April 29 2015

Page 1

WEDNESDAY APRIL 29, 2015

VOLUME 104 ISSUE 85 www.UniversityStar.com

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CITY

Alcohol delivery app to launch in San Marcos MADELYNNE SCALES PHOTO EDITOR

BOOT whisperer

Ulli Johnston, a.k.a the “Boot Whisperer,” poses April 24 at The Wild West Store in Wimberley.

the By Jon Wilcox SENIOR NEWS REPORTER @thrilcox

A Wimberley boot shop owner has earned fame and fortune with her uncanny ability to find the perfect pair for each and every customer. Ulli Johnston, affectionately known as the “Boot Whisperer,” has sold vintage

Western boots since 1995 at her shop in Wimberley. Johnston’s famed ability to find the perfect style and fit of boots has attracted curious footwear-seekers from across the nation for decades. Johnston said she opened The Wild West Store at its current location in 1995 with 40 or 50 pairs of boots. She has since increased her inventory but does not know

exactly how many pairs of boots are in the store currently. “I know the ‘500 boots’ sign outside is a generous underestimate,” she said. “I would say probably along the lines of seven to eight hundred, and I know where each boot is.” The store contains countless styles in varieties of animal skin including hip-

popotamus leather, stingray, anteater, eel, menudo, horned lizard, iguana, alligator, elephant and more traditional materials. All of the boots are vintage, Johnston said. Most are decades old. Some are almost a century old. Johnston, who was born “just north” of Frankfurt, Germany, said she has always

ULLI JOHNSTON Go online to star.txstate.edu to watch Ulli Johnston in action at her Wimberley shop sizing customers for boots.

had a special love for leather shoes. As a child, Johnston was fascinated by the cobbler store in her hometown and spent time in the shoemaker’s shop. “Up the street from my parent’s home was a little, tiny cobbler (store), and it was really dark, and it smelled of leather,” Johnston said. “That was my favorite place to go visit and just watch him repair the shoes and just smell the leather.” Johnston came to be known as the “Boot Whisperer” years ago. She surprised a customer by selecting the perfect pair of boots. Johnston can gauge a customer’s boot size at a glance and

See JOHNSTON, Page 2

UNIVERSITY

College Republicans to change strategy

By Kasandra Garza NEWS REPORTER @KasGarza College Republicans is a currently registered student-run organization, but the group has been inactive throughout the semester. The officers and members of the College Republicans decided to take the semester off to work on building a better officer board, said Kayla Weddle, international studies sophomore. Weddle was the Fall 2014 vice chair for the group. The members were faced with the question of how to run an effective organization when Westley Halbardier, biology junior and former chairperson, resigned from his position, Weddle said. Halbardier left the organization in Fall 2014 after feeling “burned out” by the workload that came with being the chairperson. “I did a lot of the work on my own,” Halbardier said. “It’s hard to coordinate something to fit everybody’s schedule and interest.”

Halbardier claims to have had little to no support from members. Weddle claims he “took everything on by choice.” “He didn’t know how to work as a team,” Weddle said. “He always worked by himself, and I think that’s what he was really used to.” Members of the College Republicans attempted to work effectively together as a team, Weddle said. They felt Halbardier tried to take on everything because he did not trust anyone with tasks. “Westley didn’t teach us how to run an organization or how to work effectively,” Weddle said. “We were left with nothing.” Recruiting students and keeping them interested was another problem the members faced, Halbardier said. “It’s not that we’re Republicans and no one wants to be a Republican, it’s that no one wants to get involved in the political process,” Halbardier said. “A political sys-

See REPUBLICANS, Page 2

WATER

San Marcos surplus water supply to be sold to neighboring cities By Andrew Blanton NEWS REPORTER @andrewjblanton Officials with the City of San Marcos are offering a portion of the surplus water supply to neighboring areas with shortages while the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer

pipeline project awaits construction. The Hays Caldwell Public Utilities Agency (HCPUA) includes San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and the Canyon Regional Water Authority. HCPUA officials plan to construct a water supply pipeline that will connect

cities to the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer to meet the demands of the growing populations. The 100-mile pipeline will reduce the use of the Edwards Aquifer, which currently supplies water to central Texas, according to a report by HCPUA.

See AQUIFER, Page 2

By Anna Herod SENIOR NEWS REPORTER @annaleemurphy This summer San Martians will be able to have alcohol delivered to their doorstep. TopShelf, an alcohol-delivery app, was first introduced at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin by CEO Ryan Browne. Students and residents will be able to buy liquor, wine and beer from local stores via TopShelf by either May or June, Browne said. The app is the first of its kind to be approved by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). “What we do is connect users who want to get alcohol delivered to their home with liquor stores,” Browne said. “The liquor stores are actually the ones that handle the alcohol.” The customer’s identification card is scanned upon delivery to ensure it is not expired or fake, he said. “It’s nice to have that peace of mind for the liquor stores as well as for parents that are worried about this being a way for minors to get alcohol easier,” Browne said. “We definitely have ways of making sure that is not the case.” The app debuted in Houston April 17, and Browne has plans to extend TopShelf’s availability to Dallas and San Antonio within the year. Browne said TopShelf creates a “seamless and easy” experience by offering users the chance to give drivers special instructions such as entry codes needed to access apartment complexes. The app notifies the user when a liquor store employee begins driving to make the delivery. “We’re that portal for the users to the liquor store, so both our customers and clients are users as well as the liquor stores,” Browne said.

We’re bridging that gap and kind of bringing the liquor industry into the modern age.” ­—RYAN BROWNE, TOPSHELF CEO

PRESLIE COX STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency officials plans to construct a pipeline that will alleviate the Edwards Aquifer.

“We’re bridging that gap and kind of bringing the liquor industry into the modern age.” Browne said he came up with the idea for TopShelf in 2009 when Apple’s slogan was “there’s an app for that.” “I was at a (University of Texas at Austin) party, and we ran out of beer,” Browne said. “At that point, I looked at my phone and was like, ‘Why can I not get alcohol delivered right here, right now?’” TopShelf officials are in the process of partnering with a liquor store in San Marcos.

See TOPSHELF, Page 2


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