 Billy Ray Robinson, Jr., 30, of Buna, was arrested in August in connection with drugs and cash found in early July at a residence on CR 725.
The sheriff’s office arrived on scene to execute an arrest warrant for Robinson, as they established a perimeter of the area where they felt Robinson was hiding.
According to Sheriff Mitchel Newman, Robinson had fled the scene on foot and was hiding behind his house in a wooded area.
With the help of Jasper’s Police Department K-9 unit, Robinson was located and allegedly resisted being arrested and was bitten by the K-9 unit.
Robinson was then taken to Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital for treatment of a minor wound and was then taken to Jasper County Jail and charged with first degree felony possession of a controlled substance.
The events leading to Robinson’s arrest began on July 8, when Narcotics Officers Joe Sterling and Scottie Duncan were on routine patrol on CR 725, when they spotted two black males standing next to a vehicle in the driveway of a mobile home residence.
As the officers tried to approach the men, they took off running into the wooded area behind the house.
Officers found what appeared to be a pair of swimming trunks and cut off jeans that had fallen off the man while they were running from the deputies.
Officers also found the keys to a 2007 Infiniti M45 in the driveway, along with 7.5 ounces of methamphetamine and over $3,300 in cash.
In addition to the incident in July, Robinson had been arrested on May 29, 2012 in Silsbee in connection with a methamphetamine distribution ring.
Robinson was pulled over in a routine traffic stop and was allegedly found in possession of meth and marijuana, in a drug free zone.
As part of the arrest, investigators with the Southeast Texas Narcotics Division and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency’s Beaumont office seized a $1,563 in cash, and drug paraphernalia.
Robinson was charged with first-degree felony delivery of a controlled substance as well as misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Robison was indicted on April 23, 2013 for the drug charges in July of 2011. An indictment is a written accusation charging that an individual has committed an act or omitted to do something that is punishable by law.
There has been no court date set yet for his alleged crime.
 The Buna Chamber of Commerce recently announced award winners for their annual banquet.
The annual Awards Banquet will be held next Saturday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the MAC building of the First United Methodist Church, which will include recognition of the Citizen of the Year, Rhonda Brown.
Last week the past Citizens of the Year committee announced Brown as the Citizen of the Year, and the Chamber also announced its own awards.
Members selected Megan Senelgrove for the Youth Leadership Award, Andy Whitehead for the President’s Award, Alan Cunningham for the Extra Mile Award, and the Beasley’s Smokehouse as Business of the Year.
Local organizations selected community members for Outstanding Service Awards, and the recipients are: Veterans Memorial – Robbie Scurlock-Goodin; The Helping Place – Betty Shofner; Buna Bridle Club – Bill Locke; Buna Masonic Lodge – Charles Arrington; Lions Club – Vickie Helton; Buna Volunteer Fire Department – Scott Litton, firefighter of the year; Order of the Eastern Star – Sue Burt; and Women’s Civic Club – Amy Ward.
Texan native and State Representative James White will serve as the keynote speaker. White is currently serving as the District 12 State Representative of Texas.
During his first term, he served the people of Angelina, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Tyler counties and now serves the people of Tyler, Polk, Jasper, Newton and Hardin counties.
White serves on the House Committee on County Affairs and the House Committee on Corrections. He is a passionate and effective advocate for the fundamental values of strong families, limited government, lower taxes, and economic development.
He puts those values into practice as a member of the Republican Caucus, the Tea Party Caucus, the Legislative Black Caucus, the Rural Caucus, the Manufacturing Caucus, and the Texas Conservative Coalition.
Tickets are $10 and are available in advance at the Buna Chamber of Commerce office, at Keeler’s and will also be sold at the door.
The dinner will be provided by the women of First United Methodist Church and will include plenty of home cooking.
The community is invited to attend this annual celebration. Chamber membership is not required, and dress is casual.
For more information about the banquet, contact the Buna Chamber of Commerce at 994-5586.
