53 thoughts on “Prominent attorney, Hays County rancher O’Quinn dies in wreck”

1. Mr. O’Quinn drove Dow Corning into bankruptcy over breast implants. His star expert witness later has been proven wrong overwhelmingly by subsequent medical studies concerning the alleged link of leaking silicone, and collagen vascular disease. What a shame that Dow Corning was never reimbursed the millions that Mr O’Quinn won using junk science.

2. Sobering news,….and I am very sorry to hear of this.

3. ‘“There was very little of major significance in this country, legally, that John didn’t have a major involvement in,” said San Marcos attorney Charles Soechting…’

   O’Quinn, with on the ground help from former state trooper Soechting, has also been involved in actions that many believe were illegal and immoral. For example, getting the county to transfer a portion of the Little Arkansas road to O’Quinn, just because O’Quinn had tons of money and wanted to bring a beautiful and historical area of Hays County under his complete control, even if it was wrong.

   Soechting has been able to impose his will on many of the elements of political life in Hays County only because of the financial backing of O’Quinn. Not any more. King O’Quinn is dead. Long live the king.

   Soechting’s ability to influence local and district judges, other elected officials and county life in general has been greatly diminished by the death of his protector, O’Quinn.

   Let’s see if Soechting can get the Texas Ethics Commission to give Nick Ramus a pass on his serious violations of election laws.

   Let’s see if Soechting can get Hays County District Attorney, Sherri Tibbe, to lose the state’s case against Nick Ramus for deadly conduct, even though both actions by Soechting are important to save the political hides of the creators and protectors of Ramus…Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton, Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley and Pct. 1 Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe.

   Barton and Conley created the Ramus Frankenstein to attack County Judge Sumter and to whip into line commissioners Ingalsbe and Ford. Unfortunately, their plan worked.

   The death of O’Quinn changes the dynamics of Hays County politics because Soechting has lost his base of power to threaten others who disagree with him in his conquest for complete control

   Even Rep. Patrick Rose joining the law firm in San Marcos “to be near development” won’t stop the downfall of Soechting and his minions like Eddy Etheredge and Jeff Barton, Will Conley and Jim Green, Mike Mueller and Wally Kinney, and the list goes on and on.

   If regular citizens of Hays County want clean, open government that works for them, the outlook is brighter now. But it won’t happen without your participation. Vote and throw the bums out. Run for office and serve the community and not special interests.

   I wish no ill to any person, but I accept what fate offers up.

4. That’s pretty tacky, O’Dell, even for you. You should be ashamed of yourself for attacking a man – celebrating his death even – mere hours after his death is reported. And for nothing more than political reasons to boot. That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in a long time.

   I hope for the sake of your family that no one offers a eulogy for you similar to the one you just posted for O’Quinn.

5. Surely there is a stronger word than tacky. Let me check the thesaurus.

   Cheap
   Tasteless
   Crude
   Nasty
   Sleazy
   Base
   Boorish
   Loutish
   Lowbred
   Barnyard
   Crass
   Ignorant
   Oafish

   Honestly, I have never known anyone who makes me so strongly inclined to change my political views just to be sure they don’t line up with his.

6. Dano,

   You obviously don’t have a clue. My comments were less about O’Quinn and more about the living Charles Soechting.

   What about my post is untruthful or non-factual?

   I just hope people will speak the truth about me when I die…warts and all.

   And by the way, dying is no excuse for forgetting how you lived, or an occasion to create a propaganda piece.

   You are entitled to your opinion, and can even interpret however you wish, but don’t put words in my mouth. What I wrote is what I wrote…nothing more or nothing less. If you can’t handle unpleasant truth, that’s your problem. Sorry if my unwillingness to turn a blind eye offends your sensitivity. How about considering the harm that has occurred to others.

7. Ted,

   You obviously have no idea what my political views are.

   Sorry if the truth is too insensitive for you. You recoil in proportion to your ignorance or unwillingness to see what’s going on around you.

   That’s not my fault. That’s your responsibility.

