Inside the Moon...
Stinky Trash and Stray Flowers A7
Moon Travels A2
The Island Moon Published by Island Moon Publishing, LLC 15201 S. Padre Island Drive Ste. 250 Corpus Christi, TX. 78418 editor@islandmoon.com (361) 949-7700
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Texas Spacecraft A8
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Local Music A11
On the Ruby-Throated Rocks A13
The
Island Moon The Island Newspaper since 1996
Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment
September 13, 2012
Photo by Miles Merwin
The only Island in Texas where the Blackout Season follows the Tourist Season. Next Publication Date: 9/20/2012 Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper Year 15, Issue 440
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
In Chicago the teachers are on strike and 400,000 kids have been turned loose on the populace, at the Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi a man was arrested for trying to smuggle a loris monkey through customs in his underpants, in New York City in a puzzling bit of counter programming the Today Show skipped the ceremony commemorating the 11th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in order to air an interview with Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Kris Jenner, who talked about her breast implants Here on The Island the kids are in school, the Moon Monkeys haven’t been shoved in anybody’s underpants (that we know of), and (thank providence for small favors) no one has seen Kris Jenner or her various protuberances; so we got that going for us.
Cool front Cyhhu We did get a little relief from the stifling heat as our third Cool Front of the season blew through on Saturday dropping the temps a few degrees. It put up a cloud cover and you could feel Islanders take a collective deep breath as it was the first sign of relief from what has been a sweltering summer season. This is the third “cold” front of the early autumn season so we’ll call this one, Cyhhu, the Serbian word for cloudy since it starts with a C and we have a Serbian speaker among we Moon Monkeys.
We’ve had a steady wind directly from the east the last few days and it has pushed beautiful blue water in through the Packery and on into the Laguna. The bad news, very few fish sightings around canal lights of late.
Blackout Season
Island United PAC
Island Voters Set to Pick Candidates in City Races September 19 and 26 Island voters will get a chance to decide who they want to back in the city elections in November during two meetings by the Island United Political Action Committee in September. The first meeting on September 19 is at the Holiday Inn and will be to decide on candidates in the races for Mayor and the District 4 Council seat. The candidates are invited to speak then the group of registered votes in attendance will vote on who to endorse. Then on September 26, the process will be repeated with candidate for the At-Large seats. That meeting is across the street from the PAC Continued on A15
Candidates Respond to Island Questions: A 14 - A16
Island Tea Party Meeting Set for Thursday, September 20th The Island Tea Party will host the At Large candidates for City Council. The meeting will be held at the Padre Isles Country Club at 6:00 on Thursday, September 20. The candidates will talk to us about their backgrounds and what they hope to accomplish as council members. Come early as seating will be on a first come, first serve basis.
Photo by Mary Craft One sure sign of the end of the Tourist Season is the onset of the Island Blackout Season. We had our first one on Wednesday when a transformer blew over on Windward and had firefighters scurrying to keep the ensuing fire away from buildings. The Blackout Season comes at the end of summer when salt has built up on the power lines causing them to gain weight and sway more in the Gulf breeze. When they sway enough it breaks contact in the wires and Pow! Bang! a transformer blows and the fire is on. We look forward to the Blackout Season as it gives us a chance to take all the stuff thawing out in Island freezers while the power is down and throw it on the pit before it spoils. That’s all for now, the election season is upon us and Islanders always vote at about twice the rate as the rest of town so get registered. And we want to send a shout out to our good friend Duane Ebert over at Decks & Docks, get well soon Duane The Island is with you. Say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Calling all WWII veterans!
WWII Vets to be Honored at 40s-Style USO Dance
Get to know your candidates, November is almost here. Remember an educated voter is a good voter!
Real Estate Roundup By Mary Lou White I am writing this article about a “timely” topic. Meaning, the subject content concerns a topic we will all be hearing about, more frequently, in the future and it involves an element of urgency where “time is of the essence”. If you drive along Whitecap daily, as I do, it is hard not to notice the new house with the array of photovoltaic panels, that was built by Garrett Dorsey, last spring. It is my understanding that approximately 70% of the total electric usage, of that home, will be generated on site and any excess production will be “sold” back to the electric company as a credit on their utility bill. At a time when all costs seem to be increasing, that sounds like an interesting concept. However, change and “new concepts” can seem highly suspect, at first glance. I vividly remember when a “microwave” was considered to be a new and unknown addition to the kitchen appliance package. Now, about 40 years later, it is an expected component. I believe we are entering a similar cycle with “solar technology”.
