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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
February 20, 2014
The Only Island In Texas Where Pirates and Lubbers Share the Scuppers
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
Gus drives the UPS truck most of the time but he is also a part-time weatherman and observer of the cosmos. His latest weather bulletin; “We only have two seasons on The Island and we had them both in the same week.” That has been the case lately but we have a reprieve from the Abominable Snowman and can see some light at the end of the tunnel. If Porgy the Pocket Gopher came out of his hole these days the sea fog should block out his shadow just fine.
Big Old Booms! The big talk Around The Island this week has been of explosions/booms in the sky. The latest were two loud window rattlers at 9:15 and 9:22 last Sunday night. For earwitness accounts check the Letter to the Editor in this edition. The one thing everyone agrees on is that they were very, very loud. They rattled windows and shook paintings on walls. The origin of these booms remains unknown at this time. The fire chief at Station 15 says he has heard nothing and had no calls but we have had a slew of calls here at the Word Factory and on our Facebook page. Theories abound: Sonic booms from military aircraft seem likely, but the base says no; drones but they don’t go supersonic (that we know of); seismic testing for oil/gas drilling – not likely since the Fire Department would be notified; fishing with dynamite – we like this one for some reason but not likely, even though, some earwitnesses say they sounded like they came from the Gulf side of The Island. But most that heard them agree one came from the east and the second from the west, like an object was moving through the sky. The most interesting theory has to do with a three-ton Russian spy satellite launched in 1980 that burned into the earth’s atmosphere Sunday night. The fact that we have had similar reports of ten to twelve explosions in the past month takes some altitude out of the satellite theory. In the past few years we’ve had other reports of “explosions” in the night hereabout. The most prevalent were of blasts accompanied by blue flashes in the area around the end of Whitecap two years ago. A check with the city turned up no evidence they came from the Whitecap Wastewater Treatment Plant. Here’s guessing that if there was an explosion at the sewer treatment plant on Whitecap we wouldn’t have to wait for the city to tell us; our olfactory systems would let us know long before the city. We’ll keep checking.
Photo by Dale Rankin
Next Publication Date: 2/27/2014 Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper
Early Voting has begun
Biggest Race Has $118,000 Jackpot
Year 17, Issue 514
Opening still set for June
Schlitterbahn Work Progressing
By Dale Rankin The polls are now open and the biggest race on the ballot has a jackpot of $118,294. Early voting has begun in both the Democrat and Republican primaries and the hottest race on the ballot is on the Republican side in the chase for Nueces County Commissioner Precinct 4, which includes North Padre Island, Port Aransas, Flour Bluff, and a large portion of the city’s south side. Compensation for the Precinct 4 job, according to the current Nueces County Budget, is $118,294 which breaks down as follows: The Official Salary is $71,639, add in Employee Benefits at $37,115, Vehicle Allowance at $9,540 and you have a total package of $118,294, making the job one of the highest non-judicial elected posts in local government. Vying for the job on the Republican ballot, in the order on the ballot, are: Brent Chesney, a former Corpus Christi City Council member and until recently a County Court Judge; Incumbent Joe McComb, and Island resident and businessman Norm Baker. If none garners 50% of the vote in the primary race a runoff will be held. There is no Democrat in the race so the primary is the de facto General Election.
Election continued on A5
Stuff I Heard on the Island
Kiddie Pool that will be a two-story pirate ship. More photos on A2 By Dale Rankin The Archimedes Screws that will drive the water have arrived. So have the parts for the Shoot the Chute ride. We are now within one hundred days of the scheduled opening of the Schlitterbahn waterpark on The Island. By the time you read this the pouring of cement should be well underway for sidewalks and other surface structures, as well as for the Kiddie Pool, swim-up bar, and circular Torrent River which will surround the park and carry visitors and their tubes from ride to ride. Since our last update a stage has been added to the west side of the main building and a concert hall to the east side. Reports are that within the next few weeks crews will be redirected from
other projects on site to the core group of water rides that are scheduled to be in place by the June 1 opening. As of this writing sources tell us that only the first, and possibly second, floor(s) of the main building will be complete by the June 1 date, with the remainder to follow. The Schlitterbahn rides here will include a Torrent River, a Boogiebahn, Shoot the Chute (a log type ride) and at least two uphill water coasters. There will be heated pools with swim up bars and several kids’ areas. Season passes are not yet available and prices are yet to be confirmed. The park will be opening in June but no exact date.
