News

A report on Wednesday evening by Pecos County Emergency Management Coordinator Jessie Dominguez showed that two Pecos County residents passed away from COVID-19 complications in the past four days.

The individuals, who were both unvaccinated, was a 46-year-old female that passed away on Sept. 1 and a 91-year-old female that passed away on Aug. 29.

The two deaths are in addition to a 31-year-old Pecos County resident who passed away on Aug. 19. The individual was also unvaccinated.

The Fort Stockton Independent School District is looking at a total budget of $30.8 million in revenue and a slight decrease in the tax rate.

At its Aug. 30 meeting, the FSISD School Board approved the 2022 budget and tax rate. The total tax rate is $1.1289, which is a 3 cent decrease compared to last year; maintenance and operations has a rate of $0.8792 and debt service is $0.2497.

The Fort Stockton City Council approved the 2022 tax rate at its special meeting held on Tuesday, Aug. 31.

The proposed total tax rate is 0.4365 per $100 valuation — the same rate as 2021. Debt payments are $0.2419 and the remaining $0.1946 is for operations and maintenance in the general fund.

The current number of confirmed COVID-19 active cases and probable active cases reached an all-time high in Pecos County on Aug. 31.

The 74 current active confirmed cases tested in Fort Stockton and 17 probable active cases tested at Iraan General Hospital raise the total case number to 91 in the county – three higher than the previous record in Pecos County, which was 88 active cases on Dec. 29, 2020.

With the recent significant COVID-19 spike, many hospitals are stretched thin — Pecos County Memorial Hospital (PCMH) is no different.

The PCMH Board discussed numerous items during their meeting on Aug. 17, including the lack of sufficient staff needed to treat COVID-19 and regular patients. Several department heads and medical staff members were welcomed to share their thoughts during the meeting.

The Fort Stockton Economic Development Corporation approved the funding for commercial infrastructure improvements near downtown at the Aug. 19 meeting.

The city is set to replace the old cast iron water line that runs down Second Street from Nelson St to Main St, which is expected to cost $41,194.10, according to EDC Director Remie Ramos.