Island Moon January 31 Section A

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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper

January 31, 2013

The only Island in Texas where we live like a Metaphor

Around The Island

By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com January may have blown in like a lamb but she roared out like a lion. She blew out trees flat and anything not tied down ended up in the canal as the wind shifted to the north. But alas, not to worry; it won’t be long until the breeze is back out of the southeast and things return to normal.

Look at it this way, we’re not shoveling snow and it’s not raining sideways, the pompano are still in the first gut, Bob Hall Pier is still free, and the State Legislature has been in session for almost a month and they haven’t raised our taxes yet, so we got that going for us.

Moon spill on Ocean Drive We started off the Moon Week with some excitement along Ocean Drive. The Moon Delivery Truck is an old beater that has seen some better days – we call her Blue Betty for reasons no one can remember. The tailgate doesn’t work right and when it is closed in the upright position it refuses to go back down and the back glass of the camper top shattered when the Island Wind slammed it shut months ago. So when the huge pallet of newspapers was making the trip to The Island last Thursday the back end of the truck was wide open. Wide open baby.

It was a beautiful day as we cruised Islandward along the bay and things were going swimmingly until a city sewer truck blocked the outside lane of Ocean Drive and backed up traffic. No problem, Blue Betty moved to the inside lane and was preparing to take the Ennis Joslin exit when catastrophe struck. There was a bang and a thump and sudden lightening of Blue Betty’s load that signaled Moon Trouble.

A quick look in the rearview mirror revealed somewhere just north of 5000 copies of the new edition strung out on Ocean Drive in a most egregious manner, blocking both lanes, with the fiberglass pallet that used to be their home accompanying them in their slide to freedom.

It wasn’t nearly all of the copies, but it was enough to create quite a scene and draw a crowd of curious onlookers who would rather gawk than help with the pickup.

Blue Betty whipped around and the outside traffic lane was quickly cleared, but it took another fifteen minutes of slinging bundles of newspapers to get traffic moving again with help from a single good Samaritan. The fiberglass pallet was removed from the roadway and abandoned as there was no room left in Blue Betty’s cargo hold for it once the papers were thrown in willy-nilly. It made for an invigorating trip and one we hope is not repeated anytime soon but we had to laugh when we thought of what a chuckle Moon Mike would get out of a Moon Spill. Mike passed away two years ago this month but his sense of humor is still alive and well here on The Island.

Around continued on A4

Photo by Miles Merwin Next Publication Date: 2/7/2013

State of The Island

Since 2004 Islanders Have Paid $50 Million in City Bonds – Received $9.4 Million in Projects

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of stories on the progress of the Island Development Plan which was passed by the Corpus Christi City Council in 2004 as a blueprint for Island progress. As we have seen in previous installments, most of the plan has gone unfulfilled. This week we take a look at city bond issues since 2004, the cost and benefit to The Island.

By Dale Rankin

Island property owners make up 4% of the city’s population but pay 15% of citywide property taxes. That means since 2004 Islander property owners have taken on $50.2 million in bonded indebtedness and in return received $9.4 million in bond-funded projects – the vast majority of it for a single project, the SPID Water Exchange Bridge.

2004 bonds In 2004 city voters approved a bond package totaling $95 million. Of that amount $1.4 million was to build the Water Exchange Bridge under SPID. That amount was supplemented with funds from other bond projects from the same vote as part of the sales tax incentive package for the Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort and Island Beachwalk project. The cost of the bridge, approved by city council, is $8.1 million with design on the project currently underway. Also in the 2004 package was $150,000 for Island aesthetics. The same bond package included $11.6 million for downtown Bayfront imvelopments.

Editor’s note: Islander Dotson Lewis has been officiating football games for more than 65 years. He currently trains officials for high school and college football games and conducts seminars on officiating all over the world. He has either worked with or knows each of the seven officials working the Superbowl this Sunday.

So he has a unique perspective on how they were chosen, and how the choice of one is raising eyebrows among his fellow officials.

By Dotson Lewis All are hearing the hype about Sunday’s upcoming Super Bowl. If you think you have heard everything there is to hear, let me fill you in on a point of view that most of you have not heard. This is an inside at the on-the field officials assigned to work the Super Bowl.

The NFL season began with an officiating controversy over using replacement refs while the real refs were on locked out by the NFL as Superbowl continued on A14

By Dale Rankin The long planned reef in 72 feet of water, nine nautical miles out of Packery Channel is starting to take shape.

The Saltwater Fisheries Enhancement Association (SEA) is now collecting material on property along the ship channel to be hauled to the site which is almost due east of the mouth of Packery Channel, eleven miles from the mouth of the Port Aransas Jetties.

The material will be put in place as soon as there is enough of if to fill the two to three barges.

The reef will cover 160 acres and will rise 20 feet from the ocean floor, leaving about 50 feet of clearance between its top and the water surface. It ^_ will include some pre-fabricated pyramid elements as well as the forms you see here.

Legend

TPWD ARP Reef Sites County Lines

SAN PATRICIO

0

´

1.25 2.5 5 Nautical Miles

ARANSAS

7.5

The reef will be inside Texas state waters which extend 10.3 statute miles from the shore.

Boatmen's

_ ^

Lonestar

_ ^

Corpus Christi Nearshore Reef

_ ^ NUECES

KLEBERG

By: Donna J. Shaver, Ph.D. National Park Service, Padre Island National Seashore E-mail: Donna_Shaver@nps.gov

In 2008 out of $153 million in approved bonds, Island projects totaled only $500,000 for the Aquarius Extension – now complete – which eventually cost $1.2 million with the difference paid for with non-bond funds.

In the same bond package $500,000 was allocated for a 1.5 mile long beachwalk on North

About the Program

State of the Island continued on A5

Designed to slow down escalating rates to Coastal property owners

By Dale Rankin A committee representing the fourteen counties along the Texas Coast to reform windstorm insurance coverage has drafted a bill which would put the brakes on rates which have gone up by 50% since 2005.

The proposed bill unveiled Monday by the committee chairman Charlie Zahn calls for a one-time rate increase of 3.9% on insurance policies in the fourteen counties along the Texas Coast.

“To get a windstorm reform bill passed we need 76 votes in the Texas House and seventeen votes in the Senate,” Zahn said. “We can’t do that without a special assessment in the fourteen coastal counties.”

The group began by seeking to expand the risk group for windstorm in the state from the fourteen counties to include the entire state, Zahn said that plan cannot get the necessary 76 House votes. Instead, the committee proposes to continue with the regional risk pool but change the method by which windstorm coverage is currently organized.

Superbowl continued on A13

SEA, Islander Mike Hurst and others have been working with Gulf Coast Crane for more than a year to secure permitting and funding for the project. The material expected to be on site by the end of 2013.

Volunteer Opportunities with Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Nesting Project

Padre Island National Seashore staff members are looking forward the upcoming 2013 sea turtle nesting season and excited to announce the spring volunteer training events occurring in March. If you are interested in volunteering at Padre Island National Seashore to help with the Kemp’s ridley restoration program this year, this article contains information on how you can participate. Each year, more than 100 people from the community volunteer with our program and their participation is vital to our success. Many volunteers are returning to our program this year, but we still have some vacancies for new volunteers.

2008 bonds

Year 16, Issue 459

Planned Offshore Reef Becoming a Reality

Port Aransas

Since 2004 Corpus Christi voters have approved bonds totaling $336 million. Out of that amount a total of $9.4 million in bond money was approved for Island projects.

Islander Has Unique New Plan for Inside Perspective Windstorm on This Sunday’s Insurance Heading to Superbowl Legislature How the choice of the crew chief for the game has some fellow officials asking questions

Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper

Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is the most endangered sea turtle species in the world. For more than three decades Padre Island National Seashore

Donna Shaver documenting a nesting Kemp’s ridley sea turtle on May 18, 2011 on North Padre Island, just north of the Holiday Inn. has shared in a global effort to help recover the populations of threatened and endangered sea turtles, especially that of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, the smallest and most endangered species of sea turtle. More than half of the Kemp’s Turtles continued on A16

Harbor Island: The Quest for a Deep Water Port

By Dale Rankin Ask someone where Harbor Island is and often you will get a vacant stare followed by a wild guess. But tell them that when they cross the ferry from Port Aransas to the mainland (or The Big Island as we Islanders call it) that they are on Harbor Island and they will understand.

Harbor Island lacks the glamour of many of the islands around the area but for more than 100 years it has been the workhorse of local islands, filled with oil storage tanks, high fences, and the pier where the gambling ship used to Port Aransas Jetties today with Harbor Island at the top dock.

But Harbor Island has been the gateway to Corpus Christi Bay since its discovery in 1720 by the French explorer Jean Béranger when he discovered the pass through the Island and placed a marker there. Since the days before Texas became a Republic a contest has been waged along the Texas Coast to become the state’s preeminent deep water port; Harbor Island with its strategic location just inside the pass has been part of that discussion since the beginning. But it wasn’t until 1890, after the Panic of 1893 and the failure of the original jetty at the pass that things got serious.

The beginning In 1858 the United State Corps of Engineers was seeking to establish a port on Harbor Island and after extensive investigations by

the Central Transit Company, backed by the Great Baring Brothers of London, the present site of Aransas Pass was selected to build a port city to carry commerce between Europe and Asia. Construction of a railroad terminal and harbor improvements were underway when the Civil War intervened. Then the building of the Union Pacific Railroad from coast to coast stalled the project further.

Just prior to the war a man named Pryor Lea dreamed of a railroad from the Lamar Peninsula, Rockport, to San Antonio with stops in Refugio and Goliad. His project was eventually folded into the Aransas Road Company and the Baring Brothers project.

Then after the war the focus for deepening the pass focused on Rockport where the cattle packery business was centered. The Corpus

History continued on A3

Island Moon

A 2

4H Project

Seashore News

Sarah Gilliam, freshman at Flour Bluff High School, and her Ag Mech project – Chicken Coop. Sarah won Grand Champion Senior Showmanship for Ag Mech at the 2013 Nueces County Junior Livestock Show. For more information about joining the Flour Bluff / Padre Island 4-H Club, contact Flo East at floeast@aol.com or call 361-813-7221.

Thor and Charlie Brown examine a drilling collar that washed up on the beach in Port A

The Seashore Middle Academy math team took home the third place Sweepstakes trophy from the math tournament at Ross Middle School in San Antonio on Jan. 25. Competitors included: Cougar Taylor, Jared Haney, Alex Klein, Hallie Trial, Izabella Hockmuller, Mia Moore, Alejandro Banda, Tristan Cardon, James Kernan, Matthew Pate, Maggie Libby, C.J. Evaristo, and Kenny Ho. Not pictured: Blake McIntyre & Tatiana Ortiz.

