February 10, 2021 Issue

Mayor Rhonda Stell called the regular meeting of the Johnson City Council to order at 6 p.m. on February 2 via Zoom, and a quorum was established. Pastor Steve Sanchez gave the Invocation and the Pledge was recited. Citizen Penny Whisenant spoke to the Council regarding the need for hiring more police officers.

By Rachel Lumpee The Blanco County Commissioners Court regular meeting was called to order at 8:59 a.m. by Judge Brett Bray. All four commissioners were present. Public comments were heard after the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. First, D’Anne Welch spoke briefly about the lack of following the CDC guidelines throughout the county during these times. Next, Kenneth Welch spoke regarding the road widths.

Blanco County is continuing to see robust demand for the COVID-19 vaccine as at least one local pharmacy is in the process of becoming a provider. The county’s EMS service is the sole vaccine provider within Blanco County but that could change. “We know of at least one pharmacy--Blanco Pharmacy & Wellness--that’s in the process of becoming a vaccine provider,” said Ben Oakley, the county’s infectious disease control officer and EMS chief.

By Amy Taylor While artists continue to flock to the highland lakes area, the momentum builds for the 2021 Highland Lakes Creative Arts visual arts initiatives, Paint the Town and Sculpture on Main, with local artist, Janey Rives at the helm. She helps bring two major visual arts celebrations to life annually, Paint the Town that will takes place on May 2-8, 2021 and Sculpture on Main, which is a yearlong public art exhibit down Main Street in Marble Falls. The annual Paint the Town and S ...

JCCEF Valentine Gala The 4th Annual JCCEF Valentine Gala will be held on Saturday, February 13. Tickets are $15, and door prizes are $5. The three-course meal will be offered for curbside pickup at LBJHS from 5-7 p.m., or delivery within 10 miles for a $10 fee. All proceeds benefit the JCCEF scholarship fund.

Thanks to overwhelming response to its Give Wellness campaign, Hill Country Memorial met its fundraising goal to qualify for a $1,000,000 challenge grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation. According to Amanda M. Stevens Executive Director for the Foundation for HCM, Hill Country Memorial has exceeded the target of raising $5.1 million by spring of 2021 for the renovation and expansion of the HCM Wellness Center.

As soon as the army forced the Plains Indians to the reservation, the movers and shakers of the Texas Hill Country focused their energy, their money and the power of their imaginations on the problem of transportation. Now that the Indian wars were over, the difficulty of moving passengers and freight from point A to point B over miles of rough territory was the single biggest obstacle to progress.

The number of people in Texas hospitalized with COVID-19 has declined more than 28 percent in the past month, according to the Texas Department of Health Services. As of Feb. 7, Texas hospitals were treating 9,957 COVID-19 patients, down from nearly 14,000 a month ago. The number of new cases in the past week was 123,239 — a 22 percent drop from the record high of 158,922 the week of Jan.

The 2021 Blanco County Youth Show turned out to be a great success and meaningful experience for the youth of Blanco County due to the help of countless volunteers and the Blanco County 4-H and FFA Youth Council Board. Exhibitors, parents and other volunteers showed up for a workday on December 5 at 8 a.m.

Driftwood— On Monday, Representative Erin Zwiener filed three more pieces of legislation, House Bills 1506, 1512 and 1513, continuing her work to advocate for House District 45 constituents. Rep. Zwiener has now filed 15 pieces of legislation during the 87th Legislative Session. “These three bills came to be due to direct conversations with constituents of House District 45,” said Rep.

The title probably reminds you of the old saying, “That’s like spitting in the ocean.” A few weeks ago, I wrote a column listing the data Attenborough had summarized showing the world’s population, the carbon in the atmosphere, and the percentage of wilderness area remaining from 1911 until 2020. I expect that everyone understood why Attenborough would include the data on the human population and also the amount of atmospheric carbon, but some may have wondered about the significanc ...

Tough back-to-back losses dropped the Varsity Eagles to fourth place at 5-5 in District 29-2A with two games remaining in the regular season. After a forced weeklong break due to COVID both the Eagle and Lady Eagle Varsity teams played catch-up with games scheduled three consecutive school nights last week.

