MARBLE FALLS — In just two months, skateboarders looking to grind, do heelflips and perform other feats don’t have to roll any farther than the new Marble Falls skate park, officials said.

David Reynolds of Parthenon Custom Concrete works on the Highland Lakes Skate Park at Yett and First streets in Marble Falls. The park, funded through a grant and the Highland Lakes Skate Park Association, could be finished in the next 60 days. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton

Terry White, the chief of the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department, discusses the firefighters’ new digs at 606 Ave. U in Marble Falls during a Tuesday breakfast meeting of the Marble Falls Daybreak Rotary Club. The civic organization meets at 7 a.m. every Tuesday at River City Grille, 700 First St. Photo by Gil Jones

GRANITE SHOALS — As neighbors continue to draw battle lines over leasing homes to short-term renters, one City Council member said any problems come down to a single factor: “inconsiderate people.”

BERTRAM — A Crime Stoppers tip that led investigators to a pair of suspected methamphetamine labs put four people behind bars, officials said Wednesday.

MARBLE FALLS — For the second time this month, the City Council declined to vote on a controversial rezoning proposal that could open the door to a third hotel in an upscale subdivision south of Lake Marble Falls.

Instead, rival parties to the proposal plan to discuss the matter today, Mayor George Russell said during the meeting Monday. File Photo

MARBLE FALLS — Funeral arrangements have been set for a Marble Falls High School senior and a Burnet County employee killed in a two-vehicle collision on Texas 71 Friday morning.

Officials have identified the county employee as Gary Dean Daniels, 54, of Marble Falls and the student as Woodrow "Woody" Edward Johnson IV, 17, of Granite Shoals.

BURNET — A Burnet County jury handed down the maximum sentence possible late Saturday for a former martial arts instructor accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student and breaking into her room.

Steven Michael Backstrom, 48, was found guilty on one count of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony, indecency with a child, and one count aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to court officials.

He received a 99-year sentence on the first count and was assessed a life sentence for the second, officials said.

The trial entered its fifth day when a jury of 10 women and four men reported at 9 a.m. to 33rd state District Judge Gil Jones’ courtroom.

The girl, now 15, is Backstrom’s former student, investigators said. The incidents occurred in Marble Falls in 2007 and 2008, according to police.

Defense attorney Eddie Shell has argued Backstrom was only trying to help the girl leave an unwholesome home environment and became a father figure to her.

Shell also told the jury the girl has made false accusations in the past of sexual abuse.

Prosecutor Cheryl Nelson has told the court Backstrom is a manipulative predator who forced himself on the girl.

The girl’s outcry came after she was in foster care.

MARBLE FALLS – A briefing on the Afghanistan war that included remarks from a general later relieved of command by President Barack Obama has convinced a Horseshoe Bay pastor that victory depends on “restraint.”

IN PHOTO: The Rev. John P. White from the Church at Horseshoe Bay discussed his recent participation in a national security seminar last month at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania. Staff photo by Raymond V. Whelan

BERTRAM — Another public official is headed out the door during a year which has already seen several city officials make their way toward the exit sign.