Spicewood Texas news

As of Monday, Dec. 18, the new Burnet County Emergency Service District (ESD) No. 9 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) station in Spicewood is operational — bringing a community effort to reality.

The station is located on Spur 191, adjacent to the Spicewood Elementary School, and will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by Marble Falls Area Emergency Medical Service (EMS).

Once the station is online, average paramedic response time for the Burnet County-Spicewood region will be reduced from 22 minutes to less than 10 minutes; a difference that could mean life or death for patients in need of assistance.

Highland Lakes natives and tourists with long memories remember the Burnham Brothers sporting goods store, once found on Avenue H across from the Blue Bonnet Cafe, if only for its window full of rattlesnakes. It was owned by Winston and Murry Burnham, who parlayed the hunting and game calling expertise handed down by their father, J. Morton Burnham, into a successful business of national repute.

In 1961 Roy Rogers invited them to Los Angeles to teach him to hunt and call predators. Their quick success with him led to hunts all over the world. Many thousands of hunters have relied on the game and predator calls they developed.

SPICEWOOD ─ The Spicewood Community Library has announced completion of testing an all-new, high-speed broadband Internet capability and is now making it available for all patrons.

In addition, new patron computers and monitors have been purchased, with everything available free for use to the community.

Free library Internet use is an important, essential asset for community residents who do not have their own Internet access and for those who have unreliable Internet service. Internet access is now one of the most used library services in the country.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

The father of a man missing since September 2015 told The Highlander his only wish is to find out what has happened to his son.

“We just want our son home,” said John Johnson Sr. “We just want our son home. It's hard (to go through this), but we want him home. Whatever we have to do to do that, we are willing to walk through that.

“We don't know where else to turn now except the media. Maybe someone will know something. Someone is bound to know something. It is just a matter of coming into contact with them.”

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Two important transportation meetings went on in Burnet County this week.

A sit-down of Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Burnet County Commissioners Court was held in an open workshop Tuesday, March 28, at the Burnet courthouse and a Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) open house on long-range plans was held Wednesday, March 29.

Commissioners went line by line through 54 projects, only 24 of which are on the 2017 priority list for TxDOT, but all important to one or morel precincts. CAMPO representatives came to convey feedback on possible amendments to the CAMPO 2040 and 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

Commissioners workshop

The Spicewood Community Center will host its annual wild game chili dinner at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4.

Tickets for adults are $10, and for children are $5. Come taste the various chilis and decide which one is best. The price includes chili, drink, fixings, and dessert. All proceeds benefit the Spicewood Community Center.

The center is located on County Road 404, just left off of Spur 191 in Spicewood.

By Martha Norwood

HLN Coorespondent

Board members of SOS (Save Our Spicewood) want all citizens in Spicewood to know that this organization is for everyone in the Spicewood area.

“We want a better quality of life for all of us,” said SOS Vice President Orion Weldon. Weldon pointed out that SOS has a substantial website presence that he hopes everyone will use. According to Weldon, his group has spent many hours making the site accessible to all citizens of Spicewood. To review or comment on the information on the site, visit www.saveourspicewood.com. SOS is now listed as a charitable corporation and donations are tax deductible.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

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

A funeral service will be held for the mother and son at Celements-Wilcox Funeral Home in Marble Falls Friday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m., followed by a rosary service at 6 p.m. On Thursday, however, friends and family gathered at the site of the crash to memorialize them. Balloons were released into the skies over the rolling hills where they died.

Unable to attend was Justino Rodriguez, age 50 and also of Marble Falls, who was a passenger with the Vegas.

He was airlifted from the scene Monday and remains in University Medical Center Brackenridge, as does Bala Chandra Sekhar Gutti, 29, of Richardson, driver of the 2015 Subaru that first collided with the Vegas' 2015 Ford Focus.

Although the Texas Department of Public Safety has not released the names of the two victims who died or the surviving drivers of two cars in the morning crash on Texas 71 near Spicewood, word of the identities of the deceased came late this afternoon, Monday, Nov. 28.

They were identified in a letter from the Lake Travis High School (LTHS) Principal Gordon Butler as high school senior Santiago Vega and his mother, Cynthia Vega.

The letter read:

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.