The Phoenix Center raised a significant share of its annual funding during its Cause for Celebration Gala on March 7 at Horseshoe Bay Resort.
The annual event, which featured a Roaring ’20s theme with dinner, live music, and dancing, generated more than 40 percent of the nonprofit’s operating budget each year. Those funds help provide mental health services to children across Central Texas, the majority of whom receive financial assistance from the center.
“Thanks to the generosity of our donors at Phoenix Center’s Cause for Celebration Gala, we are able to offer life-changing mental health care services to children and families and build a stronger community,” Chief Operating Officer Mary Flanagan told DailyTrib. “We are so grateful for all who supported our gala.”
The Phoenix Center, founded in 2007, provides trauma-informed counseling and mental health care for children ages 2 to 18 and their families. The organization serves multiple rural counties in the region, all designated as Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.
The nonprofit has expanded its footprint in recent years, including opening an 8,000-square-foot counseling center in 2022 and adding equine therapy facilities in 2025 at its 77-acre campus in Horseshoe Bay, as demand for services continues to grow.
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A drafted plan outlining new strategies to support aging adults, their caregivers, and communities within the Capital Area Council of Governments coverage area is taking public comments until 10 a.m. on May 1 for refinement and creation of a final 2027-2029 Aging Services Area Plan.
CAPCOG’s upcoming area plan – encompassing Burnet, Llano, Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Travis, and Williamson counties – is aimed at improving the health, safety, and participation in the community of older adults based on survey results taken in the spring.
The survey, the Community Needs Assessment, highlighted concerns over chronic health, mobility, fall, and medication issues, as well as limited access to health information, referral, and assistance.
Lack of transportation options, exposure to scams and fraud, and isolation from the community were also noted.
Public comment
Those interested in reviewing the Aging Services Area Plan can do so here. CAPCOG has requested for comments to be emailed to Aging Services Special Projects Manager Shirley Trapani by the May 1 deadline at strapani@capcog.org.
Any comments directed at a specific portion should include the line number included on the left margin of the plan, or a screenshot of the text.
Visit the CAPCOG website to learn more about the agency and how it impacts local communities.
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Marble Falls has joined the Burnet County Highland Lakes Sub-Regional Planning Commission to help the city tackle large-scale projects and regional issues in the future.
The commission, created under Chapter 391 of the Texas Local Government Code, allows cities and counties to coordinate on infrastructure, growth, and major projects affecting multiple jurisdictions.
While the group is currently pushing back against a proposed high-voltage transmission line in Burnet County, Marble Falls officials emphasized that the city’s participation is focused on long-term, broader benefits. The proposed transmission line routes are all north of Texas 29, relatively far from Marble Falls city limits.
“We don’t really have a dog in that fight. We’re joining more for a general purpose. We’re not joining specifically to fight the transmission line,” Marble Falls Mayor John Packer told DailyTrib.
The collaboration could help address future concerns that extend beyond city limits, such as environmental and infrastructure challenges, according to Packer.
“There may be things in the future that affect us like air quality, and other broader issues,” he said.
By pooling resources and coordinating efforts, the commission aims to increase recognition and influence with state and regional agencies.
“We mainly want to come together on issues that affect all of us so we can speak collectively and be heard by the right agencies, rather than as individual entities,” Packer said. “We’re doing it for the big picture.”
Each participating entity appoints two representatives. Marble Falls named Mayor John Packer and Place 2 Councilor Dee Haddock, joining the city of Burnet’s Mayor Gary Wideman and Councilor Joyce Laudenschlager, and Burnet County’s Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle and Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Frank Reilly.
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The Marble Falls High School theatre program just took first place in area competition for the 2026 one act play season, and is preparing for its coming appearance at regionals with its performance of “The Collective.”
The Mustangs competed at the 2026 UIL 4A Area 21-24 One Act Play tournament on Wednesday, April 7, earning first place. They next take the stage April 24-25 at regional competition. This will be the troupe’s ninth consecutive performance at regionals and tenth straight year making it into the playoffs.
“I think our contest results are consistent because we are consistent as a department,” MFHS Theatre Director Jon Clark told DailyTrib. “We’re also incredibly fortunate to have strong support from our school district and our community.”
Leading up to its area championship win on Tuesday, the Mustangs also took first in bi-district and district competition with their performance of “The Collective,” by Jean Betts.
