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Island Moon The Island Newspaper

Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment

October 7, 2011

The Island Moon...everyone on The Island gets it!

Around The Island

By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com

The Heart of the Hurricane Season is over, the humming birds have arrived, the snowbirds (Winter Texans) haven’t, the power outages are back, and the heat has let up.

It’s Glorious October on our Island and life is good. We pay for our wonderful October weather with our sweltering August heat and now we got weather in the bank.

Seems like they would learn the words Each year about this time the humming birds arrive on their way to points south. Many have

already headed for the balmy climes of South America but a few malingerers stick around for the mild South Texas winters so keep your feeders out. The hummers are the helicopters of the bird world and need a lot of sugar to keep their busy wings a-flapping. They seem to especially like to hang around feeders on back decks near the water.

Rambling gamblers We hear through the Coconut Telegraph that the Island has played host of late to some visitors from Las Vegas way who are scouting out locations for casinos in anticipation of a Constitutional Amendment on gaming that is expected to go before Texas voters in November of 2013. District 32 Representative Todd Hunter is closely involved in putting together the language for that amendment and has made at least one trip to Las Vegas of late to talk to casino operators.

In the last session the legislature expressed an interest in putting the idea of bringing casinos to Texas before voters and appointed him to help with the legwork.

Currently about $2 billion in gaming money alone is left behind each year by Texans in casinos in Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. As the Texas Legislature works to keep the budget balanced casino gaming seems like a better and

better idea than higher property taxes.

From what we hear the casino people have been looking at the stretch of beach between Mustang State Park and the Corpus Christi City Limits.

That would make sense since the Gulf Coast Beaches in the southern states are the sites of existing casinos.

So if you see some guys driving around with fuzzy dice hanging from their rearview stop and say hello.

Vacant lots We hear from our friends in the real estate business that vacant

lots on The Island are selling at a brisk pace of late. No one seems to know for sure why but it seems to be picking up.

Financing is hard to come by and cash is king, but land is land.

Island stylin’ Our friend Tony over at Paradise Limousines has begun offering rides to and from Port Aransas for $25 of late. He has cars that hold from six to fourteen passengers and he is staying pretty well booked on weekends. It’s a lot of fun to step out in style every once and a while. Rumor has it that he is in the market for a limousine golf cart.

Bare naked men We’re getting reports that the Naked Men are back on the Kleberg Beach lately so if you go down there you better just beware of a man with a (reverse) lobster tan. For a while there the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office was keeping the Naked Men at bay but apparently it’s hard to keep a Naked Man down for long. So just be careful if you go down there. And if you are one of the Naked Men of Kleberg all we can say is don’t stand too close to the fire.

That’s about it for now. It’s time to start thinking about your Halloween costumre. Enjoy your October and say hello if you see us Around The Island.

Next Publication Date: 10/21/2011

Year 15, Issue 398

Inside the Moon Council Vote Island on the Move!

Bob Hall Pier Improvements, Adopt-A-Beach On Water A2 Brisco King Renovation, New Exchange Boat Ramps and Bulkhead, Bridge Set Packery Dredging to Begin For October

By Dale Rankin 11 Meeting There are several ongoing view. Some work has already

Schlitterbahn Owners Tell City Council “We Are Ready to Go”

projects that improve some of our facilites around The Island.

In no particular order...

begun on the roof (see photo) and the new design should be in place by next spring.

Bob Hall Pier First of all we want to give an

Briscoe King Pavilion The next County Parks project after Bob Hall Pier improvements will be at Briscoe King Pavillion. Currently the county takes in about $4,000 per month by renting out the pavilion for events. But in the next few months about $330,000 will be spent to put a new roof on the building, install a sewer line (it is currently on septic), redisign the interior, and most importantly air condition the building.

The idea is to make the pavilion a mini-convention center to be used for all kinds of community meetings and private gatherings.

Right now one of the problems on the Island is finding meeting space for groups and the new improved pavilion will fit that need.

By Dale Rankin More than 125 Islanders packed the City Council chambers for council meeting on September 27 as the council for the first time heard plans for the building a Schlitterbahn Resort and waterpark on the Island.

For the first time Islanders heard directly from Schlitterbahn ownership about their intentions and needs from the city for the park to become a reality.

The City Council did not cast a vote on the proposed water exchange bridge under SPID (Park Road 22) that is essential to the park’s development. That vote is scheduled for the council meeting on Tuesday, October 11. Based on the reaction to the plan in the September meeting it appears there are sufficient votes on the council to approve the bridge project.

“When I ran for office people would tell me “tear down the Coliseum’,” Mayor Joe Adame said. “Now they tell me, ‘go get Schlitterbahn’.”

City staffers told the council that once they pass a resolution of support for the bridge, which would provide a sixtyfoot channel for water to flow from Packery Channel through Lake Padre and into the Island canal system, then the Texas Department of Transportation will begin the final design and engineering phase of the bridge which would cross under SPID at a point near the site where the 11th hole on Padre Isles Country Club now exists. The bridge would require no payment to TxDot from the city. Once the final design is done the plans and an environmental impact study would have to come back to the council within one year of October of 2011 for a final vote.

The bridge design also includes paths for pedestrians and golf carts to pass under the bridge and on to the Ellis Beach and seawall along the Gulf.

Project co-developer Paul Schexnailder told the council that the “Schlitterbucks” for the project have been raised.

“There are no issues there,” Schlitterbahn Cont. on A 10

Time for Fido to put on the dog!

Dog-Gone Days Music Festival Set for Saturday, October 29 Texas Music Icon Max Stalling to headline The height of the Doggie Social Season is almost upon us and this year will be combined for the first time with the biggest musical event of the year on North Padre.

The 6th Annual Dog-Gone Days Music Festival and Dog & Owner Costume Contest is set for Saturday, October 29the at the Animal Hospital of Padre Island, located at 14802 Compass St. on the Island. Good dogs are encouraged to attend, and a special section will be set aside for biters, snarlers, diggers, growlers, runners and jumpers.

Ray and Dr. Christi have decided to kick it up a notch this year by bringing in Texas Music favorite Max Stalling who packs houses around the country with his blend of Country, Americana and Texas styles. Stalling is a native of Crystal City and a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Recently after the release of his hit single “I Know Ord Ord” a group of unnamed cadets from A&M made a midnight raid on Stalling at his home in

the wee hours and awakened him with a bucket of cold water. “At least they didn’t use flour,” he said.

He has topped the Texas Music charts for more than a decade with hits like “San Antonio Girl,” and crowd favorite “Heat of the Wide Afternoon.”

He also has a star on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame at Executive Surf Club.

Besides the Dog and Owner Pet Costume Contest the Dog Gone Days includes a Chile and Fajita Cook-Off, a silent auction for charity, and Dog Agility, Obedience, and Trick Competition. Riley P. Dog will not be entering any of those as he is neither agile, obedient, nor tricky but he wil be there in his costume along with a big crowd of Islanders and their pets (good cats are welcome too).

Doors open at 5 p.m. For more information see www.ceobythebay.com or www.padrevet.com.

Get out Fido’s costume and we’ll see you there!

Bob Hall Work atta-boy to the Nueces County Park Board. For the last few years they have deftly worked to bring more resources to The Island and used them well. Some members of the Board held a thank you event for Precinct 1 County Commissioner (R) Mike Pusley last week.

Commissioner Pusley’s vote has been crucial in helping to bring the improvement money to The Island.

The most visible of the projects so far has been the great new edition to Bob Hall PIer. If you haven’t visited the new section yet it is a great place to watch the waves and surfers from the shade and in the cool Gulf breeze. A leisurely Saturday morning breakfast there easily turns into a fun afternoon of people watching.

One of the design facets of the new addition is the open view of the Gulf. The designers of the old pier building, where Barnicle Bill’s is, placed the kitchen on the Gulf side where the best view of the water is blocked. The new addition fixed the problem there but now the Park Board is going to re-design the older section to improve the

Beach where Packery sand will be deposited Packery Dredging In its September 27th meeting the two boards that control the money for the Island Tax Increement Financing Zone approved $1.7 million in funding for the dredging of 250,000 cubic yards of sand from Packery Channel. It is the first major dredging of the Island Continued on A 9

Woman Resuscitates Fish A 3

See you at the Sandbar!

Island Political Action Committee Fundraiser Set for October 13th

The Island United Political Action Committee has schedule a fundraiser for 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 13 at the Sandbar at the Holiday Inn on The Island.

Bill Schroeder’s band will play and all prodeeds will go to the PAC. IPAC members endorse candidates for city races and raise money to help them get elected. In the two election cycles since its formatin PAC has endorsed tne candidates and ten have won election. The next round of city elections will be moved from the traditional April date to November to coincide with the Gubanatorial and Presidential races.

For more information see the PAC site at www. islandunitedpac.com.

We’ll see you there!

Aquarius Extension Project Back on Schedule - For Now at Least

By Dale Rankin The Aquarius Extension Project appears to be unstuck. Just as City Engineers were preparing to sign construction contracts on the 2,100-foot extension connecting Das Marinas on the south with Commodores on the North a few weeks ago an Island resident and a former City Council member Mike Hummell filed a lawsuit aimed at halting the construction until design and related safety issue were resolved.