By Dale Rankin
Oil Washing Up on Bob Hall Beach and PINS
A 1-mile-long, 10-foot-wide band of crude oil and tar balls that began washing up at Mile Marker 39 on Padre Island National Seashore on Monday made its way north to the beach at Bob Hall Pier Wednesday where crews were busy collecting and removing it. Reports began coming in early Tuesday from the south end of PINS reporting that the band of oil was making its way north. By Tuesday night there were reports of oil being found further south, near markers 46 and 49. Smaller patches of oil were also found along a 400yard stretch of beach near mile marker 12. Oil Continued on A2
Get it While You Can
An oil ball and cleanup at Bob Hall Pier
Unless it Rains, Water Rationing Due to Hit on October 1
Low Levels at Lake Mathis.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Richard Watson
By Dale Rankin
have been in mandatory restrictions by now.
These are recent aerial photos of Lake Corpus Christ which could now more accurately be called Trickling Stream Corpus Christi.
Corpus Christi Lake is 16 feet below normal and the water supply in the three lakes together is at only 42% of capacity. If that level hits 40% as expected by October 1 then Stage II water restrictions will kick in. Those restrictions call for no lawn watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., large parcels of land must obtain approval for a watering plan,
According to the latest briefing for the City Council by the City Water Department if our area doesn’t receive rainfall by the end of September water rationing will begin on October 1. Choke Canyon Lake is at 52% capacity, Lake Corpus Christi is at 15%. Fortunately, Lake Texana, where Corpus Christi now gets onethird of its water, is at levels which allow us to draw our assigned allotment without restrictions. Without it, city staffers say we would likely
Commercial nurseries must use hand held, drip, or sprinkler systems to irrigate, and the use of wastewater effluent is permitted. The city’s Code Compliance will hand out warning tickets on the first offense then a
Water Continued on A5
A little Island history
How a Cowboys and Indians Fight in San Antonio Led to the Obliteration of a Town on the Texas Coast By Dale Rankin In the summer of 1838 James Webster set out for the forks of the San Gabriel River with his family. They turned back when they encountered a band of Comanche Indians making their way to the nearby settlement. Webster and his party reversed course but at dawn the Comanches struck. The settlers arranged their wagons in a hollow square and fought until noon when the last male settler fell, thirteen were killed. The Indians cleaned out the wagons and set them on fire then took Webster’s wife and infant daughter captive.
Mrs. Webster lived two years among the Indians often riding sixty miles per day for days in succession. The Indians tried to get her to tell them how to make gunpowder which she did not know how to do. She told them it was made with coal and sand. Soon the Comanches had kettles on fire with the mixture but it never turned into gunpowder leaving the Comanches to conclude that the white people kept the secret of gunpowder from their squaws. The Indians would bring her paper money to ask its value and to keep them from using it to buy guns she told them it was worthless and destroyed thousands of dollars. Mrs. Webster and her daughter we held captive for two years during which they saw gold and silver mines but never had the opportunity to escape.
FYI
A shaky peace
The event will be held on Saturday September 22, 6:30 p.m. and will feature a swing band,
According to the information, I was provided by Gianluca Ferrario, an Italian born Mechanical Engineer, who is the “solar” specialist with Bodine-Scott Renewable, photovoltaic experiments were first conducted in 1839, by Edmund Becquerel. 115 years later, in 1954, Bell Laboratories, USA produced the first silicon solar cell. Four years later (1958)
In 1840 the Comanches driven by the fear of Cheyenne and Arapaho attacks along the northern frontier of Comanche territory, the losses suffered in several smallpox epidemics, and the successes of Texas Rangers against them, sought to make peace with Texas. In the early spring of 1840 a deal was made
WWII Dance Continued on A3
Real Estate Continued on A9
Members of the Greatest Generation are requested to attend a “Ceremony to Honor” for them along with a 40s-style USO dance at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Bay Club.
The Great Raid of 1840
History Continued on A9