Rumors
We hear rumors from time to time, so we’ve decided to share them with our readers. By posting them on this website, we are NOT saying they are true or have any merit. We will attempt to find out if they are true or false, and any additional information or confirmation we receive will be posted.
If the rumor is determined to be true, we will let you know. If it is determined to be false, we will let you know. We all want to know the truth about what’s happening here in Helotes.
If you hear any rumors you’d like to share, or if you have any insight or clarifying information on any rumors we post on this website, send your information to editor@helotesherald.com. We will post your information on this website and do our best to verify if it is true or false.
RUMOR #1
CVS rumors:
The CVS will be opening in February.
The CVS will be opening in April.
The CVS will not be opening until August.
The new CVS has not opened because:
CVS is suing the owner of the shopping center and the new Subway for blocking their drive-through lane.
The CVS signage violates the new sign ordinance.
The CVS did not pass the City inspection and cannot get a Certificate of Occupancy.
We don’t know anything official about any of the above rumors, but we’d guess the CVS won’t be opening in February. Yesterday and today (1/30 and 1/31/10) there is a Job Fair being held there, but it’s not clear if it’s just jobs with CVS or with other companies as well. We’ll let you know if we find out anything about the CVS opening or anything of interest about CVS.
UPDATE 2/23/10: At the EDC meeting on February 17, the Mayor (who was in attendance) reported that the CVS is now scheduled to open on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. He also said that 140 people had applied to work at the CVS during the two job fairs they held and that 85 percent of that 140 were Helotes residents. The Mayor also said that he had been told by CVS management that it is not unusual to let a completed CVS store sit for up to 6 months before opening it. So, maybe we’ll have an open, functioning CVS in another 2 weeks or so.
UPDATE 2/28/10: In the March/April 2010 Helotes Community News, the Mayor is now saying that 85% of the applicants at the job fair were from the Helotes “area,” not just Helotes proper. He is also now saying that the CVS will hire 20 to 25 people this month (February?) who will be preparing the store to open on Sunday, March 21, 2010. I guess we’ll see.
And we now know. The CVS opened on Sunday, March 21, 2010. The Grand Opening was held on March 28, 2010, with the Mayor cutting the ribbon, etc. They have pictures of the Grand Opening on display in the store. So now we can stop wondering about when it will open and start wondering if they would consider turning out all those outside lights at night after they close for the evening. It would be nice for them to do that for the people who live around the CVS. Their lights are way too bright and totally unnecessary.
RUMOR #2
Former Council member Jeff Ellis, who resigned from City Council after being arrested for sexually abusing a 14 year old female, has been under house arrest and is now in Federal prison.
There was an article in the SA Express-News Northwest Weekly Section on January 14, 2010, entitled “Former Helotes Councilman Gets Closer to Trial.” Meredith Canales, who wrote the article, said that Ellis had a court date set for January 15, 2010, where he would be assigned a trial date. He was on the trial docket in the 290th district court of Bexar County under Judge Sharon McCrary. He was arrested on May 7, 2009, he was indicted in June, and has been free on $50,000 bail since May 11, 2009.
We’d say that makes the above rumor false. If we can find out what happened in court on January 15 and what his trial date is, we will post it here.
UPDATE 2/28/10: A check with the DA’s office reveals that Ellis’ case is still classified as “trial pending” with no date set. I wonder what’s up with this delay? It’s been almost 10 months since he was arrested. If it had been any of us, we’d be buried under the jail by now!
RUMOR #3
At the new shopping center (where the CVS has been built), the smaller building close to Bandera Road will be a coffee/sandwich shop or a coffee shop and a Subway. The larger building behind it will house the new Cowboy Bar and three other businesses, one of which is an Italian restaurant.
UPDATED 2/23/10: We now know for sure that the Subway will not be in the smaller building close to Bandera Road. The Subway will be in the new building that is further back, on the end closest to the Tejas Barbacoa restaurant. At the Council meeting on February 11, 2010, Council unanimously approved a variance request submitted by the owners of the new Subway. They requested and were approved to have two Subway wall signs larger than originally allowed. The letters in the signs will be 3 feet tall instead of 18 inches tall. They want to make sure that we can all see their signs as we are driving by.
Council member Ed Villanueva is planning on running for Mayor against Mayor Schoolcraft.
This is an odd one. Mayor Schoolcraft’s term of office will not be up until May 2011, so he will not be running for re-election until then. Villanueva, if he wants to continue to serve on City Council, will be running for re-election this May. Candidates can file to run for office between February 8 and March 8, 2010. The election will be held in May. Time will tell on this rumor.
RUMOR #5
No idea. If you are reading this and you were thrown out of City Hall, let us know about it.
No idea. Will see what we can find out.