City moving forward Hummell told the Moon after filing the suit that the new road would be “a 60-foot wide road feeding into the existing 30-foot wide road and that would cause a bottleneck.” However, after a meeting with City Attorney Carlos Valdez that suit seems to be stalled and the way clear for the construction to continue. We say, seems to be stalled because we unsuccesful after several tries to get comment from Hummell after his meeting with the city.

His next option is to proceed to District Court

and seek an order stopping the construction until his concerns are met. Valdez agreed to to conduct a preliminary traffic study of Aquarius Street to determine how much traffic residents can expect after the extension is added and another to be done after the extension is finished.Those studies could lead to a reduced speed limit, stop signs or speed bumps. But Valdez said he will advise the city to move forward on the project even as the studies are being done.

Island Resident David Barabino, who lives on Aquarius and is also a plaintiff in the suit, had originally asked for as many as four speed humps along that stretch of Aquairus, along with as many as four stop signs, and that the current speed limit of 35 mph be lowered to 30 and that construction be halted until those concerns were addressed.

Still on schedule A close check of the design for the new road Aquarius Continued on A 11

Brushfire in Port A

Scorching temperatures and dry grass on Mustang Island conspired to create ideal conditions for a brushfire. Photo by Ronnie Narmour

Island Moon

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October 7, 2011

GulfBreeze Texas Adopt-A-Beach Fall Clean-up

By Mike Murphy http://www.glidesociety.com/gulfbreeze2

2.15 tons of debris on this portion of Mustang and The 25th Texas General Land Office (TGLO) Padre Islands. statewide Adopt-A-Beach clean-up was held on Saturday, September 24th.

Numerous locations in Nueces and Kleberg counties benefitted from the efforts of 1,624 volunteers who collected an estimated 19.94 tons of debris from 37.7 miles along bay and Gulf of Mexico shorelines.

Statewide…..staggering statistics Since 1986 when the program began, 423,514 volunteers have Volunteers register for beach collected 8352 tons of trash during TGLO annual spring and assignments at Padre Balli Park fall clean-ups. The first statewide Adopt-A-Beach clean-up involved 2,800 The North and South Packery Beach Bums, volunteers who collected 8,000 tons of trash from beach guardians for the one mile stretch of beach 122 miles of the Texas coast. During this year’s both directions from the Packery Channel jetties, fall clean-up 9,133 volunteers collected over 136 included about 100 and 60 volunteers respectively. tons of debris from 28 locations along 180 miles The King High School Surf Club, Collegiate High of Texas shoreline.

School, Flour Bluff Student Council and Key In addition to trash, information collected on Club, Yorktown Christian Academy and Seashore the type of debris has been instrumental in the Middle Academy were all represented by 15-30 passage of international treaties and laws intended volunteers each. Between 30-40 local employees to reduce the amount of offshore dumping in the and their families representing a statewide sponsor, LyondellBasell and the Calallen High School Earth Club with a bus load of 40 students were the largest groups.

Mustang Island State Park Around 100 volunteers gathered at the Mustang Island State Park to collect 3.75 tons of debris along 3.5 miles of beach which is about average for the fall clean-ups. Among the volunteers were individuals, families, the Kiwanis Young Professionals and Boy Scout Troop 1954 from San Marcos. The largest groups with 25-40 volunteers each represented W. B. Ray High School, Calallen High School and the King High School Spanish and Key Clubs.

Since 2002, the Central Texas Surfrider Foundation chapter has been involved with the Adopt-A-Beach program. This group previously has helped with clean-ups at St. Joseph Island and the Horace Caldwell pier area in Port Aransas. In 2009, the group became official beach guardians of the beach area one mile north of the camping bollards within the Mustang Island State Park.

This area is not otherwise cleaned on a regular basis and was more difficult during the first few clean-ups. This group is proud of their on-going Calallen Earth Club volunteers efforts.

Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and oceans around the world. Tidal patterns along the Texas coast insure that much of the trash in the Gulf of Mexico ends up on Texas beaches.

The program’s success results from the efforts of volunteer county coordinators, sponsors, individual and group volunteers. The AdoptA-Beach program has also received donations of community leaders and sponsors; Shell Oil Company has contributed since the beginning of the Adopt-A-Beach program. Other statewide sponsors for the recent clean-up were Motiva Enterprises LLC; AkzoNo¬bel Surface Chemistry LLC, El Paso Corporation, Halliburton, LyondellBasell and the Ocean Con¬servancy.

Padre Island National Seashore...

The fall Adopt-A-Beach clean-up at the Padre Island National Seashore, coordinated by Buzz Botts for the past five years, included 284 students, teachers, families and concerned citizens. This year the turnout was one of the largest in the past few years; several groups had volunteers ranging from 25 and 80 each. Groups from San Antonio included South San Antonio High School, John Jay Science and Engineering Academy and Sea World. Local volunteers from Frost Bank have been helping annually for several years and the larger groups from this area were from Moody High and Cunningham Middle schools with 40 and 80 volunteers respectively. About 2.95 tons of debris, a little less than average, was collected from nearly 6 miles of shoreline between North and South Beaches.

Volunteers... join the spring effort Several other Kleberg and Nueces county locations were part of the fall clean-up. At Port Aransas and St. Joseph Island about 4 tons of debris was collected on 7.2 miles of beach by 256 volunteers. Also part of the fall clean-up were 16 miles of shoreline at three bay locations; Aransas, Baffin and Corpus Christi bays produced over 7 tons of trash that was collected by 485 volunteers.

Lunch was provided by the Kiwanis Club This year most of the beach of Padre Island areas were relatively clean although there is never a shortage of debris to collect. Spring clean-ups North Padre Island... record turn-out typically have much more debris because of the The Kiwanis Club of Padre Island continued its generally stronger winds and currents moving the long-term commitment to the Adopt-A-Beach debris ashore, so it is important to have even more program by coordinating volunteer registration, volunteer participation. If you have never helped beach assignments, distribution of bags and with one of these clean-ups, please consider gloves for North Padre Island beach clean-up. the spring clean-up scheduled for April 28, Kiwanis volunteers also provided an outstanding 2012. A large majority of the trash collected is lunch of gourmet hot dogs, chips and drinks for plastic, cigarette butts, beer cans and other items all participants. This year was a record turn-out commonly left on the beach by careless beach of 499 volunteers covering the 6 mile stretch of visitors. So you can definitely make an impact beach between Mustang Island State Park and throughout the year by removing more than you the Padre Island National Seashore. There were bring and have some fun by volunteering for the numerous large groups that collected an estimated next TGLO adopt-A-Beach clean-ups.

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(Top Left) Mrs. Froehlich’s MOD II students stopped reading just long enough to pose for a picture after a trip to Janet Hart Library in Flour Bluff.

(Lower Left) Seashore Learning Center students in all grades were invited to display their special interests during the school’s Open House on September 27. Lego enthusiast Dylan Trial showed some Lego creations and Lego Facts while Sara Schey used K-nex to show a gyro force.

(Top Right) SMA Student Council Treasurer Zane Ortega accepts money from sixth grader Isaac Flhur on Burning to Help Bastrop Day, when students were allowed to break the dress code for a donation. Students raised $704 for victims of the Bastrop fires.

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October 7, 2011

Island Moon

A3

On The Hook

TIRZ Financing Summary

Nautical Encounters

By Captain Arthur Helmsteadt and his dog Fred The past few weeks have shown a sharp decline in traffic on the water. My work has gotten extremely slow and I’m actually beginning to get a little stir crazy. Winter hasn’t even started yet and I’m already getting bored….Great! We’re still running calls but the 14 hour days on the water are gone until next season.

Nautical encounters I’ve started carrying a camera with me recently so I’ve been getting some fun pictures of different situations I encounter.

The first shot is from a call I ran a couple weeks ago.

This is what we call a grounder. It was about a 30’ Proline which ran off the ICW between Aransas Pass and Rockport. Apparently, the boat was for sale and the owner was taking several prospective buyers out for a little test drive.

I’m not sure who was driving but they obviously misjudged the cut. Oh well, $!@# happens. Neither the boat nor anybody on board was hurt and they were on their way in fairly short order. I keep telling everyone how much better boats work when they float! LOL The next shot is a neat sailboat I towed from the middle of the bay. You can barely see it in the pic

but it was all done up pirate style with Skulls and bones.

Very cool. These folks were moving from the CC T-heads to Bahia marina in Ingleside. Not far out, their motor went kaput. Not sure why they didn’t sail the sailboat but I learned a long time ago not to ask certain questions.

State water Snappin’ Sarah and I were able to make it offshore the other day. The plan was to do some diving and catch some meat for the freezer. We had a little too much fun the previous evening so Akula didn’t break the jetties until about 2:30 that afternoon. The seas weren’t fantastic and we weren’t feeling 100% so we just decided on a few state water snaps. Anyone who says the snapper populations are dwindling needs to learn how to fish! It was another great day on the water.

