March 28, 2019 Issue

According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center due to a mild and damp winter the wildflowers are making an early start in blooming. Although early, the bluebonnets seem to be bountiful in most areas of the hill country. Lady Bird had a love for the wildflowers of Texas which led her and Helen Hayes to establish the National Wildflower Research Center in 1982.

For a person confined to a wheelchair, one or two stairs may as well be a cliff, requiring able-bodied help any time he or she needs to leave or enter the house. Problem is, the cost of a ramp for a mobile home — typically 40 inches off the ground — is almost $1,000, and that’s just materials.

I was asked to talk about the annual report given to the Blanco County Commissioner's Court and Judge Bray. In an earlier newspaper article, I explained how the Commission was created, but I did not explain the responsibilities of the Blanco County Historical Commission. One of the responsibilities is to annually report the accomplishments of the Blanco County Historical Commission to the Texas Historical Commission and to the County Commissioner's Court. The report is done from a calendar ...

The children are bright-eyed and happy; it is the parents who have a continually worried look on their faces. They’re in Piedras Negras, Mexico, across the river from Eagle Pass, Texas, and they’re stuck there for no-one-knows how long. They are reugees from violence…street gangs in Central America, warring militants in East Africa, government oppression in Cuba. They can’t go back home, even if they had the money, because of what awaits them there: death, political prison, or sla ...

Blanco County Officials; including District Attorney, Sonny McAfee, Blanco County Attorney Deborah Earley, Blanco County Sheriff Don Jackson, Blanco Police Chief Mike Ritchey, Johnson City Police Chief, Ross Allen, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center. The agreement acknowledges the importance of the Multidisciplinary approach as the core of the CAC model.

Chair Jimmy Klepac called the March 21, 2019 meeting to order after a quorum of members Lonny Counts and Bob Reed answered roll call. No public comments were addressed to the district. The board approved the minutes from the Feb. 21, 2019 meeting and Feb. 21, 2019 closed executive session. General Manager Ron Fieseler provided a financial report, noting corrected journal entries from the previous report. He reported that in February, the monitored well levels were stable or improved.

Thirteen is a lucky number when it’s your score in back-to-back district contests while holding your opponents to a single digit. The Eagle Varsity Baseball team did just that last week, trouncing Lago Vista 13-3 in five innings at home on Tuesday and rolling over Florence 13-7 on the road Friday. After a scoreless first inning Lago gained a 3-0 lead on two walks, a hit and an error.

With a schedule that takes them on the road for every match the Eagle and Lady Eagle Tennis teams are seeking out tough competition to get ready for the upcoming District 25-3A Meet. Dual matches at Blanco, Wimberley and Ingram have given JC an opportunity to hone their skills and test their pairings as they work to establish the most competitive combination of singles, doubles and mixed doubles players. In the season opener on March 1st at Blanco Grace Burke won in Girls’ Singles; Dega ...

The Lady Eagles Varsity Softball team fell behind early and were unable catch up as they dropped to 1-4 in district with losses to Lago Vista and Florence last week. The Lago Lady Vikings scored in every inning in their 14-3 win over the host Lady Eagles on Tuesday. Rylee Weirich homered for Johnson City and Bridgette McKennis tripled in the loss on Friday. The Florence Lady Buffaloes stole a page from Lago’s script and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning, then piled on seven more ...

Comfort High School swept the high school divisions of the Johnson City Invitational Track Meet last Thursday and Llano Middle School had a sweep of their own, winning all divisions on Friday. Johnson City teams were led by the JV Boys with a 3rd Place finish and 103 points, with the 7th and 8th Grade Girls each placing 4th in their team standings.

I was asked to talk about the annual report given to the Blanco County Commissioner's Court and Judge Bray. In an earlier newspaper article, I explained how the Commission was created, but I did not explain the responsibilities of the Blanco County Historical Commission. One of the responsibilities is to annually report the accomplishments of the Blanco County Historical Commission to the Texas Historical Commission and to the County Commissioner's Court. The report is done from a calendar ...

In February the Woman’s club met at the First United Methodist Church Activity center, our guest speaker was Carlos Martinez, general manager of Lowe’s Grocery in Johnson City. Carlos defined the intricacies of operating a viable small town grocery in the current market that has to compete with megastores and on-line entities.

Blanco County Officials; including District Attorney, Sonny McAfee, Blanco County Attorney Deborah Earley, Blanco County Sheriff Don Jackson, Blanco Police Chief Mike Ritchey, Johnson City Police Chief, Ross Allen, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center. The agreement acknowledges the importance of the Multidisciplinary approach as the core of the CAC model.

For a person confined to a wheelchair, one or two stairs may as well be a cliff, requiring able-bodied help any time he or she needs to leave or enter the house. Problem is, the cost of a ramp for a mobile home — typically 40 inches off the ground — is almost $1,000, and that’s just materials.

General George Patton died of a heart attack. Spaghetti western director Sergio Leone also died of heart failure, Shemp Howard, the fourth Stooge, and Carrie Fisher, too. Apart from those famous people dying of cardiac arrest, you know what else they had in common? All were only 60-years-old. I turned 60 two weeks ago and climbed Enchanted Rock on my birthday, stopping every few minutes to check my heart rate to see if this was my time to go.

The children are bright-eyed and happy; it is the parents who have a continually worried look on their faces. They’re in Piedras Negras, Mexico, across the river from Eagle Pass, Texas, and they’re stuck there for no-one-knows how long. They are reugees from violence…street gangs in Central America, warring militants in East Africa, government oppression in Cuba. They can’t go back home, even if they had the money, because of what awaits them there: death, political prison, or sla ...

I made another trip to the border a couple weeks ago, this time traveling to McAllen to volunteer with Catholic Charities at its Humanitarian Respite Center. Conversations about my trips to the border have revealed much confusion about the people crossing the border. Based on my limited but first-hand experiences, they are men, women, and children fleeing violence from drug gangs in Guatemala and Honduras. Did you know it is legal for an undocumented person to cross into into the United Sta ...

According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center due to a mild and damp winter the wildflowers are making an early start in blooming. Although early, the bluebonnets seem to be bountiful in most areas of the hill country. Lady Bird had a love for the wildflowers of Texas which led her and Helen Hayes to establish the National Wildflower Research Center in 1982.

On Friday, April 5, Highland Lakes Creative Arts is hosting a VIP reception during the week of their 13th annual Paint the Town event in Marble Falls. Guests attending the ticketed event will enjoy music, catered food, and a wine, beer, and liquor tasting from local distilleries. This exclusive event allows guests to experience the first viewing of the judged artwork created by the artists who are participating in Paint the Town 2019. The artwork will be judged by Eric Rhoads, nationally re ...

Blanco County Officials; including District Attorney, Sonny McAfee, Blanco County Attorney Deborah Earley, Blanco County Sheriff Don Jackson, Blanco Police Chief Mike Ritchey, Johnson City Police Chief, Ross Allen, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center. The agreement acknowledges the importance of the Multidisciplinary approach as the core of the CAC model.

Chair Jimmy Klepac called the March 21, 2019 meeting to order after a quorum of members Lonny Counts and Bob Reed answered roll call. No public comments were addressed to the district. The board approved the minutes from the Feb. 21, 2019 meeting and Feb. 21, 2019 closed executive session. General Manager Ron Fieseler provided a financial report, noting corrected journal entries from the previous report. He reported that in February, the monitored well levels were stable or improved.