 Local dignitaries within the community including judges, attorneys, law enforcement, school officials, and business leaders participated in this year’s CASA event by serving as “celebrity wait-staff” at Elijah’s Café to help raise money for child abuse awareness.
The celebrities were provided with CASA aprons to wait tables, greet customers, and seat guests.
Volunteers competed among one another to receive the most tips.
Among those who served were First Judicial District Judge Craig and Lori Mixson, former District Judge Joe Bob Golden, Criminal District Attorney Steve and Administrative Assistant to District Judge Kristi Hollis, Attorney Delinda Gibbs, Jasper ISD superintendent, Dr. Richard Skuza, employees from Healthcare Dynamics, and many other community members.
“This event has always been a huge success and helps us tremendously,” said Dianne Wright, Executive Director of CASA.
Funds raised allow CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) to continue our mission of advocating for children in the court systems.
“This is one of our key fundraisers for the year and this year so far we have raised $6,500 and hope to reach the $7,000 mark,” said Wright. “This year’s contributions were very vital to our program and we couldn’t have done it without all the donations.”
CASA is a non-profit organization, which consists of trained volunteers who advocate for abused, neglected, or abandoned children by being their “voice” in court. With nearly 90 trained advocates and some 2,245 volunteer hours dedicated to children, CASA of Southeast Texas serves over 350 local children each year.
All these children have a friend and advocate working to ensure their placement in homes with hope for a positive future. In some cases, this means returning to their parents once the child's safety is assured.
In others, it means releasing the child for adoption. In either situation, CASA and it’s volunteer advocates are focused on the same goal – to give each child a chance at happiness and the stability that a child needs to thrive.
 With the turn of the calendar to May, things are heating up outside and inside, as Buna and Evadale school districts have set their schedule for end of year activities and awards.
BUNA
The high school Athletic Banquet will be held May 9 at 6 p.m. in the activity center.
The “B” academic awards program held May 14 at 6:30 p.m., also in the activity center, while the Buna Junior High will hold eighth grade recognition on May 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the activity center.
The sixth grade DARE program graduation will be on May 21 at 1:30 p.m. in the junior high cafeteria and the sixth and seventh grade award programs will be on Wednesday, May 22 at 1 and 2 p.m., respectively, in the junior high gym.
The high school Scholarship Tea will be held May 23 at 9:45 a.m. while the spring band concert will be at 6 p.m. in the activity center.
Commencement exercises for the Class of 2013 will be Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m. in the activity center, with all students being released at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 31, which is the final day of classes for the 2012-13 school year.
EVADALE
The high school Athletic Banquet will be Monday, May 13 at 7 p.m. in the elementary gym, while the junior high will hold the sixth grade DARE program graduation on Monday, May 20 at 9 a.m.
Kindergarten graduation will be Tuesday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m.
The elementary and junior high awards program will be Monday, May 23 at 9 a.m. in the Nash auditorium.
Baccalaureate services for the Class of 2013 will be Wednesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium, while the eighth grade graduation will be Thursday, May 30 at 7 p.m., also in the auditorium.
Commencement exercises for the Class of 2013 will be Friday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the gym.
All Evadale ISD students will be dismissed at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 31, which is the final day of classes for the 2012-13 school year.
 It is a Buna Beacon tradition to honor high school graduates the Wednesday before local commencement ceremonies.
Buna Beacon is proud to announce the upcoming Graduation issue to be published May 29,2013. Graduates of Buna and Evadale High School will be on display along with their senior profiles.
In addition, we offer a way for friends and family to pay special tribute to their graduate in this special section.
This year is no different, and now is the time for parents, family members, and friends, to dig out the old baby pictures, come up with a few words of encouragement, and place an ad in the Buna Beacon for their graduate.
This year’s “Diapers to Diplomas” ads will be $25, and the deadline for submission will be Friday, May 24.
An example of this ad can be found on page 8A.
