Burnet County news

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

After holding a pair of public hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, Burnet County moved closer to requiring developers to prove enough groundwater is available onsite before they are granted approval to build new subdivisions.

Hill Country residents are joining together in Marble Falls today to raise money to fight cancer as the annual Relay for Life fundraiser that kicks off at 2 p.m. today, Saturday, Sept. 16, at Johnson Park, 230 Ave. J.

Relay for Life will continue until midnight. It is a team fundraising event where team members take turns walking around a track or designated path. At least one participant keeps on the track at all times to fulfill pledges for funds for the American Cancer Society made in the months leading up to the event.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

As Hurricane Harvey made landfall between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor Friday, Aug. 25, it was almost 12 years to the day that a whole congregation began its exodus from New Orleans, La. to find a home at last in Burnet County.

“We know what they are facing and we dedicated a portion of the service yesterday to prayer for them,” Claudette Monnet, who shares pastoral duties with her husband Willie L. Monnet, Sr., at Smoking for Jesus Ministry. “We will continue to pray for them.

“We have been checking on people we know and waiting to hear if anyone needs us.”

That is the measure county emergency personnel have been taking.

The National Weather Service (NWS) says more showers, less flooding for our area, but it did come down from late Sunday night to Monday morning, Aug. 6-7.

The storm cluster over north Texas moved south and produced widely varying rain totals, heaviest in portions of Llano and Burnet Counties, where as much as 5-8 inches fell. Some flash flooding was observed in this area but recent dry conditions have helped limit the overall flooding and flash flooding threat, according to the NWS. “LCRA opened one floodgate at Wirtz Dam and one floodgate at Starcke Dam to move floodwaters downstream early Monday morning. Both gates were closed by 11 a.m.”

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A Burnet woman has been indicted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide for a 2015 accident which killed her two-year-old son.

Alyssa Burnam, 26, also faces two counts of abandonment or endangerment of a child criminal negligence in connection with the July 26, 2015, single-vehicle rollover on County Road 116 in Hoover Valley.

The accident killed John Xavier (Jax) Meyers, 2, when he was ejected from the Ford F150 extended cab pickup truck Burnam had been driving. He was transported to an area hospital after the crash, but was pronounced dead there an hour after the accident.

Also injured in the accident was Burnam's brother Maddox Heartline, now 12, who had been sitting in the front seat of the truck with Burnam. Heartline was transported to Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in serious condition.

A San Saba woman is in the Burnet County Jail in lieu of $300,000 bond after she failed to appear in court for charges regarding injury and abandonment of her three children in Llano County and fled to Nevada. It was her second bond jump.

Mary Elizabeth Sewell, 23, originally was arrested in October 2015 and charged with abandoning and endangering a child through criminal negligence. She was released on bond, apparently fled the state.

“She took off and we had to send two deputies, a male and a female, to go pick her up from Reno, Nevada,” Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn said. “She bonded out when she was returned and when it appeared she was going to test hot for drugs, she went on the fly again. After we got warrants out on her, she came back and turned herself in at Lampasas.”

By Dorothy Crockett

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Burnet Police Officer Matthew “Matt” Imrie underwent a lengthy a delicate surgery Wednesday, Jan. 11, in the aftermath of a traffic accident north of Marble Falls late Tuesday afternoon.

Department of Public Safety troopers assigned to investigation of the accident have been unavailable with details, but reports from the scene described the accident as a two-car, head-on collision at the intersection of US 281 and Farm to Market Road 1855 (Fairland Road).

The Burnet County Sheriff's Department dispatcher received the first call on the collision at 5:30 p.m. Almost immediately, social media was busy with prayers and condolences for Imrie and his 10-year-old daughter, Carleigh, a passenger in his SUV, who was not seriously injured.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Salvation Army is alive and well in Burnet County, evidenced Wednesday, Jan. 11, by the delivery of $26,000 collected by bell ringers in Marble Falls and Burnet.

The idea of ringing bells before kettles to collect money for the disadvantaged at Christmastime began in 1891 in England. Today, you may pass by volunteers at Walmart in Marble Falls and Beall's in Burnet without realizing what represent, but Brooks Blake knows.

“Everyone is so good, so generous, teaching their kids to give,” said Blake. “So many people stop and say how they have been helped. It is heartwarming.”

For some time now, volunteers come from the county's three Rotary Clubs—those that meet at noon in Marble Falls and Burnet and Daybreak Rotary in Marble Falls.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Vandals broke into the former Burnet Elementary cafeteria and another building this weekend, causing a great deal of damage to property being refurbished by the county for use by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Burnet County Judge James Oakley said workers arriving early Monday, Jan. 9, to the building discovered the damage, which included paint intentionally splattered on the floor, on signs, on walls, on windows, on the stage and on aluminum siding.

In addition, it appears the vandals also may have struck another building on the campus that is being used for storage by the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District. A broken window was discovered Saturday and reported to police, who had no reason to believe any other buildings were involved until damage was found Monday morning.