The
Issue 574
Island Moon
The voice of The Island since 1996
April 16, 2015
Around The Island By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
We had the latest in what has turned out to be a long string of cars – actually it’s usually trucks – go swimming on the North Packery Jetty this week. Southbound drivers who (apparently) don’t know there is a channel there hit the north jetty and get wet. So far the water has softened the landing and no one has been seriously hurt. But this week the driver was making enough speed that he ended up (according to the police report in this issue) a full forty yards out into the channel. That’s some mad hops friends. It’s not very often that a land vehicle becomes a maritime navigational hazard.
Big blow Early risers on Tuesday morning had to hold on to their hats as winds estimated (no firm record) at over 60 mph blasted through leaving the canals full of debris and lawn chairs visiting the neighbors. The black clouds came blasting in out of the northeast and drivers who had left their vehicles outside overnight got a free high-pressure carwash curtesy of Mother Nature. It was the latest in the spring showers this week which dropped almost six inches of rain in the Rockport area and has left a healthy crop of wildflowers and water in the bar ditches from Banquette to Swinney Switch. The country all the way to San Antonio and points north is as green as it has been in years. Lake Corpus Christi has come up 13 feet in the last month and is now at 60% capacity but still six feet shy of getting us out of conservation levels.
Power outages One of the first things new Islanders learn how to do is reset their clocks due to power outages and this week we all got plenty of practice. Large chunks of The Island went black at various times with the area just north of Whitecap out for about two hours on Tuesday morning. That’s okay; just grab the dog and head for the beach – it’s the Island Way.
Just an idea File this in the Someone Ought to Do File; as development between Port Aransas and Padre Island continues to fill up the empty spaces it becomes more and more apparent that the denizens of the two ends of the same sandbar have a communication problem. While Padre Islanders have much more in common with Port Aransians than with Flour Bluffians and Port Aransians have more in common with Padre Islanders than with Aransas Passians, there is still a Gulf of Communication between us. We share many common problems from beach access and traffic issues to taxes and tourism economies. Maybe it is time for some sort of regular mixers along the SH 361 runway to discuss what is going on in both places. The plan here is to launch some Moon Mixers in the near future, so stay tuned to these pages for details.
New Barge docks on the Lydia Ann
Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup This Saturday Volunteers needed This Saturday, April 18, volunteers across the state will take part in the nation’s largest coastal cleanup. Volunteers can sign up online at www.texasadoptabeach.org to take part in the cleanup which starts at 8:30 a.m. Each volunteer will be given data cards, gloves, pencils and trash bags. All volunteers are advised to wear closed-toe shoes, bring sunscreen and plenty of drinking water. The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Cleanups are held rain or shine!
Beach Cleanup continued on A4
Gulf Resilient Five Years after Deepwater Horizon Harte Research Institute Leads Unprecedented Post-Spill Research Effort The Gulf of Mexico remains resilient five years after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon caused the second largest oil disaster in world history. Scientists at the Harte Research Institute (HRI) for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi are leading a historic effort to study the spill’s impact from the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the people who live on its shores.
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Wings Over South Texas This Week! Blue Angels return to Flour Bluff after four-year absence
If you hear loud noises in the sky this week it may be Mother Nature’s thunder, or it may be the manmade variety in the form of the Blue Angles. The precision flying team is returning to Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi in Flour Bluff for the first time in four years for this weekend’s Wings Over South Texas Air Show. Traditionally the Wings Over South Texas performs at NAS-CC in odd-numbered years and in NASKingsville in even-numbered years but because of budget sequestrations in 2013 the Blue Angels were grounded for lack of funds and missed the 2013 Corpus Christi show so their last performance here was in 2011. The air show kicks off the naval air station’s year-long 75th anniversary celebration. Activities reach a head with a big celebration March 12, 2016. The celebration coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. In years past the show has been easily visible from The Island and given the 90,000 people expected to turn out for this year’s show watching from The Island may be a good idea due to traffic. Most Islanders with boats (or have friends with boats) know that the best way to view the two-day show is from the water. Photos by Miles Merwin
Blue Angels continued on A4
Island Leads City in Population and Income Growth Island Homes Gain 13% in Appraised Value in Last Two Years
Padre Island Residential Homes
Oil Spill continued on A6
Senate News
Senate Committee Approves Red Light Camera Ban
The Senate Transportation Committee passed a bill Monday that would ban the use of traffic cameras to issue citations statewide. These devices, which use unmanned cameras to catch traffic violators, have been controversial since their implementation in some cities. Opponents say they are merely revenue generating devices that do nothing to improve public safety, while police departments say they reduce the number of crashes and encourage safe driving.
Cameras continued on A12
A little Island history
Whoop it up 2015 A5
Source: Adame Reality Advisors, Residential Market Trends Report. By Jim Lee Director, South Texas Economic Development Center Most Island residents should have already received a home appraisal statement in the mail. The prices of homes on the Island, and so their appraised values, have risen more than 5 percent within the past year, following an even stronger appreciation of more than 8 percent in 2013.
The housing market is cyclical, meaning that it closely follows the ups and downs of the economy. The shale oil boom that began to develop in 2009 has also created a housing boom in Corpus Christi and much of Texas. Despite the economic headwinds due to low oil prices today, whether the local real estate market has passed its peak remains to be seen.
And say hello is you see us Around The Island.
Fishing A7
Growth continued on A4
The Way it Was
The talk of Port A these days is often of the newly constructed barge docks along the Lydia Ann Channel. As we have reported before at any given time there are upwards of a dozen barges beached up on the back of St. Joseph Island waiting to enter the Port of Corpus Christi. The new docks are essentially a parking lot for them. We plan to have an in depth story in the next edition but rather than rush it to press this week we'll take some time to try to do justice to a story with many twists and turns. In the meantime we refer readers to David Sikes column in the Caller-Times on the subject last week. He covered the issue well in a very balanced way. The Jack Crevalle are running and the temps are mild. Get out there and enjoy our Island.
Inside the Moon
Sports A8
Our story last week about real estate development on The Island prompted an influx of new/old Island photos and sales pamphlets from the 1960 through the 1990s. So this week we included some old photos and information you may not have seen before . We thank Joan Johnson and Charlie Eskridge for the information.
History continued on A9
Live Music A16