March 25, 2009

Llano Police Chief James Schilling has three pieces of advice for Llano resident, relating to their vehicles. If you are leaving the vehicle for a short time or overnight, he says: 1. Remove your keys from the ignition. 2. Hide your things so they’re not visible from outside the vehicle (Better yet, take them with you, if possible.) 3.

Less than a week after it was rescinded, the Llano County Commissioners reinstated the burn ban at a special session on Thursday, March 18. The motion to reinstate the ban was unanimous and it went into effect at 11:00 a.m. that same day. In the meeting, it was discussed that the cause for the reinstitution of the burn ban, which had been rescinded on March 12 following the spurt of rains that fell on the county that week, was due to the abnormal number of calls at burn sites that had gone out ...

A cryptic threat left on the wall of a boys’ restroom at Llano High School on Thursday, March 19 set the Llano I.S.D., Llano Police Department and Llano County Sheriff’s Office into action on Friday, March 20. “After learning of the message around 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, we put into motion our plans,” explains Superintendent Dennis Hill.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs delivered $291.1 million in March sales tax payments to Texas cities, down 0.7 percent compared to March 2008. The City of Llano received $53,717 for its March sales tax payment, down 13.31 percent from its payment of $61,967 in March 2008. For the first quarter of 2009, statewide city sales tax allocations are 1.5 percent higher than the first three months of 2008.

Llano athletic teams get transfers from other schools who have won bronze medals in the state track championships less often than Baylor beats Texas in men’s basketball — or wins a postseason game. What do you know? All three happened this winter. Scott Shaffer doesn’t walk softly, especially on the runway, but he does carry a big stick — a pole vault, and he left Liberty Hill for Llano High in January. Shaffer, a junior, living with his dad, Keith, had been a pole vaulter for all of th ...

Marcos Vallejo’s speed turned two running races into walkovers, two contests that offered no suspense. The Llano middle-distance girls, the “triplets,” also did well, and Kallie Johanson, Caitlin Coffey and Andrew Ratliff, in separate cities, added more gold to the Track and Field trophy case, March 20 and 21. Vallejo, the amazing freshman, captured the 3200-meter run at Bandera with a personal-best time of nine minutes, 45.58 seconds.

As you read this, you may be wondering if you went to sleep in late March 2009 and then, presto! You heard your alarm go off, and it was February 2010, and you were learning about re-alignment—Llano High School’s new district. No such luck, no lengthy nap. Jacket students, in the middle of the two-year cycle, will be in a new district for the ‘09-10 school year.

Ooh, this is one that got away. Burnet, wearing green (what else?) on St. Patrick’s Day, scored four runs in the sixth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit and held off the Lady Jackets, 5-4. There was better news when Ingram came to town, March 20, and Llano ripped the Warriors, 13-2. Our team of reporters checks in first from Burnet where Katie Yeager pitched a superb game, allowing just one infield single in the first five innings. “It was a tough loss,” head coach Brian Cottle said, “but y ...

It looked for a while, much too long, in fact, the Llano baseball Jackets were going to need a voter ID card to get to cross the street or cross the plate. They finally dressed to the nines against Ingram in a game that offered more intrigue than Casablanca. That story will have to wait, or my editor will claim I don’t know how to put first things first. In Burnet, March 17, Ty Compton pitched another fine game, but once more a three-run inning was the villain, and its partner-in-crime was t ...

On Friday, March 27, the students of Llano Elementary have the unique opportunity to meet and hear authors Dave and Pat Sargent speak – for the final time. The Sargents’ are storytellers without equal and their talks are designed to be interesting and informative to grade school students and get them interested in books and reading. Through positive reinforcement, they teach young writers how to find their niche in the writing world.

Music and art will reign supreme in Marble Falls this Friday, Saturday and Sunday … and everyone’s invited to come “dance in the street” and “paint the town” and at The Bluebonnet Music and Fine Arts Festival. “The bluebonnets are blooming and the weather this weekend is supposed to be spectacular so we’d like to see everyone come out and have a good time.

This weekend, the LanTex will show the popular movie Taken that will benefit the Llano Master Gardeners. This group is very active in the community and has been responsible for so many beautification projects around town such as Pioneer Park, the County Clerk’s office, and the Llano Woman’s Culture Club Building.

This is in answer to Mr. Virdell’s claim in his interview last week that the City of Llano has no working relation with the Texas Department of Transportation, the Lower Colorado River Authority, the Central Texas Electrical Cooperative, and State Senator Troy Fraser’s office. He stated that “The City has essentially no relation with those entities … Those bridges have been burned over the years.” I feel it is the responsibility of the Mayor’s office to stand up for all of us who ha ...

