BERTRAM — City Council will hold a special meeting Nov. 19 to consider Mayor Winnette Morris’ resignation.

During the Nov. 13 regular meeting, Morris told the council she is resigning.

"I thank the citizens of Bertram for allowing me the opportunity to be their mayor," Morris said.

Morris, who has lived in Bertram about eight years, was elected mayor in 2010. She won re-election in May.

Her husband, Darrell Wayne Morris, died unexpectedly in August. Morris said since then one of her five children is building her a house near him in Killeen.

"I hope to have Christmas in my new home," Morris said.

Because a mayor must live in the city limits, her move is the reason for her resignation, she said.

Dickie Allen currently serves as mayor pro-tem, but council will ultimately decide who follows Morris as mayor.

"The purpose of (the Nov. 19 special meeting) will be to lay out a management plan," Bertram City Secretary Evan Milliorn said.

Council members are expected to officially accept Morris’ resignation and decide how to move forward with a year and a half remaining on the mayor’s term.

Morris was not shy in her support of Allen.

"They have options. They could appoint (Allen) as mayor, or they could appoint some other person in the city as the mayor," Morris said. "I think (Allen) will be appointed hands-down."

jared@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — People who want a support group to help them lose weight can go to WeightWatchers each Tuesday beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Lakeside Pavilion, 307 Buena Vista in Marble Falls.

“The purpose is not only for people who want a healthy weight,” said WeightWatchers leader Paulette Blake. “If they have an issue, we can put them on the right track.”

WeightWatchers is a lifestyle change, she added, noting moderation is part of the process.

Not only is Blake a leader in the program, she also is a participant after losing 43 pounds in 2003 and has been around WeightWatchers since the 1990s.

Cost is $13 a week or $42.95 for a monthly pass.

“It’s for anybody who wants to learn how to eat and maintain a healthy weight,” Blake said. “Every week there’s a support group to continue to talk about the challenges. We show them exactly how to eat. It’s a really healthy way to lose weight.”

editor@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — The Aquarium Store owner Ron Vargo’s concerns about the environment play a big part in the success of his business.

“We need clean air. You have to have good oxygenation at the surface to provide good oxygen for the things living in the water,” he said. “It’s all connected. It’s a big cycle.”

PHOTO: Ron Vargo, owner of The Aquarium Store at 1820 U.S. 281 in Marble Falls, believes everyone should do their part to battle pollution and support  cleaner water and air. Meanwhile, the debate rages on about the existence of global warming, which could have local ramifications. Staff photo by Connie Swinney

But when asked about global warming, he becomes a bit more contemplative.

“Global warming, there’s some that say yes, and some that say no. They don’t have any real scientific proof that it’s happening,” he said. “I think we need to just take care of the Earth that God gave us, and that means not polluting the air, not polluting the waters.”

Vargo’s sentiments are just one side of a recurring debate at all levels of society — including President Barack Obama’s post-election victory speech last week — about whether global warming actually exists and, if it does, whether it’s man-made or naturally occurring.

In the wake of catastrophic weather events such as Hurricane Sandy, many are left wondering what to believe.

Closer to home, steps to curb the so-called “carbon footprint” are evident in some business ventures and individual behavior.

FEELING THE HEAT

In Central Texas, it doesn’t take long to find divergent positions about global warming. Not even the scientists who study climate are in full agreement.

As director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Raymond Orbach has amassed a wealth of environmental research, reaching the conclusion that a gradual warming of the planet could lead to devastating effects for humans.

“There’s a lot of evidence that global warming will change the nature of our Earth. It will give rise to sea levels,” he said. “It will lead to large areas of drought, causing famine on a massive scale.”

The global warming theory proposes there has been a rise in the average temperature of he Earth’s atmosphere since the late 1800s, when man’s technological progress changed the balance of nature.

“When the Industrial Revolution took off it was about 1880. If you look at the primary sources of energy, coal began to surpass combustible bio products (wood, hay, brush), which had been the main source of energy,” he said. “You can track the (carbon dioxide) construction start to the increase quite rapidly … leading to global warming.”