At the area play, several members of the theatre company took home awards and honorable mentions:
-Addison Dehorty, honorable mention for All-Star Cast
-Elsa Vandiford, All-Star Cast
-Anthony Ruiz, All-Star Technician
-Nina Garcia, Honorable Mention All-Star Cast
-Cameron Newell, Best Performer
The program also went to the state finals in 2025, taking home silver for its performance of “Moby Dick–Rehearsed.”
“I think the biggest factor in our continued success is that we never stop improving the show,” Clark said. “After every contest, we work with clinicians, take their notes to heart, and implement what will make the production stronger. That’s an important lesson for our students, that even when you think you’re finished, there’s always room to grow.”
Correction: The original version of the article referred to a different one act play titled “The Collective” by Brent Holland. The MFHS theatre program is not performing that play, but rather “The Collective” by Jean Betts.
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Burnet community members were given a chance to up their garden game on Wednesday, April 8, at Burnet Middle School’s second spring plant sale, hosted by students, faculty, and volunteers from the Highland Lakes Master Gardener Association.
The plant sale, held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the BMS Greenhouse, featured freshly-grown tomatoes, peppers, vegetables, herbs, and several houseplants and shrubs.
Plants were sold for $3 each for 4 inch pots and six packs, and $8 each for hanging baskets.
Rows of vegetables at the BMS plant sale, dutifully grown by the middle school gardeners. Staff photo by Caden Senn
All of the plants and products sold at the sale were planted, watered, and grown by BMS students who have worked on the garden as an extracurricular activity. Gardeners ranged from hobbyist beginners to pseudo-experts.
Jace Stern, a seventh grader at BMS with a plethora of knowledge on plant species and their growth patterns, helped DailyTrib staff pick out plants at the sale. Stern helped identify several low-maintenance options and narrow in on two coleus plants.
Seventh grader Bailey Matzker chimed in on her love of the multi-colored coleus plant near the check-out. Matzker joined the gardeners at the beginning of the year, and has enjoyed the process.
The BMS plant sale is one of several sales that the Master Gardener Association helps run, including similar events at schools in Kingsland and Marble Falls.
For those that missed this sale, another is sure to be on the way soon in Burnet, or residents can stop by one of Marble Falls High School’s upcoming plant sales on April 22 and May 8.
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During its next meeting, the Burnet County Republican Club will dive into the potential adverse impacts of a proposed state transmission line project looming over the Highland Lakes area.
The meeting is free and open to the public, and it is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. on April 14 at the Burnet County AgriLife building, 607 N. Vandeveer Street in Burnet. A light supper will be served at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 6 p.m.
“You’ve probably heard about the proposed 765,000 volt transmission line,” reads a notice from the club. “As Republicans, we care about property values and rights, free enterprise, the economy, and of course, our health. This line will affect all of us in many ways.”
Burnet County Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle will be the featured speaker at the meeting. He is also on the Highland Lakes Sub-Regional Planning Commission, a coalition of local governments that was recently formed in an effort to combat the proposed transmission line.
The line, dubbed the Bell County East to Big Hill 765 kV Transmission Project, would run over 200 miles total, from Bell County to Schleicher County, passing through Burnet County along the way. According to the project developers, it is meant to bring power to far west Texas to help power an array of rising power needs for cryptocurrency mining, “green hydrogen” projects, industrial uses, data centers, and the electrification of the petroleum industry.
Critics of the transmission line say that if it is approved, it would likely have severe impacts on property owners resulting in large eminent domain seizures, reduced property values, and negative impacts on the daily lives of nearby residents. The line would likely require 200-300 foot easements and 15-18 story towers suspending the highest voltage powerlines that Texas has ever seen.
Most recently, Burnet County officially filed to intervene in the transmission line approval process with the state in the hopes of mitigating any negative impacts it may cause on private and public property across the Highland Lakes.
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Long-awaited flood relief could be headed to the owners of 13 properties throughout the city of Burnet. City Council authorized a flood buyout program in tandem with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service at a Monday, April 6, special meeting.
The NRCS buyout program, entitled the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, will assist the city in purchasing properties that were heavily damaged in the July 2025 floods. Those properties are considered too prone to flood damage, and structures on them will be demolished, leaving permanent open spaces.
