Pago 4 Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Bumet Bulletin Burnet, Texas
Commentary
Gov. Greg Abbott on Jan. 18 met
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu during a business devel-
opment tour in Israel.
Abbott said in a news release that
the meeting was "to discuss Texas
and Israel's historic bond" and how
he can further solidify their relation-
ship.
Abbott informed Netanyahu that
Texas would "maintain its Iran dives-
titure policy" and that he would
"seek new laws to strengthen Texas'
prohibitions on the investment of
public funds in lran."
Abbott said the legislation he
plans to promote would:
• Require local governmental
entities to divest investments in Iran;
• Require all Texas state entities
that invest money to divest Iran
investments, not just Texas' various
retirement funds; and
• Close loopholes in Texas' Iran
divestment law after examining them
to determine where and how any
exceptions can be minimized or
eliminated altogether.
Abbott reminded readers that in
September 2015, he sent a letter to
the Texas congressional delegation
stating his opposition President
Nxas
immigrants. The case is scheduled be Paxton said, "Paid daily 'fantasy said Texas Workforce Commission
Capilal Highlighls argued before the court in April, with sports' operators claim they can Chair Andres Alcantar.
a decision expected in June. legally operate as an unregulated Texas' seasonally adjusted unem-
Texas Attorney General Ken house, but none of their arguments ployment rate increased to 4.7 per-
Paxton reacted to the Supremesquare with existing Texas law. cent in December, up from 4.6 per-
Court's decision to hear the case, Simply put, it is prohibited gambling cent in November. It remained below
Ed saying that the court "recognizes the in Texas if you bet on the perform- the national average of 5.0 percent.
importance of the separation ofpow- ance of a participant in a sporting The Workforce Commission, citing
Sterling ers." event and the house takes a cut." figures compiled by the U.S.
Texas leads a 26-state coalition Paxton said that unlike some
against the president's immigration other states, Texas law only requires Department of Labor Statistics,
Texas Press Association plan. Federal courts have ruled in the "partial chance" for something to be pointed out these statistics:
states' favor three times, most gambling; it does not require that • Professional and business serv-
recently in the U.S. Court of Appeals chance predominate, ices employment surged in December
for the Fifth Circuit, Paxton noted. The opinion makes clear, Paxton with the addition of 12,500 positions,
Obama's Iran nuclear deal. On July AG opines on added, that "traditional fantasy sports the industry's largest over-the-month
14, 2015, the president signed what online gaming leagues are, as a general rule, legal gain since November 2014; and
the White House called "a compre- Texas Attorney General Ken under Texas law. In those leagues, • The education and health serv-
hensive, long-term deal that will Paxton on Jan. 19 issued an opinion participants generally split any pot ices industry recorded the second-
verifiably prevent Iran from obtain- in response to a legislative inquiry amongst themselves, so there is no largest employment gain over the
ing a nuclear weapon." regarding the legality of online gum- house that takes a cut." month in Texas with 7,400 jobs
Court to review ing. Job statistics added, marking 21 consecutive
Texas case State Rep. Myra Crownover, R- are posted months of growth and a total of
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. Denton, chair of the House The Texas Workforce
19 announced it would review an Committee on Public Health, asked Commission on Jan. 22 announced 66,700 jobs added since January
immigration case that originated in Paxton whether "daily fantasy sports the state ended calendar year 2015 2015.
Brownsville. leagues" are permissible under Texas with another month of growth inFurthermore, said Ruth R. Hughs,
Styled now as United States v. law, and if it is legal to participate in employment, adding 24,900 jobs. TWC's commissioner representing
Texas, the case challenges the fantasy sports leagues where the "Texas finished 2015 on a strong employers, "Private-sector employ-
Obama administration's November house does not take a "rake" and the note in December with employers mint was strong over the year with the
2014 executive order affecting the participants only wager among them- adding 166,900 jobs over the year overall job growth of l41,300jobs in
deportation policy for undocumented selves, across a diverse range of industries," December."
easure cruise
:]-"
The Mittie Stephens steamed out
of New Orleans on Feb. 2, 1869, on a
pleasure cruise through the inland
waterways of Texas that ended in
fiery tragedy on Caddo Lake.
