News

With only unofficial early voting counts in, the Republican vote is strong, 7,787 of 9,489 straight party votes cast, making up 82.6 percent of the straight ticket vote.

The Democratic ticket vote tallied 1,612 for 16.99 percent; Libertarian straight ticket, 68 or .72 percent, Green Party, 22 votes, .23 percent.

Republicans Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence drew 77.5 percent or 10,686 votes of 13,784 early votes cast. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, 19.7 percent, or 2,642 votes. Libertarians Gary Johnson and William Weld, 333 votes for 2.42 percent, and Green Party candidates Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka, 58 votes, .42 percent.

Highest early write-in votes went to Evan McMullin and Nathan Johnson, 47 votes, .34 percent.

Roger Williams was showing 78.9 percent of the vote for U.S. Representative District 25, compared to 18.6 percent for Democrat Kathi Thomas and  2.51 percent  for Libertarian Loren Marc Schneideman.

By Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

No one was injured when an RV caught fire in the northbound lane of Farm to Market Road 1174 on Saturday evening.

At about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, Bertram Volunteer Firefighters were called to FM 1174 just 200 feet south of the entrance to Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife Refuge Doeskin Ranch, where an RV was already engulfed in flame.

Bertram Volunteer Fire Chief Bobby Huffstuttler said the owner of the vehicle had made it out before the fire consumed the cabin.

“He said he was driving and heard the engine make a strange noise,” Huffstuttler said.

The driver pulled as far off the road as possible, with a portion of the RV still in the northbound lane, and stopped to inspect the situation.

“He pulled the hood off and the engine was already on fire,” Huffstuttler said, adding that the driver attempted to use a fire extinguisher, but it “didn't do any good.”

Burnet County voters top 50 percent

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Just how far numbers will rise today, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 General Election Day, remains to be seen, but so far early voters are breaking records.

“It wouldn’t take much of a record election day to push us to 80 percent turnout overall,” said Elections Administrator Doug Ferguson.

Burnet County citizens flocked to early voting polls, which closed at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, with a record 47 percent of registered voters, 13,885 of them, having voted early in person.

Another 1,686 ballots by mail had been received in the Burnet County Elections Office Monday morning, Nov. 7. That means 15,571 of the county's 29,556 voters had cast early ballots, or 52.68 percent of them.

“Our military mail ballots are coming right in too,” said Karen Peraino of the elections office.

by Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

Air Evac officials discussed funding and support with unopposed Texas Representative candidate Terry Wilson on Thursday morning.

Wilson, a Marble Falls resident and unopposed candidate for Texas Representative District 20, visited with the officials at Air Evac 49 base in Marble Falls Thursday morning to learn more about the company, its strengths, and its challenges.
Wilson told Air Evac Flight Paramedics and pilots that he had the upmost respect for their roles, having two parents that were nurses, as well as combat experience, in which hasty trauma care was an absolute necessity.

Wilson commended the team for their work with “the value of life.”

“There is tremendous risk associated with that, so I thank you,” he said.

Terry Thompson, Air Evac Program Director, asked Wilson for his support in the ongoing issue of funding.

By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH

A former police chief of Granite Shoals returned confidential material to the city after city officials filed a temporary injunction against him last week.

J.P. Wilson returned the material on Wednesday, Oct. 26, after the injunction was filed Monday, Oct. 24.

“We did go to court and had the information returned last Wednesday,” said Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel. “There is another trial set for November, but I don't expect that we will need it.”

Nickel said Wilson was in possession of confidential material that never should have been taken after the end of Wilson's employment with the city.
“It's not just police – anyone in the facility is not permitted to take confidential information,” he said.

City officials and Wilson as well as legal representation for both parties went before the Judge Linda Bayless on Tuesday, Oct. 25, where an agreement was reached.

A head-on collision on Texas Highway 71 claimed the life of a Round Rock woman on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Edwina Dillon Turner, a 56-year-old Round Rock woman, was pronounced dead at the scene of a collision which is reportedly still under Texas DPS investigation.

Texas DPS officials said the wreck occurred at 8:23 p.m. Tuesday evening, roughly three miles west of Horseshoe Bay, when a 2005 Ford F250 headed eastbound on the highway crossed over the center line into the westbound lane, and then swerved back to the right, striking Turner's 2014 Volkswagon PTE.

The passenger of the truck, George Anderson, 51, of Round Mountain, was transported to St. David's South Austin Medical Center with unknown injuries. There was no information immediately available on the wellness of Pedro Ortiz Hurtado, 56, also of Round Rock, the driver of the truck.  

By Alexandria Randolph and Glynis Crawford Smith

Highland Lakes Newspapers

The rate of registered voters who have submitted their ballot had jumped to 28 percent by noon Monday, Oct. 31.

Burnet County Elections officials had received 8,251 votes as of Monday morning.

“We have 6,834 that voted in person,” said Burnet County Elections Administrator Doug Ferguson, “and 1,417 mail ballots, plus what came in today – maybe around 100. It's a bunch.”

Ferguson said the turnout has been far beyond previous presidential elections.

“Saturday was a lot quieter day than we've been having, but still the biggest Saturday we've ever had,” he said. “Today feels a lot lighter. It's hard to say what's happening now.”

Ferguson said a total of 1,197 voters cast their ballot on Monday, roughly four percent of registered voters in the county.

Llano County voters had turning up to early voting at a very brisk pace as of Saturday, Oct. 29, and the total to have voted early already was the fourth-highest total since 1988, with five days of early voting left to accumulate.

Elections Administrator Cindy Ware said Monday, Oct. 31, that 5,067 registered voters had cast their ballots in the general election since early voting began on Monday, Oct. 24. This includes 2,205 people who cast their ballots at the Kingsland early voting site and 1,259 who did so at the Horseshoe Bay early voting site. Meanwhile, 1,604 people voted at the Llano early voting site.

The largest single day of voting so far was the first day of early voting, when 1,295 people cast early ballots. The rest of the week's voting totals were:

Tuesday, Oct. 25 – 950.

Wednesday, Oct. 26 – 881.

Thursday, Oct. 27 – 748.

Friday, Oct. 28 – 901.

Saturday, Oct. 29 – 291.

A Marble Falls man who ran over a Marble Falls police captain with his boat was sentenced by District Judge Allan Garrett on Oct. 19 to 10 years in prison, but then had his sentence probated for 10 years after an agreement was reached between the man's attorney and the Burnet County District Attorney's office.

James “Hank” Fry must spend 120 days in the Burnet County Jail as a condition of his probation for his conviction for intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury to a peace officer, a second-degree felony.

On July 4, 2015, Fry's boat collided with a MFPD patrol boat piloted by Capt. Ted Young, running over Young, striking him and sending him into the water. The force of the collision broke Young's shoulder and several ribs, fractured a vertebrae in his spine, lacerated his spleen and caused bleeding on the brain.