The EWP Program funding was estimated not to exceed $5.75 million for the 13 affected properties combined, with the NRCS funding around $4.4 million (75 percent), and the city funding around $1.35 million (25 percent) of the project. The NRCS will additionally provide $325,500 in technical assistance funding for the project.
Over a dozen of the affected property owners and their family members joined the special meeting on Monday night, waiting to hear the good news just over nine months after the floods left several of them without a home.
“We all went through a severe depression,” property owner Brenda Alman told DailyTrib. “I know that the city has worked really hard. As a matter of fact, one of the city workers brought his own loader and came down into the flood and rode us out onto the bucket of the loader.”
Alman’s home was destroyed in the July floods. She has been living in her nephew’s RV since then.
“We never had any kind of disaster, maybe twice we had two inches of water,” Alman said. “My house flooded and was six feet under, and I just want to move on from it. Hopefully I can get a home.”
A damaged entryway of another home on Oak Street on April 6. Staff photo by Caden Senn
City officials addressed the crowd to voice their support and sympathies in the face of continued adversity since the floods, particularly due to the lengthy timeline of recovery.
“There is absolutely no one on council that wants to see our residents delayed, in any way, in receiving what we can do,” Mayor Pro-Tem Philip Thurman said. “I just want to make sure that you understand that we’re doing everything we can, as fast as we can, and I want you to hear that from staff.”
The city originally reached out to NRCS about relief in August 2025, and only received the buyout agreement a week ago on March 31. Due to governmental procedures and practices, as well as multiple government shutdowns, the entire flood recovery process has taken significant time.
Now that the program has been approved, the city will work to hire appraisers to valuate the properties based on their pre-flood values, generate an offer for the property owners, and, if accepted, will demolish the property to create a permanently vacant lot.
An exact date for the affected property owners to receive their offers is unknown.
Assistant City Manager Keith McBurnett shared that the quickest turnaround the NRCS has seen from acceptance to full completion of the buyout, demolition, and conversion was roughly six months. He added that the city was currently at step 5 of a 24 step process.
McBurnett added that the city would be the first Texas municipality to undergo an NRCS buyout, and would likely serve as a case study for future Texas cities seeking relief.
A look at the northern Burnet floodplain map, including a section of Oak Street (top left corner) where several homes were built on floodways. FEMA map
As part of the eligibility for the EWP Program, an affected property must contain a structure threatened by additional flooding or erosion. In the case of the properties in Burnet, like those located along the southern portion of Oak Street, many lie on one of the city’s several floodways.
Of course, a flood-prone property will continue to be one so long as the waterway nearby it continues to flow, which is why the program seeks to completely raze any structures on the affected properties rather than rebuild them.
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The city of Burnet recently hired a new chief building official, Steve Riggs, to help streamline responsiveness and communication at the city level during construction and development processes.
Riggs, who began work last week, will serve as a dedicated administrator of building codes, an inspector, and a plan reviewer of developments throughout the city.
“Having (Riggs’) expertise in-house allows the city to provide more responsive service, reduce reliance on third-party inspectors, and improve communication throughout the development process,” City Manager David Vaughn wrote in his City Manager Message on April 2. “Just as important, it brings greater consistency in how inspections are conducted and how codes are interpreted, which is something our contractors greatly value.”
Riggs previously served as the chief building official for the city of Boerne for over three years, the interim chief building official for the city of Kerrville for nearly three years, and as a building inspector for Kerrville for seven and a half years before that.
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As oak wilt season returns, Horseshoe Bay officials are reminding residents that a citywide pruning ban is in place to help protect the area’s tree canopy.
“Oak wilt is a serious tree disease that spreads if awareness is not provided. Our community thrives on our natural environment and understanding oak wilt risk and mitigation is critical to preservation of beautiful tree canopy,” City Manager Jeff Koska told DailyTrib.
Horseshoe Bay confirmed its first case of oak wilt in April 2020. The city prohibits pruning or wounding oak trees from Feb. 1 through June 30 each year, when the disease spreads most easily.
Oak wilt is a fungal disease that spreads through beetles attracted to fresh wounds and through interconnected root systems, particularly among live oaks. Red oaks pose a higher risk, as infected trees can spread the disease to new areas, including through transported firewood.
Residents should avoid pruning, paint any necessary cuts immediately, and properly dispose of infected trees, noting early prevention remains the most effective way to slow the spread.
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