The 312-ton, side-wheel steam-
boat was built six years earlier in
Indiana. Used by the Union for a year
as a transport and packet (a ship that
carried mail, passengers and goods
on an established route,) the Mittie
Stephens later saw less hazardous
duty as a private passenger craft on
the navigable rivers of Louisiana.
Paying customers traveled in
style on the luxury cruise ship, dining
on the finest cuisine prepared by a
staff of four-star chefs. Chamber
maids, servants and other employees
of the floating hotel waited on the
pampered passengers hand and foot.
The Mittie Stephens left New
:Orleans with 107 passengers and
crew in the capable hands of an expe-
rienced riverboat captain named
Homer Kellogg. The cargo consisted
of 274 bales of hay, ten kegs of gun-
powder and $100,000 in gold to pay
the post-Civil War occupation troops
at the final destination -- Jefferson,
Texas.
Thanks to a freak of nature, the
East Texas community was the sec-
ond busiest port in the Lone Star
State. An enormous mass of logs,
N •
At my age, three-quarters of a cen-
tury plus, I can no longer claim naiv-
ete'. Well, I guess I could but who'd
believe me. However, there was a
time when this country-bred-and-
raised youngster was plenty naive.
But, maestro, a little music,
please.
Tah-dah.
Eyen though I was 21 .years old
and had two years at Sam Houston
State Teachers College plus a year as
news editor of The Teague Chronicle,
I guess I wasn't prepared for Big City
Life and the ways of the 1958 world
in Houston and its suburbs. I trans-
ferred to the University of Houston
after the aforementioned experiences
and thought I was prepared, or as
Uncle Harvey would say, "repaired,"
for anything.
Upon arrival in Big H, I should've
been "repaired" for a sign atop the
Shell Oil building. As I approached
from the north side, the "S" had
burned out of the neon name sign atop
the skyscraper. For small town me, it
was just as scary as it was funny.
I moved in with aunt, uncle and
their four children in a three-bedroom
house and began a two bus-company a
day ride to and from school.
My day began at 5 a.m, and ended
Dear Editor,
We are all familiar with the issues of the
proposed ordinance against feeding wild ani-
mals including deer and feral (untamed; wild)
cats. This topic yields a variety of emotions
and complexities in enforcement.
Regardless of where you stand, though,
new ordinances that cause community unrest
are not necess~ when there are existing ordi-
nances that cover these issues.
Why do we need a new ordinance? If it
passes, how will it be enforced any differ-
ently?
Switching gears, the other proposed ordi-
docked at Mooringsport, where off from the rest of the vessel, Swain yielding to the inevitable death."
Bartee James C. Christian boarded the ill- and Lodwick jumped into the pitch- When the Dixie reached the
fated vessel. He had sent his 10-year- black lake and swam the short dis- scene, the Mittie Stephens was a
Halle old grandson home for a coat, but by tance to safety, smoldering hulk burned to the water
the time the boy returned the Mittie In spite of the chaos, the clear- line. Capt. Jacobs transported 43 sur-
Stephens had left for Swanson's thinking ship's carpenter remem- vivors to Jefferson and returned the
-T---exas- Landing on the south side of Caddo bered the gunpowder in the hold. He next day with grappling hooks to
historian Lake. saved countless lives by singlehand-
Long-distance greetings were idly wrestling the kegs overboard, retrieve the bodies. The official death
exchanged with the steamboat Dixie, Panic-stricken passengerstoll was 61, but estimates ranged as
which was waiting for daylight in a retreated to the stem or rear of the high as 70.
moss, weeds, vines, dirt and trash sheltered cove. Capt. Thornton Mittie Stephens, where the lake was However, no one had a bad word
known as the Red River Raft made Jacobs was a cautious sort, who did eight to ten feet deep. Most of those to say about Capt. Kellogg and his
Jefferson accessible to 200 or more not believe nighttime crossings of the that went over the side were crushed crew, who were praised for their
steamboats a year.
