June 18, 2009

A young man from Temple made a decision Sunday night that cost him his life. Gregory Neal Jaffers, 21, was traveling east on Hwy 71 in the City of Llano when Llano Police officer Allyn Rub’s radar clocked him exceeding the speed limit. Rub pulled Jaffers’ vehicle over to the side of the road east of Llano Junior High School around 9:45 p.m., and then Jaffers made a tragic decision.

With five days left on their long tenures as directors of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Vi Cloud and Val Smith joined with three other directors to leave a final imprint by amending select provisions of the co-op’s bylaws at Monday’s board of directors’ meeting in Johnson City. PEC Governance Officer Pete Slover explained that PEC normally reviews its bylaws in the fall of each year, but that the Bylaws Committee “felt we needed to address some areas earlier than normal.” Pres ...

Ashley Stallard competed in the Texas Summer Grand Slam week-long tennis tournament in College Station this week. The tournament is the biggest tournament of the year for Super Champ qualified players. Stallard lost her first round match to the No. 9 Seeded player Marisa Quevedo 5-7, 2-6. In the consolation feed-in bracket, she defeated Paige Murdock of Boerne 6-1, 6-0 and Emy Usheva of Friendswood 6-1, 6-0.

The 4th of July is always special in Horseshoe Bay and centers around the daylong celebrations planned by the Horseshoe Bay Property Owners’ Association. Paige Schweizer, chair of the 4th of July Committee, and her band of volunteers have added some new events to the line-up this year. Get creative and wear your patriotic best to compete in the Most Patriotic Costume Parade!

The Horseshoe Bay City Council began its work on Tuesday with a workshop focused on the activities the city inherited from the HSB Property Owners’ Association under the recently completed street agreements. City Manager Stan Farmer reported that mowing and weed treatment of road rights of way has been completed. Over 500 letters were sent to lot owners to begin the lot mowing process.

Like the acorn and the mighty oak story, The Church at Horseshoe Bay started small in 1982 when a few Protestants gathered together for worship. With a Christ-like attitude, the folks at St. Paul the Apostle Chapel offered to share their facilities for worship and a Protestant congregation soon held services in the Chapel’s sanctuary. A generous donation of land by the Wayne Hurd family to the Protestant Church, matching their contribution of land to the Catholic Church, launched the build ...

On Monday June 15 a ceremony memorialized the designation of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Marble Falls as an historical site by the State of Texas Historical Commission.  The Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond, Bishop of Austin, Father Jairo Lopez, and St. John’s parishioners celebrated the founding of their faith community and building of their church with songs, prayers and a homily by Bishop Aymond. The historical plaque states: “St.

Challenges to Llano County property valuations soared this year, with 2,289 formal protests filed with the Appraisal District by the June 11 deadline according to Clarence McDaniel, Chief Appraiser for LCAD. The protests represent a 65% increase over the 1,384 protests filed last year. McDaniel said the protests involve properties throughout the county.

Lourdes Langston, Irma Drescher, Father Bob Scott and Tony Delisle reminisced about old times, including how the “Gang of Eight” worked to maintain the property around St. Paul’s Catholic Church during the mid 1990s. John Monahan, Paul Langston, Gerry Holland, Paul Hellinghausen, Bruno Drescher, Tony Delisle, Jodi Anderson and Syl Gaisbauer were the gang members and their wives acted as their support team.

The Texas Colorado River Floodplain Coalition (TCRFC) is sponsoring the development of a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update that will address all natural hazards around Lake LBJ, all of the Highland Lakes and along the Colorado River. The Draft Plan cites two proposed actions for the City of Horseshoe Bay: i) install warning systems at all low water crossings; and ii) provide additional means of access to single-entry neighborhoods and gated communities. The Draft Plan include ...

The Highland Lakes SPCA is holding a fund-raiser at Angel’s Icehouse on Saturday, June 27.  The Paws and Claws event promises to be an evening of great music, great fun, and wonderful auction and raffle items.  Many adoptable animals will be on hand to meet you. If you cannot make it to the event, you might want to buy a raffle ticket for the trip to Costa Rica.  You do not have to be present to win and the tickets are only $25 each.  Contact Lynn Bishop, President of HLSPCA, at lynn@hig ...

School is out, summer is here, and the crowds of vacationers and weekenders are converging upon Horseshoe Bay to enjoy a little fun in the sun and play in Lake LBJ. You can anticipate an even greater boating presence this year with both Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis being so low due to the drought.

Ahoy, mates! Better start learning some nautical terms so you’ll be “ship-shape” for watching one of the highlights of the upcoming Rock ‘n Riverfest – the second stop on the five-stop circuit of the Texas Star 45 class model yachts. So far, nine boats are signed up for the regatta, but “I expect we’ll have 12 to 15 skippers by race day,” says Don Keeney of Buchanan Dam, who is the national secretary for the Star 45 class association.

If you’re somewhat familiar with investing, you probably have heard that owning mutual funds is a good way to help diversify your portfolio. Is this true? And, if so, how should you go about selecting the right mutual funds? To begin with, let’s quickly review the importance of diversification. By owning a variety of investments— such as stocks, bonds and government securities — you can help reduce the effects of volatility on your portfolio.

PUBLIC NOTICE There will be a public hearing concerning a variance request concerning Lot(s) 12066-C of Horseshoe Bay Plat No. 12.13 also known as 103 Lighthouse Drive in the City of Horseshoe Bay, Texas whereby the owner(s) are seeking a Variance from Section 3.2.2(n)(3)(B) of the Zoning Ordinance, at the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting of Horseshoe Bay on July 7, 2009, 2008, followed by discussion and action on the same.