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Current Weekly News for Leakey, Camp Wood, Sabinal, Utopia and Surrounding Areas Vol. 7 No. 12
INSIDE Republic of Texas Museum Art Contest ............................ Page 8
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www.hillcountryherald.net
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR ............................ Page 3
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INDEX Legals/Jail Register ... . Page 3Community News ......... Page 4-7 Feature Story ............... Page 8-9 Obituaries ...................... Page 10 Classifieds ..................... Page 14
Today’s Weather
High: 80° Low: 49°
March 29, 2017
editor@hillcountryherald.net
CONCAN INTERSECTION GETS OVERHAUL Concan is the scene of a lot of change. The Texas Department of Transportation has let a project on U S 83 and the intersection of State Highway 127 which is changing the driving patterns we are used to. Allen Keller Company of Fredericksburg was awarded the job. Construction began in November of last year and is set to be completed in late April, pending weather conditions. There no longer is a Y intersection and is now a T intersection. This change was made due to the many accidents that occurred there over the years. Protected turn lanes will be added to U S 83 for both North and South bound traffic. The old asphalt surfaced helipad had been removed previously. However, now in place
by Billie Franklin
is a concrete helipad. This is a boon for emergency responders in Concan and Reagan Wells. The southern leg of the old Y is completely gone. The northern leg will remain but one will not be able to access U S 38. It will remain to allow access to current businesses. In addition, there will be flashing beacons along with aerial safety lighting at night. Special thanks to job overseer Tony Mangus of TxDOT in Hondo, Bracy Keeney of TxDOT in Uvalde, and Laura Lopez of TxDOT in San Antonio for contributing information to this story. From a personal standpoint, we drive much faster than in the past and the old Y intersections are deemed dangerous. This will be much safer for all concerned.
The Cailloux Foundation Awards Thirteen Scholarships for 2017
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MESSAGE FROM REAL COUNTY SHERIFF
Tri-Canyon’s Only Weekly Newspaper!
Mason Johnson
Haleigh Boyd
KERRVILLE— The Cailloux Foundation (the Foundation) in Kerrville, Texas, has awarded 13 college scholarships to area students. The 2017 recipients have been chosen from high schools in Bandera,
Barksdale- Nueces Canyon High School, Center Point, Comfort, Harper, Ingram, Kerrville- Tivy High School, Leakey, Mason, Rocksprings and Utopia. Awards are up to $14,000 per recipient annually and are for undergraduate study only. The scholarships are renewable for up to four years for a maximum multi-year award of Sofia Rodriguez $56,000 per student. The 2017-2018 program will have 66 freshmen through senior level students participating as scholarship recipients enrolled in four-year public or private colleges or universities in Texas. “Three of the scholarship recipients are expected to be
valedictorians this year and four salutatorians,” said Ben Modisett, Assistant Executive Director for the Foundation, “It is a great group that includes seven young women and six young men working toward careers in education, medicine, law enforcement, engineering, business and the arts,” he added. The new scholarship recipients include Trevor Karnes from Bandera High School, Javier Gonzalez from Center Point High School, Bailey Dulas from Comfort High School, Tracy Patterson from Harper High School, Ralph Agulto and Hannah Neutze from Ingram High School, Justyn Tedder from Mason High School, Sofia Rodriguez from Leakey High School, Mason Johnson from Nueces Canyon High School; Pedro Infante from Rocksprings High School, Gabriella Buchanan and Ashton Edgington from Tivy High School, and Haleigh Boyd from Utopia High School. continued page 7
THE FRIO RIVER CAN BE RESTORED Frio River landowners learned last Thursday how to heal damaged river property at a workshop in Leakey. Texas Parks and Wildlife and other specialists conducted the workshop at Real County Courthouse to answer landowner concerns about river damage from excess digging of sand and gravel and other pressures of increased use. Presenters explained methods to restore the river, its biota (living contents) and riparian (riverbank and flood plain) vegetation. When asked about the river’s condition, a presenter said, “The Frio is no longer pristine, but it can be repaired.” Another presenter emphasized the need for riversiders to work together to protect the Frio: “A river is a shared stream.” Steve Nelle, a land management expert, emphasized that river-siders, no matter what they value about the Frio, can all agree and benefit from proper functioning of the stream. Proper functioning needs adequate vegetation in and around the river, he said, to dissipate and slow flow, stabilize riverbanks, reduce erosion,
Water News
trap sediment to build up flood plain and retain flood for basic groundwater. “What we need is thousands of baby Bald Cypress trees,” Nelle said. “Cypresses get a 10,” for their strong root systems, including exposed roots, he said. Other desirable riparian plants are Sycamore, Roosevelt Weed (Baccharis), Sawgrass, Switchgrass (resistant to wildlife), Eastern Gamagrass (grows in shade),
by Susan Lynch
Spikerush, and Emory Sedge. Some have root systems longer than the top plant. “If you see manicured riverbanks, the river is at risk,” Nelle said. “You need 70 to 75 percent vegetation on riverbanks.” He stressed the value of fallen trees in or near the river: “Wood is good.” Downed wood dissipates flow, slows sediment and develops vegetation that can grow new riverbank. Nelle said plants will grow in gravel from seeds deposited by flood. Also floods bump gravel downstream. A TPWD employee said the agency is available to help those with gravel problems. Jeff McFall of the Texas Forestry Dept. added, “Gravel around trees does not give more stabilization but can’t hurt. But digging in the streambed to put it (gravel) there is not good.” McFall said cypress seeds are best planted in dormant season and grow best in most soil and full sun. Seedlings can be transplanted. continued page 8
By: Joel Pigg, General Manager
I would like to take a moment of your time to ask you to conserve our precious natural resource: water. No matter if you live in Rocksprings, Leakey or the Nueces Canyon; we must all do our part to conserve water or we will be in major trouble. We have had a lot of wind blowing across the area this winter and spring and the ground surface is very dry. Our weather patterns are not looking wet as we move into spring, but who knows something might pop-up and give us relief. Remember that every one inch of rainfall provides 0.6 gallons per square foot of surface area on your roof or yard, and that can add up to a
barrel full of rainwater pretty quickly for later use on plants and gardens. Again I would ask you to conserve where you can. One of my continuing topics of news articles has been conservation and along with that waste. To me, these two subjects are directly related to each other. For far too long, we have lived in a “Throw Away Society.” Our landfills are overflowing and our rivers and streams are becoming polluted. A large portion of the waste is composed of recyclable materials such as paper, glass, aluminum. By recycling we not only help alleviate the problems of
overflowing landfills and trash along the streets, highways and of course the rivers, we also conserve natural resources that someday will run out. Did you realize that every product you buy uses water to create it? From the food you eat, to the clothes you wear, to the chair you sit in, all of these use water somewhere along the way. So by recycling, we also save/conserve our water supplies. Of course there are more direct ways of conserving. The use of low flow showers, faucets and commodes along with the newer style washing machines has helped cut down on inside water
use. There are still many things we can do to cut back more; including taking a shower instead of a bath. Every inch of water in the average bath tub is about four gallons of water. With a new low flow shower head installed a 10 minute shower will use only about 20 gallons. Not only do you save water, you also save the energy that it takes to heat the water. One of the biggest savings we could make is cutting down on outside water use. The use of native plants and grasses instead of carpet grass and nonnative shrubs can reduce consumption outside your home by 50% or more. continued page 9