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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
March 28, 2013
Photo by Dale Rankin
The only Island in Texas where every day is a little like April Fool’s Day Next Publication Date: 4/4/2013
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
This was one of those weeks where if you don’t like the weather just wait a few minutes and it will change. We’ve seen forty-plus mph winds and we’ve seen beautiful calm days and we’ve seen thick fog. About the only thing we haven’t seen is rain, but then we’re used to that. The water temps are staying low for this time of year which means the southeast breeze still carries some chill after dark, but here’s betting that the current cool snap which dumped a lot of snow in the middle of the country last week on its way down here, will be our last of the season. We don’t know about you guys but when the temperature drops below seventy we Moon Monkeys break out he long underwear. We’re ready for some beach weather.
IslandBlast!
Fire in the sky on the Fourth of July Fireworks Before you know it it’ll be the Fourth of July. So now it’s time to get serious about raising the last of the $15,000 needed to put on a Big Bang fireworks show on Padre Island. It is to be the first annual and with the city council approving the permits this week things are ready to go. So now we’re at the Who Brought the Money Stage. We still need about $10,000 so anyone who can help out please contact Jerry Watkins at 331-7273 or e-mail him at jdwatkins@satx. rr.com. This is a great project and we need to make sure it happens, every little bit helps.
Congressman Blake Farenthold Congressman Blake Farenthold spoke to the Kiwanis Club Wednesday. Here are the highpoints: The Senate has passed a budget that doesn’t balance; the House has passed a budget that balances in ten years. The United States is now 7th in the world in opportunity for individuals to start their own business; Tax reform is drastically needed but “one man’s loophole is another man’s fair tax;” Washington is mired a culture where bureaucrats make decisions based on the “safest answer;” At $4.25 per MCF natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale is the cheapest in the world; Right before the budgetary sequester the Department of Homeland Security bought new 1000 new uniforms – two pairs of pants, four shirts, one belt – at a cost of $2000 dollars per uniform; They also created a nationwide ammo shortage when they bought 500 rounds per officers for target practice; Bankers are frustrated because under new laws the only criteria they can use to determine whether to give a lone is credit score. A bill is making its way through Congress that would prevent the 22-day furloughs currently planned for CCAD;
Say it ain’t so Andre Some sad news in the people department this week. Long time Islander and Beach Bum Extraordinaire Andre Lavoy has left the building – or The Island. For the past two decades Andre was a fixture along Packery Channel where his favorite pastime was spray painting seashells gold and salting the beach with them so he could take pictures of kids – of all ages – when they found them. “Those things are rare,” Andre would say, “you must be lucky.” Andre packed up and moved to Daytona Beach. He says he’ll be coming back and we hope so. The Island is a better place with you here.
Good news Now for some good news in the Moon People Department; Islander Mark Pugh who suffered a terrible bike crash some months back is back in the pulpit at Kings Crossing Church of Christ for their Easter service. It was a long and tough road but Mark made it. Congratulations Mark and say hello if you see us Around The Island
2nd Annual Padre Island Showcase, Vendor Show, and Home Tour Set for April 6-7 By Mary Lou White marylou.white@coldwellbanker.com 361-960-9460 The 2nd Annual Padre Island Showcase, Vendor Show and Home Tour is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7 from 1-5 p.m. on both days. The event is presented by the Island Moon. This is an ideal opportunity for in town friends and out of town guests to view Island homes covering all price ranges and locations. Perhaps you are already a resident, but might be thinking of down-sizing, purchasing or moving into more square footage. Whatever the circumstances, this is a once a year chance to see what is available, without waiting for an appointment. The Bonus Feature of this year’s tour is The Community Garden located in Douden Park along Coba de Bara. Gardeners will be available to tell you about their accomplishments and show you their abundant crops.
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Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Nesting Season Almost Here By Donna J. Shaver, Ph.D. National Park Service, Padre Island National Seashore E-mail: Donna_Shaver@nps.gov Most spring breakers and winter Texas have migrated home. Waters are warming, and it will not be long until Kemp’s ridley females intent on nesting here this year migrate to our local waters. In fact, some may already be here, with their first eggs of the season developing within. Nesting has already begun in Mexico, and we expect it to begin in Texas in the coming days and weeks. The earliest that we have found Kemp’s ridley nests in Texas is the first week in April. As warm as it has been, I would not be surprised if we find nests in early April this year.