IT’S ONLY NATURAL

On the flip side of the argument, geologist Dr. Peter R. Rose disputed the global-warming theory at a recent meeting of the Highland Lakes Energy Group in Marble Falls. The group includes primarily retired oil and gas company representatives.

Rose told the audience of about two dozen people at River City Grille that evidence exists the last 30 years of global warming is occurring naturally.

“Economically, they’re back in the Stone Age,” said Rose of global-warming theorists outside of the meeting. “One of the things that’s really important for societies to do is to understand how their science relates to the lives of other people.”

His presentation focused on disputing the view that man-made carbon dioxide gases — the carbon footprint derided by environmentalists — are one of the culprits in global warming.

“There’s strong evidence now that the bulk of the warming we have seen for the last 30 years has been natural,” he said.  “If it’s natural, which I think it mostly is, cyclical, it means we should not be dedicating substantial public money to fight something we cannot control anyway.”

CLEANER ENERGY

Despite Rose’s sentiment, some agencies and governments in Central Texas have decided to take steps to control their own possible effects on the environment by reducing emissions, lowering the carbon footprint and using energy-efficient systems or sustainable resources.

With its sights on a more environmentally responsible facility, the Lower Colorado River Authority has laid the foundation for a new power plant.

LCRA is replacing the Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant, built in 1974 and located on Lake LBJ in Horseshoe Bay, with a new, $530 million natural gas-fired power plant.

“The new plant will burn about 34 percent less gas to produce the equivalent amount of electrical energy as the existing plant,” LCRA spokeswoman Clara Tuma said. “The plant also will have more advanced air emission controls than the existing plant and will produce significantly fewer air emissions.”

Proposed emissions limits for the new plant are even more restrictive than the permit limits for the existing plant, officials say.

More steps with cleaner production in mind involve removing the on-site fuel oil tanks which served as a backup fuel supply when natural gas became scarce or expensive.

The new power plant will not burn fuel oil and removing the tanks will eliminate risks associated with storing fuel oil onsite.

This project is expected to be online by 2014.

ECOLOGY VS. ECONOMY

While people can take steps to control facility designs and output, Orbach believes society is already feeling the effects of ongoing pollution and emissions.

“You see the average temperature increase. There is evidence the sea level is rising,” he said. “The two combine to make storm surges very serious. It’s the ebb and flow of the storm surges that create huge damage to houses and structures.”

Scientists who support the global-warming theory believe steps including more fuel-efficient vehicle restrictions and more stringent and tighter emissions regulations will help slow the effects of climate change.

In the midst of such regulations and suggestions, Rose believes economic considerations trump ecological theory.

“What’s more important is that we have energy security,” he said of requests for more off-shore drilling and tapping into more resources at home. “Global warming is not a major threat that we should be concerned with. At the present time, the biggest problem we have is economic well-being.”

STRIKING A BALANCE

Businessmen such as Vargo believe the health of the economy and the condition of the planet are determined by human behavior.

He grew up in Denver, Colo., where signs of pollution made him conscious of water and air issues.

“There was a lot of smog there. You had to have your car emission tested every year. They make a real effort at keeping ecological-minded,” he said. “Ecology is a big part of the world in which we live today.”

Vargo said even though the upper Highland Lakes is primarily farming and ranching, residents should look to nearby cities for research and considerations about the environment.

“We’re farm country, ranch country,” he said. “Look at Austin. You have a college town. You have a lot of people who are in tune with education.”

No matter what theory anyone chooses to embrace, the best policy may be to pay heed to air and water quality, Vargo said.

“Strike a good balance and do your little part and it may not seem like much, but it does have a part to play,” he said. “Some people call her Mother Nature. She has a way of keeping it in balance, and she may have to deal with us.”

connie@thepicayune.com

GRANITE SHOALS — Charity Parker wrapped up the Christmas shopping almost three months before Dec. 25, but then a fire turned her family’s hoped-for holiday into smoke and ashes.

The blaze destroyed the two-bedroom structure, claimed her husband’s tools, consumed a fully stocked pantry and torched all the family’s Christmas presents. Their niece, whose mother is in hospice, was supposed to move in so the family could help take care of her.

“I had it all done. All the kids’ gifts were stored over there,” Parker said, pointing to the gutted shell of a building adjacent to the home where she, husband Chris Parker and their four children live.

