Island MOon Section A 4-25-2013

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April 25, 2013

The Island Where Winter Came Twice in One Week

Around The Island

By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com

As we were loading the newspapers for delivery last week Winter returned. A howl blew in from the north and pretty soon a smattering of rain followed. “Winter’s back!” someone yelled, and sure enough it was; for about twenty four hours. It sang through the sailboat lines and smashed the north side of the palm trees flat and by Friday afternoon it was gone; but before it left it created a very rare event on our Island, but not that rare as it turned out because it happened again this Wednesday. Global Cooling?

Bird invasion Islander Jonathan Wood called to tell us that when the cold front blew through there happened to be huge flocks of migrating birds coming from the Yucatan who were about one hundred miles out over the Gulf of Mexico and when the cloud wall hit they had to head for land. Since there are no thermals over water for the birds to use to gain altitude by the time they made landfall on The Island they were tired and flying low. Jonathan said the mixed group included Peregrine Falcons, Red and White tailed hawks, Night Hawks, hummingbirds, and many other species. More than 100 hawks were seen in one single group. “I’ve been working with birds for fifty years,” Jonathan said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” The event lasted for about 40 minutes and then the birds moved on. But when they left, they left behind an experience that a group of bird watchers who were just coming over the JFK Causeway will never forget.

Beach patrol in Kleberg We’ve had several people call this week to tell us about Border Patrol officers working the Kleberg Beach on four-wheelers. They park their trucks and trailers on the north end of PINS at the sticks and run north on the beach. We’re not sure what they’re after but officers of any kind on Kleberg Beach are rare as whale sightings.

Fourth of July Fireworks Jerry Watkins is making some progress in his quest to raise the last of the $15,000 needed to put on a Big Bang fireworks show on Padre Island. The permits are in place, everyone is making plans…but before you start ordering hors d’oeuvres for the Fireworks Party on the Deck help out any way you can to raise the last $6500 Jerry needs to put some real Fire in the Sky on the Fourth of July. Come on Islanders we’re coming down to the wire here. Contact Jerry at 331-7273 or e-mail him at jdwatkins@ satx.rr.com and let’s make this happen.

Little Chapel on the Dunes In Port Aransas there is a little chapel built back in the 1930’s which has become an iconic piece of local interest. The most oft asked question of the Little Chapel on the Dunes is who painted the exquisite and bold murals inside it. Well, we’re glad you asked. It was two guys who at the time were attending Gregory Portland High School who both have gone on to very successful careers as artists. Their names are John Cobb and Glen Francis and both, along with artist Wade Koniakowsky, will be in town this weekend for an exhibit at the Felder Gallery in Port Aransas. The event was put together by gallery owner Robbie Felder and we’re looking forward to seeing it. Moon writer Brent Roark is putting together a comprehensive story on the chapel for a future issue. The event is part of a big SandFest weekend in Port Aransas where the best sand sculptors in the world gather to display their talent. Get there early to avoid the crowds but don’t miss it; it’s sort of like Spring Break but for the locals and marks the beginning of the beach season. We’ll see you there and in the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.

Plans Underway to Expand SH 361 South of Port Aransas The Texas Department of Transportation is working on a design for improvements proposed for State Highway 361 from Avenue G in Port Aransas south to Beach Access Road 1. The project would add a travel lane in each direction, 1.3 miles of center, left-turn lane, 1.5 miles of raised median, a sidewalk west of SH 361, a hike/bike trail east of SH 361 and a curb and gutter system. Work is expected to begin early next year.

Photo by Miles Merwin

Next Publication Date: 5/2/2013

Design Plans for Island Water Exchange Bridge Takes Major Step Forward

Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper

Year 16, Issue 471

Island Vulture Named Pinhead Takes Broadway by Storm! Stars in one-human, one-bird play with Petunia Dursley from “Harry Potter” films

By Dale Rankin Design plans for the proposed Park Road 22/ SPID Water Exchange Bridge will move forward before final decision is made on permitting by the Texas Department of Transportation, which means work on the bridge could begin much earlier than expected.

