All articles tagged with #llano county
A brush fire in Llano County, Texas has grown to 100 acres, prompting at least 10 agencies to respond. The fire, which started on a ranch property, has led to the closure of County Road 307. Air support from the Texas Forest Service is assisting in containment efforts, and no structures are currently at risk. Llano County had a burn ban in place as of July 10.
Two people were found dead floating in the Llano River in Kingsland, Texas, and officials have opened homicide investigations regarding the deaths. The victims were identified as Mark Baldwin and Kellie Leeann McCormick, both of Kingsland. This is the second double-homicide investigation in Llano County in 2023. No arrests have been made, and officials are asking anyone with information to contact the Llano County Sheriff’s Office or Hill Country Area Crime Stoppers.
Llano County, Texas, will keep its libraries open after a federal court ruling that the county could not remove books they considered bad for children. The county removed a slate of books from its library shelves in 2021, sparking a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds. Most of the banned books were children’s titles that included sex, gender and race themes, but it also included joke books and Maurice Sendak’s picture book “In the Night Kitchen.” After banning the books in 2021, Llano County commissioners dissolved the library’s own board.
Llano County officials have decided not to close any of the three branches associated with the county library system, alleviating the immediate threat. The decision comes two weeks after a federal judge ordered county officials to return to the library system books they’d removed. Seven library patrons sued the county judge, commissioners court, library board members and library system last year, arguing that their First Amendment rights to access and receive ideas had been infringed when officials removed certain books based on their content.
Llano County in Texas has decided to keep its public libraries open amid a controversy over banned books. A group of residents sued the county and library officials, arguing that the book removals were unconstitutional and violated citizens’ First Amendment rights. The judge ordered Llano County to return the books to their place while a lawsuit over the banned books proceeds. The ongoing fight has divided the community and made Llano a new testing ground for citizens invoking First Amendment protections in the face of rising book bans.