The damaged building also held a freezer.

“Our Christmas tree and decorations were there, too. And all the kids’ first Christmas ornaments,” she said.

Christmas promised to be good for the Parkers this year. But during the night of Oct. 22, a blaze destroyed the adjacent building.

“It was horrible,” Charity Parker said, standing among the ruins. “You can still smell it.”

The Parkers and their sons — ages 7 months, 3 years, 8 years and 10 years — were asleep in the main house. A neighbor behind them raced around the dwelling knocking on all the windows trying to wake the family.

When the Parkers emerged from their home in the 1500 block of Valley High and saw the fire ripping through the next-door building, all the stunned family could do was watch.

“I must have been in shock,” Charity Parker said. “You never expect it to happen to you.”

The first Granite Shoals Fire Department volunteer arrived in a brush truck. Parker said he didn’t attack the blaze itself but started protecting their living quarters by dousing the family’s home, which was only eight feet from the burning structure.

“He probably saved our home,” she said. “He just kept spraying back and forth (along the home’s roof).”

She pointed to the home’s eaves where the fire’s heat melted the paint.

“It was close,” Parker said.

The family had been renovating the additional structure because Parker’s niece planned to move in with them. Parker said her sister is currently in hospice care and it would only be a matter of time before the niece relocated.

“Now, we don’t know where she’ll stay,” Parker said.

The fire knocked out a fuse box, leaving the Parkers without water and electricity for almost two weeks.

The fire gutted the structure. The family had recently stocked the freezer in anticipation of Chris Parker being laid off from his seasonal job. However, they are hoping he can find employment laying tile this winter.

“But all his tools were in there,” Charity Parker said. She pointed to some twisted pieces of metal and other items that used to be her husband’s tools.

The fire also destroyed two motorcycles — her husband’s and her 10-year-old son’s dirt bike. In another corner, the Parkers had stored an air conditioning unit, a new bathroom vanity and other supplies for remodeling the building and their own home.

“It’s all gone,” Charity Parker said. “Of course it wasn’t insured.”

With no insurance on the building, the Parkers are left to clean it up themselves. From there, Parker said they don’t know what they’ll do.

“We’ll probably have to knock it down,” she said.

As she walked through the ruins, Parker picked up some burned cans of food and a couple of charred Christmas ornaments.

The fire also consumed several mementos left by her mother, who died when Parker was 15, she said.

“But we can replace this — well, most of it,” she said. “The good news is we’re all right.”

The cause of the fire is undetermined, she added.

There’s been an account set up at First National Bank in the Marble Falls Walmart, 2700 U.S. 281, to help the Parkers. The account is under the name of Parker’s sister Deidra Heffner.

AUSTIN — The mother of a man who killed himself while in the Llano County Jail filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit Nov. 8 against the county, two jailers and Sheriff Bill Blackburn.

Shirley Appell filed the civil action on behalf of son Shawn Michael Appell, a 45-year-old Air Force veteran who killed himself Aug. 6, 2011, while in custody at the jail. According to a Travis County Medical Examiner’s report, the death was ruled a suicide.

In July, a Llano County grand jury indicted two jailers — Scottie Scoggins and Donny Stewart —in connection with the case.

The grand jury indicted Scoggins on a first-degree charge of injury to a disabled by omission, according to court records.

Stewart is indicted on the same charge, but as a second-degree felony.

Trial is pending. Both men are also named in the federal civil suit.

In the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court-Western District of Texas, Austin Division, Shirley Appell claims, “Defendants allowed Shawn to kill himself when they did not intervene while he beat his head against a cell wall for two days. He died of blunt force trauma to his head.”

According to the lawsuit, Stewart, who was the jail administrator at the time of the death, “was in the jail while Shawn was slowly killing himself, was aware of it, and deliberately did nothing to stop him.”

The lawsuit makes a similar claim against Scoggins, who was a jail sergeant at the time, and Blackburn.

In a custodial death report field with the state Attorney General’s Office, authorities reported jailers transported Shawn Appell to the hospital after he was found banging his head against the cell wall Aug. 5, 2011.

Attempts to get him into a state mental facility failed and he was returned to the county jail.

