Inside the Moon
Castles in the Sand A4
Travel to Greece A4
Fishing A7
Sports A8
The
Issue 591
Island Moon
The voice of The Island since 1996
August 13, 2015
Prior to the attacks on fire hydrants, a fire in a storage unit on SPID which would have been confined to a single unit had the nearest fire hydrant been usable. However due to its advanced state of rust it was unusable and the result was a conflagration that took out several units. That prompted a complete review of all Island hydrants which found that about eighty percent of them needed work due to the harsh Island climate. But even that work won’t make them impervious to speeding cars and the Island streets, which rely on sand for their support, are susceptible to collapse due to undermining by flowing water from whatever source. The entire intersection at Gypsy and Whitecap collapsed when the sewer line began leaking. So the good news is that most Island fire hydrants should be working by now, the bad news is that when people run over them the street is going to collapse. The best solution is not to run into them, but so far we’re not doing very well at that.
Water system repairs The City of Corpus Christi this week announced they will install backflow preventers on the 126 registered water wells in Flour Bluff. The move is a response to the E-coli found in the drinking water there a few weeks ago resulting in a boil order for the entire city. The city determined that they bacteria probably entered the water system through a house in Flour Bluff that was connected to both a water well and city water, allowing the contaminated well water to enter the citywide system. E-coli which city staff said likely meant that the pollution never reached The Island. The staff has not determined there are any licensed water wells on The Island which are also connected to houses. Irrigation wells do not require backflow protectors if they are not connected to the city water supply.
Cool clear water There has been a cool water upwelling along area beaches which this week dropped the water temperature to 82 degrees. Rain in the area south of us blown by the prevailing south east wind may be the cause. The water movement has left near-shore water in some spots a chocolate brown. Bob Hall Pier water temperature traditionally peaks on August 21 between 82 to 86 degrees so the water temperature is on the low end of that range. But the blue water is in close to shore and Diver Dave reports that visibility is 50-60 feet just five miles offshore and 80-100 feet once you get twentyfive miles out. On the downside, he says visibility at the Nearshore Reef 10 miles off of Packery Channel is poor due to prevailing currents which cover all but the top of the boat with a continuous river of silt.
Crime Each week we go through the police reports from The Island to gather information for the Police Blotter. The last two weeks there has been a big jump in burglaries, mostly from cars and mostly along the seawall. But there have been car break-ins all over The Island so be careful, and don’t forget to put your garage door down, unless you want to get rid of some of the junk in there in which case a garage sale might be in order. That’s all for now. Say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Live Music A16
Photo by Steve Coons
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Schlittergone!
Around The Island By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com There's just something about being an Island fire hydrant. For the second time in recent weeks a driver took out a fire hydrant which unleased a watery torrent resulting in the collapse of an Island street.
Rhonda Rousey A11
By Dale Rankin
City Says Finish the Tower or Tear it Down
Tuesday morning, Schlitterbahn developer Jeff Henry was trying to solve a problem he never thought he would have. How to tear down the 138-foot tall tower that rises above the main building at the park. “I think I can take it down in three or four pieces,” he said. “It’s too heavy to take down all at once.” The question of what to do about the tower has kept the phone lines hot between City Hall and The Island for several days as a deadline for completing construction of the park’s main building approaches at the end of September. At stake is $117 million in city tax incentives which could dissolve if the city determines that failure to finish the tower by that deadline constitutes a breach of the 380 Agreement between the park’s developers and the City of Corpus Christi. Under that agreement, only $5 million is in hard currency, the rest comes in the form of Hotel/Motel Tax and City Sales Tax which the park’s owners keep once the park is up and running. So far the park’s developers have received only $2.5 million of the $5 million in the form of funds from the Type A Board, an economic development board which receives money from city sales tax to spur new business, the city will not release any of the sales tax money generated by the park until the conditions of the agreement are met. The city, as of this writing on Wednesday, has refused to release the remaining $2.5 million and, if the tower is, in the eyes of the city, not finished by the September 30 deadline, the remaining $111 million in incentives could be in jeopardy. When the original deadlines included in the 380 Agreement were extended late last year completion of the exterior of the park’s main building was a condition for release of the funds. In the meantime, Henry has concentrated on finishing the park and the building’s exterior, with the skeleton of the iconic tower remaining without its outer covering. So with the deadline approaching and the city insisting that the tower be finished before the deadline, with $109 million in the remaining tax incentives hanging fire, the safe way through for the park’s developers; tear down the tower. When the Island Moon went to press Wednesday afternoon the phone lines were still buzzing, at City Hall and in the park offices the contract was being read and re-read. Discussions between the city and developers are contnuing
Seashore Middle Academy Soars Academically 2015 TEA Ratings Place SMA as a Top Middle School By Brent Rourk
Present
Future?
A little Island history
A First-Hand Account of the Texas Revolution Massacre in Refugio
Editor’s note: In 1836 Herman Ehrenberg immigrated to Texas from his native Germany to fight for Texas’ independence from Mexico. He fought at many of the early battles of Texas’ War for Independence and was one of the few to escape the massacre of Texian troops at Goliad by the Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Fortunately for us Mr. Ehrenberg was a literate man who kept a full diary of his experiences in the struggle. But his journal was lost to history for 100 years until 1936 when “an ancient German manuscript was found by instructors at the University of Texas” but the language was old German that was not understood by any of the professors at the University. As fate would have it a student from Refugio was working on his Master’s Degree at the time and he recognized the language as the old German dialect that his mother had taught him as a child
Seashore Middle Academy (SMA) received its 2015 Texas Accountability Summary recently and the school received a 6 Star Designation. SMA's success in 2015 confirms what Islanders know - that as a ‘College Prep’ middle school SMA offers rigorous academic programming and ample support for student success. Earning Distinction in Reading/ ELA, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Top 25% Student Progress, and Top 25% Closing Performance
Seashore continued on A3
Map of battles of the Texas Revolution
Monument to King and his soldiers and he translated the 100 year-old story to English and wrote it down in two versions; one is still on file at the University of Texas Library, the other was a red-bound folder which was passed down through his family. In June, 1975, as part of the 140 anniversary of the original events the Refugio Timely Remarks newspaper printed Herman’s firsthand account of the Texas War for Independence. It is from that newspaper, with many thanks to Islander Blackie Pitzer who brought it to us, that this account is taken. Some of the grammar is clunky; but hey, is almost 180 years old…and so it goes. Our story begins on March 10, 1836, four days after the fall of the Alamo,
as the Mexican Army lays siege to the town of Refugio… By Herman Ehrenberg Soldier for Texas A few days before, Captain (Amon Butler) King’s company, which was composed of 31 men who had been ordered down to Refugio to protect several families there who had requested Fannin’s aid, against the Indians on their way to Goliad and the Colonies. But these soon sent work that they were enclosed in the Church by at last 150 Mexicans and Indians and requested immediate help. The Georgie Battalion was
History continued on A6