News

By Glynis Crawford Smith

Marble Falls citizens will have the opportunity to learn along with their city council members Tuesday night, Feb. 16, when two topics of current interest appear on the agenda for discussion, rather than action--feeding wildlife and flying drones inside the city. 

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Marble Falls City Hall, 800 Third Street. Full agendas are always available on the city website: www.ci.marble-falls.tx.us.

See the story in the Friday, Feb. 19, edition of The Highlander.

Granite Shoals Christmas Outreach served their thank you soup supper Thursday night, Feb. 11.

See more photos in the Tuesday, Feb. 16, edition of The Highlander.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

More than a dozen residents appeared in defense of the Granite Shoals Airport at a city council workshop Tuesday, Jan. 9.

The council also strategized for federal grant funding to go beyond Phillips Ranch Road remedies to a restoration of Prairie Creek Road.

See the story Friday, Feb. 12, in The Highlander.

By Christi Bertelson

Burnet County residents will be offered the convenience of early, in-person voting for their favorite candidates starting this coming Tuesday, Feb. 16, and running through Friday, Feb. 26, ahead of the March 1 primary election. In addition to national races, to be decided on this ballot are a number of locally-contested races, including that to seat a new sheriff, county commissioners, constables and justices of the peace.

Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander

An ambitious plan for streets, an old debate over the airport and a pilot program to thin urban deer all were tackled by the Granite Shoals City Council Tuesday, Feb. 9.

See the story in the Friday, Feb. 12, edition of The Highlander.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Marble Falls Fire Rescue will have a new fire chief starting March 8 after Russell Sander was hired from the Missouri City, Texas, department where he served as chief since 2006.

Current Fire Chief Johnny Caraway will “step back into the fire marshal’s position,” he said on Wednesday.

Sander joined the Missouri City Fire and Rescue Services in 2003 as assistant chief before becoming fire chief there, according to the biography on the Missouri City website.

by Alexandria Randolph

The well known local hang-out Tottie's sustained significant damage in a fire in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Feb. 9.

Marble Falls Fire Rescue Chief Johnny Caraway said the fire had been ruled accidental, but the exact cause was unknown.

“We got the call a little after 2 a.m.,” he said, adding that it was a neighbor that had seen the fire at the bar at 806 Main Street. “Fire was blowing out the back of the building when we got there.”

Caraway said the cause of the fire was currently under investigation.  

For the full story, see Friday's edition of The Highlander.

Candidates for sheriff and precinct 1 races will participate in a forum held by the Highland Haven Ladies Club, on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Highland Haven Community Center.

The club reminds folks that early voting is from Feb. 16-26 ahead of Primary Election Day on March 1.

The following candidates will participate:

SHERIFF

JP Wilson

Calvin Boyd

COMMISSIONER, PCT 1

Sam Cox

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Landowners spoke against Gynergy Villas, a proposed 63 townhome development in the southwestern portion of Horseshoe Bay, citing concerns of decreased property taxes and drainage and nuisance problems during a Horseshoe Bay Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission meeting held last week.

Kathy Turner, a resident who also spoke against the Gynergy Villas project at an earlier special P&Z meeting on the matter, once again brought her emotions before the commission as she informed them she has decided to sell her home.

“It’s just not the right neighborhood for a development like Gynergy Villas,” Turner said. “I’m willing to take the hit of not getting full value of my home” because of the development.