Well folks, as I write this we’re enjoying the first cool weather of the fall season.

I personally love the heat of the summer but it is nice to sit with our doors and windows open and not stick to our couch. Hopefully the coming weeks will bring a little rain too. It’s just not the same without a campfire on the beach.

Keep the water on the outside!

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By A. E. Holland If you’ve lived here very long you know the wind is our constant companion. Wind energy farms popping up all over the state tell us that wind is not only our companion but a tremendous natural resource for generating electrical power. The average wind speed for Corpus Christi is between 10 and 14.3 miles per hour. Wind energy units that are shaped like a ceiling fan begin to slow down at wind speeds less than 8 miles per hour, but will continue to turn and convert wind into electricity until wind speeds reach less than 5 miles per hour.

We may not have the same wind speeds found in other parts of the state but we do have enough wind to facilitate wind energy conversion for use as electricity. The possibility of saving some money on our electric bill by making a long term investment in a wind energy conversion unit for personal use is appealing to anyone who has spent a long Corpus Christi summer paying to cool their home or business.

Wind energy is an appealing alternative to burning fossil fuels to make electricity. Wind generated electricity does not deplete natural resources at all. Wind energy is renewed every day as the earth heats and cools itself. One pound of coal is saved for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated by the wind. Wind generated electricity is clean.

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No carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide are produced when harnessing wind power. Both carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide are released into the environment when fossil fuels are burned in power plants. Conventional electricity generation requires a larger environmental “footprint” when mining, building pipelines, transportation, and operation of power plants are taken into consideration. In addition, once farmland is used as a wind power generating site many times it can still be used for agricultural applications such as grazing cattle or other livestock.

CC Wind Ordinance The City of Corpus Christi has a wind ordinance in effect allowing small and medium wind energy conversion units to be used within the city limits.

As I stated in my previous column, the POA has reviewed the City Wind Ordinance and has not added any additional permits orv restrictions for Padre Island property owners. Wind energy conversion units can be used on Padre Island, in Wind Continued on A 9

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Island Moon

Letters & Opinion Green Column Feedback

Packery Trash

Ms. Holland, I enjoyed your column in “ The Moon.” It’s a noble Cause but this is going to bring you more frustration than you can imagine. If we were running out of oil, and the energy companies had no plan, Exxon and the other companies would be spending a large amount of time and money to develop its replacement and struggling to be the one controlling the fuel source. They don’t seem to be worried and the idea that oil is becoming scarce seems like a reasonable excuse to keep the price inflated. Profit is the engine driving our world and oil companies don’t give up profit just to do the right thing.

The rules and regulations that you talked about in your article help keep alternative energy on the fringes and from becoming a threat to their bottom line. I’m not saying that there is some vast conspiracy to prevent development of new power sources but ask the oil companies to give up even a small portion of their market and they’ll crush you and your technology. I believe that they do have a plan and I think I know what it is. Google “Methane Hydrate” and do a little light reading.

We have the technology available today for homes to produce an excess of power with solar panels and wind power but that would take a chunk out of profits from power companies and indirectly the oil companies since they use oil derivatives to produce that power. They will not make it easy for someone to compete with them.

I have about ten years of research and a prototype or two for power and fresh water production. I’ll send you any research that may apply to the topic, If you want. By the way, the drain from my air conditioning drip pan produces over five gallons of fresh water every day. It runs out onto the ground 24/7. How many homes are there on the Island anyway? That’s a LOT of water to waste in a drought or at anytime these days. I’m looking forward to your next article. Keep the faith!!

I wanted to make someone aware of my son inlaw (Christopher Graves) that lives in Charleston, WV. He, my daughter and two children have been coming to Padre Island for a third year now to visit family here and to enjoy the beaches. They always stay at the La Casa del Sol Resort for two weeks here on Padre Island.

Early every morning my son-in law, while his family is sleeping, takes several trash bags with him, walking the beaches picking up trash a couple of miles each direction.

He says he enjoys walking the beaches, it upsets him so much to see how human beings that come to these beaches and are so thoughtless to throw their trash on the beaches.

I just wanted to write this about my son-in law and how proud I am of him for his caring attitude.

If there is more people like him, it sure would make a big difference.

Debbie Hoehne Padre Island resident

Leonard Keith King

Who Are the Moon Monkeys

Mike Ellis, Founder Distribution Pete Alsop Island Delivery Coldwell Banker Advertising Jan Park Rankin Office Lisa Towns Classifieds Arlene Ritley Design/Layout Jeff Craft Contributing Writers (In no particular order) Devorah Fox Sunny Reed Mary Craft Chris Adler Maybeth Christiansen Dr. Tom Dorrell Kendal Ezell Jay Gardner Diane Halfety Todd Hunter Mike (Murph) Murphy Ronnie Narmour Dr. Donna Shaver Photographers Andre LaVoy Patrick Lewis Miles Merwin Office Security/Spillage Control Riley P. Dog Editor/Publisher/Spillage Control Supervisor Dale Rankin About the Island Moon The Island Moon is published every other Friday, Dale Rankin, Editor.

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.

Mailed subscriptions are available in the US and are $100 per year. Next day home delivered subscriptions are $100 per year on Padre Island and in Flour Bluff.

News articles, photos, display ads, classified ads, payments, etc. may be left in the Moon tray at Isle Mail & More, 14493 S P I D. For more information call 361-949-7700 or contact the Moon at 15201 S Padre Island Dr., Suite 250, Corpus Christi, TX 78418 or by e-mail to editor@islandmoon.com.

Subject: Speeding Ticket In Kingsville, Texas.

Just then a deafening roar over the Mesquite treetops on Hwy 77 revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low flying exercise near this, it’s Naval Air home base location in Kingsville Tx. Back at the Texas Highway Patrol Headquarters in Corpus Christi the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the US Naval Base Commander in Kingsville for shutting down his radar equipment.

The reply came back in true USMC style: ‘Thank you for your letter ...

You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.

Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment’s location. Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defence system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position on the side of Hwy 77 So. of Kingsville.

The pilot suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high tech. And, Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster.

Semper Fi

2011 Corpus Christi Paddle Prix & Rally $500 First Place Prizes for Solo, Tandem & Paddle Board Racers The 2011 Corpus Christi Paddle Prix & Rally is the Mayor’s Fitness Council’s signature event designed to encourage everyone to stay fit while enjoying the vast natural resources the Coastal Bend has to offer. It will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2011. This year the event will feature a 20-mile race for the serious and experience paddlers starting at the U.S.S. Lexington museum, rounding Corpus Christi Beach, through Nueces Bay and up the Nueces River. In addition, there will be a stand up paddle board race added to the 8-mile rally route that starts at the Port of Corpus Christi boat launch on the Nueces River. Both courses end at Labonte Park. Racers will be competing for $500 in cash to the first place winners in Race Solo, Race Tandem, and Race Paddle Board! For their entry fee and participation, paddlers will receive a Corpus Christi Paddle Prix & Rally T-shirt, and a goody bag containing various free items from the race sponsors. Participants may use a wide range of vessels including kayaks, stand up paddle boards and canoes. Rally Fee is $15.00 per paddler. Race Fee is $25.00 per paddler. $5 discount for all American Canoe Association members (must list ACA membership # on form).

Registration Packages will be available online at www.ccpaddleprix.com or at the Corpus Christi Parks & Recreation Department on the Third Floor of City Hall. Registration ends at 5pm on October 11, 2011. For more information, call (361) 8263460 or visit www.ccpaddleprix.com

October 13

Todd Hunter to Speak at PIBA Luncheon State Representative Todd Hunter (R-District 32) will be the speaker at the October meeting of the Padre Island Business Association.

Hunter, who is serving his sixth term in the Texas House of Representatives, will give an overview of the 82nd Legislative Sessin with a special emphasis on new legislatin that affects this area.

He will also discuss his ideas for the future of the Coastal Bend in the areas of travel, tourism, and economic development.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, October 13 at the Padre Isles Country Club. Lunch is at 11:45 for $13, the program begins at noon.

Trivia Question of the Fortnight Does anyone have any information concerning the killing of Mr. Gates in Port Aransas?

We didn’t get the response we were hoping for, so we’re going to kick that can down the road to the next issue.

If you can help solve the mystery, let us know.

October 7, 2011

A little South Texas History

Duded Up Like a Barb Wire Drummer and a Visit to the Menger Hotel Editor’s note: This is the latest in a series of stories based on the book Taming the Nueces Strip written by Texas Ranger George Durham who was part of a troop of Rangers headed by Captain L.H. McNelly who formed the troop to stop raiding in the Nueces Strip between the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers in early 1875.

In the last issue the Rangers had captured Border Lord King Fisher only to have to release him due to lack of evidence. Due process had found its way to the Nueces Strip and the Law of the West was fading.

By Dale Rankin After the release of King Fisher the Ranger company began to unravel. McNelly’s consumption had left him weak and unfit for Ranger service recovering in the Menger Hotel in San Antonio. Most of the Rangers were moved to the frontier town of Oakville located about halfway between Corpus Christi and San Antonio on the old stage road which is now IH 37. About the only thing left in Oakville these days is Vann’s Barbeque and an historic marker to harken back to its colorful and violent past.