8. Here is a post about O’Quinn from the Statesman:

   “Not sure how to react to this tragic news; O’Quinn, the master of torts and a courtroom thespian of the highest order, represented me in a complex civil case many years ago and risked a significant sum of money investigating my case before withdrawing on a flimsy pretext. He was the archetypal plaintiff’s lawyer and knew politically on which side his bread was buttered, ie., solidly Democrat. His courtroom victories over Dow Chemical Co., among others, threw the company into bankruptcy over silicone breast implants, and made him one of the wealthiest lawyers anywhere. The scientific basis for his claims against silicone breast implant makers has now been totally discredited, so, in the end, he personally profited immensely arguing over what turned out to be completely bogus science. I suppose this demonstrates how skillful he was in swaying juries to award huge damages to his clients, but also demonstrates how vulnerable our civil legal system is to abuse and frivolous claims. Tragically, many who knew John O’Quinn worried about his erratic behavior, which included DWI police chases into downtown Houston parking garages, violations of ethical standards, including barratry, and legal battles with his law firm’s associates. He goes down in the annals of Houston’s legal fraternity as a brilliant, flawed and unpredictable star on the order of Percy Foreman, Joe Jamail and Racehorse Haynes.”

9. O’Dell, does it ever strike you as funny that no one else who posts on Newstremz ever agrees with you? That you are the only one who sees just how thoughly corrupt this county is?

10. Larry,

    Do you believe that I post to be popular? I report what I find. I post to inform. If the other posters (not the only readers) don’t agree with me…so what? I post what I find, including official sources.

    What do you make of it that other posters don’t accept what I post? Not one has checked my facts. It takes too much effort. It’s easier to disagree based on uninformed opinion than to confirm or disprove what I post.

    That’s a major drawback of blogs…it’s easier to engage in opinion posts than it is to learn and grow. If you believed what I posted, you would be called to action…and too many posters just want to blog, not act to make a better community. That’s too hard.

    A messenger with bad news is never welcomed because it means something needs changing. It’s easier to simply disagree and stay in front of the computer.

    That’s not what I do. I’m engaged in the community. If you or any other poster disagree with me isn’t important…unless you have facts to correct me. Then I learn and grow.

11. Charles,
    You don’t do what you do to “make a better community.” You do it because you crave attention, and everyone can see that.

12. OK, whatever.

    (Why do you post and give me attention?)

13. Charles: It never ceases to amaze me how little you actually know about politics in Hays County. Sure, O’Quinn got what he wanted with respect to his property here. But to spin out of control from there and have him controlling all manner of county politics is nothing short of ludicrous. Sorry Charles. The truth of the matter is: the man actually had bigger fish to fry. But your small little mind never sees outside of its own diminutive boundaries. So you can’t even begin to understand this.

    Nor can you begin to understand why it is morally reprehensible to attack someone who is not yet laid to rest in their grave. It really doesn’t matter what kind of man they might have been. It’s just understood by MOST people that judgement day is not in our hands. That’s why most people stand aside at a time like this and let the chips land where they may. In fact, the really good-hearted people take the opportunity to look hard – and find what is good in a person’s soul. And yes, Charles, even the worst amongst us have committed good deeds. And there is an appropriate time to celebrate those deeds. John O’Quinn did some good in this world. And this is the appropriate time to talk about it.

    But since you apparently have no soul – I can see why you have no sense of why you need to back off at this particular point in time. Life must really suck for someone who is as bitter as you are. I hope you will forgive me for not having any sympathy for you today. Or tomorrow for that matter.

14. Lila, could have said it better myself.

15. Larry,

    What did Lia say that you could have said better?

16. Lila darling,

    You are so easy to amaze.

17. Chuckie, are you so insecure that you have to always include your degree after your name? It really has nothing to do with what you say, nor does it make your opinion {and that’s all your postings really are} any better or smarter. All it shows is that you spent more time in school while others were working regular jobs.

18. Yea, yea. We’ve been through this before.

    I grew up on a farm and worked my way through college…all the way through college, so I believe I had my share of regular jobs. In fact I can’t remember when I didn’t have a job.

    You have a lot of degrees yourself. Wow!