The six-day voyage to Shreveport Caddo were worth the risk. to death by' the paddle wheels or cool-headed courage. Grasping at
was uneventful. J.W. Lively, who had Pilot William Swain and steers- drowned not knowing how close they straws, one newspaper blamed the
a ticket all the way to Jefferson, dis- man Joe Lodwick were in the pilot were to shallow water and dry land. tragedy on "the passions of the
embarked with several companions house around midnight, when Several survivors owed their
and never got back on-board. "To Lodwick smelled smoke. Searching lives to a passing horse and rider, American people for rapid transit,
this day we don't know, can't explain for the source, he discovered the hay who saved them one by one from a reckless of life and limb."
why we done it," Lively told a bales on the larboard or loading side watery grave. Bartee welcomes your comments
reporter in 1921. "But all at once we of the deck had caught fire appar- The vast majority of fatalities and questions at bartee-
decided to leave the Mittie ently from sparks given off by,the were women and small children that haile@gmail.com or P.O. Box 152,
Stephens." r~pine knots, ........ ~ " • Clung i to their mothers. Lodwick Friendswo~d, TX 77549' and inv'#es
The ship departed Shreveport at The pair quickly sounded the later spoke of the women's "strange
four in the afternoon following a alarm and turned the Mittie Stephens infatuation with the buming boat"
five-hour layover. At dusk the crew toward land. Crew members rushed and how nothing could induce them
lit torch baskets and pine knots, on deck to douse the flames but to no "to leap overboard, their only means
which cast a bright-red glow from avail as the fire raged out of control, of escape. Only four were saved,
metal cages. At 10 o'clock the Mittie Twenty feet from shore, the blaz- probably from their being on the
Stephens steamed into Caddo Lake ing bow hit bottom in three feet of lower deck."
on the Texas-Louisiana border and water. The pilot and steersman kept Another eyewitness recalled
set a course for Big Cypress Bayou the paddle wheels turning in a des- watching "the poor creatures as the
and Jefferson. pirate attempt to drive the ship onto flames swept over them, some with
An hour later, Capt. Kellogg land. With the fire closing in and cut out-stretched arms and others meekly
more afternoons I was a commis- (convenient, no?)
sioned ad sales person via a sales He arranged for an "office assis-
internship at a suburban newspaper, tant," a pretty redheaded friend of the
owned by UH J-GA prof Billy I. Ross editor, to be hired. On the assistant's
and Rigby "Pop" Owen Sr. first day on the job, Adman and Editor
Several other advertising students left quickly for lunch together, leaving
Willis went through the sales intemship but me with Red. She quickly made her
Webb it led to a much-needed, steady move.
income for me. Tah-dah, dramatic musical cres-
By summer time I was employed cendo, please...
Writer's Roost as the full-time general manager of ...in came another ad student, an
this suburban weekly paper owned by older and married good friend of
the aforementioned duo. It was a 30- mine, who immediately saw what was
minute drive from the UH campus, happening and not being as naNe as I,
at 11 p.m. Arising at that early hour which necessitated me to buy a car. put it all together. He dragged me out
was necessary for me to get the mile My dad helped me acquire a 1952 of there for lunch and had me detail
from my new residence to the private rusted-out, baby blue, two-door, stick the events prior to his arrival. He
company bus line stop. A 6:30 a.m. shift Chevrolet, which also served as a exploded and told me, in no uncertain
Pioneer Bus Lines ride would get me "newspaper hauler" from "Pop's" terms, to go home and he would call
into downtown Houston just in time to Conroe printing plant to the one- me later. By the end of the day, I was
catch a city bus that would put me out room-finished model shell home that informed that neither of the philander-
by a University of Houston entrance served as the suburban paper's office, ing couple were employed and that I
through which I'd sprint 250 yards to However, prior to the summer was the new, full-time GM of that
the Journalism and Graphic Arts opportunity, there was a competition newspaper.
