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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
October 17, 2013
Next Publication Date: 10/24/2013
The only Island in Texas where we vote at the Dairy Queen!
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
The fishing has slowed down but the drivers haven’t. The ban on cell phones while driving came in with a whimper rather than a bang this week as police began issuing warning tickets for those using cell phones behind the wheel. Real tickets will start going out early next month. But all over The Island drivers seemed to ignore the new ban as they went about their driving business with cell phones a buzzin’. Over on Dasmarinas the city continues to monitor traffic speed as they get ready to put in speed humps to slow down drivers in a hurry.
This just in… And speaking of Dasmarinas we had a sighting of DEA agents over near there on Friday. They didn’t seem to be effected by the shutdown as they went about their business with DEA emblazed across their backs. We heard they showed up later at a business and took a fellow out. If you are missing a friend try the federal magistrate’s office.
Snoopy’s is coolin’ it
By Dale Rankin
A plan by the National Park Service to move the boundary of Padre Island National Seashore 4.6 miles north of the current park site and force beachgoers to enter it through Park Road 22 is raising questions from local leaders. The move, first reported in the Island Moon in June, is part of a plan for the Texas Nature Conservancy to purchase 3,680 of land north of and adjacent to the current northern boundary of Padre Island National Seashore. The land currently belongs to the Texas General Land Office and once the purchase is complete the land would be donated to the National Park Service and become part of PINS. “The Nature Conservancy is in the process of acquiring 3,680 acres of coastal habitat on North Padre Island from the Texas General Land Office (GLO). The property is adjacent to the Padre Island National Seashore. The tract consists of undeveloped coastal grasslands, dunes and wetlands and is one of the largest PINS continued on A8
Early Voting Begins Oct. 21
Vote at the Island Dairy Queen!
Well, not really but we got your attention… early voting in the November 5 election begins October 21 and this year the Island’s early voting location has moved due to the closing of the Padre Isles Country Club for construction.
Vote early and vote often… Oct. 21-Oct. 26 8:00 am – Oct. 27
5:00 pm
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Oct. 28-Oct. 30 8:00 am –
5:00 pm
Oct. 31-Nov. 1
7:00 pm
7:00 am –
Polling Locations on page A8
Voting will be a Seashore Learning Center, which once upon a time, believe it or not, was a Dairy Queen. Voters may vote at any location during early voting; you do not have to vote in your precinct if you vote early. Only on Election Day are you required to vote in your home precinct.
If the high-rises along this street ever catch fire residents will be jumping out windows into the canal unless a firefighter with superhuman strength shows up to wrench it from its rusty bounds. After a few years of rusting down in our corrosive environment these things become works of art, but unfortunately they are testaments to form over function. If you have a rusty fire hydrant on your block send us a picture. When it comes to rusted up fire hydrants nobody beats The Island. We’re number one baby!
First sighting We had our first Winter Texan sighting of the season last week when a reader reported seeing an RV with a Wisconsin plate come swooping down off the JFK. The early snow bird might not get the worm but he does get the best RV site on The Island. It won’t be long now until our friends from up north are cheering the belt sanders down the racetrack at The Gaff. They do tend to arrive in bunches.
Jailbreak on the beach The Jailbreak obstacle beach run is this weekend along the seawall. Runners will jump, slide, and crawl their way through a 3.1 mile obstacle course. We’ll be on the seawall for the Island Moon ArtWalk so stop by and say hello. In the meantime we’ll see you Around The Island.
Beach entrance to PINS is currently blocked.
Port Aransas ARTABOUT and Old Town Festival is This Saturday Port Aransas will celebrate its first 103 years of existence this weekend with the Port Aransas Old Town Festival and ARTABOUT.
Rusty Fire Hydrant of the Week
we will feature the Rusty Fire Hydrant of the Week. We kick it off this week with this cast iron monument to neglect on Fortuna Bay.
