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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
January 2, 2014
The Island where our cold fronts come in bunches
Next Publication Date: 1/9/2014
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2013 Photo of the Year
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
Year 17, Issue 507
Well happy 2014 everybody. If you are reading this you made it through the New Year and we’re headed for the dead of winter – or what passes for it on out little sandbar. The winter season has roared in like a lion this year. It got off to a quick start in November when temperatures stayed below 50 degrees for a total of four days breaking a record for the month of November going all the way back to 1929. Historically winter storms are rare hereabouts with about 30% of the winters having measurable snow or ice and about 30% of those bringing a quarter-inch of ice and/or more than one inch of snow. So store up the firewood friends it looks like we’re in it for the long haul.
Island trespassing Last time we mentioned that our city and law enforcement is getting serious about enforcing trespassing laws on the 2000-plus acres of private property on The Island in the wake of the 500 acre fire on the land just south of Sea Pines a few weeks back. The fellow that started that fire by driving past the No Trespassing signs and getting his car stuck has now been fined under the littering law for leaving the burned out carcass of his Honda Ridgerunner on private land – by the pound. We’re not sure how much the carcass of a burned out Ridgerunner weighs but it’s gonna be somewhere north of a single-use plastic bag. A meeting at the site by officials from the city and state, along with a representative of the landowner resulted in a preliminary plan to place Jersey barriers at the turnaround on the western tip of Sea Pines to prevent entry by street vehicles there. More signs and surveillance cameras are soon to go up there so if you decide to head out that way and ignore the new No Trespassing signs be ready for a fine.
ATV area Also part of the plan, which too is preliminary, is to push for an ATV area on the 3680 acres of land just north of Padre Island National Seashore that is soon likely to pass from the control of the Texas General Land Office to Nueces County. The Nueces County Parks Board, City of Port Aransas, and City of Corpus Christi are all in the process of outlawing ATVs on the beach, which became legal when a new state law kicked in on September 1.
2013 Weather
La Posada 2013 and 2013 Hurricane Season Was a Non-Event in Looking Forward Coastal Bend
Banner Year for Toys and Donations
The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended November 30th, and had the fewest number of hurricanes since 1982, thanks in large part to persistent, unfavorable atmospheric conditions over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and tropical Atlantic Ocean. This year ranks as the sixth-leastactive Atlantic hurricane season since 1950, in terms of the collective strength and duration of named storms and hurricanes.
The idea is to give the ATV riders a place to safely and legally ride their vehicles away from pedestrian and other vehicle traffic. The matter will likely end up in front of the Island Strategic Action Committee in its next meeting on January 7 at Comfort Suites.
Beach plan Also at that meeting, expect some discussion on a plan by the city for potentially placing bollards on the beach south of Packery Channel to limit driving in that area. The plan is part of the ongoing “Six Pack” group of projects approved by the city council in 2003 in the wake of the citywide vote to dig Packery Channel. Presumably any plan that limits driving there would have to go before citywide voters. Welcome to the New Year friends, stay warm, get ready for the Winter Texan Invasion and say hello if you see us Around The Island.
By John Metz, Warning Coordination Meteorologist
A line of bicycles donated at this year's La Posada
Thirteen named st orms formed in the Atlantic basin this year. Two became hurricanes (Ingrid and Humberto), but neither became major
hurricanes. (See Table 1) Although the number of named storms was above the average of 12, the numbers of hurricanes and major hurricanes were well below their averages of six and three, respectively. Major hurricanes are categories 3 Weather continued on A8
A little Island history
By Brent Rourk With La Posada 2013 behind us, I noticed that the Padre Island Yacht Club (PIYC) was still picking up a few toys and donations days before Christmas. Apparently, as La Posada has grown so has the generosity of islanders. This year over 4,500 toys were collected, making it the top year for collecting toys. La Posada continued on A3
Christmas Tree Bonfire
The Christmas Tree Forest on the beach has become an Island tradition for New Years celebrations
How the Lucky Legume Became a New Year’s Staple
By Dale Rankin Well, it’s not just island history but it the time of year when Islanders’ thoughts turn to the lowly cowpea. By the time you read this the Black Eyed Pea Off at The Gaff will be history. But even if it is a little late you can still soak up some good luck with the Lucky Legumes as the New Year kicks off – we’re going to give you a Moon Pass through the weekend. We’re allowed to do that. The tradition of eating blackeyed peas on New Year’s for good luck has been a tradition for at least 1,500 years. In a portion of the Talmud written around 500 A.D., it was a Jewish custom at the time to eat black-eyed peas in celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. “You should make it a habit to see... blackeyed peas on your table on the New Year.” The tradition came to the New World with Sephardic Jews who first arrived in Georgia in the 1730s- minus the pork now often included in the American tradition.
With most Americans prior to the Civil War the Lucky Legume was looked down on and considered good for little but feeding cattle, but the Civil War changed that. When Sherman made his march to the sea he swept all the food stuffs in his path up but considered the “cowpeas” not worth the History continued on A3