News

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

No matter where you are from, the Marble Falls Parks & Recreation Department wants your ideas for their facilities and programs.

An online survey is being conducted to collect the information that will make its way into the process going on to update the city's Park, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan. The document will help Marble Falls set priorities for parks, recreation facilities, trails and open spaces for the next 10 years.

As an incentive for the effort, those who complete the survey by Aug. 31 will be able to enter a drawing for a chance to win two VIP tickets to FiestaJAM 2016 to be held Sept. 23-24 at Lakeside Park and Pavilion or a 16GB Verizon iPhone 5s.

“Anyone who works or shops here or who just enjoys coming to Marble Falls is invited to take the survey,” said Monique Breaux, administrative assistant for Parks & Recreation. “The city takes everyone's views seriously.”

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Granite Shoals City Council on Tuesday night, Aug. 9, heard a review of a staff proposed budget and agreed to publish a tax rate they would not exceed: $0.5572 per $100 valuation.

That rate represents a sliver of an increase over the 2015 rate of $0.5207, just about three and a half cents per $100 valuation. But it falls below the rollback rate but above the effective rate, bringing in this year's ad valorem tax revenue to $2.4 million.

The hard decisions on a staff proposed budget of $6.76 million will be on the table at a budget workshop Monday, Aug. 15.

Development slowed in Granite Shoals last year over the previous six percent hike in property valuation. The 2.9 percent increase in valuation would add only $56,000 to revenue if the full 55.72 cents per $100 were instituted.

By Lew K. Cohn

and Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Water will be spraying hard and fast when drag boats zip across Lake Marble Falls this weekend during the 25th annual LakeFest, but it will be hard for pilots not to be reminded the tragic accident that claimed the life of veteran racer Mike Fry last year.

A tribute was held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, to remember Fry and honor his fellow drivers. The festival kicks off in earnest today, Friday, Aug. 12, with qualifying rounds starting at 9 a.m. and continuing into the afternoon.

Competitors and fans alike especially will miss that one entry not in this year's field. Fry, pilot of the Meanstreak II, a Top Alcohol Hydro (TAH) boat, died around 10:30 a.m on Aug. 9, 2015, after his boat disintegrated at the end of a run.

The producers of Hill Country Fare are recalling 60,350 pound of ground beef because it may contain metal, officials said in a release Wednesday.

Sam Kane Beef Processors, LLC, a Corpus Christi, Texas establishment, is recalling approximately 60,350 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with foreign materials, specifically metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Wednesday, Aug. 10 in a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service release. The ground beef packages were produced on July 26, 2016.

The following products are subject to recall:

• 10-lb. (4.54 kg) chubs containing “Hill Country Fare Ground Beef” 73 percent Lean/27 percent Fat with a 'Packed On' date of July 26, a “Use-By” date of Aug. 15, and bearing case code number 00090180.

Ownership of the AAA Four Diamond Horseshoe Bay Resort, the Jaffe Group, has entered into a management agreement with Crescent Hotels & Resorts that will lead to a multi-million dollar expansion.
Crescent, based in Fairfax, Virginia, is a nationally recognized operator of hotels and resorts with properties throughout Unites States and Canada. The announcement of the Aug. 3 agreement concludes a two-year exhaustive search by ownership of the resort for an operator who showed the talent and experience required to run Horseshoe Bay Resort.
“We are thrilled to have Crescent Hotels & Resorts at Horseshoe Bay Resort,” said M.D. Jaffe, Jr., chairman of Horseshoe Bay Resort. “We believe that Crescent is the correct choice for Horseshoe Bay Resort and we look forward to what they will do here with their vast knowledge and expertise in the hotel and resort industry.”

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH/HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS

A Llano County Dispatcher has been charged by authorities in suspicion of helping her wanted son evade justice.

Kathy Osbourn, 62, of Llano, turned herself in on Saturday, Aug. 6 on a warrant for hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon – in itself a third-degree felony charge.

According to a Llano County Sheriff's Office press release, the warrant was issued after an investigation into the attempted apprehension of Osbourn's son, Kaleb Osbourn, 32.

The affidavit said the attempted apprehension took place three days earlier on Wednesday, Aug. 3.

“Kaleb is wanted for a blue warrant from pardon and parole,” the release stated. “The search for Osbourn began after Llano County Dispatch received a call that Kaleb was at the Osbourn ranch on north TX 16.”

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

BY PHIL REYNOLDS

THE HIGHLANDER

Llano County commissioners are struggling to put together a budget while faced with rising costs and hearing that some county employees are leaving for higher-paying jobs in neighboring counties.

Commissioners held the second of two budget workshops on Tuesday, Aug. 2. They’re looking at a draft budget of $14,466,433, an increase of $370,323, or about 2.6 percent, over this year’s budget.

But they also heard Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn say that in the past few weeks he’s lost several deputies to higher-paying jobs, including both investigators who handle child sexual abuse cases.

“In one case, they’re being offered $14,000 a year more than we’re paying,” Blackburn said. “I can’t blame them for moving.”

Blackburn told commissioners several county offices hinge on how well the sheriff’s office does its job.

BY GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH

THE HIGHLANDER

The City of Marble Falls is working with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on changes that could make highway traffic through the city safer and smoother.

They involve traffic lights and another new speed limit change.

A TxDOT contractor MIDASCO began Wednesday installing cameras and street and mast arm signs on signal poles at Ranch to Market Road 1431 and Avenues Q and U.

The installation has involved some lane closures with Marble Falls Police patrol officers directing traffic, but the benefits should outweigh the inconvenience.

“These cameras are not to record traffic violations,” said City Manager Mike Hodge. “These are VIVDS (video image vehicle detection system) cameras.

“They have a wide view of the roads they monitor so they can tell a traffic signal control to change the light.”

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH

HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS

The U.S. Marshals are hunting a Marble Falls man previously convicted on drug trafficking charges.

Thomas Richard Sims, 35, is wanted for violating the terms of his release following several years in prison on distribution and possession charges. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Saturday, July 26.

Supervisory Deputy Hector Gomez of the U.S. Marshals Western District of Texas said Sims went missing just before he was scheduled to check in to a substance abuse treatment program. His probation officer purchased him a ticket to the program on July 8, but Sims never showed up.

Sims is expected to be hiding in Burnet County or the greater Austin area.

“His network isn’t there anymore, but we figure he’ll be in Marble Falls or the Burnet County area, or here in Austin,” Gomez said. “We figure if we get his name and photo out, it will shake the trees up a little bit.”