News

by Alexandria Randolph

A loud explosion rocked central Burnet County Wednesday night. Authorities said the blast was a safe detonation of explosives at a local rock quarry.

According to Austin Police Department officials, Marble Falls area law enforcement sought help from the Austin Police Department Bomb Squad on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to dispose of explosives found in a safe.

By 8:47 p.m. Wednesday night, the squad had safely detonated the explosives and the area was again secure.

The sound and force of the explosion was experienced by residents as far north as CR 335, and as far south as Meadowlakes.  

For the full story, see Tuesday's Highlander.

by Alexandria Randolph

Two men were arrested on the roadside in Granite Shoals when police found over 40 grams of meth during a traffic stop.

According to a Granite Shoals Police Department release, on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2:13 a.m., an officer measured a vehicle traveling at 81 miles per hour in a 60 mile-per-hour zone on RR 1431.

The driver, Quentin Naylor-Smarrito, 22, and passenger Jordan Craig, 18, were arrested and charged with manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance between four and 200 grams, a first degree felony. Craig was also charged with possession of marijuana.

For the full story, see Friday's Highlander. 

by Alexandria Randolph

A Burnet man was arrested on felony drug charges after law enforcement discovered 400 grams of illegal drugs in his vehicle.

According to a Burnet County Sheriff's Department news release, the suspect was transporting tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical found in marijuana responsible for the psychological side effects.

Steven Mitchell Coleman, 37, was arrested on possession of a controlled substance over 400 grams, a first degree felony punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison.

According to a Burnet County Sheriff's Department release, the Sheriff's Office Special Operations Unit Investigators received information that Coleman would be traveling to from Colorado to Burnet with a large quantity of marijuana.  

For more on the story, see Friday's Highlander. 

by Alexandria Randolph

The Highland Lakes area can expect a brief bout of severe weather on Monday night as a cold front moves into south central Texas from the west.

The National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio issued a hazardous weather outlook for Llano, Burnet, Williamson, Blanco, Travis and surrounding counties for Monday night and Tuesday morning, Nov. 16-17.

“A potent upper level trough and Pacific cold front will move across south central Texas tonight into Tuesday,” the statement said. “A line of showers and thunderstorms along with discrete thunderstorms out ahead of the line are expected tonight...”

The outlook said that damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes will all be possible, and locations east of Interstate 35 may receive a quick one to two inches of rainfall.

“The threat for severe weather will come to an end by noon Tuesday,” the statement read.

The wave of public outcry over proposed hotmix asphalt plan on Texas 79 in Spicewood crested Thursday night, Nov. 12, flooding Opie's Barbecue with citizens bent on organizing opposition.

Elected officials, local residents and representatives of supporting organizations made up a crowd of near 100 in the local eatery. Facts were reviewed and a campaign was begun to mount opposition before a new Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) Nov. 28 deadline for comment and beyond.

For more information, see the Tuesday, Nov. 17 issue of The Highlander.  

Announcements had been going on every hour at Baylor Scott & White in Marble Falls that an emergency drill, not an actual disaster, was taking place this afternoon, Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The Marble Falls Police Department Mobile Command Unit and other first responders, as well as staff at the new hospital, rushed to the aid of volunteer actor "victims" of a shooting incident inside the facility. It was a preparedness drill like others that have gone on in Central Texas this week.

Learn more in the The Highlander, Friday, Nov. 13.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula/The Highlander

It won’t be a good time to be a Burnet or Llano County white-tailed deer when general rifle season opens tomorrow morning, Saturday, Nov. 7. That's because the annual convergence of hunters is expected to take the field shortly before sunrise, which is at 6:52 a.m. in Burnet and two minutes later in Llano.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials are predicting that the season, which will run through Jan. 3, 2016, will be characterized by plentiful game and above-average antler sizes.

The seven constitutional amendments proposed by the 84th Texas Legislature sailed through approval by voters statewide as well as here at home on Tuesday, Nov. 3, bringing to 491 the number approved since 1876.

Local approval did not come from a large number of registered voters. Turnout was 16.25 percent in Burnet County and 17.66 percent in Llano County. Statewide figures are not made available from the Texas Secretary of State until all votes are canvassed officially.

 By Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander

The 14th Annual Show & Shine classic car show will line Marble Falls' Main Street tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 7, with arrivals beginning around 9 a.m.

Up to 100 automobiles in favorite makes and models will reflect the mint condition of every era along the historic boulevard in an event sponsored by the Marble Falls Noon Lions Club.

By Glynis Crawford Smith/The Highlander

It is easy to forget that everyday people actually may be extraordinary. In fact, students stepping onto their campus for a decade in Marble Falls could not have guessed their bus driver had been the bombardier in one of the most significant sorties of the Vietnam War.

Ret. Mj. Alan Kirby, formerly of Granite Shoals, was awarded the U.S. Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross last year, some 42 years after earning it for “heroism or extraordinary achievement in aerial flight,” through a series of coincidences.