June 10, 2020 Issue

The Johnson City City Council held a special meeting on June 4 via Zoom online videoconference. All members were present, and Mayor Rhonda Stell called the meeting to order at 2 p.m.. There were no announcements, and CAO Anthony Holland shared a public comment from Tim Jung. Jung said that the tennis courts have always been underutilized, and suggested, “These should be open to the public, for a total of eight people, so that families can play tennis, and the Police Department can patrol th ...

Mayor Rhonda Stell called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 6 p.m. on June 2 remotely via Zoom online videoconference. All council members were present and there were no public comments. Stell said there would be discussion of reopening the City parks and Market Days, and added, “We have been using the CDC guidelines for planning to reopen the park and we’re trying to do the best that we can to navigate these waters.” Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Anthony Holl ...

AUSTIN — As Tropical Storm Cristobal moved north in the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana, the weather system’s potential impact on East Texas grew and Gov. Greg Abbott on June 5 addressed the situation in a news conference. Abbott said preparedness is the key in any hurricane season. He added that the Texas Department of Emergency Management and a roster of state agency departments, local responders and FEMA were ready.

The League of Women Voters of Texas and the Fair Maps Texas Coalition are excited to present a special viewing of a new documentary about gerrymandering called Slay the Dragon.  The film highlights how a secretive, high-tech gerrymandering initiative launched 10 years ago threatened to undermine our democracy and follows everyday people as they fight to make their votes matter. At a time when Texas is ranked amongst the most politically polarized states in the nation, with divisive rhe ...

By Dr. Mark Wentzel, Hydrologist, Texas Water Development Board Hi everyone, and welcome to the Texas Water Development Board's latest Water and Weather report. I'm Dr. Mark Wentzel, a hydrologist in the Surface Water Division here at the agency. And today, we're going to take a look at conditions for our state at the end of May 2020. This month, I’m once again coming to you from my backyard.

By Rachel Lumpee Blanco County Judge Brett Bray called the regular meeting of the Blanco County Commissioners Court to order at 9 a.m. with commissioners: Tommy Weir, Emil Uecker, Chris Liesmann, and Paul Granberg present. The meeting was held through video conferencing platform, Zoom. The minutes of the prior meeting were approved. The estimated June 2020 payroll of $305,383.32 was approved next. All of the official reports are in.

The JCISD campuses closed for Spring Break on March 13 and only re-opened for students to collect personal belongings and return school-owned items in late May due to concerns over COVID-19. Seniors and their families converged on Eagle Field as scheduled, though, on May 29 for commencement ceremonies. In between, teachers quickly adapted their instruction to accommodate primarily online lesson delivery and administrators worked diligently to keep in step with seemingly daily changes to tra ...

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend, Georgia Bell McFarling on May 30, 2020. After a lengthy and fruitful life, she peacefully left our world, to be at home with the Lord and her devoted husband, Herbert. The love and devotion that Georgia gave to our world was endless, and in her true self, she departed this earth on her terms.

Somehow I’ve always been connected with cows. My father married a dairyman’s daughter. Dad was born and raised in Mexico. Mom was a child of the Rocky Mountains in the good ole U.S.A. Dad had planned to make a life in Mexico. Her mother had other ideas: “You’re not taking my daughter to that forsaken country to live!” she declared. So, they settled in the States and Dad’s father-in-law set him up in the dairy business.

An armadillo is half blind, dumb as a rock and ugly as a ’62 Buick. Its appearance has been compared to a walking cannon ball, a 4-legged battleship, a cross between a pig and a Sherman tank and a 20 lb. rat wearing a suit of armor. It digs like an auger, shares its living quarters with skunks and rattlesnakes and devours 40,000 fire ants for breakfast.

AUSTIN — As Tropical Storm Cristobal moved north in the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana, the weather system’s potential impact on East Texas grew and Gov. Greg Abbott on June 5 addressed the situation in a news conference. Abbott said preparedness is the key in any hurricane season. He added that the Texas Department of Emergency Management and a roster of state agency departments, local responders and FEMA were ready.