June 26, 2008

Next Friday’s 4th of July festivities will include a “Fly-By” courtesy of the Horseshoe Bay Pilots Association. Weather permitting, this group of local pilots will “strut their stuff” in a fly-by at Quail Point coinciding with the Boat Parade as it passes Quail Point in review. Participants still have time to sign up their parade entry for a chance to win a trophy.

With temperatures holding near 100 and no significant rainfall, it is not surprising that the City of Horseshoe Bay produced 4.5 million more gallons of water during May than during May 2007. The Public Works department sold 10 million more gallons of that precious resource last month than during May 2007. Since last year was wet and rainy, this year’s increases are extreme.

Five area chambers of commerce gathered for the ribbon cutting of the new tasting room facility of Lost Creek Winery near Sunrise Beach. “I can see it as a central location for bringing events for the whole Central Texas area to the community,” said Lynda Shroyer, President of the Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce. The chambers of commerce of Llano, Buchanan Dam, Marble Falls and Burnet joined in the celebration. It was July 4, 2004 that the winery owned by Larry Brinkman was celebr ...

A year ago, Horseshoe Bay and Marble Falls were water-logged from a rain bomb and area wide flooding. There were no concerns last year about holiday fireworks igniting wild fires. Mother Nature has dealt this area a different hand this year going into the 4th of July weekend. With no rain and record high temperatures in May and June, both Llano and Burnet Counties have instituted burn bans. The HSB Fireworks Ordinance prohibits the possession, sale or discharge of fireworks in the city withou ...

Thursday, June 26 The Rotary Club of Marble Falls meets at noon, every Thursday at the River City Grille, 700 First Street, Marble Falls. Our meeting on June 26 will be the Installation of Officers for the 2008-2009 year. All are welcome. For more information, contact Publicity Chairman, Bill Parmeter at bill.parmeter@abtexasna.com or call him at (830) 798-5213. If you need further information, please advise Mr.

“Have a safe trip.” A common admonition prior to travel, but how much have you done to insure a safe and healthy trip? When and why is pre-travel health consultation needed? The complexity of pre-travel health services is huge considering all the interrelated factors. Destination of travel, length of stay, preexisting health status, immunization record, medication schedule, and allergies are but a few of the issues.

A few weeks ago, Dan and I packed up and left Chicago for good. It had been almost a year (hard to believe) and as we put unwanted “stuff” on Craig’s list to sell, sorted out the items we wanted to take home (without renting a U-Haul), and contacted various service providers to disconnect or discontinue, I thought about what I would miss.

Over thirty underage drinkers were recently surprised by HSB police and issued citations at a lakefront home. Using their night vision equipment, police watched a large crowd gather on the home’s back deck as the evening progressed and were able to move in quickly by boat in tandem with patrol cars when the revelers became rowdy. HSB Police Chief Bill Lane stated, “Our department’s primary goal is to protect our residents, and the police boat and night vision and thermal imaging equipmen ...

What a difference a year makes. Handshakes, smiles and camaraderie filled the PEC Training Center at Saturday’s annual membership meeting of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative. Ranchers, environmental activists, board candidates and regular folks milled around the hall greeting one another and exchanging pleasantries. Last year, the room was lined with rows of prizes to be given away to those who showed up to vote.

Kaitlyn Newell heads out of her Kingsland home each morning for her summer jobs with just one exciting revelation remaining in a path to New Haven, Connecticut. The 2008 Llano High Valedictorian found out she had been accepted on an early-admission application to Yale University in December and she visited the campus in April. Like Oxford and Cambridge in England, Yale is organized in a residential college system.

With the Lower Colorado River Authority board of directors approving a wholesale rate increase due to rising natural gas prices, Pedernales Electric members will see a rate bump of $0.0106 per kilowatt hour starting with bills rendered on July 1. The PEC Board of Directors approved the increase at its meeting on June 21. The current residential rate of $0.09618 per kwh will increase to $0.10678 per kwh, representing a 9.7 percent increase for residential members using 1,500 kwh per month.

Members of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative waded through 58 candidate biographies to select five new people to serve on the Board of Directors. The slate of candidates running under the banner CORE (Conservation, Openness, Responsible Management and Ethics) won four of the five seats, and placed second in the district it did not win. With a revised board election system in place that offered members greater democratic control through a nomination by petition process, a total of 30,715 vote ...

All of us have no doubt been hearing for sometime of the high gasoline prices being paid elsewhere in the world. Now that we’ve reached the $4 per gallon milestone, let’s take a Time Out and see how pervasive high gasoline prices are around the world. While we members of our entitled generation are shaking in our boots, upset and out-of-sorts at the mere thought of paying $4, regular grade gasoline was selling for $18.41 in Sierra Leone, $10.14 in Turkey, $10.03 in Norway, $9.58 in Eritr ...

The Legacy Community Fund is pleased to announce its third round of grant making to the community to be awarded in the fall of this year. The Legacy Community Fund consists of funds contributed by donors along with monies raised through community wide events from which grants will be awarded in November, 2008.

Dennis R. Hill, Llano Independent School District Superintendent, has been selected as the Region XIII nominee for Superintendent of the Year. Since 1984, the Superintendent of The Year award program has honored our Texas administrators for achievement and excellence in public school administration. Candidates are chosen for their strong leadership skills, dedication to improving quality of education in their school districts, commitment to public support and involvement in education, and abi ...

As we get close to the 4th of July, you may be thinking of where you’ll be going to attend a picnic, watch fireworks or engage in any of the other activities that accompany the holiday. And while it’s always meaningful to commemorate our nation’s many freedoms, you may want to take this opportunity to think about another celebration of liberty -your own “Financial Independence Day.” However, unlike the 4th of July, Financial Independence Day won’t just show up on the calendar - you ...

After 30 years in real estate specializing in golf course valuation and consultation, it has always been my belief that golf for young boys and girls is of primary importance in their early development. Golf is not only a sport enjoyed by men and women of all ages, it lends a positive attitude to future health and overall mental stability for young boys and girls. In my professional years, I developed a program for high school youth groups which I presented to numerous high schools in Florida ...