MAY 18, 2022 WORKS OF ART
Dripping Spring to hose art tour – Page 6 © Barton Publications, Inc.
News-Dispatch
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HaysNewsDispatch.com
Vol. 42 • No. 35
Serving Hays County, TX
Veterans retreat heading to Dripping Springs $1 million donation received
STAFF REPORT
DRIPPING SPRINGS — Central Texas veterans are getting a permanent retreat and resource base at Patriots’ Hall of Dripping Springs (PHDS). Philanthropists John Paul and Eloise DeJoria have given $1 million from their JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation to build the PHDS Meeting Hall and PHDS Wellness Center, focusing on Veterans’ health needs and VA Claims assistance. PHDS is a 10-acre permanent retreat and resource base for veterans and their families to connect and find support. The Hill Country retreat will feature a Main Gathering Hall for therapeutic workshops, employment, and educational seminars, in addition to vet-to-vet mentoring and social activities. There will also be a Meeting House for the local VFW and American Legion
A $1 million gift from John Paul and Eloise DeJoria’s Family Foundation will build a meeting house and wellness center for veterans and their families in Dripping Springs. (Courtesy photo)
Post meetings, a Wellness Center with VA claims assistance, a fishing pond, playscape, vegetable garden, obstacle course, ADA walking trailsand more. Patriots’ Hall was founded by Kathryn Chandler, wife of actor Kyle Chandler, and Dr. Mary
Jane Hetrick, Dripping Springs Volunteer of the Year. Kathryn had been inspired by her dad, a Vietnam veteran, now living in a veterans’ home in California. “I was only four when my father returned from two tours of Vietnam,” said Kathryn. “But
my mom told me he came home a very different person. So, I’ve only known him as an extreme introvert, basically a hermit. But now he is surrounded by other veterans. "He listens to the military doctors, has made some incredible friends and is thriving. Veterans get each other. Veterans need each other, and John Paul gets this. He and our community have stepped up big time to make this happen and we can’t thank them enough.” While brainstorming their mission, the board took an in-depth survey of veterans’ needs and applied them to every aspect of the PHDS design. The majority of the PHDS board and advisory board are also veterans. “I can tell you the needs in Central Texas for Veterans are tremendous,’ said Jeff Wells, board member and U.S. Army combat Veteran. “Unemployment rates, mental health, and family issues are all front-of-mind for veterans, and the Patriots’ Hall addresses all of these issues, along with other basic needs. The largest U.S. veteran population in the
world resides between Fort Hood and San Antonio. The Patriots’ Hall is right in the center of it all. Veterans helping Veterans. That’s our mission.” John Paul is a proud veteran and joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 18 and spent two years serving upon the U.S.S. Hornet. In 2006, John Paul was appointed Admiral in the Texas Navy by the Governor of Texas and the Secretary of State. In 2012, he received the Lone Sailor Award, which honors Sea Service veterans who have excelled with distinction in their civilian careers while exemplifying the Navy’s core values of honor, courage, and commitment. “A short distance from my home in Austin is this wonderful veterans hall,” said John Paul. “All too often, many of our vets find themselves alone and with no one to help them. The Patriots’ Hall of Dripping Springs was built to assist and connect veterans to what they need to know for their health and benefits and, more importantly, to provide
See VETS, page 6
TESPA takes action to halt rock crushing plant STAFF REPORT WIMBERLEY – A proposed quarry and rock crushing plant in Hays County is not getting the green light from all sides. The Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) has sent the attached Notice of Intent (NOI) to sue Far South Mining LLC to stop the proposed quarry and rock crushing plant on the Needmore Ranch between Wimberley and San Marcos. The legal action seeks to protect groundwater in the Edwards Aquifer Authority’s jurisdictional “red zone” and endangered species living in the karst aquifer that flows out at Fern Bank Springs
into the Blanco River and nearby San Marcos Springs. TESPA aims to protect the water and endangered species through the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan. There are concerns that the operation would likely cause “take” of several endangered species including the Comal Springs
Dryopid Beetle, Golden-cheeked Warbler, San Marcos Springs Salamander and Texas Blind Salamander, while also polluting water in the aquifer. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Fern Bank Springs at Needmore Ranch is designated as a “critical habitat” for the Comal Springs Dryopid Beetle. “TESPA is taking this action in our role to protect and preserve our groundwater, aquifers, springs, the Blanco River, and this area of the Hill Country,” stated Patrick Cox, TESPA Executive Director. “Far South Mining LLC’s proposed quarry and rock crushing operation on the Needmore Ranch pose real threats to federally protected endangered species and their
designated critical habitat, and to this very sensitive aquifer and groundwater. This proposed operation should be immediately canceled.” TESPA’s NOI letter lays out the threats and harms that will result from the proposed rock mining and crushing operation, such as: lowering of local groundwater and surface water levels from mining operations and dewatering, changes in turbidity levels in groundwater/surface water due to blasting and quarry operation, interruption of groundwater conduit flow paths by rock removal and/or blasting in karst systems, temperature change
See ROCK, page 6
Lady Tigers fall to SA McCollum, season ends BY WAYLAND D. CLARK
With only two seniors, Katie Young and Haley Kanetzky, it wasn’t the 80-1 odds long shot Rich Strike had at Churchill Downs in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, but the Lady Tigers softball team wasn’t a likely pick to win 5A District 26. Some were surprised when they did, but not the Lady Tigers. The team’s goal was to travel the 28-mile trip to the State Softball Tournament in Austin, but the road getting there came to a dead end in San Marcos with a 3-1 loss on Friday the 13th against a pesky San Antonio McCollom team in the Region IV quarterfinals. It just wasn’t the Lady Tigers’ day. McCollum will face Flour Bluff in the Region IV semifinals.
Dripping Springs swept its way through bi-district and area in best of three game series wins over Georgetown Eastview 8-2, 4-0 and Southwest Legacy 4-1, 1-0 before the 3-1 loss to McCollum in a single game playoff. “The glue that got us here is our dugout, and the camaraderie and love we have for each other as a team, that’s why we’re where we are tonight,” Young said after the game. “We’re a family and we pick each other up.” Junior pitcher Jordan Cox did her job in the circle, giving up 4 hits, and 3 runs with only one run being an earned run, walking two and striking out 5 McCollum batters. Cox and Dripping Springs’ defense held McCollom scoreless for four innings, after the Cowboys scored a run in the second inning and two in the third.
See LADY TIGERS, page 6
(Photos by Wayland Clark)
(Left) Senior Haley Kanetzky desperately reaches back for the bag after sliding past second base on a seemingly slippery turf at San Marcos. (Above) Junior Jordan Cox delivers a pitch in the third inning against McCollom. Cox finished the season 13 and 6, pitched 127 innings, with a 1.82 ERA, and 143 strikeouts.
OPINIONS – Page 3
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