    You’re correct though…all your degrees don’t make your post any better.

19. Folks, I want you to know the origins of why Charles refers to me as “Lila Darling.” It actually came about from some furious blogging I did with Peter Stern – in which Peter and I started to refer to each other with this term of endearment. Why in the world Charles decided to pick it up, I’ll never know.

    Maybe because he thinks it irritates me.
    It doesn’t.

    Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t have an ounce of originality or creativity in his old bones.
    True enough.

    Maybe someone ought to check that dissertation of his for original thought….

20. Hays County and her citizens will be better off now that O’Quinn’s millions will no longer be funding a dizzying array of dubious projects in this county that benefited no one except his friends and his projects.

    I am sure Soechting has truly lost a friend, one whose gravy train he has riden for years and one that has now tragically jumped the tracks.

    I truly do not understand why O’Dell’s posts so enrage you people. He simply states what many of us believe, but we do not take the time or effort to post on these online blogs. O’Dell is telling the truth. You would do well to pay attention to the message rather than to spend your time being annoyed by the messenger.

    Corruption is one of those things that kinda gets into your soul: the powerful get used to wielding it and the powerless get used to being its victims.

    After awhile, we start to feel like there is nothing to be done to counteract it and we just quit trying. Most of us, anyway.

    Then, along comes a game-changing event like the passing of a powerbroker and one realizes that there has been a shift….something a wee bit seismic and maybe, just maybe, things will get a little better for those of us not on the payroll.

    For those of you who were on O’Quinn’s gravy train,you have my sympathy. This will be hard for you, I know. Seems he was a great source of prosperity and efficacy for you, but today is not yesterday and maybe tomorrow will find Hays County a little more honest.

21. I also agree with Charles on many issues and details, not all of his writings, but many.

22. fools

23. Django. What a sheep you are. You can make me want to make puke!

24. Let’s try this again. What a sheep you are. Baaa Baaa You make me want to vomit. Does this describe my feelings adequately?

25. django, Charles, thank you.
    I hear the barb wire being stretched as we speak.

26. O’Dell provides a typical O’Dellion reaction to a death. O’Quinn’s death proves that Ramus was at fault.

27. Odellian indeed. Mr. Odell should ‘investigate’ the legality of O’Quinn’s purchase of the county road that runs through O’Quinn River Ranch, a transaction, as noted above, conducted without a public hearing. From what I’ve read and heard, O’Quinn bought the road from the county for $8 million dollars and then hired armed guards to prevent locals from driving it for a few years. A very odellian tale, anyway.
    Mr. O’Quinn’s River Ranch is over 6000 acres. He has worked some to restore the property, which has some of the best of the Little Ark portion of the Blanco River. It is prime EA Recharge Zone as well as Black capped Vireo and Golden Cheeked Warbler Habitat (I’ve seen the vireos on my property, which is adjacent to O’Quinn’s). I wonder what will happen to the property.

28. Any way we can get public access back on that road?

29. As best I remember, the Little Arkansas road through the O’Quinn River Ranch never belonged to the county. It was a privately owned ranch road long before Mr. O’Quinn bought the property. The different owners over the years had agreed to allow public use of the road so those persons living on adjacent property could get to Wimberley and other points west without having to make the long trek through San Marcos. In return, the county agreed to maintain the road.

    But those days are not these days. And as owner of the road, Mr. O’Quinn wanted to end the agreement, and he did so. After negotiations with the county, he agreed to build at his expense a road away from the river and along the western boundary of that part of the ranch. It provides access to Wimberley either by connecting with the Fulton Ranch Road and from there to RR 12 or crossing the river west of the ranch and then through Flite Acres to connect to RR 3237.

    My understanding is that he planned to build a palatial ranch house on the bluff facing the Palisades and overlooking the Blanco River. That never happened, but who could blame him for not wanting strangers crossing that portion of his property day and night?

    We will have to wait for the probate of Mr. O’Quinn’s will to learn of the road’s fate, but you best settle in because that could be quite some time in coming. And it’s doubtful the old road will ever be open to the public again.