Port Aransas City Marina resident Jeff Brewer is not happy about the recent price increases passed by the City Council on Jan. 17th

27 Years Experience ● Commercial & Residential Member On The Island

On Padre Island Duane Ebert 361-658-2459 | 361-949-0661 decksanddocksnorthpadre.com Member Padre Island Business Association

Padre Island Business Assoc.

This Little Moon Monkey Stayed Home

This is my granddaughter Lina Wright.

She is 10 years old.

Submitted by Mindy Wright

The Moon made its stage debut at the Port Aransas playhouse last week in the hit Daddy’s Dyin’ Who Brought the Will? Here Island writer/photographer Brent Rourk, who was in the play, reads The Moon.

The production was a hit and had its run extended an extra week. The final showing was Sunday and played to a full house.

High Quality Work at Competitive Pricing!

ason’s Greetings Happy Holidays

January 31, 2013

SMA 5th grader Kailyn Frost endures the chill of ice on her feet as she and her classmates re-enact the freezing conditions George Washington and his men faced at Valley Forge. The annual ice-walking activity is one of the fifth graders’ favorite events each year. photo

by Sandy Bernal

Remodeling and More...

A new antenna is going on on PINS

Cell: (361) 658-2459 Bus: (361) 949-0661

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SUPERBOWL KICKOFF PARTY!

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100 WINGS FOR $77.99 $65.99 PARTY PLATTER ORDERS MUST BE IN BY 3PM ON SATURDAY FEB 2ND CALL 361‐949‐6769 TO ORDER

These Winter Texans visited Padre Isles Country Club. Sandhill cranes live about 20 years, mate for life and are three to four feet tall.

Photo by Mary Craft.

Season’ & Happ Chicken Drop Bingo and Belt Sander Races. Is this a great Island or what?

Home Remode

Duane Ebert Cell: (361) 65 28 Years Experience

GOOD THROUGHDec FEB. 28, 2013

The 25th annual Port Aransas Garden Club Tour of Homes - Photos by Jan Rankin

January 31, 2013

Island Moon

Stuff I Heard on the Island

History continued from A1 Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railroad was founded and in 1875 was taken over by the Mexican National Railways who wanted to build a spur to the city of Aransas Pass with the goal of connecting to deep water.

A3

by Dale Rankin

Editor’s note: Last week we began a story about the Branch Davidian standoff which will mark its twenty-year anniversary in April. We will return to it later. It turns out there are some local connections we need to explore.

The first attempt to deepen the pass came from the citizens of Rockport who in 1868 raised $10,000 for a 600foot dike on St. Joseph Island. Details of this plan have been mostly lost to history.

Then in 1879 Congress authorized the deepening of the pass after a Corps survey recommended two parallel jetties and protection for the eroding of Mustang Island. This was/is known locally as the Old Government Jetty and consisted of layers of rock and brush; it was a failure as the jetties produced no deepening of the pass. The next attempt came at the urging of Maj. Oswald H. Ernst who recommended two stone jetties be built and that erosion on Mustang Island be contained by laying an eighteen-inch-thick riprap cover; the riprap was placed but a shortage of funds stopped the building of the jetties.

Speak Truth to Power Bay View Hotel in Aransas Pass complied. The Corps finally realized that a single jetty would not do the job and removed the old north jetty, replacing it with that of an earlier design. Then in 1907 they authorized the completion of the south jetty along with the extension of the north jetty. When the project was done the water began to deepen across the mouth of the pass and engineers began looking at the deepening of the channel and the building of a basin for Harbor Island. Work

Into the breech stepped private enterprise.

Plan B is not much better In March 1860 a charter was granted to the Aransas Pass Harbor Company for the “constructing owning, and operating deep water channels from the water of the Gulf of Mexico and across Aransas Pass.

At the same time the Aransas Harbor City and Improvement Company was formed and investors from all over the country got involved, including the son of President William Henry Harrison.

With investors in place the promoters launched a nationwide publicity campaign and what followed was a rush to invest like South Texas had never seen.

The Bay View Hotel was built in 1893 and was a three-story showcase to impress potential investors. Included in the project were plans to build a railroad from Aransas Pass to Harbor Island and construction began.

Rock for the planned jetty was shipped in by rail and loaded onto barges head for the jetty site.

But things hit a snag when the Panic of 1893 hit and the railroad was taken over by South Pacific Railroad which had financial ties to Galveston. Harbor Island developers appealed to the Texas Legislature and got the rights to buy land immediately around the harbor and with money from Brown and Sons of Baltimore drew up plans to adopt a single, curved jetty around the island and went to work. The project was an abject failure. The water got no deeper and land sales went to zero. The Aransas Pass Harbor Company had spent $401,553 and had nothing to show for it. They contracted with a man named C.P. Goodyear to provide a twenty-foot channel and he used 13,000 pounds of dynamite to blow out 500 feet of the jetty but all it did was blow a lot of water up in the air – the channel refused to deepen. The project to deepen the channel had now taken on a Rube Goldberg quality as each succeeding group poured good money after bad.

Brinkburn continued for several years until the oceangoing liner Brinkburn arrived at Harbor Island on September, 7, 1912 and took on a load of over 10,000 bales of cotton. The celebration lasted a week. The Brinkburn was later sunk by German U-boats off the coast of Algiers but Harbor Island was economically afloat.

The 9.6-mile Aransas Harbor Terminal Railroad connected Harbor Island with the mainland and the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway and a cotton compress was built on the island in 1913. Then during World War I a concrete shipbuilding firm was constructed there and by 1927 the Humble Oil and Refining Company had built a large oil terminal on Harbor Island.

Other major oil companies laid pipelines to the docks to meet the oil tankers and Harbor Island had its deep water port.

The rest as they say is history.

Custom Built Furniture, Remodeling, Cabinets, Doors, Custom Pull-Out Shelves, Dry-Wall, Tile, Quality Carpentry, Exterior Mold Removal, Power Washing, Faucets-Disposals

One of my weekly rituals is to sit in my office each Tuesday and watch the City Council meetings on the Internet. It’s a God-given fact that city government is the most assessable to the people. City council members are stationary targets. Every Tuesday any crackpot with bus fare can go down there and give them a piece of his/her mind; and lord knows that some of the takers on that deal don’t have many pieces to spare.

The mayor sets the council agenda and the previous mayor dealt with this problem by moving the Citizens to Be Heard portion of the show to way at the end and not making it time certain. That way all the would-be talkers had to sit through the whole meeting before they could spout their wisdom and since most of the real people had jobs they couldn’t wait that long, and the people without jobs who wanted the council to weight in on stuff like global warming and the price of tea in China had just enough ADD that by the time it was their turn to talk they were wandering around in the parking lot reading license plates.

But now the Citizens to be Heard have moved up in the show and the people who turn up every week to spout off are digging it. You could say that the Great Unwashed and the new council schedule are hitting it off like a metaphor.

Windbag on windstorm The first batter up this week was a fellow who looked like he woke up about ten minutes before the meeting and ran to City Hall just in time to spew his bile. The local group that is trying to do something about the budget busting windstorm insurance rates is asking the city for $30,000 to pay an accountant to verify their actuarial numbers before they send their proposed bill to Austin; a prudent step.

But our Angry Man at City Hall smells a rat.

“I think this windstorm bunch is just a way for them to pay each other salaries,” he roars. “And why are they spending all this money on travel?

That’s what I want to know! $30,000 to check their numbers? Seems to me they should have done that before they started!”

The metaphysical dichotomy of somehow being able to take an action before you take any action is lost on this man. Never mind the fact that no one working on the windstorm group is getting paid and in fact are paying their own travel expense. This guy smells a rat and he’s going to be heard from; never let the facts get in the way of a good diatribe.

Southside baseball He’s followed to the stage by a fellow who shows up every week or so to raise the flag for Southside Baseball.

“You are the first Mexican mayor,” he says, he likes to start off with something that isn’t true just to see if anyone is listening. “We used to have to pay taxes to vote,” – we think he’s talking about the poll tax.

At long last success Private industry appealed to the deep pockets of government and in 1899 the deep pockets

Great Seafood and Burgers Libations Amusements 18 Holes of Minature Golf

Wednesdays All you can eat Fried Shrimp 5pm - 1am Open 11 am - 2 am $12.99 Kitchen Closes @ 1 am

“Have you ever been to the Southside,” he asks, “Come with me. You won’t get hurt.” The Southside must be dangerous.

“We spent $200,000 at the crosswalk where a lady was killed. Make sure you understand where I’m coming from.” We think he’s from the Southside.

“Get out and put a nickel in we have to work at it. We get a lot of people from different states; Arizona is not a good place to be a Hispanic person. Their governor and their sheriff. We understand what 30 percent of Corpus is. Thank you.”

One Bite & You’re Hooked

He has managed to ramble on for three minutes without anyone being sure what he is talking about.

“Mrs. Leal is in her office if you want to talk to her,” someone suggests.

Bus bench guy Every week the same fellow shows up to harangue the council about bus bench ads. His gripe is that no city sign fee is charged for the bus benches. By his reckoning the city is leaving $150,000 per year on the table.

I don’t have any special knowledge about Nueces County but I can tell you that in just about every other county in Texas the bus bench deal works like this.

The local transit authority controls them. The budget of the local transit authority is under the jurisdiction of the county. Think of what an advantage it would be to an incumbent politician if he/she could run ads on the 1500 or so bus benches around the county during an election cycle and not have to pay for them until after the election. That would be a big disadvantage to anyone who wants to challenge them and who has to pay as they go.

State election law says in a political campaign payment is due when the service is rendered and most media outlets want cash up front from office seekers. But if the private company which sells the bus bench ads must go to the county to get its contract for the ads renewed, and if that company didn’t send the incumbents a bill until after the election then who would be the wiser?

I’m just saying.

The helicopter lady Then comes the helicopter lady.

“Have you ever flown over our city in a charter helicopter looking at commuter traffic,“ she begins. “There must be one million vehicles in this town.” Her math is a little off.

“We need to find a way to put tags on those vehicles to pay for streets. Get a helicopter…” she says as the buzzer goes off telling her that her time is up but she ignores it and just keeps talking…”You could be mayor of a ghost town” she says as the guy in the uniform drags her off.

‘The city manager may go to Chicago. We’re going to be here for generations. People should pay a fee when they go shopping, other cities have to stack their buildings up but we got plenty of land,” is her parting shot as they drag her up the aisle.

I kept waiting for someone to say, “You have to take the meds everyday ma’am. You can’t quit just because you feel better,” but no one does.