If there is one thing I hope that has been apparent in the time I have been here it’s that I take this job very, very seriously. There is quite literally nothing more important to me than doing the absolute best job that I can here. This is not just a job to me.

Allen Nelson Larremore, age 79 of Helotes passed away on March 16, 2009. He was born in Mason on June 7, 1929, to Elbert Theron and Otha Lee Wainscott Larremore. He was raised in the Llano area and graduated from Lampasas High School. As a young man, he entered the construction industry and learned the skills of a concrete finisher.

Born November 24, 1923, Elizabeth Russell passed away March 16, 2009. She was preceded in death by her husband Ellis and son Buddy. She is survived by son, Louis and wife Marilyn; daughter Louise and husband Doug Phelps, three grandchildren, six great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Elizabeth was born at home in Crosby on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1923.

Graveside services were held for Myrtle Lanell “Nell” Skelton, 77, of Denton on March 21, 2009 at Gladewater Memorial Park in Gladewater. Born on March 14, 1932 in Longview, she entered into eternal rest on March 18, 2009. She was a sceretary for Bee Campbell and Associates in Dallas and later retired from the State of Texas.

C.W. Trainer, 82 years of age died on March 17 at Scott and White Hospital in Temple. He was born on October 26, 1926 to Columbus and Katie Lee Rape Trainer in Sonora. He attended U.T. following graduation and there graduated with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering. He later was a self-employed oil production person.

Irene West, a lifetime resident of Llano, passed away on Monday, March 9, 2009 in Llano at the age of 80. She was born on September 12, 1928 to Ruthie Lois (Light) and Lewis Raines in Llano. Mrs. West was the Co-Owner of Llano Frozen Lockers and a member of the First Baptist Church in Llano.

The 33rd and 424th Judicial District CSCD, Intermediate Sanction Facility, the Community Justice Assistance Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and other community corrections agencies are proud to host the 13th annual Susan C. Cranford Memorial “Hill Country Community Justice Golf Tournament on Friday, March 27, 2009 12:30 p.m.

DiAnne Scott spent last weekend in Sweetwater with her brother and sister-in-law , Joe and Helen Oliver and had a booth at the Rattle Snake Round-Up. The weekend of March 28, DiAnne will have a booth selling jewlery and crosses at the Johnson City Chili Cook-Off. Robert Baugh took several elementary children to a youth rally at the Georgetown Church of Christ March 7, 2009.

Kids Connection Learning Center in Kingsland will hold its Grand Opening on Saturday from noon until 4 p.m. The community is invited to stop in and get to know the new business in town, according to Jeannie Peabody, co-owner of the day care center with her daughter, Krystina Jones of Kingsland.

This Saturday afternoon (Mar. 28), descendents of four former Texas Rangers – early settlers in the Hill Country –will proudly attend a Texas Ranger Memorial Cross ceremony honoring their ancestors. Also attending will be other Texas Rangers, county officials, family friends, and Hatty Sagebiel, a Llano County resident who has played a significant role in seeing that these four men are duly honored for their service to the State of Texas. In fact, Saturday’s ceremony at Pe ...

Llano Memorial Healthcare System (LMHS) and St. James Lutheran Church of Llano have partnered together for a health fair Thursday, April 2 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. The health fair will be held at Schorlemmer Hall, the corner of Ford Street and College Street in Llano. Screenings for cholesterol, PSA (prostate specific antigen), blood sugar, hemoglobin (anemia screen) blood pressure, oxygen saturation level, and body mass index will be offered.

On Monday, March 23, 2009 the Llano County Commissioner’s Court approved a $15,000 grant to the Lake Buchanan Conservation Corp. (LBCC). The money will be used to purchase 50,000 Hybrid Striped Bass (Sunshine Bass) fingerlings from Keo Fish Farms in Arkansas. These fish will be used to restock Lake Buchanan in order to allow the lake to remain one of the best bass fishing lakes in Texas.

By Debbie Engler Will Cohen and Woody Byrnes earned their own “Pot of Gold” at the UIL State 3-A Cross Examination Debate at the University of Texas on St. Patrick’s Day by bringing back medals. Their debate team made it to the Sweet Sixteen on Tuesday by winning three debates on Monday against challenging teams that included powerhouses such as Princeton, Lubbock Cooper, and two different Lavernia teams during round one of the State 3-A Championship on March 16-17.