Commentary

Special to Burnet Bulletin

Burnet Mayor Crista Goble Bromley

One of my fondest memories is attending the Bertram Centennial as a little girl. The train came to town and, having never seen a train up close, it seemed almost magical. There was a parade and animals and games. It was so exciting!

I imagine that a lot of today’s children view our Burnet Bluebonnet Festival with those same magic filled eyes. This year, the Burnet Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 35th annual festival; a feat all on its own, but more than that, the festival continues to grow each year. What once filled only the square now reaches from Hamilton Creek Park on the west all the way to the railroad depot on the east.

BCISD officials call for school safety help

By Alexandria Randolph

HLN Correspondent

Burnet Consolidated ISD officials are calling for state leadership and funding for security enhancements in response to school safety measures suggested by the Texas Education Agency.

While recent school safety drills were motivated by a the school shooting tragedy at Parkland, Fl., school safety and security has always been an issue of constant vigilance for BCISD, said Superintendent Keith McBurnett.

“School safety and security has been a primary focus for Burnet CISD in the six years I have been with the district. During that time, we have continually reviewed our safety protocols and put in place a number of safety and security enhancements like secure entry ways, fencing and the addition of two school resource officers just to name a few,” McBurnett said.

Several years ago, a meeting was held at the Michael J. Smith Memorial Student Union at Portland State. The speaker began his presentation by asking if anyone knew who Michael J. Smith was, and no one in the audience knew who he was or why the student union was named after him.

The speaker then shared the story about Smith leading Portland State College’s GE College Bowl team to victory in 1965 by going undefeated during the academic competition. This accomplishment greatly enhanced the reputation of the previously lowly Portland State College.

Even though he suffered from cystic fibrosis and was frequently hospitalized during the nine months of preparation for the College Bowl, Smith appeared in all five matches and sadly died three years after winning the championship.

It was wonderful to see snow flurries in our area just over 10 days ago. Along with the excitement of that first snowfall also come the questions of whether school is going to be delayed or closed.

Fortunately for us, schools were not impacted in our area during that first snowfall, but it is important for you to know that we were working our inclement weather plan by monitoring weather conditions and roads. To avoid any confusion, parents and community members should assume school will start as planned unless they receive notice otherwise.

Our staff begins reviewing road conditions at 3:30 a.m. with the goal of making any delay or closure decision by 5 a.m. Once a decision is made, then a comprehensive communication plan is launched on multiple platforms including web, social media, automated calls, and news outlets. An overview of the District’s Bad Weather/School Closure procedures can be found on the District’s homepage at burnetcisd.net under the District tab.

by Bartee Haile

This Week in Texas History

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, second president of the Texas Republic, dropped dead of a heart attack at his Richmond home on Dec. 18, 1859.

When he stepped down as the Lone Star chief executive in December 1842, Lamar was a physical and emotional wreck. Not only had his grand plan of setting the new nation on an irreversibly independent course gone wrong, the voters had picked archenemy Sam Houston over soul mate David G. Burnet as his successor.

A much anticipated trip to Georgia to visit his daughter Rebecca, whom he had seen just twice in seven years, was almost permanently postponed by a duel. Blaming Lamar for his recent rejection as vice-president, Memucan Hunt demanded satisfaction but mutual friends managed to defuse the private powder keg.

Dear Editor,

Last week at Burnet Middle School, we trained our student body to “Say Something” if they suspect that a classmate is going to harm themselves or others. We wanted to share this training because we wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves if something happened to a classmate and we could have prevented it.

Part of our training is to teach our fellow students how to be “upstanders.” An upstander is someone who stands up, not stands by. They speak up for what’s right and are the kind of people who will “Say Something.”

No school is immune to violence and suicides. Everyone thinks “it won’t happen to here,” “it won’t happen to me.” But, anyone can be going through something that might make them consider violence. Anyone.

Lew Cohn

Managing Editor/Highland Lakes Newspapers

“Outside is America.”

Those words from lead singer Paul “Bono” Hewson resonated from the stage at AT&T Stadium Friday night as U2 performed their magnum opus, “The Joshua Tree,” from front to back, top to bottom, for a crowd of more than 80,000 people, in addition to 10 other gems from their lengthy catalogue.

That album, released 30 years ago in 1987, captured the dichotomy of America — the flashy, mythical, mystical, “desert rose” the band praises and the gritty, all-to-real one where people are “beaten and blown by the wind, trampled into dust.” It was an honest painting of the United States, warts and all, from Ireland's superband, which had fallen in love with the world's largest superpower, not because of what it represented but because of what it could be.

Facebook is a wonderful tool for people to use, but like any tool, it should be used with great care.

The social media site is useful for helping people keep in contact with friends scattered across the globe whom they haven’t spoken to for years. It allows family to reconnect and allows the sharing of photos, ideas and news with others within one’s peer group.

However, it also instantly shows, without context, intent or clarity, the thoughts and ideas a person clacks out on their smartphone or computer keyboard and exposes those posts to instant scrutiny.

Such is the case involving Burnet County Judge James Oakley, who learned a very hard lesson this past week about the lack of anonymity Facebook affords.

On Monday, Nov. 21, Oakley shared a post from the San Antonio Police Department about the arrest of an African-American man, Otis Tyrone McKane, accused of killing San Antonio police Det. Benjamin Marconi on his personal Facebook account.

BY WAYNE CRAIG/BULLETIN SPORTS

There hadn’t been a district wide pep rally at BHS since 2003 but that old tradition came roaring back last Friday. Students and teachers from Bertram, Shady Grove, Burnet Elementary, RJ Ritchie, BMS and BHS packed into Bulldog Stadium last Friday and the voices were heard.

Before hundreds of athletes took their turn running through the tunnel on to Bulldog field the crowd kept busy with a cool round of stadium waves.

There were school cheers, to see who could be the loudest and proudest, and from ground level all sounded great, but the Burnet junior high might have reached the highest decibel.

The Esprit de Corp performed their award winning show, Orbit, and cheerleaders of all ages kept the crowd pumped with cheers, souvenirs, and some high-flying stunts.

The middle school Belles drew standing applause with a great routine. Needless to say this was an old tradition that was gladly welcomed back.

BY WAYNE CRAIG/BULLETIN SPORTS

It’s no secret that the Burnet Bulldogs are in one of the toughest districts around. Friday night was proof that it’s gonna be a dog fight for all who want to take part in the post-season; in boy’s or girl’s sports.

Both the Lady Dawgs varsity volleyball team and the football team took one on the chin Friday night with lop-sided losses.

To put it mildly, it was no easy week for BHS sports as a whole, with China Spring made a clean sweep over all Bulldog football teams, while Liberty Hill did the same to our girls program a second time around.

We simply weren’t the better teams last week.

It’s easy for some to point fingers and say where things went wrong, and while it’s frustrating as a Bulldog fan just remember these young athletes never gave up fighting on the playing field; so don’t give up on them.