Plenty of bad whisky As Durham put in on his arrival in 1876, “Oakville was a wide place in the road about twenty-five miles west of Beeville. In fact, the wide place in the road wasn’t any too wide, but it was populated well with saloons and a store or two. It was well named as it was in a big mott of Spanish and Live Oak, and there were maybe a dozen houses, or shanties, stuck off in the brush.”

“Its population came and went. At least some of them went. Quite a few others never made it any further. Plenty of bad whiskey always seems to make plenty of bad tempers. But it was not then and is not now the business of Rangers to referee or stop private, man-to-man squabbles and fights.

If there’s a local law that’s their business; if there is no local law they fight it out.”

Some bad tequila The Rangers camped about half a mile outside of Oakville to await further orders. Durham met a man named John Wilson who was living in a shack along the Nueces River. One day while Durham was visiting him and fishing Wilson swigged from a bottle of bad tequila. While Wilson was frying up the fish a man named George West road up; a man who now has a town named after him.

At the time West owned about half of Live Oak County including the water they were fishing in.

He allowed no hunting or fishing on his land and made this known in a forcible manner.

“Can’t you see the signs?” he asked. Then he turned and saw Durham’s Ranger badge.

“You draw pay from the state to enforce the law and here you are breaking the law!”

“Misher,” the tipsy Wilson said, “thish here Ranger ketched me flat-footed breaking the law about fishin’. he was kinda nuff to let me cook up what I’d ketched afore haulin me offta jail. I’m right sorrowful and I’m gonna give you part of ‘em back. I’m gonna let you git down an’ eat part of ‘em I got cooked.”

“I don’t eat fish,” West stammered. “I don’t eat fish and turn loose of my horse’s reins.”

As West turned to look at the Ranger Wilson fired one shot.

“Shucks”, he said. “I mished. I never mish a hat at this distance.

West got down off the horse and ate fish.

Off to the Menger When Durham got back to camp his Sergeant was mad.

“The Captain wants me to fetch you and two others to San Antonio for duty. We need to be there by noon tomorrow.”

They rode out without rest and headed across Buck Pettus country then Wilson County where they struck the San Antonio road and headed north. They arrived in San Antonio before noon and left their horse outside the Staacke Building which still stands near Alamo Plaza and walked over the Menger Hotel where McNelly was healing from his illness. The Menger is a story in itself. Located directly across the street from the Alamo it opened in 1859 and in the days before refrigeration a cave that ran under the hotel and

then under the Alamo was its cooler for beer and its famous mango ice cream. It was the gathering place for Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders when they trained in San Antonio and still has a bar there named for them. It was also Captain Richard King’s home in San Antonio when he left his ranch and the suite where he died there is now named in his honor and his ghost is said to walk the halls. It was home to John Wayne while he filmed his movie The Alamo, who also has a suite named for him. It was the gathering place for Confederate officers on their way to Mexico to fight for Maximilian after the Civil War, and it was a favorite stop of President Bill Clinton who would leave his motorcade waiting out in Alamo Plaza while he went inside for his mango ice cream, which had also been a favorite of future President Roosevelt.

Get some new duds “You boys wait outside,” the Sergeant said. “I’ll report to him.”

When he came back he said, Captain’s not stirring around much. What he wants first off is for us to all get some new clothes. Don’t go around in those work clothes. Get coats and wear them. Find a barbershop and get ae shingle and have your boots shined.”

For an idea of downtown San Antonio in those days see the set made for the Lonesome Dove television special in the 1980s. The set was constructed on Happy Sheehan’s Ranch near Brackettville where it still stands next to the Alamo replica made by John Wayne movie.

It was an amalgam of frontier Army post, old Mexican village, and the beginnings of a modern city which manifested itself in dance halls, burlesque theaters, the Longbranch Saloon on Main Plaza, and a large gambling houses at the corner of Soledad and Commerce where Fisher was shot dead less than a year later. The Jack Harris Gambling House and the Silver Dollar Saloon were where the high rollers hung out. The talk the day that Durham made his way there was of politics and outlawry. A bank at Gonzales had been robbed, the stagecoach to Austin had been held up, cattle were being stolen and King Fisher was the man most associated with it.

Duded up like a barb wire drummer Durham found his way to a tailor named Pancoast and got a new suit of clothes then on to the Lucchese shop for some new boots. By the time he was finished he was “duded up like a barb wire drummer”. In fact it was in Main Plaza a few years later where Bet A Million Gates, dressed much like Durham was that day, put up a square of barbed wire and challenged stockmen to bring in their wildest bull where he would pen it and hold it. It was this demonstration that brought barbed wire to the South Texas plains.

But on this day Durham and his new storeboughts made their way back the Menger for inspection by their Captain. He went into the room where McNelly was in bed and about as white as the sheets from his illness.

“By doggies it looks like he’s planning to get married,” McNelly said. “Don’t spend all your money, son. Save what you’ve got left. You probably won’t have a job with the state much longer.”

“Why,” Durham asked, “is it something I’ve done?”

Yes,” McNelly said. “You carried out my orders, and I carried out the orders of Governor Coke, and now they claim the Governor had no right to give me those orders. So they’ll likely throw the Governor out in the election, and us with him.”

Durham saw an era of Texas history coming to a close before his eyes. All he could picture was his Captain a year before leading his Rangers into a fight aboard his stallion Segal in the fight at Palo Alto twirling his pistol chamber and reading scripture to a dying bandit.

“They’re saying McNelly’s outfit was a bunch of brutal killers who never did take a prisoner,” he was told by his Sergeant, “and wouldn’t let an outlaw surrender. I reckon that Captain wanted to dress some of us up and let folks see we were human.”

The human Rangers were now ordered back to Oakville. They were going to take another crack at King Fisher.

Next time: Back to the brush.

Nancy E. Smith, Island resident since 1989 passed away on September 12th after a long battle with cancer. She was 79 years old. She is survived by her loving husband, Dick Smith, son Cary Wilcox, his wife Debbie and three grandchildren; Emily, Benjamin and Laura Ashlee Wilcox, and her daughter Mindy Niles.

Michael Ellis encouraged me to write the following story just prior to Mothers day in 1999. It was the first of my articles to be printed in the Moon. By request, and at the generosity of Dale and Jan Rankin, I am resubmitting it for publication.

Mom I know a lady pilot. She was taking her first flying lesson while I was learning to make a blackberry pie. She was upset because the kitchen was covered with flour. I was upset because she didn’t “honk” when she buzzed the house.

I had a lot to learn about airplanes and flying and quickly found that honking and beeping noises while in flight were a bad thing. She flew everything from 142s, 152s, Citabrias, 172s, Seneca’s and other twin engine Cessnas.

She didn’t fly helicopters because she said it was obvious their props were in the wrong place.

On top. Oh yeah, she was a Commercial pilot as well.

She raced planes every chance she got, cross country, into other countries, wherever there was a race. Details. She even flew an F14, because the military thought she was capable. I knew she was capable.

In Oklahoma City you can find her in the Women’s Aviation Hall of Fame, pictures and all.

Yeah, she is famous for her contribution to women’s aviation.

My Mother wasn’t big into teaching me the girlie things, though no one would question her femininity. But she taught me to fly life like a plane. With courage, a gentle touch, confience, grace, humility and respect. Avoiding the storm clouds and landing when it seemed appropriate to get my feet back on the ground.

You call her Nancy Smith. I call her mother.

October 7, 2011

Island Moon

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month

Read the Moon on Facebook!

Danniece Bobeché, MSN, WHNP Women’s Healthcare Nurse Practitioner www.danniece.com One out of eight women will have breast cancer in their lifetime. Unfortunately this statistic has not improved in many years despite advances in healthcare technology and research. There are 230,000 new cases diagnosed per year in the U.S. and this year nearly 40,000 will not survive. October is a month dedicated to those who have lost their battle, support the survivors and remember to take active steps toward early detection, the key to survival.

Family History Having a first degree relative, mom or sister, that has had breast cancer does increases a woman’s risk. However, in the majority of new cases a woman has no family history of this devastating disease. Having a negative family history offers an unfortunate false sense of security and keeps some patients from being proactive in accessing effective modalities for screening. I have had three very dear friends who have survived breast cancer and none of them had a family history of breast cancer.

Risk Factors The number one risk factor for developing breast cancer is age; the risk increases with every birthday we have. Females are more at risk as only one percent of breast cancer patients are male. Other risks include obesity, smoking, unmanaged stress and heavy alcohol consumption.

