editorial

By Savanna Gregg

Staff Writer

Highland Lakes Newspapers

The days of a pet owner consist of many “aww” and “you are so cute!” and “stop that right now!” moments, and we have had plenty of them in our household since welcoming our two fur babies.

A few months back, I introduced my puppy, Maverick, and my cat, Gus, and raved about their hobbies and precious quirks with the incredible, shameless bias of a fur mom.

At that time they were both babies, but Gus turned a year old on Sunday, and Maverick will be a year old on Veteran’s Day, so I figured it was time for an update on the furry rollercoaster that is our life.

Maverick has grown by about 40 pounds since last I spoke of him, but he still loves to snuggle up to us at the end of the day, which is something I look forward to the moment I leave my house for work.

In school, my teachers had mercy on me because they allowed me to steer clear of geometry, sidestep trigonometry and cruise past calculus coursework. Instead, my senior year in high school, I proudly joined the vocational trades track.

The program set me on what I believe is my life's proper path. The program afforded me the opportunity to go to school part of the day and work the other half at a local radio station.

Otherwise, I would have been on track to destroy my grade point average. Honestly, I've always been a wordsmith of sorts but never been any good at higher math.

My math-and-measure minded roofer hubby will sometimes scowl at me after he tries to test my knowledge with statements about measurements for eaves, underlayment, fascia and flashing or even inquiries about doubling ingredient portions for the cornbread mix.

When it comes to school colors, close enough is not good enough.

Marble Falls ISD has run into a conundrum with the new turf on the field at Mustang Stadium. The color of the outline on the logo at midfield and the words in the end zone is not gold. That's a problem.

The actual color that can be viewed as of today does not match the swatch that district officials picked out, and many of them were left in disbelief over the fact that it will cost them to change it.

But, as Superintendent Chris Allen pointed out to the board at the previous meeting, gold means different things to different people – or in this case different things to different schools/sports teams.

I graduated from the University of Central Florida, so this issue hits close to my heart. Our school colors are black and gold. I mean real gold: a nearly exact color to the gold on the Mustangs' football helmets.

Press Play

By Connie Swinney

Everyone agrees that “everything is bigger in Texas.”

But somehow when we planned our excursion to Colorado, I did not anticipate how much the features of that state could overwhelm a lifelong Texan such as myself.

The first time I ever saw Colorado, it was during a drive-by. I was 22 years old, when I took a bus to Ogden, Utah (curiously, my first time ever to visit a place outside of Texas) to retrieve a 1985 Jeep Wrangler from an old college friend and drive the vehicle back to my hometown of Big Spring.

The bus rode the interstate for much of the trip, so I must have slept through the parts of the trip where I might have viewed mountain ranges. It was the trip back in the jeep through Utah, over to Wyoming and into Colorado that I experienced a sight that left me awestruck.

At one point, after several hours of driving, I looked over and noticed a snow-capped mountain range.

We all need a getaway every once in a while, a chance to leave our daily work behind, sit back, and enjoy the simpler things in life.

Our escape, when we aren’t traveling to the beach, watching a NASCAR race, or going on a cruise, is a nice, relaxing camping trip. I adore waking up with the sun and birds and enjoying the sounds of nature around me as we slowly start our day, and falling asleep to the sound of crickets chirping among the rushing of a river.

There are many aspects of camping that I truly enjoy, and each trip always leaves me with a sense of peace - and anticipation for our next trip.

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen on April 10 released a joint statement promoting a twofold method for the 86th Texas Legislature to curb property tax increases across the state.

“Texans are fed up with skyrocketing property taxes. At the beginning of the legislative session, the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker laid out an agenda for property tax relief through the passage of Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2 to limit property tax growth,” the state's top officeholders said.

SB 2 and HB 2, the not-yet-approved property tax reform bills, would reduce the revenue growth increment used for determination of the rollback tax rate from 8.0 percent to 2.5 percent for taxing units other than small taxing units unless the voters in a small taxing unit election decide to opt-in to the proposed new voter-approved tax rate procedure.

Burnet is booming in a lot of ways but especially economically.   The Burnet Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) along with the City of Burnet and sometimes other partners can be very proud of their accomplishments as well as their plans for additional development.   

Oftentimes citizens see the results of this type of work but may not be aware of the many months, even years, that are invested in making these things happen, not to mention the dollars that it takes to do so.  

An example is the ribbon cutting ceremony that was just held for the improvements to John W. Hoover Parkway which was a partnership between the BEDC, the City of Burnet, the Burnet Industrial Foundation and Burnet County.  

Two weeks ago the Rotary Club of Burnet gave away $21,000 in community grants to local non-profit organizations and service organizations. As a member of Rotary, I am very proud of its community grants, and it is another reason that you can add to my list of why I love living and working in Burnet.  

This community gives back to its citizens and there are hundreds of volunteers across the community working to serve people in need. I see examples every day in which these nonprofits are supporting the students and families of Burnet CISD. Kudos to Rotary for helping out these organizations and a big thank you to the local non-profits and service organizations that exemplify the Rotary motto of, “Service Above Self.”