Free Republic

The Llano Chamber of Commerce has apologized for a Juneteenth marquee that caused controversy on Saturday. The marquee read "Happy Juneteenth," followed by, "You're free. Stand up and live like it" and a reference to the Bible verse Galatians 5:1. The verse itself reads, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Some residents were upset with the marquee. One KVUE viewer reached out, saying the marquee was "insensitive toward Black people" and "patronizing when it needs to [be] apologetic." "It's saying...

A DPS trooper shot and killed a man who was armed with a machete in Llano County Sunday morning, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. DPS and the Llano Police Department responded to a barricaded person at 600 Bessemer Ave just after 6:15 a.m. The address DPS reported is near the intersection of East Young and Ford Street, however neighbors said the place the suspect ultimately barricaded himself is closer to East Tarrant Street. The man died at the scene... According to the Hill Country Scanner, when law enforcement arrived, the man with the machete barricaded himself in...

Llano residents showed just how caring their community is by stepping up and donating much-needed supplies to the crews tirelessly fighting a large brush fire. During the early morning hours Thursday, the Llano County Office of Emergency Management said it needed more than 500 gallons of gasoline for the firefighters. Craig Wade and many of his neighbors fulfilled that request in a matter of hours, dropping off containers of gas to the Llano Volunteer Fire Department. "I figured if they're out there doing the hard work and volunteering, the least we could do is bring them some gas or water...

Deputy's killer filed complaints against him in '94 By Greg Botonis Staff Writer PALMDALE -- Nine years before shooting Deputy Steve Sorensen to death outside his desert trailer, Donald Charles Kueck tried to get the deputy criminally prosecuted for assault, his family said. Kueck, who died in a fiery gunbattle six days after Sorensen's Aug. 2 slaying, filed complaints in 1994 with the Sheriff's Department and other agencies alleging that Sorensen, while off duty, had pointed a gun at him during a traffic dispute on a two-lane desert road. "He (Donald) didn't hate cops but he didn't trust them, and...

LLANO - Before Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first manned, powered flight nearly 100 years ago, they tested their aeronautical theories on gliders. To celebrate the centennial of the brothers' revolutionary accomplishment, 44 glider pilots will embark on a transcontinental race next week, traveling 2,570 miles from Llano to Kitty Hawk, N.C. The racers and their sailplanes will take off from Great Western Soaring School in Llano on June 19 for the first leg of the trip, to Jean, Nev. The racers' arrival at Kitty Hawk 12 days later has been selected by the U.S. Park Service to be...