Big Country Beat: 2 charged in separate crashes + Abilene man questions local resources for homelessness aid

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) – With a very active news week between crashes, arrests, and more, one story stayed at the top of our readers’ list. Take a look at the full breakdown of our top five local stories on web.

This week’s top 5 in BCH’s Big Country Beat

19-year-old Theophilus Heryanto was indicted this week in connection to a March crash along Highway 36 in Callahan County in March, which took two lives in the process.

He has been charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

A local business man sparked some controversial conversation in June by asking a question along the lines of, “Is it easy being homeless in Abilene?”

Of course, it’s never easy to do without in any city. John Hill told reporter Tobin Smith he thinks local resources for those in need may be doing more harm than good.

“What is the way we tell folks no? Because it seems like we have serial individuals who time and time again come back and keep taking advantage of the the hospitality of the community,” Hill said.

For the second week in your top 5 is a trainwreck last Wednesday in Tye. Thankfully, no one was hurt in this crash.

Tye PD told reporter Noah McKinney , due to the absence of markers informing truckers not to use the crossing, it was an honest mistake.

Well-known Abilene pastor, Scott Beard was fined last week by the Texas Ethics Commission in connection to his 2023 run for Abilene City Council.

TEC wrote in its order that Beard “made extensive contributions from corporate resources to his own campaign.”

Clyde woman, Ashlie Haynes, was charged with manslaughter this week in connection to the May crash which took the lives of three Baird teenagers.

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