Island Moon January 10 2013 Section A

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Island Moon

The Island Newspaper since 1996 Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment

January 10, 2013

Photo by Dale Rankin

The Only Island In Texas Where Aliens Attack the Sewage Treatment Plant Next Publication Date: 1/17/2012 Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper

Around The Island

By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com

Well, the Weather Wonks said to wait for it and this time they were kind of right. We got a little water from the sky this week but it wasn’t exactly Noah’s Flood. So far our winter has consisted of a few days of cool weather and occasional Big Wind here and there but that’s about it. If this is Global Warming brother bring it on!

Hide your dogs and surfboards To paraphrase – no one’s dog or surfboard is safe as long as the legislature is in session so keep an eye on both. They got themselves a surplus of tax dollars up there in Austin and counterintuitive to civilian thinking that means trouble up there in River City. The Texas Legislature only meets once every two years and each legislative session lasts only 140 days. The current session began Tuesday and runs through May 27, unless the Governor calls for a Special Session which is likely because of a pending court ruling on education. Texans have always figured that keeping legislators out of Austin and at home in their districts where we can keep an eye on them is good for governance. It’s when they congregate that trouble brews. Last time they got together they had to wrangle with a $27 billion shortfall and they took the Big Hammer to school kids, poor folks, and anybody who uses a highway. This time thanks to the newly found wealth that the Eagle Ford Shale pumped into state coffers they got themselves an $8.8 billion pile of our money with no home. The only thing legislators like better than an open tab at the Brown Bar on 8th Street paid for by lobbyists is a revenue surplus that starts with a B. It quickly becomes the Devil’s Playground. The weird thing is they fight just as hard when they got too much of our money as they do when they don’t have enough of it. It’s funny how that works. But with all that tax money on the table it looks like it’s going to be – as the lobbyists at the Brown Bar like to say – a Three Lexus Session.

Lights in the sky and the big bang

Update on Island Projects

Schlitterbahn, Beach Parking Sales Up, Island Management District By Dale Rankin Schlitterbahn. Developer Paul Schexnailder gave an update on the project to the Island Strategic Action Committee on Wednesday, January 2. He said work continues on elements of the park at the Schlitterbahn workshop in New Braunfels. “We are making frames for concrete structures and have begun work on one of the features,” he said. “We should have equipment on site by the middle of the month.” Beach Parking Passes. Sales of beach parking passes for 2012 were up by 14% over 2011. 137,000 permits were sold in 2012, 119,000 in 2011. Part of the increase was due to the addition of a new part-time permit salesperson. Projects continued on A4

Island Farmer’s Market January 12 The first Island Farmer’s Market at Island Presbyterian Church will be held on Saturday, January 12 from 9 a.m. until everything is sold. The church is located at 14030 Fortuna Bay Dr. So get out there and thump some rutabagas!

101 Reasons You Might Be An Islander... (or not) You Might be An Islander if...

The pipeline from the Packery dredging project along Michael J. Ellis Beach will be in place until the end of February.

Island State Representative Hunter Named Second Most Powerful in Texas House

Capitol Insider, which bills itself as The Ultimate Source on the Politics of Power in Texas, has ranked District 32 State Representative Todd Hunter, who represents The Island, as the second most powerful House member, not including the House Speaker, for the legislative session which began this week. Hunter was sworn in on Tuesday to his seventh term in the Texas House. Throughout his tenure, he has served as Chairman of the Calendars Committee, Chairman of the Special Committee on Election Contest and as Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. He has also served on the Corrections, Human Services, Redistricting, Insurance, General Investigating and Transportation Funding committees. His legislative accomplishments range from windstorm, education, and business to coastal issues.

This story here is one that we thought we put to bed a while back but it turns out it has a life of its own. A few days before Thanksgiving the folks who live down at the tailend of Whitecap were called from their homes by some funny noises. First there were some whistling sounds, then some funny lights in the sky, then a big white flash way up in the air that seemed to suck all the electricity out of the homes in that neighborhood. It only lasted a few seconds and then everything was back to normal; at least for a few days when a similar thing happened again and the power stayed off for several hours on Saturday morning.

Hunter moved to Corpus Christi in 1978 where he currently practices civil defense law as the senior partner of Hunter & Handel, P.C. His areas of practice include general civil law, insurance, commercial, banking, tort trial and appellate practice, and mediation. He is married to Alexis Taylor Hunter.