Year 16, Issue 496
PINS Plan to Restrict Beach Access in Kleberg County Draws Fire
Ernie and crew have been busy over at Snoopy’s Pier all week getting ready to turn on the air conditioning in the venerable Island eatery. It’s one of those things we never thought we would see happen but Ernie says he’s changing with the times. By the time the next Sweltering Season swings around Pete and the folks over at Snoopy’s will be cooling their heals in air conditioned comfort. A few weeks ago a rusted up fire hydrant stymied the efforts of firefighters to put out a fire on The Island. We began noticing that there are a lot of rusty fire hydrants on The Island so
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The following is the only local issue on the ballot: $44.6 million for Destination Bayfront. Proposition No. 1 The City Council of the City of Corpus Christi, Texas shall be authorized to issue and sell one or more series of general obligation bonds of the City in the aggregate principal amount of not more than $44,600,000 for the purpose of designing, demolishing, constructing, acquiring, improving and equipping a publicprivate project known as Destination Bayfront -- a parks, recreation and cultural enrichment project developed with public input to make improvements, renovations and enhancements to revitalize approximately 34 acres of public land and beach downtown, which would leverage public construction dollars with private donations and other sources of funding for ongoing park programming, operation and maintenance costs, the improvements and amenities to be made having been developed through a series of public meetings and which include: • Improvements to Veteran’s area including shaded event space, restrooms and handicap parking; • Large event area with covered stage, including necessary utility connections and lighting to support festivals and other large events; • Boardwalk promenade along the seawall with shade structures and restrooms adjacent to shops and restaurants; Voting continued on A8
The event showcases the culture and art of Port Aransas with several events and an Artwalk. The Quick Draw Painting competition kicks off at 2 p.m. along Alister near the Port Aransas Museum where artists will have two hours to turn blank canvas into finished paintings which will be sold Saturday evening as part of the 6th Annual Port Aransas Coastal Paint Out to raise money for the Port Aransas Museum and Farley Boat Works which will be held at the Community Center next to the Museum. .
know Port A is Port Arty! Starting in Old Town and winding out HWY 361,this is a self guided tour of these arty locations and you can start your tour at any point and follow the map, which will be available at all locations. This is a great opportunity to get out and walk, bike, or take a cart, and learn more about the art culture in this community. These 17 different venues are all free and open to the public, meet a variety of folks, mingle, have refreshments at each location and meet others who share a passion for art, or encourage a friend or neighbor to come along.
There will also be a boat building demonstration, gumbo cookout, surfing competition, and story-telling, and a long slate of other events and activities. The grand finale will be the 7th Annual -PA ARTABOUT (Port Aransas Art Walk) from 2-8 pm during which 17 local galleries will feature works by local artists.
Galleries, Artist Studios and Design Establishments This ArtWalk is planned to encourage and promote art and culture and let everyone
A little Island history
The Land Promoters
By Greg Smith This is the start of a series of four men that shaped Texas, Nueces County and The Island. Each shared common characteristics; they wanted to earn large fortunes, they had great dreams yet their wallets were smaller than their visions, they were very persuasive and they got things done. Three called themselves Colonels serving the Mexican War, the War Between the States and World War I. All had spines of steel to take on the physical and financial risks that their lives and ventures entailed. These four pioneer land promoters are; Moses Austin, the father of the father of Texas, Stephen Austin, Henry Kinney, Corpus Christi’s founder, Eliha Ropes, the first to promote Mustang Island and Sam Robertson, Padre’s first land promoter and developer.
The Austins The first promoter was Moses Austin. It was his son Stephen Austin that brought the original 300 families to Texas that started the United States and European settlement of Texas. Prior to that Texas was wild country with only the Spanish outposts of San Antonio, La Bahia, Nacogdoches and Laredo. The total Spanish speaking population in 1810 was less than 5,000. Moses Austin was about to put a change to that. Moses was born in 1761 in Connecticut. As a young man he moved to Richmond and went into the mercantile business. Looking for further opportunity he acquired in 1790 a lead mining concession in far West Virginia from that state. Moses partnered up with his brother Stephen and other investors and took
what had been a crude and depleted mine and brought modern methods and investment, tripling the output from its old highs. Austin being the persuasive salesman and concerned with dropping lead prices as production increased convinced the Feds to place a tariff on cheap imported lead. Although the mine was producing more lead than ever, cost of production went up even higher. The mine had become a boat for Austin and partners, a bottomless hole to pour money in. In 1796 brother Stephen traveled to London to try to sell the mine or find more investors. On landing in England he was thrown in debtor’s prison for unpaid debts that the mine had incurred. At the same time the US tariff expired on lead, cutting the price in half.
Back to the U.S. For Moses it was time to move on and hearing of great lead deposits in New Spain he sold what assets he could and loaded up the family in wagons and headed for what is now Missouri. The deposits were rich and Moses immediately started securing claims from the government of Spain. He received a Spanish passport and promised the Crown to bring new settlement to the area for consideration of mining rights. He eventually received 4,428 acres of land. Like the Virginia operation Moses brought in modern methods, new settlers and investment to his project. Money flowed in from increased production and Moses was back on top. He built a fine home sent his son Stephen back east to boarding school and invested in other ventures. During this time Missouri was transferred History continued on A8