Squeaky Wheel My point here is simple. At the end of the day the political process we chose decides what happens; words matter. These people may not be particularly articulate but you know what; the Southside guy has raised over a million dollars in money over the years for the Southside Little League just by showing up. And even though the windstorm crank has his facts all cluttered up in his brainpan he has served notice that he’s out there in his house with his twenty seven cats keeping an eye on things. And the helicopter lady may be a little off base with her math but everyone listening, if only for an instant, thought about a way to tax cars to fix the streets rather than taxing homes like we do now.

She got a message across. And the bus bench guy is tilting at a windmill but if there is any skullduggery going on now the skullduggers at least know he’s out there.

What we have is a squeaky wheel system; City Council members are essentially volunteers who put in a lot of time and listen to a lot of cockamamie ideas in order to serve. But the only people who don’t get their say are those who don’t speak up.

Since 2004 Islanders have paid out $50 Million in city bonds and received $9.4 Million in projects. Why? Because our wheel doesn’t squeak, and we have the results to prove it.

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A 4

The Idle Iron Riddle

Island Moon

January 31, 2013

State

Legislative Update Scholarship opportunity for Future Service Rigs to Reefs Program Strives for Viability While the factors driving platform removals in the Gulf By Todd Hunter, District 32 Members ROTC program. A selected

of Mexico are relatively simple, solutions prove harder to come by.

By Ted Venker Conservation Director Coastal Conservation Association

(Reprinted from the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of TIDE Magazine) Editor’s note: This is the second part of a twopart series. The first part was published in the January 24, 2013 issue of the Island Moon.

What Can Be Done?

All of the things discussed so far are valid concerns for energy companies and regulators, but not necessarily for anglers. As a marine resource conservation organization, we can appreciate all the factors that make this issue so difficult and expensive, but our overriding concern remains the vast forest of habitat that we stand to lose if ways can’t be found to address liability and make it easier for companies to leave that productive structure in the marine environment.

To their credit, many energy companies in the Gulf have made great efforts to reef structures rather than haul them to the beach. State managed rigs to reefs programs are the best avenue to keeping structure in the water, but a snarl of regulations, permitting requirements and general miscommunication between the industry and federal agencies isn’t making it easy. For a variety of reasons, only about 11 to 12 percent of eligible rigs have been reefed.

In simplest terms, state-run rigs-to-reefs programs work by allowing energy companies to donate a platform as a reef in exchange for the state assuming the liability. The catch is that the platform must be moved to a designated reefing area, and there aren’t nearly enough of those.

Given the economics of removing a rig and the cost to cut and barge such a huge structure, there better be a reefing area in the immediate area or directly along the path back to shore or it stops making economic sense to participate.

A concerted effort by the states of Louisiana and Texas to create more designated reefing areas, particularly in the 100- to 200-foot depth range, would reap immediate benefits. Texas recently announced two huge new areas along the southern coast that will help save what structure is left, but with most platforms in the region already removed, it could be a case of too little, too late.

Another frequently cited hurdle is the requirement that reefed structures have 85 feet of clearance to the surface. It was thought that this was a firm regulation set by the Coast Guard that has prevented reefing in a lot of shallow areas that would be greatly cherished by anglers. However, at a meeting Nov. 16, 2012, in Houston, the Coast Guard clarified that the 85-foot “rule” is really more of a “rule of thumb” that would be applied in a case-by-case basis with consideration given to extra buoy requirements for depths shallower than 85 feet.

This clarification could open up the possibility of creating more, and more accessible, areas to reef.

The industry also used to have the option to “reef in place,” but that alternative was taken away in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Short of leaving the platform upright forever, this option has the most appeal for anglers. It entails removing the top decks and the platform jacket, lowering them to the seafloor and cutting the legs to a safe level below the surface. With more than 100 rigs on the seafloor after the hurricane season of 2005, the industry found ample opportunity to use the program to create permanent marine habitat and turned to regulators with requests to reef in place.

Concerns from two familiar casts of characters stopped the program in its tracks. Trawlers complained that all that structure would not leave them any place to drag the bottom with nets. At the same time, some environmental

groups complained that reefing in place was nothing more than an excuse for the industry to dump their “trash” in the ocean. In response to those concerns, federal regulators abruptly placed a moratorium on reefing in place that remains in effect today.

However, at the Nov. 16 meeting it was announced by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) that revisions are being made to the moratorium that will be released “soon.” Industry representatives seemed caught by surprise

by this announcement, but if true, and if the revisions are significant enough, this could be a tremendous boon to reefing efforts.

More reefing areas, clarification and flexibility on the 85-foot rule, an end to the moratorium on reefing in place - these are keys to keeping more structure in the water in places where they can be easily accessed by recreational anglers and we seem to be making progress. Still, clear lines of communication and cooperation between federal regulators and the industry seem to be lacking, and that is critical for reefing to be embraced as the preferred method of disposal for the industry.

Reefing As A Priority Over the history of offshore energy development, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000 structures have been placed in the Gulf of Mexico and yet there are fewer than 3,000 out there today. Requirements to remove those structures have been written into leases since the first offshore well was drilled, and removals have been a part of the regular course of business for many decades. Anglers have only recently felt the removals more acutely as nearshore reserves play out, structures are removed and nothing new comes in to replace them. As the energy industry focuses more and more of its efforts in deeper water, anglers and divers are seeing their favorite platforms pulled and not finding any new places to go.

Our engagement on this issue has been enlightening, and frustrating. The obstacles to achieve our goals are real and formidable.

CCA will continue to push not only the key remedies described above, but also pursue a shift in federal policy that will make reefing the preferred alternative and drive regulatory efforts that encourage the industry to reef structures, rather than discourage them with a snarl of red tape. Our efforts will continue to focus on working with champions in Congress to step up and spearhead efforts to streamline the permitting process and improve the relationship between federal regulatory agencies and the industry with a goal to raise the percentage of reefed platforms well above the 11 percent where it stands today. We will continue to work with industry to explore ways to mitigate the loss of platforms through the placement of other materials offshore.

Like so many bureaucratic processes, this one won’t change without constant pressure.

CCA will remain committed to exploring every option that may leave structure in the Gulf, in places where recreational anglers can access it and where it will provide the greatest benefit for the marine environment.

The Texas Legislature created the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program. The purpose of the program is to encourage high school seniors and freshmen college students to participate in a civilian college Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program while in college. A student must meet specific eligibility criteria in order to receive an initial scholarship award. In addition to the eligibility criteria, a student must enter into an agreement requiring a four-year commitment as a member of the Texas Army National Guard, member of the Texas Air Force National Guard, or a commissioned officer in any branch of the armed services of the United States.

Annually, the governor and the lieutenant governor may each appoint two students, and each state senator and each state representative may appoint one student to receive a conditional Texas Armed Services Scholarship. A maximum of 185 students may be appointed statewide. A student may receive up to $10,000 dependent on funding availability. Students may receive continued scholarship awards.

My office is accepting scholarship applications from students who reside in House District 32. Each state representative has been asked to nominate one student to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is responsible for overseeing the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program.

Eligibility for Nomination In order to be considered for the Texas Armed Services Scholarship, a student must meet two of the following four academic criteria at the time of the application: • Graduate or have graduated high school with the Distinguished Achievement Program (DAP) or the International Baccalaureate Program (IB); • Have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale; • Achieve a college readiness score on the SAT (1590) or ACT (23); • Ranked in the top third of their graduating class.

Once a student receives the nomination, then a number of criteria must be met for the nominated student to be eligible for receipt of an initial scholarship. The student must enroll in an

student must also enter into a written agreement with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board agreeing to complete four years of ROTC training and graduate no later than six years after the date the student first registers at an institution of higher education.

No later than six months after graduation from college, the selected student must provide the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board with verification of a four-year commitment to be a member of the Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air Force National Guard, Texas State Guard, U.S. Coast Guard or U.S. Merchant Marines; or a contract to serve as a commissioned officer in any branch of the United States Armed Forces. A selected student must meet all prescreening requirements of the Texas Army, the Texas Air Force National Guard, Texas State Guard, U.S. Coast Guard or U.S. Merchant Marines, or the appropriate branch of the armed services. The student must repay the scholarship if the student fails to meet the requirements for receiving the scholarship.

This is an exciting opportunity for any student seeking to enter the armed forces by way of a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program at a civilian college. If you are a student who would like to be nominated for this scholarship program, please submit a cover letter along with proof that you have met the required academic criteria to either my Capitol office in Austin or my District office in Corpus Christi.

If you would like any additional information on the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program, please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol or District office (512-463-0672; 361949-4603). The scholarship is administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Questions can also be directed to the board’s Office of External Relations which can be reached at 512-427-6117.

As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).

Rep. Hunter represents Aransas, Calhoun, Nueces (Part) and San Patricio Counties. He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.state. tx.us or at 512-463-0672.

Farenthold Gets Committee Assignments for New Congressional Session U.S. Representative Blake Farenthold (TX-27) has announced his 3 committee assignments for the 113th Congress. For the second consecutive Congress, Farenthold will serve on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Farenthold will also serve on the Judiciary Committee. Representative Farenthold will Chair the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the Census. He will also serve as Vice Chairman on the Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.

In making this announcement, Farenthold issued the following statement: “I’m honored to continue my service on the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Transportation and Infrastructure while beginning work on the Judiciary Committee.

Many of our nation’s most pressing issues fall under the jurisdiction of these committees. My assignments will allow me to help strengthen our economy by creating jobs, improve our infrastructure and lower the tax burden on American families. Working to make the federal government more accountable and efficient is a top priority of mine.”

Winter Beach Cleanup February 9 PINS one of four beaches targeted for trash Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is calling on volunteers for the 9th Annual Winter Beach Cleanup Saturday, Feb. 9 at four Coastal Bend beaches. The cleanup will take place from 9 a.m. to noon.

The locations participating in the Winter Beach Cleanup are: • Padre Island National

Seashore, at the

Malaquite Visitor Center, 20420 Park Road 22. Contact Buzz Botts at 361-949-8068 or via e-mail at buzz.botts@texasadoptabeach.org.

• Rockport Beach, at the Rockport Beach Park Pavilion. Contact Kerry Goodall for more information at 361-729-6661 or via e-mail at kerry.goodall@texasadoptabeach.org • Port Aransas, at Avenue G at the beach.

Contact Deno Fabrie at 361-749-0256 or via e-mail at deno.fabrie@texasadoptabeach.org • Corpus Christi Beach, at the Texas State Aquarium, 2710 N. Shoreline Blvd. Contact Kara Hahn at 361-881-1259 or via e-mail at kara.hahn@texasadoptabeach.org.