A few issues back we published a response from the people who run the Whitecap Wastewater Treatment Plant but they said - and we paraphrase here – “Go home there’s nothing to see here.” The AEP folks said a pelican flew into a power line.

So you want to plant some grass, or a tree in your yard but you’re not sure what type of soil you have and what type of plant is best suited for it. Fear not dirtaphobes! The Moon can help.

We still don’t know what exactly happened but the tale now has taken on a life of its own. We still can’t say for sure what caused that Giant Boom and Flash and the power outages, but to all you who are thinking it might have been Space Aliens all we can say is that if that’s true you have to wonder if it’s really intelligent life out there because the only thing we know for sure is they are after our sewer treatment plant. Given that plant’s record of meeting the state’s discharge limits we say let them have it.

The Capitol Insider story by Mike Hailey says it is operating on the assumption that San Antonio Republican Joe Straus stays on as

Well, actually we’re just the messenger; the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service can help. They are doing free soil sampling and to get a kit contact the POA office or John White. The tests are free…and so is the dirt. Islanders Salty Sue and Island Mike have made a list of 101 reasons why you might be an Islander. Illustrations are done by Wes Kyle and the book is available at Island Mail & More.

You are an expert at identifying different types of grass burs.

Ain’t got a durned thing against Pa

You probably know Juan Blanco. (Hey Juan). You never walk barefoot in the grass. Youre’ always in awe of nature’s beauty driving across the causeway. Mosquito is a four-letter word. It takes a village to raise a child is a blessing given the Island moms.

A couple of issues ago we ran a story about our Around continued on A4

Legislature continued on A4

The County Parks guys are awesome! No matter what side of the road you live on, everyone on The Island is your neighbor.

Soil sample bags are available at the POA office

Cut a Little Swathe and Lead the People On

You dream of shopping in a grocery store on The Island.

You know The Moon has nothing to do with astrology! (But we do run charts).

Fire in the Sky on the Fourth of July

Nine out of the top 10 state representatives on the House power list are GOP members on the

A little Texas history

By Dale Rankin Over the years Texas has produced some fine examples of, shall we say, quirky Governors. In no particular order here are a few, and something about the house they called home.

You go to the beach and forget the snacks but never, never forget the cooler.

Fire in the sky on the Fourth of July

speaker “in which case Republican State Reps. Jim Pitts of Waxahachie and Hunter rank first and second on the House power chart as the chairmen of the Appropriations Committee and Calendars Committee respectively. State Rep. Dan Branch - a Dallas Republican who’s led the Higher Education Committee for the past four years - is closed behind in the power ratings as one of Straus’ closest personal friends and top lieutenants. Branch has amassed a war chest with a $2.3 million surplus that he may be tapping for a potential statewide race in 2014. Hunter has been mentioned frequently as a possible contender for statewide office as well in the next election cycle.”

If You Plant Them They Will Grow

You might be an Islander if…

IslandBlast!

Year 16, Issue 456

In those days everybody was a Democrat because to be a Republican meant you were associated with Reconstruction and Carpetbaggers. Ma won and got busy doing what she and Pa did best, pardoning convicts, (if they were pardoned they could vote). During her first administration she averaged over 100 pardons a month, and accusations of both bribes and kickbacks overshadowed her term, resulting in unsuccessful attempts to impeach her and she was defeated.

Ma Ferguson was the state’s first female Governor and the second in the U.S. She took office in 1925 after her husband, former Governor James (Pa) Ferguson, went and got himself impeached, convicted, and removed from Ima Hogg But not before she and Pa left office during his second term. As part of his conviction, he was not allowed to their indelible mark on the Governor’s seat. hold state office in Texas again but that didn’t Early on Governors had sweeping powers stop Ma from running on the promise that she of pardon for convicts. A convict who knew would follow the advice of her husband and this escaped from prison so he could get to a Texas thus would get “two governors for the telephone and call Pa for a pardon. Pa gave him price of one.” Her slogan was the pithy line: a lecture about escape but told him he would “Me for Ma, and I Ain’t Got a Durned Thing give him a pardon if he returned to prison, History continued on A13 Against Pa.”


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