Burnet County news

A Round Mountain man remains in the Burnet County Jail, charged with intoxication manslaughter for the vehicular death of a Round Rock woman last year in Llano County. Pedro Ortiz Hurtado, 66, of Round Mountain was transferred into the Burnet County Jail Jan. 5, based on charges of intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle that followed his arrest by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers. Hurtado was the driver of a truck in an accident Nov. 1 on Texas 71 that claimed the life of Edwina Dillon Turner, a 56-year-old Round Rock woman. The accident occurred about three miles west of Horseshoe Bay at 8:23 p.m. when, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records, Hurtado's eastbound 2005 Ford F250 crossed the center line and swerved back, striking Turner's eastbound 2014 Volkswagen PTE head on. George Anderson, 51, of Round Mountain, a passenger in Hurtado's truck, was injured in the accident.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Marble Falls driver license office will be moving, expanding and consolidating with the Burnet office sometime early in the new year.

“The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is consolidating the Marble Falls and Burnet Driver License (DL) offices into a single office,” said Tom Vinger, of the DPS media and communication office.

He said things would remain as they are for now, but eventually an office will be readied. A new, centralized driver license office for Burnet County will mean that the current office at 1701 East Polk Street in Burnet eventually will be closing and the office in the Burnet County Courthouse Annex at 810 Steve Hawkins Parkway will move.

“We need the space in north and south courthouse annexes for core county functions, as the county grows,” said County Judge James Oakley. “We will continue to provide space to house DPS Troopers in the law enforcement center.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

An emergency medical service (EMS) substation for Spicewood cleared another hurdle Tuesday, Dec. 20, when the Burnet County Commissioners Court approved a plat for the project.

The substation is proposed by the Burnet County Emergency Services District No. 9, created by voters in 2013 to channel ad valorem taxes into support of fire, rescue, first responder, emergency medical services, rural fire prevention and control services and other emergency services.

Byron Zinn, president of the ESD 9 Board of Commissioners, reported that 80 percent of all calls received by the Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD)-EMS are medical in nature, when he made a presentation to the Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees in November.

Securing land from the MFISD was a big hurdle in the project that is expected to cost about $250,000 in construction.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

It became official last week: Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge has expanded by 520 acres.

The exchange of $3 million to deliver the new property into the administration of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was made by the Trust for Public Land. Just out of the limelight was Friends of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, a citizen non-profit of about 160 members, representing hundreds, if not thousands, of small contributors and workers to raise half the cost.

David and Cynthia Castleberry already were committed to preserving the land involved as Peaceful Springs Nature Preserve, a quiet corner of Burnet County dedicated to ecotourism. Residents of Bertram, Oatmeal and Smithwick are familiar with the property that runs along Farm to Market Road 1174, just south of Farm to Market Road 1869.

After 25 years of unbroken and dedicated public safety service to the citizens of the City of Burnet and Burnet County, Assistant Fire Chief Jim Luther Jr. is leaving Burnet Fire Department to take on his new role as Precinct 1 Commissioner for Burnet County.

Luther joined the Burnet Volunteer Fire Department in 1991 and served as a firefighter, captain and treasurer of that organization over the following seven years. In 1998 he attended the Austin Community College Fire Training Academy in Taylor to improve his knowledge and skills in firefighting. At 36, he was the second oldest in his class, only to fellow Burnet Firefighter Roy Hallmark who was 54.

Both Luther and Hallmark were hired by the City of Burnet in 1999 as the second and third paid firefighters for the city, filling the day time shifts working 40 hour weeks. They moved to 24--hour shifts in 2003 and Jim served as Interim Fire Chief for one year between 2005 and 2006.

The Pedernales Electric Cooperative Board of Directors voted 6-0 Wednesday, Nov. 30, to give written notice to director James Oakley that the board will consider his possible removal on Jan. 17 if a complaint filed against Oakley is found to merit such discipline.

In a resolution approved at a special called meeting, the board voted to establish a committee to investigate the complaint against Oakley and determine what punishment, if any, he may face for a social media post made earlier in the month in which Oakley commented it was “time for a tree and a rope” for the suspected killer of a San Antonio police officer.

Board President Emily Pataki indicated the committee, which will be comprised of directors Kathy Scanlon, Paul Graf and herself, can consider all avenues open to them through the cooperative's bylaws, including removing Oakley from the position he has held since 2013.

Facebook is a wonderful tool for people to use, but like any tool, it should be used with great care.

The social media site is useful for helping people keep in contact with friends scattered across the globe whom they haven’t spoken to for years. It allows family to reconnect and allows the sharing of photos, ideas and news with others within one’s peer group.

However, it also instantly shows, without context, intent or clarity, the thoughts and ideas a person clacks out on their smartphone or computer keyboard and exposes those posts to instant scrutiny.

Such is the case involving Burnet County Judge James Oakley, who learned a very hard lesson this past week about the lack of anonymity Facebook affords.

On Monday, Nov. 21, Oakley shared a post from the San Antonio Police Department about the arrest of an African-American man, Otis Tyrone McKane, accused of killing San Antonio police Det. Benjamin Marconi on his personal Facebook account.

Note: This story has been updated twice since first posting, each time with additional information from the Texas Department of Public Safety and University Medical Center Brackenridge.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The two victims who died in the crash on Texas 71 east of Spicewood Monday, Nov. 28, have been identified officially as Cynthia Ann Vega, age 46, and her son, Santiago Vega, age 17, both from Marble Falls.

Justino Rodriguez, age 50, a passenger with the Vegas in a 2015 Ford Focus and also from Marble Falls, along with the driver of the 2015 Subaru which struck them, Bala Chandra Sekhar Gutti, 29, of Richardson, were air lifted to University Medical Center Brackenridge. Both were reported in "Good" condition Tuesday afternoon.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The idea of a bridge across the Colorado River below Wirtz Dam met serious questions Wednesday, Oct. 26, at an open house hosted by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) in Horseshoe Bay.

More than 50 area residents came to hear a presentation by Burnet County Judge James Oakley, who sits on the CAMPO board, and to share their own opinions on the proposed project.

Cottonwood Shores City Council Member Roger Wayson had one of the longest list of doubts to express.

County Road 426 would connect Wirtz Dam Road with Ranch to Market Road 2147 if the bridge were constructed.

“It would come right past our nature preserve,” said Wayson. “It would be destructive to our eco-system...Traffic would go from 50 a day to thousands a day.”

“It would divert traffic from the commercial area we are trying to develop,” he also claimed.

By Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

Residents and commuters now have opportunity to weigh in on the proposed Wirtz Dam, a transportation project that has been in the making since 1974.

The community outreach program for the dam project, which began in September, is the culmination of years of anticipation for Burnet County officials.

“This was on the 1974 Burnet County Transportation Plan,” said Joe Don Dockery, Burnet County Precinct 1 commissioner.

The next step wasn't completed until 2005, when a feasibility study was completed indicating that a bridge at Wirtz Dam would be beneficial to the community.

Following a meeting conducted by CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) on Sept. 9, the campaign for public opinion regarding the Wirtz Dam Bridge is officially underway.