The Winter Beach Cleanup is one of three all-volunteer seasonal cleanups coordinated through the Adopt-A-Beach program of the Texas General Land Office.

Sun - Thurs 11-9 Fri & Sat 11-10 Friday & Saturday Oysters on the Half Shell $6.50 per dozen 5pm until gone.

Fires burning brightly, come on in!

Scoopy’s Veranda Sun - Sat 11am - 10pm Daily Lunch Specials Snoopy’s & Scoopy’s 11am - 2pm Carry-out Available!

Snoopy’s Scoopy’s

(361) 949-8815 (361) 949-7810

13313 S. Padre Island Drive Corpus Christi, TX 78418

Each year, Texas’ beaches receive large amounts of marine debris due to a convergence of currents in the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1986, Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have picked up enough trash to fill a line of dump trucks 90 miles long, making it one of the most successful volunteer programs in the nation. Volunteers record data on the trash to learn more about the causes of marine debris and to help mitigate pollution along Texas’ 367 miles of coastline.

The Texas General Land Office’s AdoptA-Beach program is funded primarily by private contributions. To help out, or for more information, call the Adopt-A-Beach program at 1-877-TXCOAST or visit our Web site at http://www.texasadoptabeach.org.

Peewee's Animal Shelter Peewee’s Animal Shelter is located at 1307 Saratoga and has been in operations since May, 1997. Peewee’s presently houses over 300 animals, including dogs, puppies, cats, kittens as well as, pigs, goats, rabbits and other barn animals. Peewee’s relies on donations only for its operation.

Shelter operations are accomplished strictly by donations.

Peewee’s does not get any government, city or federal funding.

Peewee’s helps those animals no one else will - the sick and the stray. The volunteers at Peewee’s work tirelessly to rehabilitate poor orphaned pets in the hopes that they will find new, loving homes. The dogs and cats are spayed/neutered, given regular heartworm preventative, and are on flea & tick prevention and medications as needed. Peewee’s does not discriminate due to age or health conditions of the pet. Please visit Peewee’s Pet Adoption World & Sanctuary at 1307 Saratoga Road. You can call them at 361-8884141 but they do not have staff to answer phones so please leave a message.

January 31, 2013

Moon Monkeys

Island Moon

Letters to the Editor

Mike Ellis, Founder

Moon, During the month of February, the Healthy Living & Advocacy Center will be offering 2 new classes focusing on healthy eating and diabetes awareness. These classes are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays and are free and open to the public.

Distribution Pete Alsop Island Delivery

Classes are offered in conjunction with the Community Wellness & Education Outreach program of Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi, Inc., the Corpus Christi Food Bank, and the Corpus Christi Health Department. The Healthy Living & Advocacy Center is located at 1125 S. Port Ave. (361) 442-2224 Ext. 24.

Coldwell Banker Advertising Jan Park Rankin Office Lisa Towns

Shannette Hoelscher

Classifieds

Marketing & Fundraising Coordinator

Arlene Ritley Design/Layout

Wind

Jeff Craft

Dear Editor,

Contributing Writers Joey Farah

The Corpus Christi Wind Symphony would like to thank all the Winter Texans who came to our concert at Flour Bluff High School Auditorium on January 28. We had so much fun playing for such an enthusiastic audience.

We will be back in Flour Bluff in January 2014, so be looking for our posters when you come back next winter. You can also follow us on Facebook for future concert dates. We even have a few recordings and pictures from the concert posted on Facebook.

Devorah Fox Mary Craft Maybeth Christiansen Jay Gardner Todd Hunter Danniece Bobeché Ronnie Narmour Brent Rourk Dr. Donna Shaver

Sincerely,

Photographers

Carol Walther

Miles Merwin

Riley P. Dog Editor/Publisher/Spillage Control Supervisor Dale Rankin About the Island Moon

The Island Moon is published every Thursday, Dale Rankin, Editor / Publisher.

Total circulation is 10,000 copies. Distribution includes delivery to 4,000 Island homes, free distribution of 3,000 copies in over 50 Padre Island businesses and condos, as well as 600 copies distributed in Flour Bluff, 1,400 copies on Mustang Island and Port Aransas businesses.

News articles, photos, display ads, classified ads, payments, etc. may be left at the Moon Office.

The Island Moon Newspaper 15201 S. Padre Island Drive, Suite 250 Corpus Christi, TX 78418 361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper

Where to Find The Island Moon Port Aransas All Stripes Stores (Except the one next to the VFW where they throw them away) Sandpiper Condos Port Royal Condos Lisabellas Restaurant

Gratitude Boutique The Gaff Bar Port A Glass Studio

Doc’s Restaurant Snoopy’s Pier

Beach Lodge

Isle Mail N More

Amano’s

Island Italian

Miss K’s Catering & Bistro

Ace Hardware

Moby Dick’s Restaurant IGA Food Store Carter Pharmacy San Juan’s Restaurant Wash Board Washateria Port A Parks and Rec Port Chamber of Commerce Duckworth’s Antiques Woody’s Sports Center

Photos must have been taken within the Reserve’s boundaries (see map above) Photos must not have been previously entered in any competition Photos must not have been digitally altered, other than cropping and minor touch ups Limit of three entries per photographer Photographers must state which category the photo is being submitted for on each entry Prizes will be awarded in the following categories: 1. Preserving Estuaries: Restoration projects, scientific research, green behaviors, and conservation efforts

5. Recreation: Fishing, boating, birding, photography, and smiling faces enjoying the estuary 6. Viewer’s Choice: Photos from all categories will be voted on by the general public online and in the UTMSI Visitor Center Visit www.missionaransas.org to download an entry form. Email colleen.mccue@utexas.edu or call 361-749-3153 for more information.

The Padre Island Lions Club is having their annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, February 9, from 7-9 a.m. at St. Andrews by the Sea Community Center. It’s $7 for kids over ten and $3 for kids under ten. So get your syrup ready.

In the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.

FBISD Under the Stars Event Set for February 8th The Flour Bluff Independent School District is sponsoring a night of dinner, dancing and live music in its Under The Stars event on February 8th.

The event will be at the Mansion Royal at 8001 SPID. Music will be by Five Card Draw.

The event begins with dinner at 6:30 and runs through midnight. For more information call 694-9219. Deadline to RSVP is January 31.

How to Kill Sandbur

Billish Park Facility 2012 bonds In 2012 $88 million in bonds were approved with only $650,000 for The Island to pay for improvements in the area around the JFK Causeway, $1.2 million was eventually allocated with the difference coming from nonbond funds.

The 2012 package also included $55 million in street improvements, of which the $650,000 for the JFK was the only Island project, and an additional $8.4 million for additional development projects none of which were on The Island but for which Islanders paid $1.2 million.

The bonds also included $4 million for Navigation Boulevard, $5.5 million for Ocean Drive, $5.3 million for South Staples Street, $3 million for improvements to parks on Ocean Drive Parks, $5 million for parks citywide, and $1.5 million for hike and bike trails citywide.

For those projects in the 2004 bond package alone, totaling $24.3 million, Island taxpayers paid $3.6 million and got the promise of a sprinkler system in Billish Park and nothing more. North Beach got another $600,000 in beautification projects. Meanwhile, none of the city parks on The Island has a permanent restroom, athletic fields, or a dog park.

In total the bond package citywide was for $88 million, of which Islanders will pay $13 million and get $650,000 in projects.

City leaders are currently contemplating another bond package in either 2012 or 2013 which will be mainly for streets but which may include upwards of $50 million for the Destination Bayfront project downtown. There are currently no Island projects under discussion for the package.

By Baptist Johnson (Submitted by Dwight Jackson)

HLAA ‐ Coastal Bend Workshop

Commonly called sandbur, cenchrus incertus is a dense weed that grows in sandy, well-drained soils. The sandbur has sticky, sharp burrs that attach to almost anything. In this way, they can spread all over your yard before you even realize what’s happening. In fact, you may not even notice the infestation until it is too late.

Because sandbur is so easily transported, killing the weed can be difficult. But it can be done

February 16, 2013 (10AM) Can you protect yourself against the latest fraud schemes?

If you are not sure, please join us to learn how to avoid scams and bad deals that consumers face …especially those that target the hard of hearing.

1 Sandbur grows best in sparse lawns and does not compete well with other weeds and grasses.

So properly maintain your lawn. Mowing, fertilization and irrigation will produce a healthy, dense lawn that will choke out sandbur.

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Regional Director, Alan Bligh, will be covering the following topics:

2 Pre-treat your lawn with pre-emergent herbicide, such as Amaze, XL, Balan or Betasan, in the spring. Sandbur blooms in the summer, so herbicide applied to your lawn beforehand can prevent the weed from ever taking root.

    

3 Apply spot herbicide to sandbur plants as you find them in your yard. Be careful of drifting spray and runoff because it can kill surrounding grass and weeds. Chemicals known to kill sandbur include dithiopyr, pendimethalin, benefin, trifluralin and oryzalin.

4 Pull up sandbur weeds by hand as your find them in your yard. This method is timeconsuming, but it will get rid of the problem without exposing your yard to chemicals.

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Text phone telemarketing scams Phony check scams Door to door peddlers Phony charities How schemers use Texas Relay to scam businesses Identity theft (and why you need to get credit reports on minors) AND,,,, The newest scams using technology to rob the data in your smart phone.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center

5151 McArdle Road (Next to La Palmera Mall) Questions? Contact Brenda Fey

bfey3@sbcglobal.net

Texas Star (Shell) Jesse’s Liquor Padre Isles Country Club Scuttlebutt’s Restaurant Subway

GIFTS CERTIFICATES AVALIABLE

Island Tire And all Moon retail advertisers

Flour Bluff H.E.B. Liquid Town Whataburger on Waldron

Michelle Matthews

Hair Cuts & Color, Waxing, Hair Extensions, Special Occasion Hair, Airbrush Make Up, Feather Extensions Are you tired of wearing mascara? Do you suffer from black circles of smudged mascara? Do you want to have long beautiful lashes 24/7, even when you swim? Do you want longer fuller eyelashes? If you answered YES to any of these questions, we have the answer..........

Ethyl Everly Senior Center Fire Station Police Station

Back Porch Bar

Stripes on Flour Bluff & SPID

Stripes (Cotter & Station)

Jerry Watkins is organizing the shindig and the shows cost is $15,000. Donations will be Tax deductible and any amount donated will be readily accepted. The show can be viewed from any home that has a back deck with a western view or from boats anchored in canals near the Padre Island Yacht Club, Main Canal, or Ski Basin Area, Padre Island Yacht Club, Maryanne’s Way Memorial Park at the far west end of Whitecap Boulevard Park along either side of Whitecap.