Turtles
Spring Break 2014 the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Dale Rankin As you read this we are two weeks away from Spring Break 2014. The first 2014 Spring Break weekend will be March 7-8, with the busiest weekend on the 14-15. This year’s annual break from the rigors of the scholastic world promises some changes; some good and some not so good. First, the good news.
SPID work
And speaking of… While we’re on the subject of stinking sewer plants (that was a Moon segue) anyone driving along Whitecap near the Cruiser sewer pump station in the past week has no doubt had a snoot full of the odiferous offerings from this graciously giving source. For more than two years now we Islanders have been requesting that something be done about the odor from that plant only to be told by inspectors that they can’t find a problem. Neither can we – except that every time we drive by it stinks and that seems like problem enough. The station has been in Full Bloom of late and makes for some suspicious looks at fellow passengers as cars pass that spot. So know it’s not coming from your peers; it is the collective giving up of the subterranean Gasses of The Island. No problem; just remember when you drive by to roll up your windows and hold your nose.
IRS We have no idea what it means but there are persistent reports out of Port Aransas that there is a horde of IRS agents in town. Maybe it’s just a convention. They aren’t saying. But make no mistake they are around. Be careful out there.
Right around the corner Don’t forget Saturday, March 1 is the day for the 5th Annual Barefoot Mardi Gras Parade and Party. It’s the only beach Mardi Gras Parade in the U.S. followed by the party Saturday night. For more information see Business Briefs. Then on Fat Tuesday is the Mardi Gras Party in Port Aransas that draws more Winter Texans than a free Early Bird Special. We’ll see you at all of those events because, hey, Mardi Gras only comes once a year. In the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.
The turtle release by Dr. Donna Shaver at PINS Sunday morning had an estimated 4,000 spectators turn out. More photos on A11.
A little Island history The first part of the work on the turn lane on SPID is a “mill and fill” operation that will continue from Commodores to Waldron Road in Flour Bluff and entail lane closures for several months. The crews will shut down on Friday, March 7 for Spring Break and resume work on Monday, March 17. The work which began this week at the Commodores/SPID/SH 361 intersection is part of the good news. Only two weeks after we announced in the Island Moon that State Representative Todd Hunter was bringing $75 million in improvements to the traffic system from the Port Aransas ferries to the base of the JFK Causeway crews are on site. That has to be some kind of record for State projects and the quickness in getting things underway is a testament to his reach in the State Capital. The work now underway will add 1000 feet to the existing 400-foot turn lane leading from southbound SPID to SH 361 and Port Aransas. The idea is to prevent traffic from backing up, in some cases, past the top of the JFK Causeway and all the way over the causeway into Flour Bluff. This has happened in each of the past three years of Spring Break. When the project was announced it was said it would be in place by Spring Break 2014 but we didn’t include that in our story because, frankly, it sounded like a pipe dream. But seeing is believing and again, kudos to Rep. Hunter for making things happen.
Spring Break continued on A6
UTMSI Monitoring the Texas Coast from Port Aransas
By Greg Smith, The other weekend I had the good fortune to spend some time with the folks at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. The Institute or UTMSI as it if often referred to has been a part of Port A for seventy-four years. UTMSI’s parent, The University of Texas was founded in 1883 by Governor John Ireland. Gov. Ireland was no stranger to these Islands, having led Confederate forces repulsing an attempt by the Union Navy to capture the Rebel schooner, Queen of the Bay in the Packery Channel.
Began in 1892 with two false starts In 1892 the University recognized the need for studying the marine environment of the Texas coast. Eight years later and with a $300 dollar appropriation the UT Marine Station was established at Galveston with five students in July of 1900. In September the Great Storm struck Galveston destroying much of the town including the Marine Station, thus ending the small institute. After fifteen years another $500 dollars plus a boat was allocated by the University to start a new Galveston Gulf Biological Station. Once again timing was impeccable; before the Station could get started the Galveston Storm of 1915 struck. This time the town was spared by the new seawall, but UT’s research vessel was damaged
Army building before conversion to a dormitory. Photo Courtesy PAHA beyond repair, ending this second attempt at establishing a school.
Genesis under LUnd In 1935 Dr. E.J. Lund from UT Austin came to Port A to investigate a fish kill. He built a one room shack on the Old Army dock on the South Jetty. Dr. Lund lobbied Austin for the creation of an institute and by 1941 had convinced the powers that be to establish the Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. Once again timing was not the best; on December 7, 1941 the United States was at war. In 1942 the German U boat offensive in the Gulf of Mexico began, sinking fifty-six ships and damaging a score more. There were reports of U-boat sightings off Port A and the Army and Coast Guard moved in. The islands were restricted territory and the location of the little institute suddenly
History continued on A6