Until last week City Engineers did not plan to begin final design work on the $8.1 million bridge until the TxDot ruling on permitting which is not expected until at least the fall of 2013; this meant that final design of the bridge could not possibly be done until well into 2014, delaying the bridge’s construction and causing potential delays in the digging of the proposed IslandWalk Canal to connect the Schlitterbahn waterpark to amenities including a marina, on the east side of the highway. Bridge continued on A5

Tax Notices Going Out – Property Values Up Most Islanders got a little gift in the mail this week; their tax notice. The Nueces County Appraisal District began sending out notices last Friday and according to Assistant Chief Appraiser Robert Cenci most residential property owners on The Island should have received their by now. Cenci said generally the district is seeing a rise in both residential and commercial values. The schedule for notices to go out is as follows: Approximately 106,824 notices were sent beginning April 19, 2013, of those 73,212 are residential property notices. A second mailout will begin the first week of May and will encompass the remaining commercial, mineral, and industrial, and some Business Personal Property accounts; Totaling approximately 46,000. A third group of notices will go out in late May, consisting of remaining Business Personal Property and some commercial/residential real estate and Agricultural land accounts; Approximately 18,000 Grand total of all notices for everything for 2013 is approximately 171,000. Property owners who wish to protest their valuations have until June 1 to file.

Planning Meeting for Island Dog Park is Thursday, April 25 There will be a public forum regarding the proposed Island Dog Park on Thursday, April 25 at 6:00 p.m. at the Seashore Learning Center Gym located on Encantada. Michael Morris, Director of Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation will lead the meeting. Come, learn and ask questions. A group of volunteers have been working on the design and best practices for a dog park. They are now at the point of location and fund raising. Due to our climate – salty and very dry – those conditions were taken into account in the design as well as types of materials which should be used. It will be a beautiful park when it is completed. For more information, visit the website at padreislanddogpark.com

By Dale Rankin A yellow-headed vulture from The Island whose name is Pinhead opened on Broadway Monday night to outstanding reviews and in only a few days has become the talk of the Great White Way. Pinhead appears alongside Fiona Shaw, who starred as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films in the one-woman drama “The Testament of Mary.” In a prologue to the play the audience is invited on stage to take a close look at Ms. Shaw, in character as Mary the mother of Jesus, seated in a large, transparent cube, with a sea of votive candles at her feet. At her side is Pinhead, tethered to his perch as the audience gathers around and is allowed to take photographs as he, on cue, spreads his wings. It all began a while back when Islander Jonathan Wood got a couple of calls from producers on two coasts looking for birds. Jonathan is known across the country as the Birdman because he rescues, nurtures, and shows birds in his oneman show which will keep him on the road and

busy from May 2 through October without a day off. The call from Hollywood was from a producer looking for an owl for a Beyonce video, which Jonathan provided, the other for a vulture for a Broadway show and Pinhead was dispatched to New York. The idea of including a bird in the play’s beginning came from Director Deborah Warner who’s guided Shaw through a Tony-nominated turn in “Medea” and “Happy Days” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The current play is at the Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, in Manhattan. The play is based on a 2012 novella by Irish author Colm Toibin and the monologue imagines a contemporary Mary grieving her son. It has been well reviewed in each of the New York newspapers. “The play is about death and Pinhead is part of that world,” says Shaw. The play runs through June 16.

When Route 66 Came Through the Coastal Bend

Trivia Question of the Week Trivia Question from Last Week

What CBS television show starring Martin Milner filmed two episodes in Corpus Christi and Port A in 1963? This turned out to be a popular question with several people getting it right. KIII Television has a sister station called ME TV which airs episodes of older show, mainly from the 1960s and 1970s. A few weeks ago they showed two episodes of Route 66 which were shot in 1963, one in Corpus Christi and another in Port Aransas. The show was shot entirely on location and when the show’s writer and creator Stirling Silliphant visited this area he decided it would be a great location for shows. The production company brought four tractor trailer rigs with a ready supply Route 66 continued on A15

Sandfest 2013 This Weekend Schedule on A ?


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Island MOon Section A 4-25-2013 by Mary Craft - Issuu