    I include myself among those in Hays County who aren’t fans of Attorney O’Quinn and his tactics. But the upshot is that there were no sinister backroom deals because was no reason for Mr. O’Quinn, or Charles Soechting, to unduly influence anyone over the Little Arkansas road. He was within his rights to give notice that he would close the road to the public. The negotiations were mostly over the quality of the engineering of the road and how to accomodate his neighbors’ needs to cross his property.

    I’m sure the small minds of Dr. Paranoid and his little group of Zombie minions will conclude that the shade of Jack O’Quinn continues to haunt these pages, but it just isn’t so.

30. BTW, is anyway saddened at all about the sudden death of Mr. O’Quinn? I wish his family well and am sorry for their loss.

31. “And yes . . . even the worst amongst us have committed good deeds. And there is an appropriate time to celebrate those deeds. John O’Quinn did some good in this world. And this is the appropriate time to talk about it.” -Lila Knight

    John O’Quinn did a lot of good in this world.

    I had the privelege of knowing him, learning from him and working for him.

    In 2000, while in law school, I received a phone call from John O’Quinn’s law firm. On the other side of the phone was Charles Soechting, asking me if I wanted to work for the O’Quinn law firm. Being a young man from Kyle who had a modest upbringing and having a tough time affording all of my expenses while living in Houston, the immediate answer was ‘of course.’

    In the time that I worked for John O’Quinn’s law firm, I saw people come to the firm for help. They were looking for help because they had suffered tragedies–the type of tragedies I would never wish upon anyone. There are days that I think about some of those people who came to the firm for help and sit in amazement of their strength and pray for them. That was the business of the law firm–representing those seeking help.

    John O’Quinn was about a little bit more than the business of the law firm. He helped in other ways. He gave his money, his time, and the firm’s resources to all sorts of causes. Google his name and you can read about his good deeds.

    He gave a young man from Kyle, Texas a job with good pay and benefits. More than that, he taught me. He tried to give me a little piece of what he knew. I watched him work and he was brilliant. He encouraged the other lawyers at the firm to teach other law school students as well. That is why I received that phone call from Charles Soechting and that is why other lawyers, like Carl Shaw, spent hundreds of hours teaching me how to stand on my feet in the middle of a courtroom and speak to a jury or a judge.

    Thousands of other lawyers have benefited from John O’Quinn’s generosity. There is a mock courtroom within the O’Quinn law firm. In that courtroom, I went from being too fearful to stand on my feet and get two full sentences out of my mouth to being able to try a case from beginning to end. But for John O’Quinn’s generosity, that would have never happened.

    John O’Quinn was not a perfect man. Google his name and you can read about his imperfections, but you’ll also see his good deeds.

    At a time that the rest of us imperfect beings mourn the loss of our brother/teacher/friend, I hope that those who believe they have reached perfection will pause (and google his name and just READ).

    On a personal note: Ms. Knight, I haven’t seen you in several years. I’m happy you are well. I was blessed to have Mr. and Mrs. Marchut join me for breakfast this morning. They are good friends to me. The only thing we argue about is who’s paying–Amy won this time. I’m lucky to have them in my life. I’m going to call my mom and dad to make sure they are doing well on this Halloween. Then I’ll call my beautiful girlfriend to tell her I love her. Life is too short.

32. My condolences to Mr. O’Quinn’s family and friends; clearly he had many friends and did a lot of good in his life. He seems like an interesting fellow.

    A 2002 Austin Chronicle article discusses the Little Arkansas Road issue briefly:

    http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A85715

    The article isn’t clear on the details.

33. Jim: Thanks for setting the record straight. You’re a good man.

34. Hey Charles – Where did you go? Are you hiding out someplace? Can’t take the heat when people disagree with you. What gives?

    You made some pretty wild accusations in your earlier post:

    “Soechting’s ability to influence local and district judges, other elected officials and county life in general has been greatly diminished by the death of his protector, O’Quinn.”

