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Tri-Canyon’s Only Weekly Newspaper!
Current Weekly News for Leakey, Camp Wood, Sabinal, Utopia and Surrounding Areas Vol. 6 No. 14
INSIDE
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Nueces Canyon Board of Education ...................
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www.hillcountryherald.net
April 6, 2016
editor@hillcountryherald.net
ROAD CONSTRUCTION POSTPONED A decision was made last week to postpone the Texas Department of Transportation Highway 83 and RM 337 road construction project until the fall of 2016. TxDOT submitted the following statement regarding the decision “Texas Department of Transportation officials recently met with Allen Keller Company and the Nueces River Authority to decide a course of action for the road construction happening along US 83 and RM 337 west of Leakey. The $7 million dollar project began in June and has been delayed due to the difficult task of installing a sanitary sewer system. With the promise of a profitable tourism season on the horizon, TxDOT officials have decided to halt further road construction until late August. This will minimize the impact for tourists visiting the Leakey area. However, sanitary sewer system work will continue.” TxDOT has indicated the work on RM337 West at Tucker Hollow in front of the Leakey Post Office will take place this week. The storm drain piping will be placed in anticipation of the future road construction. There will be one lane traffic for up to a week in this area. The highly travelled road is the path for senior citizens of Leakey to reach the Nutrition Center. Please be aware of the stop and go traffic
by Julie Becker
and obey all signs and workers in the work zone. The NRA/City of Leakey Wastewater System project will continue through the summer months until completion. They too will have work zones throughout the city and extended area surrounding Leakey. The project has seen some difficulties in the rock zones of the area and were under some pressure to complete due to the upcoming road construction. The entities have had success in working together to see all the projects in the Leakey area to completion. This means a little give and take, and so with the TxDOT suspension until the fall, the NRA will have a little breathing room for completion of the wastewater project. The project received the first grant from the Texas Water Development Board in October of 2011 and the additional grant funding for phase II was secured in December 2015. NRA has taken on a project that will secure first-time wastewater collection and treatment service to the City of Leakey and surrounding area. The project is scheduled for completion in November of 2016. It is a huge undertaking and the end result will be a tremendous asset to the Frio Canyon. So a little patience and lots of dust is in our future for awhile. Be careful out there!!
NCHS One Act Play Advances to Area Competition By Co-Director Kathy Hicks
Tennessee Jane
and the Red Dress
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Huajilla Unit TRTA March Meeting in Concan ............................ Page 11
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INDEX Legals/Jail Register ...... Page 3 Community News ......... Page 4-6 Feature Story ................. Page 9 Obituaries ...................... Page 8 Classifieds ..................... Page 12
Today’s Weather
High: 79° Low: 50°
On Saturday, April 2nd the Nueces Canyon High School One Act Play traveled to La Vernia, Texas to compete in the BI-DISTRICT OAP Competition. After a long day of rehearsals and performances, the NC OAP ADVANCED! Along with the award of Advancing Play, several individual awards were given to NC students. As the sound and music technician, Micah Vernor earned All Star Crew, playing the role of Babe Botrelle, Gabriella Irwin earned All Star Cast and playing the role of Lenny Magrath, Emily Carnes earned All Star Cast. The company will now move on to the next level of competition which is AREA. They will be performing “Crimes of the Heart” by: Beth Hensley at the Bastrop Performing Arts Center on Friday,
April 8 . Directors Kathy Hicks, Shelli Carnes and Louis Webb are so proud of all the hard work these students have invested and look forward to more.
They would also like to express a big thank you to all of the parents and community members for their good-luck wishes and support.
Getting to Know the Nueces River Authority (NRA) The agency behind the Leakey Regional Wastewater Project is a governmental agency, but not your everyday bureaucracy. · It was created by the Texas Legislature in 1935. Last year, it celebrated its 80th year. · It levies no taxes and regulates nothing. When the wastewater project becomes operational, it will establish and enforce rules governing use of the system, just as the City of Leakey will. But, nothing, else, in your life is regulated by the NRA. · Its governing Board of Directors
is over 2 1⁄2 times larger than its staff. There are 21 Board members and, only, 8 employees who are divided between two offices, in Uvalde and Corpus Christi. · Its Board members are appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, and are citizens of South Texas. · Its jurisdiction covers about 17,000 square miles, including all or parts of 22 counties, extending from Rocksprings to Corpus Christi and from Brackettville to Castroville. · Its annual operating budget is
Sabinal Yardof-the-Month by Billie Franklin
The Sabinal Civic Club has selected the home of Carlos and Sylvia Olivarez, located at 809 North Center Street as Yardof-the-Month for April. With hanging baskets across the porch and the large wooden planters sporting flowers, it is obvious that Sylvia pays close attention to the yard and that Carlos is a good “Honey, Do” helper. There are large pecans, ash, and even a small mimosa in one corner, which all offer shade. The yellow rose bush in the corner combined with the purples in the planters, demonstrate a love of our school pride, due to the obvious yellow and purple. Congratulations to the Olivarez family and thanks for such a neat showplace.
smaller than that of a medium sized private business, amounting to around $1 million. Its cash reserves are about the same. · It operates much like a private business, in that it contracts its services, which include water quality monitoring, public education, and promotion of resource protection. · It, often, operates with no compensation when developing water related projects for the public’s benefit. Those have included sponsorship of Choke Canyon Reservoir, construction of a 101 mile water supply pipe-
By Con Mims, Executive Director
line to serve the Coastal Bend region, and, yes, to a large extent, the Leakey Regional Wastewater Project. · Its website is www.nuecesra.org. Get to know us. We will be your neighbor for many years. You are invited to a groundbreaking ceremony for NRA’s Leakey Regional Wastewater Project to be held at 10: 00 a.m. on Saturday April 23, 2016 at the northwest corner of the intersection of Stanford Hollow Road and U.S. Highway 83, about two miles south of Leakey. We hope you can join us.