Jim Luther Jr.

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.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

A record number of voters cast ballots in the March 1 Party Primary Election, a process that will be repeated for the eight candidates in four county runoff races.

“The turnout beat the 2008 primary, which was the biggest we know of,” said Doug Ferguson, Burnet County elections administrator. “The total was 11,751 of about 27,000 registered voters.”