    Really now… aren’t you being just a little delusional about the power of Soechting and even O’Quinn. Or can you really come up with something more specific about just exactly how he has influenced judges. Come on Charles – where is that enormous ability of yours to do “research” into the corruption of our public officials. Enquiring minds want to know. But once again, all you do is tease us…

    I’m beginning to think you really don’t know much about anything. Don’t you have a link or anything?

35. Mr. O’Dell, this is Charles Soechting and my message to you will be brief. I have lost a colleague and dear friend and this is not the time nor place to discuss that issue. What I will discuss with you is the baseless and false accusation that you have made that I control judges and elected officials in a corrupt fashion. This is an absolute falsehood and was made by you in a malicious fashion. Ms. Knight has challenged you to name names and you have failed to respond. My friend will be buried this week and after that you will be dealt with in a proper legal fashion. Mr. O’Dell you have told one lie too many. Name names and acts, apologize or face the legal consequences.

36. Jim Green: Thanks for the good rackup on what actually transpired on the road. Sounds like it was a private property rights issue, and that O’Quinn was both in the right and went a whole lot farther than he had to in paying for the bypass road.

    Jason: Thanks for the link. Good political archeology.

    Mr. Pastrano: Thanks for the memory. My stepfather was a personal injury attorney in Houston, and although that profession is widely reviled these days what people forget is that they have done a huge amount of good for a huge number of deserving people. I’m sure O’Quinn–who sounds like a consummate lawyer–did many many things, both in his legal practise and otherwise, that his family can be proud of.

37. We are all very fortunate that someone bought a very large chunk of sensitive aquifer land and kept it from being split up and developed into small lot subdivisions which could have so easily happened at that time. Go down Hunter road or out 306 in Comal county and look at the Havenwood or River Chase subdivisions. Several thousand one acre lots where all manner of large houses are being built on the minimum sized lots that can be platted. While you may not agree with things that you heard were done, everyone should realize that only someone like Mr O’Quinn could buy land like his ranch and not have to split it up and sell it off in the smallest possible pieces. I worked on various parts of the Little Arkansas land before and during the time he was buying it and know about its sensitivity and importance to our aquifer.

    As far as I know I never met Mr O’Quinn, tho one time at the San Marcos river I talked briefly with a fellow who looked a lot like the pictures of him that I have seen. He seemed to be fairly interested in things about the river and the aquifer that I told him. Everyone I know who has worked out on his ranch says he was a nice fellow and that they were treated well.

    I am so disgusted with the continual spewing of hate from certain posters that I rarely visit this site anymore. Only if there is some very important local news. Too bad we havent been able to have some nice threads about the Trinity aquifer and Jacobs well lately because some really interesting stuff has been going on during all of these recent rain events. There is a good USGS website where some of the water chemistry monitors post real time data. it has been possible to see pulses of fresh water recharge and long term aquifer storage waters comming thru during /after various rain events. I guess that discussion is just something else everyone has lost due to certain peoples rabid fanaticism

    I have lost close friends and a sibling, sometmes suddenly, sometime after long illness with much time for preparing. It is a time to think about a lot of things. The meaning of life, our purpose here, what we leave as our legacy. Maybe its hard for some to see a big ranch staying just a big ranch as a valuable environmental legacy but Hays County residents of the future will be able to see the difference.

38. Soechting,

    “Name names and acts, apologize or face the legal consequences.”

    Bring it on.

39. You people need to get a life… one that the REST of us hard working people in Hays County have…. ya’ll are so “high school”…. the voters need to replace EVERY politician in Hays County… from one end to the other and in between…. there are so many honest and well meaning public servants that have been ousted by political, power hungry people like you that spar on the blog…. WHO CARES????? Miss Lila Darling…. Johnn O’Qinn used his power to take away a beautiful part of our community and the hungry politicians allowed it… would not have happened by the pioneers that worked so hard for our community…. and most of the Houston people that relocate here bring their “I’m somebody and who cares for the locals”…. Just like O’Quinn…. sorry he passed, but fate has a funny way of settling scores…. sure, he helped a lot of people, but he also hurt a lot of people he lived among.

