News

Special to The Highlander

Last month, construction of the ropes challenge course was completed on Phoenix Center’s future site in Horseshoe Bay.

Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

Contractors with the Texas Department of Transportation have picked up the pace in construction of the Ranch-to-market 2900 Bridge as the Lake LBJ refill was completed on Feb. 27.

The eight-week, 4 ft. drawdown assisted lakeside property owners with construction, maintenance, dredging and repairs in the wake of the October flood event.

“Our barges and cranes need the additional water to operate,” TXDOT's Austin District Engineer Terry McCoy said in a statement.

TXDOT is also partnering with the Lower Colorado River Authority to remove debris and damaged pieces of the bridge, which was swept away in the flood.

Although the lake will be re-opened to boat traffic, recreationists are asked to pay attention to an interim navigation protocol.

From staff reports

The National Weather Service, Austin/San Antonio forecast office will host a training event to help educate the public on how to decipher and report severe weather events.

Skywarn and FloodAware Seminar will be be presented by NWS and sponsored by the Burnet County Office of Emergency Management.

Topics will include instructions on submitting severe weather reports; how to identify the various weather events as they unfold; the appropriate terminology for specific weather phenomenon; and safety guidelines if caught in the midst of severe weather.

The training program is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Office, 607 N. Vanderveer in Burnet. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, go to weather.gov/ewx.

From staff reports

On Monday, Feb. 25, President Donald Trump granted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's request for a presidential disaster declaration for 33 Texas counties, including Burnet and Llano counties.

This action provides access to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation grant programs for impacted communities that are recovering and rebuilding following severe weather and flooding this past fall, especially the Oct. 16 Highland Lakes flood.

By Nathan Hendrix
Staff Writer

School districts all have circumstances that require creativity and ingenuity to effectively teach their students. In a modern world, technology can be used to assist in those endeavors, and nobody knows that better than Spicewood Elementary gifted and talented teacher Mary Groth.

By Nathan Hendrix
Staff Writer

The Marble Falls Indepedent School District school board considered increasing school meal prices for the 2019-2020 school year at the monthly school board meeting on Tuesday.

By Nathan Hendrix
Staff Writer

The Marble Falls Independent School District and Superintendent Dr. Chris Allen provided an update on the progress of the $55 million bond at the monthly school board meeting on Tuesday.

Special to The Highlander

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

Burnet County Commissioners on Tuesday, Feb. 12, approved bids for companies to remove, dispose and monitor the process of disposing of large piles of debris, trash and flood-damaged structures collected in the wake of the October 2018 Highland Lakes flood event.

The court chose Texas Disposal Systems (TDS) to remove the piles, stored in a section of Quarry Park, adjacent to Granite Shoals.

“We would like to thank the city of Granite Shoals for being the host of this debris that was collected all along the Highland Lakes,” Burnet County Judge James Oakley said.

On Oct. 16, historic flooding from the Llano River swept down the Colorado River into the Highland Lakes causing massive shoreline flooding in communities including Kingsland, Horseshoe Bay, Granite Shoals and Marble Falls.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Cathy Sereno made history Tuesday, Feb. 12, becoming the first mayor of the newly incorporated City of Double Horn in final but unofficial election results.

Sereno received 85 votes to top a field of nine candidates who ran in a special election held at the Spicewood Community Center to choose a mayor and five aldermen for the city. As the top votegetter, she is automatically elected mayor.