Issue # 14: District Champs!; How are the City's finances?; Thankful
Published 11 days ago • 5 min read
Issue #14
April 16, 2025
District Champions!
Congratulations to the Lady Tigers softball team for clinching the 4A District 22 title last night at home!
They finished the regular season 22-5-1, and after dropping their first district game, ran the table in district play, finishing 9-1.
Our Lady Tigers showcased that Smithville GRIT last night after giving up four runs in the 6th to bring Bellville within 1. Instead of getting down, they put up four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, winning 10-5.
“Seeing these girls fight, and seeing these girls get better and better each and every week, and performing at a high level, and then setting the standard, that's amazing.”
~Athletic Director Layne Neumann
The Lady Tigers will face LaMarque, but the date, time, and place was not available by press time. Regardless the ladies will need our support on this championship run.
“The more community support you can get, the better they're going to play, the more love they're going to feel, and they're going to put on for our community,” Neumann said. “So let’s get out there and support them.”
Check our X feed this week for more game details. And if anyone has room in their car for our Publisher for the playoff game, please reply to this email.
Back in October Smithville Church of Christ decided to hand out 100 door-hanger flyers to inform neighbors about church service times.
But the city said they would have to obtain a peddler’s permit at a cost of $75 and purchase a $1,000 bond.
Just because the City tells you no, doesn't mean you have to give up.
Read the story of how one parishioner spent six months holding his ground, and how that persistence led the city to not only allow the church to hand out informational flyers without a permit, but also clarify that ANY resident can do the same.
The audit for the 2023-2024 fiscal year was presented to council on Monday.
*Not actual auditor
Read about the annual financial report, and see what warning the auditor gave the city about transferring money from the Utility Fund to cover the General Fund.
In that April Council Wrap Up article we also provide an update on the draft PID policy presented to council, and let you know of new fees passed by council.
At last week’s council candidate forum, we filmed each answer with the intention of producing an article similar to what we did for the Fat Cat Forum in March (Place 2) (Place 3).
But when we tried to load all the clips up, it was too much for the platform. We tried a few technical tricks. We even used the tried-and-true method of yelling, screaming, and freaking out. Still didn’t work.
Luckily the Chamber put up their video today, so you can watch the forum, in its entirety 👇
Don’t forget, early voting starts on Tuesday with the election just 17 days away.
Notify Me Update
At Monday’s Council meeting our Publisher issued public comment about the lack of push notifications on items posted in the “latest news” section on the city website.
The city looked into the issue and found when the new website was set up, that section was not connected to Notify Me subscriptions.
Kudos to City Secretary Jennifer Lynch for immediately addressing this issue and updating the Notify Me signups.
If you are currently subscribed to Notify Me and want to add the news notifications you can click this link and add the “News Flash” subscription (very bottom).
If you aren’t signed up for Notify Me, you should! It’s free and the City provides plenty of useful information like council agendas, public notices, and free workshops (like this property tax workshop tomorrow!).
Smithville is a Railroad Town First
This weekend we were reminded that Smithville is a railroad town first when we went to cover the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday and got caught on the wrong side of the tracks of a parked train 🤦🏻♀️.
Luckily Smithville PD had our back and got these great ones of the kids and the Easter Bunny.
We hope everyone had fun and we promise to be early next year!
Southside Pride Unity Event
On Monday the Smithville City Council approved historical markers for Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church and Mary A. Brown Primary School, and an honorary historical marker for the Colorado Baptist Church.
This Saturday the Southside History Project will celebrate the new historic markers with a Unity Event at 11 a.m. The celebration will start at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church (409 Walker St.) and conclude at Mary A. Brown (403 SW Fourth St.).
On Monday, Smithville Texas News celebrated its three-month anniversary. I want to personally thank everyone who has been here from the start and welcome those of you who are new!
When I launched Smithville Texas News in January, I didn’t know if it would work.
I knew residents were frustrated about not knowing what was going on in their community. I knew the once-thriving newspaper had been gone for almost a decade. And I knew I had the journalism skills to cover what needed to be covered.
But could I create a sustainable product?
The first month was a little shaky. I had to knock the journalism rust off while figuring out the business side, which was a challenge. But when I saw the community’s reaction to that first basketball story, I knew I had something.
I knew this product was going to work when my two friends from out of state texted me, “Go Lady Tigers!” during the playoff basketball run and told me reading the newsletter made them feel like they were part of the town—even from a thousand miles away.
In those first three months, I felt like I had planted a seed, and I was (im)patiently watching it, caring for it, and hoping that sprout would come through.
Well, last week, we finally had that little seedling break through the soil! We more than doubled our subscribers in just seven days and now stand at 145 strong (that’s 3.7% of the town!). We also finally broke through on our X feed and sit at 121 subscribers today.
I can’t think of a better three-month anniversary present than that, so thank you for supporting local journalism!
I got a lot of responses to last week’s Letter, and thank you to those who reached out. To use the Apollo 13 analogy from last week, my proverbial spaceship hasn’t landed safely back in the Pacific Ocean yet. But I’ve got 14 days, a lot of irons in the fire, and plenty of community support.
Several of you asked me to put the tip jar out again, so here’s that link if you would like to donate.
I look forward to reporting that my ship has landed safely at the end of this month.
Thanks again, Smithville 🙏
Looking forward to see what we can build together,
~K Kristen Meriwether Publisher, Smithville Texas News
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