40. So Chucky – where is it? Where is that fabulous investigative research of yours on the “Good Old Boy” influence of Soechting and O’Quinn on our judges and elected officials?

    Is that the best you can do? You’ve got nothing. As usual…
    Just baseless accusations against people you don’t like – and don’t (didn’t) even know for that matter.

    You’re like some bitter old woman who doesn’t have a life – so she just sits around spewing vile gossip about the people she’s actually jealous of.

41. re C gobbels odel’s last comment. why am I reminded of a drunk standing on a railroad track shooting the finger at the train thats fixing to squash him.

42. Nobody can squash O’Dell. He’s made of rubber – he just keeps bouncing back at you – like a bad nightmare that repeats itself over and over and over and over….

43. Jim Green wrote: “As best I remember, the Little Arkansas road through the O’Quinn River Ranch never belonged to the county.”

    You are incorrect, and it’s not surprising given your close ties to Charles Soechting and your axe to grind with me. We can talk about that and other matters in court after Soechting sues me.

    Just read the first line of the commissioners’ court resolution: “WHEREAS, the Commissioners’ Court of Hays County has determined that it is in the best interest of the public to abandon as a public roadway the right-of-way known as (i) the Little Arkansas Road, …‘

    Also see Texas Attorney General Opinion GA-0693, “Generally, when a road is established by prescription or dedication, the right is not limited to the area traveled, but includes sufficient land, where reasonably available, for drainage ditches, repairs, and the convenience of the traveling public.” If you don’t know what a prescription road is then look it up. Similar to adverse possession.

    Also, see Texas Transportation Code, §258.002. ADOPTION OF COUNTY ROAD MAP. “A county has a valid claim of the existence of a public interest in a road if it provides written records or other information documenting the county’s continuous maintenance of the road beginning before September 1, 1981.” The Little Arkansas was included on the official county road map long before 1981.

    Jim Green wrote: “But the upshot is that there were no sinister backroom deals because was no reason for Mr. O’Quinn, or Charles Soechting, to unduly influence anyone over the Little Arkansas road. He was within his rights to give notice that he would close the road to the public.”

    Wrong again…and you know it. Soechting heads up the San Marcos O’Quinn law office and of course worked closely with then Pct. 3 County Commissioner Bill Burnett and County Judge Jim Powers to illegally hand over to O’Quinn what he wanted, that portion of a historical public road that had been used by the public for 150 years. Then O’Quinn could fence off his entire 5,500 acres if he chose to. Money talks.

    According to commissioners’ court minutes, then Special Counsel, “Jacqueline Cullom Murphy advised that we are relying on Section 263.006 (Exchange of Real Property) and no petition is required.”

    Jacqueline was not only an incompetent attorney, but she would also play ball with Judge Powers. This is demonstrated by the very section of the Texas Transportation Code on which she said she relied. It forbids the action taken by the court without first complying with certain provisions. Among them, the court failed to comply with public notice requirements and failed to obtain an appraisal of the Little Arkansas. Instead they rushed the matter through commissioners’ court and relied on O’Quinn’s appraisal value. I believe the facts show it was a done deal by Burnett, Powers and Soechting, O’Quinn’s Hays County enforcer.

    So much for your selective memory and your fine feathered friends, the chorus of bashers who distort and omit facts to suit their personal ranting.

44. May you be paid the same respect in death as you have paid others, O’Dell. To quote Joseph Welch, “Let us not assassinate this lad further… You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

    I also note you have not named names, as many people he have requested, regarding your accusations about Soechting. Seems like now is a good time to put up or shut up, or at the very least, take a refresher course in libel.

45. My condolences to Mr. O’Quinn’s friends and family; he was clearly a very talented person and did a lot of good in the world.

    Good detective work Mr. Odell. In regards to the Little Ark Road:
    -verify that there were no public notices and that the appraisal was not legitimate prior to its sale.
    -consult with an expensive attorney who can corroborate your other claims.
    -drive on said road from Wimbo to San Marcos, and enjoy the thrill of passing so many(!) NO TRESPASSING/PRIVATE ROAD signs.
    -Type up your report and make copies for all of us. I want it on my desk by 8AM friday or you’ll get an F, mister. I mean mr.Ph.D.

