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The Island Moon Published by Island Moon Publishing, LLC 15201 S. Padre Island Drive Ste. 250 Corpus Christi, TX. 78418 editor@islandmoon.com (361) 949-7700
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The
Island Moon The Island Newspaper since 1996
Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment
August 2, 2012
It turns out it wasn’t the humidity, it was just the heat all along.
Next Publication Date: 8/9/2012
Around The Island
Bond Package for November Ballot Set
As of this writing there are 670 million people in India without power, the London Olympics are playing to empty houses, and a Chinese swimmer just swam so fast that the water almost caught fire.
$135 million total, $13 million for downtown “aesthetics”, $1.2 million total for The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
Here on The Island things are a little calmer; it’s too hot for snakes and Whitecap traffic is backed up while The Island gets a new large intestine. Work is moving at a feverish pace over there at the sewage pump station as crews work to put in a new line from the Gypsy Pump Station all the way down Whitecap to the treatment plant past Bonasse. We do the dipsy doodle around the barricades and chalk it up to progress. Might as well get used to it. Meanwhile we’ve stopped doing the Skeeter Dance as we haven’t had enough rain for the little buggers to breed so we got that going for us. The weather on the other hand has been hotter than a two-dollar pistol in a bordertown conjunto bar. We continue to have beautiful water coming right up to our beaches and in through the Packery with no sargassum weed to report. Driving conditions all up and down the beach continue to be a challenge with the exception of Michael J. Ellis Beach along the seawall where the fine sand and heavy traffic keep it very passable.
Hollow canoe connect connect Did you lose your canoe? If you did and can call and describe it by color and serial number we know where you can find it. Call 949-7700.
Hooks night Don’t forget Wednesday, August 8th is Island Night at the Hooks game. 100 seats have been set aside for Islanders about half are still available. The seats are $10 each and is a fundraiser for the local chapter of the American Diabetes Association. Tickets are avaialbe at the POA office, Isle Mail & More, American Bank, and from John White at 549-6347. Wear red to support the ADA.
PAC questions Now is the time to get your questions for city council candidates to the Island United Political Action Committee. The next time someone says, “Why doesn’t the city….?” Tell them there is a way to find out. If they send their question to the PAC at islandunitedpac@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook. com/islandunitedpac it will be included in a questionnaire handed out to candidates during the PAC’s endorsement process. While the official deadline for questions was last Sunday if you tell them the Moon said they could still get one in they will let you. The Moon will publish a complete list of questions and answers as they become available.
Fishy fishy The trout are biting out there folks. The full moon is shining down upon us and it’s making the fish crazy, it’s not doing much for the Moon Monkeys’ sanity either. Say hello if you see us Around The Island.
The sole Island project is $1.2 million to improve the streets and infrastructure in the area just west of the JFK Causeway behind Doc’s and Snoopy’s Pier restaurants. In its Tuesday meeting the city council moved that project into the portion of the bond package which does not require a tax increase if passed, greatly increasing its chance of approval. The businesses located in that area have been paying city taxes since 1980 but all of the improvements have been paid for by the businesses with no help from the city. The access road which runs just west of the JFK, as well as the one on the east side, is actually part of Park Road 22 which is a state right of way but maintained by the county. The road which runs perpendicular off the access road and behind Doc’s and Snoopy’s Pier is privately owned. All the land in the area is owned by Texas General Land Office. Aside from the $55 million dollars included in the first group of bond packages the remainder consists of $1.7 million to City Hall, $4.7 million to various other city structures, $16 million for Parks, $2.3 million for museum and library improvements, $820,000 in public health facility improvements, $700,000 in improvements to public safety facilities, and $13 million in what are being called Economic Development Projects – all downtown. Also on Tuesday, the council voted to remove $60 million in bond money from the ballot that would have gone to the proposed Destination Bayfront park, also downtown. If only the $55 million in bonds which do not require a tax increase are approved Island residents, who bear 14% of the tax burden citywide, would be on the hook for $7.7 million in principal plus the ensuing debt service. If all $135 million of the bonds are approved Islanders would pay $18.0 million of the principal. If Proposition 8 passes, the item spends $13 million for aesthetic improvements downtown, Islanders would owe $1.8 million. The final vote on the bond packages will be held at the next scheduled city council meeting on Tuesday, August 14.
out a questionnaire to the candidates. If you have questions you’d like included in this questionnaire, you can email them to islandunitedpac@gmail.com. Your name will not be included in the questionnaire. Questions need to be received by Sunday, July 29.
In the most hotly contested race on the ballot Island Republicans favored Ted Cruz over David Dewhurst by a margin of just under 2-1.
Our Endorsement Nights will be on September 19 & 26, 6pm at the Holiday Inn. This is going to be a very important election for the Island so we need to have as many people involved as possible.
35 voters They favored Paul Sadler for U.S. Senate over Gardy Yarbrough by a margin of 75% to 25%; In the race for U.S. Representative District 27 Election continued on A14
This is what Happens When an Old Oil Platform is Removed
The first bond package is a $55 million street improvement measure that would not require a tax increase due to the retirement of old bonds in the past year. The remaining $80 million, which each can be approved or rejected separately, would require a tax hike.
Just under 8 percent of the 186,341 registered votes in Nueces County (14,669) turned out for the runoff elections this week. The majority were Republicans with about 8400 voters while the Democrats had just under 6000. Islanders voted at a higher rate of 15%.
