News

It’s almost time for the 3rd Annual Marble Falls Walk-A-Dog-A-Thon, an event aimed at saving shelter dogs from destruction.
The walk will be sponsored 10 a.m.-2 p.m., March 7, by the Highland Lakes Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which operates a no-kill sanctuary and promotes pet adoption in Burnet County.
The Walk-A-Dog-A-Thon features a two-and-a-half mile walk, with friends, family and your canine companions setting out for fun. The walk route is new this year. It begins in Marble Falls’ Johnson Park, 230 South Avenue J, and follows the newly finished Backbone Valley Hike & Bike Trail to the dog park inside Westside Park across from the intersection of Avenue Q with 2nd Street. Walkers will progress to Historic Main Street, past Market Days booths and back to Johnson Park,

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
Renovations at the Girl Scout House in Johnson Park are progressing and leaders hope work will be finished in the spring. Eventually, the naming of the structure will pay tribute to major donor, J.M. Huber.
“We’re almost finished on the inside and the next step is to meet with contractors to develop plans for the outside,” said Golden Downing, Girl Scout troop leader in Marble Falls.
So far, the organization has raised both monetary and “in-kind donations,” Downing said. In-kind donations include items like windows, worth around $1,000, and granite countertops, worth around $900, she said.
“I’m so amazed at the generosity of the community,” Downing said. “People here have such generous hearts. Everyone I’ve asked has helped out, so it’s really been a community project.”
Downing said the majority of contributions have been in-kind donations, except for the “huge donation from J.M. Huber.”

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
The senses are enlivened by sights and smells when walking through the door of Foxglove Botanicals Juice Bar & Tea Garden in Cottonwood Shores. The smell of fresh, gluten-free bread baking in the oven mixes with aromas of both tea and coffee.
Jar upon jar of herbs line the kitchen walls.
Handmade jewelry dangles in several display cases, and small, colorful stencil paintings of bugs and butterflies grace the walls.
After three months of renovations on the building, Foxglove Botanicals opened for business Tuesday, March 3. It is run by two women on a mission to help folks get healthy, inside and out, using natural ingredients.

by James Walker

Authorities are attributing a disturbance took place at the Burnet County Jail on Monday afternoon to poor weather conditions and limited recreational time for inmates.
On Monday, March 2 at 3:56 p.m., Burnet County dispatch called officers to the jail facility on Houston-Clinton Drive to help jailors handle a disturbance that involved “possibly eight subjects.”
Burnet County Sheriff W.T. Smith later clarified that the fight occurred in a cell between two inmates, and neither were injured.
“It’s been tough lately because they (inmates) are boxed in there and since the weather has been poor, we can’t let them out for recreation as much,” Smith said.
For more on the story, see Friday's Highlander.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
Rabies is on the rise in Llano, with eight confirmed cases as of Feb. 19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Of those cases, seve were skunks along with one fox. The only case of rabies reported in Burnet County was a fox, according to DSHS records.
The rabies virus attacks the central nervous system, causing brain disease. It is always fatal if left untreated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Wild animal behavior and the extended regional drought are likely causes, a wildlife veterinarian said Thursday, Feb. 26.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
Saying the word “Bolshoi” to a ballet dancer is likely to make a heart flutter and a mind yearn for something magnificent but almost unattainable. Founded in 1776 and based in Moscow, Bolshoi Ballet is the oldest and most renowned classical ballet company in the world.
Three students from Harmony School of Creative Arts’ Academy of Dance in Marble Falls have been accepted into summer classes at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Connecticut, where they will learn from the best ballet dancers in the world.
The director of Harmony’s Academy of Dance said dancers’ success is attributed to countless hours of practice under the tutelage of master dance teachers Randall Marks and Jane Allen, both accomplished, classically-trained dancers. Marks specializes is Russian ballet.

The Kiwanis Club of Marble Falls has donated a U.S. and Texas flag to the Falls on the Colorado Museum for a Texas Independence Day event at the museum Monday, March 2, at 10 a.m.

Representatives from VFW Post 10376 in Marble Falls will present the colors at the ceremony. Members of the Bluebonnet Chorale will sing the National Anthem and other patriotic songs.

Members of the Kiwanis Club will present Darlene Oostermeyer, board president, with a certificate stating the flags flew over the state capitol in Austin.

During the ceremony, the history of both flags will be read.

After the event, guests will be invited to tour the Museum and to enjoy refreshments.

Several Kiwanians assembled the new flags to prepare for the presentation, gathering at the museum a week ahead of time: John McGrew, who is the Flag Router for the club; Tom Butler; past club president; Andy Sembera; and Virginia and Evan Roberts.

Marble Falls Area EMS will by hosting its annual Fish Fry at the Bluebonnet Café on Wednesday, March 4 from 4-8 p.m.

Proceeds will benefit EMS, and plates are $8 per person and $3 per child of five years or younger. The café will also accept take-out orders.

Orders may be placed by calling the restaurant at 830-693-2444.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Highland Haven residents are gearing up to make several big decisions at the ballot box May 9. Three positions on the Board of Aldermen are open, those currently held by: Lonnie Ball, Lonnie Brown and Charles Webb. Ball and Brown turned in applications for the election. Webb does not plan to file for candidacy. Another candidate filed his application Thursday, Feb. 26. James Warren built a house in the city last summer, said Highland Haven Mayor Irene Dauphin.

“No other citizens have turned in an application [as of Thursday], so I hope everyone is just waiting until Friday,” she said.

Ball, Brown and Warren will win the seats if no one else files, Dauphin explained.

The deadline to file is today, Friday, Feb 27.