    I’ll throw you bone: I was told that every single trespassing violation that was issued on the road on O’Quinn’s property was dismissed. I wonder why.

    Back in reality – if there was any impropriety with said transaction, it is most likely the fault of the county’s attorneys. but you get what you pay for.

    I’m glad that the property was so well maintained by Mr. O’Quinn. I wonder what will happen to it now. San Marcos, Wimberley, and Hays County should research the possibility of acquiring it. It is large enough to serve as endangered species habitat, protected aquifer recharge and watershed, and public parkland. Who knows, maybe there’s even enough room for a shooting range or even public hunting, not that I want either (although the deer out here could stand a good culling).

46. no shooting range unless chucky is the target. As usual another pack of lies, all fabricated by the one person who causes all the trouble.

    many private roads are listed on county road maps in Texas. its always been that way. Cartographers like to be as complete as possible. putting it on a map doesnt make it a county road, just like a overhead electric line doesnt somehow convey the ground underneath it to the utility as a easement. things must be recorded, and the place they are recorded is in the county deed records. if it isnt recorded there it legally doesnt exist.

    Why is it chucky local neighbor county commissioners favorite resturant was made off limits to imspections even though it has a long history of a failing septic system. shouldnt that be investigated ? There are a lot of things of very dubious legality that odell sump-ner* and their buddies have been involved in. maybe now some real investigating will happen.

    * a sump or siphion is a place where a cave passage fills to the ceiling with water making exploration difficult or stopping it altogether. the words are widly used in cavers lingo to express things. Like “idiot siphion” as in the commissioners court is a total idiot siphion. so sump-ner is a good caveresque epithet that in this case means a tangled up mess of total stupidity and corruption.

47. Now let me get this straight. Soechting, who was the chairman for a time of the Texas Democratic Party, and the late John O’Quinn (may he rest in peace) who was a major doner to Democrates, were in cahutes with a Republican County Judge, and a Republican County Commisioner to steal a road from the public. And then O’Quinn, I guess as an act of penance, spends millions of his own money to replace the stolen road with a nice paved road. Wow.

48. Agree, Sean!! Maybe Newstream will decide to remove Chuckie’s priviledges until he does “put up”??? Look at it this way, it wouldn’t be censorship but rather:
    a) helping cut world pollution
    b) stopping littering
    c) force O’Dumb to be accountable for his venom
    d) all of the above!

49. Larry gets it! He totally gets it! Mr. Hays Can’t needs to disconnect his delusional dots of corruption and wake up and smell the coffee. He doesn’t even know the players in this game.

    He’s just still pissed off at the judges that ruled against him in the Ramus case. And everyone that ever remotely voted against him on that one.

    Hmmm. I wonder if O’Quinn and Soechting were really the true masterminds behind Ramus. Maybe they even flew him back here just for this whole fiasco. And even got Barton and Conley elected so they could “vote the right way” when the Ramus septic case came up. Egads! It’s a diabolical plot so evil that only the most brilliant legal minds in Texas could orchestrate it! But why? Why? Well, the answer is so simple – revenge against the curmudgeon of Susie Carter…

50. Lila, you beat me to an analogy, sort of; see below.

    True Adam, but Odell’s posts are often followed by credible posters who refute or clarify the issue; I often end up learning a lot by reading the responses to his posts. . Sometimes his posts inspire me to research a topic. And now he’s researching a subject that is of interest to me. At the very least his posts can be entertaining; he has a knack for connecting invisible dots with imaginary lines.

51. Jason: You cannot connect invisible dots with imaginary lines. That is, not if you want to deal with reality. But, if you want to construct a good novel or a great painting – it’s a great place to start. Get my drift?

52. I think there will be a lot of information coming out about how O’Quinn stole the Little Arkansas property from the Keith family…it is a tragedy how he took their property away from them over several years. Rocky is guilty too…I will be writing the book soon…any contributors?

53. That road belongs to the people. There’s gotta be some wrong doing to make it private! I hope it gets opened back up.