Contributing factors also include stress, Vitamin D deficiency, high fat diets (especially red meat), sedentary lifestyle, exposure to free radicals which include pesticides, pollution, toxic metals/ chemical, and Bisphenol A (BPA), a toxin that seeps from plastics. Additionally women who received radiation treatments as children or were exposed to Diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero, a treatment used between 1938 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage, are at higher risk for breast cancer diagnoses. Women who have their first child in the later reproductive years, as well as those who have never had children, are at greater risk as are women who started their period before the age of 12 or went into menopause after 55. Synthetic hormones, especially the progestin component found in birth control pills and post-menopausal treatments, may also increase the risk. This is not the case with Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) as Europeans have been using natural progesterone replacement for years as breast cancer prevention and treatment. In a recent study, women with higher socioeconomic status are at higher risk of developing breast cancer because they tend to start their families later. African Americans and Hispanic have a higher death rate from breast cancer because they tend to delay mammograms due to lack of resources limiting access to mammograms and early detection.

Prevention While we cannot alter our family history or turn back the clock and rethink our decision if and when to have children, we can take steps to improve our destiny. Eating more fruits and especially cruciferous veggies such as spinach, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy, helps prevent carcinogenic effects on the breasts and other vital organs. Choose low fat options whenever possible and limit red meat. Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight plus getting more exercise (seems to be a common theme) are proactive and easy options for decreasing our risk factors. Antioxidants help neutralize free radical damage and include Vitamins C & E, dark chocolate, red wine (in moderation), Omega 3 foods and supplements. Breastfeeding has been known for years to decrease a woman’s risk for breast cancer.

Early detection The key to survival is early detection. The American College of Obstetricians and the American Cancer Society recommend annual mammograms beginning at 40, earlier screenings in higher risk patients. Some women delay mammogram screenings for various reasons, lack of insurance, fear of pain, afraid of diagnosis, misunderstanding of the radiation exposure.

Recently a patient said she was told she didn’t have to have her mammogram for 5 years; I think she must have dreamed this as annual screenings are the gold standard for early detection. Another patient had delayed her mammogram for various

reasons for over 5 years and had abnormalities identified recently that with further diagnostic evaluation including biopsy were thankfully normal. I feel quite sure that she will have her screening every year from now on. Mammograms can detect some tumors five years before they can be palpated, are not painful, and emit less radiation than you might be exposed to walking in an urban area.

If identified in the early stage of development, breast cancer survival rate is 98%.

Support and information Susan G. Komen (www.komen.org) is a wonderful resource for information and support.

For those without healthcare insurance, Corpus Christi is fortunate to have a program, First Friday thru Spohn Healthcare Systems (361-9855600), that provides free screening mammograms for the uninsured.

American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), National Institute of Health (www.nih.gov), MD Anderson (www.mdanderson.org), and the National Breast Cancer Foundation (www. nationalbreastcancer.org) are excellent resources for information.

Taking action If you are a female over 40, make sure that you have an annual mammogram and encourage every female in your life to do the same. Do monthly self breast exams and have a clinical breast exam every year. Eat more fruits and veggies, decrease your fatty food intake, and eat more fish. Have your Vitamin D level checked and enjoy regular walks on Mike’s seawall. Honor those who we have lost to breast cancer. Love, support and cherish our brave survivors.

One out of eight women will have breast cancer in their lifetime

Serving: Padre Island, Flour Bluff, Port Aransas, Mustang Island and Rockport.

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Island Moon

Did ya’hear?

Business Briefs...

Haley The Hairstylist At Michelle’s Salon 361-949-0401 Call For An Appointment Color, Hi Lites, Cuts, Perms Late Appointments Available On Request

By Mary Craft

New Advertisers

Super Walmart in the Bluff will be opening Wednesday, October 26th as will the other two stores at Parkdale and on Saratoga

The 11th Annual South Texas Music Festival/ Barbeque and Chili Cook-off will be held at Sharkey’s in Port Aransas Saturday, October 8th.

Free live music all day and happy hour prices until 10 pm. The Shark Attack Band will play that night with an $8 cover.

North Padre Realty has been selling Padre Island commercial and investment property for more than 20 years. Owner Larry Childers has sold many of the commercial lots along SPID and Lake Padre. There are signs of new development in the area and Larry’s expertise can help you buy or sell property. Call 949-0850, 774-0850 or email lchilders@stx.rr.com.

Barnacle Bill’s at Bob Hall Pier serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Gulf view you cannot beat. Watch the surfers catch a wave or the fishermen catch a fish. Watch the sunrise or sunset or both at this family friendly restaurant.

They serve wine and have six beers on tap. They will hold a party on Saturday, October 15th to celebrate summer’s end with drink specials and entertainment.

Business Briefs

See what the talk is all about ! Our new addition offers you

the best Gulf view in Texas. Enjoy your breakfast, lunch or dinner while watching the moon rise, the sunrise or set.

Maybe you enjoy watching the many surfers, your friends and family catching fish off the pier! Watch a football game on one of our two large screen or the projection TVs. Whatever your desire, make the best of it with a glass of wine or one of our six beers on tap. All this in a family friendly atmosphere.

The Sixth Annual Dog-Gone Days Music Festival will be held at the Animal Hospital of Padre Island Saturday, October 29th 5pm10pm. Texas Country singer Max Stalling & the Rockoholics will entertain with their danceable music. There will be a Texas Chili and Fajita Cook-off, dog and owner costume contest with a $500 first prize and a silent auction. Come join your neighbors at this popular Island event.

The Island Moon Newspaper on Facebook now has 387 friends and climbing. Join us and keep up with Island news between issues. We also welcome questions on the site.

Brenda the Veggie Lady will be on the Island between the lights on Sundays 11 am - @4:30 pm while she still has good produce.

The Art Shows at the Felder Gallery in Port A will be held the weekend of the Port Aransas Art Walk. Friday, October 14th is a collaboration between Jon Steele and Dinah Bowman. Jon is a professional surf photographer originally from Corpus Christi who travels the world shooting the pros whose work is published in major surf magazines. Dinah will be showing local fish rubbings on top of his Texas surf photographs.

Saturday are painting demonstrations by Wade Koniakowsky and landscape painter Paula Gold.

Dodge City Steak has 8 ounce filet Mignon on sale for $12.50/lb and New York strip for $11.70/ lb. Owner Phil Heiland who is also owner of Bay Breeze Carpet sells the steak on the Island between the lights on Saturdays. You can also arrange for delivery at 673-4153.

Paradise Limousines provides dinner and club runs to Port A for just $25/person round trip. You can also book them to take you or your group on a trip into town. Call 949-1161, 877-LIMO or visit www.ccexecutivelimos.com.

The 24th Annual Taste of the Island will be held at the Padre Isles Country Club Wednesday, November 9th 6pm-9pm. Pick up your tickets for this ever-growing event at Mail n More, any of the Island banks or the POA office. Advance tickets are $20 and $25 at the door if there are any left.

La Palma Restaurant on the Island next to Ace Hardware is putting in a drive-thru window. They hope to open in about a month.

The 16th Annual Island Foundation Golf Tournament kicks off at 8:30am on Friday, October 21st. The four person scramble benefits the educational programs of The Island Foundation.

Go to www.IslandFoundation.com to register.

Mulligans and Margaritas Moonlit Golf at Padre Isles Country Clubwill be held Thursday, October 20th 6pm-9pm. Nine holes of golf with cart and complimentary buffet and margaritas is $65 per person.

Michelle at Michelle’s Salon welcomes new stylist Patty Tonkin formerly of Sport Clips next to Lowes. Mention ad on A8 and receive 25% off any chemical service. If you are looking for a military cut or super fade, Patty is your girl and as always, walk-ins are welcome.

A Taste of Italy on the Island Gourmet Pizza Everything Made Fresh Daily Now Featuring Hand-Crafted in house Veggie Lasagne!

Pizzas - Subs - Wings - Lasagne & Much More!

Celebrate the Summers End on Oct.15 with some Special Entertainment, Drink Specials, and More !

October 7, 2011

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Great Seafood and Burgers Libations Amusements 18 Holes of Minature Golf

All you can eat shrimp Wednesdays are back!

Thursdays Prime Rib with Twice Open 11 am - 2 am Baked Potato Kitchen Closes @ 1 am

One Bite & You’re Hooked

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Happy Hour 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. $2.00 Pints

Located on Padre Island, Johnny D's offers Island dining at its best. Serving Corpus Christi with the freshest local seafood and culinary masterpieces, order the rack of lamb and you'll be calling your friends from the table! Hours of operation are Tuesday-Saturday 4:30 to 10pm and Sunday 4:30 to 9pm

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October 7, 2011

Island Continued from A1 channel since its opening in 2005. Originally it was thought the channel would have to be dredged every year a $4 million fund was set aside for that purpose (see full fiscal records fo the TIF in this issue). But the channel had other ideas and annual monitoring of the water flow and depth has shown that under normal conditions the channle needs no regular annual dredging. Some minor dredging work was done in 2009 but this is the first major project and according to Diedre Williams at the Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science at TAMUCC which does three surveys annually of the channel and the beach around it, dredging now is only necessary because of the sand left behind by Hurricane Ike in September of 2008.

Ike’s sand formed two low “retaining walls” (our term not theirs) near the south side of the channel just inside its opening to the Gulf, and another at the point where the channel flows into the basin near the boat ramps. The result is that the channel flow is not sufficient to blow the sand out of the channel under normal conditions. That sand is what will be removed. It will be moved by a slurry oine that will place it on Ellis Beach along the southern half of the seawall and extend that beach outward as much as several hundred feet.