Precinct 19 Port Aransas
Year 15, Issue 434
Barring major changes the City of Corpus Christi will have eight separate bond packages before voters in November totaling $135 million dollars with a total of $1.2 million for The Island.
Send your Questions for the Candidates to Islanders Favor Cruz the PAC By JJ Hart over Dewhurst by President, Island United PAC The Island United PAC’s endorsement process Almost 2-1 is beginning soon and, as always, we’ll send
Democrats
Facebook: The Island Moon
By Dale Rankin
Complete Island Runoff Election Results
Here are the titles for the three Island precincts, one in Port Aransas and two on Padre Island.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on the campaigns and the process. If you would like to receive our newsletter and updates, send your email address to islandunitedpac@gmail. com. Also, visit our Facebook page at www. facebook.com/islandunitedpac. We need the Island to vote “united” so we can continue to receive the attention and support from the City.
The aftermath of a rig relocation By Dale Rankin For the past two years the Federal government has been forcing oil companies to remove abandoned oil platforms off the Texas Coast. The idea behind the forced removal is that the rigs are an affront to the environment in general and while they may be relocated as reefs they may not be placed within a five-mile radius of any existing rigs. While this may seem like a small clause in a thousand-plus page bill it has in fact stopped the reefing of rigs in Texas waters for the reason that the cost of the barge and subsequent equipment needed to convert the rig to a reef is about $250,000 per day. To convert the old rig to a reef without moving it takes one day of work from the barge. But if the rig is located within five miles of another rig, which almost all are, it takes three days use of the barge – one to pick it up, one to transport, and one to drop it in its new location. This increases the cost of converting the rig to a reef from $250,000 to at least $750,000 – plus whatever additional personnel costs incur over the additional two days. Since the barge is needed for only one day if the rig is removed oil companies have understandably been reluctant to relocate them. Instead they use explosives to blast the legs free below the surface and the result is the massive fish kill you see here. This photo is a picture that was recently taken just a few weeks ago offshore from Corpus Christi. On the way out for a day of fishing in the Gulf a fisherman ran by this rig on their way to another rig to fish. A while later they thought they heard thunder off in the distance but there was no sign of rain so they continued fishing. Later on their way back in they found the fish kill seen in the picture and remembered that on
the way out there had been a rig located there. What they had heard was the explosion when the rig was blown from its foundation during the removal process. Due to the mostly featureless Gulf floor off the Texas coast the rigs become their own ecosystems and attract large numbers of fish, like the Red Snappers seen here. U.S. Rep. Farenthold, (Dist. 27 which includes The Island) has introduced a bill that would put a moratorium that would prevent the removal of rigs for two years while a long-term solution to the problem is found. Specifically, H.R. 6208, the Retaining Essential Environmental Fishing Structures (REEFS) Act would place a two year moratorium on an October 2010 Department of Interior (DOI) directive to remove all non-producing oil rigs from the Gulf of Mexico. “Now, almost two years after the DOI directive the Gulf Coast is feeling the negative impacts of this directive as important habitats are being removed,” Farenthold said. “The REEFS Act stops a misguided DOI directive requiring removal of safely plugged rigs from the Gulf of Mexico, destroying valuable ecosystems. Fishermen, divers, the oil industry and even our school children understand the important role these artificial habitats play in both the economy and ecology of the Gulf. The REEFS Act gives the Government time to find a common sense long-term solution to save man made reefs instead of removing decades of environmental progress.” To see a live video feed of fish and other sea life that forms around an off-shore rig see the website SaveTheBlue.org.
A little Island history
What a Difference 100 Years Doesn’t Make By Dale Rankin It is the early in the second decade of a new century and unrest along the Texas/Mexico border makes crossing the river dangerous to the point of impossible. Meanwhile, north of us in the heart of Texas an oil boom is creating boomtowns overnight. Roving cross-border gangs frequently bring their attacks to bordertowns and to the open ranchland of South Texas. Meanwhile the oil boom is bringing people and jobs to the state.
Déjà vu all over again 2012? Well, yes; but also 1912. One hundred years of South Texas life finds us pretty much where our grandfathers were a century ago. The Mexican Revolution kicked off in 1910 and by 1912 was in full bloom and spilling north across the border. Porfirio Diaz figured himself a benevolent dictator and figured he would “control” the presidential election of 1910 the way he had controlled the previous six. When it comes to fixing elections the Mexican way is not a subtle one. As soon as Francisco I. Madero declared his candidacy Diaz promptly had him thrown in jail – election over; or so Diaz thought. What he didn’t count on was
Madero’s escaping from jail and running to San Antonio where he promptly issued his Plan de San Luis Potosí, with its main slogan Sufragio Efectivo, No re-elección (“free suffrage and no re-election”). It declared the Díaz regime illegal and called for revolt against Díaz starting on November 20, 1910 and the revolution was on. Pancho Villa and other rebel leaders “liberated” Juarez across from El Paso and revolution spread like wildfire along the Texas border. Over the next five years The Border was an uneasy place. The Coastal Bend became a transshipment point for arms into Mexico and local tales of intrigue and boats headed south in the night abounded.
When in doubt shoot If history is an indicator then 2015 will be an eventful year on the border. It was in 1915 that things escalated. Captain Henry History Continued on A5