Holiday Inn

Port A Outfitters The Flats Lounge

Photos must have been taken after January 1, 2012

4. Estuary Habitats: Land and waterscapes (specifically pictures of rivers meeting the sea)

Kody’s Restaurant

Stripes (361 & IA)

Submit a digital copy of 300 dpi or larger via email to colleen.mccue@utexas.edu

North Padre

Snappy’s Convenient Store

Neptune’s Retreat

Submit 8x10 in print, no background is needed

3. Wildlife: economically and ecologically important plants and animals

CVS

Island Woman Boutique

Photographers must submit their own photo

The Tarpon Ice House

Whataburger

Felder Gallery

Rules and Regulations:

2. Environmental Change: Invasive species, weather events, storms, drought, flooding, and erosion

Pioneer RV Park

Plans are still underway for the Island Blast 4th of July Fireworks Display on the vacant lot between Padre Island Yacht Club and Wastewater Treatment plant at the end of Whitecap. The show is being presented by the Zambelli Fireworks Company and compares in size and duration to the shows currently viewed downtown on the Lexington and at Port Aransas Roberts Point Park.

Flat as a pancake breakfast

The Wild Horse Bar & Grill

All Stripes Stores

Fire it Up!

Dear Island Moon, Just a friendly reminder that there is less than a week to turn in entries for the second annual Faces of an Estuary Photo Contest. We have some great submissions so far but would love to see more. This contest is designed to highlight the beautiful resources of the Mission-Aransas Estuary, outlined below.

The contest has changed a little since last year.

There will be six $100 cash prizes awarded for five different categories and a “Viewer’s Choice Award.”

Beach. The bonds also included an additional $13 million for downtown development, on top of the $11.6 million already allocated in the 2004 bonds.

Whoop it Up Ya’ll!

jdwatkins@satx.rr.com. Everybody/somebody pitch in for some Fire in the Sky on the Fourth of July.

Photo Contest

Mary Craft Office Security/Spillage Control

It’s almost time to Whoop It Up! again. The annual fundraiser for Island Foundation schools is Sunday March 3, from 6-10 p.m. at Whisky River (Staples at Holly). This event marks the greatest single migration of Islanders going OTB of the year and is always great fun. Tickets are $25 advance $35 at the door table and tickets for a table are $600. If you are 21 or older – it’s a bar - tickets can be purchased at any Seashore School, SLC, SMA, SECA or call 949-0076.

The proceeds benefit Foundation’s Seashore Schools.

But Jerry still some needs firebucks everybody so contact him at 361-331-7273, or

Corpus Christi Wind Symphony

Jeff Dolan

Around continued from A1 Whoop It Up!

Health Classes

A5

State of the Island cont. from A1

Floyd’s

XTREME™ EYELASH EXTENSIONS Michelle is a Master Hair Stylist having learned from the best and having trained top stylists herself.

She is an expert Colorist and Make Up Artist, and was the former Stylist and Make Up Artist for Miss Oklahoma.

Hours Tuesday‐Friday 10am‐6pm

Saturday 9am‐2pm

Walk‐Ins Welcome * Late Appointments Available

14813 S.P.I.D. Corpus Christi, TX 78418 (Next Door to Island Wash) Salon: 361‐949‐4890 www.michellessalon.com

A 6

Island Moon

Frostbite Betty’s Winter Texan Roundup

January 31, 2013

Frostbitebetty@gmail.com

Sweet N Plenty Well with Valentine’s Day coming up, Bert went around the Island looking for my favorite candy, Good & Plenty. IGA doesn’t have it anymore. Then he found out that all the Stripes quit carrying G & P, Mike & Ike, and Hot Tamales...the Tres Amigos. No go as well at the Island Candy store. So he put in a special order at Snappy’s. Can you believe it’s that hard to get a sweet treat for his sweetie? How can they call it that if there isn’t Plenty?

Turtle Lecture at MSI We did go to an interesting lecture on Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles at UTMSI given by Lucy Guin, a scientist who works with Donna Shaver at the Padre Island National Seashore. The Kemp’s Ridleys are surviving as a species thanks to great efforts by conservation minded folks over the last sixty years, recovering from a population low of 700 to many thousands now.

Watch for more info at Hatchling Hotline at 361-949-7163 and look at Sea Turtle Hatchling Releases - Padre Island National Seashore at www.nps.gov/pais/naturescience/releases.htm.

Green Turtle Release at MSI Toward the end of the lecture, the crowd was invited to come the next day and watch some Green Turtles be released off the jetty into the channel. Nine turtles, all about four years old with shells the size of a dinner plate have been waiting for the last month in the tanks in the ARK for the bay water to warm up before going home again. I got to watch Tony Amos and his crew weigh and measure the 3-4 year olds; each of these previously cold-stunned turtles is numbered, photographed and remembered in the data base. Many people gathered to watch them get handed down the rocks and swim to freedom. They eat the plants and small sea life that occur along the rock wall and in the marinas.

Free Pancakes Here’s something cool. My friends Joe and Tiffany over at Duckworth’s Antiques on Cotter Street in Port A want to do something for the community and plan to have a free Pancake Breakfast on February 9th from 9-11 a.m.. The event is sponsored by Castaways Restaurant and the Duckworth Antique Store and to basically, ““BRING THE COMUNITY TOGETHER FOR FUN!” No politics, no agendas… just free pancakes. If you know Tiffany and Joe, this makes sense. Bring your own coffee cup. Billy Snipes and Uel Jackson will be on hand to make some music.

FROM PORT ARANSAS PARKS & REC

Share your talent with the public. FREE to show off & FREE to attend. It will be held at the Community Center, 408 N. Alister on Monday, Feb. 4, 1-4 pm. Contact Pam Greene at 7494158 or pamg@cityofportaransas.org to reserve a spot for your wares. Vendors will be able to get in early to set up. Don’t have a hobby… come see what others do. Know someone with hobby? Spread the word.

Winter Sounds The second concert this year will feature Shirley Fischer, and is set for Monday, Feb.4.

She will perform at 7pm, at the Port Aransas Community Theatre, 2327 State Hwy 361.

The concert is free and is limited to first come, first serve seat availability. Fischer is a longtime island resident, who sings a variety of folk, country, blue grass and old-time rock-nroll on guitar and vocals. This is the fourth year PACT partnered with Parks & Rec to provide the musical entertainment. Wine, beer will be available for a donation to PACT and soft drinks, water and snacks will be sold by PACT.

We’re Having Fun Get out and make something special each week at the We’re Having Fun (WHF) Activities.

Every Tuesday we learn how to ~or not to~ make or do something [sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t]…but we always have fun! They are held in the Girl Scout hut, 739 W. Ave. A, at 2pm.

All activities are FREE with supplies provided unless otherwise stated. Open to everyone.

Get started now to be ready for the annual Citywide Garage Sale. Co-sponsored by the City of Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department and Keep Port Aransas Beautiful (KPAB), it will be held on Saturday, Feb. 16.

Individuals and businesses all around Port Aransas are encouraged to clear out unwanted items and make them available for a new home.

It is part of the two entities part in repurposing items and keeping them out of landfills. Anyone may hold a sale on that day. If you don’t have a sale site, tables will be available in the Community Center to rent to sell your treasures.

Contact Darlene Secich, Event Chairman for KPAB for this year at 749-7144 to get a table. Maps will be made by Parks and Rec Community Program Coordinator Pam Greene, as well as listing in the papers. To be listed in the paper, contact Greene at 749-4158 or pamg@ cityofportaransas.org by noon on Friday, Feb. 8.

To be listed on the map, get address to Greene by noon on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Maps will be ready for pick up on Friday morning at the Parks and Recreation office, City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce. They also will be available at the Community Center on Saturday morning. Maps can be emailed on request by emailing Greene at address listed. Last year 1,200 maps were printed and distributed for the 50 sites, so make use of this free citywide event.

2nd Annual Hobby Day

Get a Western fix at the next P.A. Movie Time set for Friday, Feb. 8. The movie will start around 6:55 pm, at the Community Center, 408 N. Alister St. FREE with free popcorn, open to all. Doors open at 6:30 pm with Marion Fersing playing piano to entertain until the popcorn is ready. “My Pal Trigger” (1947) starring Roy Rogers will be shown.“Gabby refuses to breed his horse the Golden Sovereign with Roy’s. When the Sovereign and Roy’s horse escape, Skoville shoots the Sovereign by accident and Roy is blamed.”

Yoga on the beach

An ARK Volunteer releases a turtle at UTMSI

Stretch in a natural setting at the monthly Yoga on the Beach. This month’s class will be on Saturday, Feb. 9, 8am, courtesy of the Parks and Recreation Department. Meet at Horace Caldwell Pier at end of Beach Street.

Bring mat or towel suitable for use on beach.

Be on time, as instructor Nancy Myers will take class to inside location if weather is bad.

Pedaling in the Preserve Grease those wheels and take your bike to the

Feb 5 – Painting Carpet Squares, create unique mats using stencils or freehand Feb 12 – Beignets: For Mardi Gras, we will be making [and eating] beignets, just like at Café Du Monde in New Orleans-Yum!!!

Feb 19 – Shaped Flowers, create oneof-a-kind flowers several ways with Shirley Fischer conducts her monthly Beach Walk in different supplies … from tissue paper Port A or plastic spoons or bottle caps.

Port Aransas Nature Preserve for Pedaling in Brown Bag Lecture Series the Preserve. Held twice a month, the second Wednesdays at 12 Noon at the Community and fourth Monday, this month’s scheduled Center, 408 N. Alister St. Doors open at 11:30 rides will be Feb. 11 and 25. We start at 10am, with Marion Fersing playing piano Bring a from the pavilion. All ages welcome to join the lunch and learn about different topics from free leisurely ride through the Preserve. people in the know. Free, open to all.

Feb 6: Tony Amos, Animal Rehabilitation Keep at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute Feb 13 – Rick Pratt, Port A history Feb 20 – Dwight Sokoll, Port Aransas Nature Photo slideshow

Walk & Talk

Citywide Garage Sale

P.A. Movie Time

The public is invited to stroll through the Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie’s Pasture twice each month. Walk & Talk is held the first and third Thursday of each month. The next walk will be Thursday, Feb. 7, 9am, All ages welcome. Meet at pavilion in Port Aransas Nature Preserve for a casual stroll and socializing through the Preserve.