“Diapers to Diplomas” ads can be submitted online at www.bunabeacon.com listed under the “Submissions” tab.
We are proud of every graduate, whether they are home schooled or attend a private school and welcome the families and friends of every graduating senior to take part in this community wide tradition.
For more information about any of these options, or if you have questions, call the Buna Beacon office at 994-2218.
 The Buna Cougar baseball season came to an end on Thursday night playing host to the Orangefield Bobcats. With an opportunity for both teams to take third place in district and earn a playoff spot, each team had much to play for.
The Cougars came up short losing 5-3 in front of the largest crowd of the season.
Buna’s season ended with a 13-10-1 record overall going 6-6 in district play. Three of those district losses were by a combined five runs proving the Cougars belong in district 21-3A baseball.
Coach Kevin Terrier and the Cougar faithful honored five seniors before their matchup versus the Bobcats on Thursday. Glenn Patrick, Ryan Houston, Kolton Clark, Tate LeJeune, and Chad Young have been a part of the baseball program at Buna High School for years and have served it well.
Patrick has played catcher and pitched one game this season along with batting leadoff in the lineup. His batting average for the year was .377 including four doubles, 19 singles, and eight RBI’s.
Patrick led the team with 15 stolen bases and 19 walks.
Houston hit a solid .276 on the year knocking in fifteen RBI’s and was one of three Cougar batters to hit a homerun.
Clark led his team in innings pitched with over 32 while only allowing an earned runs average of 2.60 which was good for second on his team. Clark went 3-2 in a total of seven games started striking out a team leading 27 opponents.
From the batter’s box Clark hit for an average of .305 hitting for five doubles, one homerun, and 16 RBI’s.
Young pitched almost 13 innings allowing an earned runs average of 3.87 finishing with a record of 1-1 for the season. Young also struck out 12 batters faced.
LeJeune scored two runs and got one hit for the season in limited action this season.
Other top pitching performers for the Cougars on the year were Joe Clark and Raydon Taylor. With each of the young men having pitched more than 25 innings they struck out 24 batters faced.
Taylor led his team with an earned runs average of 1.36 and a batting average against him of only .190. He also finished the season with a record of 3-1.
Clark played the role of a closer this season earning four saves and finishing with a record of 2-3.
On the offensive side of the game several players who will be returning made major contributions to the Cougar season.
Joe Clark led the team in hitting average at .400 and was second on the team in on base percentage (.519) and stolen bases (7).
Jacob Kelly hit for an average of .383 leading his team in doubles (8), triples (2), and RBI’s (17).
Kreston Richardson hit for an average of .333 in the middle of the lineup knocking in 10 runs for his team while Ty Cleveland added a homerun and five RBI’s for the year.
The Buna Beacon would like to give our congratulations on an excellent first season back in 3A baseball to Coach Terrier, the seniors and the rest of the players that made of the 2013 Buna Cougar baseball squad.
 Monday, April 22, a 16-year-old Evadale High School student was taken into custody and charged with making a terrorist threat towards other students.
According to EISD Superintendent Gary Fairchild, the student was in transition between classes when the threat was made to a few other students with the student saying, “I’m going to go home and get a gun and kill everybody I don’t like.”
A few students who heard this comment approached Fairchild. He then contacted the sheriff’s office and the child was taken to Jefferson County Juvenile Facility where he is being held.
At the time of the incident, Fairchild sent out a message to all of EISD to inform them of the incident and to let them know that the situation was taken care of and the students were safe.
A formal letter was also sent out by Fairchild ensuring that the safety of EISD students.
According to Fairchild, the student will be able to return to school but disciplinary action and other arrangements will be made prior to his return.
“We have the situation under control and want the EISD family to know that everything is safe,” said Fairchild.
Two Evadale seniors will be representing the Rebels at the Class A State Track Meet in Austin in two weeks.