The work is set to begin in the next few weeks and should take about three months to complete.

JFK Parking lot Work at the parking lot between the JFK Bridge and Packery Channel is going forward. The second boat ramp is nearing completion and work has begun on the retaining wall along the southside of the site. The plan is to raise the elevation of the lot to keep it from flooding during high tide events.

That is Phase I of the project.

Phase II calls for the paving and landscaping of the lot and the addition of more than one hundred parking spots for vehicles and boat trailers. No firm timetable has been set for that portion of the project but the plans are complete and funding has been identified.

Kendal’s Korner

Island Moon

Like me, many teenagers are approaching that time in their life when only one thing is of any importance, getting your driver’s license! Whether it is getting your permit, starting drivers ed, waiting for that dreadful six months to be over, or just waiting until the day when you turn sixteen, the anxiety to be able to drive grows daily. Getting a license and a car means freedom, and with that freedom comes responsibility. I can assure you though that ninety-nine percent of teenagers are willing to accept that responsibility and they will not abuse it once they have it.

Getting your license means more to teenagers than most people think! For teens it means freedom, independence, not having to ask mom and dad to take you places, not having to ask your friends who already have their licenses for rides, and most importantly it means that we are growing up and that our parents trust us. Of course the other side of that is that our parents just don’t want to drive us around anymore. Regardless, the day you get your license is a day that will mean so much.

You just have to prepare for it so when the day comes, you have everything ready so you won’t have to wait any longer.

P.S. If you have any questions or comments you can e-mail me at kendalskorner@yahoo.com.

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Island Moon

Stuff I heard on the Island

By Dale Rankin

As I surveyed the crowd of Islanders who turned out at the City Council meeting last week I couldn’t help but think back to just a few short years ago when we Islanders were whipped dogs.

It was the end of 2007 and city was treating us like impetuous children who could be ignored without peril. We had 46 home burglaries on our Island in three short months as thieves from OTB were ringing doorbells and kicking down doors on a daily basis. We called for a Town Hall Meeting and the PD brass showed up and told us drop dead.

If I remember correctly, when we asked them to give us a list of the latest break-ins so we could protect ourselves their words were,”We’re too busy to waste our time sending out crime reports to people on The Island.”

My how times have changed.

After that kick in the teeth we got busy. The first thing we had to do was stop splitting our Island vote during city elections. Since the vote on the ban on vehicles on the beach in 2004 when Islanders split 49%/51%. we had become a nonentity at the ballot box. All the people OTB had to do was give us a hatchet and we’d start whacking each other in the head with it and that’s what they did. As long as we split our vote we didn’t matter.

But with only 22,000 voters casting ballots in city elections if we could block up the 2000 or so Island voters - out of 6000 registered - and get them to vote together we might get some attention.

The idea was born but we needed another slap in the face to get us moving.

In 2000 the city had passed $35 million in bonds, in 2004 another $95 million, then in 2008 - the year after our burglary explosion - another $150 million. Out of $280 million in bonds The Island got a whopping $3 million in projects. At 12% of the tax base that meant we took on $33 million in debt principle (plus debt service) and got $3 million back; which as of this writing exactly none, zero, zilch has been spent.

That’s the same amount as a dead man.

City to Island - Drop Dead!

So in 2008 we got busy. The Island United Political Action Committee was formed and almost immediately the PD established two fulltime beats on The Island. Now instead of officers from Flour Bluff responding to Island calls we have eight full time positions assigned here; six patrol officers in eight-hour shifts and two

supervisors. Since that time if we have more than two home burglaries in a month it is unusual.

Then the PAC went through its first round of City elections and four of the five candidates it backed were elected including the Mayor. My how times had changed. The squeaky wheel was getting some grease.

Dry spell Then we hit a dry spell and it was our own fault.

The momentum we had built up for the election got away from us because we failed in the follow up. We wasted a year as the council members we helped get elected kept their promises and came back and asked us what we wanted done. Our answer was we don’t know and as a result nothing happened.

It was at that point I thought we would be better off without the PAC at all since I figured it was better not to make promises than to make them and not keep them. It was the year of our discontent. I began advocating that we replace the City Council members who made up the Board of Directors of the Island Tax Increment Financing Zone with Islanders. At least that way we would get control of the $8 million in Island-raised money that was then in that fund.

It turned out that was a bad idea. But it did lead to a push by clearer heads to breathe life into the Island Strategic Action Committee. That almost went awry when the council considered putting a majority of members on the ISAC who were not from The Island. Once again we were the contentious Islanders who couldn’t be trusted to run our own sandbox. We fought and won that fight. We now have a 14-member ISAC committee who vetts Island projects to look for cost savings and prioritize them for scheduling and funding.

Within the last few months they were able to cut the cost of dredging Packery Channel from about $4 million to less than $2 million simply by finding a bidder the city hadn’t talked to.

The end of our dry spell is in sight.

Brave New World So what now? The talk now is of new bridges and roads and canals and a waterpark. It’s time to ask what do we want our Island to be?

Lets start by eliminating what it is not going to be. What it will not be is the same as it is now for very long. The most common complaint on The Island has always been “no one ever builds anything out here.” Now that someone is trying to build something out here that has changed to

  

 announces...

  

 

      

   



                   

“someone is trying to build something out here.”

Pick one. But understand that once the JFK Causeway was raised and Packery Channel was dug our course was set. Development of some kind is coming.

What I can tell you with 100% certainty is that The Island will not look like what it does today ten years from now. Undeveloped waterfront land in a state with 25 million people has become too valuable to be solely or even primarily residential.

Retail will come. Hotels will come. Resorts will come. Franchise stores will come unless we actively work to stop them and will probably come anyway. Big Box stores will not, Flour Bluff will get those. The only questions are when and what kind of development we will see.

This is the fifth time I can remember living in a town where this debate has taken place. Some people want change for change sake, others want no growth period. Both are wrong. Change for change sake driven solely by development interests happened in North San Antonio where urban sprawl was the result. In Austin the We’re Full No Growth Coalition stopped the city boundaries from expanding and the result was uncontrolled growth in unincorporated areas on the edge of town and the Living Traffic Snarl that is today’s Austin.

Then I took on the development of a 25,000 seat amphitheater in a small Oklahoma town and the CAVE people came out of the woodwork. You know, Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

They spread rumors, they made up facts, they didn’t even know what was planned or what they were against but they were against it anyway. Just for fun I had a friend start the rumor that I was going to turn the amphitheater into a waste water treatment plant. Within hours I got a call from the local paper asking if I already had the permits?

Bad news travels fast especially if it’s wrong, and as we have seen of late on The Island, if there is any lack of good information the vacuum is quickly filled by bad information that has a germ of truth but is twisted beyond recognition by the Coconut Telegraph, or is made up out of whole cloth. I have tried to put good information into the system so that people can make up their own minds about what is happening but it hasn’t stopped the rumor mill.

So what then?

First, lets’ address some common questions: What about traffic if Schlitterbahn is built? That is certainly a legitimate question. In a nutshell here’s the deal. There are currently 26,000 vehicles per day coming OTB onto The Island. Based on attendance estimates at the waterpark it will add about 1000 cars per day. That’s an increase of about 4%. That seems like a manageable number to me.

Further, the park is open from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. neither of which is a peak traffic time. Since there is no “kickoff time” for a waterpark people stagger in throughout the day rather than come and go all at once. That will mean that during the peak morning traffic hours when people are leaving The Island the park will be closed. They will be back OTB and home before the park closes.

Design is the key. Wait until you see what that is before you declare the End of the World As We Know It. All the facts are not in. There will be a hearing process for public input. Pay attention to it.

Won’t the park change the residential aura of The Island? Again, maybe, maybe not. Wait until you see what is planned before you make that judgment. It is fair to say that did not happen either in South Padre or in New Braunfels where one-million people visited s similar park last year and a check with the residents in those areas finds few if any objections to traffic, noise, or any other problems. The best evidence suggests the type of waterpark planned for our Island is a good neighbor. Again design is the key.

Won’t the park raise the value and therefore the taxes on my house? In theory it could raise them or lower them. It could raise them by bringing more attention and buyers to The Island and therefore pushing values higher. That is good only if you want to sell. But the way the tax code in Texas is structured if the city keeps spending constant and adjusts the tax rate downward as values rise, your taxes could actually drop since there will be more taxable value from which to raise the same amount of revenue. This is a political question for which there is no firm answer. It can be argued round or flat.

There will be a time for these and other concerns

October 7, 2011 to be addressed and that is once the facts are known. All we can say for certain at this point is that if you are against development just because... then you probably should go back to your CAVE because trying to keep The Island just the way it is is like holding back the tide with a broom. It’s not going to work.

We Islanders have worked together in the past few years to take control of our own destiny. We should be proud of that and stick together going forward once we know the facts. Everyone gets their say and in the end I believe good decisions will be the result.

