News

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

When early voting begins Monday, Oct. 24, citizens of Granite Shoals will have two local issues on their ballots—issuance of $3 million in funds for major road reconstruction and whether or not to let a “No Deer Feeding” ordinance stand.

Both topics have been the subject of city surveys, forums and long council debate and strong opinions have been voiced on both along the way.

Road bond

The proposal of bond money for improvements to Phillips Ranch Road, Prairie Creek Road and Valley View Lane was based more that endless complaints about potholes and long years of experience in blacktop and patch deteriorating without solid base work.

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has announced it will lower lakes LBJ and Austin for about six weeks in early 2017.

The goal is two-fold: to let property owners repair and maintain docks, retaining walls and shoreline property and help curb growth of nuisance aquatic vegetation such as hydrilla and Eurasian watermilfoil.

“It’s been years since we’ve lowered any of the Highland Lakes,” said John Hofmann, LCRA executive vice president of water. “Property owners need to maintain their boat docks and perform other maintenance, and I’m pleased our water supplies have been replenished enough that a drawdown is possible. Our lakes are nearly full, and conditions in the basin are better than they have been in several years.”

LCRA last lowered Lake LBJ in 2008, Lake Marble Falls in 2009, and lakes Inks and Austin in 2011. No drawdowns occurred in 2012-2016 because of the drought.

Lake LBJ

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH

Abnormally high temperatures over the past four days yield to another cold front this week promising fall weather.

The National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio shows that high temperatures shouldn't breach 81 degrees over the weekend.

Friday is expected to be sunny with a high of 73 degrees, Saturday will be sunny with a high of 77, and Sunday will be mostly sunny with a high near 78.

Monday and Tuesday both show a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high of 81 degrees.

Lower Colorado River Authority Bob Rose wrote in his blog that the cold front that made it's appearance on Thursday afternoon may be the final end of the summer season.

Two major collisions this afternoon resulted in at least one fatality and a serious traffic bind around the city of Burnet. 

Burnet County Dispatch has reported that a two-vehicle wreck on US 281 this afternoon has lead to at least one death. 

Burnet Bulletin reporters on scene witnessed a black Chevrolet Tahoe and a white Ford single-cab pickup, both with considerable damage following the wreck which occured at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 18. 

Dispatch reported that at least one person was transported by Air Evac to an area hospital. 

As of 1:45 p.m., Burnet Police had temporarily closed US 281 and will be diverting traffic down Park Road 4 and Mormon Mill Road (County Road 340).  

At 2:30 p.m., dispatch reported a second collision on Texas Highway 29 west between an 18-wheeler and a pickup truck, resulting in an oil spill. All lanes of traffic have been blocked and Air Evac was deployed a second time. 

The City of Meadowlakes has issued a rabies alert as a public health notice.

A skunk that has tested positive for rabies was trapped recently by Meadowlakes Animal Control Officer Robbie Galaway. There was no known contact with the skunk, but it is unknown how long the skunk was located in the Meadowlakes Drive area from which the animal was captured.

"Should a resident find a wild animal acting out of the ordinary do not approach it," said Mayor Mary Ann Raesener. "Please call the Meadowlakes Animal Control, 877-816-8136.

"We encourage our residents to please be conscious when out doors and remember to always vaccinate your pets."

The city also provided the number of Texas Department of State Health Services Zoonosis Control Program 254- 778-6744.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Lawrence McQuay was at home in the 1900 block of Burnet County Road 124 when he heard a terrific crash outside a little after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11.

He opened his front door to see a red Dodge club cab pickup smashed through the roof of his equipment shed.

“It like to scared my little dogs to death,” said McQuay, crossing the county road to view the damage. “The riding mower in there was brand new.”

The lone occupant of the pickup had no apparent serious injury, but was examined by Marble Falls Area Emergency Medical Service personnel, as the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department worked to prevent leaking fuel from igniting.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A Cottonwood Shores family is thankful they safely made it out of their home early Monday morning when it caught fire.

The home at 628 Fir Lane appears it will be a total loss, but things could have been much worse.

Julia Ruiz said her family was just waking up when “my daughter was telling me there was smoke in the house.”

“I ran into the hallway and realized I saw smoke coming out of the whole hallway, so I told the kids to get out,” she said. “That was the first thing, let's get them out. I went into the laundry room because I could see where the smoke was coming from and I moved the curtain back a little bit and saw nothing but smoke, so I ran out of there too.”

Ruiz and her family were able to all get out of the home without suffering any injury.

Kameron Wright and Maddie Maples took the honors as Homecoming King and Queen for Marble Falls High School.

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH

A Burnet County woman is in custody after law enforcement authorities said she shot her husband in the head with a shotgun.

Lauren Duncan, 40, was arrested on charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after Burnet County Sheriff's authorities said she shot her husband in the head with a shotgun, injuring his face and head. Authorities said there may be more to the story.

On Sunday, Oct. 16 at 7:08 p.m., officers received a report of an active shooter in the community of Silver Creek. Burnet County officers and County Constable Pct. 1 responded to the 1900 block of County Road 128, where they had been told that a female subject was pointing a gun at her husband.

Horseshoe Bay City Council members will discuss the city's 2016 draft comprehensive report, hold a public hearing on it and consider adopting the report during the next council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at 1 Community Drive, Horseshoe Bay.

The plan is the work of the Long Range Planning Advisory Committee, which was appointed by the council in 2015 to develop the plan in order to identify goals the city can work to achieve in order to meet its mission “to serve and protect our citizens while preserving our heritage and Planning Advisory for our future.”

The committee conducting nearly 100 interviews with local individuals to identify the challenges and opportunities facing Horseshoe Bay that needed to be addressed in the long-range plan. A community survey was also conducted with nearly 1,400 responses providing insight into what the community identified as priorities.