Cory Stringer and Matthew Totten both advanced from the regional track meet last week. Stringer won the 400-meter dash and Totten was second place in both the 100 and 200-meter dash.
“It is very exciting for us to have two going to state. We had a great season and took more to the regional meet than we have in many years,” said Coach Conner.
Stringer and Totten have both been dominate this season as they have been consistently scoring points for their team and running away with various places in individual and relay team events.
The Rebels finished in 10th place in the team standings at the regional meet and hope to bring home some hardware from Austin and the state meet.
Thursday evening, a white Ford Ranger crashed into a telephone pole a little after 4:30 p.m. on Hwy 62 in Buna.
According to information obtain on the scene of the accident, the white male driving the older model Ford pickup truck was transported by ambulance to a nearby medical facility for medical evaluation.
No injuries were reported at this time and no other vehicles were involved in the accident.
Saturday, April 27, another wreck occurred on Hwy 62 six miles south of Buna.
Michael Frederick Evans, 65, of Buna was identified as the victim of the fatal accident that occurred along Highway 62 near FM 2938.
According to the Department of Public Safety, the wreck happened around 9:37 a.m. when Evans was hauling a steer in a trailer.
Evans lost control of his pickup truck and struck a tree in the nearby wooded area.
According to preliminary results, Evans experienced a heart attack and died before the truck crashed into the wooded area.
He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. It was reported that Evans was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
Assistance was provided at both accidents by DPS, Acadian Ambulance and Hatch’s wrecker service.
The Jasper County grand jury went through several cases during its April 23 session, handing down 24 felony indictments, including three residents of Buna.
Billy Ray Robinson, Jr., 30, of Buna, was indicted on possession of controlled substance charge July 2011.
Nancy Lee Gardiner, 47, of Buna, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Richard Andrew Alberts, 27, of Buna, was indicted on evading arrest detention w/a vehicle charge August 2011.
Matthew John Argyle, 34, of Call, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Ronnie Gary Creehaw, 20, of Kirbyville, was indicted on burglary of building x2 in July 2011.
Billy Ray Reeves, 23, of Kirbyville, was indicted on burglary of building x2 in July 2011.
Conner David Jones, 24, of Kirbyville, was indicted on manufacture//delivery of controlled substance charge July 2011.
Richard Kerry Hawthorne, 57, of Kirbyville, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge August 2011.
Clinston Lynn Collins, 28, of Jasper, was indicted on delivery of marijuana charge July 2011.
Frederick Breckenridge Jackson, 23, of Jasper, was indicted on prohibited subs in correctional facility and delivery of marijuana in July 2011.
Anthony De’Kendle Hicks, 25, of Jasper, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Gilbert Moye, 25, of Jasper, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Leon Cauley, Jr., 29, of Jasper, was indicted on theft prop<1500 2/more prev convictions charge September 2011.
Shane Dewayne Hadnot, 27, of Jasper, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Derek Wayne Lynch, 36, of Jasper, was indicted on credit card or debit card abuse charge October 2011.
Travis Gene Lewis, 26, of Jasper, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Kendrick Demond Shaw, 30, of Jasper, was indicted on manufacture/delivery controlled substance charge September 2011.
Marlon Dave Adams, 31, of Jasper, was indicted on aggravated robbery x2 charge December 2011 and May 2012.
Charles Lemario Myers, 24, of Jasper, was indicted on manufacture/del cont subs drug free zone charge September 2011.
Carl Hannon Tarver, 69, of Silsbee, was indicted on fraud del controlled subs/prescription charge September 2011.
Rhonda Maxine Busby, 30, of Newton, was indicted on possession of controlled substance charge July 2011.
Staci Lin Hurst, 45, of Orange, was indicted on unauthorized use of vehicle charge February 2011.
James Lee Evans, 40, of Burkeville, was indicted on unauthorized use of vehicle charge August 2011.
Christie Deon Hollyfield, 38, of Fred, was indicted on fraud poss controlled subs/prescription charge April 2011.
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