building where I was employed, about which I was not aware. There Welcome to HELL-- I recalled
At least that's where one of my was, however, some hanky-panky of of the sign on my entrance to hot
jobs was. From 8 a.m.-1 p.m. which I'd become cognizant. One of Houston, which I then thought of as
Monday-Friday, I was the secretary- the ad students, an older, married Texas' lust capitol.
receptionist for the J-GA department man, was having an affair with a mar- Willis Webb is a retired community
for which l was paid $1 perhour. Two ried woman who was the editor of the newspaper editor-publisher of more
afternoons a week I was the $5 per suburban paper. He even bragged to than 50 years experience. He can be
week copy editor of the Houston me about the affair. This philandering reached by email at
Cougar, UH's student newspaper. Two ad student wanted the GM job as well wwebb1937@att.net.
nance prohibiting electronic pet contalmnent
systems warrants the same overall considera-
tion as to whether its enforcement would be
possible given the many variables involved.
While some dogs have breached "invisi-
ble fence" systems, there are also dogs escap-
ing from smactt~ fences, which are equally
imperfect as their materials rust, rot or other-
wise fail. Houses themselves even produce
easy escape routes through every door poten-
assisting with the dog-at-large situatiol~ I have
an Invisible Fence~ Brand that I have used
for over six years and can attest to the respon-
sibility of the company, the dependability of
the electronics, the containment of my dog
and the expertise of their lraining.
Suggestions:
1. Enforce current ordinances. If that
doesn't work, then write new ones.
2. Require a sign in a yard that notifies
tially left Ol~m. others that an electronic confinement system
It's been an issue for ages. Ultimately, it is is in use.
the animal owner who is responsible for his Signed,
pet's containment, for any damage caused by Craig Lindholm and Peg Moore
escaped animals and for the safety of the ani- Burner, Texas
mals ..........................................................................................
We already have ordinances coveting Dear Editor,
animals at-large and even they are not fully
enforced. The City of Burnet has a leash law con-
Similar to the feeding ofthe wild animals, ceming pets in the city.
the City of Bumet Code of Ordinances also I have mostly lived in the counlry where
has ordinances that cover unrestrained ani- I did not have a leash law, but after living in
reals, the city for awhile, I can see why there is a
I can attest that professionally-installed need for the law due to people's personal pets.
electronic fences have the best chance of All ofmy neigh~rs in my area are very
respectful of people's space.
I have noticed, however, there are feral
cats that are running loose in the city.
The Animal Conlrol Department here in
the city has been very helpful in catching these
cats on my property. I owe them huge thanks.
I have seen what a feral cat can do to
small pets as well as gass and how much of a
nascence they can be.
I have a small herd of deer in my back
yard. I do not feed them but they do roam
around my yard.
The deer urine has not killed my grass as
the cat urine has and has a horrible odor.
I, myself, am a dog person and I like big
dogs as pets. But, ,Maere my residence is
located, it would not be fair to a large dog as a
pet for me due to lack of space.
I may get a small dog soon and a concern
of mine would be what these feral cats would
attempt to do to it.
Sincerely,
Larry Dannheim
Burnet, Texas
you to visit his web site at bartee-
haile, com.
B Bumet
uiieiin
Serving Burnet County Since 1873
220 South Main
Burnet, TX 78611
The Burnet Bulletin is published weekly by
Highland Lakes Newspapers. Periodicals post-
age paid at Bumet, TX 78611; USPS 080-000.
Combined with the Marble Falls Messenger and
Bertram Enterpnse. Member of Texas Press
Association and the South Texas Press
Association.
POSTMASTER
Send address change to
The Burnet Bulletin
R O. Box 1000
Marble Falls, TX 78654
Corrections
The Bulletin will gladly correct any error found
in the newspaper. To request a correction or
clarification, please call 512-756-6136 and ask
for the editor. A correction or clarification will
appear in the next available issue.
Subscriptions
Subscription rates for the Bumet Bulletin are $26
annually for mailing addresses in Burnet and
Llano counties; $36 in other Texas counties;
and $52 outside of Texas. Call 512-756-6136 or
830-693-4367 to order by phone.
Contact us:
Publisher and Editor
Frank Shubert
830-693-4367 :