Turtle and Tortoises Check out the collection of turtles and tortoises owned by Master Naturalist Mike McClure on Thursday, Feb. 7. McClure, who is the grounds supervisor for Parks and recreation and a Master Gardner as well, has a vast assortment of both along with snakes, lizards, and other reptiles. He will only be bringing the turtles and tortoises for this show, but they will be well worth coming to see. McClure will tell all about each species as he shows them off. Meet at the Community Center at 12 noon. The show is free and open to the public.

Winter Walking Tour This is a real nature walk held Friday, 9:32am.

With the blessing of the City of Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department, this tour is held the second Friday December through March. Meet at pavilion in Port Aransas Nature Preserve for a 2-mile guided tour of local flora and fauna by Docent Judy Perkins of the Mission-Aransas Reserve. It is free and open to all.

Got a hobby that has become something more?

Islan da

nd P

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Locally Owned by Island Resident

Bill Schroeder 15481 SPID Just past Whitecap on Right

ort

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The Pest Control Professionals Islan OVER 30 YEAR EXPERIENCE dB ase dP est Con trol Com pan y.

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Residential and Commercial Services Termite * Ants * Rodent * Critter * Roaches * Spiders * Fleas

Keynote speaker is Dr. George Archibald, an award-winning conservationist known globally as the world’s leading scientific authority on cranes. The National Audubon Society recently awarded Dr. Archibald the Lufkin Prize of $100,000 for his long career in conservation. The United Nations placed him on the Global 500 Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement.

Dr. Archibald’s topic will be “Helping Cranes Survive Development in the Land of Genghis Khan - Mongolia.” Other interesting speakers will include Aransas National Wildlife Refuge whooping crane coordinator Dr. Wade Harrell, Dr. Robin Doughty speaking on the Common Crane making a comeback in England, Dr. Sammy King presenting how rice, crawfish and marshes relate to the introduction of the Whooping Crane to Southwestern Louisiana, among others in the birding and nature field to complete the Festival activities.

Early registration is open online at www. whoopingcranefestival.org.

About Port Aransas & Mustang Island Birding The Coastal Bend of Texas, where the lower Gulf Coast bends into a long crescent, is one the birdiest places in Texas and boasts more than

February 21-24, 2013 Port Aransas, Texas www.whoopingcranefestival.org 45-COAST

or

(800)

(Port Aransas, TX) Exciting new opportunities abound this year during the Whooping Crane Festival taking place next month, February 21-24 in Port Aransas, Texas. Enjoy an early morning continental breakfast and update on the cranes with Dr. George Archibald, International Crane Foundation’s co-founder, before boarding the Wharf Cat catamaran for a boat tour to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to see the endangered Whooping Cranes. This tour is only being offered two times during the Festival with limited capacity – so we encourage you to register online now.

Hummingbird lecture Speaking about one of the smallest and most intriguing species, the hummingbird, will be Dr. Juan Bahamon. A Corpus Christi physician and avid photographer, his passion at capturing photos of these flying jewels, stories about his travels to South America and his eye for photographing hummers is sure to entice birders of any nature.

Nature photography trip If nature photography is on your life list, be sure to catch Sean Fitzgerald’s’ newest trip aboard the Mustang to capture beauty on the water. You’ll have the opportunity to capture photos of bottlenose dolphins, birds, beautiful landscapes, and the historic Lydia Ann Lighthouse. Sean will help with techniques and composition as the encounter is happening.

All levels of expertise are welcome, but having attended one of Fitzgerald’s photography workshops is recommended.

The four-day festival attracts hundreds of birding enthusiasts each year and features world-renowned speakers, birding experts, boating excursions, as well as guided bird and nature bus tours. Exhibits, interactive workshops and seminars, a charming children’s art exhibit, and free nature-related “Bird’s

Pad re

Dr. George Archibald will be the keynote speaker

17th Annual Whooping Crane Festival

Exhibits, workshops & seminars

Trust

Nest” trade show. The 17th Annual Whooping Crane Festival offers the opportunity to see and experience a plethora of additional wildlife including white and brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills, cinnamon teal and even alligators.

Tony Amos prepares to release a turtle at UTMSI 150 nature and birding sites. Port Aransas has been named ‘America’s Birdiest Small Coastal City’ for the past three years. Located at the convergence of the migration superhighways, the Mississippi and Central flyways, the area including Port Aransas and Mustang Island are the perfect place to view hundreds of different bird species as they stop and refuel before heading north or south. Many stay and winter in Port Aransas. From the natural wetlands, inlets and miles of beaches and dunes, to the rock jetties, piers and boats, the area offers dozens of perfect vantage points to view all the birds that call Port Aransas and Mustang Island “The Nest of Texas.”

FROM THE JELM Terry Smith Concert Terry Smith will do two shows on February 6th in the Pollock Center. Tickets for these performances are free – we do ask for a free will donation. Terry is a tremendous singer-song writer, who was born in Texas but now hails from Nashville. He has visited Port Aransas these past few years and has done shows for us every time he visits. There are just a few tickets left! We still have plenty of tickets left for the Goldwing Express concerts on February 11th and 13th. These tickets are $8 each and there are two shows both days, one at 1pm and one at 6pm. The Goldwing Express hail from Branson and they have been to our venue once before.

Frostbite Betty continued on A8

January 31, 2013

Island Moon

On the Way to Suchitoto - Part 2

Una Sorpresa (A Surprise)

By Brent Rourk

The Road to Suchitoto In the first part of On the Way to Suchitoto, I shared my adventures in El Salvador In November 2012. I wrote about exploring the capital, San Salvador, and its many surprises.

I also wrote about my adventures in the mountains as we viewed volcanoes. I mentioned that we explored Mayan Ruins, tying together the Mayan civilization in El Salvador with the Mayans in the rest of Central America. The entire week had been truly amazing. So that brought us to my last full day in El Salvador, Friday.

I had arranged to take a leisurely drive to Suchitoto on Friday and was beginning to regret that I did not plan another activity or area to explore. But plans were plans so I felt obliged to take the Suchitoto trip. My guide Danni and driver Antonio, and I chatted about El Salvador and its people as we slowly escaped the pull, sight, and smell of San Salvador traffic.

A few ‘photo op’ stops permitted us to stretch and discuss another factoid or two about El Salvador. Generally, the drive was without memorable views or moments, until we reached a little town where I saw about three murals on the fronts of very small houses. I asked Antonio to stop immediately so that I could take a few photographs. He instantly obliged, just as he had all week, pulling off of the busy two lane highway that went through this town and skillfully parking where I could take photos from the car. I mentioned how cool the murals were, especially in a small and poor looking town.

It was then that Danni spoke up, “Remember the town I told you about Brent? (Not waiting for an answer, he continued) This is my town, where I live.” It all came together and I was enchanted by these few murals. Enthusiastically, I snapped photos while commenting about how beautiful and large they were. Danni was proud of them and of his town, San Bartolome Perulapia.

San Bartolome mural into Antonio’s small car and headed to the other side of town. The mayor led us to two houses where the baskets were made by two different families. In one house skilled basket makers quickly crafted baskets with only one hand and one foot. I was amazed as these poor families showed unparalleled skill, coordination, and craftsmanship in fabricating these large baskets.

Working quickly and efficiently, they could

We returned to the Mayor’s office where the mayor asked me more questions. We chatted about his town and about other things that could be done to transform the town. The mayor left his office for a few minutes, giving me time to survey his office and chat with Danni and Antonio about the day so far. The mayor returned and we continued our conversation.

Within a few minutes the mayor called in his assistant and reviewed some papers. The assistant left but returned a few minutes later with more papers. The mayor quickly reviewed them, nodded his head, and smiled. It was at that time that the Mayor explained that he was immensely pleased that I was taking an interest in his town and that I had obviously thought about ideas that might be implemented to help his town. He then explained that I was being honored with the title of Ambassador of Tourism for Municipality of San Bartolome Perulapia in El Salvador.

In a short ceremony he presented me with an official letter from his town. Danni exchanged roles with me and became the photographer, capturing an image of the mayor presenting me with the certificate. I was shocked and humbled.

He thanked me for my time and ideas. He insisted that we stay in contact.

San Bartolome mural make six to seven baskets a day, which they could sell for up to $2.00 a basket when the demand was there. At the other house, equally skilled basket makers worked quickly to fashion different sized baskets.

The mayor, Danni, Antonio and I walked through several streets of this poor town and in each instance the mayor introduced me to the friendly citizens. He took great pride as he explained to his townspeople that I traveled the world and was a photographer (all his words, not mine) and would write articles about this town and also try to help draw more tourists there. Each time the townspeople would nod their head positively and then smile at me appreciatively. Please note that at this point I had made no promises to the mayor.

El Alcalde (The Mayor)

Las Cocineras (The Cooks)

It was then that Danni asked me if I wanted to meet ‘El Alcalde’, the mayor, of the town. I was pleased. So we went to the mayor’s office – a small and spartan set of old offices in a small, old, one story building. The mayor was not there. Danni chatted with an official and explained why he wanted the mayor, letting the official know that there was a guest (me) who he wanted the mayor to meet. Danni, Antonio, and I walked down the street to take more photographs and see a few other areas of the town. Within 15 minutes a person from the office tracked us down (on foot) and informed us that the mayor had returned and was requesting our presence. On the way back to the mayor’s office we ran into the two painters who are currently

The mayor then took us down a dirt path next to some very small corn fields to the back of a very modest house where over a dozen women were making tamales and other food for a

We arrived in Suchitoto about 30 minutes after leaving San Bartolome Perulapia. I was still amazed at what had happened the past 4 hours. I took many photographs of quaint Suchitoto and of the gorgeous lake while we ate a bountiful and scrumptious late lunch. The day had been perfect, as had the visit to El Salvador…except that I was not able to purchase any hand-made tapestries from locals (something I always do during my travels). I accepted that fact and reminded myself that I had just experienced an incredible day. It was getting late and we needed to return to San Salvador. I was leaving for the United States the next morning. We walked towards Antonio’s car that was parked next to the town’s small and historical central park. I asked Danni and Antonio if they were thirsty, suggesting that we might need something to drink during the long, traffic-filled ride back to San Salvador. I told them that I would buy their sodas and waters. That was the tipping point.

Canastas (Baskets) Once at the mayor’s office we chatted about how lovely the city was and how the murals improve the look and feel of the town. The mayor asked me questions about myself and my travels. He then asked me about ideas to draw more people to the town. We chatted for 30 minutes about how to accomplish that. I asked him about some baskets that I had seen in the town, specifically wanting to know if they were made locally and if I could see the factory. He smiled and directed us outside where we herded

Within 30 feet there was an old open store front and it looked like they had refreshments.