Look for banners to appear on Friday April 5th, 2013. They are meant to guide visitors and locals to the Seashore Learning Center Gym on Encantada. We will have exhibitors from both sides of the Bridge,available to meet and discuss their services and products. For those who live on the Island, it is a golden opportunity to discuss your remodel, upgrade plans, or refinance needs with a real person, as opposed
16 Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Billish Park
Island Easter Egg Hunt is This Saturday! For the sixteenth year in a row a small army of kids will converge on Billish Park for the Annual Kiwanis Easter Egg hunt this Saturday. So far the Kiwanis have collected 20,000 eggs, a mountain of potato chips, and a truckload of hotdogs. It all comes together this Saturday, March 30 at 11 a.m. with a Moon jump, bouncy house sponsored by Island Baptist Church, a merry-go-round, train, and face painting for the kids. The Island in the Son Methodist Church is providing hot dogs. Things kick off at 11 a.m. and the egg hunt starts at noon with categories from babies all the way up to 12 year-olds. There will be 20,000 eggs some of which will have dollar coins donated by First Community Bank. Billish Park is located at the corner of Gypsy and Fortuna Bay. For questions or to participate as a sponsor call Signa Pappas-Prather at 361 774-0424.
2012 was a Record Year for Area Visitors The figures for tourism in the Coast Bend for 2012 have been released and show that 7.4 million people visited Corpus Christi during the year and spent $1.1 billion, making it the largest visitor attendance on record. Attractions attendance on average increased 12-15% year over year, including record attendance for the Texas State Aquarium, a 53% increase in Harbor Ferry ridership and a 15% increase in Beach Parking Permits sold. The Hotel Occupancy Tax collected $9,327,911 for an increase of 12% year over 2011 and the month of July netted the highest ever recorded monthly total. The Convention and Visitors Bureau recorded 106,000 convention room nights booked, an increase of 17% over 2011.
Nesting and egg protection
Kemp’s ridleys nest in Texas from April through mid-July. Females nest one to four times during the nesting season, at intervals of 14 to 28 days, laying an average of 100 eggs in each nest. Females provide no maternal care for their eggs, which face many human related and natural threats if left unprotected on the beach. Eggs from most nests found on North Padre Island and northward on the Texas coast are transferred to the Padre Island National Seashore incubation facility for protected care. Eggs found in some nests from the southern end of the National Seashore and all nests on South Padre and Boca Chica beaches are brought to “corrals” (large screen enclosures) for protected incubation. Moving the eggs to the incubation facility and corrals allows us not only to protect the eggs, but also to protect the resulting hatchlings as we release them on the beach and allow them to crawl into the Gulf of Mexico.
March training
Padre Island National Seashore staff members have been busy preparing
Showcase continued on A17
th
Year 16, Issue 467
Turtles continued on A4
Pothole Trucks, Drones, Street Maintenance, and Fireworks City Council Roundup from Tuesday, March 26 Editor’s note: The following is a summation of action taken by the Corpus Christi City Council this week taken from the preparation material submitted to the council members. Pothole Trucks. Council approved the leasepurchase of two Bergkamp Flameless Pothole Patchers from Freightliner of Austin, Austin, Texas for a total amount of $277,074.00. Funding is available through the Street Fund. Drone program. A resolution was approved in support of the application of Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi for Federal designation as a test range for unmanned aircraft system. On February 14, 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) solicited proposals from state and local governments, eligible
universities and other public entities to develop six unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research and test sites around the country. Through the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress directed the FAA to establish this program to conduct critical research into how best to safely integrate UAS systems into the national airspace over the next several years and what certification and navigation requirements will need to be established. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is working with Governor Rick Perry and other institutions of higher education in Texas to submit an application to be selected as one of the six test sites. Applicants have 80 days to submit their research and test-site proposal to the FAA. The FAA anticipates selection of the six test sites
A little Island history
The Die is Cast: “We will rather die in these ditches, than give it up to the enemy.” By Dale Rankin When it comes to horseshoes, wars, business, politics or pretty much anything else it’s an unalterable fact that while failure may be an orphan success has many fathers. Such was the case after Jim Bowie and a group less than 100 Texians defeated a company of almost 500 Mexicans at the Conception Mission in late 1835. Stephen F. Austin, in charge of the main Texas Army had completely missed the fight because, against orders, Jim Bowie had failed to send a message giving Bowie’s position so Austin could come up.
good friend Sam Houston. The result of the rift in command of the Texas Army caused a malaise which effectively stranded the Texans on the outskirts of San Antonio where Mexican troops had fortified the town. Command of the army shifted and swayed with the political breeze leading Bowie to resign from the army not long after he again defeated a Mexican force with 150 pack mules trying to reach San Antonio from the west with provisions. A rumor went around that the mules were loaded with silver bullion which turned out to be nothing but grass for the horses and the battle was ignominiously named the Grass Fight.
The result was that Bowie became a hero and Austin became upset. It didn’t help that Austin’s position as Statue of Benjamin Milam The Texas Revolution had Commander in Chief was also in Milam Park Downtown San Antonio being assailed by Bowie’s History continued on A3