News

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Volunteers are a big focus in cities this summer.

In Cottonwood Shores and Granite Shoals nominations are sought for outstanding citizens and cities are about to appoint new members to committees, boards, commissions and advisory groups.

Wednesday, July 19, is the deadline for nominations for the Outstanding Citizen of the Year in Cottonwood Shores to be presented at the Aug. 3 meeting of the city council. Carlos Naumann was honored last year for continued efforts to keep the city beautiful.

Nominations for 2017, with an explanation of why the citizen is being nominated, are to be submitted to City Administrator Sheila Moore at city hall, 3808 Cottonwood Drive, or by email, city.admin@cottonwoodshores.org. For more information, call Moore at 830-693-3830.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Three workmen were injured Friday morning, July 14, when a scaffold collapsed at 1400 Ranch to Market Road 1431 in a commercial space adjacent to the new Bealls store.

The more seriously injured man was taken to Saint Davids South Austin Hospital and two more were transported to Seton Highland Lakes. As of late Friday, no information was available about the condition of any of the men.

"The call came in at 9:39 a.m. and Marble Falls Fire Rescue and Marble Falls Area Emergency Medical Service responded," said Marble Falls Fire Chief Russell Sander. "The men were working on the facade of the building. We don't know what caused the collapsed."

"Because it is a workplace accident, we will not handle the investigation," he said. "There are several possibilities for that, including OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)."

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

A presentation by the Granite Shoals Faith Alliance and discussion of a new social media initiative aimed at drawing neighborhoods together captured the interest of the Granite Shoals City Council Tuesday, July 11.

“We at the Alliance have been working for the past two years to bring our city together,” said Ray Keesler of Abundant Heart Ministries. “This is a way to bring neighbors together block by block.

“We were delighted when Alan Williams of Chick-fil-A came along and offered a simple, fun way with the Know Your Neighbor program.”

Alliance members Jackie English of Christ Redeemer Church and Mike Mitchell of Granite Fellowship Church were also at the meeting where they made it clear they were supporting the new program, not an a church program, but as willing workers to bring the program together.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
For the fourth time this year, 911, landline and cell phone service in Burnet County was disrupted, causing emergency first responders to put workarounds into place to be able to serve county residents.
Burnet County Sheriff's Capt. Ricky Bindseil said a private contractor working for AT&T cut a fiber optic cable Tuesday while boring holes for utility poles, which disconnected the county's 911 service capabilities and shut down the department's landline phones.
“This is the third time a cable has been cut this year,” Bindseil said. “During those instances, our 911 service, which is maintained by CAPCOG (Capital Area Council of Governments) in Austin, is automatically rerouted to either the Williamson County Sheriff's Office or the Marble Falls Police Department and then are relayed to us by radio.

All is well at Camp Champions in Highland Haven, following a fire in counselor housing on the campus.

About 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11, staff housed in an area apart from campers put in a call to Granite Shoals Fire Rescue, housed in a station just two miles from the camp. Within a half hour the fire was contained by units from Granite Shoals, Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) and Hoover Valley VFD.

One staff member required two stitches for a cut finger but, otherwise, there were no injuries, according to Susie Baskin, camp co-owner.

"Personal items were lost, but things can be replaced," said Baskin. "We were extremely blessed."

"The fire was apart from campers," said Baskin. "We notified parents immediately, but the campers heading home from this session still don't know it happened," said Baskin. "Later in the day Tuesday, everyone was back and work."

By Richard Zowie

The Highlander

Perhaps it’s not so unusual at Fort Croghan to see people dressed in mid-19^th century attire, even in the sweltering Texas summer heat.

It might be unusual, though, to see people in such anachronistic attire while standing next to modern-day cameras, boom mikes, lights and other filmmaking equipment.

Led by actor and filmmaker Chase Parker, a crew of actors, actresses and those who work behind the camera spent the second week in July in Burnet to film scenes for an upcoming western film, “American Fishtrap.”

Parker said the film takes place the day after the Civil War ends, when two brothers-in-law return home to learn that their wife and sister-in-law has been kidnapped.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

As construction on the new H-E-B store moves forward, Marble Falls regulars at the store's gas pumps are about to choose a new favorite fuel stop.

“Our pumps will close around Aug. 1,” said Rudy Gill, new manager at the local store. “They probably will be closed about a year.

“First, they will be working on getting old tanks removed and will not be able to replace them until the new parking lot is finished.”

H-E-B Fuel employees will not be out of a job, however.

“We have places for them,” Gill reassured.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have released the names of a driver and his passenger killed in a fatal accident near Round Mountain Monday, July 3.

Richard Purpura, 69, of Blanco, and his mother, Anne Purpura, 99, also of Blanco, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred after DPS troopers had attempted to stop Purpura's grey Honda as it sped northbound on US 281 in Blanco County, not far from the Burnet County line, at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

“According to the preliminary investigation, the Honda entered the trooper’s lane of traffic, as the DPS patrol unit was traveling in the opposite direction on the same roadway,” according to a statement released by DPS Staff Sgt. Robbie Barrera. “The Trooper’s emergency vehicle equipment was activated and the driver of the car refused to stop, continuing to travel northbound.”

Llano County commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to impose a burn ban county-wide. The vote was unanimous.

The ban is effective immediately, County Judge Mary Cunningham said.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Linda Raschke said with weather conditions as they are, headed into a Central Texas summer, it’s likely the ban will remain in effect until autumn.

The Burnet County Commissioners Court instituted a ban on outdoor burning June 27.

Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Cottonwood Shores has a new police chief. Johnny Liendo of Georgetown was sworn in at city hall Monday.

Gregory Palmer, who joined the city as chief in mid-April, is staying on as police lieutenant, but resigned as chief before the July 6 council meeting. With Liendo's addition, the city is back up to a force of four full-time officers.

Little was said at the meeting, but after an executive session in which Palmer's resignation as chief was discussed, the council voted to renew their search for a top cop.

Former chief Chris Bieze and Lt. John-Michael Talamantez left the city for the Burnet County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) and Ofcr. Sarah Peterson departed as well, leaving Palmer to rely on reserve officers such as Liendo as he rebuilt the force.

Officers Jason Bartholomew and Christen Moller now serve with reserve officer Javier Castro.