I walked inside to see a lady well into her 80s sitting and quietly doing some embroidery with well-worn and gnarled hands. I asked her if she was selling that piece (after introducing myself and sharing my love of hand-made tapestries). She informed me that it was already sold and that she had sold everything else she had; however, there was a group of local ladies that sold their hand-made work at a small store several blocks away. I thanked her and the three

The lake at Suchitoto of us packed up our drinks and followed her directions. We found a small store front. Argh!

Closed. But a lady inside came to the door and opened it with a smile. We spent the next 20 minutes there chatting about the wonderful hand embroidery that graced the walls and filled the display racks. I found a few gorgeous handmade pieces. The trip was complete.

Epilogue My trip to El Salvador began with some real concerns about safety, the hope of having a few memorable experiences, the quest to take some fine photographs and the satisfaction that El Salvador was the last Central American that I had not visited. It ended up being one of my best travels yet and the day that I had anticipated being the least exciting turned out to be one of the most satisfying days of travel ever. Since that day I have communicated with both Danni and the mayor, sharing lists of ideas, including the idea of trying to gain UNESCO status for San Bartolome Perulapia. Danni recently informed me that they are working on making their town a cultural center of the country, including UNESCO status. It will take time, but with the mayor’s determination and Danni’s motivation, I think that they will achieve their goals.

Preparing for the festival in San Bartolome.

Restaurant

& Wine Bar

Making tamales

creating the murals. They were taking a short break from painting two more murals.

Parrot in Suchitoto.

Suchitoto

He asked me if I liked the murals. I shared with him that I thought that they were incredible and that the town should be covered in murals. I mentioned that the town could become a major draw for locals and tourists alike. He asked me if I wanted to see more murals. We saw several more and then he asked me if I had ideas that could draw more people to his town. I shared as many as I could, thinking about art, food, culture, hotels, parks, churches, and landscapes.

We also shared who to draw and how to draw them to his enchanting town.

San Bartolome basket making family

A7

celebration that evening at a local church. The women worked under the covered back porch. It was unceasingly hot and the covered back porch did more to keep the heat in than keep it out.

Large open wood fires contributed to the searing conditions. The cooks were apparently making thousands of tamales, volunteering their time and love to feed the townspeople during this celebration. The mayor explained my presence and the group of ladies allowed me to ask as many questions as I could and to take as many photographs as I wanted. They worked well together and in spite of poverty, hot working conditions, and crowded space, their hands were blurs as they made the tamales and other foods. They seemed pleased to be able to create the feast for the celebration and took great care as they made and rolled every tamale by hand.

I was immensely interested in this town and very appreciative of the fact that Danni and the mayor took me to places where tourists had not visited and introduced me to people who most visitors to El Salvador would never have the opportunity to meet. They took me to the house and studio of a famous El Salvador artist who had painted murals on all of the inside and outside walls.

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A 8

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Builder’s Association of Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi Roots John arrived in Corpus Christi, at age 3, when his parents relocated from Austin. His father is Bill Pope, a Real Estate Broker, who also built homes. John attended King High School before leaving to spend one year at Texas Tech. However, Texas A & M, College Station proved to be a better fit and there he studied Agri Business, with a major in Finance. During a Career Fair at Texas A & M, John was introduced to a Houston based Construction Firm, Royce Homes. A job offer quickly appeared on his computer and Houston became his next stop. Royce Homes was the largest “ privately held” construction and sales organization in Houston. They bought lots from other developers or purchased subdivisions from “distressed” developers, thereby making construction and sales their primary focus to turn approximately 1700 homes per year. John was hired as a Construction Manager, where he walked through all the homes, for which he was responsible, 2 or 3 times per day. After a promotion to Project Manager, he became responsible for supervising 10 Construction Managers and 10 New Home Sales Counselors.

He managed about 5 separate subdivisions, with

at least two model homes per subdivision, that resulted in approximately 200 closings per year.

Return to Corpus Christi By 2006, John felt confident enough to return to Corpus Christi and start building homes under the name “Newcastle Homes”. Starting on the Southside of Corpus Christi, he built six homes in 2006, eight homes in 2007, seven homes in 2008, including his first Island construction on Moro. His record continued with nine homes in 2009 and eleven homes in 2010. Since then, he has lost track of the exact number. No wonder, that record leaves little time for reflection. During our conversation, I inquired about his source for home plans. He does use local architects and home designers.

In fact, his Parade of Homes entry last year, on Whitecap, was designed by Jackie Carlson and was a major award winner, after being judged along with all other homes in the 2012 Parade of Homes. He has purchased her plans and a lot on Flintlock for a second venture, but has not had time to begin construction. John has built a reliable entourage of subcontractors, through the years, but still looks for unique home designs, when he attends Builder Shows. In the past, John has built three homes, in the Del Mar area, that featured “historical” architecture, even though the previous home had been removed and a completely new home was built, in it’s place. I am always encouraged when I see young talent able to succeed, in a very tough profession. We are lucky to have John Pope, as an Island resident, who is willing to share his time and talent to promote our future growth, with quality construction. Being informed is a good thing.

Island Real Estate Ticker 3

Multi Family Units For Sale From $319,500 to $2,500,000

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Island Lots and Land For Sale

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Parcels on a Canal or Water From $98,900 to $1,850,250

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Parcels not on the Water From $25,000 to $1,529,000

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Attached Homes For Sale From $58,000 to $529,000

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Detached Homes on the Water From $224,900 to $2,200,000

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Detached Homes not on the Water From $145,900 to $315,000

Frostbite Betty continued from A6 Glass Jewelry Class Gretchen Burt is doing a Wire-wrapped Beach Glass Jewelry class on Wednesday February 6th at 1pm in a JELM Classroom. The Two Sisters Arts ‘n Crafts ladies are teaching how to make a Boa Scarf and Matching Pin on Thursday, February 7th at 1pm in a JELM classroom.

Beginning Computer Class Fred Lorraine of Paradise Computer in Port A is teaching Computer classes at 1pm on Wednesday afternoons. Call the JELM office at 749-5321 for more information.

Bridge Lessons Bridge lessons are taught on Tuesday afternoons at 1pm by Arlene Vidale. These are held in the JELM classroom.

Matting Workshop A one-time how to frame, cut mats and such workshop for our art students will be held on Wednesday, February 6th at 9:30 in the Hospitality Room. You must bring your own frames, art work and mats to participate. Class lasts 2 hours. This class is for people all ready taking Painting or Drawing at the JELM and is taught by Peggy Mooers.

February Trips Space is still available for these February trips: Frank Sinatra and Friends Valentine’s Day dance and Luncheon, 2/14 bus leaves JELM 9:30 – cost: $30 South Texas ‘Opry , 2/21 bus leaves JELM 5:30 – cost: $22 Birding in Welder Wildlife Refuge, 2/26 bus leaves JELM 8am – cost: $38 (includes lunch) The University of Texas Marine Science Institute Visitor Center (located on Cotter near beach) Port Aransas, TX (361) 749-6729

January 31, 2013

Police Blotter

Real Estate Roundup

When I first joined the Builder’s Association of Corpus Christi, I attended their membership luncheon and it just happened to be the Installation of Officers for the year 2012. The new President came to the podium and I was shocked to see this young “Ricky Nelson” look alike raise his right hand and take the Oath of Office and receive the gavel for his tenure of office. That was my first impression of John Pope, even though I had seen “Newcastle” home signs on construction sites around the Island. When you first enter a territory, it is hard to make all the connections and understand all the relationships. Now, after a year of observation, I have nothing but admiration for this hard working and knowledgable young professional. When I called him with a last minute plea for an interview, he kindly agreed to fit me into his “overloaded” schedule. I say overloaded, because he has several new homes being constructed on the Island and he is the lead “builder” on the Parade of Homes Showcase House, that is built every year by the “Past President’s Council, within the Builder’s Association. It is the primary source of income to meet the annual Association budget and this year it is being constructed on Gypsy across from the church and Billish Park. All of the materials and services used to construct this home are supposed to be either donated or supplied, at a discounted rate. That is a major commitment for members of the Builder’s Association, to promote and sustain their organization.

Truck Drives in Packery Channel 14400 Gulf Beach Road North Packery January 28 3:30 a.m.

Police were called to Gulf Beach Road for a one vehicle accident involving a truck. Upon their arrival, Officers found a submerged brown Chevrolet pickup truck. The 25-yearold driver and his 21-year-old passenger told Officers they were traveling southbound on Gulf Beach Road when they failed to see the jetties and drove into the water.

The man and woman were able to escape and both were treated at the scene by CCFD Emergency Personnel. Both refused to be taken to the hospital for their injuries. The area was marked for our Dive Team to recover the truck. The driver was not cited, but the accident is still under investigation.

Island Police Calls Beach Marker 199 (North Packery) 9:41 p.m. January 26 Interfere with public duties 14200 block Playa Del Rey 9:20 a.m.

January 24 Burglary of habitation 14200 block SPID 7:18 a.m. January 23 Burglary of building 13300 block SPID 5:35 p.m. January 28 Stolen vehicle recovered 14400 block SH 361 3:30 a.m. January 26 Assault with injury 15200 block SPID 7:10 p.m. January 23 Gasoline theft 13800 block Halyard 12:30 p.m. January 23 Criminal mischief 15300 block Yardarm 3:06 p.m. January 23 Harassment 13500 block Camino de Plata 8 p.m.

January 23 Burglary from vehicle 15200 block Caravel 1:44 p.m. January 25 Warrant

Flour Bluff police Calls 4100 block Annette 6 a.m. January 24 Theft of vehicle parts 3000 block Laguna Shores 7:56 p.m.

January 28 Gasoline theft 400 block Mediterranean 6:27 a.m.

January 24 Criminal mischief over $50 3000 block Waldron Road 2 p.m. January 25 Theft over $50 2700 block Ransom Island Dr. 9:47 a.m.

January 28 Theft over $50 600 block Sandy Oaks 5:54 p.m. January 24 Found property

MOVIE SCHEDULE January 31 – February 13, 2013 Monday - 3 p.m.

Cancelled: February 11th

Birds of the Gods (60 min) Living in the depths of the New Guinean Rainforest are birds of unimaginable color and beauty. But to find these birds in New Guinea is one of the toughest assignments and to witness their extraordinary mating displays is even tougher. David Attenborough introduces a young team of New Guinean scientists on a grueling expedition to find and film these Birds of Paradise; the holy grail of wildlife filmmakers.