Monday, February 1, 2021 7th Grade Girls Center Point 8-2-3-0  13 Lady Eagles 0-0-4-3  7 Scoring: Barrera 6, Gorum 1   7th Grade Boys Center Point 3, Eagles 62 Scoring: Colton Bonnett 20, Brock Odiorne 13, Teagan Ritchie 12, Petersma 7, Gayoso 6, Birck 4   8th Grade Boys Center Point 3-0-1-6  10 Eagles 8-13-18-11  50 Scoring: M Jackson 22, Pennell 11, Flores 7, Slawinski 4, W Jackson 3, Ledbetter 3   Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Goldthwaite at JC Varsity ...

JCCEF Valentine Gala The 4th Annual JCCEF Valentine Gala will be held on Saturday, February 13. Tickets are $15, and door prizes are $5. The three-course meal will be offered for curbside pickup at LBJHS from 5-7 p.m., or delivery within 10 miles for a $10 fee. All proceeds benefit the JCCEF scholarship fund.

Mrs. Hardin Wunderlich nee Rosie J. Sheppard of Sandy passed away on Wednesday, February 3rd at the age of 79 years. Rosie J. Sheppard was born on June 21st, 1941 in Cleveland, Liberty County, Texas to Rayburn Forrest and Norma Jean Nettles Sheppard She married Hardin Wunderlich on December 31st, 1980 in Burnet, Texas Mrs.

Jimmy Curtis Moldenhauer, born to Chester and Hilda Moldenhauer on November 16th 1945 in Fredericksburg, Texas. Passed on Sunday Feb 7,2021. Jimmy grew up farming and ranching in the Post Oak community. He graduated from Johnson City High School and moved away to pursue careers including welding, fabrication, and as a mechanic.   He was an avid outdoorsman and craftsman.

Jimmy Curtis Moldenhauer, born to Chester and Hilda Moldenhauer on November 16th 1945 in Fredericksburg, Texas. Passed on Sunday Feb 7,2021. Jimmy grew up farming and ranching in the Post Oak community. He graduated from Johnson City High School and moved away to pursue careers including welding, fabrication, and as a mechanic.   He was an avid outdoorsman and craftsman.

Fox Eggs! Several years ago, my wife and I spent a few wintery days in the mountains of Idaho. It had been snowing and there were about two feet of snow on the ground. The snowplows had cleared some of the roads but, in so doing, they had created great mounds of the white stuff all around the town and particularly around our apartment. The first night we were there, shortly after dark, my wife happened to spot a fox across the road that was looking her way rather expectantly.

By Amy Taylor While artists continue to flock to the highland lakes area, the momentum builds for the 2021 Highland Lakes Creative Arts visual arts initiatives, Paint the Town and Sculpture on Main, with local artist, Janey Rives at the helm. She helps bring two major visual arts celebrations to life annually, Paint the Town that will takes place on May 2-8, 2021 and Sculpture on Main, which is a yearlong public art exhibit down Main Street in Marble Falls. The annual Paint the Town and S ...

Thanks to overwhelming response to its Give Wellness campaign, Hill Country Memorial met its fundraising goal to qualify for a $1,000,000 challenge grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation. According to Amanda M. Stevens Executive Director for the Foundation for HCM, Hill Country Memorial has exceeded the target of raising $5.1 million by spring of 2021 for the renovation and expansion of the HCM Wellness Center.

As soon as the army forced the Plains Indians to the reservation, the movers and shakers of the Texas Hill Country focused their energy, their money and the power of their imaginations on the problem of transportation. Now that the Indian wars were over, the difficulty of moving passengers and freight from point A to point B over miles of rough territory was the single biggest obstacle to progress.

The number of people in Texas hospitalized with COVID-19 has declined more than 28 percent in the past month, according to the Texas Department of Health Services. As of Feb. 7, Texas hospitals were treating 9,957 COVID-19 patients, down from nearly 14,000 a month ago. The number of new cases in the past week was 123,239 — a 22 percent drop from the record high of 158,922 the week of Jan.

Driftwood— On Monday, Representative Erin Zwiener filed three more pieces of legislation, House Bills 1506, 1512 and 1513, continuing her work to advocate for House District 45 constituents. Rep. Zwiener has now filed 15 pieces of legislation during the 87th Legislative Session. “These three bills came to be due to direct conversations with constituents of House District 45,” said Rep.

The title probably reminds you of the old saying, “That’s like spitting in the ocean.” A few weeks ago, I wrote a column listing the data Attenborough had summarized showing the world’s population, the carbon in the atmosphere, and the percentage of wilderness area remaining from 1911 until 2020. I expect that everyone understood why Attenborough would include the data on the human population and also the amount of atmospheric carbon, but some may have wondered about the significanc ...