News

Musician Randy Rogers played an acoustic set before a packed house at Brass Hall Thursday night. It was Rogers' first stop in Marble Falls. The Randy Rogers Band is best known for their hit song, “Kiss Me in the Dark,” which was written by Radney Foster and George Ducas. Other hits include “One More Sad Song,” “In My Arms Instead,” “Too Late for Goodbye,” and “One More Goodbye.”

By Alexandria Randolph and Glynis Crawford Smith

Highland Lakes Newspapers

A whopping 22 percent of the 29,556 registered voting population in Burnet County had cast an early vote as of Friday morning, Oct. 28.

“Voting numbers in Burnet County are exploding like everywhere else in the state,” said Burnet County Elections Administrator Doug Ferguson on Thursday afternoon. “Each day we have voted more than any day in past years' elections.”

Turn out at the polls on the first day of voting broke records from previous presidential election years.

“A total of 1,197 voters cast their ballot on Monday, roughly four percent of registered voters in the county.

“It was biggest early voting day that I know of for Burnet County,” he said. “We beat 2008 and 2012 – all those numbers.”

By Tuesday the number of Burnet County early voters had grown by 1,306 to 2,117. The third day's vote was 1,268 and Thursday was set to exceed 1,262.

A South Texas sheriff's department is investigating the apparent disappearance of an oilfield worker with Marble Falls and Spicewood ties who was first reported missing late last year.

The La Salle County Sheriff's Office, located in Cotulla, said John Michael Johnson Jr., 37, has not contacted loved ones in more than a year, according to La Salle County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Marc Robertson.

Johnson was employed in the past by Diamond X Contracting and had an address in Spicewood and he has family members who live in Marble Falls.

In 2015, he was living and working in Cotulla. Johnson was reported missing by his father in a call to the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 5, 2015.

“Mr. Johnson’s father does not know of any address where his son could be in Cotulla,” Sheriff's Capt. Joey Garcia said this week. “We have him in the system as a missing person.”

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Granite Shoals City Council pursued a brief agenda Tuesday night, Oct. 25, punctuated by a reception for Eric Tanner and an executive session regarding former police chief J.P. Wilson.

Wilson left city employ in May and has since been succeeded by Chief Gary Boshears, however his departure apparently has not been without some disagreement.

Wilson is on the December schedule of the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) for a hearing he requested regarding his exit rating. A Petition to Correct The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TECOLE) Separation of Licensee Report (an F-5 report) will be heard.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The idea of a bridge across the Colorado River below Wirtz Dam met serious questions Wednesday, Oct. 26, at an open house hosted by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) in Horseshoe Bay.

More than 50 area residents came to hear a presentation by Burnet County Judge James Oakley, who sits on the CAMPO board, and to share their own opinions on the proposed project.

Cottonwood Shores City Council Member Roger Wayson had one of the longest list of doubts to express.

County Road 426 would connect Wirtz Dam Road with Ranch to Market Road 2147 if the bridge were constructed.

“It would come right past our nature preserve,” said Wayson. “It would be destructive to our eco-system...Traffic would go from 50 a day to thousands a day.”

“It would divert traffic from the commercial area we are trying to develop,” he also claimed.

A new bridge across the Colorado River below Wirtz Dam will be the topic of a public open house Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. at Quail Point Community Center, 107 Twilight Lane, in Horseshoe Bay.

It is one in a series of outreach programs being conducted by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) to gather public opinion about the proposed project.

Another is scheduled for the same time period on Thursday, Nov. 3, at Lakeside Pavilion at 307 Buena Vista Drive in Marble Falls.

After an initial meeting with civic leaders, CAMPO began to concentrate on the general public last month, attending

Everyone in the Highland Lakes area also is invited to take a survey to add to data on the project. Copies of the survey will be available at the public meetings and online at www.CAMPOtexs.org/wirtzdam.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

On Thursday, Oct. 20, Manuel “Manny” Lunoff gathered the staff of Marble Falls High School to announce that Friday would be his last day as principal.

Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) Superintendent Chris Allen, PhD Allen was at Lunoff's side for the Thursday staff meeting, praising him as a “good man” and asking for cooperation in respecting Lunoff's simple statement that he was leaving for “personal reasons.”

Parents of students also received individual personal electronic messages from Lunoff. He shared with them that the district had secured as an interim principle, Emmett Aubry, who most recently served as interim principal for Lake Travis High School.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A group of Marble Falls High school choir students will be living “la dolce vita” when they travel to Italy during Spring Break next year to perform.

The Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees approved the choir trip during their regular monthly meeting Monday, Oct. 17.

Marble Falls High School Choir Director Bryce Gage said he will be taking about 35 to 40 students to Italy next March with a total group of about 50 people, including directors and chaperones. The choir will visit Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome and is expected to perform in many of the country's most beautiful cathedrals and churches.

“We are waiting on confirmations of locations of concerts, but we hope to perform the daily Mass at St. Peter's (Basilica) in the Vatican,” Gage said.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The City of Marble Falls ballot may look imposing to voters with its list of eight City Charter amendments.

Since a charter is essentially a city's constitution it is important, but in the case of this election, it might be said it is important housekeeping.

“Most of what is included is to clean up the charter to be consistent with state law,” explained City Manager Mike Hodge.

“The Propositions clarify the charter,” agreed City Secretary Christina McDonald, the city election official.

Right now, various ordinances have been required to fill the gaps in the existing charter. Citizen approval of the amendments would solve inconsistencies, say city staff.

Each proposition was recommended to the city council by the Charter Review Advisory Committee, which conducted a comprehensive review of the charter and requests for changes that had come up over the last two years.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Construction on the new Marble Falls Public Safety Center (PSC) is set to begin next month, following action by the city council Tuesday, Oct. 18, to approve a construction contract.

A contract was approved with STR Constructors, LTD, for $3,482,635 for the new center to house the Marble Falls Police Department and Municipal Court on Avenue N.

“We had six builders submit sealed competitive bids, one of the qualified being the low bidder,” said City Manager Mike Hodge. “The official submitted total $3,725,000 and we were able to negotiate that down.”

Jettisoned from the initial plans prepared by architects for the project, R. Gill Architects of Horseshoe Bay, were such items as copper pipe in favor of synthetic plumbing materials and alternate bids for a sally port (controlled entrance) and some covered parking.