700 block Glenoak 1:30 p.m. January 26 Assault 2700 block St. Joseph Midnight January 27 Credit card abuse 2500 block Waldron 3:30 p.m. January 24 Criminal trespass 2200 block Baffin Bay 8 p.m. January 25 Assault with threats 2200 block Versailles Midnight January 26 Theft over $500

900 block Admiral 12:04 a.m. January 23 Assault family violence choking 1400 block Waldron 3:48 p.m. January 23 Interfere with child custody 9400 block SPID 3:18 p.m. January 23 Theft over $50 9300 block SPID 6:31 p.m. January 25 Found property 9400 block SPID 4:56 a.m. January 29 Assault with injury 800 block Quetzal 1:59 p.m. January 26 Assault with injury 400 block Carleta 8:10 p.m. January 25 Harassment 500 block 3:30 p.m. January 25 DOA 700 block Oriole 4:55 a.m. January 27 Assault with injury 1100 block Oberste 11:45 p.m. January 23 Theft of services 1200 block Flour Bluff Dr. 3:40 p.m.

January 27 Shoplifting 10700 block SPID 1:29 a.m. January 26 Urinating or defecating in public

Moon Lost and Found We’re getting quite the collection of found items here at the Word Factory.

In the Moon Found Department, so far we have two coats, each of which has a set of car and house keys in the pocket, and one of which has some cash in an envelope with a name on it in the pocket, and a pair of sunglasses that appear to be prescription.

In the Moon Lost Department Moon reader Bob lost a set of car keys in the parking lot at HEB in Flour Bluff which has an electronic key to his car door. So if you found some keys in the HEB parking lot call Bob at 479 8552291.

If you lost some keys, sunglasses, or a coat; or an envelope with cash call us here at 9497700 and claim you items. But be warned if you call up and guess at how much cash was in the envelope or what name was on it the Moon Munchkin Enforcement Squad will let the air out of your tires.

Tuesday - 3 p.m. Cancelled: February 12th

The Great Rift: Water (58 min) Explore the underwater life that the Great Rift boasts, and the interesting food chain that has been developing for thousands of years. Also, discussed is how water and the lack of it has affected the evolution of plants and animals in the area.

Wednesday - 3 p.m. Cancelled: February 13th

Kingdom of the Seahorse

(56 min) Learn about the complex and beautiful world of sea horses and threats to their existence.

Thursday - 3 p.m.

Chasing Giants: On the Trail of the Giant Squid (86 min) For as long as Man has gone to sea there have been tales of terrible sea monsters. None have fed our imaginations more than the eight armed beast with eyes the size of volleyballs the Giant Squid. New Zealand scientist Steve O’Shea follows the evidence to help solve the mystery of the Giant Squid – and give us our first image of the animal alive.

14701 SPID, Corpus Christi, Tx 78418, 361-949-2224 Facebook for daily specials: Dragonfly Restaurant Menu online at www.DragonflyCuracao.com

NO MOVIES ON FRIDAY Movies may be cancelled/substituted without notice

Heroes Wanted

Methodist Home hasMethodist been around sinceHome 1890.provides Methodist Methodist Children’s Home has beenChildren’s around since 1890.

Children’s service

Children’s Home provides services to more than 1,400 children and youth daily. Our Community Service outreach office is located at 3833 care enables families to open their hearts to children cannot live with parents S Staples, Suiteand N homes 218. Foster care who enables families totheir open their due heartscan and homes to children who cannot withas their parents duegrow circumstances. Foster families make a positive, lifelong impact on live children they help them to family circumstances. Foster families can make a positive, lifelong spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. Foster care provides a temporary living arrangement. Method impact on children as they help them grow physically, spiritually, will be holding an orientation please calland Michelle Abundez at 361-334-2255. emotionally intellectually.

Foster care provides a temporary living arrangement. Methodist Children’s Home will be holding an orientation please call Michelle Abundez at 361-334-2255.

1,400 children and youth daily. Our Community Service outreach office is located at 3833 S Staples, S

January 31, 2013

Padre Island Baptist Church Surf n Turf Race

Island Moon

A9

Art on Display: Hearts for the Arts Silent Auction

You may Place Your Bids to own your favorite pieces in this Fundraising Auction in time for Valentine’s Gifting! Hearts for the Arts is an annual fundraiser for the Port Aransas Art Center. Member Artists create something very special and donate it to this Auction. Bidding is open for 2 weeks and closes just in time for Valentine’s giving. We had a bid on almost every item last year and the total hit a new high as well, so let’s do it again! Bid with your Heart & we Hope to see you there!

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January 31, 2013

COLDWELL BANKER ISLAND, REALTORS 14945 S. Padre Island Dr., Corpus Chris�, TX 78418

(361) 949‐7077 or (800) 580‐7077 www.cbir.com

ISLAND, REALTORS

Sale Pending!

Immaculate home, sensational courtyard, open floor plan, granite countered kitchen, southeast exposure on a wide canal in Ports O’ Call. Dorothy 563-8486.

Enjoy the Good Life. This two bedroom, 2.5 bath at El Constante comes fully furnished. Awesome views of the Gulf of Mexico. Call Terry 549-7703.

13541 Ducat fabulous waterfront home on 75’x120’ lot. 3-4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, Trex decks.

Too many extras to list $600,000.

Call Cindy Molnar 549-5557.

15397 Caravel Beautiful totally updated home on fingertip lot 3/2.5/2 with 2 living areas, wood/ tile flooring and granite throughout. $649,900. Cindy 549-5557.

15905 Punta Bonaire $595,000. 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, concrete saltwater pool, boat lift, too many extras to list.

Call Charlie Knoll 443-2499.

Sale Pending!

Beautiful Golf Course Home!

4/2.5/2, two living, covered patio, crown molding, granite countertops!

14006 Rudder Ct. $315,000. Call Shonna today 510-3445 to see.

3442 Paradise Dr. 4/3.5/3 $324,900. 1.7 acres of land with lots of mature trees, water well, 2 living and 2 dining. Call Charlie Knoll 443-2499.

13821 Hawksnest Bay new construction by Seaquist Homes. 3-2-2 w/multipurpose room.

Covered patio. Rocked front + landscaped.

Lots of tile. Cheryl 563-0444.

13721 Cayo Cantiles 3/2/2,1926 sq.ft of living area, nice deck area w/great views. Located on a wide canal w/quick ICW access. Call Terry or Charlie. $295,000.

15942 El Soccorro Loop stunning stucco home on East facing lot w/room for a pool. 3/2.5/2 with a study, boat lift & many updates. $405,000. Cindy 549-5557.

Beautifully Updated 3-2-2 w/ multi purpose room. Split bedrooms. Gas stove. Tile & bamboo floors. Plantation shutters.

Large backyard. Cheryl 5630444.

New Construction 13917 Suntan. 3/2 plus study-2,351 sf.

Open, split plan. Granite throughout, crown molding, arches, covered patio. Call Pam Morgan 215 -8116.

This two story home sits on over 1 acre of land. Water well with sprinkler system. Four bedrooms with four baths. 3 car garage.

Two living & 2 eating areas. Call Terry Cox 549-7703. $379,900.

Anchor Resort—Fully furnished & move in ready unit. 2 bedrooms plus a loft, 1.5 bathrooms. $85,000. Call Laura (361) 8152116.

722 St. Lucy $149,900 3/2.5/1.

1624 sq.ft of living area. 2 living areas. All bedrooms up. Nice landscaping. Above ground pool.

Charlie 361-443-2499.

Mediterranean Bea uty — Waterfront, new construction by Seaquist. 3-2.5-2. Huge game room. Master down. High impact windows. Still time to choose colors. Cheryl.

25,570 sq.ft. feet int. lot in Coquina Bay. Two story with 4 bdrms-2207 sq. feet- $209,000.

Call Dorothy @ 563-8486.

15713 Cuttysark 3/2.5/1 lovely Island home. New roof 2010, new exterior paint 2012. Large yard with room for a pool. $145,900.

Laura Wallace (361) 815-2116.

13817 Doubloon impeccable waterfront with separate quarters for guest or family. 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 living and 2 kitchens. $439,900. Call Cindy 549-5557.

Mystic Harbor condominium furnished one bedroom, one bath first floor unit with deeded boat slip, security entrance and onsite pool. $89,900. Cindy 549-5557.

14945 S. Padre Island Dr. Corpus Chris�, TX 78418 (361) 949‐2131 (877) 269‐2131

www.rentpadreisland.com Superior Service, Outstanding Reputa�on since 1999 Looking for Professional Long Term Property Management Services?

Our services include:  Tenant Qualifying  Collec�ons of Rents  Coordina�ng Repairs & Maintenance  Professional Itemized Monthly Statements  Marke�ng/Adver�sing

Open Saturday & Sunday

14126 Coquina Bay. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths + den/office, 2 car garage.

1859 sq.ft. of living area. Tile and granite throughout. Open floor plan. $208,208. Charlie Knoll 443-2499.

Hurry to pick your colors. New construction-13913 Suntan. 4/2.5, split plan.

Granite counters throughout, crown mold ing. $239,000. Call Pam Morgan 215 -8116.

Mediterranean Beauty—3-2.5-2 East facing patio & deck on large water. Master down. Free flowing floorplan. Courtyard entrance.

Call Cheryl 361-563-0444.

3266 Roscher—zoned for horses, near 5 acres. 2 story home 3-2.52. Backs up to the Oso Bay, private beach, fishing pier, pool.

Cheryl or Mary Lou.

121 Gulfstream $209,900 Beautiful 1st floor unit, ss appliances/granite countertop. Updated furnishings. Easy pool/beach access. Call Shonna 510-3445.

2201 Oak Crest $139,900. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths plus an 2 additional rooms.

Pool on the grounds. Call Charlie 361-4432499.

Looking for Long Term Rental Property?

Below are some of our available rentals:

Beach Club #137 1/1 $850

Portono #705 2/2 $1800 furnished

15422 Salt Cay #F 1/1 $725

15422 Salt Cay #C 1/1 $725

Casa Europa #22 1/1 $725

15330 Cruiser #B 3/2/1 $1350

13850 Longboat $3/3/2 $1600

Seascape Villa #B‐5 1/1 $1200 all bills paid

13765 Eaglesnest 3/2/2 $2300 pool

Waterfront Lots for Sale!!

Bounty $109,900 Palo Seco $154,900 San Felipe $200,000 Fortuna Bay waterfront condo 3 -2 w/boatslip. Recently updated.

Furnished. Just bring your suitcase & enjoy. HOA pool, cabana, spa. Cheryl 361-563-0444.

3918 Gulfton 3/2/2 $124,900.

1369 sq.ft. well maintained house with a nice location. New countertops & backsplash. Call Charlie 443-2499 or Jeremy 960-7873.

Cuttysark $189,000 For More Info Call: Terry Cox 549-7703 Charlie Knoll 443-2499

www.coldwellbanker.com