Editors Note: This is Part 2 of the 2024 Top Stories Roundup. Part 1 covered the aftermath of the county cybertheft in January, the deaths of two prominent community leaders in February, and the shift in local leaders with the March Republican primaries.
Throughout the spring of 2024, DeWitt County donors stepped up to a special matching fund challenge to pay off the Friar Ag Center loan. The remaining $1.5 million balance was raised in a 90-day capital campaign that started with the Cuero Livestock Show auction.
In 2019, the Cuero Livestock Show determined it had outgrown the 35-year old building and started a $2.5 million renovation project. Work began in 2020, and the completed complex now serves as the go-to event center for the county.