If history has taught us one thing on our Island it is that old Ben Franklin was right when he said, “if we don’t hang together we will surely hang separately.” Truer words were never spoken.

Real Estate Roundup

By Mary Lou White When we buy our homes, we are investing in the future. For many of us, it will represent the largest purchase that we make in our life. Most people today, expect to sell their home for more than they paid for it, originally. The price of the things we buy is determined by supply and demand. As the supply of homes dwindles, yet the population increases and more families need housing, then, we see escalating prices. Especially, in areas that become a popular mecca for tourists or jobs. Trying to adjust new housing units available to constantly changing population levels is a very tricky business.

Home Prices So, exactly how are prices for homes determined?

In real estate, we are taught: it is what the seller will accept and the buyer will agree to pay. If all transactions were done on a cash basis that would probably hold true. However, when lenders are risking their funds another element comes into play. Lenders need facts and figures to use as a basis for their decisions. Once lenders were the local banker down the street, but today lenders can be located anywhere in the world. They need an educated opinion from a local source.

Appraisers That is where the appraiser comes into the picture. In our “technical age,” data can be stored and transferred in vast quantities. As real estate agents, we use information about houses for sale and houses that have sold to help both buyers and sellers determine the best value for a piece of property. These comparisons or “comps” have great value for appraisers. They try to find the most recent sales that match their “subject” property as closely as possible. They will be hired by the lenders to preview a home and then add or subtract value to make the rooms and features match as closely as possible homes that have just sold. Appraisers are truly in the “cross hairs” when it comes to making a value judgement. Their estimates affect every party to the transaction.

Without accurate and trustworthy comps, lenders will refuse to make the loan. Buyers and sellers, both worry about the appraisal price because their future is in limbo until that missing piece of the puzzle falls into place.

Consequences In good economic times, when there are many comps available, prices can escalate quickly.

Sellers are making a profit, loans are readily available and buyers are moving into their “dream” homes. However, in today’s economy, we have a quite different scenario. Sellers are listing with trepidation and listing agents are working hard to find an accurate value for property that will elicit both interest and offers. Lenders are being closely governed by banking regulations and must meet the guidelines for adequate documentation.

Without proper comps, loans simply will not be made. Low appraisals force all parties back to the bargaining table. Either the buyer has to contribute more to make up the difference, or the seller must agree to accept less for their home.

However, in many instances the seller has almost no maneuvering room left. Without a compromise, weeks of work by many people will end in utter disappointment and without a payday.

Impact You may think this turmoil does not affect you.

Think again. The city uses these same comps to value all property for tax purposes. As property values fall, so does the revenue needed to maintain city services. We all want our tax bill to go down, but we want and need reliable streets and services. The skill and fairness of appraisers has a far-reaching impact on our daily lives that many people are unaware of until it causes a hurdle in their race through life. Being informed is a good thing!

REAL ESTATE TICKER OF THE FORTNIGHT 273 Island Residences for sale / 125 Detached homes for sale / 82 Detached homes on a canal/ water 226 Island Lots or Land for sale / 63 parcels on a canal/water

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October 7, 2011

Island Moon

Dr. Tom

News From Your

Fractures in Kids

By Maybeth Christensen Glass Recycling comes to the Island! Saturday, October 8 from 10 AM to Noon, the City will accept glass for recycling. I know there are many people who have asked about glass recycling, so gather up the glass and bring it over to the POA office.

While you are dropping off the glass, check out the new landscaping at the office. We are excited about the new look. A monument like the ones on Whitecap and Sea Pines is under construction at the office, also. Folks should now be able to locate us.

The hummingbirds have been great fun to watch this year. We added a feeder to the tree in front of our building and they have been regular visitors.

It seems they are staying around longer this year, filling up for their continuing flight south.

The City Council chambers were filled to standing room only on September 27 to support the Park Road 22 bridge and Schlitterbahn. Jeff Henry, one of the family members who own Schlitterbahn gave a presentation on the firm’s history and commitment to the communities where they are located. The bridge is the first

step in what we hope will be some major development on the Island.

The City Council will vote on the

The City Council will vote on the bridge at the October 11 meeting I hope to see many of you there

bridge at the October 11th meeting. I hope to see many of you at that meeting.

The Aquarius extension appears to be moving forward.

The City Attorney reportedly filed a response denying the allegations brought by a resident. As many residents will recall, we had a town meeting and a petition drive to get that extension on the 2008 ballot. The City is working to address some of the resident’s traffic control issues. You might notice a traffic counter is currently on Whitecap and Aquarius.

I have been promised a speed cart which will be placed on Whitecap. We hope it will help remind residents that the speed limit is 35 miles per hour, not 40 or 50 as many of us have witnessed. Slow down!

Calling all Island artists and purchasers. The Second Annual Art Walk will be Sunday, November 6, Noon to 4 PM at Billish Park. If you want to display your work, please call JoAnn Smith, 949-7114 for details.

Fractures in our children and adolescents are common phenomena. Especially this time of year the boys of fall are common visitors at The Medical Center. We see the entire gamut of sports injuries.

This year The Bluff teams have had their share of injuries. Today I am going to cover diagnosis and treatment of some of the more common injuries such as fractures and growth plate injuries.

Buckle fractures are probably the most common injuries we see in children especially the younger age toddler thru early adolescence. These doctors commonly refer to as torus fractures. They can be difficult to pick up for patients, their parents and inexperienced doctors and midlevels. Typically folks will think it is a sprain and if they do X-ray it sometimes the finding is so subtle many times it is missed. The most common occurring area is the lower radius at the wrist though it can occur in many areas; usually the long bones see it most.

Treatment of this requires immobilization till swelling resolves then cast immobilization for about 3 to 4 weeks then patients can have their cast removed and start range of motion to rid the immobilized area of soreness from the cast itself.

These generally have a favorable outcome.

The wrist also can be plagued by more obvious fractures with or with out deformity. Those that are deformed require closed reduction if possible or open reduction by their orthopedist if unstable.

Usually a well trained doctor can determine the difference and either reduce it or refer you to ortho if needed. These injuries also are usually splinted with bulky dressing to accommodate swelling and hold the fracture in place. Casting is usually performed after swelling resolves.

Another very common injury is to growth plates with out obvious fracture or deformity, this happens more commonly in the lower extremity at the lower end of the fibula growth plate or the base of the last metatarsal in the foot. These usually occur after twisting the ankle similar to how adults sprain their ankle.

Soreness however is at the growth plate and not the ligaments in both places. The patient has difficulty bearing weight due to pain. The X-rays are typically normal but this is treated with weight bearing in boot for 2 to 3 weeks typically, some may take longer. Risk is low with these as well.

Lastly, you can see conditions collectively called apophysitis which is essentially where a tendon inserts on a bone usually near a growth plate area and the area gets inflamed and tries to pull the attachment at the area of insertion before it is mature. These are very common in teens and athletes in adolescence. Usually the athletes’ muscles overpower the insertion and pain develops at that site that hinders athletic performance but is not disabling. Unfortunately this requires complete rest of the affected area for at least 3 weeks sometimes much longer.

Many times patients are not willing to rest it long enough to heal it. This can plague them for up to two years in bad cases or until the area fuses then it always resolves on its own.

One more month till football ends for the little guys and a little longer for the big guys.

Thanks for all of your patience with us while I am coaching and good luck to all our area sports teams. Don’t break a leg, Doc Tom

Wind Continued from A3

month prior to the establishment of the new wind energy unit to ensure the project does not require additional review by jurisdictional, local, state, federal or military agencies. Experimental, home built, prototype models, or any model not listed on the city’s list of approved manufacturers and models are prohibited. Guyed or latticed towers are prohibited. Single- family, two family and townhouse use districts are permitted to have one building or structurally mounted unit for every 1500 square feet of building requiring energy.

The height of the unit may not exceed 15 feet above the highest point of the structure, excluding chimneys. The fall radius of the unit must be within the property lines. One small free standing unit is permitted on any lot originally platted as one acre (43,560 square feet). The total unit height may not exceed 55 feet above the natural grade of the property. The fall radius of the unit must be within the property lines.

Wind energy conversion to electricity is a reasonable option for homeowners. Units may be connected to the utility grid, serve as an independent source of energy, or serve as a hybrid energy system. Wind energy farms that exist for the commercial sale of wind energy are prohibited within Corpus Christi city limits. At the time of this writing there are two functional wind energy conversion units in Corpus Christi. I have had the opportunity to discuss some of the function and application of these units with their owners and look forward to providing more details as they become available. More information about types of units available for home and business applications, experienced installers, cost, safety and maintenance of the units is being researched and will be published soon.

In the meantime make it green time! The third rock from the sun can be a better place to live.

Make one choice at a time. Think big and act small.

Flour Bluff and anywhere in the Corpus Christi city limits. Home and business owners must purchase an approved wind energy unit. The City Wind Ordinance contains a list of approved American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) or U.S. Department of Energy regulated manufacturers of small and medium wind energy conversion units. Any unit that is installed in the city limits of Corpus Christi must meet the standards of AWEA or the Department of Energy. In addition to other electrical and building permits required by the city, the wind units must be inspected for maximum survival wind speed.