According to the report, Appell was placed under special five-minute watch while jail officials continued to try and find him a spot in a mental-health facility. But eventually at 5:30 p.m Aug. 6, jailers found him lying on the floor and not breathing. EMS was called, but Appell was dead, the report stated.

In the federal lawsuit, Appell’s mother claims the jailers didn’t do their job after returning her son to the cell following the initial hospital visit.

“After deputies returned Shawn to a cell, he resumed beating his head against the wall. Both inmates and jail staff, including Defendants Stewart and Scoggins, knew Shawn was seriously injuring himself. The Llano County Jail is small (its maximum capacity is only 54 prisoners). The noise reverberated through the building,” the lawsuit states.

Shirley Appell is seeking unspecified punitive and other damages, according to the suit.

daniel@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — If supporters want to build a regional sports complex to attract more tournaments and teams to the area, they’re going to have to keep working on a way to pay for it.

But if it looks like there’s no money down the road, then it’s time to step up to the plate and say so, said Mayor George Russell.

That was one of the messages during a workshop Nov. 6 involving the City Council, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Economic Development Corp. during a discussion of the feasibility of a future sports complex.

The panelists at the workshop, the last of three such sessions, discussed how to pay for building phases 1 and 2 of the proposed sports complex.

Estimated costs for each phase — which include softball, baseball, soccer and football fields and tennis courts — is $4.5 million, but that doesn’t take into consideration the purchase of any land.

The officials agreed they still needed to keep thinking about fundraising.

“Nobody is saying to spend $10 million,” City Manager Ralph Hendricks said. “We’re still exploring the option of what we can as a community afford, what is the best benefit for the youth. We’re doing the best we can.”

Mayor George Russell suggested asking at least one member of each organization to form a committee and discuss possible solutions. Russell said that if a revenue stream can’t be identified, then the time is nearing for the organizations to say so.

Most didn’t want to ask taxpayers to approve a bond to pay for the complex. Russell noted that for every $1 million of improvements, there’s $80,000 in maintenance costs.

The attendees agreed that most of the children participating in youth leagues come from other parts of Burnet County. So it makes sense to ask other city governments to help find solutions or give some funding to help, they added.

“They’re all going to have to do the exact same thing,” Russell said. “They’re going to have to come up with a revenue stream, they have to go through the same process.”

The Marble Falls Independent School District has land off of Manzano Mile, which is one of the two possible sites for a complex.

The school district’s Director of Special Projects, Cord Woerner, said administrators’ doors are open to anyone who wishes to talk to them.

“We’ll talk to the school, we’ll talk to other communities,” Hendricks said. “It’s going to take a while.”

Councilwoman Jane Marie Hurst noted that time is of the essence with the holidays approaching.

Timing is also essential if officials decide they want to put a referendum on the ballot during a spring election to approve the complex.

“We can do it,” she said. “We can do it if we put our hearts into it.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Schoolchildren across the Highland Lakes are remembering the sacrifices of the the armed forces with celebrations honoring Veterans Day.

Though Veterans Day is Nov. 11, which is a Sunday, many observances will be held just before or after, such as Nov. 12 when banks and some government offices are closed.

“We want our kids to know who these men and women are who served our nation,” said Mark Richert, Colt Elementary School assistant principal. “Some may have parents or relatives who served or serve, but many don’t. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the men and women who serve in the armed forces.”

Colt Elementary is hosting a Veterans Day celebration 10:15 a.m. Nov. 12 at the campus, located at 2200 Manzano Mile.

The Marble Falls school is one of several in the area taking time out to recognize men and women who serve or have served in the United States armed forces.

“We think it helps the students put faces with Veterans Day,” said Sandy Kinsey of R.J. Richey Elementary School in Burnet. “It also helps the students understand what Veterans Day is about and who our veterans are.”

Students and staff at Richey are hosting a Veterans Day celebration 10 a.m. Nov. 8 at Bulldog Stadium behind the middle school,1401 N. Main in Burnet.

In the past, Bertram Elementary participated with the Richey program, but the Bertram students have created their own ceremony this year at 10 a.m. Nov. 9.

