Friday, Nov. 3. Early voting hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Nov. 2-3 when hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On election day, Tuesday, Nov. 7, polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The deadline to register to vote in the election was Tuesday, Oct. 10.

Assistant District Attorney Phillip Gregory was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to the position of 90th Judicial District Court Judge in Stephens and Young counties. Gregory will fill the unexpired term of former judge Stephen Bristow, who retired Saturday, Sept. 30.

Gregory has served as the 90th Judicial District ADA since being sworn in February 2016. He received notice of the appointment Friday, Oct. 6, and will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 16 at Stephens County Courthouse. A ceremonial swearing in will take place later in the week at the Young County Courthouse.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission, will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) tomorrow. The tests are part of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).

The test will be conducted at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4 and will be distributed through radio, television and cell phone communication.

The deadline to register to vote in the November 2023 election is approaching.

Voters wishing to vote in the election, which includes 14 potential constitutional amendments, must register by Tuesday, Oct. 10. Texas law requires all eligible voters to register by the 30th day before election day.

To be eligible to register to vote in Stephens County, a resident must be a United States citizen, resident of the county and at least 17 years and 10 months old on the date of submission of the voter registration application and 18 years old on election day.

The Stephens County Commissioners Court hosted its second public hearing regarding the latest proposed wind farm in Stephens County by NextEra Energy Resources which has proposed a 150.4 MWAC (Megawatts-AC) wind energy generation project inside the county.

NextEra Project Manager James Jewett attended to answer a list of 93 questions submitted from community members regarding the project. Community members had until Monday, Sept. 11 to submit questions to the county to be forwarded to NextEra.

Breckenridge ISD trustees continued work on a possible bond election last week during a Sept. 19 meeting. Trustees voted to approve Parkhill Architects to work with the district on long-range facilities plan development, bond planning and project design. Parkhill representatives spoke with the board during the meeting to map out what the process will look like to order a bond election for the May 2024 election.

The Stephens Memorial Hospital District held public hearings Tuesday, Sept. 19 and voted to adopt a new tax rate and budget for the upcoming tax and fiscal years.

No members of the public were in attendance to express opinions.