In section 27D of the City’s zoning ordinance it is strongly recommended that you visit with a Developmental Services project manager prior to purchasing a wind energy unit. In addition it is recommended that you allow at least one

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Island Moon

Yard of the Month

October 7, 2011

The Travelling Moon Gets Around

Dorothy and Ron Francey Brought the This is Port A resident Zach Fuller with Moon to the site of the famous History his friend, Jim Bradshaw in Houghton, Channel TV show “Silver and Gold Pawn Shop” in Las Vegas Michigan in the Upper Peninsula.

The Island Gardeners Yard of the Month for September has been presented to Martin and Rosalie Lange at 15890 Punta Espada Loop in recognition of their beautiful tropical paradise, filled with lush plantings and wonderful grassy areas. We hope you will drive by this island property, and enjoy it as we have. For more club information, call Sandy @949-7145 or Rita @949-6957.

Babes on Boats (BOB) take their annual fishing trip on the Island Queen II in Port A. Islanders turned out in large numbers to the Schlitterbahn discussion at city council

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Mayor Adame welcomes Flat Stanley to Corpus Christi

Mike Pusley appreciation party

Schlitterbahn Continued from A 1 he said. “But without the bridge the concept of a pedestrian oriented Island development doesn’t work. We are laying an infrastructure for progress.”

He said the retail and restaurant developments around the waterpark are crucial to the success of the project. Those developments will require mixed use zoning and the use of Planned Unit Development areas which allow flexibility in zoning.

“80% of tourist dollars are spent after 6 p.m.,” he said. “This Island Walk will be the hub of The Island for visitors and for Island residents alike.”

The Island Walk would be accessible by boat from the existing Island residential canals.

The bridge would be the starting point for a 3300-foot long Island Walk canal on the west side of the road which would allow for retail and resort development along its banks.

The city and the developers of both the Schlitterbahn park and the Island Walk have entered into Memorandums of Understanding that allow for planning on the projects to move forward even as details are worked out.

Funding for the water exchange bridge was approved in a citywide 2004 bond election but funded at only $1.4 million of the $8 million needed. However, city staff has said that the remainder of the money can come from savings in a $150 million bond package passed in 2008.

Dan Winship, President of the Island United Political Action Committee, Maybeth Christensen, from the Padre Isles Property Owners Association (POA), John White, President of the Padre Island Business Association, Keith Arnold, President of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Foster Edwards, President of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce spoke in favor of the project along with nearly two dozen Island residents. The lone speaker against the project was Islander Bob Nash who lives on Primavera.

“Has any poll been taken on this,” he asked. “This project would dramatically alter the character of our Island.”

David Henry, whose father founded the company and whose family is the sole owner of Schlitterbahn, appeared at the council meeting and told the council he and his family are ready to move forward on the project. The company also has parks in New Braunfels, Galveston, South Padre, and a newly opened park in Kansas City, along with a park in development in Ft. Lauderdale.

Some memorable quotes from Henry at the council meeting: “We feel like we should be here before anywhere else on the Texas Coast. We can build a project here that is unique to the Texas Coast. We design, build, and operate our projects. We stay together as a family. Texas knows and understands our brand.”

“Our business model is to bundle accommodations, a water park, other hotels, and retail. Most people who come to Schlitterbahn spend the night, dine, and shop. We don’t do well with Spring Breakers. The Spring Break traffic we get is almost all families. We do about 50,000 people each March (spring break) and it is almost all families.”

“We want our partners to have the backing of the community. I told Paul (Schexnailder) that we are in the resort development business before the waterpark business.”

“We will do our best to bring you a world class waterpark and we’re ready to go. We can do it in short order.”

If the bridge project is approved at the October 11 council meeting the project will move into the planning phase with a projected opening of the Schlitterbahn Resort and park set for spring of 2013.

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Island Moon

October 7, 2011

Member

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On The Island

A 11

Aquarius Continued from A1

Home Remodeling and More...

Duane Ebert Cell: (361) 658-2459 Bus: (361) 949-0661 28 Years Experience l Commercial & Residential

shows that while the right of way for the road is 60 feet, the actual traffic lanes are the same width as the existing lanes, the wider right of way is due to a median of approximately 20 feet that separates the lanes and, according to the city’s traffic engineers will have a “calming” effect that will slow traffic to speeds lower than those on streets of similar width that lack the median.

The Aquarius Extension was approved in a citywide bond issue in 2004 and funded at $1.4 million. In the original platting of The Island Aquarius was designed to be a thoroughfare that would provide an alternate north/south route from one end of The Island to the other to take traffic off SPID. But when the streets were constructed developers decided that rather than build a bridge over the canal to connect Aquarius from Commodores to the existing Aquarius which intersects with SPID near the foot of the JFK Bridge they would sell lots on either side of the canal and not build the bridge. The route of the extension was altered in recent plans to allow for a row of lots on its western side and connects with Commodores directly across the street from the fire station.

Valdez has said he will advise the city to go ahead with construction plans and not to wait for the resolution of the concerns over increased traffic on the new road. As things now stand design work on the road itself is complete and the project has been put out to bids and a contractor selected. The next step is to sign a construction contract and begin work. City engineers had planned to do that by the end of December with a completion date of fall of 2012. As of this writing that schedule is still the city’s goal.

Hummell told the Moon that his goal in filling the lawsuit was not to interfere with proposed plans to build a Schlitterbahn Resort and waterpark on the current site of the Padre Isles Country Club located adjacent to the Aquarius Extension.

Developer Paul Schexnailder who is one of the principles in building the park has said that the Aquarius Extension project will have no effect on those plans.

Falconwatch

Now has a full bar

Happy Hour Tuesday - Friday 4-6 Featuring a new appetizer menu

Lunch 11:30-2p.m Tuesday through Friday.

Closed for Lunch ONLY on Saturday.

Dinner 5:00-9:30p.m Tuesday through Thursday 5:00-10.p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Remember to call for private parties or catering, we would love to accommodate you!

Birders from all over the world came to Corpus Christi to count Falcons on their annual migration south through the Coastal Bend. Some found counting falcons much like counting sheep.

Photos by Miles Merwin 14602 So. Padre Island Dr. Corpus Christi, Texas 78418 Phone: 361-949-0075 Fax: 361949-2995 Toll Free: 1-866-949-0075 www.ccsecuritytitle.com

For Daily Specials, see Facebook: Dragonfly Restaurant Twitter: Dragonflycuracao

Robin Print Escrow Officer rprint@ccsecuritytitle.com

Joye Samudio Escrow Assistant jsamudio@ccsecuritytitle.com

Check out our menu online at www.DragonflyCuracao.com We can’t wait to see you at our new location!

14701 SPID , On Padre Island 361-949-2224

Selling Padre Island Commercial & Investment Property for 20 Years 1. Sold - 5.61 acres 2. Sold - 2.57 acres (3 times) 3. Sold - Frost Bank site - 2 acres 4. Sold - Island Marine site 5. Sold - 3 lots 6. Sold - Sonic Drive In site 7-8. Sold - 5.0 acre tract 9. Sold - Medical Center site 10. Sold - Mail n More Plaza site 11. Sold - Hampton Inn site 1.15 acres

12. Sold - Third Coast Beach Co. site 13. Sold - CVS Drug site - 1.38 acres 14. Sold - 4.65 acres to developer 15. Sold - Circle K site 16. Sold (twice) - 2.4 acres to investors 17. Sold - 2.9 acres to developer 18. Sold - 38 acres to developer 19. Sold - .5 acres to investors 20. Sold - 2 lots - (6/10) 21. Sold - Island Car Wash site (11/10) 22. Sold - 3 lots (4/11)

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BIG EVENT

Chuck Wagon opens at 6:30 p.m.

Silent & Live Auction

I have been living and brokering commercial and investment real estate on North Padre Island for more than 20 years. I have been involved in dozens of significant real estate transactions in the commercial area along Padre Island Drive and around Lake Padre. I have also assisted with numerous properties on Mustang Island and in Port Aransas.

We have recently seen some early signs of possible new development coming to the Island.

If you have a commercial or investment property you would like to sell – or a property you are interested in buying – please give me a call. Let me put my proven expertise to work for you.

I am the commercial broker that other realtors and appraisers call when they need to get something done on the Island.

Larry K. Childers

Owner - North Padre Realty Broker Associate - Steve Roberts Realty

North Padre Realty (361) 949-0850 • fax (361) 949-8495 Larry K. Childers - cell: (361) 774-0850 • e-mail: lchilders@stx.rr.com NORTH PADRE ISLAND – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS

For Additional Information visit: www.npadrerealty.com www.steveroberts.com It is not our intention to solicit properties currently listed by other companies.

Music & Dancing with

FIVE CARD DRAW 8 - 12 midnight

Western Casual Attire For more information call 694-9219 RSVP Deadline is October 21

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Island Moon

October 7, 2011

October 7, 2011

Island Moon

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Island Moon

October 7, 2011

October 7, 2011

Island Moon

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Island Moon

October 7, 2011