News

The head skeleton and several other large bones from a fossilized bison found on Rocky Creek in Burnet County will be on exhibit at The Falls on the Colorado Museum beginning with a program about it Saturday, June 17.

Ryan Murray discovered the skeleton in 2013 while on a fishing trip along the creek.

According to museum chairwoman Darlene Oostermeyer, research indicates that 700 years ago a mature female bison, most likely weighing from 1,300 -1,800 pounds, ventured down a creek bed in what now is northern Burnet County. There the animal died, apparently from natural causes or because she became bogged in the mud.

The bison was part of a herd that moved down a migration corridor stretching through the Great Plains and into the Edwards Plateau some time between 1308 and 1424 A.D.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Hobbling from an injured ankle and on crutches, Congressman Roger Williams, R-Austin, praised Capitol Hill and Alexandria, Virginia, police who took out a lone gunman who fired off more than 60 rounds at Republican members of Congress practicing for tomorrow night's annual Congressional Baseball Game.

Speaking to reporters at Capitol Hill at press conference carried live on his Twitter feed, Williams said the quick actions of police saved not only his life and the life of one of his staffers, legislative correspondent Zachary Barth, who was injured in the shooting, but also the lives of all others present, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was critically injured but expected to recover.

Editor's Note: There was incorrect information published about the Hill Country 100 Club in 'Commissioners honor responders' story, published in the Tuesday, June 13 edition of The Highlander. Membership is not limited to 100 people and yearly memberships have several levels of sponsorship available for businesses and individuals. The scholarship information was also incorrect. The corrected story follows.

By Phil Reynolds

UPDATED to include President's confirmation shooter has died.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Despite published reports, Congressman Roger Williams, R-Austin, was not one of the victims of a shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, Wednesday morning, but one of his staff members, Zachary Barth, was injured in the gunfire.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

A Granite Shoals man was arrested Monday, June 12, on 16 counts of Sexual Assault of a Child, all alleged to have been committed against a single victim.

Offenses cited in the arrest of Jackie Lee Lett, 47, are alleged to have taken place from January through May this year.

Earlier this week, officers from the Granite Shoals Police Department (GSPD) received notice from the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) regarding the allegations of sexual assault that occurred at a residence in the city, according to a statement released by GSPD Chief Gary Boshears.

“With the assistance of DFPS and the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center, investigators gained sufficient evidence to seek arrest warrants against the suspect,” said Boshears. “Upon review of the evidence, City of Granite Shoals Municipal Court Judge Frank Reilly issued arrest warrants.”

Occupants of a boat that caught fire on Lake LBJ Friday afternoon, June 9, escaped without injury but their craft was a total loss.

The first call about the fire came in to the Horseshoe Bay Police Department about 3 p.m. Friday and most of the fire departments in the area responded with mutual aid to the fire that was within the call area of the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department.

“The occupants of the boat we're not able to extinguish the fast moving fire on board,” said a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) spokesperson. “They had to put on lifejackets and jump out of the boat to safety.”

“The occupants of the boat were transported by a bystander to the Lake LBJ Marina where Cottonwood VFD and Marble Falls Area EMS evaluated them for injuries,” said Fire Chief Joe Morris of Horseshoe Bay Fire Rescue.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A man accused of participating in the slaying of a former Miss Aqua Boom was scheduled to be sentenced last week for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in a capital felony.

By Amy Prayer

Highland Lakes News

Although she is still listed in critical condition, there has been good news regarding the condition of a

Fredericksburg youth pastor's wife critically injured in a Friday, June 9, accident in Burnet County on US 281.

Jenny Barton Loza, the wife of First Baptist Church of Fredericksburg youth pastor Austin Loza, was removed from a monitor and swelling has started to go down in her skull following surgery she underwent Monday, June 12, at St. David's Round Rock Medical Center, according to an update online.

The City of Marble Falls has announced two road closures, a four-day closure that began today, Monday, June 12, and another for tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13.

Broadway Street reconstruction will have the intersection at Avenue E closed through Thursday, June 15.

Tomorrow, drivers can expect traffic delays on Northwood Drive due to lane closures, as contractors begin the new HEB water line construction.

Citizens have been meeting with the city about a variety of traffic hazards on the north-south drive that passes through a residential neighborhood and past Marble Falls Middle School. Drivers of vehicles, including heavy trucks, have begun using it more heavily to bypass the Ranch to Market Road 1431-US 281 intersection.

A 19-year-old Kerr County woman has been arrested in San Antonio on charges of Abandoning or Endangering a Child in an episode that led to the death of two toddlers called “horrific” by Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer.

Two counts on the charge were filed on Thursday, June 8, after a joint investigation conducted by the Kerrville Police Department, Texas Rangers, Child Protective Services and the Kerr County Sheriff's Office (KCSO). Amanda Kristine Hawkins, born Dec. 19, 1997, was arrested In San Antonio, and is in the Bexar County Jail awaiting transfer to Kerr County, the KCSO said in a press release Friday afternoon.