“This way all our students can participate where in the past it was only our fourth- and fifth-graders,” said Aline Heine from Bertram Elementary.

The program will be held at the elementary campus located at 315 Main St. in Bertram.

“We do it to honor our veterans past and present,” Heine said.

Along with speakers and music, the students will line up outside the class in a Walk of Honor waving flags as the veterans file past, Heine said.

At Colt, members of the Marble Falls Middle School choir will perform. Second- and third-graders at Colt also will present a special performance.

“The local (Veterans of Foreign Wars) will help present the colors,” Richert said.

After the Colt ceremony, all the attending veterans are invited to eat in the cafeteria for free. Other community members can also eat, but there is a charge of $3 per adult and $1.75 per child.

“We’re inviting all our local veterans to attend,” Richert said. “All they have to do is show up.”

All three programs are open to the public.

“We definitely encourage people to attend,” Heine said.

daniel@thepicayune.com

MARBLE FALLS — Businessman Grant Dean could barely control his anger after the City Council voted 5-1 Nov. 6 to annex  475 acres south of the city limits along U.S. 281, which includes his property.

Other property owners in the area get up to a five-year reprieve before the city annexes them, according to city documents.

“Why?” Dean said. “They (city officials) get a little extra taxes and we don’t get anything. It just doesn’t make sense.”

City officials said they want to control the corridor along 281 at Texas 71 to better manage the area around the future Wayne & Eileen Hurd Regional Medical Center, a $150 million clinic and hospital under construction by Scott & White Healthcare.

Councilman John Packer voted against annexation and Councilman Richard Lewis recused himself. Lewis is a Huber Corp. employee, which has property in the annexed area.

Following several comments from property owners in affected area, council members went into executive session for a several minutes before returning to hold the vote.

Dean, who owns Cactus Companies in the 3000 block of U.S. 281, is one of a handful of property owners in the city’s newly annexed area.

The measure originally called for annexing 1,141 acres that ran along the highway to the intersection with  71.

But the city approved a series of development agreements with several property owners in the remaining area during the same meeting.

The agreements basically delay their annexation for five years or until the property owners develop their land — whichever comes first, according to city documents.

Several property owners previously had asked the council to hold off on the annexation.

“I know we’re going to get annexed — there’s nothing I can do about it,” said veterinarian Tim Thompson, owner of Hope Animal Clinic in the 4000 block of 281. “(I) would like five years like the other people (provided development agreements) to think about what we’re going to do.”

Dean, who has spoken at two previous meetings involving annexation, said he is frustrated because it could cost him more than $300,000 to connect to the city’s water and sewage lines if he decides to develop the property.

The sewage line, he said, will run south of Marble Falls along 281 until it comes to Flatrock Creek, where it then turns west and follows the creek bed before turning south to the planned Scott and White medical center.

Dean estimates it would require him to cut 3,500 feet of pipe at his own expense to connect to the city’s sewer line at a cost of $75-$150 per foot.

City officials said property owners will also get other services including fire and police protection.

daniel@thepicayune.com

SAN ANTONIO — The Burnet High School Esprit de Corps didn’t let a little rain ruin their parade — and they have the bronze medal from the Class 3A state marching band competition to prove it.

The Esprit de Corps, which consists of the band, the flag corps and the Highlandettes dance team, earned third place in on Nov. 5 after being the last of 10 bands to perform in the University Interscholastic League state finals.

The Burnet band also was the only group to get rained on while warming up outside of the Alamodome.

"It was torrential downpour," band director Kevin Heckaman said. "We went last. We got rained on. It gave us a spark."

Though the group was soaked, Heckaman credited fans for keeping the Bulldogs focused on their task —to earn a state title.

"The support was amazing," he said. "The kids could feel that. I think they played off of that."

The band director said he was surprised by the finish in the finals because Burnet placed seventh in the preliminaries earlier in the day. They didn’t perform in the finals until 8:45 p.m.

"To jump from seventh to medal contention is pretty impressive and it worked," he said.

Five new judges oversaw the final round, which meant the scores from the prelims also got thrown out.

In the finals, the Bulldogs were ranked as high as second and as low as seventh. Heckaman said the scores are averaged together for a final ranking.

jfierro@thepicayune.com